And the fruit of the
Spirit is… peace…
Philippians 4:6-8; Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such
things.
Yesterday we said that Jesus commands us NOT to ALLOW
fear and worry to dominate in our lives. Here Paul tells us: DO NOT be anxious
about anything. We are often too satisfied with our feelings. We say, “Well
that is just the way that I feel; I
can’t help it!” But Jesus and Paul tell us that we can help it! There is something we can DO in our pursuit of peace.
Paul gives us a number of keys in these verses.
First of all, we are to pray about everything. We are to petition in prayer. Imagine that
you are trying to get your neighbours to sign a petition for a cause you are
most passionate about. We are to petition
God as well! Secondly we are to be thankful. Our prayer times are not
supposed to be entirely self-focused. In thanksgiving, we are to remember what
God has done for us and thank Him for who He says He is. This enables us to
trust Him because we are reminded of His faithful character! These two things
alone will bring peace, Paul says.
But haven’t we all had that experience of peace in our
devotional time only to leave our house and find our worries and fears come
storming back into our hearts? So Paul gives us a tool for that as well. Our
thoughts are powerful, and Satan knows this, so he will attempt to plant many
lies into the minds of God’s people. It is our job to counterattack and ruin
his seeds by filling our minds with good
things as listed above. This is a weapon that God gives us and so we must
use it if we want to walk in the
peace that Scripture promises.
PRAYER AND
MEDITATION
1. Practice
the steps outlined in this devotional. Take an issue that you are dealing with
and pray about it. But first, spend time in thanksgiving, thanking God for who
He is and how He has shown you His goodness. Then ask God how you can use the
tools that Paul gives in these verses. How can you think on good things today?
