Devotions

“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” (Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV).

When I reread this passage recently, I was struck by something I had never seen before. Paul instructed us to stop worrying, go to God with prayer and supplication, and thank him. However, he never said anything about being guaranteed answers. Paul said nothing about receiving a word of direction, deliverance, miracles or healing. Instead, he said we receive something better: a gift of the peace of God.

In other words, God’s first answer to our every prayer and heart-cry is his peace. All praying people have this one thing in common: No matter how bad they feel going into their secret closet of prayer, they come out filled with his peace. God has limited himself to his own government. This is known as the providence of God. He does things here and there, preparing people’s hearts and orchestrating events; but until his providence works out the answer to your prayer, he says, “I am going to give you not what you think you need but what I know you need: peace of mind and heart.”

Many of us wrestle with the Lord in prayer. We petition him with crying and tears; we pound heaven’s gates; we claim every promise. As the days, weeks and months go by, we begin to wonder, “Why won’t you answer, Lord? What is blocking my prayer? What have I done to grieve or displease you?”

The fact is that God already has said to us, “Here is my peace that passes all understanding! Take it, and let it rule in your heart while I work out all things for your good.” We are to be kept in God’s peace and let it guard our hearts and minds until his promise is worked out by the Holy Spirit.

Hold on to his peace, and let it rule and reign in your heart!

What would you want to see God do if, within the next three weeks of your life, he accomplished something miraculous and life altering?

Let’s look at a moment when God did this in Paul’s travels. “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:1-2, ESV). Paul was only in this city for three weeks and only spoke three times before persecution forced him to flee.

I wonder if Paul, Silas and Timothy thought, “If only we could’ve been there longer, God really could’ve moved. It was too short a time for God to really start a powerful church in that city; three weeks just isn’t enough.”

If we look at history, though, Paul probably wrote his letter to the Thessalonian church about six months later, and he said, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). This is incredible! The Holy Spirit was so present, powerful and alive that within just three Sabbaths, miracles took place and a godly, influential church arose. These believers were only six months old in the Lord, and they had already become a testimony to all of Macedonia (see 1 Thessalonians 1:7).

That's a great encouragement to me. How about you, my friends? Does it encourage you to say, “If these young believers can so grasp the Word of God in six months, what if I allowed the Spirit to revive my heart in the same way? What if I was stirred once again to say, ‘God, let me devour your Word’”?

Oh, may God give us a hunger to wake up early in the morning and not just go through the motions of reading our Bibles! May we pray, “God, I want to be someone who loves your Word. I want to be someone who’s consumed with knowing you more intimately. I want to be someone who is growing in understanding and discernment about your commands. I want to be someone who breaks the scriptures open daily and eats of it and gets life from it.”

You need self-control with credit cards. Are they a good thing and a convenience? Yeah, they can be. Can they also get you into a lot of trouble? Oh yeah. What’s the difference between those two things? Self-control.

I once counseled someone who had zero self-control and got every credit card known to man. Forget just Amex, Visa, Mastercard, the big ones; they had credit cards that I’d never even heard of before. They qualified for a card; they got it. They ended up thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt, spread out over many credit cards. Every month, to keep afloat, they would pay $25 on each card or whatever the bare minimum was. The interest on those cards, though, was gouging them. They were going nowhere because of their lack of self-control.

Maybe you don’t struggle to have self-control with your credit cards, but the problem of self-control exists in some way for all of us.

Haven’t you ever heard the Holy Spirit say to you, “Don’t join in that conversation. That is not a good one…”? Next thing you know, this is coming out of your mouth: “Yeah, well, you know what my opinion of her is?” We all struggle with self-control in some area.   

Look at this command for believers. “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness…” (2 Peter 1:4-6, NIV). We all struggle in many ways, but we have to be steadfast in our work of maturing. We have to endure and not let ourselves be worn down by the pressure of hard times.

_{Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.}

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:15, NKJV).

This verse contains an incredible command. God calls the body of Christ to let his peace govern our hearts, minds and bodies. The peace of God is to be the arbitrator and governor of our lives. If there was ever a time this call needed to be sounded, it is today in this hour of turmoil and confusion.

Why did the Lord command the early church to let his peace rule in their lives? Because he knew what was coming, and he wanted to prepare them. In just a few years, incredible turmoil would come upon them. They would be tortured and persecuted; they would face hard times, loss of homes, confiscation of their possessions, even attacks from vicious men who thought they were doing God a favor by killing them. God was warning them, “You must be grounded in my peace because it alone will see you through the incredible changes ahead.”

“The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).

Today, there is a false peace sweeping through many churches; it is the peace of sin-blinded Christians. Moses called such believers “self-blessed,” meaning self-deceived. He warned Israel that a curse would come upon all wicked, disobedient children of God. He essentially said they would plaster over their sinful ways with a false sense of peace. “When he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I walk in the imagination of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober” (Deuteronomy 29:19).

Moses was describing the child of God who finds a cozy doctrine that tells him he is all right, still saved and heaven-bound while continuing in his sin. He says to himself, “I will do as I please and still not lose the peace in my heart.”

No matter what happens to the nations of the world, no power in hell can rob you of the peace of God which Jesus Christ implants in your soul. God will have his people governed by peace. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15).

When I searched my reference books and found ways to “cure” unbelief, none of them touched me. So I asked God for something simple, and he gave me two thoughts on how I can rid my heart of unbelief.

First, lay hold upon every worry, fear and burden. Take them all to Jesus and leave them on his shoulders. “Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7, NKJV). This is God’s personal invitation to you. “Put it all on me! Do not carry it one hour longer. I care about everything that is happening to you, and I am big enough to take it all for you.”

Aren’t you thankful that God is never overloaded? His shoulders can carry every care. He urges us to give it all to him. “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain you; he shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22). Go down your list right now. “God, I give you all of these. Take this burden, that relationship, that problem.” Be fully convinced that he cares!

Second, launch out in full faith on the written word of God. Take up the Lord’s challenge to live by his word. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). You must be able to say, “I’m going to live and die by God’s word to me.”

How is it that we can trust God’s word for our eternal salvation but not for our daily needs and problems? We can believe him for the hardest part. Why is it harder for us to believe for help, guidance and power over sin? “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24). God promised this to you, so let him take on the burden of keeping you.

Go to the Lord and challenge his Word. Tell him you are going to stake your life on it. Show him you trust his every word and be blessed!