October 19, 2007

"Be anxious for nothing but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil. 4: 6, 7 KJV

I generally prefer the King James version of the Bible because it is what I have grown up with and the language I am familiar with. However, I've learned in recent years that other translations of some verses lend a depth of understanding to certain passages, making them clearer and easier to make application.

The above verse is very clear as it is written.

Be anxious for NOTHING. You can't get much clearer than that! NOTHING should worry us or disturb us if we belong to Jesus. With thankful hearts for KNOWING Him, we can make our requests of Him regarding any situation we find ourself in. And that is exactly where we are to leave it....with Him, trusting that this God who loves us will take care of it.

Now I KNOW that, but living it is another matter! So I have read and re-read that verse in several translations that I would like to share with you:

The Amplified Bible says "Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing NOTHING from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort it is....THAT peace] which transcends all understanding shall GARRISON AND MOUNT GUARD over your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

The last portion of Verse 7 just paints a picture, doesn't it?! So does the Holman Christian Standard translation: " And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Do you get the picture? Our minds are a battleground. Satan does everything he possibly can to rob us of our peace. We face a daily onslaught of thoughts and images and worries and fears in the minefield of our minds. Yet God tells us how to defeat him. We are to bring each of those worries, concerns and fears and lay them at His feet....lay them out in intricate detail and then LEAVE THEM THERE! We are to trust that HE is big enough to handle whatever it is that is troubling us. We are to be thankful that He loves us enough and cares about us enough to handle it. And...IF we will do that, He will then station guards around our mind and our heart to shoot down the enemy each time it attempts to breach the wall.

Paul put it this way:


"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal, BUT [rather] they are mighty through GOD to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and BRINGING CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST!" I Cor. 10: 3-5 KJV

"For though we walk [live] in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds [inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and everything that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ." HCSB

God has given us a formula for living a life characterized by peace. It is not his will for us to worry and fret and be anxious about ANYTHING! (Can you tell I'm preaching to MYSELF!?) Today I encourage you to join me in defeating the enemy by bringing every negative, fearful, anxious, worrisome thought to the Lord and allowing Him to take it captive. Then we can rest in the peace He will provide as He sets up His army around our mind and heart.