TLP 73: The First Promise | Peaceful Parenting, Part 5

Please believe there is hope for peace in your parenting. Just like we work out our physical muscles, by prayer and practice you can work out your spiritual muscles as well.

The Ministry’s Purpose and the Promise of Peace

Welcome to Truth. Love. Parent. Where we use God's Word to become intentional, premeditated parents. Here's your host, AM Brewster.

Welcome friends. Did you know that peace is not a natural consequence of being a Christian? If that were so, no Christian would ever be afraid or depressed. But peace is a conditional promise offered to every Christian.

All we have to do is do our part. Of course, we can never accomplish anything Christ honoring without His power, so in the end, God is asking us to do things we can only do through Him to have peace only He can provide.

And it really is a win-win for us. But more on that in a minute. If you haven't taken a gander at our Patreon page, I encourage you to do so. We have a number of our ministry goals listed there, and I think you may be excited to see them.

We love recording these podcasts, but we want to accomplish so much more for your family. We want to write books and produce videos and make programs that will equip your family to glorify God. Please click on the Support TLP link in the description to see our plans and check out how you can be a part of helping us accomplish them.

The First Peace Promise in Philippians 4:7

Alright, so today we're going to look at the first peace promise in Philippians. I hope you're excited, and we're also going to see how that can affect our parenting. And don't forget that a transcript of today's show and free downloadable episode notes will be available at TruthLoveParent .com right on our blog called Taking Back the Family.

Alright, to start, let's remind ourselves of the three peace prerequisites we've studied so far. Number one, find your complete and utter joy in nothing and no one else other than God and His truth. Don't let a job, spouse, team, grade, child, hobby, song, food, or house be your goal.

Make God and His glory your preeminent mission in life. This means His word and the work He has for you must be more important than your fleeting fancies. Two, be gentle, gracious, and loving to all men.

Men may call you their enemy because they side with sin, but no man should ever consider you unloving. Peace with the antagonistic, unity with the brethren, and truth and love to all men should be our aim.

Know that God provides power to accomplish this by His indwelling Spirit and that He may return at any moment and wants to find us serving Him. And three, never be anxious for anything. Instead of dwelling on the problems and fretting over the outcome, allow your thoughts to turn to God, His promises, and His throne.

Bow before Him in humble submission, casting your care on Him with a thankful heart that He is using these circumstances to work in you and bring Him glory. When you accomplish all of this with Christ's power, for Christ's glory, the result is and will always be peace.

And here is the first peace promise from Philippians 4. It's found in verse 7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. What an amazing promise!

Let's break this down. Number one, what does He promise us? Well, peace. This is what we've been desiring. This is the balm that we've all wanted to salve our parenting wounds. This is the missing element that turns home life from a frenzy of panic and anguish to an enjoyable wash of confident soul rest.

But it's not just peace. It's God's peace. This is the peace that only God can give. In His farewell benediction, Jesus calmed His disciples by telling them to be at peace. But then He told them, peace I leave with you.

My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor let it be fearful. The world cannot afford this peace. There is no psychiatrist, medication, book, relationship, or job that can rest our souls as God's peace can.

The divine, all-powerful God of the universe has everything necessary to provide you exactly the amount and kind of peace you need, and nothing else can do that. But it's not just God's peace. It's incomprehensible peace from God.

As I mentioned in the introduction to this study, this peace cannot truly be explained in words man can understand because it defies man's ability to grasp it. The word understanding comprises basically the whole of man's ability to know and understand.

Well, this peace surpasses that. It isn't until you're in the midst of suffering and you bring your life and responses parallel with the peace prerequisites that it dawns on you that though it doesn't make any sense at all, you are perfectly at peace with the situation.

Those around you will likely look at you in astonishment because they literally will not be able to understand how you're so calm. And only those who have experienced this peace before will knowingly nod and thank God for the work He's doing in your heart.

But it's not just incomprehensible peace from God. It's heart-guarding peace. The Greek word for heart in this passage technically refers to the organ in the chest, and though less stress would probably protect your heart from the threat of a heart attack, the biblical implication is far greater.

The word guard here is a military term that gives us the picture of an internal garrison led by the Holy Spirit Himself. No principality or power stands a chance when coming to blows with the military strength of God's spiritual protection.

But what is this idea of the heart? Well, this Greek word appears 150 times in the New Testament. The heart may be best defined as the seat of the soul. It's not merely mental machinations. It's our inmost desires that grow from our beliefs and influence our mind, actions, and emotions.

This is the part of us that God's peace guards. But it's not just a heart-guarding, incomprehensible peace from God. It's also mind-protecting. The same fortress of protection afforded the center of our soul will also extend to our minds.

This word refers simply to our thoughts. This makes sense because it's our desires breed our thoughts, so a peaceful seed will yield a peaceful plant. We need not worry about nightmares or daytime phantasms or pessimism or complaining or evil plans when we're being bastioned by God and His truth.

But this peace is not merely a mind and soul guarding incomprehensible peace from God Himself. Number six, it's empowered by Christ. The center of our peace command, the very hub of operations, is none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

He is the one who personally guarantees our soul protection. He is the one who will wrap His hands around our heart and mind. He's the one who pours forth this peace that doesn't make sense to us. He's the author and finisher of our peace.

Wow, wow, wow, wow. If you're not wowing with me, you need to wake up and and reevaluate your relationship with God. This is amazing. This is the kind of peace that puts anxiety to flight, anger to rest, and sadness to death.

This is the peace that offers a cool head and a clear mind to answer the tough questions with God's wisdom. This is the peace that perplexes the lost individual and makes them wonder what we have that he doesn't have.

This is the peace that preaches. This is the peace that we've been waiting for. This is the peace we need. And this isn't the only peace promise we'll be seeing from this passage. Okay, so let's take the last few minutes here and get practical.

Practical Applications of God’s Peace in Parenting

This Christ-empowered, mind-guarding, heart-garrisoning, incomprehensible divine peace will be able to sustain you during financial difficulties that threaten to change your family's standard of living.

This Messiah-led, mind-protecting, self-sustaining, understanding, surpassing peace of God will provide rest for your soul even in the midst of an attack from your terrorist child. And this God-sustained, thought preserving, desire-defining, mind-blowing, supernatural peace will guard you when your fall ill.

And here's the kicker. If in your financial struggles, kids' rebellion, and health issues you don't experience the sole rest of God, it's because you are not living out the three peace prerequisites in your life.

You're not fulfilling your responsibility to God by genuinely delighting in Him. Or you're not fulfilling your responsibility to others by allowing the love of God to pour out of your life into the family members around you.

Or you're not fulfilling responsibility to yourself by turning over your anxiety to God in exchange for His thanksgiving. You must not blame your struggles for your lack of peace. It's not your kids' fault.

It's not your husband's or your wife's fault. It's not the fault of any social, political, economic, or cultural pressures. Your lack of peace is on you. But please believe there is hope. Just like we work out our physical muscles, by prayer and practice, you can work out your muscles as well.

And stick with us for a couple more shows because Paul isn't done with the list of peace prerequisites, and he's definitely not done with the peace promises either. Join us next time as we study the final peace prerequisite, which really is a significant list within a list.

For if we do not meet the requirements, we cannot have this divine sole garrison of incomprehensible peace. And remember that God is the master of change. He can do it in your kid's life, your spouse's life, and your life too.

Truth. Love. Parent. is part of the Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional premeditated parent. Join us next time as we search God's Word for the truth your family needs today.

I'm Dr. David J. Laird.