Why followers of God know peace

In Philippians 4:11-13 Paul bears witness to the fact that God has given him the grace to be content in any situation. What is the key to that contentment? A clear focus and dependence upon God. Paul faced times of plenty and abundance and realized that they were a gift to him from God. Paul faced hunger and need and realized that these too were a gift from God. How can hunger and need be a gift from God? Hunger and need are a gift to the believer who like Paul has a clear focus and dependence on God. Hunger and need are blessed reminders of how much we truly need God to sustain us. By thrusting us into the barren desert of need God helps us to let go of our dependence on things of this earth. We are put in a place where we truly must depend on God. When Paul says, "that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him" he is talking about being able to walk through adversity as well as plenty.

Paul's admonition earlier in the same chapter rings with greater force when we understand his personal heartbeat that follows it (Philippians 4:4-7). Paul started that earlier section with a call to rejoice in the Lord always. The only way you can rejoice ALWAYS is if you see everything that is coming to you as a gift. These are all gifts given to us by God for our own benefit. Paul continues with a call to be gentle with everyone. Even those who are not good to us? In a word yes! Why? Because the Lord is at hand.

He tells us not to worry. What should we do with the things that come our way? We communicate everything to God by prayer and supplication with one unusual thing thrown in - Thanksgiving. Paul wants us to make our request but in the midst of making them to be thankful for these same things because they are truly a gift from God. When your heart is tuned to being thankful and rejoicing in all the things that come our way we will gain something that is astounding. Peace! Not just any peace but the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

1. Rejoice always - because you see everything coming to you as a gift
2. Be gentle with everyone - because the Lord is at hand and He will make things right
3. Don't worry - take everything to God by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

Do these things and rivet your eyes on the Lord Jesus and an amazing peace from God that passes understanding will fill our hearts. Not only that but He will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. As we rejoice in Him He will secure our hearts so that they can continue to rejoice in Him. This is why the true followers of Jesus in the midst of persecution and a life devoid of external peace will exhibit a heart filled with supernatural peace that cannot be taken away. Join me as I try to follow Paul's plan for living a life completely focused on God.

Why no peace for followers of God

There is an article on Foxnews.com titled, "Obama Condemns 'Senseless Slaughter' of Israelis, Vows to Sustain Peace Talks". There have been almost countless attempts at peace in the middle east. Go back to the Romans in the time of Christ for the first versions, or perhaps we need to go back earlier then that. But the fact remains that there is no peace in the middle east. Why? Fundamentally the issue is spiritual in nature. The Jews claim a divine right to the land that they believe was granted to them by God. There is language that supports this view in the Old Testament. But even Jeremiah talked about how there would be no peace (Jeremiah 8:11). There will not be peace in this world until the Prince of Peace finally sets up His Kingdom here on Earth.

I bring this issue up because tonight while out street witnessing we encountered some opposition. Some people did not want to hear the truth about the pending judgment we all face if we do not know and accept Jesus as our Lord. Jesus knew that when we took a stand in the public square for Him we would no doubt face opposition (Matthew 5:11). The unsaved man has no interest in spiritual things because he is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-3). We all were before we were made alive in Christ. If we realize what a great gift we have been given in Christ then we will begin to see the dilemma that faces all of those who do not know Jesus. This eternal damnation that awaits them should burden our hearts for them. We must realize that the utter terribleness of a never ending eternity suffering God's wrath is what awaits all unbelievers. Do we care? Is there a burden in our hearts for their salvation. If there is you will soon begin to see the persecution and reviling that comes to those who stand for Christ and reach out in love to the lost and dying world. May God grant us all a clearer vision of that which is coming so that we will be more diligent to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:9-10).

Evangelistic followup

I thought that this topic would be appropriate because it fits with this current series and is usually misunderstood. The person who has truly repented and has come to recognize Jesus as their Lord is going to be a different person. You will not need us to coax them to come to church or join a Bible study. They will have a hunger to know about their new Lord. You see Jesus has given them a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). We do not have to work to keep them in the faith. Jesus is able to keep them to present them and us before the throne of glory with great joy (Jude 1:24). The other thing that is often a concern is that they will fall away because some one will entice them away from the faith. This cannot happen because no man is able to take them out of His (Jesus) hand (John 10:27-30). I hear people talking about the person who has become a carnal christian (I think this is an oxymoron). They express concern that someone has backslidden and stopped coming to church. There is one answer to both of these situations and we fail to address the people who are in this as we should because we excuse them. John clearly says in 1 John 2:19 that they went out from us because they were not of us. If we really love people as we claim we do we will pursue them as people who have never heard the gospel.
What is it that we should do with the new believer. We should see to it that they are baptized and we should seek to disciple them. Discipleship is a Biblical concept that involves relational commitment. It is about training a person how to grow in Christ. Follow-up could be that but it often falls far short of that. The goal of discipleship should be to help someone understand how to bring everything in their lives into subjection to their Lord Jesus. In this we are helping them to live a God focused life.