TRANSCENDENT PEACE

Beloved, our focus this week will be on the Peace spoken of in Philippians 4 and also on the other key pillars in verses 7 and 8 that guide us on the journey towards experiencing that peace every moment of our lives. 

On worry(Verse 6):

1. Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray.(Message version)

2. Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing.( The Passion Translation)

On prayers – what should be done when worries arise(Verse 6):

1. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.(Message version) 

2. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life.(The Passion Translation)

Christ's promised gift; a peace that transcends human understanding – the outcome of prayer with Christ as the centerpiece(Verse 7):

1. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.(Message version)

2. then God’s wonderful peace that transcends humanunderstanding, will make the answers known to you through JesusChrist.(The Passion Translation) 

I want us to allow our minds feast on this knowledge – there is a peace that actually goes beyond the limits of all understanding! This is what many people have coined "The calm in the midst of the storm". It is a peace that rings out and echoes in spite of our surrounding conditions.

The Bible actually tells us here that there is a peace we can access when we decide to replace our worries(no matter how small) with prayers of request and of thanksgiving. 

When we pray this way, we are acknowledging that God is truly above every need(this is why we come to Him with our requests in the first place) and that we know He always hears us and is capable of answering us(and so we can give thanks) because we are in Christ Jesus. 

As we do, we are submerged in an inexplicable assurance knowing that things can only work for(and never against) us because of Christ Jesus. In this peace we find the solution to all our worries – we find Christ revealed to us over and over again! 

The peace that floods our hearts and blots out the inky smears of worry, not only assure us of a blessed present and a well-handled future but also reminds us that God keeps to His promises. After all, Jesus had gifted us with this peace before He left the earth so many years ago, and we can still confess and rejoice that we experience it till date. This gift of peace opens our eyes to the faithfulness of God's words to us:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."(John 14:27, King James Version)

Our Lord Jesus wants us to realise this – He has good plans for our lives and these plans revolve around Him, His glory and in the long run, our own beautification. We must learn to rest and rely on Him. 

GO ACHIEVE 

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