Peace? Yes, please

There is so much great stuff in Philippians 4, but I think v6-7 stand out to me the most where it tells us how to get the peace of God.

In this crazy world we live in where everything moves so fast and everyone is so busy, the peace of God is definitely something I want to have. And as with many things in the Bible, the answer is quite simple (although not always easy to put into practice):

Don't worry, just pray.

If we give our concerns to God and trust that He will take care of them, His peace will guard our hearts and minds. That sounds good to me! But the difficult part is trusting God enough to let go of whatever you're anxious about.

Of course this doesn't mean everything will go your way, but if we trust that God's way is much better than our way (Is 55:8-9) we can have God's peace with whatever is happening around us.

Rubbish

We all have lots off stuff in this life, physical things as well as accomplishments we've worked towards with school, work, etc. Paul says that all he had accomplished in his former life was rubbish compared to Christ 3:8. We need to have that same attitude where worldly things aren't what is important to us.

While we should definitely thank God for our blessings, we need to realize that everything we do here is temporary. Our focus should be on the eternal. Reading this brings a lot of perspective.

Things I'm concerned about don't seem so important when I weigh them against Christ. We need to work hard at everything we do in this life, but can't lose site of the ultimate goal of heaven.

Fighting the Spiritual Battle

The latter part of Ephesians 6 has a lot to say about how to successfully fight the spiritual war we are engaged in as Christians. Here are a few things I noticed as I was reading:

• Be strong (v. 10) It's not going to be easy, so we're going to have to be tough. But the important thing is we cannot fight the battle on our own strength. We have to be strong in HIS might.
• Have all of your equipment and weapons ready (v. 11, 13-17). You have to put on the whole armor of God. If you are missing one piece you will be vulnerable. But I think it's important to note that getting all the pieces in place takes time and preparation. We can't just put them on all of a sudden like putting on a suit of literal armor.
• Know who the enemy is (v. 12). We are not fighting people, but ideas. We have to appeal to the mind and the heart. See also 2 Cor. 10:3-5.
• Pray at all times (v.18).
• Be vigilant and on the alert (v.18). The devil and his forces are crafty and attack us in various ways.
• Pray for others fighting with you (v. 19) Paul asked them to pray on his behalf.
• Speak boldly (v. 19-20) See also 2 Cor. 3:12 and Eph. 3:12.
• Surround yourself with faithful helpers (v. 21) Paul talks about how Tychicus helped him by carrying a message to the Ephesians. Even Paul needed help carrying out his work and fighting the battle. This is obviously apparent in many other of Paul's writings as well (e.g., Rom. 16).

Fighting this fight is more important now than ever. As Rick talked about yesterday, we are surrounded by people who call evil good and good evil, and are actively trying to destroy the ways of God. And many young people these days tend to fall into this category. But let's be their spiritual opposition - let's go out there and fight back.

Spiritual Blessings

Something that has really stood out to me in Ephesians is how much Paul prayed for the Christians to receive spiritual blessings. Although some of them are difficult to understand, I still think they are interesting to think about. I know I have asked for or given thanks for "spiritual blessings" in the past, but I don't often stop to think about what all that means.

In Ephesians, Paul prayed that:

• God would give them a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him (1:17)
• the eyes of their heart would be enlightened (1:18)
• that they would know the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance, and the surpassing greatness of His power toward those who believe (1:18-19)
• that they would be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man (3:16)
• that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith (3:17)
• that they would be rooted and grounded in love (3:17)
• that they would be able to comprehend (3:18)
• that they would know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge (3:19)
• that they would be filled up to all the fullness of God (3:19)

I think we should all meditate on, pray for, and try to develop all of these things in ourselves and in our relationships with each other.

Paul...he's a man

I've gone back and reread these verses from 2 Corinthians chapter 11 the past couple of days and wonder how would I withstand these intense trials. Would I give up or would I persevere? I've never endured this type of physical pain or discomfort...not even remotely close.

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

One of his last verses he adds...

²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

I am amazed at how he was able to stay focused and still express concern for individuals and their ability to remain true to the gospel. He is barely alive, yet he is worrying about others. These verses provide an excellent example of empathy, faith, and commitment to serving the Lord.

How 'bout the Bible?

Paul starts Galatians with some strong words about false teachers "even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed." 1:8

We are so blessed to have the Bible today. Complete copies of God's word are readily available in stores, online, even on our phones. Of course with all of this access to information, there is also the opportunity for false teaching, so we need to be on guard just like the early Christians.

There are tons of spiritual resources out there (commentaries, songs, sermons, books, etc.) and a lot of these are great ways for us to learn more about God. We just need to make sure we use these things to supplement our study of the Bible, not replace it. If we compare everything to the Source, we can identify false teachings and won't get turned around like the Galatians.