Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard: The Way to Live

"(4) Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice. (5) Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. (6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanks giving, let you requests be made known to God; (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:4-7. NKJV

There had been some type of dispute between two workers of Paul's, Euodia and Syntyche, but Paul was not going to takes sides or let it become so bad that it split the church there. There will always be disputes wherever God's work becomes great. The devil doesn't want the good news of Jesus Christ spreading around, so he will try to drive a wedge between leading people and also split churches. Sooner that take a side, he addressed the matter with these words in verses 4-7.

We should always rejoice in the Lord. Paul felt this so important that he repeated himself - 'Again I will say rejoice.' (1) As we know, the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Paul encourages the church to do this always because then God's strength becomes greater within us.

In verse 5, Paul says, 'Let your gentleness be known to all men'. One only has to look at Jesus to get an idea of the meaning of gentleness. Take for example the way He dealt with the woman who had been caught in adultery - a sin at the time, which was punishable by stoning. (John 8:1-11. After He had spoken with the men who had cast her to the floor in front of Him, and dispersed them, He looked at this poor frightened woman and said, 'Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, 'No one Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.' Pure Heavenly gentleness, and this is how God wishes us to be, to one another.

Paul says in verse 6, 'Be anxious for nothing.' This is not a request but a command. Jesus also gave us the command not to worry in Matthew 6 and this is how we are to live. If we are anxious, our prayers are going to be weak. But as we rejoice and stand in the righteousness that Jesus has given us, we become more than conquerors. (Romans 8:37).

God knows what you need. All it takes is to praise Him and get lost in the joy of His love for us and present our needs to Him. He will then give us a peace that is
amazing. He doesn't want us worrying, no, He wants to fight our battles for us and He will give us a peace that the world could never have. It's a peace that will stop our minds from fretting; a peace that will ensure that our heart is sound and restful.

So refuse to be frightened or full of anxiety. Jesus is right beside you. All you have to do is turn to Him and present all your anxieties to Him. He'll take care of them. You are free to rejoice and rejoice a bit more. You're more than a conqueror!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard