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Verse by Verse Devotional on Philippians by Pastor Jack #240

June 12, 2015 | by: Jack Lash | 0 comments

Posted in: Philippians

The God of Peace

4:9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The God of peace will be with you. What a pregnant statement! If there is one thing in this life worth pursuing it is having the God of peace with you. If you have this, you have everything.

Peace

The Biblical idea of peace is somewhat different than the English notion of peace. We think of peace as the opposite of war, as tranquility, as absence of trouble. But the Biblical concept of peace (which comes from the Hebrew word SHALOM) is much much bigger. It means wholeness, well-being, fullness, happiness, prosperity, abundant life. It refers to life the way it was meant to be lived.

The God of Peace

This SHALOM is not something that men can find themselves, much less produce. The living God is the source of all life. He is the One who can produce SHALOM. He is the only one. If any man is going to find this SHALOM, he is going to get it from God, who is the God of peace, the God of SHALOM.

We all long for wholeness, well-being, fullness, happiness, prosperity, and abundant life. Most folks spend their lives trying to acquire these things and never do. It is because they are looking in all the wrong places. The God of SHALOM is not with them.

The God of Peace Will Be With You

Imagine if you could have the source of all life and blessing and prosperity going alongside you through life to make sure that Your life was always full, that every good thing happened to you and to protect you from all harm. That’s what Paul is talking about here when he says "the God of peace will be with you." It is possible to have the almighty God intent on blessing you and protecting you from every harmful thing.

"Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. " (Ps.91:3-7)

"No harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent." (Ps.91:10-13)

How Do I Get There?

This verse tells us that it’s possible to have the God of SHALOM going with you through life. But how does one go about getting God to do this? Paul answers that question here as well. He says, if you practice the things he has taught (which have been the subject of his whole letter), then the God of peace will be with you. In other words, if you live according to the pattern of Paul, which he got from Jesus (1Cor.11:1), then God will commit Himself to blessing your life abundantly, both now and through eternity.

This is not done easily, of course. But the same God who is there to bless us abundantly is also there to help us live a Christ-like life. And for anyone who understands the SHALOM that God gives, there is simply no other way to live.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (Psalm 23:6)

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!’" (Ps.91:1-2)

O my Jesus, prince of SHALOM, in You alone is all blessing and wellness and fullness and richness of life. For I was made to be satisfied in You, Lord. I know You delight in me most when I am most satisfied in You. Fill me with Your Spirit that I might live according to the pattern of Christ and His apostles. The apostles were men just like me, weak and sinful. But Your power transformed them into models of Christ-like living and they became the richest and most blessed men on the face of the earth, though they were despised and opposed by many. Do in me what You did in them, dear Father, that I might know Your SHALOM.

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