Think on This
Bro Whitney Belbin

Philippians 4:6
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

Philippians 4:7
"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Philippians 4:6
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

Such a hard things to do at times isn’t it?
To be careful for nothing.

How many times have we worried about this or that, how many times do we look at a situation and say there is no way I can ever get this right. There is no way I can ever recover from this or its just too difficult.

It’s at these times my friend that we are more likely to run from God.
It’s at these times we decide against Gods will that we will handle things ourselves in our own way.
Tell me honestly that what I am saying is not the truth.
Tell me that this has never been the case with you.
Tell me that what you handled your way is working and I will tell you be careful, for that very thing you handled your way will be back to bite you.
I have seen it and been through it too many times to know otherwise.

There is only one way out of our situation folks that it is turn it over to the Lord.
Are you in difficult times?
Do you need help or guidance or direction in a particular area of your life?
I am not asking you to tell me, I am suggesting that you tell it to the Lord.
I am not saying not to ask me or not ask another Christian brother or sister or not ask your Pastor but I am saying or rather pointing out that which the Word of God states:

"but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

But in everything...Why do we run from Him in our times of need?
I cant be the only one who does this can I?

We are told to make our request known to Him by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. I would like to explain the meaning of supplication if you will allow me.

Supplication means to make a humble, earnest petition:beg.

That is according to my dictionary at hand. To be frank I didn’t like that definition. The word beg really bothered me, so I looked it up in the Strongs Concordance.

The word used in the Greek is deesis, which is derived from the word deomai, it’s meaning?
To beg, petitions; -beseech, pray (to) make request.

Could it be that is the answer to the question posed? Could it be that we are so self-righteous in our thinking that we are afraid or too proud to beg anything of God?

What has God ever denied you? Are we too good to humble ourselves before the very God that gave us all?

The very same verse tells us to ask, plead or beg with thanksgiving, What a thought for the human mind to comprehend.
Why would we beg with thanksgiving, How absurd.

Let me point something’s out to you in other portions of the scriptures, after all that is where we are going to get all the answers. I have no answers other then these.

Luke 11:9
"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Matthew 21:22
"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

John 11:22
"But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee."

John 14:14
"If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

Friends the above verses tell us why we should ask with thanksgiving. Look above, Jesus Christ the Son of God will answer our petitions.

You may say, "but brother you don’t know my predicament,you don’t know my troubles" to that I can answer no I don’t, but God does. Look at the following verses:

John 16:22
"And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you."

John 16:23
"And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."

John 16:24
"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

And ye now therefore have sorrow
And in that day ye shall ask me nothing
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name
ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Do you have sorrows? Do you have woe? Are the troubles of life grinding on you constantly? Are they keeping you from the Father? Ask in earnest prayer for relief of the situation. He will once again give you the joy you long for.

Philippians 4:7
"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Through prayer we have contact with God. Do you want His fellowship? Do you want the peace OF God?

We, the saved, have and will always have peace WITH God. That peace was obtained the day we came to Jesus Christ.
The day we looked into the Word of Life and saw Jesus Christ beaten and Crucified for our sins.
The day we accepted Him as our saviour and our only hope of eternal life. On that day, through that sacrifice, we obtained peace with God.

Not through anything we have done but what He had done for us.
Look at the book of Romans chapter 5 verse 1 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace WITH God through our Lord Jesus Christ: "

What a blessed day that was! What a joy to know that I have peace with the very maker of all things. I can say on that day, I not only had peace WITH God But the peace OF God.

Do you want the peace OF God? Do you want to get out of the state of mind your in?
The answer my friend is below:
Let the peace of God RULE in your hearts, let the word of Christ DWELL in you richly in all wisdom, and whatsoever you do in word or deed DO ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus GIVING thanks to God and the father by him.

All these things can be found in the book of Colossians, chapter three verses fifteen through seventeen.

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

We must fill our minds with the things of God. We must stop thinking of the earthly things.
They will only cause us troubles.
Do you think that we can have any type of peace with worry, envy or strife in our hearts?
Do you think that may be what is keeping us from true peace the peace OF God that the Father so wants us to have?

Tell me, look above at Philippians 4:8
How could we possible have a negative thought if we do as we are told to do in that verse? How could we have a negative thought if we were to think on just one out of the eight?
Pick one and ask yourself that question. Anyone.

I am going to ask that you read the below verse and answer honestly within your selves, could this be what is causing your walk with Christ to suffer, is this what is keeping you from obtaining the peace OF God you once had?
Could this be what is keeping you from asking anything from God in prayer? Folks I don’t know your hearts or minds. I know only my own.

Ephesians 2:3 states
"Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

Are you fulfilling the desires of the mind? Are you thinking on things that should not be thought on?
Is that keeping you from the peace you long for and robbing you of the very thing that is missing in your life?
There is no peace outside of God. The world can not give you peace, chasing your own desires will not give you peace.
Fulfilling the desires of the flesh will not give you peace.

You want real peace Think on the things of God.

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

John 14:27
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

If there are any unsaved here and after reading this are thinking within themselves, these Christians have the same temptations I have. These people are no different then me, they have the same desires, the same wants, and the same needs as I.

Let me give you a word.

Peace.

We have been given a peace you can not know in your present state. We are no different then you in a lot of ways. We are human but sin bothers us. Does it you?

Sin robs us of a peace you have never experienced.

Earthly or worldly thinking and ways are no longer the norm for us but the exception.
Imagine if you would you best day. The day when you thought to yourself, "Cant get much better then this." Now multiply that by the infinite.

Do we as Christians experience that always?

I would be a liar if I were to say I have. But for us it is obtainable. My worst day after being saved, after asking the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart, is better then my best day when I wasn’t.

That peace OF God is there if I allow it to be.

What is your hope of Peace? Where do you find peace?

There is no true peace outside of God. First you have to make peace with God. You have to humble yourself to the fact that you are a sinner in need of a saviour.

You have to accept the perfect sacrifice that He had made for you. You have to ask Jesus Christ into you heart. You have to believe that He alone is way of salvation.

There is nothing you can do to obtain this peace.
It has all ready been done for you.
Then my friend and only then will you have the peace OF God

Then like us you can experience peace with God. Then like us you can honestly look with in yourself and ask what it is that is preventing you from obtaining the full peace of God.

No we are not a lot different then you in some ways. Our thoughts are not always pure our actions not always honorable but we, unlike you, have the Word of life to guide us, the Holy Spirit to convict us, and a loving God that forgives us.

I ask that you don’t judge us
But that you join us
For your sake

If you are not sure of your salvation, or have never heard of or accepted the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ and would like to know for sure that your sins can be forgiven please read "Gods Simple Plan Of Salvation" through the link on the home page or e-mail me. I would be glad to help.