Every single one of God’s promises is true. And where do you find them? In his Word. It’s like a key rack that holds all of His promises, and those are the keys to opening peace, joy, hope, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, all the good doors in our lives. When problems come to steal your peace, remember the times that God showed up, and trust that He’s showing up again. He didn’t lose your address. He always knows where you are. Why? Because He is always with you.
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Transcription:
I started a good habit years and years ago. We have a key rack hanging on our kitchen wall, and when I get home, I take my keys and I hang them right there on the key rack. And the next time I need them, I know exactly where I’m going to find them on that key rack. Hi, welcome to the Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica, your host, and I have so been enjoying pursuing peace with you this week. Like we said at the beginning, as if we were a lioness after a gazelle, we are going after it because we know it’s ours. How do we know? Well, the Bible tells us. So every single one of God’s promises is true. You can take them to the bank. And where do you find them? In his Word. It’s like a key rack that holds all of his promises, and those are the keys to opening peace, joy, hope, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, all the good doors in our lives.
Today, I want to invite you to join me in Philippians chapter four. This is the quintessential passage on peace in the Bible. If there were ever one passage to memorize, it would truly be this one. So, join me now. Paul is writing to the church in Philippi.
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
So, the first thing we’re gleaning from the apostle Paul today is rejoice. He’s saying it as if it’s a command. How can you rejoice if your mind and your heart are ruminating on your problems, and those problems are stealing your peace? Well, I like what Max Lucado says.
“Rather than ponder problems, choose to enumerate every indication of God’s presence.”
Okay? There have been times in your life, I know when God has showed up. I mean, it was almost like he left footprints behind. It was that clear that he was there and working in your life. When problems come to steal your peace, remember the times that God showed up, and trust that he’s showing up again. He didn’t lose your address. He always knows where you are. Why? Because he is always with you. That’s another promise in the Bible. Another key that can open the door to peace in your life. When you and I remember how faithful he’s been, we trust that He’s going to be faithful again. This is one of the Lord’s habits, pure faithfulness. Okay, verse six, now.
Don’t worry about anything;
Second command. We’re to rejoice and then not worry.
instead, pray about everything.
Third, command, pray, talk to Jesus, right?
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
So here we have a wonderful recipe that is absolutely going to yield so many helpings of peace in your life. Rejoice | Don’t worry | Pray | Thank Him. Okay? That’s our battle plan when those problems start trying to steal our peace. Okay, verse seven, here comes a promise.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Think about the soldiers who stand outside of Buckingham Palace. You know the ones where you could get right up in their face and they still won’t move because they’re so dedicated to protecting the queen, or the king in this case now, right? King Charles and his family and the people in that castle. That’s how the Lord is guarding your heart and mind, except a million times that right. He is guarding your heart and mind with his peace. I want you to picture, it’s as if he’s putting a shield of peace over your heart and mind and nothing, not one problem, not one person, can penetrate that peace. If you follow this recipe, what he’s asking us to do, to rejoice, not to worry, to pray, and to thank Him. Okay? Verse eight, now.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
I’d like to say things that you can hang your hat on or your keys on. Verse nine now.
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Lean into that promise for a second. You know how you lean back into your comfy sofa or your recliner? Lean into that. The God of peace is promising to be with you, to put a shield over your heart and over your mind, and it takes practice. Aren’t you encouraged by what the apostle Paul just said? It takes practice to learn how to rejoice, not to worry, to pray and to give thanks,. But maybe that’s even something you and I can write on a post-it note and have in front of us, put it on our laptop at work, or put it on our steering wheel so that when our minds are tempted to worry and to marinate on our problems, we can remember, that’s right… We’ve got the recipe, we’ve got the remedy for how to treat that right. I don’t know about you, but I want to make a peace cake today. I like the recipe analogy better because I really love food, especially cake.
But anyway, I want to tell you a little story before we wrap up today. This morning I went through the coffee. It was about 4:40 AM That’s my typical time of going through the drive-thru, and I got to talk with my favorite barista. Her name is Lori. She is absolutely lovely, and she’s become a friend. And she still had her radiant smile, her bright personality, everything was percolating there in the coffee drive-thru. And when I asked her how she was doing, she said, well, my sister is actually in surgery right now, right this minute. And had I not asked her what was going on in her life, I never would’ve known. The peace of Christ was radiating from her face. And I said, Lori, you must have so many emotions right now. And she said, you know what, Erica? If my sister hadn’t gotten jaundiced, they wouldn’t have found the cancer. So her reasoning was, God’s got this. He’s taking care of her. Okay? Wow. The peace of Christ was guarding Lori’s heart and mind. And that gives me hope, right? Does it give you hope? He’s going to do that for you too. Remember to rejoice, not to worry, to pray and to give thanks. Did I miss any of them? Alright, until next time, you are really loved.
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