In our previous post, we promised to consider Paul’s meditation advice in greater detail. In his next verse, Philippians 4.9, Paul gives us the sequence. You read the word of God, meditate on it, and practice what you learned. The next thing you know, God Himself, the God of peace comes into your life.
Now, I appreciate that having God living right in us might seem like too much God to some believers. But that is precisely what 1 Corinthians 3.16 calls us to become, the temple of God, where God lives. Nonetheless, you cannot become a temple of God unless you walk in the law of the Lord after reading and meditating on it. Gladly, as soon as you start housing God, the Almighty starts speaking with your mouth.
People will then say that you speak as an oracle of God. It is another way of saying you decree a thing and that thing is established. Are you housing the God of Peace? Am I housing the Almighty? You answer for yourself and I provide my answer. Nobody can answer for you, not even your mother. But we must remember that God weighs the heart and knows those who are His.
Transparency Is Required
We have to be transparent with God, where we broke off to see how the God of peace will live in us. Anytime I think of transparency, I remember the woman at the Sychar Well. Her story is the highest example of transparency that I know. You might remember the story in the fourth chapter of John. She had had five husbands and had given up hope of staying married. This time, she merely shacked up with man number six.
When Jesus asked her to get her husband, she told Him the naked truth. As a result of that transparency, she received the God of Peace and became an evangelist. The Bible does not say she decreed anything but it would not surprise me. I often wonder if I could be like her if my past were so dirty. But enough on that. May God help us with transparency so that the God of peace will be comfortable in our lives. Amen.
The God of Peace Is Gracious
Please do not hear me saying that the only way to know about God is to take all those steps. No, we were saved by grace, not by keeping the works of the Law. The thief on the cross did not have time for meditation, yet he made it into heaven. Our God is gracious and we see that in the verse before Paul’s meditation advice. Even before you start meditating on, and practicing the word of God, you get Philippians 4.7. That is where you have the peace of God that passes all understanding. All you need at that stage is to cease from anxiety and bring your requests to God, with thanksgiving.
I smiled as I wrote that last phrase because I had spent most of today praying about a problem I was going through. But I was praying with a whole lot of anxiety – will God do it or will He not do it? It was not until a half-hour ago that I caught myself and added thanksgiving. Instantly, our gracious God gave me peace but I regretted the hours I had spent praying amiss, as we hear James saying in his epistle. When our gracious God came to my aid, it no longer mattered whether what I wanted happened or not. I had God
You may be better than that, and I congratulate you. But how many of us can pray without anxiety? How many of us thank God for that delay or headache? Again, it is a question you alone can answer. No Pastor can answer it for you because your thoughts might be chaotic even as you pray the right words. Regardless, because the God of peace is kind, he still gives us His peace, as He did for me today.
You Have A Choice
Have you noticed how we always have a choice with God? That is because God created us with free will and if He took it from us, God would be violating His word. He would never do that since He respects His word more than His name. It is the devil that seeks to control us and take away our free will.
That situation is known as demon possession. May we never lose our free will in Jesus’ name. Joshua used his free will to choose to serve the Lord after he laid out the three options to the Israelites. So you have a choice. You can stay with the peace of God, or you can move forward into the God of peace. I know my choice but as you can see, I do not do it perfectly.
In our next post, we shall examine the powerful double promise of the God of Peace. He graciously promised us success and prosperity if we meditate on, and practice His word. As a reminder, Joshua 1.8 says “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
You have to love God! He gives believers two promises in this one sentence.
Maranatha!
