Covenant Podcast

If we are willing to follow basic obedience to Christ by pursuing financial, relational, and spiritual peace, we can have more overall peace in our lives and more effectively point others to Him in our efforts to seek and save the lost.

The peace of God starts in an individual as they receive Jesus Christ as their Lord. But, the peace of God is meant to spread from the individual to a broken world.

Sometimes, the greatest battles we face are the battles within our minds. Jesus, through His finished work of the cross, offers peace there too. Instead of waiting for that peace to come, there are practical steps we can take to cultivate the peace our minds crave.

God created a world at peace, but we broke that peace between us and God through sin. Jesus wants to restore peace and keep our wandering hearts at peace, but we have to set our minds on Him.

Fasting with prayer has been a Christian practice since Jesus came. People fasted and prayed in the OT. Jesus fasted and prayed. The apostles and early church fasted and prayed and God expected that we would fast and pray. Fasting helps to subdue our flesh so that we are more alive in the spirit. Fasting helps to prepare us for deeper and more powerful prayer. Fasting helps us to break the bonds of sin as we humble ourselves and seek the person and presence of Jesus. 

Preparing for a fast:

Examine your motives

Matthew 6

Warning against fasting for wrong reasons

Examine your actions

Fasting is not a pleasing work in and of itself

Isaiah 58

Practical

Most fasting was 24 hours, sundown to sundown

Drink water

If you have health considerations with fasting, talk to a doctor

It will be hard

Christians much prefer feasting to fasting! Very few Christians practice fasting because of the difficulty. Allow this to difficulty to take you deep into prayer, asking God to enable you to continue.

If we aren’t receiving answers to our prayers, there are things that we can look toward that the Bible says may be hindering us getting an answer. Perhaps we are praying wrongly by not asking, asking with wrong motives or asking for things outside of God’s will. Perhaps we have been ignoring God’s word and neglecting the poor, disobeying Him, or dishonoring our spouse. Maybe there is sin in our lives that needs to be confessed and repented of. 

As this epistle to the Philippians concludes, Paul reflects on a great partnership and reminds us of God’s economy and an eternal perspective on giving. 

We have the ability as believers to strengthen the faith of others through our love of Christ. Although others strengthen our faith, it is Christ alone that brings true contentment.  No matter what life throws at us, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. 

What you think about matters. If you’re constantly thinking about your mistakes, your failings, and the shame from your past you’ll stay stuck in the past. If you’re constantly thinking about your fears and anxieties for the future, you will stay stuck in the present. If you allow your mind to dwell on sinful things and go down corrupted paths, you will be miserable. 

Paul is pleading with two co-laborers in the gospel to settle their differences and live at peace. He gives some wisdom on how we can live at peace instead of anxious and worried lives.