How do you have peace in a broken world, in times
like this, when there's such uncertainty and
such fear? Is it possible to have peace? The
answer is yes. And today, I'll tell you how.
Stay with me. Welcome to this edition of Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an international
discipleship ministry devoted to helping Christians
worldwide live out their faith for the glory
of God and the benefit of all people. Today,
Chip picks up in our study through Philippians
chapter 4. And if you've missed any part of this
series, I Choose Peace, catch up anytime at livingontheedge
.org or wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay,
there's a lot to get to, so grab your Bible as
we join Chip for his talk in a broken world.
Pick up your teaching notes. We're going to jump
right in. And as we jump right in, I want you
to really think about, I mean, pause. What's
the greatest fear you're facing today? I mean,
not some generic. You personally, your life,
sitting here, what's the greatest fear you're
facing? I want you to really name it. Fear of
the future, fear of health, fear you'll never
get married, fear of the marriage you'll never
get any better, fear for one of your kids, fear
about the economy, fear about politics, fear
about racism. What is it? What is it that when
you get knots in your stomach, What is it when
you're just driving in your car and everything's
quiet, your mind drifts to something, and all
of a sudden you can feel the heart rate go up,
the blood pressure starts to go up, and you begin
to fixate on things, and you realize you're afraid?
Here's what I want to ask you, second question.
And I want you to think about this. Would you
like to overcome that fear? And not casually,
because the way to overcome it is not going to
be an easy thing. But I want you to really think,
and even say a little prayer to God. Some of
us are afraid that one of our kids or one of
our grandkids is going to be in an auto accident
or we're not going to have enough money to live
on as time goes on. Or, you know, we've all got
fears. But Jesus said, my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives, but my peace I give to
you. That's a promise. Isaiah would foretell
God would keep those in perfect peace whose minds
are focused or stayed on him. The most common
command in Old and New Testament is fear not,
be not afraid. And it's usually followed because
I am with you. So how do you experience God's
power and presence that eliminates fear in such
a way that in the midst of storms, you're not
a slave to fear? Because so many of us are. In
order to discover that, I'm going to suggest
that you need to understand how God has made
and wired your mind and your emotions, how they
work together. And when you do, and when you
understand that, then you understand exactly
what you need to do. Because yes, there are challenging
things happening in the world, but I want to
tell you how we think some of us are feeding
our fears instead of starving them. And I'm going
to talk this morning about starving your fear
and feeding your faith. There's a study at the
University of Tennessee a number of years ago.
It was not very complicated. It was a 12 -year
study. There was a control group that heard five
minutes of a radio program with just benign information.
There was an experimental group that heard five
minutes of... Information that was all negative.
You know, there was an earthquake in such and
such a city. A child was abducted in Memphis.
Just five minutes. No video, just five minutes.
After 12 years, they did an evaluation of both
groups to find out, was there any impact of five
minutes of negative audio content over a 12 -year
period? The results. The people in the experimental
group were more depressed. They believed the
world was a more negative place. They were less
likely to help others. And they believed that
those things that they heard over the last 12
years would happen to them. Now, pause. Think
about this. This isn't like an hour of the nightly
news. This isn't like a three -hour movie. This
isn't like in front of a screen, things blowing
up. This is just five minutes of audio. We all
know, right, that you are what you eat physically,
right? We all know that. You know, it's sweets
today and it's hips tomorrow, right? What I want
you to get is that you are what you eat psychologically.
Here's where science and scripture are in such
an alignment. Three truths about our thinking.
Number one, we're the product of our thought
life. Who you are today is the product of your
past thinkings. What you thought was true, what
you think isn't true. Your focus, your decisions.
It's your thought life. Proverbs 23, 7. I love
the King James on this one. As a man thinketh,
so is he, or so you become. As a man thinks in
your heart. so you become. Second, our emotions
flow from our thoughts. In other words, you think
and it triggers your emotions follow your thoughts.
Most of us make lots of decisions based on our
emotions, but our emotions follow our thoughts.
Scripture says, Romans 8, 6, for the mind set
on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the
spirit is, notice, life and peace. Third truth
is that what we allow into our minds is the most
important decision we make each and every day.
What you think about, what you allow in your
mind, what you watch, what you listen to, what's
on the radio in your car, what you listen to.
The conversations with people that you have,
what you allow into your eye gate and your ear
gate that seeps down into your soul, that gives
you a perspective of what life is really about,
is the most important decision you ever make
each and every day. And pause. Parents, grandparents,
you have no greater obligation than what you
allow your kids to watch and hear. And every
parent, or if you're a grandparent with a lot
of kids in your house, in the appropriate kind,
non -kamikaze, non -Nazi attitude, in a loving
way, you need to know what's on their phones,
you need to know exactly what they're watching,
and you need to build a trust relationship, and
you need to have certain filters. There is a
world out there seeking to capture your sons'
and daughters' hearts, and it happens when they're
unsuspecting. It happened to one of my sons in
high school, and actually one of my grandchildren
just last year. Something popped up. And some
predator came after a little girl. Thank God
her parents are very diligent. So what goes into
your mind is paramount. And what I want to encourage
you is that what you allow to go in your mind
in many ways is what is creating or feeding your
fears. As you turn the page, The Apostle Paul,
remember, he's speaking from a prison cell. His
life is very challenging. It's very difficult,
and yet he has this amazing peace. He's writing
to this church that he loves very much, that
has grown, and he has a wonderful relationship,
and he's trying to help them live in peace, live
with joy, live with love. And in the anxiety
of the Roman world, in a world that is filled
with violence, and injustice, especially for
a follower of Christ. He writes to them, and
he's going to teach them, this is how you can,
you might underline in your notes, choose. You
choose peace. It's a gift, but you've got to
choose it in a very broken world, in a violent
world, in an uncertain world. He says, finally,
brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever
is lovely, Whatever is of good repute, if there
is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
here's the first command, let your mind dwell
on these things. I'd like to underline these
key words. Underline the word true in your notes,
honorable, right, pure, lovely, and then anything
worthy of praise. And what he's saying is, there's
a way to think about life, but this is how God
wants you to think about life. And this kind
of thinking is, we're going to learn what it
means in a minute. This is what I want you to
dwell on, to ponder, to meditate, to review,
to fill your mind with. And then he's going to
move from their thinking to their behavior. The
things that you have learned and received, heard
and seen in me. Here's the second command. Practice
these things. Notice, they weren't just sitting
in a room listening to the Apostle Paul. The
things you learned, in other words, they had
an appetite, they took it in, that you received,
you actually applied it. The things you heard,
they heard him talk, and you saw, they watched
him model it. He says, I want you to practice
the very kind of teaching and lifestyle that
I had. And then very last line, he says, here's
a promise. It's not the peace of God this time.
What is it? The God of peace will be with you.
In other words, the God of shalom, the God of
blessing, the God who gives favor, the God who
protects, the God who wants to give you the very
best in life. Not just will he give you his peace,
he'll be with you. And so here's what I want
to do. This is one of the most important messages
that I'll ever get to give anywhere at any time.
Because think of this. I don't know if I'll be
here two years or five years or ten years from
now. But here's what I know about me. And here's
what I know about you and every person watching
this. You are the product of your thoughts. And
we are casual with what we allow into our mind.
And it is shaping your character. It's shaping
your decisions. It's shaping your emotions. And
if you and I would get very, very serious, he's
going to give us six words. And I'm going to
define each one. And then I've created a little
question out of each one that you and I could
say. If you took this seriously, before I let
this in my eyes, in my mind, or in my heart,
or in one of my kids or grandkids, or in my house,
I'm going to ask one of these six questions.
And if the answer is this is good, it comes in.
And if the answer is it's bad, it doesn't. And
here's the deal. You do that for 90 days, you
will be shocked at your emotional health. You'll
be shocked at the changes in your life. Because
we've grown accustomed to allowing lots of stuff
that disturbs your soul. Lots of lies that tell
you that you don't measure up, that life is terrible,
life is violent, life is uncertain, bad things
are going to happen. And then you live in fear.
And living in fear is the opposite of living
in faith. So you ready to go? First command is
to dwell on these things. The word means to think
deeply, to review, to replay, to meditate, to
talk about, to analyze. To ponder, to deduce.
Colin Brown is sort of the expert in New Testament
dictionary. And I love the one, the word is,
are you ready? Listen to it. Logizomai. Can anybody
hear English word logic? It's a word, he says,
that's not unemotional or philosophical thought,
but it's the very process of reasoning and the
deduction which separates good from evil. It's
dwelling on what you see, what comes on the screen,
the email, the blog, and asking yourself, dwell,
ponder. Here's, though, the things you want to
dwell on. Number one, things that are true. This
word means objectively true, that which conforms
to reality versus things that are deceptive,
illusions that promise peace and happiness. I
want you to think about, okay, so what do you
know is true? So it would be pondering and dwelling
on scripture that's true. It'd be pondering on
some truth about your life. This morning, I don't
know if you all ever had this, do you ever just
wake up and feel a bit negative and not know
exactly why? Just kind of like semi -bummed out.
I mean, I just taught this. I just taught this
last night. You would think I would wake up chippy.
And, you know, I mean, I laid in bed, and it
was early, and just this sort of negative filter.
And so I decided I would practice this, so I
prayed through Psalm 23 a couple times slowly.
And when I got done, I felt slightly less negative.
And then I had this thought, you know, I've got
to do these exercises for my back. I hate to
do those. And so I decided, okay, I'm going to
do that. And then so I thought, okay. Here's
what I'm going to do. Whatever verse comes to
my mind during all my exercises for 40 minutes,
I quote it out loud. Passage, passage, passage,
passage, passage. And then I decided, you know
what? I'm going to declare what's true. I am
the son of the living God. I have an inheritance
from him. He's already reserved a place for me
in heaven. He's deposited spiritual gifts in
my life. I have his peace living in my heart.
He has blessed me with a wife that is loyal and
loves me. And I just started to declare out loud
with verses all the time. the things that were
true, and my emotions went, wow, just filled
with gratitude. You have to focus on what is
true. By contrast, there's lots of premises and
lies that over time in our family of origin that
we tend to believe in a book by Tommy Newberry.
It's the 4 -8 principle. It's about this verse.
He lists some things that we tend to unconsciously
tell ourselves that produce emotions that are
negative and often fear. Things like, I'll never
be happy again. This is just the way it is. This
probably won't work. You know, if I had more
money, it wouldn't matter. I would just probably
worry about it. I don't have what it takes. This
always happens to me. Well, the honeymoon is
officially over. He doesn't love me anymore.
I'm not worthy. I'm just not very creative. My
back is always going out. I like that one. I
have to just accept my limitations. You know,
I never say the right thing. That makes me so
sick. If that happens again, I'm going to be
so, so mad. We can't agree on anything. He doesn't
find me attractive anymore. I just don't think
I have what it takes. I always seem to blow it
when it comes. I say the wrong things. Well,
I guess that's a... Do you hear those things?
Those are things that you and I tell ourselves.
I don't measure up. This marriage will never
get better. My kids, you know, my dad was like
this. His grandfather was like this. I've got
this addiction. I've tried hard. I just have
to live with it. Here's the deal. If you think
you can or if you think you can't, you're 100
% right. Ponder that. You're the product of your
thought life. And by the way, this is not positive
thinking. All the positive thinking, there's
big elements of truth, but this is thinking way
beyond what's positive. This is what's true.
This is what God has said. Some of the lies that
you all believe, they're very, very subtle and
they're mixed with truth. Like, I will be a complete
failure as a parent if my children do not get
into a very exclusive school and go into a profession
like a doctor or a lawyer, etc. I'll be a failure.
And it produces anxiety and it produces pressure
on your kids and it produces amazing things that
are super unhealthy and very dysfunctional. I
can never be happy unless I get married. I will
never be happy until we own our own home. My
life will be miserable unless I, it's this premise
thinking, premise, premise, premise, premise
that some activity, some success, some upward
mobility, some job, some patent, some when -then
thinking, and so now you're trapped into a false
belief system. Now, are those things necessarily
wrong? But listen to the difference. Here's the
truth. It would be nice if one of my children
get into an exclusive university by the grace
of God, walk with him closely, and are used by
God in a profession that would bring glory to
him and happiness to them. It would be nice,
but it has nothing to do with my value as a parent.
It would be nice if I get into one of those kind
of schools and keep my grades up, but I'm going
to do the best I can, but my value isn't dependent
in any way on my grades, my athletic ability,
or my musicianship because I am sealed and delivered
and approved by the living God. I'm on my way
to heaven, and he has a purpose for my life that
may or may not include that. Do you see the difference?
You're listening to Living on the Edge. Before
we hear the rest of Chip's message, let me remind
you that we are a listener -supported ministry.
Your financial gifts help us create programs
like this one, develop new resources, and encourage
pastors globally. Prayerfully consider supporting
us today. Then go to livingontheedge .org to
give a gift. Thanks so much for your help. Well,
here again is Chip. You believe a lot of lies.
And your kids believe a lot of lies. And you
have to focus on what is true. And you will see
a world of difference in your life. Second, the
preview question then is, when you're watching
or listening to something, you ask, is this true
or false? Is this true or false? I'm going to
spend the most time on this because all the others
flow out of this. Here's an illustration. You
think that your emotions are responding to reality.
No, no. Your emotions are responding to your
thinking, and your thinking is the perception
of reality. Those people who listen to just five
minutes of negative things, their perception
was, you know, the guy in that car, he probably
wants to hurt me. You know, never pick up a hitchhiker
because, you know, I heard that story. It's their
perception. So pretend you're out maybe on Quicksilver
Trail or you're taking a big hike, and as you're
walking, oh, you freeze. It's coiled up. It's
a snake, and you got within. And all of a sudden,
your stomach tightens up, perspiration, heart
rate. Oh my gosh, it's a snake. And you hold
someone back and you look at it and you look
at it and you look at it and then it's not moving
at all. And so you get closer and you get closer
and you get closer and you realize it's a piece
of rope that's coiled around. It was your perception
that created all the exact same emotions as though
it were a snake. And there's a lot of snake thinking.
It takes an incredible amount of discipline and
diligence to be someone who starts to think about
what's true. Second, is it honorable? The word
means sober, serious, worthy of respect, inspires
all. It refers to those things that reflect the
weighty purpose of a believer's life. Now, there's
a time for fantasy football. There's a time to
get jacked up over the Super Bowl and other things.
There's a time, I suppose, to figure out who
won the Globe or the Oscar. But there's trivia
ad nauseum in the world. And this is saying,
in the midst of all that, here's what you need
to think about. You need to think at times about
some things that are grave, sober, serious. Things
like the living God through his son Jesus Christ
has rescued you from eternal damnation by his
gift on the cross. And he loves you and favors
you with unconditional love and draws you close
to himself and has an amazing plan for your life.
He has an Ephesians 2 .10 purpose for you that
you are his actual. You're his piece of pottery,
his poem. You are made and designed by the living
God for a purpose that only you can fulfill that
he did before the foundations of the earth. Question,
am I fulfilling it? You are living in a world
that's called window time, but you're made for
eternity. There is a heaven that is a real. There
is a hell that is real. Those are serious things.
The writer of Ecclesiastes says there's far more
wisdom. at a funeral than there is at a party.
Now, I don't mean to focus on this all the time,
but we're living in a world that's quick, fast,
immediate. Those deep kind of thoughts shape
your thinking. My wife asked me after last night's
message, she said, so Chip, what are you afraid
of? I said, I am most afraid that I will squander
the life that God has given me and I will not
fulfill his purposes. And she said, why? I said,
because at least in the world standard, I'm way
more, quote, successful than I thought I'd ever
be. God has given us more than I ever dreamed
in every arena. And all that creates comfort
and a lifestyle that works against the kind of
focus and sacrifice of taking up my cross and
following him and taking big risks for the kingdom
of God. And so I just, I am afraid that I could
slip into a status quo type life and everyone
would think it's just wonderful except the Lord
would know and I would know. Ask this question.
Does this honor or dishonor God? When you're
watching it, does this honor God? Does this really
honor God? It might be gray. It might just be
evil. That's easy. But does this show honor God?
Does this conversation honor God? Does this movie
honor God? Does the book I'm reading, does this
relationship honor God? Third, is it right? The
word means righteous. It's used in the New Testament
to refer to the Father, to Jesus, to God's actions,
to God's character. It pictures doing what is
right when tempted. You might write the word
integrity. At the heart of this is there is a
standard that's not outside of God, but God's
very character creates a standard. And integrity
just means there is an alignment with that. And
the question you want to ask, is this right or
is it wrong? Did I just say the whole truth or
a partial truth? Is this what's really clearly
I know is true or is it a white lie? Is it everyone
does this on their taxes and that time is coming
up or is it absolutely pure? Is this I'm padding
my expenses just a little because I can kind
of justify it and I know and get away with it
or in fact is this integrity? We really love
each other but are we married or are we living
together? Is this recreational, just sort of
a spicy 49, 50, 51 shades of gray? Or is it just
absolutely wrong and immoral and should never
be in my house? Is it a game that honors life
and love and warmth? Or is it a game where people
get blown up and I put it in front of my kids
where their thumbs are killing and mutilating
thousands of people hours on hours in addictive
behavior? Just ask yourself. This is Living on
the Edge with Chip Ingram. And you've been listening
to part one of Chip's message, In a Broken World,
from our series, I Choose Peace. Chip will be
back shortly to share some helpful application
for us to think about. What does it mean to be
at peace? Is it having a thriving career, happy
household, financial security? While many strive
for these goals, they often bring only short
-term satisfaction, leaving us seeking more.
In this 12 -part study in Philippians chapter
4, Chip explains where this attitude of discontentment
comes from and the ways it steals our peace.
Stay with us to learn how to move beyond temporary
calmness and develop a lasting peace -centered
life that comes from God. If you've missed any
part of this series, catch up anytime at livingontheedge
.org or wherever you listen to podcasts. Well,
our Bible teacher, Chip Ingram, is with me in
studio now to share a quick word. Chip? Thanks
so much, Dave. I want to ask you something really
important. Would you choose to become a financial
partner with us? I'm not using that language
to disguise the fact that I'm asking you to give
or trying to be fancy or asking for money. But
when you invest in this ministry, it's more accurately
saying, yes, I will partner with you. Yes, I'll
go to work with you. Yes, I want to be on this
mission with you. When you give, you become a
part of all that we do, a part of the hundreds
of thousands of people hearing God's word, a
part of discipling new Christians and encouraging
persecuted Christians in China and the Middle
East. It's a part of supplying teaching and training
and resources to pastors right here in the U
.S. So will you? Ask God what part He would give
you in all of this, and then just do whatever
He shows you. If all of us do our part, however
God leads, it'll be exactly what we need to fulfill
exactly what God wants us to do. I want to thank
you in advance for whatever God leads you to
do, and thank you. Thanks so much for being a
partner. Thanks, Chip. We believe helping Christians
really live like Christians will radically change
the world we're living in. So if you'd like to
join us in that mission, we'd love to have you
on our team. To become a monthly partner, go
to livingontheedge .org or call us at 888 -333
-6003. Again, that's 888 -333 -6003 or visit
livingontheedge .org. App listeners tap donate.
Well, that here again is Chip. As we wrap up
today's program. This is some of the most profound
teaching in the New Testament. I happen to have
majored in psychology in undergrad and did graduate
work in psychology. And long before all those
theories, long before Freud and all the others,
the Apostle Paul has insights by the Spirit of
God into how our minds work. In fact, you heard
earlier in the message when I talked about the
research done by the University of Tennessee.
We are the product of our thoughts. I mean, it's
not our thoughts define and create our emotional
responses. You know, remember the little story
about the snake and the rope? When you see that,
your perception, your thoughts, what you think
creates an emotional response. And although I
would love to say we're all very logical and
linear and strategic, the fact is the great majority
of our decisions and our behavior is a reaction
to our emotions. And the Apostle Paul then says,
okay, dwell on these things. And then he's going
to list six or seven very specific things that
provide a filter to say, don't think on these
bad things because viewing things, thinking on
things, reading things, taking things in that
are negative, ungodly, wicked, that attract your
flesh. that make you want to do what's wrong,
when you think and dwell on those things, it
will literally play out in your behavior, and
then you receive the consequences. Now, I want
to say a couple things that sound very strong,
but someone better say these now. We're losing
68 % of our kids in evangelical churches. And
I've done the research. The number one reason
that we're losing them is when they look at the
life of their mom and dad, when they look at
the lives of a lot of people that they go to
in their, quote, evangelical church that teaches
the Bible, that has, you know, great worship
and all the rest, there's not authenticity. The
second half of that is, is that we can take our
kids to church. You can even put them in Christian
schools and you can even be a good moral person.
But if your kids are feeding on social media,
on violent games, if they're watching things
on Netflix, if they're, I mean, I see what's
on the television and the kind of content that
is going into the minds of our young people.
And are you ready? Our not so young people. And
this is what I'll tell you. What we currently
see in the behavior of Christians, in the value
of Christians, and in Christian families is a
direct correlation. to what we're putting in
our mind. I just have to tell you, if you want
your children or your grandchildren to have different
kind of lives, it begins with us and what we
put in our mind. Little by little by little,
we begin to tell one another that, oh, that's
not so bad and that's not so bad. I'm not talking
about rigidity or legalism. I'm talking about
a filter where you ask questions like, is this
true or false? Does it honor God or not honor
God? I literally have taken this passage and
I have a three by five card and it's right next
to my television. And before there's a movie,
before I watch a television program, before I
download something to watch, I ask five or six
questions about what is this going to do to my
mind? Because my thoughts will produce my emotions
that produce my behavior that will produce the
consequences and the outcome of my life. Can
I encourage you to think very carefully about
what you put in your mind? In our next broadcast,
I'm going to give you a filter with specific
questions that if you really want to change,
believe me, God has a plan that will help you.
Great challenge, Chip. And as we close, I want
you to know that as a staff, we ask the Lord
to help you take whatever your next faith step
is. And we'd love to hear how it's going. Would
you take a minute and send us a note or give
us a quick call? Either one is easy. Just email
chip at livingontheedge .org or call 888 -333
-6003. Again, that's 888 -333 -6003 or email
chip at livingontheedge .org. Well, be sure to
join us next time as Chip continues his series,
I Choose Peace. Until then, I'm Dave Drury saying
thanks for listening to this edition of Living
on the Edge.