Philippians 4:1-9

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. ² Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. ³ And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. ⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon ⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. ⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ⁹ Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

After talking about our position in Christ Paul now reminds us of the power of:

2. Praise

This second key to acquiring divine peace is found in proclaiming praise even in the problems. You see peace is not the absence of problems but the presence of God. In verse 4 Paul tells us to rejoice and to thank God for all that He has done, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” The problem with worry and fear is that because it becomes our focus we lose sight of God’s faithfulness. When that happens we fail to count our blessings because we fail to see or acknowledge how good our God has already been to us. There is a stanza in the great hymn Amazing Grace that reminds us of His faithfulness: “Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come. Tis grace that has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.” When was the last time that you reflected upon how God has faithfully brought you down the path of your past and to the present? When was the last time you thanked Him for His past care? What are the many dangers, toils and snares that He has delivered you from? What if right now you took time to tally up all those times the Father has faithfully and lovingly led you thus far?  But, don’t stop at thanking God for His past provisions, blessings and deliverance. We need to thank Him for our present blessings as well as our past ones. When we intentionally celebrate in the Lord, we invite his presence and comfort into our lives. No matter how distressing or difficult our current circumstances or situation, we have a Savior that will never leave us or forsake us. You see despite the difficulties we can still experience His Divine blessings because no matter what problems we face we can still experience His presence. The third peace prescription is one we often overlook, be:

3. Polite

Verse 5 says, “Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.” So much of our people problems and lack of peace come because we are not considerate. Instead of being considerate and reflecting Christ by putting the needs of others ahead of our own we can be carless and even callused. The world doesn’t need another critical, condemning Christian, they need the love of the Lord. So, let me ask you, are you being Jesus or being a jerk to the people around you? Are you redeeming the time or just being rude and running over people? Sadly, we have become a selfish society that looks out for self instead of looking for ways to serve. The basic manners of please and thankyou have become a thing of the past. So, in your everyday interactions with people are you polite? Are you courteous or careless? In order to be considerate I have to put the focus on others, which means I have to take the focus of off self. When I make it about me it’s not long before I get mean, but when I make it about the Master it becomes about His mercy and looking for ways to minister and share the Lord’s love. The fourth prescription for peace is a:

4. Proper Perspective

Verse 5 reminds us of the reality of Christ’s return, “Remember, the Lord is coming.” Sometimes we act as if this world is all there is and so instead of living for the Lord we get wrapped up in life. But focusing on the big picture protects us from being petty or getting wrapped up in the problems. The truth is you can’t focus on Christ and the crisis, either you will get caught up in His power or caught up in the problems. Paul reminds us to stand on the foundation of our faith not on our feelings by reminding us of the facts, Christ is in control and as the King He is coming. Our hope is not in our health or our wealth it is in Jesus. While we don’t know what tomorrow holds we do know who holds tomorrow. We don’t have to fear the future when our faith is in the Father and our focus is on His Son. The return of Jesus is the rock we hook our hope to. Are you anchored to the author of life or caught up in the chaos of life? The promise of His return is the hope that prop up our hearts and keeps them from collapsing. But like most things in life, you have a choice to make. Either you can patiently establish your heart in the promise of Christ’s coming. Or you can take your eyes off Jesus and put them on the junk. Many of us have an absence of peace and an abundance of panic because we have lost perspective. We have taken our eyes of off the Savior and put them on the struggles. So how are you doing, is your perspective one of praise or pouting, are you being caring and considerate or callused?

John 15:5-11

⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. ⁹ “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

After being reminded of the first joy builder, recognize you are loved by the Lord and the first joy buster, unresolved conflict, we now come to the last two Joy builders and busters:

• Builder #2 Rest in your Relationship with Jesus not in your results – Vs 5-6

This is not just listening to His words of love but living in them. On the last night of His life, facing the cross, Jesus chose to talk about joy. The writer of Hebrews looking back at this writes these words in Hebrews 12:2; “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross and scorned its shame.” You may ask “How can there be any joy in a cross?” but first we need to ask the question, “How can we experience that kind of joy?” because it is this answer that answers the first. So how can we experience this kind of joy? First, we need to respond and rely on His relationship. In John 15:5-6 Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire & burned.” Believers are branches that bear fruit only when they are attached to Jesus the vine. This is where the joy begins, when we have accepted and are attached to the Almighty. Joy is an evidence of the presence of God in our life. If God is in your life, if you are filled with the Spirit of God, then the fruit of the Spirit, joy, will be obvious and overflow. Is your joy an overflowing river or has it been reduced to a trickle? Are you doing life with the Lord or are you a loner? Are you attached to the vine or relying on self-sufficiency?  This brings us to joy buster number 2:

• Buster #2 Unconfessed sin

This joy buster is perhaps responsible for chasing more joy out of lives than any other. Guilt will gut you and sin will suffocated your joy faster than anything else. Something David understood when he tried to ignore the promptings of the Spirit calling him out over his sin. But when he confessed his sin God was faithful to forgive and the suffering of unconfessed sin was replaced with joy. Psalm 32 recalls both his repentance and restoration, “¹ Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! ² Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! ³ When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. ⁴ Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude ⁵ Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” The third joy builder is:

• Builder #3 Remain in His Love – Vs 9

It’s not just about being attached to the vine so that we can obtain but so that we can be obey. First, we need to be secured to the Savior and second, we need to give ourselves in service for others. One of the biggest problems in our world today is that we have become so self-centered that we no longer experience the joy of serving others. We were saved to serve not be selfish. How can there be any joy in a cross? Why did the writer of Hebrews call the cross an object of joy for Jesus, because Jesus didn’t do it for Himself, He did it for us. Have you lost the joy of service, has your joy become dulled by duty instead of delight? There is a difference between obedience and obligation, it’s the difference between being relationship directed and results driven. Joy is not found in selfishness but in service as we obediently share the Savior with others. In Acts 16 we find Paul and Silas being stripped, severely beaten and thrown in prison for proclaiming Jesus. Their response to persecution was to praise, instead of whining they worshiped and sang songs. Joy is not held captive by our circumstances but transcends our troubles, as Nehemiah said “… the Joy of the Lord is your strength” Nehemiah 8:10. The result of this rejoicing was an earthquake that broke their chains but instead of fleeing and saving themselves they stayed and served by proclaiming the Gospel to their jailer who was saved from his sin. What about you is your response to pain and problems one of rejoicing? If your eyes are on Jesus your response will be one of praise but if it’s on the junk it will be one of protest.

• Buster #3 Unsatisfied expectations

Many of us are dying from the disease of discontentment. The spirit of discontentment will dismantle your joy. But in Philippians 4:12 Paul reveals the secrete to contentment in all circumstances. Philippians 4:12: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” I find it interesting to note that Paul calls contentment a “secret.” There’s a mystery about it. Paul also had to “learn” how to live with unsatisfied expectations. Contentment doesn’t come when we have everything we want but when we want everything we have. What about you what roof have you positioned your chair under, are you sitting under the roof of happiness that is dependent on your happenings or under joy that is tied to Jesus? Genuine joy is not anchored in the calm harbor of happy circumstances but in Christ our heavenly harbor who walks over the waves of worry and silences the storms of this life. Right now, I want to encourage you to take some time to talk to God and give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to do some pruning in your life. I want you to ask Him to sift your heart and show you if there is an unresolved conflict, unconfessed sin, or unsatisfied expectations.  To not only acknowledge them but confess and repent of them. No matter where you are at in the journey if you have Jesus you can have joy.