Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
*Strong's Ex. Conc. No.
Peace of God: one, quietness, rest, peace of mind, to join together as a whole, God's gift of wholeness
From the Greek word 'eiréné' (pronounced i-ray'-nay).
This Peace of God is only made possible when the born again believer is IN CHRIST. We know He is in us when we exercise our faith and believe in Him as our Lord and Savior. But we are In Christ when we are in The Word, when we live The Word and The Word lives and thrives in us. Do people see Jesus in you when they look in your direction? Has a total stranger come up to you and said, "You're a Christian. I can tell," without you ever having said a word? This has happened to me a few times. I am so very thankful that Christ is in me and I am in Christ.
To get the full gist of this verse we need to read the verse previous and the verse after:
6. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
8. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
The psalmist wrote (Psalm 42:5), "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence." In Christ there is no reason to be downcast, to be sad, to be anxious. In Christ we have peace. The psalmist had hope as he reminded himself (and us). He had hope in God: in God's Word, in God's presence.
FILL OUR MINDS CAREFULLY
Be anxious for nothing, Paul writes to the church in Philippi. The church must have been suffering, going through hard times. For unknown reasons Paul was urged by the Spirit to encourage the church in Philippi to be "anxious for nothing". Don't worry, don't stress. Instead, bring your requests to God. He was reminding them to pray. And to pray diligently.
Paul also reminds the church to be careful of how they think; to think with intelligence and wisdom:
- Whatever is True (don't harbor lies)
- Whatever is Honorable (have integrity)
- Whatever is Right (uncorrupted)
- Whatever is Pure (no impure thoughts)
- Whatever is Lovely (no unpleasant thoughts)
- Whatever is Admirable (no shameful, despicable thoughts)
- Excellent (not ugly, not crude, not detestable thoughts)
- Praiseworthy (dishonorable, disrespectful thoughts)
The opposite of all these positive ways to think is a distraction from how God wants us to think. How do we obtain God's peace? By reading God's Word. By praying God's Word. By living God's Word. By speaking God's Word. In other words, God's Word is essential to the church's, to the born again believer's way of life, which includes how we think.
Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
When we pray, we are to pray expecting. Expecting God to keep His promise: His Peace will guard our hearts. In Christ. The believer is in Christ through the power of God's Holy Spirit. And Christ is most definitely in the believer through the power of God's Holy Spirit.
What thoughts are more wonderful than thinking on God's Holy Word? What thoughts are more powerful than thinking on God's Holy Word? None. Once the Word of God is in us, it is up to us to keep it at the forefront of our thinking.
Waking up with thoughts of praise and worship are wonderful ways to greet our day. Keeping those thoughts there is the challenge. It is then that we call on God to guard our tongues, as well. To keep us near Him and speak only what He wants us to speak, that our words be gentle, kind and loving. The frustrated heart should keep the tongue silent.
GOD IS JUDGE
The church is living an age when all the forces of evil are again coming against it. The only secure refuge is in God. Psalm 37:7 "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass." And again, in Psalm 37:1, 8 1. "Do not fret over doers of evil; do not envy those who do wrong." 8. Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret--it can only bring harm."
In other words, let God handle the wrong that is being done to the church and in the church. Be aware now that God will accomplish His purpose in the church first before He moves onto they who come against her. So we need to be "strong in the LORD and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10). His strength and His power is, after all, part of our uniform, so to speak, part of our soldiers of Christ gear.
Acts 17:31 "For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
Christ will judge the thoughts of mankind, too. Which is why The Word warns us against thinking bad thoughts, unkind thoughts, unloving thoughts. When we love like Christ ("love one another as I have loved you" [John 13:34]), it is impossible to have ugly thoughts roaming our mind.
When we live In Christ, we live in the Love of Christ. We are His temple, His residence. Our bodies are in His body, His service. It is our job to keep the temple clean.
We sweep away the cobwebs of thoughtlessness and think with purpose, a higher purpose. We wash the floors of dirt and grime (impurities) and walk in The Word that is in us. We scrub the walls of our minds and brush off the years of thinking outside The Word, that thinking on The Word of God will be etched and embedded within us. We make room for The Word of God when we, first, ask Him into our hearts, and second, read and study His Word faithfully.
KNOW GOD, KNOW PEACE
God's Word must be in us in order for us to think wonderful thoughts that His Peace would be able to guard our hearts and our minds. Let us come into His presence with humble hearts, ask and receive His forgiveness for our arrogance in thinking we can do it all by ourselves. We can't do anything on our own. We need to be faithful in our prayer times, even as His Word says, "Pray without ceasing."
If we are in constant communication with our God, then we know that we have this Peace. Why wait until you're at the end of your rope to reach out to God, to cry out to God, when you can talk to God before you ever touch the rope? Ephesians 2:12 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ."
