Captivating Day 7 Truth, Grace, And Winsomeness: Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions
1) Are we literally to rejoice ALWAYS in ALL THINGS?
2) How do we reach that state of continuous rejoicing?
3) How does dwelling on truth bring about peace?
Philippians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Original Intent
1) Are we literally to rejoice ALWAYS in ALL THINGS?
In verses 4 and 5, Paul the apostle addresses the Philippian church with a stirring call to rejoice in the Lord. He doesn’t give this command lightly as he himself pens the letter while imprisoned, knowing his own death was coming. Paul also realized the church he was sending this command to “rejoice always” was facing severe persecution for their faith.
Yet Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, set before the church of Philippi two qualities of the Christian life.
First, joy. “Rejoice, and again I say, REJOICE.” As Christ’s followers, we know there are dangers, toils, and snares, but when we walk in the counsel of Christ and in the oneness we share with Him through His Spirit, we can most emphatically REJOICE in the ONE who saves us. Theologian, William Barclay states, “Christian joy is independent of all things on earth because it has its source in the continual presence of Christ.” As Christians, we can NEVER lose our JOY because we can NEVER lose Christ. There will always be tears, sorrow, and troubles, but deep joy can be our constant because of Who God is!
Second, graciousness. In the context of verse 5, graciousness is “the spirit of willingness to yield under a trial”. (Barclay) L.H. Marshall adds that graciousness is “having an attitude of being charitable towards men’s faults and merciful in judgement.” This may have seemed impossible to the Philippians suffering persecution, but the previous verse is a reminder that graciousness is the “outshining of joy in the Lord”. (Michaelis)
Trials themselves provide the believer the opportunity for the Lord to shine brilliantly through us as we choose to rejoice in Who our God is, regardless of our circumstances. He will always be the indwelling, forever with us, abundantly loving God!
2) How do we reach that state of continuous rejoicing?
Prayer. This is the answer, or the “go to” if you will, providing the conduit for rejoicing to be unleashed in the heart and life of the believer. Through prayer, every Christian across the timeline of history has access to guidance, encouragement, and intimacy with the God of the universe. Verse 6 brings great hope and comfort in treacherous times, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” “Do not worry” is an imperative drawing us away from believing the lie that God cannot be trusted to care for us. The same verbiage is used in Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 12:22 where we are commanded not to worry about any aspect of our lives, even necessities like food and clothing. “With thanksgiving” is a vitally important aspect of prayer. As we shift our focus off ourselves, our circumstances, and our need, instead recounting verbally to the Lord of His goodness, daily mercies, and abundant kindnesses, our hearts are re-shaped. Here, in the beautiful position of prayer, sitting in communion and declaring thanksgiving to the Holy One, where we present our worn and weary souls, our tears, our trials and anxieties. Here, in prayer, the healing balm of the Lord’s presence brings pleasure as we enjoy God’s peace that passes all understanding. Here, in prayer, our hearts are adjusted to a heavenly position, and we can rejoice always.
3) How does dwelling on truth bring about peace?
In verses 8 and 9, Paul calls the Philippians to think about or dwell on these virtues, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy…” There is no doubt the Philippians were surrounded on all sides with fiery trials, even death, but Paul urged them to discipline their thought-life. He taught them to train themselves to fill their hearts and minds with TRUTH. When their attention was directed away from lies, deception, fear, and circumstance and onto that which reflected God and His good character, peace would be the natural outcome. Notice that Paul did not give them parameters for only looking for Scriptural examples, but encouraged them to focus on whatever and anything that fit the qualifications listed. Each of these qualities are a reflection of God and His character and can be found in creation, Scripture, and within relationships, the instruction was simply to intentionally and mindfully dwell on these things.
Everyday Application
1) Are we literally to Rejoice ALWAYS in ALL THINGS?
We have all felt the anguish of pain (physical or mental), sorrow, fear and doubt. We are living in the midst of a hostile world full of sin and corruption. Everyday there seems to be something small or large giving us reason to not rejoice or forget how God is in control. In the midst of suffering, it becomes easy to drift into emotional tailspins or believe lies about ourselves, our circumstance, or even about God. We can drown in our own tears or our fears. How do we rejoice here?
Notice that Paul repeated his exhortation to rejoice, probably because it seems so unreasonable to rejoice under all circumstances. Can we truly rejoice when past sins haunt us, when loved ones are suffering, or when we are persecuted or facing death?
Let us be reminded that, like the suffering Philippians and imprisoned apostle, circumstances DO NOT determine heart condition. A Christian can rejoice even when all seems dark and dreary; we do not need to fall prey to lies, emotions, and fear. We are not celebrating because of difficulty, we rejoice because of our ever-present God! Where are you struggling with rejoicing? I wonder if perhaps, your eyes may be focusing on circumstances rather than the Savior? Hold tightly to the truth of Who God is, trusting Him to be faithful to His good character. “The Lord is NEAR!” (verse 5)
2) How do we reach that state of continuous rejoicing?
If we want to build a house, or plant a garden, or accomplish anything, it cannot be done by careful planning alone, actions must take place for the goal to be accomplished. For the goal of worry to be eradicated and rejoicing to dominate, prayer is the action plan. Prayer is not merely words thrown together, or a recitation of thoughts someone else penned, rather it is a fully engaged actionable step that begins with, ironically enough, sitting still. When we discipline ourselves enough to be still in the presence of the Lord, quieting our minds, and insisting on simply being with Him, we are moving into the action of prayer. The biblical antidote for anxiety is the outpouring of our hearts to God and prayer is the means to that end. As we sit with the Lord, the entry point to deeper intimacy is thanksgiving, not our requests and list of “must dos”. We are invited to “cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) This truth alone can be a starting point for thanksgiving! Thank you for being an accessible God who cares for me. Thank you for never abandoning me. Thank you for giving me Your Word to know You and Your Spirit to teach me. And on goes our praise. When we begin with stillness and thankfulness, rejoicing naturally grows and overflows. Try it for yourself this week!
3) How does dwelling on truth bring about peace?
Truth will always be the antidote to worry and the conduit for peace to cover our lives. Truth is found in God’s Word as Jesus said, “sanctify them by the truth, Your Word is truth.” (John 17:17) Anchoring ourselves in truth in order to welcome the precious peace of Christ that passes all human comprehension begins with training our minds to hone in on the lovely things that imitate Christ and His glorious character. What are the things in your everyday life that speak to the loveliness of Jesus? Write them down, say them out loud, share them with a friend, dwell on these! Where truth is our anchor, joy bursts out. Where truth is the focus, peace overflows. As joy and peace become evident in our lives, Christ shines out to those we come in contact with in our everyday wanderings. As we engage in constant prayer with the Lord, peace floods us. (verse 7)
There is no peace like the Lord’s peace! It fills our souls as a precious gift of love from the Father God to us as His children. (John 14:27) This peace will keep “guard over our hearts and thoughts.“ (verse 7)
Theologian, Hendricksen, reminds, “True Believers hear and meditate until they understand, then they act upon it putting it into constant practice, thereby showing their house was built upon the rock.” Don’t just walk away from this life-giving truth and process for rejoicing and living in peace, begin practicing it!
Friends, do not despair of life, there is ALWAYS hope in JESUS CHRIST. He is waiting for you. Come in prayer, He will take your anguish and give you peace like no other can give.
“Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer that calls me from a world of care and bids me at my Father’s throne, make all my wants and wishes known!” (Sweet Hour of Prayer)
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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