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Peace That Guards the Mind – The Formed Future · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here, a quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verses 6 and 7.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: In nothing be anxious,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: but in everything,
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: And the peace of God,
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: which surpasses all understanding,
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Many of us imagine peace arriving after the pressure is gone,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: when the bill is paid,
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: when the diagnosis is clear,
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: when the job feels secure,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: when the family conflict settles,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: when the economy stabilizes,
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: When the future gives us fewer reasons to worry, then we think, I will be at peace.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Paul puts peace somewhere else.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: He puts it in the middle of prayer.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Bring the need.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Bring the question.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Bring the request.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the peace of God will guard your heart and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: That word guard is important.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: It is not fragile calm that survives only when the room is quiet
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: and nothing difficult is happening.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Paul describes peace as something active.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: It stands watch over the inner life.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: It guards the heart.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: It guards the thoughts.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And we need that because anxious imagination is incredibly productive.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Give it one uncertainty and it can build an entire future.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: A conversation that has not happened yet.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: A loss that has not occurred.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: A conclusion no one has reached.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: A year we have not lived.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Anxiety speaks early.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: It fills the unknown with predictions and then asks the body to live as
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: if those predictions are already true.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Prayer interrupts that process.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Not because prayer always changes the circumstances immediately.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Prayer changes who is holding the circumstances with us.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of letting anxiety right the future alone,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: we can bring the future we are imagining into the presence of God.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, this is what I am afraid of.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is what my mind keeps rehearsing.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I cannot settle.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: I bring it to you.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then Paul says, Peace can stand guard.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: There is another part of this that matters.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: The peace of Christ does not stay entirely private.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: A peaceful person changes a room.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Not because they perform calm or pretend nothing is wrong.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because there is something different about being with a person
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: whose inner life is not being run by panic.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: A family can feel that.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Coworkers can feel it.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: A church can feel it.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: People may not know what to call it.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: But they may see something of Jesus in a person whose mind is guarded by peace.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: That brings us to the end of this section on Renewed Perception.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: The mind of Christ teaches us to release our grasp.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Wisdom teaches us what to do with what we know.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Discernment tests the voices that want access to the soul.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Attention learns where to rest.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: And prayer receives the peace that guards our thoughts.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: The future will give anxious imagination plenty of material.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: But anxiety does not have to become the architect of your mind.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, notice one future your mind keeps rehearsing.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Name it honestly before God.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Then, stop analyzing it for a moment and turn it into prayer.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, this is the fear I keep carrying.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: I bring it to you.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Guard my heart and my thoughts in Christ Jesus.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And when you rise, ask one more question.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: What would it look like to carry peace into the next room?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let peace become more than a feeling you hope to have.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let it become a presence other people can encounter.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: God of peace, guard my heart and my thoughts.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: When anxious imagination begins writing futures you have not given, draw me back to prayer.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Help me bring every need,
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: fear, And as the day continues around you, carry this prayer with you.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Guard my mind
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Let others see Jesus in me.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Guard my mind.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let others see Jesus in me.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Guard my mind.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let others see Jesus in me.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you would like to go deeper,
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: the written reflections and other resources are available
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: at powerloveandmiracles.com.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.