Philippians 4:4-7 Paraphrase

I spent some time yesterday meditating on Philippians 4:4-7:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Here's my run-on paraphrase:

Rejoice in the Lord all the time, since He's near. Take pleasure in the Lord continually, since, after all, He's with you, He's at hand. If that's so, it's the only reasonable thing to do. Therefore, nothing need make you anxious or stressed-out. I mean, if the Lord is near at hand, why are you letting your boss stress you out? Just make your request concerning the issue to God (who is near), giving him thanks for being a nearby, listening God, and you know what? Peace is going to replace the stress and worry. This goes beyond reason, beyond understanding. It's supernatural. It will make you patient, gentle (ESV: reasonable). Peace! And this peace will protect your heart and mind. The thing that was a danger to your heart (the stress caused by the situation with your boss, which provoked in you a heart-response like anger or even hatred), this supernatural peace will protect your heart from this--that is, from its own fleshly conditioning. And it will also protect your mind, because the the same stress provokes in you thoughts that are a danger to you. Perhaps thoughts of self-contempt, or a constant going over in your mind of the same ground again and again as you defend yourself against this self-contempt, trying to justify yourself. Dangerous, that. But this peace of God will protect your heart and mind from the network of thoughts and feelings that arise from the worry, the anxiety, to which your flesh is prone, and which events in the world around you are continually provoking. Bottom line, God is in that world too, and he's near. Near!

Final point. Big point. Most important point. This peace of God which protects your heart and mind, does so "in Christ Jesus." This phrase opens the whole passage up into something big but also very specific. What's it all about? I can't easily paraphrase it. It's really a "mystery" (Col 1:26-27). In Christ Jesus. Our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, know his nearness and grateful for it (thus, "thanksgiving"); so deeply, profoudnly grateful for it, so glad he's near and glad for the peace that nearness gives, that you can reasonably be expected to rejoice all the time. Amazing!