God is an abundant God Who wants His kids living life to the full, whole, peaceful and prosperous (John 10:10, 3 John 1:2). He wants us walking in fullness and peace. He accomplished everything necessary to make that an experiential reality. But so many of us are very aware of lack, brokenness and emptiness!
So, what is our part in walking in fullness and peace?
I am glad that you asked.
Experiencing Peace
To experience God’s fullness and peace we need to be renewed with what God is saying and allow Him to help us stay aligned with His perspective on things. And He is with us to help us all the way (John 15:5).
Philippians 4:6-9(TPT) says:
6 Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, 7 then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ.[h] 8 So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God,[i] praising him always. 9 Follow the example of all that we have imparted to you and the God of peace will be with you in all things.
Philippians 4:7 – As translated from the Aramaic. The Greek is “guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:8 – The Aramaic can be translated “acts of glorification.”
Let’s unpack this dynamic word.
First of all, in verse 6 we are admonished to not be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Now if Jesus said this through Paul, we can DO this. God does not tease or toy with His kids.
Let’s continue in verse 6 and unpack the keys to going about staying on the narrow path and walking in peace. As we do so, let’s look at this with fresh eyes so we can actually be inspired and empowered.
Key #1: Saturated in God
The first key in Philippians 4: 6a is to be saturated in prayer throughout each day.
If this sounds like another thing on your “to-do” list, you’ve missed the point. Prayer is about relationship. Prayer is about communing, talking with, and simply enjoying God. This GIVES you energy as He is the Source of all good things! As you develop this, He ignites faith so that your requests can overflow with gratitude, because you know He is the “Divine Yes” and you can say “amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Key #2: God is in the Details:
The next key (Philippians 4: 6b) is simple and continues from key #1. Tell God every detail of your life. God is wild about you and if you care about something, He cares about it! Intimacy flows from the place where the details matter, because you matter.
So many people feel that God is too holy or busy with “important things” to be bothered with their concerns. But God shares His holiness with us so we can be holy too and share in communion with Him. The truth about intimacy is that it can only really happen between two equals. I unpack this revolutionary concept – the scandal of the gospel – in my previous blog series: Intimacy and Equality Parts 1 and 2. You’ll want to check that out if you missed it!
God is all about His kids. And as you experience His heart in the details, you fall more in love with Him, and will become more confident in Him caring for you. Experiencing God’s fullness and peace are supernatural results of that. You are abiding in the vine and bearing much fruit (John 15:5).
Key #3: Think on the Positive and Possibility
Our thoughts tend to wander…. “squirrel”!
But as we practice being in the Presence of God by abiding in His vine, we bear much fruit. One fruit is the fruit of self-control. Self-control helps us manage our thought life. This is important because how we think is how we will experience life.
What are we to fix our thoughts upon?
Philippians 4:8a instructs us to continually fix our thoughts on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind.
What can we do if our minds end up worrying or wandering?
First of all, don’t berate yourself. There is no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1). You will go in the direction you focus. If you focus on failure and sin you will struggle with more failure and sin.
Simply acknowledge you got off track from whatever is true and gently, kindly bring your thoughts back to practice focusing. You will get better with practice!
Key #4: Meditate on God’s Works
Focusing on God’s works magnifies the works He wants to release in your life. We focus on God’s works by praising Him always (Philippians 4:8b).
God does not need to be reminded of how amazing He is – He is not insecure. But WE need to remind ourselves how huge, lovely, gracious and merciful He is. Then, faith is stirred up for huge, lovely, gracious, merciful and miraculous things in our lives!
By the way, the same strategy to bring back our thoughts when they turn negative works here. When you pray or practice the presence of God or praise Him and you wander off, acknowledge it and gently, kindly bring your focus back. There is nothing or nobody more authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind than God Himself!
Practice pays off big time.
Step 5: Follow Godly Examples
We all need mentors and models. Thank God for godly parents and mentors, if you have had them. We also have the internet, which makes this more and more available, if you were not blessed this way!
If you don’t have them, believe for godly models and mentors and don’t be rigid with what that looks like. Often, they are right in our midst and we are not seeing or discounting them. They may be younger than you or even pre-believers! There is so much glory of God on all humanity that we can learn from everyone if we have eyes to see and are humble enough to do so.
Mentors and models are so good because some things are better caught than taught. How does someone respond when ugly things happen? If it is not with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23), that is an example of what NOT to do.
Watch people who DO manifest fruit that you want. Study how they respond. Ask them how they handle … if you can.
Then practice doing the same in your flavor. Often there is a small saying we can say to ourselves when we lose focus or are tempted to lose our peace.
One saying could be, “Ooops – I got off track, let me gently get my focus back!” or something that sounds more like you.
Another saying could also be, “Wow that’s nuts (deep breath)! I can do this – it’s going to be OK” or something similar.
These “self-sayings” have really worked for me.
Manifested Fullness and Peace
Practicing these keys brings about God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding. When we are at peace we can discern the answers we need (Philippians 4:7). Not only that, we can connect with God, Who lords over peace, and our union with Him in all things (Philippians 4:7).
We all need help to focus on the right things and stay focused. You are one with The Helper and He loves His job! In a cosmically explosive nutshell, God is Love (1 John 4:8, 16) and Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8a). And He won’t for you!
I trust this has been a practical blessing! Let me know your journey with this, I’d love to hear!
XO,
Catherine
So what are the words you don’t understand?