Peace Beyond Understanding | Pr Daniel Chong

You're listening to a message to go from acts church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

All right, today I have a message that just prepared

for you. The title that I have for you this

morning is beyond understanding. Something your neighbors say, beyond understanding.

Beyond understanding. Now, that is a very very beautiful picture

of I don't think it represents all its glory and

how nice it looks in a picture, but in person

it was just amazing. I actually have a video, but

I didn't share XTV earlier. Man, I just thought about it.

Maybe I should have shard it. But it was a

video of a skyline of a Quarta Baro. I'm not

sure how many have you been to Quata Baro recently

or have ever stepped forward in the beautiful land of Kalantan.

But that is actually the skyline. So if actually we

can keep that slide up, it will be nice. I'll

talk a little bit of the on on the on

the skyline.

Now, can we can we keep the slide up? XTV? Yeah,

that's the picture of the skyline.

Yeah, so no, the picture, the picture the first slight

the title's slight.

Yes, Halil, thank you XTV. You're doing such a good job.

All right. So now I'm not sure if you see.

That that that that picture, but there's a sunday right,

there's a Sunday in the in the background, so a

little of context. I was recently on a trip to

Quatta Baro with our beloved pastors and elders.

Uh.

And we were on a mission. We were on a

mission to just scout the land.

You know. See. How is it actually in Quata Baro? Uh?

And it's I can tell you one thing. It's a

beautiful city. How do you been to Clinton? Can I

see a raise of hands? How do you have you

been to Quota Bara? I'm not sure if you have been.

Even if you have been to.

Quarter Barou, have you ever seen Quata bar in this light? Yeah?

So I also privileged to be at one of the

highest vantage points in Quata Baro.

Uh.

And I had a three sixty view right, I tree

sixty view so east.

Where's funny thing.

I woke up on Thursday morning thinking that, hey, I.

Need to catch the sunrise. Yeah.

I was up already before sunrise, but I was like waiting.

I was on my Bible of spring over the land

and I was waiting.

I was waiting.

I was waiting, and then I realized one thing, friends

and family, don't make this mistake. Where does the sun

rise from? Yes, I waited at the west. I was like,

why today is so mundo? Why today so cloudy? Where's

the sun? But I can sorely see the orange side

where the sky suttern orange? I said, Oh, no, I

wed the wrong side. So friends and family, the sun

rises from the east. Please remember that. Do not wait

at the west. I thought where I was facing was

the east. Okay, to be fair, But then it was

the west. Because clearly I was at the same position

where I tod this picture, and this was sunset, so

I should have known that. Actually I don't think the

sun rises and sets at the same place. But yeah,

I learned that. But it was a beautiful land across me.

It was Thailand. It was such a beautiful picture. And

I tell you what, this picture just reminds me. Just

reminds me one thing. That God is good a man.

That God loves Glanton, that God loves Malaysia, that God

loves wherever that you're at. Yeah, he loves your office,

he loves your city, he loves your township. But sometimes

at times, whenever things start to happen in our lives,

we tend to forget sometimes. And that's why I want

to just you know, segue into what I have for

you this morning, is that sometimes we got to stop

relying on our understanding. You know, relying our understanding is good.

And I grown up and my mom always tell me,

if you have a brain, use your brain.

Yeah. So it's good to have understanding.

But sometimes if we use it too much and we

rely on it too much, especially when it takes the

place of God, it becomes very dangerous. Yeah, it becomes

very dangerous. Philippins, Chapter four, verse seven. If your Bibles,

please turn to them this verse. I was just looking

at it, and I was asking myself, I am going

to highlight che important words in this verse. I ended

up highlighting the entire verse, all right, because the entire

verse is important. So let's read it, and we're going

to study the world of God together. We're going to

take it from verse six to seven. Oh my six, seven,

all right? Six? Verse six, be anxious for nothing, but

in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your

request we may known to God and the peace of God,

which surpasses all understanding. Will God your hearts and mind

true Christ Jesus, Amen, Harleylujah. I'm gonna just start by

saying this, what do most of you here one out

of your lives? Do you have a Have you ever

asked this question to yourself? You're living here on this earth,

what do you want out of it? Maybe take maybe

take twenty seconds to talk to.

Your neighbor right now, ask your neighbor.

Maybe your is your spouse, Maybe your neighbor is your

your family, or maybe I heard seen there laughing. Uh,

I don't know what you want out of this life?

Then my girls say whatever you want there, I'll provide.

Raise the Lord. Amen. Come on, take the next one

the seconds and discuss. You want to know what actually

do you want out of this life?

What do you want? Easy life? Someone say easy life?

I don't know what easy life means? Yeah, blessed life.

How many you say persecuted life?

What else? What? I tell on? Discuss? Discuss?

Don't just look at me, la. I give you opportunity

to talk to one another. Talk talk for the next

twenty seconds. List you can talk to your cat or

your dog. Uh, hope are you out of bed, raise

the Lord. Anally waters, My wife said, Anali waters, she

wants and what do you want out of this life?

Anally orders? Okay, great, Okay, I hope you have discussed that.

Okay.

How many of you here say peace? So you say

blessed like easy life?

Yeah?

So, I'm not sure how many of you pieces at

the top of your list. I want a peaceful life.

I want to retire. I want to go to Pinang.

I want to buy a house by the beach. I

want to just wake up every morning to sunrise. I'll

wake up every morning to a sea breeze. That's all

I want morning market. I don't want to smell, but

I want the fresh produce.

Right. I love that life. How many of you would

love that? Yeah?

You want a peaceful home? How many you want a

peaceful house? When you get home? Do you want your

house to be serene, nice, smelling good? Or you want

your house to be filled with.

Chicken? Yeah? How many of you want that? You know?

I was traveling back on the way from Godabaru and

I saw a lory feel of chickens. I would imagine

being the driver for eleven hours. The chicken is clucking

behind me. I don't know how many of you can

can can live through that?

Do you want that? Do you want a peaceful house?

You have gone through a long dead work.

You get home mutuers, want to put your two feet

up and relax?

Right?

Do you want to have peaceful relationships? Or you want

to be in a relationship I always got fighting on

or we got drama and God in drama we should

How many of you want peaceful relationships? Raise your hands,

hold on peaceful minds? Anyone you want peaceful minds. It's

one thing to want something up, but I don't know

whether you ever have a peaceful minder. Okay, peaceful mind.

Peaceful minds mean you know nothing thing one nothing. I

call it the nothing box. Okay, the nothing box. But

at a pursuit of peace, most of us do the

same thing.

Okay.

I summarized this, and I'm learning from my own lives.

How many of you like control? How many are there

like waking up in the morning knowing where to go,

what to do, what to eat, what to wear. I'm

not sure how many of you would like to not

have a life of control? And we manage our old schedule?

Do we do that?

Or we allowed the lord to manage our schedule. Oh oh,

getting a bit uh sensitive here. Yeah, we manage our schedule.

We solve our problems. I tell you what I felt

like the men of all men's when I was uh

called in by my at that time not yet wife,

and she's not called in, she asked.

He didn't even ask for help.

I was just there day to fix a tire or

you know, bunch of tire or field patrol, you know everything.

I feel like I was a very very man, no

whole man. Right, we want to solve all the problems

in life. Her can every problem you on a solve arena?

Right? Everything she she she talked to you.

Then you start solving solving this. There's something that I

think as men, men we need to learn. Whenever your

wife shares something in you, you don't have to solve everything.

Just listen. Get open your two years and listen. You

are not God. You do to stove everything.

Just listen.

You know, plan for every contingency, everything that happens in life.

Right if the cat jumps, what to do if the

dog poops? What to do? Right? Like you like that?

Any normal we like that? At least Mila I love

being in control. I don't like things when it goes

out of my control. I have no aunswer for it.

That's the worst feeling ever for me. Okay, for me,

every constiuency, the underlying logic is this, if I can

control the variables, if I can control everything that's happening

around me, then I will have peace. But the piece

that Paul speaks off in Philippines for seven is fundamentally different.

It's fundamentally different. Okay.

It is not the piece of a managed life. It

is a piece of a surrendered one. Turn your neighbor

and say surrendered one. So again again, turn your neighbor again,

and or maybe to your own hearts and ask yourself,

what does peace feel like to you?

After what I shared?

You know, don't allow what I shared to change your

thoughts out right, what I just shared from my heart?

What this peace feel like for me? Now?

I would like you to do the same across the

message throughout the time that we have together this morning.

What does peace feel like to you? Yeah? What this

peace feel like to you? Now?

Can I have a few responses? I just shared my bite.

Okay again, what this peace feel.

Like to you?

At least three three responses? Quiet number one?

What else? Come? Okay? Calm quiet?

Anyone one more? Last one me from from from this

side of the room.

Come on, shout it out, shout it out. Comfort? Who

say comfort? Comfort? Calm? Yeah? Now, And I'm sure some

of you have this in your hearts, right you have already?

And answer?

But what if everything we just describe is actually just

the absence of trouble? Can I summarize? He said that

whatever that you have thought about the word piece? What

if everything we describe is just actually, in essence, the

absence of trouble, but not true piece itself? You know,

Paul writes a letter, this letter in specific from a

Roman prison. Did you know that he is under chains?

Under God? We have an uncertain future. He has no

future when he wrote this, And yet he writes about joy.

Can we read that?

In verse four he says, rejoice is the Lord always?

And again I say rejoice. He wrote about contentment. Verse

eleven says this not that I speak in regard to need,

but I've learned in whatever state I am, to be content,

I know I know how to be a base, and

I know how to be a bound and a piece.

That devides all expectation. This is what Paul wrote about.

Remember he wrote this from prison. Okay, he wrote this

from prison. This is not a man just writing a theology. Okay,

this is a man writing a testimony. He's writing out

of experience. He's in the storm. He is not out

of the storm. He is in the storm. He's writing

from prison. That means maybe he has just been whipped.

Maybe he just got laugh that sped upon. Maybe someone

just cut into your lane in the in the in

the highway. Can you imagine someone just did something despicable

to you, Someone just did something unfair to you, Someone

just did something that defies your lodging, defies your understanding,

and you are fresh out of the encounter. Can you

imagine how Paul would have set down there, or you

would have sat in your car after just being wrong

and saying this, Rejoice in the Lord always and again,

I say you. Maybe the answer to all your road

rich and all your road traffic is whenever someone cuts

into your lane, you say, rejoice in the Lord always

and again. I say rejoice because sometimes it's easy to

remember the bad things that happened to us while we

forget what God has done for us just a few

seconds ago. Amen, just a few minutes ago. God heal

you from that fever. God provided for you for that

new office. God provided for you for that house. Your

house loan is going great, no problems, no financial problems.

The East Coast is going through something that the East Coast,

the East, you know, the Middle East is going through something.

There's unimaginable. People are dying, are losing their jobs. And

yet the government saying you gotta be careful. You're gonna

be careful how you spend, you know, because economy is

not going to be great. But you look at yourself

and honestly look at yourself, and you go like, actually,

he actually, actually, I don't know how many of you

here jumping on the trend of the diesel price increasing,

but actually, brother and sister, you're not driving diesel car,

so just chill on that. I know of a few

people trying diesel. Is really really tough. One full time

six hundred in gate, Yeah, no subsidy, of course, they

get four hundred e gate here and there, but only

for newer vehicles.

I don't know how many of us here we forget,

we forget that God is good.

But Paul here in the midst of persecution, in the

midst of his troubles and his trials. He's writing what

he writes. I don't know if actually we can follow me.

The slightest is just there. As I speak, it just

has to flow. Okay, as I speak, it just has

to flow. So we're going to go to some word

studies that. Okay, some word study. Now, if you look

at verse six our seven, it says the peace of

God we surpasses, surpasses all understanding.

Now, the word here surpasses.

It's actually translated in Greek from the root word hyperchosa.

Okay, I may not have pronounced that correctly, but that's

the word.

It means to rise above, to be superior to, or

to exceed all else. You're a piece of God, friends

and family. Does not simply just mean our understanding. Okay,

it does not just simply meant our understanding. It rises

above our understanding.

Entirely.

Can I also say this that it is not a

reward for thinking rightly as an understanding.

That's having a good understanding. Yeah, he is.

A grace given to those who have stopped requiring that

they understand it all. Sometimes we want to be in

control of everything, and that includes the plans and the

will of God. But as you begin to lose that control,

or release that control or surrender that control, God's will

comes in and their grace will come in, and it

will be given to those who have said, God, I

know that by right, I should be angry at this

guy who has who had just wronged me and my family.

My understanding, my logic would say, be angry, take revenge.

But your understanding is love. Your understanding is love. But God,

I can't. I just can't physically do that. So give

me the grace. And that's when his grace comes in,

and he his grace reminds us that, hey, you want

a sinner. You once did something despicable to someone else. Also,

you once did something nasty to someone else. Also, Maybe

that was ten years ago, maybe there was a year ago.

Maybe you were not even aware that you wrong someone.

But the person that's being wrong and did today feels that,

I tell you what This person he doesn't know, but

he't imagine being on the.

Other side of the body. He actually doesn't know.

Maybe he cut in your lane, he didn't see, he

was a blind spot. But yet you're always saying, how

how can someone with a proper Malaysian driving license drive carlided?

But maybe he doesn't know. Have you ever thought about that?

Because your understanding would say that he should know how

to drive, he should know how to signal. So it

requires race choir's grace. So we want to those stop

requiringly understand all. I'm gonna give you three anchors. Can

I have the next night?

Xdiv.

I'm gonna give you three anchors on what God's peace

actually means. Okay, and it's all in peace. Someone say

pee peace, yeah, peace, get it?

Peace all right? Yeah yeah, okay.

Nobody laughs when they say peace and peace, yeah, peace, peace,

all right peace. The first piece is presence. Second one

is for straight. Now mazle, you may know what is

for straight. I don't want that, okay. Anyways, it's the

different kind of prostrate. And number three protection protection. Now

can you go to the next light xdiv. We all

go to the first key. Presence. Now, presence means this,

what does it even mean peace? It's not the absence

of conflict. Earlier we we thought about what piece actually

means to you, and I summarize this by saying that

whatever that we think that peace is is just the

absence of trouble. Right, Whenever there's no trouble, there's peace.

Whenever there's trouble, there's no peace. Yeah, But can I say,

God's peace is not the absence of trouble.

God's peace is the presence of God.

That means you can go through trouble but yet still

have the peace above all peace. You can go through

a storm by yet put your head on a pillow

and sleep. You can go through problems by yet having

no understanding. Yet you know that at the end of

the day, everything is going to be okay, everything is

going to be all right because it is not just

the absence of conflict. It is the presence of God.

So how many of you want that in your life?

This morning?

You want the presence of God? If that's you say

a good amen? You want the presence of God? Can

I go to the next XTV? So the question again,

So today we're gonna go through a few rounds. So

what is actually piece?

Now?

This is a picture that was painted by a brother

name Nico Dimus. It is the brother that was bringing

us around Katabaru, and he was actually having this picture

painted and he's a good painter. From what you can see.

I don't know, you think that's a nice picture. I

actually like it. It's an abstract adler.

Now.

He was painting this because he was at the place

of just despair for eighteen years. He have sold and sold,

but there was a season of his life I think

ten years ago he felt that, I don't know where

else and how else want to get the strength to

do this. So one night he just sat down, put

canvases on the on the floor and he started painting

from from morning and because he can't sleep. So if

you go to that place, you will see a lot

of canvases around the area. And I just took a

picture of this particular painting because it caught my eye.

He caught my eye, And how did you catch my eye?

Is this?

I'm not sure if actually you can zoom in the

picture or anything, but I think it's big enough for

you to see. Yeah, okay, this here so, uh, it

was a a lot a picture of a lot. Can

you see there was a lot of white dots? Can

you see white like little I'm not sure how he

did it, but white they are spaces, uh, And I

asked him, actually how do you paint this?

He was actually started off with a white canvas.

He painted the whole thing rad first, and then from

the whole day of rap that represents the blow of Jesus,

because he wanted that over his life.

He wanted the blood justus all his life.

And then after that the Holy Spirit just started to

minister to him. And as the Holy spred minister, he

put in all this white dots and whatnot. The first

thing that I saw and it reminded me it was

the promise that God actually gave to Abraham. You say,

if you are going to be obedient, right, if you're

going to be faithful, if you're going to continue on this,

I promise you. I promise you that out of your

own descendant, it will come a group of people that

you can't even count. You can't even count. Look at

the stars, look at the sky and count the mouth stars,

the all stars that you can count, that will be

the mount descendants that you have. And as I was

looking at this picture, I was just a reminder. I asked,

I asked myself, can I count an amount of white

white spaces? Can anyone of you counted? It's very difficult, right,

it's very you know, to each his own. But there

was just a reminder to me that this maybe maybe

in in a place of desperation, in a place of like,

you know what, I don't know how else I'm going

to push on because no one here, no one is coming,

No one is coming. The whole West Coast is bright,

that litted up Christians are all around, the world of

God is going forth.

But the East coast, the East Coast is dark, stark, because.

Because the basic human need is comfort, and when you

go to places like this, that is the first thing

that you lose. But does that mean that the people

in the East Coast am not just saying in this

specific displace? Does that mean the people in this people

group they do not deserve to hear the word of God.

And I don't know how many of you.

And I'm speaking this forth right, not as a form

of saying I tell you pack your backs and go. No,

I'm speaking this forth as just a remembrance because if

you are seated here this morning, if you can't go, pray,

give so because someone else is willing to go, but

they do not have the finances to do so. So

the way you maybe you can support is by that.

If you don't have that, then pray in the scene.

How many of us wake up in the morning and

we go like, I tell you what I know the gospel.

My family knows the gospel. But is there someone else

here that does not know? And maybe in that, in

that desperation, we go like, God, give me, give me

a sign, tell me what to do. He was struggling,

Brother Nicol Dibbers was struggling. Would you you associate that

as the word peace because he couldn't sleep? How many

you would would associate the act of not slipping to

having peace?

You can't.

But when I look at this picture someday look at

it and go like wow, why so messy?

I actually see peace.

Because I look at this picture and it's just a

remembrance to me that God is faithful and every single

white God over there represents a soul, a soul that

hasn't here the good news of Jesus Christ. Every white

spot over there from a white canvas to red and

then it's black, and then the white is just overtaking

the black.

And one day we are going to be made. The

white is slow.

Amen, one day we're going to be We're going to

We're going to see those that doesn't know the gospel.

The black hearts will turn and it will become white. Amen,

in the name of Jesus. But who is going to go,

Who is going to do the work in the pastor

Brother just told me one thing, many many pastas many Christians,

they just touch and go.

There's no change. We just touch. But blah yo, I

would like to just issue.

A warning to my own heart and to all of us.

Missions is not cs RRH. Missions is not community service.

It's not something to just satisfy our KPI. It's not

something to just do because our company believes in it. No,

missions is a way of life. Missions is actually a

command for God. Go therefore into all nations and make disciples. Amen,

make disciples. So that maybe can I just maybe offer

a chain of thought. Maybe that's peace. Peace is knowing

that despite me not being able to sleep. Peace is

knowing that God is going to bring forth the people

into the land and they are going to hear Jesus Christ.

They are going to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Maybe that's peace. Then I go to the next light.

I just put it there for you to see. This

is the city market for those of you. This is

advantage point of one of the I think three stories

up and we took a picture down. To me, this

is peace because it's so I look at it and

I feel so peaceful. Yeah, I look at it. I

feel so so many colors so aligned. Right, But did

you know that if you really zoom in and you

see deeper and clearer, you will see a lot of

people sitting down. You see a lot of them sitting down.

Can you actually see them sitting down? They're all there,

They're actually there. They're all camouflushed and they're all doing

the same thing, cutting robot. Let go, Yeah, all cutting

about like card the uncool version. So amen, praise the Lord.

This is to me, Maybe that's peace. So what is

peace to you? Can we go to the next light?

How this is the the problem?

Right?

Maybe peace comes right when problems are solved. Maybe peace

comes when depths are paid, relationships are mended.

Health report.

You go for health report, and it's all good. However,

the moment a new problem arises, the piece that you

have just that you have just acquired, it evaporates.

Have you ever been in that problem?

Have you ever been in a situation you finally, finally,

you have been going through a hard day at work

and then you acquire that breakthrough.

God came true for you.

Yeah, students, maybe you've been studying very hard and then

suddenly you get a good result. Suddenly, out of nowhere,

the anxiousness turns into peace. But did you know that

the moment a new problem comes up, the piece that

you have just acquired, it just evaporates. You stop giving

thanks to God, you stop giving him praise, you stop

giving him glory, and then you put your focus and

your attention on another problem.

Because that's just human life. Yeah, that's just who we are.

That's why so many believers today live in a constant

cycle of anxiety.

How many have you here this morning? You are anxiety?

You know what?

I recently acquired a new anxiety. I share you, it'd

be very funny. Yeah, I have an anxiety of doors

that are not closed. Okay, this happened because there was

one fine day that I think, I think I was

the one who forgot to close the door. And I

have a cat, and I don't want a cat to

run out of the house because I love my cat.

But every since that day, every since that day I

kill you not. There will be instances where I already

in the car and I'll go like, did I close

the door? And not just that, not just the main door.

Did I close the room door? There goes the toilet door.

Did I close the study door? So I would actually

take the lift all the way back up to check

whether my door is close? And most of the time

it is close, in fact, one hundred percent of the time.

Since my anxiety said that he was always close. But

I don't know why this new found anxiety that it

has been really gripping me. Did I close the door?

Yeah? We live in a concert cycle of anxiety.

We pursue peace by eliminating what this sturbs them.

That's how we pursue peace.

We we we we are angry, We eliminate the person

that we're angry with a chief peace.

How many have you tried that before? Yeah? Not physically

a are you angry? You want person? Okay?

I want to have nothing to do with this person anymore.

That's how I acquire a piece. He messed with me.

I don't mess with him. But did you know that

how God of Prasce is different? You know how God

op prays, is he messed with me? You offer the

other chick. That's how God operates, you know, That's how

Jesus taught us to do. If someone slaps you on

one chick, what do you do?

Ah?

But our understanding you see what I'm getting it? Our

understanding is you s let me I give you a

bigger slap. That's understanding. We pursue peace by illuminating it.

But life keeps producing disturbance. So how are you gonna

keep What are you gonna do? Keep eliminating it? Life

keeps throwing lemons at you. What you keep doing?

Throw it back? Life keeps happening. It's gonna happen.

We learn from Jesus, La when something bad happens, to sleep, Lah,

just sleep?

What does it even? Man mean? Just rest? Just rest?

Imagine if the disciples just rested in the presence of

the Lord. You think that that storm, no matter how

boisterous it was, would be powerful enough to overturn the

ship in which the Lord Jesus Christ was residing in.

One hundred percent God, but one hundred percent men can

drown on However, he has a mission.

Do you think that that storm will stop that mission? Come?

On.

Just rest in the presence of the Lord.

Stop thinking that you have to take everything into control

and elimit everything around you. We do that because we

lack peace, and we are seeking for pet in the

wrong places. Next Life, John fourteen twenty seven.

Says this peace. I live with you, my peace. I

give to you as the world gifts. Do. As the

world gifts do, I give to you, not as the

world gives. Do. I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

You know what I noticed recently, I start to not

be able to see small letters anymore. I don't know

what is what a sign of it? Maybe I need

to start Ah, Yeah, eating carrots, you know. Jesus draws

a very explicit contrast. Yeah, the piece the world gives

is transactional. The piece the world gives is transactional. It

arise with good that's in the next light. It arise

with good circumstances next see next light. It arise with

next circumstances and departs with bad ones. That's the peace

of the world.

Yeah.

When good circumstances comes, pace arrives. When bad circumstances departs,

it goes away.

Yeah.

His peace is different in both origin and nature. It

is not a response to your situation. Yeah, that's what

God's peace is. It is a gift from It is

a gift from God. He gives it even while telling

his disciples. If you go back to John fourteen twenty seven,

he gives it even while telling the disciples that he

is about to go. Can you see that he is

about to go. You know, he's about to leave this place.

And he says to the disciples, even when I'm not around,

I'm going to give you peace. The disciples are like, no, no,

we want you around. We want you around. Jesus, be

beside me. Come for my wedding, be at the the

the born, the birth of my child.

Be there with me. That's what we want.

But Jesus saying, I tell you what, I'm going to

leave you, but I'm going to leave you in peace.

The peace comes because the situation, not because the situation

is comfortable, but because the giver is faithful. Amen.

Amen, That's how the peace comes. It is because of

who he is. It's because of his presence.

I say that.

Twenty six three says you will keep him in perfect peace.

Whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

I think Bacado has shared this before and over here

he shed. The Hebrew word for peace is perfect peace.

It's called shalom shalom. Yeah, shalom shalom. The word doubled

for intensity gave. You want to take a picture, you can.

It's a whole passage over there, but I just thought,

I'll just give you the whole thing. This is how

I view it.

Okay.

The word double for intensity and completeness. And it's a condition.

The condition for receiving it is not a stable environment.

The condition for receiving this perfect piece is not a

stable environment. But it is a state mind. Okay, it's

not a house that is quiet, but it's a mind

that the state. That's how you receive the double portion

of peace, the shalom shalom, a.

Mind fixed and anchored, held by trust.

You can have shalom shalom in a crisis if your

mind is set on God. However, you can lack shalom

shalom in comfort if your mind is set on yourself.

So set your heart, set your mind on God. Two

people can walk through the same storm, one with shalom

and one without. The difference is not their circumstances, It

is the posture before God. One is leaning on the situation,

the other one is leaning on the law. So the

next time you go through a trial, a trying time,

a trying season, ask yourself.

What are you leaning on?

Are you leaning on your own understanding or are you

leaning on the peace of God? Are you leaning on

your own circumstances? Or are you leaning on the character

of God? Because if you lean on the character of God,

you will remember. You will remember that God delivered my

dad from cancer. That is leaning on the character of

God leading or your understanding will be like God, why

are you taking home? So you have to make sure

and remember what are you leaning on? Can we have

the next night? Prostrating truth piece requires surrendering the need

to understand. Can we go to the next light. We're

gonna study a litt bit of what postrading means. What

does it mean to prostrate?

Now?

Postrating comes from the Latin word which is prosternal.

Okay. Prosternal comes from two words pro.

Which is forward it means forward facing yeah, and sterner,

which is to lay flat or to throw down. Now,

this specific word actually originated all the way back in

the days of Abraham when he fell down to worship. Okay,

when he fell down to saha. That's the word for worship. Now,

when you postraight, that is actually the posture that you

should take.

Okay.

The Hebrews, the Israelites, when they worship, they do this.

So you we imagine kneeling down right, and we come

before the presence of God. We actually lay flat on

our face because it's just too mighty, it's just too holy.

We can't come in or close, so we have to

do that. Yeah, so you lay flat. That's why. I

don't know how you follow. You know how different ones worship,

especially our cousins. That's what they do as well. They

actually go all the way down their head. That's your floor. Okay,

and sometimes this is the posture that's required. Let's just

study that a little bit more. Okay, Can I go

the next line very quickly? It is literally the posture

that has abandoned all claim to standing. Okay, I'm going

to ask a very sensitive question, but don't answer it

out loud. Answer your own hearts, friends and family. When

was the last time you knelt down to the Lord?

When was the last time you actually use your knees

in worship. I'm not saying that you'll start kneeling down

now because the legacy I say this all, but actually,

if there's a will, there's a whaler.

I'll tell you what. If you broke your.

Heel bone and your leg and you're up there and

the Lord is speaking to you, kneel down, You take

away the chain, you kneel down, because that's the posture.

We're talking about. Posture now.

When is the last time you knelt down physically in worship?

When is the last time you knelt down in spiritually

your hearts kneeling down, face on the floor, because that

is literally the posture that allows us to understand what

this piece of God actually means.

This abandoning all claim to sending.

You're saying, God, I tell you what, if anything, I

want to be right standing to you, but in my

own strength, in my own will, I don't understand no more.

And that includes your understanding. You're abandoning all right through

the ability to understand the circumstances the situation.

The piece that surpasses all.

Understanding cannot be reached by a mind that is still

standing up right, arms folded, waiting for answers. Many of

us like to fall our arms. Many of us don't

know where to put our arms. That sorry, fall our arms.

But did you know that I found out that it's

actually rude to fold your arms when you're singing a garacle.

You actually shouldn't do that. Why is the right posture

when you sing the garacle? Hands straight beside your How

about this at the back that is actually up?

Severe? Is actually like that?

You know, if you're you go for royal rangers and marching,

but if they ask you to just relax, that's why

you put your hands to the back. But many of

us yesterday, I always had Victory Academy open day, and

I was watching some of them sing the song someone

like that, someone like that. Yeah. I literally saw someone

digging his nose while was singing Someone's.

The other one was on the on the phone.

The other one was paire assimilation, live lower. What's the

posture of our hearts? You can't achieve that peace? There's

passes all understanding with your arms folded. Sometimes when you

pray to God, there's you known, you know, by not

actually put getting in the right posture, that's how you

look like that's actually how you look like to God.

You know, you may think that you're on your knees

physically because pass then just apreach about getting on your knees. Okay,

I shall do it, But it's your heart on your knees.

Is that the posture of your heart? Are you actually

face down flat on the floor. Are you actually surrendering

to God? Because God will actually speak, you know, and

God actually say yeah to you. I'm not looking at

especially persona, let me look at the.

Light.

God will actually say to you, sell everything that you have,

give it.

To those that need it. Who you follow? Will you listen?

Now that's extremer fire extreme, but God will actually put

something in your heart that will be along the lines

or something that listen. Know, forgive that person that you

have not forgiven it a long time. You want to

achieve perfect plea, you want a chief Shalom shalom?

Do that? No, God, I can't. I can't.

And sometimes we wonder why we are still looking for

honeswers because sometimes we feel that it is not related.

But it is actually related.

Because God, the moment he fixes the heart of yours,

that heart will fly, Their heart will go mouths and distance.

Maybe the one thing that is holding you back is

the very thing that God is testing us.

So what is the posture of our heart?

It can only be received by a soul laid flat

before the one who holds all answers. There is the

peace of God. That is the peace of God. Pride

cannot pro straight. Yeah, pride cannot for straight. It is

impossible for pride for straight. Control cannot prostraight because by

lying down you're losing control. You cannot stand anymore. They're down.

You do no longer have control of the situation. You

can't even see what's coming.

You know.

Sometimes we worship God by putting our face fail on

the floor because we God wants to take away everything

that's around us so that we do not see.

We do not see the storm. You know.

Peter, when he was called to come towards Jesus, his

eyes was fixed on Jesus, and that's why he could

walk on the water. But the moment he turned and

he looked at the boisterous waves and see he began

to sink.

Amen, we heard the story. So his eyes fixed on Jesus,

and that's.

Why sometimes most of the times, this is what God

is teaching us for straight surrender, self sufficiency.

Cannot for straight next life? Next thybe?

However, can I just encourage us one thing? We are wired. Yeah,

we are wired to seek for explanations. We are wired.

We're wired to seek for justifications. We are wired to

seek for clarity. That's just who we are.

You know, me, me wondering what is that picture over there? Yeah?

That picture was taken by yours Truly, I took that picture.

I never ever thought right that one day I will

have to call the ambulance.

Never. I don't know how much of you know was

a number for ambulance. Though.

If you all don't know, you'all better know. Because I

made the mistake of calling Bomba. Yeah, Hello, I'm looking

for ambulance Bomba.

Yeah, I caught nine ninety one.

There was Bomba barely. I called something wrong law and

then he redirected me. He was kind enough to redirect me.

I never knew that I had I had to call

and and this was just me calling the ambulance and

and and this was the season of my life that

I was actually very very very affected.

It was one of my lowest seasons. Okay, I lost

my dad.

Uh and uh recently, we had to do a wait

for our dear sister, Clarissa's dad, who went home to

be with the Lord.

Uh.

And it's not easy. It's not easy. And I spoke

about this very message as well. But I spoke in

particularly about how to grief and what is it? How

do you actually grief in the in the in the

laws of a love fun But that for another day.

But for me, I was actually asking.

God a lot of questions when I was set with

Clarissa's dead uh wife, her name again, sister Celia.

The thing that she kept saying was this, I'm very angry, you.

Got because God take away my husband.

Angry, angry.

Now some of you may may may have a conversure

of her and you got what you know, she's just

a grieving wife.

But you know it's I was telling accouverasation her.

I actually understood because for a moment in time, I

was actually also very upset. I was upset not because

of who God is and why God took him away,

because I actually got actually prepared my heart and but

I just didn't know. You know, you can't, you can

never prepare yourself for a death of love.

Fun.

Now you you can never. Yeah, but I was just

asking God for explanation after explanation, God, why why why

do you allow this to happen in a place that

actually makes me feel even worse.

I don't know how many of you know the story.

I was actually uh preaching, I was was I preaching

or sharing?

I'm not sure.

I was doing something in ex color co morning and

then I I received a text message from my wife,

my wife, my mom, and my mom said that it's

not doing well. Come right, uh and she showed me

a picture and I saw a picture and go like, okay,

I gotta go.

So I told my wife we got to go. So

we went.

We arrived and he was on the floor. He was

literally lying flat on the floor. Okay, actually he fell flat.

You know.

My mom was the one that actually turned him over.

By that arrive he was already laying the right side up,

face up, and he was just gasping for air. And

I was there and I was like that, are you okay?

You know obviously it's not okay. I don't know why

I see ye. Are you okay?

But are okay? You want me to help you? To?

You want me to help you? Okay, I'll just carried

him and we worked together.

I don't know whether my wife was there, and she

wasn't there, right, okay, So I took him up. I

think I twisted my angle or something, and then I

brought him to the to the bed, laid him there,

and then as I was talking to him, I said, uh,

it's going to be okay, It's going to be well.

And you know, at that time, I really didn't know.

I didn't know.

Of course, it was just like it was just like

every other day, right, just helping him, washing him and whatnot.

But as I left, he looked at me and he

said something. He looked at me and he said, son,

thank you, thank you, and uh, I think to be exact,

he said thank you for being a good son. And

I was just very moving the situations and I just

pat him on the head and I just said that

it's going to be all right.

Then after that, I took my mom and took my

mom out.

To Domino's Pizza, bought a pizza for her, and then

just left left and I came back. So as I

came back, I I think that's when I reconnected with

my wife physically. And then uh, we took her and

then we had a game. We had a game of pickaball. Okay,

so this is true, Storia. I went to play that

game and I and I think I fetched one of

our youths as well, Mad.

So I took Mad with me, and then we were

having dinner at.

At Uh at that time, right after pickaball, and I

got news from my mom saying that dad is stopped breeding. Immediately,

I I think I abandoned Mad. Sorry, I abandoned him,

And I say, I think I told it was it

was mad. It was mad. It's like shat okay, either one, la?

I think it was mad? Right, it was mad? Okay, anyways,

either one doesn't matter. So I abandoned him, and I did.

I just say, I gotta go, but you gotta find

your own way back. Sorry, we left him there. There

was someone else there, right, yeah, okay now, and I

just say I gotta go.

So I took to Russia and I said, let's go,

all right. I arrived, just go on.

I felt, I tell you what, the mouth guilt I

felt is crazy, you know, I almost quite pick about that.

And then because that was just like, hey, hello, just

leave your father lah your enemy with speaking just beeve

your father. Why are you to go and play some balls?

Beave your father? You know, that's the that's the voice,

you know non stop, you know, for the next one

two days. I just just imagine if you had been there,

maybe your dad will still be your life. When you

chose to go and gratify yourself, you chose to go

and make yourself happy.

You chose to go and play satisfy your needs.

This is the enemy talking, talking, talking, And because that

was happening non stop, I was just seeking for an explanation. God,

Why do you allow me to go? Why didn't you

speak to me, Holy Spirit? Why didn't you tell me

to stay? And I was seeking for explanation after explanation,

And I tell you what, I realized one thing. I

realized that all I needed at that time was God's peace,

because I did not have his peace.

That's why I looked.

At everything and everyone except God, and I asked. I

began to look at him more and more. I realized

that his time was up. I realized that my dad

has fought the good fight and he has finished the

race and it's done. And I was the one who

was clinging on to him. I don't know how many

of you would like to live a life that you

have no memory of. Every single day I beIN realized.

I didn't realize. It is God's mercy upon my dad's

life that he decided to take him back, because that

is total life that anyone will enjoy living. But as

I continue to put my focus on everything, I didn't

see that. But it is normal. It's normal for us

to seek for an explanation. We believe that we can

understand why something is happening, we can find peace about it.

Tragedy becomes more bearable when it makes sense. Loss is

more tolerable when we can see a purpose. So we

demand an understanding as a prerequisite for peace. We say

to God, in so many words, explain this to me,

then I will rest.

God.

If you do not speak, I will not rest. Resolve

this for me. Then I will trust you. Show me

your plan and then I will follow. That's our prayer.

Show me, tell me where to go, then I will go.

But God, in his great mercy, he does not always comply.

He does not always comply. He will offer something better

than an explanation. He offers a protection a man, he

offers a protection probabs three five to six says trust

in the law with all your heart, and lean not

on your own understanding. You know this is not an

instruction to be todtless or passive. Before you go back

saying that, but then say it is good to not

have a brain.

No, it's not.

It is not an instruction to be thoughtless or passive.

It is an instruction about where the ultimate weight shall rests.

It is an instruction that is in the next light

next tybe.

It is an instruction about where the ultimate weight should rest.

You may think, but do not trust your thinking as

a final authority.

Yeah, you may think.

You may ponder, but do not trust it as the

final authority. You may reason, but do not require your

reasoning to be fully satisfied before you trust God.

You know.

Paul again again remind us he does not have the

luxury of a resolved situation.

Next night you will see that, he says, Rejoice.

Always, be gentle, be anxious for nothing but everything in God,

in true God, in prayer, and with thanksgiving, and then

and then only, and then and then only the peace

of God will God your heart and mind in Christ,

Jesus Amen. The path to peace is not resolution. It

is not answers. It is excess access to the one

who holds all the answers, all timelines, all outcomes. You know,

prayer is not a mechanism for changing your circumstances. It

is the act of bringing your circumstances into the presence

of God and living the guarding to him.

Amen. You know, I have a code that I found

and it's a very very good one.

Is says God is not looking for able men and

woman as much as he's looking for dependent ones. And

this is from Hudson Taylor. Can we have the s

line up? Yeah, he's looking for dependent ones. He's not

looking for able men. And before you go like I'm

not able, I'm not able to do this, but God

who He's able to do? Vccity and a bundling above

all that we can even ask or you mentioned.

Amen. Amen.

The'll final point before I close this protection that a

piece of God is not passive. It's a guarded, active keeping.

All right, actially, can you follow me?

Xally? It is an active guarded keeping. All right? You

know the word God is this word right?

It translates to I'm going to try to pronounce it

for Rose, say yeah, it's a military term meaning to garrison.

I don't know how many of you know the meaning

of garrison. Yeah, is to stand God stand sentry to

mount watch. It is a language of a soldier station.

And again, how many have you been to UK before

you see the soldier standing God. You know that that

soldier cannot move on no matter what you do to

that person, he has to stand there. Yeah, there is

the peace of God. It stands God, It stands watch,

night and day. It is a move It's not affected

by circumstances. It's who God is. No matter what you

do to that soldier, the soldier will not bling Maybe

you come across some that you thicker him enough, he

will blinger. But the peace of God is different. It

does not move. It is unchanging. Amen, it gots It

stands God.

Right. It's a military term, not just.

A normal God dog or God, God.

God cad.

No, it's a military God right, armed with weapons to protect.

That is the main objective, to protect. Right.

So the peace of God, when you cannot hold yourself together,

his piece of station, the door of your heart and

of your mind.

But how do you attain that peace?

Because sometimes we ask ourselves, but our hearts and the

minds to get twisted somehow. Why because we rely on

our own understanding. When we release the understanding and allow

the character of God to take over, that's when God's

peace will actually got our hearts and mind. Amen, Can

we go to the next light. It's not a feeling.

The piece here is not a feeling. The peace offered

here is an active guarding right I just said earlier.

When you cannot hold yourself together, God's peace is stationed. Amen,

next light. Romans eight six says this, for the mind

is set for the set the mind on, the flesh

is there for the set the mind on. The spirit

is life and peace. How many of you want life

in peace in this place? Come on church Ephesians two fourteen.

For He himself is our peace. Where it's made both

one and has broken down the middle wall of separation.

Paul does not say Christ gives peace as one gives

a gift and moves on.

He says that Christ is our peace. That's who our

piece is.

Peace is not a commodity that God distributes. You know,

you go to the market, you go to anyone on fish,

anyone chicken, Come tech. No, it's not something that God

just gives out as a commodity. Yeah, it is a

person in whom we do well. That is the peace

of God. That's why sometimes the piece, the word peace

is the capital piece, right, that is God. Peace is God.

To be in Christ is to be located inside Peace itself.

A man to be in Christ is to be located

inside that piece. The problem, it's not that peace is unavailable.

The problem is that we keep looking for it outside

of Him. We keep looking at the storm, we keep

looking at the circumstances, we keep looking at the situation,

but we never once look at God, the.

Author, imperfector of our faith.

And that's why sometimes we often not we don't acquire

that peace. So what is being guarded? Not this precisely,

what is being guarded? Yeah, it's not your circumstances. It's

not your finances, it's not your health now, it is

it your repetition. But it's your heart and your mind.

That is what is being guarded. The inner life, that

is what's being guarded, because the real battlefield.

Is not outside us. Is actually weadiness.

Whenever we go through trials and circumstances, you often understand

and realize that actually the problem is the matter of

the heart.

Why you start arguing with your spouse is because your heart.

Why you start arguing with with your children, it's because

your heart as well. Why you start being unreasonable. It's

because also of your mind and your hearts. Because your

mind is saying I'm going to keep my child close

to me because she's mine. But God's heart is saying that, hello,

she's not yours. I want to cur remind all parents

here that your children do not belong to you, do

not belong to you. They belong to the Lord Man.

So the next time you're to hold on so clean

tightly to your child.

Remember that. Remember that if.

You if your parents hold on so tightly to you, you.

Won't be ware you are today as well.

Right, one day you will have to release the child

in order your role and your responsibility. I may not

have a child, but I believe God has given me

the wisdom in order to understand this is to actually

raise them up, raise them up in the knowledge and

understanding of God.

That is our responsibility of parents.

But we are not meant to cling on to them

as if they are ours.

They are not. They belong to God. Amen.

Colosion three fifteen says this, and the piece, and let

the piece of God rule in your hearts, in which

you also, in which also you were called in one body,

and be hangful, be thankful. The word rule here is barbeno.

It's the word for an empire or a referee. I

don't know if I do I have that slight.

I don't.

Yeah, So the word rule here in Collosions three fifteen

is actually a word that is used for an umpire

or referee.

I don't know how many of you here.

When you play a game of football or any sport, right,

the referee makes a decision, you actually go to the

referee and go like.

Reight verray, referee? Why why? Why? Why? I tell you

what the why we do that? Right? It's always because

we are in it for all benefits.

You realizer when you play football, right, or you watch football,

or you watch any spotler. Let's say your team was

offered a penalty, would you actually stand out and say that, hey, guys,

actually actually, uh.

They didn't. We don't deserve this penalty.

You know the most common thing I've seen now they

play or pick a ball right, whenever the ball is

out on the other side, we.

Are very quid to point out out out our ball out.

But when the ball is actually in.

On our card and your partners say out, how many

of you actually say actually is uh, it's not it's

not in lies outline. No acquire any social game may

be very easily by in the tournament. Who are you

doing when something's on the line? Will you actually a referee?

Most of us make decisions because they benefits us. But

that's why the word your rule actually is the word

for umpire and referee. When you surrender your will the

peace of God, you allow him to make the decisions

a man. That's how you acquire piece. The decision may

not favor you, but that's an empire referege. However, knowing

that God is the autm perfectory of a faith, know this,

and whatever that happens in your life, whatever that you

come across, know that God is a good God. Anchor

your life on his character, not under circumstances. I have

a few calls and I'm going to close Augustine of people.

I always thought it was hippopotamus, but it's not. Uh,

But it says this, thou hast made us for thyself,

oh Lord, and our hearts is restless until it finds

its rest Indeed, it's from the Confession's book found this online.

One more that I have I maybe two more? Aw

if you know this person, read his books. Wonderful writer.

In a book called The Knowledge of the Holy, he

says this, the most important thing about a person is

what comes into their mind when think they think about God.

Refract on this for a while. Right when you think

about God, what comes into your mind? Good God, Holy God?

Or in just injustice, no blessings, unanswered praus, no break

through Yet when it's my TN.

Why the other person? God?

I don't have, why I cannot get pregnant, Why I

lost my this, why I lost my dad, why I

lost money? Really, really think about it. When you think

about God. How many of you the first thought when

you think about God? At the first thought, the inner

thought is who?

Good God?

Good God? Because some of us. Let's be real. Let's

be real. Sometimes we think unfair. But God is not

a fair God. God is a just God.

Amen. And the one more last one is a paraphrase

one same author.

It says, you don't have to have it all together,

You just need to be helped by the one who

does Amen, you just need to be helped by the

one who does.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit as church org. We

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this week is going to be a good week, a

hit for you. God bless