And the God of peace will be with you.
Summary: The God of peace is the source of the peace of God. Paul understands this relationship and explains how important right thinking is to receiving God’s peace.
Earlier, in verse seven, Paul writes, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
In this verse, he writes, “And the God of peace will be with you.”
It is interesting to consider the difference between the two statements. In the first one, Paul is describing the peace that we receive from God. In the second, he points to God himself, the God of peace, the one who prefers peace to conflict.
Why is he pointing to this “God of peace?” Why will the God of peace be with us?
This is important.
What has he just been telling us?
He has been telling us how to prepare our minds for the King!
Do you want the Lord coming into a mind full of confusion, frustration, and hate? Of course not! Do you want the Lord to see all your dirty mental laundry strewn all over the place? No!
Paul wants us to clean our mental house, to prepare ourselves to receive our God.
He begins with, “Rejoice in the Lord always!” (Phil 4:4)
He adds that we should be gentle and not be anxious. (Anxiety and worry are signs we don’t trust God.)
Be thankful! Thankfulness is gratitude. It fills your mind with reasons to honor God, reminding you of all the good things He has done.
To clean up the rest of our mental house, Paul instructs us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.
Let’s face it, just like a hoarder’s house when it is so full of stuff that there is no place for a visitor, a mind that is full of worldly desires and emotions has no place for God. That doesn’t mean that God gives up on us. It simply means that until we set aside ourselves, we leave very little for God to work with.
Remember Euodia and Syntyche? How could God use them to promote the Gospel if all anyone sees in them is their disagreements with each other? The same is true for you and me. If we are to be a window for the world to see the light of the Gospel, we need to make room for the light (John 1:1-18). We need to make room for God’s peace.
Application: Submit yourselves, then, to God. (James 4:7)
Food for Thought: How does the Holy Spirit help in this work of mental housecleaning?
How does the Holy Spirit help in this work of mental housecleaning?
John 14:15-16 & 26:
V15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever”
V26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Sealed by the Holy Spirit:
Ephesians 1:13-14, In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
The Holy Spirit affirms Our True Identity. He is our source of peace as we walk in confidence, knowing we are gods children and are never alone.
Romans 8:16, The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Convicts us, is our power to reject sin and live in righteousness as we remain in this world filled with temptations
John 16:8, When He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
He Guides us in truth:
John 16:13, But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Gives us peace:
Romans 8:5-6, For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Thank you, Ron!
Convicts — Guides — Comforts
We are truly blessed! 🙂
Good devotion and good comments R2T2. I like the verses you referenced.
Thank you, Rich! 🙂
How does the Holy Spirit help in this work of mental housecleaning?
We have to read and reread the Word of God. As we do, we learn more and more the character of God, what true love really is, and how Jesus is the living embodiment of love. Our imperfection becomes more and more evident. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand that God’s grace looks beyond our present imperfection, and seeks to move us toward becoming more Christ-like. We see hope instead of death. Sin, our old self, resentment and unforgiveness become a sore spot in our heart, the Holy spirit convicts us of these so Jesus can redeem our life, as they are incompatible with the Spirit that lives within us.
Psalm 51:10
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
The measure of our life is the measure of His goodness. We seek to put away corruption and become more like Him.
Ephesians 4:31
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
As we relinquish self-interest and sin, letting go of resentment, accepting forgiveness and forgiving others, the Holy Spirit fills us, and we bear His fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Thank you, Chris!
“We have to read and reread the Word of God.”
I had lunch with a friend the other day who told me that they would read through the book of Proverbs every month. (30 chapters = 1 chapter/day!)
That’s a way to get a high concentration of God’s wisdom in a daily dose!