May 6, 2025 -- Philippians 4:5b-7 -- What true peace is based upon

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The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:5b-7 ESV
 
Well, memorization is, um, a fail at this point. I mark it down on my schedule, every day, but don’t actually do it. No excuses. It is hard work to fight my flesh and push against the inertia of it. Why confess it? Because I haven’t forgotten it. I need to rouse my conscience and get at it again. I want to put the word of God into my heart that I might not sin against God (as Psalm 119:11).
 
If you are keeping track, this is the third time we’re looking at this passage. First, we noted the Lord, Jesus, is at hand. He is returning soon to bring His just judgment on all the earth, and He is near to us in proximity. Next, we looked at the need we have for urgent, daily prayer. Now, having recalled the context, we’ll look at verse 7.
 
It is easy to cherry-pick the Bible (by the way, I’d use the expression to peach-pick, because I like those way, totally more, than cherries, ahem, back to the point). Cherry-picking is to choose a verse here and another verse there, as if the Bible were a huge smorgasbord of tastes and flavours. The fact is, the Bible hangs together. The peace of God that we long for is not something separate from the nearness of Jesus Christ. If the presence of Jesus is not sweet to you, then the peace of Christ cannot be dear to you. Peace is not some free-floating experience to be enjoyed away from God. Peace is anchored in the awareness of the glorious nearness of God.
 
His peace, that is calm in the face of life’s storm, wholeness within oneself not dependent on the approval of others but granted by the knowledge of God’s love given to you, His peace is granted to you by the presence of the Holy Spirit within you. His peace is granted to you as you pray, urgently pleading with God, to know Him, to walk in step with Him. Peace is granted when the things of this world are counted as rubbish for the sake of knowing Jesus and the power of His resurrection. Remember Paul is writing to encourage the Philippians while he himself is in prison! He is filled with peace, though he dislikes his circumstances, he has the great assurance God is working in and through his incarceration to bring blessing to others.
 
Faithful Father, I confess I don’t know the peace I could because I am not urgently pleading to know You as I should. Spirit of God, help me to lay aside every weight and burden of sin, to toss off anything that would hinder my fuller, deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ. Knowing Him I can face the sorrows and joys, the plenty and lean times, the ease and persecution times fully aware that I am precious to You, God, in Whom is all my treasure. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/oxpPIa-BskY?si=R08CyeVU6RXz3iw4 All I Once Held Dear
 

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