Keeping our Hearts

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

Sometimes bible corrections are very subtle. Like any great work of art, the smallest
of brush strokes can distinguish genius from a hack job. When the New King James
Bible renders Philippians 4:7 it dulls the sense of the verse; and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. I take offense with that.
There are many great proofs of a King James Bible. Other than the glory it gives to
our Lord Jesus Christ there is no greater proof than to see it work in people's lives. I
heard Gail Riplinger state that as a professor at Kent State University in Ohio she
noticed that some Christian girls who came to her for advice were eventually able to
overcome great tragedies in their lives. She noticed that others could not.
With further observation she noticed that the girls who used the King James Bible
were far more apt to recover their lives and recover an emotional stability, whereas
the girls using the new versions were far more apt to continue struggling with their
troubles and depressions. It was this observation that set her to research her first book,
The New Age Versions of the Bible.
I am a pastor. I am a father and a husband. I am also a human being. There are times
when I need to shepherd my family or my people to find peace, and there are times
that I need it myself. I have never found a greater place to secure peace than to obey
the instructions of 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. I have guided many a person through obeying that verse. I guide them as one
who believes that the verse says exactly what God wants them to do.
The first requirement is that they, "be careful for nothing". This is a matter of the
human will. The person obeying the verse must stop being full of care over the issue
that is eating at them. On a long term basis that seems impossible. If a house is being
repossessed or if a loved one is missing or dying, the best a person can do is to
momentarily let go of the burden of care. They must then use that moment to obey the
rest of the verse.
The second requirement is to use prayer and supplication. To pray is to talk to God
and to ask. Even today in a court of law, a request made to a judge is called a "prayer
to the court". To supplicate is more formal. The Oxford English Dictionary defines
supplication as : A humble plea; an earnest request or entreaty, esp. one made
deferentially to a person in a position of power or authority.
The person supplicating is going a little deeper. They are earnestly requesting help
from the supreme deity. They have made it into the throne room of grace and with all
deference to the great God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob they are making their
requests known to him. There is one caveat to that. It must be done with thanksgiving.
It is not enough to get God's attention. It is not enough to recognize him for who and
what he is, the person making the prayer and supplication must do so with
thanksgiving.
I have ground my teeth and gagged as I have thanked God for certain troubles and
disasters in my life. Nevertheless, as I have made my requests to God with prayer and
supplication, I have thanked him. I have thanked him for hearing me. I have thanked
him for caring. I have thanked him for circumstances that have forced me to him in
supplication.
What then is my reward for this? What is it that I teach my people to expect? It is not
answer to prayer that is promised. It is something far greater. It is the peace of God
actively working in their hearts and minds. It is not just him working in the hearts and
minds. The very peace of God himself, a peace that can not be explained moves in. It
takes over. It keeps our hearts and minds.
Like the Great Physician coming upon an emergency and shooing the nurses and
emergency workers to the side, the peace of God keeps the heart and mind of the
afflicted. It isn't just guarding the hearts and minds like the New King James Bible
says. It is keeping them. It is his peace taking over the heart and mind that makes the
difference. I don't want him outside guarding. I want him to come in and take over.
That great God of all comfort takes both the heart and mind of the overwhelmed and
puts them in his own keeping. I have found that inexplicable peace in the face of
unbearable tragedy to be far greater than any answer to prayer the I could have asked
for. My people have found that peace when they have obeyed Philippians 4:6.
Sometimes it lasts for five minutes, sometimes it lasts for weeks. It always comes and
it always takes over the hearts and minds.
Very often, their deepest desires are not granted. The tragedy they feared comes upon
them. Instead of destroying them, it strengthens them. It is God's peace that makes the
difference and ultimately becomes the greatest gift.
Step #1: Quit caring.
Step #2: Both pray to God and supplicate him. Mixed in with thanksgiving, list your
requests.
Step #3: Rest in the peace that he gives. Don't try to understand it, it passeth
understanding.

This is the word of God that we're dealing with. It works. I have learned that there is
nothing that the original manuscripts could do that my King James Bible cannot.

What if that peace leaves? Rinse and repeat. There's no limit on the verse. It works as
written.
  John Asquith
•
 Doctrine
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 The English of the Text
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