Keep to the Script
Philippians 4:4-9 Voice
4 Most of all, friends, always rejoice in the Lord! I never tire of saying it: Rejoice! 5 Keep your gentle nature so that all people will know what it looks like to walk in His footsteps. The Lord is ever present with us. 6 Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come. 7 And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all of our humanunderstanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the Anointed One.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with beauty and truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy. 9 Keep to the script: whatever you learned and received and heard and saw in me—do it—and the God of peace will walk with you.
This is one of those passages, when you read it you realize that Paul is telling Christians, this is How you do it! Be thankful right where you are, Rejoice in what God has given you, let your testimony be known through your relationship with God, is one of gratitude and One that is worthy of rejoicing about, right now!
Not when you accomplish lifelong goals, not when you get your dream job, not when you got X amount of dollars in the bank, not when you found Mr. or Mrs. right, be thankful for right where you are at this very moment!
What the Apostle is saying is, stick to the script...practice what you tell others, practice what you preach.
You see, the world looks at the Christians relationship with God and says if being a Christian is so great and everything, then why aren’t you thankful and thriving where you’re at?
Why aren’t we? If we have Jesus in our lives, we have everything! The problem with too many in the churches we have Jesus in our lives and we act like we don’t!
Vs. 7 again... And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all of our humanunderstanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the Anointed One.
We read what we have available to us, we see what we have available to us, we hear what we have available to us and then we let the accuser steal what we have available to us as we forget about what God has given to us through our relationship with Him through His Son Jesus!!
The accuser doesn’t want you to have a celebration of faith, any joy, or a happy heart,
The only thing he wants your heart under, is attack and worry,
Don’t believe me? Have you seen the news lately?
The news and the accusers forecast is not whatever is right, pure, good, lovely, virtuous and praiseworthy! And if you let the news get to you, then you’re putting more stock in what the news is telling you, than what God has already promised and Declared too you!
If you’re going to watch the news Narrative, then also be willing to watch, be aware of, and acknowledge and give God credit, when out of the blue, in a moment God changes the narrative.
We are inundated by accusers design with the strife and stress the accuser inflicts on the world, he tries to fill our lives with worry,
did you know that the English word for “worry” comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word which means “to strangle.”
That’s a pretty good description of what it does to a person, what is does is strangle our peace of mind.
That’s why TBS. to trust the Lord, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
And TBS. that God, when you put your trust in Him, never stops doing just that!
Psalms 121:1-8, MSG.
1-2. I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4. He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6. God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moon stroke.
7-8. God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.
The world celebrates thanksgiving one day a year, while we expect God’s Blessing continuously all year long.
As believers, thanksgiving should not be reserved for one day a year, or for that matter even limited to Sundays!
What’s the three words that in almost every conversation you hear someone have that their in a relationship with?
I Love You, right?
The first thing we do in the morning, all through the day and the last thing we do at night
is be willing to tell the Lord we Love Him and are thankful for our relationship we have with Him!
Vs 4 Most of all, friends, always rejoice in the Lord! I never tire of saying it: Rejoice!
“rejoice always?” Really, Why? Instead of asking why, I’m going to ask you why not?
Is the accuser going to help your situation?
Is the world going to help your situation?
Does the world and the accuser, even care about your situation?
The answer is no, no, no and a big fat no!
When a person is unwilling to rejoice in what God can do for them, it makes me question their ability to reason.
Have you heard about, or read about, or experienced what God is capable of Lately?
Notice the wording, the word doesn’t say, rejoice in everything that’s happening around you, it says to Rejoice in the Lord, always.
So many people find it hard these days, to rejoice about life,
Here’s a poem that sums them up, its by Wade Hughes and its called, the pessimist creed;
Why rejoice in sunshine?
It will just turn to dark clouds and much rain!
Besides that, the sunshine can hurt your eyes,
More than that it can cause skin cancer!
Why should I smile?
A smile might send a wrong message to a friend?
A frown will burn more calories, we all know!
Smiles might wrinkle my face?
I don’t want to advertise for free for the dentist,
Because his fee was much too high!
If I smile everyone will wonder what I am thinking about?
Why should I give a friend a flower?
Flowers might cause an infection of my sinus glands?
Flowers cost so much, and you can’t eat them?
The beauty of the flower will soon fade!
A silk flower will but gather dust!
Besides all of that, I didn’t get a flower today?
Why should I whistle, hum or sing?
I don’t know the song!
That song is too slow,
And that song is way too fast!
How can we sing in a strange land?
I can’t sing, someone may think I am glad.
Why should I go to Sunday School and Church?
You know, I know more than that teacher,
he just reads out of the book!
The Preacher screams and wags his arms.
He preaches the everlasting Gospel.
That preacher, all he does is talk about money!
I gave two dollars three weeks ago,
Ain’t that enough?
All there are at that church are hypocrites!
Why should I encourage and say nice things to others?
If I brag on someone they will get a BIG HEAD!
And pride always goes before the fall.
it seems to me, that I remember something negative 22 years ago about them!
Want me to tell you?
It is always good to be realistic and pessimistic,
Because the optimist is wrong much of the time!
I find it much easier to murmur, grumble and complain.
Praise ain’t all it is cracked up to be.
I like this grumblers corner! In this corner we are all friends.
Can’t you see there is something wrong
With everybody but me! and them?
(whisper) to be quite honest, sometimes I worry about them!
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Be thankful, we as Christians have constant access to and in God, the only Constant thing in the entire universe.
The Great God Jehovah, is more than worthy of All, not just part of our Praise!
Paul whom we love reading his writings of Grace, which he wrote many from prison and yet, we sense that he had so much to be thankful for!
Yet we, who are free to experience all that God has to offer, all that He has given to us, at times, feel like
we have so little to be thankful for and are the ones who feel like we’re imprisoned!
Look around you for just a minute, look inward, go to your secret place and find the you that only you know!
Are you experiencing all that God has to offer you, the benefits of a Spirit filled life, all that He has freely given to you to partake of?
Why, oh Why? Would we complain, or feel like we have so little in our lives, to rejoice about, if we’re not taking advantage of everything we have been given?
“Me” Why oh why Lord, is this Happening to me? “God” it doesn’t have to be this way, I have prepared an abundant life for you my child, the best of everything if you will only trust Me and be willing to believe!
When we have complete and undeniable access to everything,
Through our relationship with Jesus, that we could ever hope, want, or ask for!
We are to be joyful people, right? Well you just don’t know what’s going on in my life!
No, but God does and God is bigger than any problem we have, unless we choose to
make our problem, bigger than God and His Healing capability’s!
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart….where?,
And that’s just it, so many say they have the joy, but it’s head knowledge and not Heart
Knowledge, and somehow have forgotten or can’t remember where to find the Joy.
You are never going to find Lasting Joy in the world, or the things of this world!
Joy can only be found in the Lord, Jesus went to and suffered a brutal death on the cross, so we could have Joy!
Our text, is much more than just an encouragement, it is an emphasis for life.
As a believer if you go through a day without rejoicing in the Lord, then your being robbed and not really living!
Jesus said the thief comes to rob steal kill and destroy, but He has come to give you life, and life abundantly
How many more days are you going to let the accuser rob from you of really living?
Start rejoicing in the Lord, REJOICE!
Well, I don’t feel like doing that right now,
Quit living your life, by the way you feel!,
And if that’s the way you live your life, your moments of rejoicing, will be few, far and never!
Because you will only be focused on what you can do for you, instead of what God can do for you,
So I ask you, where would your focus be better spent, on your capabilities or on God’s?
Ill. Coach Jimmy Johnson was asked what he told his players before leading the Dallas Cowboys onto the field for the 1993 Super Bowl. He said, "I told them that if I laid a two-by-four across the floor, everybody there would walk across it and not fall, because our focus would be on walking the length of that board. But if I put that same board 10 stories high between two buildings, only a few would make it, because the focus would be on falling."
Johnson told his players not to focus on the crowd, the media, or the possibility of falling, but to focus on each play of the game as if it were a good practice session. The Cowboys won the game 52-7. --
Victory over every situation in life is possible, when we are willing to focus on Gods Word and what God’s Word over and over Declares is possible, in the abundant life God has prepared for us!
Jeremiah 29:11 NASB
11 For I know the plans that I [h]have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
God clearly has a plan for each and everyone of us, the question is do you want God’s plan to become your plan?
We all have a choice about what we are going to let consume our thoughts and direct our lives.
Sometimes we think we may have it harder now a days, then Paul had it, back in the day, seems like everyone always thinks they have it harder, than the ones who came before them!
2nd Cor. 11:23-27 MSG.
23-27 I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.
Paul could have been filled with bitterness, but he overflowed with the joy and grace of the Lord, and we can too!
Any excuse we could ever come up with, would never be good enough, or more powerful than what God has given us to be thankful for! We are blessed, far more than most people in the world.
Ill. I really like this story about Professor William Phelps. He taught English Literature at Yale from 1892-1933. Dr. Phelps was grading tests shortly before one Christmas, and he saw a note a student had written next to a tough question on the test. The student wrote, "God only knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas."
The professor returned the test with his own note under the student’s comment: "God gets an A. You get an F. -- Happy New Year."
I like that statement: "God gets an A." When your world is falling apart and nothing seems to be going your way, God gets an A! -- Forever and always, God gets an A!
Illus. Calvary’s the reason why, by Del Way...
I was lost but You knew where to find me
I was hungry You were bread for my soul
I was thirsty and You gave living water
You were my shelter when I had no place to go
That's why sometimes I just want to praise You
Sometimes just to speak Your name
Sometimes I just want to thank You
Without asking You for a thing
Oh sometimes I lift my hands to You
And sometimes all I do is cry
Everything that I have I owe to You, Lord
And Calvary's the reason why
When I think of the love that You've given
Lord when I think of the price You paid for me
Then the trials on earth, they just seem like nothing
When they're compared to dark Calvary
Oh, sometimes I just want to praise You
Sometimes just to speak Your name
Sometimes I just want to thank You
Without asking you for a thing
Oh sometimes I lift my hands to You
Then sometimes all I do is cry
Everything that I have I owe to You, Lord
And Calvary's the reason why
Realize what you have been given the special time of the year, you were on Jesus mind when He was on the cross. Thank you Lord for saving my soul, seems so little in return, for so much given. Yet all that is required, to spend eternity in heaven and to live here on earth in God’s abundance, until that day comes!
Now that’s something to rejoice about!
Amen? Amen!
