<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Philippians 4;4-7<div><br></div><div><b>4. &nbsp;Rejoice in the Lord always; &nbsp;again I will say, Rejoice.</b></div><div><b>5. &nbsp;Let all men know your forbearance. &nbsp;The Lord is at hand.</b></div><div><b>6. &nbsp;Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.</b></div><div><b>7. &nbsp;And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Paul commands us to <i>“Rejoice, <u>in the Lord</u>&nbsp;always.” &nbsp;</i>Our joy comes from being in Christ, not from wealth, worldly power, the admiration and praise of men, health, physical peace, nice sunny&nbsp;warm weather or gentle soft rains or starry&nbsp;nights or cloudless skies, or checking off all the items on our ‘bucket list’, not even independence and freedom; all these things we can give thanks for but they are not the source of true joy.</div><div><br></div><div>If our joy comes from being “<i>in the Lord</i>,” then, we have a joy which worldly adversities, sufferings, sicknesses, persecutions, hatred, and slander cannot diminish or deprive us. &nbsp;Therefore, Paul adds, <i>“always”. &nbsp;</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>Being in Christ means we always have the Father’s pleasure and his promise that in <u>everything</u>&nbsp;God is working good for His children, even the difficult, <span>painful, and sorrowful things.</span></div><div><br></div><div>To have <i>“forbearance” </i>means to refrain from reacting to provocation. &nbsp;It is the wisdom of waiting.&nbsp; To&nbsp;<i>“rejoice in the Lord,” </i>is a discipline and habit of mature Believers who walk by faith and not by sight.&nbsp;<i></i></div><div>To say, “<i>the Lord is at hand,” </i>is saying, ‘be patient, the One who rightly judges the world, who will vindicate his people, and will forever condemn all evil to depart into outer darkness, is near and will come again at the right time.’</div><div><br></div><div> &nbsp;Judgement belongs to God. &nbsp;When Believers give in to temptation and react with anger, fear, or condemnation, even if it is only in the&nbsp;privacy of their own hearts,&nbsp;they have lost, <i>“the peace of God.”</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>“The peace of God” </i>is given into every forgiven Believer’s heart. &nbsp;It is the humility of Christ making us content to trust God’s goodness working in everything. &nbsp;It is how we remain <i>“children of God.” </i>(see, John1;12). To give in to provocations with anger, fear, or doubt,&nbsp;is to accuse God of not doing his job properly. &nbsp;It is evidence of carnal spiritual immaturity,&nbsp;it is sin which we must&nbsp;repent of, confess, and receive again true forgiveness which restores <i>“the peace of God” </i>within our hearts. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The <i>“peace of God” </i>is a spiritual indicator, like a green light telling us we may safely move forward.</div><div>To lack God’s peace, to be upset, agitated, troubled, discontent, irritated, frustrated, resentful,&nbsp;and angry&nbsp;are all huge, bright red warning&nbsp;signals to ‘STOP,’ &nbsp;and come back into Christ by giving thanks and yes, “<i>rejoice in the Lord.” &nbsp;</i>He is always and only ever doing good. &nbsp;We who are in Christ must surrender our sinful expectations and desires for worldly peace. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>If we are on earth and&nbsp;in Christ, we are in a war zone, hated, and called to suffer with our Lord. &nbsp;Let your suffering comfort your heart, by it you may know&nbsp;you are still in Christ, and at war with your enemies, the devil, this world, and your own flesh.</div><div><br></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, bless me to abide in Christ, ever rejoicing in him and in his own&nbsp;unworldly peace.</div><div>In Jesus we pray, Amen</div><div><br></div><div>Love,</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</div><div><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Philippians 4;4-7
4.  Rejoice in the Lord always;  again I will say, Rejoice.5.  Let all men know your forbearance.  The Lord is at hand.6.  Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.7.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Paul commands us to “Rejoice, in the Lord always.”  Our joy comes from being in Christ, not from wealth, worldly power, the admiration and praise of men, health, physical peace, nice sunny warm weather or gentle soft rains or starry nights or cloudless skies, or checking off all the items on our ‘bucket list’, not even independence and freedom; all these things we can give thanks for but they are not the source of true joy.
If our joy comes from being “in the Lord,” then, we have a joy which worldly adversities, sufferings, sicknesses, persecutions, hatred, and slander cannot diminish or deprive us.  Therefore, Paul adds, “always”.  
Being in Christ means we always have the Father’s pleasure and his promise that in everything God is working good for His children, even the difficult, painful, and sorrowful things.
To have “forbearance” means to refrain from reacting to provocation.  It is the wisdom of waiting.  To “rejoice in the Lord,” is a discipline and habit of mature Believers who walk by faith and not by sight. To say, “the Lord is at hand,” is saying, ‘be patient, the One who rightly judges the world, who will vindicate his people, and will forever condemn all evil to depart into outer darkness, is near and will come again at the right time.’
  Judgement belongs to God.  When Believers give in to temptation and react with anger, fear, or condemnation, even if it is only in the privacy of their own hearts, they have lost, “the peace of God.”
“The peace of God” is given into every forgiven Believer’s heart.  It is the humility of Christ making us content to trust God’s goodness working in everything.  It is how we remain “children of God.” (see, John1;12). To give in to provocations with anger, fear, or doubt, is to accuse God of not doing his job properly.  It is evidence of carnal spiritual immaturity, it is sin which we must repent of, confess, and receive again true forgiveness which restores “the peace of God” within our hearts.  
The “peace of God” is a spiritual indicator, like a green light telling us we may safely move forward.To lack God’s peace, to be upset, agitated, troubled, discontent, irritated, frustrated, resentful, and angry are all huge, bright red warning signals to ‘STOP,’  and come back into Christ by giving thanks and yes, “rejoice in the Lord.”  He is always and only ever doing good.  We who are in Christ must surrender our sinful expectations and desires for worldly peace.  
If we are on earth and in Christ, we are in a war zone, hated, and called to suffer with our Lord.  Let your suffering comfort your heart, by it you may know you are still in Christ, and at war with your enemies, the devil, this world, and your own flesh.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, bless me to abide in Christ, ever rejoicing in him and in his own unworldly peace.In Jesus we pray, Amen
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”
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