"Whatever..."

My text for this morning comes from the New Testament Book of Philippians. Paul writes these words to the church at Philippi... "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is Near. 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 lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praise-worthy - think about such things. 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." (Philippians 4: 4 - 9)

Here Paul is giving us the key to genuine peace of mind... genuine "shalom." First, he tells us to rejoice! (He actually says it twice for emphasis...) He encourages us to put on an attitude of praise (here we call to mind the verse from the Psalms reminding us that he inhabits the praises of his people, creating an atmosphere in us which he inhabits... )

Then he encourages us to "Let your gentleness be evident to all... the Lord is near." IF his spirit is within us, and IF we continue to focus on him... THEN his very presence changes not only our atmosphere, but our lives as well... we can not help but emulate gentleness simply because, as Paul writes elsewhere "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me!"

Paul continues, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Did you get it? "Do not be anxious (or afraid, or concerned) about anything..." Think about this one for a moment... "Do not be anxious about anything..." Is Paul serious? We are by our very nature prone to worry, and prone to anxiety... Anxiety can kill... it can produce heart-attack-like symptoms... this is nothing less than Overmobilization of Fear. Remember something that the Bible says about fear? "God is Love... and perfect love casts out all fear."

Herein we are encouraged "...but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" Paul's message to us is to not be afraid or anxious to present your requests to God. Paul's overall message at this point is that if you have God's very presence permeating your heart and your soul, if you keep your mind focused on him, if you come into his presence with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise, then everything you need will be added to you, and you can come before God and not be afraid to ask him for what you need... because your request will be in line with God's will and God's word.

Watch what he promises next. "...And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." The peace of God... the shalom... which goes above and beyond anything that we could possibly wrap our minds around... this peace will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus!" THIS is God's personal peace-of-mind guarantee... Isaiah writes that "HE will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed (or focused) on HIM."

This next portion demonstrates that Paul knew his target audience when he wrote the letter. He know that by this point the people at the church in Philippi would be asking themselves "Okay... now what? What do we do with this information from our friend, Paul?" Paul picks up the slack and says "Here's the deal... think on whatever is true... think on whatever is noble... think on whatever is right... whatever is pure... whatever is lovely... whatever is admirable... concentrate on the things that are excellent and praise-worthy... focus on those things..." The message, by reverse implication is "don't think about things that are false... or concentrate on the negative... don't concentrate on what is wrong with the picture... or whatever is not pure and hideous... don't focus on the muck and mire... don't deliberately go on a mission to find what is wrong... "

Then Paul sums it up... "think about such things. 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." We are openly encouraged over and over again to focus on the positives, and emulate the lives of other people who also focus on the positives, and who focus on the things of God's kingdom... and his word for us today is that if we focus on these thing, and put them into practice, "... the God of Peace will be with you."

Life throws us curve-balls. Every day, we are faced with situations which jerk our heads around, and cause us enough "agita" In these closing moments, let us make a conscientous effort to focus on the things of God's kingdom.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus... look full in his wonderful face... and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace."

I Bid You Peace,

Pastor Ken+