WORDS TO LIVE BY

During the past few months, I keep hearing some sermons/reflections on  one set of Bible passages that are familiar to me and probably are to you as well.  At last I am penning thoughts on them as they are great words to live by!

In true God moment fashion, for a third time confirmation, the one day I turned on our Christian radio station, just as there was a part of the passage once again!  It went like this….”Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  –Philippians 4:6

 

Photo courtesy of fln.org

 

What a wonderful, encouraging verse the Lord had penned for us along with the ones right before and after.  The text I want to share goes like this:

 

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 for 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 it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.  –Philippians 4:4-9  (NIV)

 

 

These verses are so rich in meaning that I think it is beneficial to take a few minutes to stop and really reflect on what each verse is saying and how it can guide us to live moment by moment–noticing particular words for added emphasis.

 

  

What is Paul telling us we should be doing no matter how we might be feeling?

REJOICING in the Lord!

A google dictionary search defines rejoice as “feel or show great joy or delight.”

If we use those thoughts in the verse we get, “Feel or show great joy or delight in the Lord always. I will say it again:  Feel or show great joy or delight!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near; He is always with you.”

Even if we are feeling down or sad we need to turn our hearts toward rejoicing!

 

When does Paul say we should be rejoicing?

ALWAYS!

What?  Not only when something goes our way?  Not only when we are happy?  No….No…No!

ALWAYS!

That means even when everything seems to be going wrong; even when we do not feel like it!!

 

What should be radiating from our daily lives?

GENTLENESS!

Looking up synonyms for gentleness yields words like kindness, tenderness, softness of action.

Our gentleness should be evident to all we encounter!

 

 

 

The Google definition for the word anxious is – experiencing worry, unease or nervousness.

Let’s reword the first part of the verse….”Do not be experiencing worry, unease or nervousness for anything!”

 

What did Paul say we should be anxious about?

NOTHING!

How cool is it if we really lived that way?

To live day by day not being anxious about anything?  Something we definitely need to keep striving to do I  believe.

 

What does Paul tell us to do instead of putting our energy into being anxious?

PRESENT OUR REQUESTS TO GOD!

 

How do we present our requests to God?

PRAYING and PETITIONING!

With this we should be showering Him with THANKSGIVING!

 

How often should we be doing this?

ALL THE TIME In EVERYTHING we do!

 

Think about these two statements….

-Anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces!   Praying chases anxiety away!

–The antidote to worry is thanksgiving, along with prayer and petition!  If we are busy being thankful, there is no time to worry!

 

 

 

What does Paul say is the biggest benefit and  biggest gift of living the above way? 

GOD’S PEACE!

Isn’t God’s peace, the INNER TRANQUILITY we have knowing God is in charge no matter what, the most amazing peace?

 

Is it easy to understand God’s peace?

NO!

God’s peace surpasses all understanding…we cannot even wrap our human mind around this!

It is something we can experience though if we tap into Him.

 

What will God’s peace guard in our lives?

OUR HEARTS AND MINDS!

 

Yes, God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus.

His peace will guide all we do, say and think.

What peace we have when we give our concerns over to the Lord.  Living daily like that is a powerful way to live!

 

 

 

What should we be thinking most about in our lives as we live moment by moment?

Whatever is TRUE, NOBLE, RIGHT, PURE, LOVELY, and ADMIRABLE.

Anything that is EXCELLENT or PRAISEWORTHY!

Paul knew the influence of one’s thoughts and the importance of dwelling on the heavenly things.

What we allow occupy our mind will sooner or later come out in speech and action~

 

 

What does Paul say to do with the things he has just shared?

PUT THEM INTO PRACTICE!

 

We must not only THINK on the things in life that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy, but put them into PRACTICE following the example that Paul lived out.

Living this way will result in a life of moral and spiritual excellence~~something we can all do!

 

 

This week, I encourage you to put into practice, little by little,  these verses if you feel you are not currently doing so.

Maybe try living out one verse for a few days and then progress to the next one.

 

 

As I was penning these thoughts, I saw God’s perfect timing to make me smile and be thankful once again.

This was in our church bulletin today which I thought fit perfectly with these thoughts:

“Worry and anxiety can consume our lives preventing us from seeing the love which surrounds us and binds us to one another. Don’t miss the forest for the trees.  We are living today what we worried about yesterday.”

 

 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  –John 14:27  (NIV)