Perfect Peace | Part 2
Feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or restless? In this episode, discover how God offers more than just peace—He offers perfect peace to those who fix their minds on Him. Learn three practical ways to anchor your thoughts in God’s truth and experience calm in the chaos. Your storm isn’t the end—it’s where His presence begins. Tune in now and share this hope with someone who needs it today.
Checkout these other Family Fortress Ministries Podcasts:
TIME FOR THREE daily couples devotional: https://time-for-three.captivate.fm/listen
FORTIFYING YOUR FAMILY: https://fortifying-your-family.captivate.fm/listen
MINISTRY WEBSITE: https://familyfortress.org/
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Transcript
Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.
Speaker A:Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.
Speaker A:And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.
Speaker B:I'm not going to tell you God's a professional warrior for us because God doesn't worry.
Speaker B:But he is a professional, folks, when it comes to handling our worries.
Speaker B:He's a professional at it.
Speaker B:We can lean on him, and there's several ways, I believe, that we lean our mind on Him.
Speaker B:Let me mention a couple of them to you briefly here tonight.
Speaker B:And this first one, I think is so, so important.
Speaker B:We lean our mind on him through predetermined thinking.
Speaker B:Let me say that again, through predetermined thinking.
Speaker B:Let me ask you a question tonight.
Speaker B:Who do you talk to the most?
Speaker B:Who is it that you talk to the most in life?
Speaker B:Your husband?
Speaker B:Your wife?
Speaker B:Who do you continually talk to?
Speaker B:You're continually talking to who?
Speaker B:Yourself.
Speaker B:You talk to yourself all the time.
Speaker B:You're telling yourself things all the time.
Speaker B:Scientists tell us that we have over 10,000 thoughts every day.
Speaker B:We're continually having all these different thoughts the time.
Speaker B:And over 90% of these thoughts that we have are negative thoughts.
Speaker B:That's amazing.
Speaker B:It's no wonder that depression is epidemic in America, because the majority of Americans, they're thinking.
Speaker B:All they're thinking about is negative things and telling themselves negative things about themselves.
Speaker B:That's why they're depressed.
Speaker B:It starts right here, folks.
Speaker B:It starts in your minds.
Speaker B:It starts with wrong thoughts.
Speaker B:It starts with wrong thinking because God has made our emotions and our actions to follow our thinking.
Speaker B:I want to say that's a big statement and it's so true.
Speaker B:God has made our emotions and our actions to follow our thinking.
Speaker B:If we're depressed, we're not thinking right.
Speaker B:We're thinking on the wrong things.
Speaker B:You must realize that your mind.
Speaker B:Wonderful gift from God.
Speaker B:It's a wonderful, wonderful gift from God.
Speaker B:And God wants you to totally devote your mind to Him.
Speaker B:No wonder again, when the scribe, the Pharisee came to Jesus and said, what's the greatest command of all?
Speaker B:Jesus said, you're to love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your what?
Speaker B:And all your mind.
Speaker B:Your mind must be dedicated, devoted to God.
Speaker B:You must keep your mind focused on God.
Speaker B:That's why Paul says in the very familiar verse in Philippians 4.
Speaker B:8, he says, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest.
Speaker B:Whatsoever things are just, Whatsoever things are pure.
Speaker B:Whatsoever things are lovely.
Speaker B:Whatsoever things of good report.
Speaker B:If there be any virtual.
Speaker B:Be any praise.
Speaker B:What are we to do?
Speaker B:Church think on these things.
Speaker B:I believe every person ought to memorize that verse.
Speaker B:And it wouldn't hurt us if we put on a little card and read it every day, two or three times a day.
Speaker B:Because we need to have predetermined thinking.
Speaker B:We need to determine ahead of time the things that we will let into our mind and the things we won't let into our mind.
Speaker B:It's very, very important we do this if we're going to have peace.
Speaker B:That's why God says in Second Corinthians, chapter 10 and verse 5, he says, casting down imaginations.
Speaker B:Every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every what thought.
Speaker B:Take captive every thought.
Speaker B:How to the obedience of Christ.
Speaker B:Take your thought life into obedience to Christ.
Speaker B:And folks, listen.
Speaker B:We have an enemy.
Speaker B:And one of the enemy's main attacks is on your mind.
Speaker B:He is continually trying to put lies, untruths in your mind.
Speaker B:And the only way you recognize lies is by knowing what.
Speaker B:By knowing the truth.
Speaker B:So it's so, so important.
Speaker B:That's why it's important that you get in the word of God and read the Word of God and study the word of God and meditate on the Word of God and memorize the Word of God.
Speaker B:You're putting truth in your heart.
Speaker B:Then when the enemy attacks us with a bunch of lies, we can recognize them as lies.
Speaker B:I like the old show, Andy Griffith.
Speaker B:Any of y' all ever watch that much?
Speaker B:It's a pretty clean, good show to watch.
Speaker B:I like Barney Fife.
Speaker B:They live.
Speaker B:If you haven't never been there, you need to go to Mount Airy, North Carolina.
Speaker B:That's where Mayberry is.
Speaker B:It's a neat little town.
Speaker B:One of Barney's sayings is, nip it in the bud.
Speaker B:Nip it in the bud.
Speaker B:Nip it in the Buddy.
Speaker B:When I hear him think that, I think that's what I need to do in my mind.
Speaker B:I need to nip it in the bud.
Speaker B:When those wrong lies and thoughts come into my mind that are not true, nip them in the bud.
Speaker B:You know, sometimes I kind of picture it this way, too.
Speaker B:It's kind of like you got a flusher on the side of your head, and you just pull each up here and flush it.
Speaker B:Not taking that one.
Speaker B:Not listening to that.
Speaker B:Not listening to that.
Speaker B:Not listen to that.
Speaker B:That's untrue.
Speaker B:I'm going to tell you what I'm sharing with you tonight is so, so important in your life.
Speaker B:You must have predetermined thinking.
Speaker B:You must cast down these imaginations that come in your mind.
Speaker B:You ever have things you think about and you think, wow, what if this happens?
Speaker B:What if that happened?
Speaker B:That might happen.
Speaker B:You have these vain imaginations in your mind.
Speaker B:They're not going to.
Speaker B:They don't come true.
Speaker B:But you lose your peace if you focus on them.
Speaker B:So the first thing we need to do is have predetermined thinking to lean our mind God.
Speaker B:But secondly, we need to have prayerful thinking.
Speaker B:Prayerful thinking.
Speaker B:In Philippians 4, 6, God says, Be careful for what?
Speaker B:Nothing but in everything.
Speaker B:By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
Speaker B:And the peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:The word careful means anxious or to be mentally distracted where you have a split mind, where you can't stay focused.
Speaker B:As we read on, we realize that we should stay focused.
Speaker B:What we need to stay focused on is the Lord and prayer.
Speaker B:Listen folks, as it talks in this verse here, prayer takes us into the presence of God.
Speaker B:Our minds are focused and leaning upon his presence.
Speaker B:When we're praying, you know what you need to do with all your cares?
Speaker B:We need to turn all our cares into what?
Speaker B:Prayers.
Speaker B:We need to have prayerful thinking.
Speaker B:Because if anything is worth worrying about, it's worth praying about.
Speaker B:And it's not worth praying about.
Speaker B:It's not worth worrying about.
Speaker B:Heard about a woman in her early 30s who was not married.
Speaker B:And then she got saved.
Speaker B:So she decided that she was going to pray for her husband.
Speaker B:Every night she would hang a pair of men's trousers on the bedroom door, go to bed, kneel and pray this prayer.
Speaker B:Father in heaven, hear my prayer.
Speaker B:And granted, if you can, I've hung a pair of trousers here.
Speaker B:Please fill them with a man.
Speaker B:Turn your cares into prayers.
Speaker B:Prayerful thinking.
Speaker B:Predetermined thinking.
Speaker B:But here's another one, peaceful thinking.
Speaker B:And you might turn your Bible for just a moment to Psalm 46 if you want to, because I love this psalm.
Speaker B:In Psalm 46, the Bible says, God is our refuge and strength ever present.
Speaker B:Help in trouble.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B: In Psalm: Speaker B:And know that I am God.
Speaker B:Be still and know that I am God.
Speaker B:Enemy troops numbering 180,000 had surrounded the city of Jerusalem to destroy.
Speaker B:But in the midst of that crisis God had manifested his presence.
Speaker B:As strong as the city of Jerusalem was and as great as its walls were, the city of Jerusalem was not their refuge.
Speaker B:God was their refuge.
Speaker B:When they focused on God's presence, they realized the battle was not theirs.
Speaker B:The battle was the Lord's.
Speaker B:God caused a plague to come down and destroy the enemy, and the city of Jerusalem was saved.
Speaker B:So God says, first, be still.
Speaker B:Be still.
Speaker B:In the Hebrew language, be still means to let go.
Speaker B:Let go of these worries, let go of these anxieties, let go of these cares that you're filled up with.
Speaker B:Someone has said that all a man's problems come from his inability to sit still or be still.
Speaker B:Hurry aggravates worry.
Speaker B:The more hurried you get, the more worried you you get.
Speaker B:And we certainly live in a very hurried society today.
Speaker B:And we live because of that, in a very worried society today.
Speaker B:If I were to take a survey tonight and ask how many of you had at least 20 minutes of stillness over the last week?
Speaker B:I'm talking about talking about in a day in the last week.
Speaker B:I'm talking about 20 minutes of real stillness over the last week.
Speaker B:Probably there wouldn't be 5% of us here today that would say they had had that experience.
Speaker B:When I say stillness, I'm talking about the kind of stillness where you don't talk.
Speaker B:You're not listening to television, the radio is not on, you're not listening to your music on your phone.
Speaker B:I'm Talking about having 20 minutes in stillness where you pray and you listen to God, you speak to God, you meditate on the word of God, on the person of God, on the attributes of God.
Speaker B:You meditate on the wonder of God, the awesomeness of God, the beauty of God.
Speaker B:I've heard some people say, well, God never talks to me.
Speaker B:I believe one of the reasons many Christians never hear from God is that we're so busy listening to all the voices around us and so distracted that we can't hear from God.
Speaker B:We're so busy talking, we fail to be still.
Speaker B:Secondly, God says, be still and.
Speaker B:And know.
Speaker B:The Hebrew word for know indicates the most intimate kind of knowledge, not talking about simply knowing facts or information about God.
Speaker B:The Bible is not talking about knowing things about God.
Speaker B:The word used here literally means to know God in the most intimate kind of way, to intimately know Him.
Speaker B:The same word is used in the physical relationship between a husband and wife in the Bible when they produce a child.
Speaker B:The word is used of Adam when the Bible says Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and brought Forth her child.
Speaker B:The word know means to be literally one with.
Speaker B:It indicates personal interaction and personal fellowship.
Speaker B:God says, I want you to be still and know me.
Speaker B:If you accept God's promise and acknowledge God's presence through staying your mind on him, then you'll know no matter what you face at this present moment, you're facing it with God's help.
Speaker B:You're facing it in the walls of this strong city where you have available to you this perfect peace.
Speaker B:This leads us to a third thing that God shares with us here that leads to perfect peace, and certainly a very, very important one to have God's peace.
Speaker B:Not only must we affirm God's promise and acknowledge God's presence, but thirdly and very importantly, we must accept God's providence.
Speaker B:We must accept God's providence.
Speaker B:And this is a big one.
Speaker B:Notice the end of verse three.
Speaker B:Because he what?
Speaker B:Because he trusteth in Thee.
Speaker B:Another reason many Christians lack God's perfect peace is because they don't really trust God in everything that happens in their life.
Speaker B:It's easy to say that you trust God when things are going good, but how about when the tables turn and things aren't going so good?
Speaker B:There's a famous passage in the Bible.
Speaker B:I want you to turn to it for just a moment.
Speaker B:I just want to make a couple, give you a couple thoughts concerning In Romans, chapter 8 and verse 28 that talks about the sovereignty of God and how that we can trust him no matter what's happening in our life.
Speaker B:So look at it with me just briefly here tonight as we kind of close this out.
Speaker B:In verse 28 it says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Speaker B:Let me mention several important principles from this verse.
Speaker B:The first one is this.
Speaker B:All of the same things that happen to everybody else will happen to the people of God who love him.
Speaker B:Say, preacher, that's encouraging.
Speaker B:Look at what it says.
Speaker B:And we know that what?
Speaker B:All things.
Speaker B:All things.
Speaker B:Now, if you want to know what all things means, it really means all things.
Speaker B:A little further down in verse 35, Paul says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Speaker B:He mentions this.
Speaker B:Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness, danger or sword.
Speaker B:Now look at those things.
Speaker B:Trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword.
Speaker B:What is Paul saying?
Speaker B:Paul is saying all the same stuff that happens to everybody else who's not a Christian can happen to you.
Speaker B:We're not exempt from that as a child of God.
Speaker B:Brothers and sisters we're not exempt from troubles.
Speaker B:We're not exempt from hardship.
Speaker B:We're not exempt from persecution.
Speaker B:We're not exempt from famine.
Speaker B:We're not exempt from nakedness.
Speaker B:We're not exempt from all these things.
Speaker B:Paul is saying all the same stuff that happens to everybody else can happen to you.
Speaker B:And probably a lot of it will happen to you.
Speaker B:If you love God, all things happen to you.
Speaker B:That's the first thing he's saying here.
Speaker B:But notice secondly, I think the second principle is that he tells us, when things work together for good in your life, it's only because of God.
Speaker B:It's only because of God.
Speaker B:Notice Paul does not say things work together for good.
Speaker B:They never work together for good on their own.
Speaker B:They never will.
Speaker B:But a Christian understands this about life.
Speaker B:If anything's going well, it's because God is working it together for your good.
Speaker B:It's his blessing.
Speaker B:If anything is going well, it's a miracle of God's grace in your life.
Speaker B:So that's the second thing that we learn.
Speaker B:Let me mention a third thing.
Speaker B:And lastly, though bad things happen, they work for good.
Speaker B:That's the promise to those who love God.
Speaker B:The promise to those who love God is not that you have better circumstances.
Speaker B:No, it doesn't say better things will happen to you.
Speaker B:The promise is taken that the totality, we might say, all your life and the whole of everything God promises, if you love him, he will make sure that it works for your good.
Speaker B:One of the main reasons, I think, why a lot of Christians are continually overthrown in their life is not because bad things are happening to them, but because at least 50% of them, probably of their discouragement and their despondency is a surprise to them that bad things have happened to them.
Speaker B:Surprise.
Speaker B:It's like it's a big surprise.
Speaker B:Do you see the distinction?
Speaker B:50% of the reason we get so despondent is we're shocked.
Speaker B:We say, this isn't how the Christian life is supposed to be.
Speaker B:But God says, yes, all things will happen.
Speaker B:All things can happen.
Speaker B:There's a little word after verse 28, into verse 29, which shows verse 28 and 29 go together.
Speaker B:We usually quote verse 28 by itself.
Speaker B:We shouldn't.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:We really shouldn't.
Speaker B:Because verse 29 is very, very important.
Speaker B:They're not supposed to be taken away from each other.
Speaker B:It's there.
Speaker B:The word there is that little word for that means that verse 29 explains verse 28.
Speaker B:That means they're connected.
Speaker B:That means they shouldn't be pulled apart from each other.
Speaker B:Look at verse 29.
Speaker B:For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Speaker B:What it says is this.
Speaker B:Here's the principle.
Speaker B:Jesus Christ did not suffer so you would not suffer, but so that when you do suffer, you'll become like Him.
Speaker B:Let me say that again.
Speaker B:Jesus Christ did not suffer so that you would not suffer, but so when you suffer, you will become like Him.
Speaker B:The Bible does not, Christianity does not.
Speaker B:The Gospel does not promise you better life circumstances.
Speaker B:It promises you a better life because God is involved in it.
Speaker B:Paul introduces the word predestinate, not in order to confuse you.
Speaker B:It's not trying to be put there to raise all kind of issues that bother people.
Speaker B:When this word comes up, you know what that word predestinate is there for?
Speaker B:As I studied this, that word predestinate is there to comfort you.
Speaker B:To comfort you.
Speaker B:Something that is predestined is fixed, right?
Speaker B:It's fixed.
Speaker B:If you love him, there is something absolutely fixed.
Speaker B:No matter what happens.
Speaker B:What is it?
Speaker B:We will be conformed.
Speaker B:The Greek word there is morphe, from which we get our word metamorphosis.
Speaker B:What it's saying is God is going to cause a metamorphosis in us.
Speaker B:He's going to change our very essence into the very inner essence of Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:We will be conformed into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Then look at verse 30.
Speaker B:We shouldn't leave this verse out either.
Speaker B:It all goes together.
Speaker B:Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called them he also justified.
Speaker B:And whom he justified, them he also what Church glorified.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:You know, one of the most astounding things in verse 30 is this.
Speaker B:It says that the ones he foreknew he predestined, and those he predestined he also called.
Speaker B:And those he called, he justified.
Speaker B:This is incredible.
Speaker B:All this is incredible.
Speaker B:Then it says the ones he did all that to heaven glorified.
Speaker B:Now wait a minute.
Speaker B:If you study this verse, glorified is in the past tense.
Speaker B:In this verse, shouldn't he say the ones he foreknew he predestined and justified he will glorify.
Speaker B:No, he doesn't say that.
Speaker B:Why does he say he also glorified?
Speaker B:That's one of the most astounding things I think we can see in the Bible is because it's so absolutely certain that.
Speaker B:That it's Already done.
Speaker B:And that he is going to make you as beautiful as Jesus Christ one day.
Speaker B:He's going to give you all these incredible things.
Speaker B:It's an accomplished fact.
Speaker B:God is saying he can talk about it in the past tense because it's done right now.
Speaker B:It's a comforting verse.
Speaker B:Comforting verse.
Speaker B:You see, it's as good as done.
Speaker B:Guaranteed to us the sovereignty of God to know that we can trust Him.
Speaker B:No matter what the circumstance is, no matter what the problem is, no matter what comes our way, we will be conformed.
Speaker B:There will be a metamorphosis happening in our life to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:And we are already right now, glorified.
Speaker B:Praise God.
Speaker B:I read something the other day that fascinated me.
Speaker B:Oceanographers tell us that the worst ocean storm never gets more than 25ft deep.
Speaker B:In other words, gales can rip across the Atlantic or Pacific.
Speaker B:They can cause tidal waves 100 foot high.
Speaker B:But just 25ft below the surface, the water is as calm as.
Speaker B:As on a sunny day in June.
Speaker B:Do you know the only place you really ever really find this perfect peace is in the midst of a storm.
Speaker B:Deep down in your trust under the surface, in your trust in God, in knowing Him.
Speaker B: While vacationing in August: Speaker B:3 the verse I'm talking my text tonight.
Speaker B:It was deeply moved by the way this verse reads in Hebrew.
Speaker B:That will keep him in peace.
Speaker B:Peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.
Speaker B:The repetition of the word conveyed the idea of absolute perfection.
Speaker B:That afternoon, while visiting a dying aged relative, Berka Steth read this verse from Isaiah to comfort the man.
Speaker B:Then at the bedside, he quickly composed the lines of this hymn text, just as it reads today.
Speaker B:As these completed lines were read to the dying relative, they were no doubt a source of great comfort, as they have continued to be for troubled hearts throughout the years.
Speaker B:And they go like this.
Speaker B:You know the words.
Speaker B:Peace, perfect peace.
Speaker B:In this dark world of sin the blood of Jesus whispers peace within Peace, perfect peace.
Speaker B:By thronged duties press to do the will of Jesus this is rest, Peace, perfect peace.
Speaker B:With sorrow surging round on Jesus bosom naught but calm is found Peace, perfect peace with loved ones far away and Jesus keeping we are safe and they peace, perfect peace.
Speaker B:Our future all unknown.
Speaker B:Jesus we know and he is on the throne.
Speaker B:Do you want to have God's perfect peace, his perfect peace in whatever situation, whatever circumstance that you face?
Speaker B:Then affirm God's promise that will keep him in perfect peace.
Speaker B:Acknowledge God's presence whose mind is stayed on Thee, and accept God's providence because he trusteth in Thee.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining the Fortifying youg Family podcast, and if you feel encouraged by today's teaching, give us a follow so we can invite you back and share us on your socials so more marriages and families can be strengthened and fortified through the truths of God's Word.
Speaker A:Remember, fortifying your family starts with a strong belief in God's Word.
