Daily D – Philippians 4:6-9

by | Dec 15, 2023 | Daily D | 0 comments

David G Bowman Logo

Philippians 4:6-9  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (NLT)

This is the time of year people complain there is no peace on earth, and they’re right. Why hasn’t God blessed us with this peace? I mean, almost every beauty contestant wants peace on earth. Newspaper pundits complain about the lack of peace even though if there was such a thing it would put them out of business. 

U2 has a song entitled Peace on Earth. We find these words toward the end:

Jesus in the song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on Earth
Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won’t rhyme
So what’s it worth?
This peace on Earth*

We blame God for the lack of peace. We blame the other political party. We blame anyone and everyone we can think of, except for us, of course. 

Reading the Apostle Paul’s instructions in this text, we begin to understand that we participate with God in bringing peace on earth. Peacemaking is a God-blessed lifestyle (See Matthew 5:9).

Peace is connected to prayer, Paul says. God’s peace guards our hearts and minds. We cooperate by focusing on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. 

To prayer and positive thoughts, Paul adds practice. He tells his readers to put into practice all they learned and received from him. God’s peace is with us when we pray, focus on the positive, and live in a manner that makes peace possible. 

This sounds like we get about as much peace as we want. In other words, God will not impose peace on unwilling souls. This also sounds like we can be part of the problem or part of the peace. 

*Songwriters: Adam Clayton / Dave Evans / Larry Mullen / Paul David Hewson
Peace on Earth lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

I will live in a manner that I join God in bringing peace on earth.

Our Father, you have made peace possible. You will bring peace ultimately and finally one day. Until then, empower us to do the hard work of peacemaking. Make us ever-more prayerful. Teach us to refocus our lives on what is good. Lead us into activities that will create more peace. Amen.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

CONNECT WITH ME!

Interested in learning more about Church Unique or Life Younique? Send a note through the Get In Touch box or Message me through the Facebook link above.

          Church Unique Logo          Auxano Logo

GET IN TOUCH!

READ MY BLOG!

Daily D – Psalm 141:3-4

Psalm 141:3, 4
“Take control of what I say, O LORD,
and guard my lips.
Don’t let me drift toward evil
or take part in acts of wickedness.
Don’t let me share in the delicacies
of those who do wrong.”

Daily D – Jeremiah 32:38-41

Jeremiah 32:38-41 “They will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land.”

Daily D – Jeremiah 29:11-14

Jeremiah 29:11-14 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

Daily D – Psalm 138:1-3

Psalm 138:1-3
“I give you thanks, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will sing your praises before the gods.
I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.
As soon as I pray, you answer me;
you encourage me by giving me strength.”

Daily D – Jeremiah 23:18

Jeremiah 23:18 “Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen?”