Where Can You Find Peace?

Where Can You Find Peace?

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27 (NKJV))

The Source of Peace

Where can you find peace? The source is God. As Isaiah said, “You [referring to God] will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)). And like we saw in the verse above, Jesus told His disciples that He would give them peace (John 14:27). So, peace comes from God.

But how exactly do you get it?

 

Go to the Source

If you want peace, you need to go to God. He is the source of peace. You won’t find that peace in the world because the peace from God is a “perfect peace” (Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)) that “surpasses all understanding “(Philippians 4:7 (NKJV)).

How do you go to God for peace? Philippians 4:6–8 (NKJV) gives us the answer. It tells us,

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.

Based on these verses in Philippians, here are three steps you can take to get peace:

 

  1. Pray

Talk to God and tell Him what’s on your mind. Ask Him for help with whatever situation you’re going through or for wisdom about a decision you need to make. And ask for his peace to quiet your mind.

 

  1. Thank God

Come to God with a heart of gratitude. Thank God for who He is and all He has done for you. Be specific. For example, you could thank Him for

  • saving you,
  • forgiving all your sins,
  • His ability to help you – no matter how big your problem is,
  • His promise to always be with you,
  • walking with you through your trial,
  • the ways He has provided for you in the past, and
  • anything else you can think of.

Being thankful to God will prepare your heart for the third step.

 

  1. Meditate

Focus your mind on God. Don’t try to stop thinking about what’s making you anxious. Instead, replace those thoughts by thinking about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. God’s character and nature and the ways He has blessed you fall into these categories.

Meditate on how God has been faithful to you – on all the things you thanked Him for. Learn about God’s nature by reading His Word, the Bible. To name just a few, God is good, holy, powerful, and loving. Training your mind to think about God’s character and faithfulness will build up your trust in God.

As we saw in Isaiah, the person whose mind is “stayed” on God will be in “perfect peace.” Why? Because that person trusts in our awesome, amazing God.

While your mind is fixed on God, that peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind. So, follow these three steps: pray, thank God, and meditate on your beautiful Savior. Then, you’ll have peace as you walk by faith with Him.

 

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Are You Worried about Your Future?

Are You Worried about Your Future?

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:34 (NLT))

Are you worried about your future? Are you anxious about whether . . .

  • your company is going to lay people off;
  • gas prices will continue to rise;
  • you’ll be single your entire life;
  • your kids will turn out well; or
  • you’ll even be able to have children?

Do you fret about what next month or next year will bring?

It’s easy to worry about your future. All you have to do is look at a newsfeed and stories about crime, the economy, and the way people treat each other can quickly raise your anxiety levels. And circumstances in your own life can overwhelm your thoughts in an instant.

But God doesn’t want you to be worried about your future. Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). And He taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11 (NKJV)). In other words, focus on what you need day by day.

Even in the Old Testament, God oriented His people’s focus on the day at hand. When the Israelites were wandering in the desert for 40 years, God provided them with their daily food – that heavenly bread called manna – one day at a time (Exodus 16:15-16, 19). If they gathered more and left it for the following day (unless it was the day before the Sabbath day), the manna “bred worms and stank” (Exodus 16:20 (NKJV)).

God doesn’t want you to worry about your future. He wants you to trust Him with tomorrow. He already knows what your future holds, and He will help you through it all if you’ll let Him.

Instead of worrying about your future, Jesus invites you to abide in Him (John 15:4). The word abide means to be present or remain. We need to live one day at a time and be present with Jesus. If you’re worrying about something in your future, you’re no longer present with Jesus today.

You are safe in Jesus’ hands (John 10:28). But you can’t enjoy being in that safety if you’re somewhere else in your mind. So when you catch yourself worrying about your future, stop it! Choose to focus your mind on today.

And yes, it’s a choice. We can meditate on the unknown. Or we can focus our minds on what we know – the things God tells us to think about. The Bible tells us to fix our thoughts on things that are “true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable”; it exhorts us to “[t]hink about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8 (NLT)).

You can purposefully shift your thoughts by choosing to think about

  • how God has provided for you in the past;
  • the promises God has made to you in the Bible;
  • the way God saved you and how He gave you eternal life when you surrendered to Him;
  • the blessings God has given you; and
  • the things you are thankful for.

Put on some worship music and sing praises to God. Read His Word and seek out the promises He has made to you. Make a list of the ways God has been faithful to you in the past. Take a walk and count the different varieties of flowers you see along the way.

So don’t worry about the future. Don’t be anxious about what may or may not happen tomorrow. Instead, choose to live one day at a time while abiding in Jesus. Be present with Jesus and walk by faith with Him.

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Don’t Be Anxious. . . Meditate on Truth

Don’t Be Anxious. . . Meditate on Truth

This past year has been difficult for everyone. COVID-19 has impacted all of our lives in varying ways. Some have lost family members or friends. Others have lost jobs or their businesses. Although not everyone has lost loved ones or their livelihood, we have all been impacted in some way.

It seems the world changed overnight. If you had told me a few years ago that there would be a time when I’d be working from home for over a year and would be required to wear a mask every time I went to the grocery store or to church, I would have thought you were crazy.

Along with the difficulties, people have experienced feelings of anxiety, depression, hopelessness, sadness, isolation, and loneliness. What should we do with these feelings? The Bible gives us the answer. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us,

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (NKJV)

Talk to God about how you are feeling, about the things that have been happening in your life. Tell Him what you need and how you feel. Nothing will surprise Him. He already knows all your thoughts (Psalm 139:2). Telling God about your feelings isn’t for God’s benefit, it’s for your benefit. God wants us to come to Him with everything that we’re thinking about because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

When you come to God, thank Him for what He has already done in your life. Spend time in fellowship with Him. In exchange, God has promised to give you a peace that surpasses all understanding. It’s not natural to feel a sense of peace during times of difficulty. It’s a supernatural peace that can only come from trusting God.

After you have prayed through the verses in Philippians 4:6-7, don’t stop there. Look at the next verse,

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)).

You see, trying not to think about something doesn’t work. When you tell yourself, “I will not think about it,” inevitably you do think about whatever “it” is. Instead, we need to replace those thoughts by meditating on the things that God tells us to focus on.

Biblical meditation is different from the meditation that is practiced in yoga or other disciplines, in which you seek to empty your mind. The Greek word for meditate in Philippians means to reason or think on. The New Living Translation tells us to “[f]ix your thoughts on.” The idea is to ruminate or chew on those things. For example, you can take a Bible verse, memorize it, and then think about it word by word. Ask yourself about the verse’s context – where is it in the Bible, what are the verses around it, what does the verse mean? Think about what the verse tells you about God. Ask yourself how the verse applies to your life.

We can choose what we think about. If I want to think about an elephant, suddenly I have a picture of an elephant in my mind. I can picture what it looks like. If I meditate on that elephant, I can see its color, its shape, and the lines in its hide. Maybe the elephant starts to eat something by picking it up with its trunk. You get the idea. You can decide to do that with anything.

But as we saw, the Bible gives us a list of things we should think about. The first thing that we are told to meditate on in Philippians 4:8 is “whatever things are true.” There is a difference between what is true and what is false. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines the word “true” as something that is “in accordance with the actual state of affairs,” and truth means “reality” or “the quality or state of being accurate.” Conversely, things are false if they are not true.

Absolute truth is something that is true and does not change no matter what your circumstances are. Some people deny that there can be absolute truth. Instead, they believe that truth is relative. Relativism is a belief that truth is based on a person’s own experiences, that truth changes from person to person.

But the Bible teaches us that there is absolute truth. We know that Jesus is truth (John 14:6). Meditate on the things that Jesus has done for you. Jesus died for your sins on the cross so your sins could be forgiven. If you decide to follow Jesus, your sins will be forgiven, and you will have eternal life (John 3:16).

We also know that God’s Word, the Bible, is true. The Bible tells us that God “made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and [He] preserve[s] them all” (Nehemiah 9:6 (NKJV)). God is the Creator. Meditate on that. When you see a beautiful sunset, remember that it was made by God. The majestic mountains – God. The vast oceans – also made by God.

Thinking about even one aspect of God’s creation is amazing. God created flowers. He didn’t make just one flower in a single color. No, He created many, many types of flowers in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. Flowers come in just about every conceivable color that you could imagine. They are various shades of purple, pink, red, yellow, white, and orange. There are lilies, tulips, roses, bougainvillea, chrysanthemums, hydrangeas, dahlias, carnations, peonies, daffodils, irises, sunflowers, buttercups, orchids, marigolds, petunias, daisies, and many more. And did you know that an artichoke is actually a flower? And capers are pickled flower buds. Even more astonishing is that a fig is technically not a fruit but an inverted flower. It is truly awesome when you think about it. God is awesome!

If something pops into your mind while you’re thinking about the things that God told you to meditate on, take that thought captive. The Bible instructs us to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV)). Don’t allow yourself to continue to think about that thought. It will derail you and you will start to think about your problems and feel anxious again. Instead of letting that thought take your mind off the things of God, recognize that it’s there, capture it, and ask God to take it out of your mind. Ask God to help you keep your mind focused on Him. He will help you if you ask. Train your mind to meditate on the things God has told you to think about. When you do, you will experience the peace that God has promised.