Shalom

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:9 (ESV)

The Apostle Paul had such integrity that he could write this verse with no sense of irony. He learnt, received, heard and saw from the Lord, and he passed what he learnt on to the Philippian church. He called them to follow his example.

I'm blessed to have come from a home with Christian parents. I've learnt, received and heard and seen a lot about God and living for His glory. It's not enough to just observe from the outside looking in however: we need to put what we learn into practice.

If we don't put what we learn into practice, we're metaphorically stuck up in an ivory tower, frittering away our lives. If we claim to believe in the God of peace, we need to be peacemakers who live for Him. If we're not glorifying God, we're wasting our lives.

I love the promise in this verse. If the God of peace is with us, it doesn't matter what's going on around us. We can have peace in our hearts even if there's conflict around us.

'God of peace, we're so grateful that we can know peace with You through the blood of Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen'

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