Dave Hart Having Peace Of Mind by Bobby K. Thompson "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7). This beautiful passage speaks of the peace of God keeping hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Peace of mind is something which is very valuable and it is something that we should fervently desire. God would have His people to have peace of mind and He reveals in His word how it may be derived. Many people who are seeking to have peace of mind, fail to realize that the formula is found in God’s word. They dwell upon the wisdom of men and follow mystical meditations to bring them peace. The prophet wrote: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3). There is nothing that can take the place of trusting in the Lord. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6). As one reads the word of God, he confronts some essential factors in having peace if mind. Let’s think about some of these essentials: Knowledge of God’s Forgiveness. God promises forgiveness to those who obey the gospel of Christ. When one believes in Christ, repents of his sins, confesses the name of Christ, and is baptized for the remission of sins, he has God’s promise that his sins are forgiven. (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10). "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God;" (Romans 8:16). Our being saved and becoming children of God is based upon our following the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and our spirit witnessing that we have done so. We are to trust God that we are forgiven. "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, said the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." (Hebrews 10:16-18). Knowledge of forgiveness is essential to our having peace of mind. We need to believe what God says and never let doubt rule our lives! But in connection with forgiveness of sins, there is something else which is very essential. Having been forgiven of God, we need to forgive ourselves. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God! There are things in our lives of which we are definitely ashamed, but by the grace of God, we have been forgiven, and we need to forgive ourselves. Think of what Saul of Taurus did in persecuting the church. He was forgiven by the Lord, as he obeyed the gospel of Christ. (Acts 22:16). He went on to live faithful in Christ and not let his past defeat his rejoicing in Christ. However, there are those who are not faithful in forgiving themselves of their sinful deeds. This keeps them from having peace of mind! Even though they have obeyed the Lord’s will and have promise of forgiveness, they permit their past life to torment them. I am familiar with a very tragic scenario which was brought on by a young person failing to forgive herself. She leaped from a high building and took her life. She had been guilty of immorality and though confessing her sins, she seemed to never be able to forgive herself of what she had done. According to the testimony of her close friends, she lacked peace of mind and the lack of it produced such a tragedy! We need to do God’s will in being forgiven and then we need to forgive ourselves. This is the trust that we are to have in God that peace of mind may be ours. An Acceptance of Self. The parable of the talents conveys that all in the kingdom of heaven do not have the same abilities. "For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey." (Matthew 25:14-15). Though all did not have the same abilities, they all were to respond to the abilities which they possessed. We should accept what abilities we have and be content to use them. It is possible for individuals to fret and be unhappy because they can not do some things which others do. There is a place for all of us and there are things we can do which others, who we might favor, can not do. We all have a certain amount of importance which should not be overlooked. Having peace of mind involves accepting our self and the abilities which we have. Several years ago, I attended a concert with several brethren. The musician was greatly applauded with several encores. One of those in our company made his living in building construction. In evaluating the situation, he remarked that he would like to see that entertainer lay out the foundation of a building. No doubt he appreciated what the entertainer could do, but he was aware of things which he would be lost in trying to accomplish. This brings back to our consideration, the acceptance of self. There are things we can not do, but we should be thankful for what we can do, and have peace of mind in fulfilling our mission. "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14). Having Peace Of Mind #2 by Bobby K. Thompson “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7). Having peace of mind does not come by accident or chance. We must work to possess the essential characteristics that are necessary for having the peace God would have us to have. The passage introducing this subject very definitely makes this most obvious. When conditions arise which might be calculated to cause us to be filled with worry and anxiety, we are to prayerfully make our requests known unto God. “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” So many crave having peace of mind, but they are not ready to follow God’s directions in obtaining it. Such tranquility comes by our obeying what God says and following His directions. So many expect God to lay it out for us on a platter, without any effort on our part. It just doesn’t work that way! We have already mentioned two essentials in having peace of mind. They were knowledge of God’s forgiveness and acceptance of self. There are still other essentials which are just as important. We need to: Have an interest in others. A selfish, self centered life will find extreme difficulty in having peace of mind. Perhaps this thought was in the mind of the apostle when he said: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:3-5). The words “other and others” play a part in these beautiful verses, and they also play a great part in our having peace of mind. Selfishness and unconcern for no one but self can produce misery rather than peace of mind. The elder son lacked peace of mind when he was envious of the attention being given to his younger brother, who had come to himself and returned to his father’s house. “Me, myself and I” may produce various goals in life, but when do they guarantee peace of mind? “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” (Romans 12:15). This command can never be obeyed without having interest in others. “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2). Christ has His law, and a part of fulfilling it, involves our bearing one another’s burdens. Living life a day at a time. Worrying and fretting are opponents of peace of mind. When the apostle wrote, “Be careful for nothing”, he was aware of what anxiety could do to our peace of mind. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 (KJV), Jesus spoke of not taking thought. This is the archaic expression for worry and anxiety. The chapter is concluded with these words: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:34). Isn’t this saying that we should live life a day at a time? We do not know what another day will produce. “Go to now, ye that say, Today or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” (James 4:13-15). We do not know what another day will bring. We do not know that another day will exist. When we live each day in keeping with the will of God, we are doing what we can to take care of what
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 16:08:11 +0000
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