Listen to My Message From Sunday, September 8, 2024

 

 

Philippians 4:7, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

There are not many things better in life than peace. There are a couple of important ways to understanding peace as it relates to God and your spiritual life:

1) Peace is a state where one is in right relationship with God.

2) Peace is a mental/emotional state where there is an absence of conflict and freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts. We call this “peace of mind.”

In this text, the Apostle Paul primarily refers to the first type of peace––with God. It is good to have peace of mind, but a right relationship with God is most helpful. As a benefit of this relationship, there is the promise that the peace of God will “Guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

There is something mysterious about possessing the peace of God: It is difficult to describe. Paul said, peace “surpasses all understanding.” It is both tangible (real to your senses), and intangible (beyond your senses).

Ways to get into the peace of God (which leads to peace of mind) include:

•  Prayer

•  Worship and singing on your own (doesn't matter how it sounds!)

•  Reading Scripture

•  Thinking on good things and crowding out bad thoughts (Read Philippians 4:8)

•  Reading other inspirational and educational materials

•  Walking and looking at nature (God's creation)

•  What can you think of?