Peaceful Thoughts

Philippians 4:8-9

Verse 9  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.

    Paul understood the gift of peace like few have.  He knew it wasn’t about living a life of ease or one free of strife.  Paul had been shipwrecked, beaten, stoned and was in prison at the time of his writing this letter to his friends in Philippi.  If expected to find peace in his circumstances, Paul had no chance of experiencing the calm assurance of Christ.  But he wasn’t left to wallow in his trials and ailments, he knew the truth of peace.

    Verse 8 in our reading today is one of the most popular verses among Christians.  It sounds like such a great formula to live by, but sadly we are so busy striving to fulfill the list that we miss the whole point of the list.  Paul tells his friends that they should be thinking about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable— anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.  But he didn’t just stop with the list, he told them what living that list would do in their lives.

    Paul knew that when we focus on those things we will naturally find peace in the Lord.  When our focus is on truth we will find peace because we aren’t believing lies.  Setting our mind on things that are pure keeps us from the conviction of sinful thoughts.  Paul knew the power of renewing our minds.  We aren’t talking about the power of positive thinking, we are talking about the way intentional thinking habits change our outlook on life and we will start to see things more in the way God does as we focus on concepts He has given.  It isn’t about manipulating our thinking, but rather clearing our thinking to align with His.

    While we can’t generate God’s peace for ourselves, we can set ourselves up to be in His peace.  By firmly placing our eyes and thoughts on Him, we will slowly, but surely, begin to know the gift of peace even during our times of trouble.  We will know what Paul meant when he said that he had learned to be content in every situation (Philippians 4:11-12).  The imprisoned missionary had learned he could trust God no matter what issue was arising in his life and it was that trust that lead to resting in Christ’s peace.

Making It Personal

    How hard is it for you to control your thinking?  Do you see where not controlling your thoughts can take away your peace?  Which of the items on the list do you struggle with the most?

Making It Personal Kids

    What does it mean to control your thoughts?  Are there things on that list that you struggle to think on?  What are some thoughts that can take away your peace of mind?

Closing Prayer

    Father, thank You for the wisdom of Paul and his reminder of how to focus on the things that reflect You so we can know Your peace.  Help us to be honest with ourselves of which things on this list that we need to address and help us see how not focusing on them can cause us much stress.  In Jesus’ name, amen.