As we come to the end of this little series - well, there may be one more post that will be closely related! - may I remind you that a true Biblical Christian is one who enjoys a Presence, and who forms a practice. But such a person also trusts a promise.
The brief passage from Paul's letter to the Philippian believers with which we started, reads: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (4:4-7).
That final sentence speaks to us of the adequacy the Christ brings. Peace is, among other things, having adequate resources. If we are to know peace with regard to our finances, must have income that covers expenditure. That’s why, in periods of financial depression/recession so many have lost, not only material assets, but also peace. And that was the point made by Charles Dickens, through his character Mr Micawber. “Annual income twenty shillings; annual expenditure nineteen shillings and sixpence – result, happiness. Annual income twenty shillings; annual expenditure twenty shillings and sixpence – result, misery!”
It’s a basic
financial truth that politicians ought to understand, particularly those who
are charged with being Chancellor of the Exchequer. But this basic financial truth is no less true
in the spiritual realm. There must be
adequate resources in our lives. But His very presence with us assures us of
all that we need. He brings us pardon
for sin; power to resist temptation.
Gives us “Life with a capital L” to use the title of a book by the late
Lyndsay Glegg; “life in all its fullness” (Jn10:10), to use the words of
Jesus Himself.
“I can do all things” Paul shouts out a few sentences later (v13), “through Christ Who strengthens me” or, we might put it “through Christ Who gives me adequate resources.” We can meet everything that life throws at us if He is beside us through the adequacy Christ brings, and the anxiety He stills.
As we pray; as
we share everything with Him, and realise that He is able, so our anxious
hearts are stilled and quietened, and we truly know that “peace that is
beyond human understanding” (v7); peace that is so precious that man’s
mind, with all of its skill, and knowledge, and understanding, can never
contrive it, or find it, or manufacture it.
It’s a peace that is only of God’s giving. And the promise is that that peace “will
keep constant guard over our hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.”
(v.7)
What is a
Christian? Someone who
Enjoys a
Presence – even the presence of the Lord Jesus;
Forms a practice
– of sharing everything with Him, in prayer and praise;
Trusts a promise
– that He can provide all that is needful, and can still our hearts even in the
midst of the fiercest storm.
It is wonderful, isn’t it, being a disciple of Jesus, a Christian in the Biblical sense? If don’t recognise yourself in what we’ve shared, then please speak with someone whom you recognise as being a true disciple of the Lord Jesus. I, too, will be happy to assist anyone who asks. If you do recognise yourself, then let’s show the real thing to those with whom we come in contact in our daily lives. And to our great God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we’ll give all of the glory.
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