Turn with me, if you will, to Philippians.
I'll be looking at Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 through 9.
If you're in a prayer meeting,
you'll notice that I used the same message about six weeks ago in prayer meeting.
But as Fred asked me and I was preparing for this week,
I just kept coming back to feeling that I needed to share this message.
I think it's a very powerful and important message in our day and time.
And a lot of the challenges and things that we face in our Christian walk.
And so I really felt strongly about sharing this again.
Also, Jamie, who normally is in prayer meeting,
he does anything he can to get out of hearing me preach.
So he scheduled surgery or something that week.
And I felt like this is just for Jamie today.
You know, Jesus tells us in many places throughout Scripture things
that we often read in our Christian walk
and we think how difficult and how hard they are for us to really apply
and to fully obey and, you know, apply into our daily walk with the Lord.
And in Matthew 6, Jesus tells us not to worry.
He tells us several circumstances that we shouldn't worry about.
But bottom line, we shouldn't worry about anything.
And this is one of those things that I find difficult in my own life.
And most individuals probably find difficult to go through life
and simply not worry about anything.
Now, there's plenty of things to worry about.
But as we become parents,
doesn't that add to our list of things to worry about?
And as we become grandparents, which I did this year in February,
I now have an eight-month-old grandson, had three daughters, love them all.
But now I've got a grandson.
It's not that I worry more about him than I worried about my children,
but it adds to the things that we worry about, doesn't it?
You know, we have so many things that we can worry about.
And Charles Mayo of the Mayo Clinic said this,
worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system,
and profoundly affects our health.
Basically, we bring about our own detriment of our own health and our well-being by worrying.
And, you know, the fact is a lot of things we worry about never happen anyway.
They just, we worry about, I think 90% of the things we worry about never occur or never happen.
But there's no wonder Jesus tells us not to worry,
and the Bible instructs us not to worry,
because it really is a detriment to our well-being and our health.
So how do we walk through life?
How do we go through the journey of our Christian walk with the Lord
and stay true and faithful to the Word of God?
How do we allow the peace of God to rule and reign in our hearts and our minds?
Well, good news.
Philippians gives us the answer to that,
and that's why I want us to look today at Philippians chapter 4,
and I want us to look at verses 4 through 9.
It says,
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 right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable,
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy,
think about such things.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me
or seen in me,
put into practice,
and the God of peace will be with you.
Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Father,
we come to you today.
We open your word,
and we read these words that you have given to us.
And I pray that your Holy Spirit would speak to each of our hearts.
I do not know all the things that cause each of us to worry
or to fear
or to be anxious about.
But I pray,
Lord,
that through your word,
you show us
how we can give these things to you
and trust you with them
and that we can allow the peace of God
to rule
and to reign in our hearts.
And it's in your holy name,
I pray.
Amen.
You know,
how do we maintain the peace of God within us
and not allow the circumstances of life to overwhelm us
or cause us to go through life worrisome
or to be overwhelmed with things?
Well,
the first thing Paul says here
is to rejoice in the Lord.
And this is one of those things
that I rarely,
if ever see Paul say,
I'm going to say it again.
I want you to really get this.
I want you to hear it.
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I'll say it again.
Rejoice.
Why does he say it that way?
Why does he say,
I'll say it again?
Because of how important it is.
But let me ask you,
what do we have to rejoice in?
As believers in Christ,
what do we have to rejoice in?
And how does it impact our demeanor
or our outlook upon life?
Well,
let's think about it for a moment.
As believers or children of God,
we have been set free from the penalty of sin
and we have been set free from the punishment of sin.
And we have a relationship with Jesus Christ
who promises,
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
And then when we start really thinking about who we are in Christ,
it doesn't matter what else is going on around us.
It's who we are in Christ
and who Christ is that causes us to rejoice.
Years ago,
I had a gentleman,
he had a,
it was kind of like a calendar thing that he made,
but it had different,
the different names of God
and what they meant.
And I thought,
I started using those in my daily prayer life
of thinking each day or each week,
one of those aspects of God
and who he is.
You know,
sometimes we get focused upon
what has God done for me lately,
but rather we should really start thinking about
who God is.
And when we really focus on who God is
and that we have a relationship with him,
that we're a child of God,
that causes us to rejoice
no matter what else is going on around us
because nothing can take away
your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Nothing can take away
that you're a child of God,
you've been set free from the penalty of sin,
you've been set free from the punishment of sin,
and he promises that he will always be with us
and never leave us nor forsake us.
Is that something to get excited about?
Amen?
Is that something to rejoice about?
Now when we think about that
and we rejoice,
how does that change your outlook on life?
How does that change the circumstances around you
and how you see them?
When we stay focused on who God is
and what he has done for us
and who we are in Christ
and we can rejoice,
it makes all those other trivial things in our life
slide to the background
and it gives us an uplifted, encouraging spirit
and it also helps the peace of God
rule and reign in our hearts.
When we start thinking about all the things
that are going on in the world,
we think about all the political things
and the division in our nation
and it can worry us to death.
But when we take our eyes off of that
and we spend time,
rejoice in the Lord always.
Rejoice!
And stay focused on who God is,
what he has done for us,
and who we are in Christ.
It changes the whole perspective on life.
And we can stop worrying
about the things that are going on in life
and think about how God is a sovereign God
and he is in control.
Now, a few years ago,
Jim and I were in Peru
and normally we stay in what's the IMB guest house.
Many of you have stayed there.
But that year the guest house was full
and so we weren't going to be able to stay there.
But they had an apartment,
the International Mission Board had an apartment
where some of the missionaries had gone home
and they told us we could stay there
which was actually much nicer than the guest house
and we enjoyed it.
But while I was there,
I noticed in the hallway
there was a bulletin board.
And I don't know if the parents,
homeschooling their kids,
because they were full,
whoever was there was full-time missionaries
and whether they gave them the assignment
to write out who you are in Christ
and all the things Scripture tells us
about who we are and how we relate to Christ.
And I was really impressed.
It was handwritten.
So I wasn't going to sit there and recopy it,
you know, modern day thinking.
I just took a picture of it with my cell phone.
But then I came back and I typed it up.
And it may not be something you can see,
but it took three PowerPoint slides
and a full page of all the Scriptures
that tells us I'm accepted in Christ,
I'm secured in Christ,
and I'm significant in Christ.
I've got sheets up at the front on both sides
that I would encourage you to consider picking up
and looking at these.
And even maybe take one a day
and read it, meditate on it,
include it in your prayer life,
thank God for it,
and really focus on who we are in Christ.
Because when we focus on that,
that causes us to stand before God
and rejoice and worship Him and celebrate Him
and helps us to understand how valuable we are
because God said we're valuable.
Now those of you who still have children at home
or you have grandchildren,
I would especially encourage you to pick this up
and pass it on to them
because I've noticed as I've raised my children
that the world tries to tear them down.
It tries to belittle them and put them down
and, you know, just squash any self-confidence
or any self-image that they have.
And with my girls,
I try to encourage them to know who they are in Christ,
not who some other kid says they are
or what the world tries to do in them,
but their value comes in who God says they are
and the value that God has placed upon them.
But that's true for us adults too.
You know, we need to have a self-image of ourselves
in who God says we are
and the value and the worth that He has placed upon us.
So I encourage you to pick those up,
copy that before you leave.
Now, after Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always,
he then goes on to give us a two-step process
of not allowing worry to overwhelm us
or to allow the peace of God to rule and reign in our heart.
But before I give you those two steps,
I want to mention,
Paul is writing to Christians.
He's assuming that his individuals that are reading this
are born-again believers in Christ.
Because if you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ,
you're not going to find that peace in your heart and your mind.
No matter where you look,
you may find glimpses or you may have moments of contentment.
But overall, throughout your life,
you're not going to have that peace that goes beyond understanding.
And one of the things that really worries me today
is I get out and I meet individuals,
you know, even church-going people.
I realize that there's a belief system
that has somehow invaded our society
that if people are a good person,
if they attend church even casually,
or maybe their names are on the row,
or sometimes they've even been baptized,
they believe that they are a child of God.
But that's not the teaching of the Word of God, is it?
You know, the Word of God teaches
that we've surrendered our lives to Him
and we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Just because we attend church
or just because we're a good person
doesn't mean we're a born-again believer in Christ.
And so today, if you do not have a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ,
I would encourage you to think about that
and speak to me either after the service
or sometime come back and speak to Pastor Fred
when he's back from vacation
or to someone, a spiritual leader that you know
that could speak to you about that.
Because I really do think
that there are a lot of people in society today
that really are going to be shocked
when they enter into eternity
because they think they were a good person
and they did good deeds.
And they maybe even attended church some,
but they did not have a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ.
And it's going to be too late for them
when they find that out.
And so I would encourage you
to really contemplate in your own heart,
in your own life,
what are you trusting in for your salvation?
Is it a relationship with Jesus Christ
or the fact that you just come and come to church?
But Paul is writing the Philippians.
And the Philippians had every reason
to be discouraged, to be anxious,
or to be worrisome.
You know, they were suffering severe persecution
because of their faith in Christ.
They were facing disunity and disturbances
within the church.
They had false leaders who had followed up Paul
and come into the church
and was trying to tear down the gospel message.
And some were struggling
with the very necessities of life.
You know, they were facing and struggling
with about everything
that we possibly could imagine
that they were up against.
But Paul wanted them to know
that despite those circumstances
and despite those difficulties
and hardships,
that they could have the peace of God
in their hearts
and in their minds.
That no matter what's going on around us,
when we have that relationship with Christ,
we can have peace of heart
and peace of mind
and we can sleep well at night
and we can go through our days
without worrying.
And let me share with you
this two-step process
that Paul gives us here.
The first, he says,
is to tell God what you need.
Go to God in prayer
and tell God what you need.
Now, another trend that I've seen
in a lot of individuals' prayer lives today
is that we treat God like Santa Claus.
And we go to God and say,
give me this,
do this for me,
give me that.
And it's a lot of want
more than needs.
And that's not what Paul
is really talking about here.
He's talking about
present to God your needs.
Not only physical,
but spiritual
and other needs
that you may have
in your life.
But go to God
and share those things
that you need
in your life.
There may be things
that you're struggling with
mentally or emotionally.
There may be physical things
that you have need.
But learn to take those
to God
and present them to you.
Now, have you ever noticed
that you've done that?
You've taken the time
and you've gone to God
and you share
and then you start worrying
even more
than what you were beforehand.
And you wonder,
why did I even pray
to begin with?
Because all it did
is make me think more
about my problems
than before.
I found myself doing that.
And it's made me wonder,
should I have even
spent the time in prayer?
But then I realized
what I was doing.
I was not going to God
and giving those concerns to Him.
I was just telling Him
about them.
And then I was trying
to hold on to them
and keep them for myself
and then try to handle them.
And I just worry even more
because it becomes
more apparent
that I can't handle
these things on my own.
but I'm trying my best
and it just makes me worry.
But when we really go to God
and we give these things to Him,
it's like 1 Peter 5, 7.
Peter tells us
to cast all your burdens
upon the Lord
because He cares for you.
Now what do we do
when we cast something?
You do it like you've got those,
you've seen people
have something on a string
and they throw it out
but then it comes right back.
Or when you cast something,
do you turn loose of it?
It says,
cast all your burdens
upon the Lord
for He cares for you.
So the principle
or the truth
in Philippians here
is when we go to God
and we give Him
our worries
and our concerns
and our burdens,
we turn loose of them
and we give them to Him
and then here's
the real key.
This is the key.
We trust God.
We trust God
to take care of those things
in His way
even when it may not be our way,
even when we don't like
the way He does it.
It may bring pain
into our lives.
It may bring discomfort
into our lives.
It may bring
even more struggles
in our lives.
But we know God
is a God of love
who cares for His children.
He cares for us.
He has a perfect plan
and will for our lives
and He is sovereign
and He can handle
and take care
of the things
that go on
in our lives.
And so the real key
is do we trust God?
Do we really trust Him
with our lives
and our circumstances
even when it's not
the same will or plan
as what we want?
You see,
sometimes we pray
and we're like,
I don't even know
if I want to ask God this
because I want it my way
and I don't think God
will want it the way
I want it
and I want it my way.
But we've got to learn
to trust God
and His will
for our lives.
Do you really trust Him today?
Do you really know
He cares for you?
He loves you?
He can handle
your problems.
He can handle
your worries
and your concerns.
He can handle
the things
that are going on
on the world scene.
He can handle
global warming
or the political division
in our land.
Can we give those
to Him,
turn loose of them
and trust Him?
Because when we do,
guess what?
What does the Word of God say?
Not what Jeff says.
This isn't a feel-good
motivational speech today.
What does God's Word tell us?
The peace of God
which is beyond
human understanding
will rule and reign
in our hearts
and our minds.
Now imagine,
have you met people
that go through life
and you could just
look at them
and tell
they don't have a worry
in the world.
They're confident,
they're just optimistic,
upbeat, positive.
You've met people
like that
and you wonder,
what do they not know
that I know?
Or what makes them
so confident?
What makes them
have so much peace?
They don't know
what's going on
with the United States
and Russia.
They don't know
what's going on
with China.
I mean,
did they not know
what's going on
with global warming?
I mean,
we could run around
and be frantic
about the things
that are going on
in our world
but when people see
you have peace
in your heart
and in your mind,
a peace that is
beyond human reason,
they're going to want
to know
how you have that peace.
This week I had
a lady call me.
She's not a member
of this church,
doesn't attend here
but I've met her
through a community
Bible study
she just wanted
me to pray for her
because she was
just diagnosed
with stomach cancer.
She said it's
stomach cancer
that has no cure
for it.
But she wanted
me to pray for her
but bottom line
she wanted
her cancer
and her life
to bring glory
to the Lord.
She wanted
this experience
to be a witness
to God
and she was
trusting
the Lord
in this situation
no matter
what else
happened.
You know
when we trust
God
when we really
really grow
to trust
God
and I'm not
saying by the way
that I'm there yet.
I'm not saying
I never worry
I'm still growing
like the rest
of us
but when we
get to that point
where we're growing
and we learn
to trust God
more
and more
that even
in times
when our world
is crumbling
around us
even in those
moments
when the doctor
has given us
bad news
or we've
been laid off
from our job
or marriage
is not going
well
we can trust
that God
has a will
and a plan
for our lives
and we can trust
that He's working
to bring about
His will.
He may be
molding
and shaping us
for future service.
He may be
removing things
out of our lives
that we need
removed
so that we
look more
like Christ
and He's
preparing us
for the things
that He has
in our lives
but when we
trust Him
then that's
when the peace
of God
will rule
and reign
in our hearts
and then the next
thing He says
is to thank Him
He says
with thanksgiving
you know
when we lift
our burdens
or cast our
burdens
upon Christ
and we give
it to Him
then we can
thank Him
for it
because we know
that He's going
to be working
to bring about
His will
and James 1.6
tells us
that if we pray
but doubt
then we shouldn't
expect anything
from the Lord
and so when we
give it to the Lord
and we really
have a thankful
spirit
we're showing
evidence
that we're
trusting God
that He's going
to answer
our prayers
in a manner
that He wills
not necessarily
ours
so when we
pray
you know
we need to
follow that up
with thanking
God in advance
thank you Lord
in advance
for I know
that you're going
to hear me
and you're going
to respond
years ago
I was struggling
because I knew
someone with cancer
and I had never
seen God heal
anyone miraculously
with cancer
before
you know
terminal cancer
and so I
asked a gentleman
how do I
really pray
and trust
that God
is going
to answer
you know
I wanted
to have faith
but I wanted
to believe
that God
would answer
in the manner
in which I was
praying
and he told me
your faith
isn't in that
God will do
what you ask
your faith
is in God
your faith
is that God
is in control
and that
he is a
sovereign God
and will bring
about his purposes
and his will
and as Christians
even if we have
a terminal illness
and we're facing
death
we know we can
trust God
we can trust
him
knowing that
if our life
does end
we will spend
eternity
in heaven
with him
and our goal
is that
our life
and our death
would bring
glory and honor
to him
and that people
would see God
in us
in whatever
God allows
into our lives
now look with me
quickly at verse
8 and 9
finally brothers
whatever is true
whatever is noble
whatever is right
whatever is pure
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 into practice
and the God
of peace
the God
of peace
will be
with you
next to trusting
God's plans
for our lives
learning to keep
our mind
focused upon
that which is holy
that which is pure
that which is true
and worthy of praise
may be one of the
hardest things
that we learn
to do
we live in a world
where negative news
sells
doesn't it
bad news
sells
and so it's really hard
because everywhere
around us
we're getting all
this negative
news
negative messages
negative stories
you know
all this negative
all the time
and it's hard
for us
to keep
our minds
focused
on that
which is pure
that which is holy
that which is good
that which is
admirable
and so how do we
do that
well I've had
to turn the TV
off in the mornings
and not watch
the morning news
because
the morning news
is filled with
everything negative
and bad
you can find
I used to love
getting up in the morning
and after my prayer
and Bible study
I'd like to eat breakfast
and watch
a few minutes
of the news
I'm a headlines guy
I don't read long stories
I read headlines
bam
and I'd watch
headline news
or I'd watch
a few minutes
of one of the local
news channels
and be on my way
but I found
I have to quit
doing that
because everything
on there
is negative
everything
especially
the CNN
and Fox News
both of them
are always focused
on what's
wrong
or what's
you know
not right
about
this group
or that group
or our nation
or something
and so
I decided
I don't need
that in my life
anymore
I may still
read some headlines
but
occasionally
watch a little bit
of the news
just so I know
what's going on
in the world
but I don't
spend much time
with it at all
and focus more
on spending time
with God
in the morning
spend time
in the word of God
I also like
to listen
to music
in the mornings
and play
messages
that are getting
in my head
and starting
my day off
focused on
God
focused upon
who he is
focused upon
his word
his promises
and his truths
and get my day
started right
and then throughout
the day
we need to make
sure we're feeding
our mind
with positive things
so how do we do
that?
for me
it's music
you know
I like to listen
to Christian music
for those of you
who are irritated
at people playing
Christmas music
I've already started
playing Christmas music
I want those
positive messages
in my mind
positive thoughts
in my head
and keep me going
throughout the day
for you it may be
something different
for you it may be
taking a walk
in nature
it may be
memorizing scripture
and reciting
scripture
throughout the day
it may be
something different
for you
but we need to find
what is it going to
take to get us
to cut the negative
demoralizing
depressing messages
out of our mind
and feed our mind
with that which is holy
that which is true
that which is pure
and that which is
good
and when you find
yourself drifting
into worry
or negativity
and getting away
from focused
on God
just stop
you know
most of us
have spent a lifetime
probably having
the wrong thought
processes
and it takes time
years
maybe the rest
of our lives
to try to reprogram
how we think
and so
when we find
ourselves
thinking wrong
stop
make a conscious
decision
that I'm not
going to think
like that
and get back
to the Lord
baby stop
and pray
and ask God
to help us
to stop worrying
about all these
things
or stop being
anxious about
all the stuff
that's going on
or stop just
having negative
thought processes
and refocus
upon the Lord
that's where
scripture memorization
is really handy
because we can
quote a scripture
we can remind
ourselves of things
that God's word
says contrary
to the words
of the world
and get ourselves
focused back
on the Lord
or for me again
it's Christian music
because it refocused
my mind
and my attention
upon the Lord
and we focus
upon who God
is
what he's done
what he's capable
of doing
rather than to focus
upon the things
we're worried about
you know years ago
my last church
my secretary
had a little thing
little picture
it was a cartoon
but it said
instead of telling
God how big
your storm is
why don't you
tell the storm
how big your God
is
and we have to
focus and rechange
the way we think
to stay focused
upon God
and when
we do these things
when we
really trust God
we go to God
when we find
ourselves worrying
go to God
pray about everything
instead of worrying
pray about it
give it to God
trust God
and thank him
in advance
for what he's
going to do
and the word of God
not Jeff
the word of God
tells us what
the peace of God
which is beyond
human understanding
will rule
and reign
in our hearts
and our minds
let's go to the Lord
in prayer
Father we thank you
we praise you
for your word
and your truth
and your message
we thank you
for it today Lord
and we ask
that you forgive us
where we've spent
time worrying
where we spend
time doubting
and I pray Lord
that you help us
to continue
to grow
in our ability
to trust you
to believe in you
and to give
our burdens
and our concerns
to you
and trust you
that you're going
to work in them
to accomplish
your purpose
and your will
and we thank you
for that in Jesus name
amen
I'm going to ask
the musicians
I guess William
to play quietly
and you continue
to pray
and if I can pray
with you this morning
I'd be glad
to do so
and if I can pray