The God Of Peace Will Be With You
The words, "and the God of peace will be with you," stood out to me today while reading Philippians 4. In fact, they leaped off the page...
“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, NKJV)
The words, “and the God of peace will be with you,” stood out to me while reading Philippians 4. In fact, they leaped off the page as if God was telling me to hold these words in my heart today, they are important. The more I meditated on the words the deeper it became. At once I was swimming in a pool that seemed to be as bottomless as the ocean. Why would words like, the God of peace will be with you, be so important to me? Why would I need to hold them tight and not let them go? Why would I need to seek the Lord for what they would mean to me?
First, of course, if the God of peace will be with me, to say these words are important is an understatement. Is there anything more valuable in life than the God of peace being with us? This part was obvious. I want peace. I want God. The two combined are the greatest I could ever hope for on earth and into eternity. But there was something deeper still.
I have read these words over and over again. I have been taught them and have taught them myself several times. The God of peace will be with you. But think about the profundity of the statement. What are we looking for in life? Why do we seek to fill our lives with pleasure or comfort at any cost? We are looking for peace. Why does a man who is successful at high levels of professions or politics risk it all by committing adultery with a woman at the office or whom he met at a bar? Why would he get drunk on the weekends and party until he is sick? He is looking for peace. Why would a woman who has worked her entire life to be a teacher or an entrepreneur get involved with a married man or become a tyrant at the office or become disenfranchised in her marriage? She is looking for peace. We seek pleasure because momentarily, we get released from the chaos in our lives. Why would a man spend the day working hard at his job, only to come home at night, drink one beer after another until he is drunk and passes out only to repeat it night after night? Why would he look at pornography seeking pleasure without commitment and release without romance? He is looking for peace. Why would a woman spend countless hours on social media talking to other men or read romance novels rather than spending time with her husband? She is looking for peace.
To each of these, Paul says, and the God of peace will be with you. You are seeking peace, and the God of peace will be with you. He does not say, “and the God of peace MIGHT be with you.” He says, “and the God of peace WILL be with you.” You are looking for peace in all the wrong places. Those places will bring some pleasure. They will give momentary peace. (Hebrews 11:24–26) But it never lasts. Then it will take a few more beers, another woman, more hours watching porn to obtain the same amount of peace as before. These are peddlers who throw out the bait and switch it at the last moment. They lead you along and make you swim a little further out to get the prize until you are in so deep, you cannot find a way out. You were promised peace, but now, you have nothing but turmoil.
If we cannot find peace in pleasure, where can it be found?
Paul said, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do…” The question is, “What things?” That is where we can find the God of peace. That is where He will be with us. Verse 8 reads:
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8, NKJV)
I don’t want to make this long for the sake of being long, so I won’t go into too much detail here, but there are eight things mentioned. Eight in Four Eight. Paul was brief on purpose. He wanted the Philippians to search to see what these were. I’ll follow his example here. Take each “thing” and write down other things that fit into that category. I’ll write one for each as an example:
TRUE - Jesus said He was “the way, the TRUTH and the life.” Jesus is the truth. I should meditate on Jesus.
NOBLE - This is having or showing high moral principles and ideals. Therefore, I should be thinking about things that are also of high moral principles of ideas like the word of God, meditating on the scriptures or upon the life of Jesus.
JUST - Doing what is morally right. If I am wanting the God of peace to be with me, I must stop meditating on the things which are morally corrupt, and on the things which are morally right. Jesus is morally right. (Getting the picture here?)
PURE - Something pure is without external contamination. What we put into our minds will settle into our hearts. What our eyes see, and our ears hear can defile our soul. Therefore, meditating on things that are uncontaminated by the world or sin will lead us to the God of peace. Jesus is pure.
LOVELY - the ancient Greek word, προσφιλῆ, means to be pleasing or agreeable. We should meditate on things that are pleasing and agreeable, not on the argumentative things of the world that lead to nothing but more disagreements and no peace. That is where the God of peace is. Jesus is lovely.
OF A GOOD REPORT - a good report, to me, is a good testimony. Listening to someone tell of the great things that God has done in their lives or in the lives of others is inspiring. The Gospel itself is the good report of what God has done to reconcile the world to Himself. What better place to find the God of peace?
ANY VIRTUE - High moral standards. If there are any high moral standards… it is interesting that this is almost a question. Do these high standards exist? If so, meditate on them. There is no one of greater virtue than Jesus.
ANYTHING PRAISEWORTHY - this is coupled with virtue. If there is anything virtuous or praiseworthy. Does something rise to the universal level of being an example of good and honorable? Think about that. Jesus is praiseworthy.
Again, I was very simplistic with these thoughts. Come up with your own. Get a dictionary. Look up the words. Use different ones than I did. Use an example or two. Apply these things to your life.
In order for us to find the peace that we need, we must live in these eight “things.” We must meditate on them, but that is not enough. It is not enough to ponder something. That pondering must turn into productivity. That meditation must transform into movement. We are looking for peace. We have been trying everything under the sun in an attempt to find it, but it has been elusive. The more you try to fill the emptiness, the greater it becomes. However, if you would like to know that “the God of peace will be with you,” it must begin with surrender to Christ in a relationship with Him. Since He is the way, the truth, and the life, (John 14:6) and He literally is our peace (Ephesians 2:14) we can expect no peace without Him. So, if you do not know Jesus and you are reading this, please stop what you are doing and pray:
Jesus, thank you for what you did for me in dying on the cross for my sins. Yes, I am a sinner and I acknowledge you as my Savior. I give you my life in exchange for Your peace. Take my turmoil. Take my efforts at filling the emptiness inside and fill me with your Holy Spirit. Forgive me. Empower me to stay in your presence and to know you. Thank you for your grace. Thank you that you have made me a child of God. I believe you have the power to transform my life so that the God of peace will be with me. By your authority — your name, Jesus, amen.
WELCOME to the family of God!
But I also recognize that Christ confessing Christians can also fall into the pit of looking for peace in all sorts of pleasures rather than in God Himself, you, too, believer can also pray. Pray and act. Confess that sin of idolatry—looking for peace everywhere but God—and take the action of thinking on the EIGHT FOUR EIGHT. Then do them. Put them into practice every day without fail. Write down new ways to meditate on these things.
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