Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things."
Recently I have been pondering (again) how to change the way I think. This verse in Philippians is one that I refer to often because it's a clear "how-to" verse. When I'm struggling I can say it to myself quickly as a instant check-up on my thoughts. Studying the words of a passage like this can be very helpful to me, making it very practical to apply so I took the time to do that. Here is what I learned using The Complete Word Study New Testament by Spiros Zodhiates.
true: one who cannot lie, true in character
noble: one who owes his modesty to that higher citizenship which is also his, being one who inspires not only respect but reverence and worship; due appreciation of such things as produce a noble seriousness
just: conformable to right; one who acts conformably to justice and right without any deficiency or failure
pure: purity in all things; used to express freedom from defilements or impurities
lovely: friendly towards, acceptable
good report: well spoken of, winning, attractive
virtue: excellency; being pleasing to God; the excellency of God being revealed in the work of salvation
praise worthy: commendable thing
meditate: reason, occupy oneself with reasonings and calculations; careful reflection
Here's my version of this verse to remind me of what my thoughts are to be about:
Finally, brothers in Christ (according to the work of our Savior and our love thereby),
~whatever things are true in character - not lies,
~whatever things inspire not only respect but reverence, worship, and noble seriousness, ~whatever things that are conformable to justice and right without any deficiency or failure, ~whatever expresses freedom from defilement or impurity,
~whatever is friendly, acceptable, and winsome,
~whatever things are well spoken of and attractive,
~if there is anything excellent and pleasing to God (e.g. the glorious gospel),
~if there be anything commendable, worthy of praise,
~occupy yourself with careful reflection and reasoning regarding these things.
There's a challenge if I ever saw one just in the first quality! Do you ever find yourself believing lies about yourself? I know I have stumbled down that road getting a few bumps and bruises along the way. Satan is the father of lies and when we believe those lies we are thinking in his territory. We are not thinking right.
May I challenge you (as well as myself) to reflect on where your thought life dwells? Does it dwell within the boundaries of the verse above or does it dwell elsewhere? Let's think on truth today and everyday... the Word of God is truth. God's word will spring that trap of lies and put your feet back on the freeing path of truth.
Please drop me a comment - I would love to hear how God has worked or is still working in your life in this area.
Love, G
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Eternity awaits
Oh my, what a life we live. What a gift each day is that comes our way and how often do we cherish it? One major event has brought this to the forefront of my mind. A dear friend of mine (and of many others) has slipped into the arms of Jesus after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer this past Saturday morning. She was an amazing woman, loved deeply by her husband, children, and friends. She did not publicly complain about all of the negative effects of treatment, she just privately endured what came her way. She loved her Lord and His name was on her lips whenever we spoke. What an example of humility and perseverance, longsuffering and grace she was. To know her more was to love her more... I am grateful to have known her.
I don't think we can say "I love you" enough to those we truly love.
I don't think we can hold hands too much, smile too much, or laugh too much.
Sing when you feel like it , dance in the rain often, and love like there's no tomorrow.
For those of us who know Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we need to live recklessly abandoned to hope- the blessed hope of Christ's return and the bodily resurrection of those who have gone on before.
For those of you who do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, let me share with you the hope that lies within me ( and my dear friend Linda) from God's Word. You see, this life is not all there is... eternity is our destination.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
You and I need a Savior because we cannot meet God standards of holiness.
Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned."
Because Adam and Eve sinned, all men share in the fallen condition of sin.
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Death is the consequence for sin but God sent His own Son to die on the cross for sinners.
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Christ willingly paid the penalty for your sin and mine, He was the perfect spotless Lamb. On the third day He rose again victorious over sin and death then ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven.
Romans 10:9-10 "...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
We cannot reach up to God but He reached down to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. It's not enough to believe in God or heaven. We must surrender our lives and hearts through faith in Jesus Christ. At this point our lives are no longer our own, we have given over the "controls" to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Friends, there is no greater joy that to live a life that is dead to sin and alive to God! No one knows what day or time they will pass away. Do you know where you will be spending eternity? I know I will be seeing Linda again and praising God with her in heaven one day.
Won't you surrender to the Lord Jesus today?
I don't think we can say "I love you" enough to those we truly love.
I don't think we can hold hands too much, smile too much, or laugh too much.
Sing when you feel like it , dance in the rain often, and love like there's no tomorrow.
For those of us who know Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we need to live recklessly abandoned to hope- the blessed hope of Christ's return and the bodily resurrection of those who have gone on before.
For those of you who do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, let me share with you the hope that lies within me ( and my dear friend Linda) from God's Word. You see, this life is not all there is... eternity is our destination.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
You and I need a Savior because we cannot meet God standards of holiness.
Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned."
Because Adam and Eve sinned, all men share in the fallen condition of sin.
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Death is the consequence for sin but God sent His own Son to die on the cross for sinners.
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Christ willingly paid the penalty for your sin and mine, He was the perfect spotless Lamb. On the third day He rose again victorious over sin and death then ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven.
Romans 10:9-10 "...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
We cannot reach up to God but He reached down to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. It's not enough to believe in God or heaven. We must surrender our lives and hearts through faith in Jesus Christ. At this point our lives are no longer our own, we have given over the "controls" to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Friends, there is no greater joy that to live a life that is dead to sin and alive to God! No one knows what day or time they will pass away. Do you know where you will be spending eternity? I know I will be seeing Linda again and praising God with her in heaven one day.
Won't you surrender to the Lord Jesus today?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Birds for Thought
II Corinthians 10:3-5
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..."
Thoughts... mine have a tendency to pop up, run rampant, confuse, distract, and keep me awake at night. Thoughts direct our actions and attitudes. Good thoughts can lead to great benefit but those not so good thoughts (negative, discontentment, envy, jealousy, criticism, anger, bitterness, self pity, to name a few) can lead to destruction.
Imagine that you are in a room with a large bird cage in the center of it and inside of that birdcage there are a hundred birds. If all of those birds were to get out of the cage, the room would quickly become chaotic. The birds would panic, squawk, run into things, create a mess, maybe even damage curtains and furniture as you try to capture them and put them back into the cage. The job would be quite a challenge wouldn't it? Can't you just imagine a person thinking, "Why did I let those birds out? I wouldn't have had all of this trouble if I would've left the cage door closed!"
Our minds and thoughts are just the same. How often do we let our birds (thoughts) out of the cage (mind) so that they are running rampant in our heads creating havoc, confusion, damage- among other things - just like those birds. How much better would it be if we were to take those thoughts captive by shutting the cage door?
How do we shut the cage door? By replacing unbiblical thinking with Biblical thinking - memorizing scripture and thinking on it OR opening up our Bible, finding a verse that speaks to our struggle and reading it out loud as often as we must to keep that "bird" caged! It is a conscious choice to stop the flow of thought and deliberately redirect it. It is understanding that this is a battle that can be won by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit - the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God! This verse in I Corinthians has been a great tool in my own personal battle with unbiblical thinking.
Let's carry this analogy just a little further... with all of those birds in one cage, that cage is going to need to be cleaned periodically. The birds will be healthier if they are cared for properly as well. Our minds - like the cage - can get dirty and smelly if we do not keep it clean. If we procrastinate, the job only gets harder to do and our thoughts can start to get unhealthy. Routine maintenance on our "cages" is a good habit to get into.
Philippians 4:8 is a great cage cleaner: "Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things."
Dear friends, this task is not one that we can do on our own... we need the living Word of God to wash our minds and renew it. In order for that to happen we must pick up the Word daily, read it (even if it is only a few verses), think on it, pray over it, and let it cleanse our "cages" (minds) and bring health to our "birds" (thoughts).
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..."
Thoughts... mine have a tendency to pop up, run rampant, confuse, distract, and keep me awake at night. Thoughts direct our actions and attitudes. Good thoughts can lead to great benefit but those not so good thoughts (negative, discontentment, envy, jealousy, criticism, anger, bitterness, self pity, to name a few) can lead to destruction.
Imagine that you are in a room with a large bird cage in the center of it and inside of that birdcage there are a hundred birds. If all of those birds were to get out of the cage, the room would quickly become chaotic. The birds would panic, squawk, run into things, create a mess, maybe even damage curtains and furniture as you try to capture them and put them back into the cage. The job would be quite a challenge wouldn't it? Can't you just imagine a person thinking, "Why did I let those birds out? I wouldn't have had all of this trouble if I would've left the cage door closed!"
Our minds and thoughts are just the same. How often do we let our birds (thoughts) out of the cage (mind) so that they are running rampant in our heads creating havoc, confusion, damage- among other things - just like those birds. How much better would it be if we were to take those thoughts captive by shutting the cage door?
How do we shut the cage door? By replacing unbiblical thinking with Biblical thinking - memorizing scripture and thinking on it OR opening up our Bible, finding a verse that speaks to our struggle and reading it out loud as often as we must to keep that "bird" caged! It is a conscious choice to stop the flow of thought and deliberately redirect it. It is understanding that this is a battle that can be won by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit - the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God! This verse in I Corinthians has been a great tool in my own personal battle with unbiblical thinking.
Let's carry this analogy just a little further... with all of those birds in one cage, that cage is going to need to be cleaned periodically. The birds will be healthier if they are cared for properly as well. Our minds - like the cage - can get dirty and smelly if we do not keep it clean. If we procrastinate, the job only gets harder to do and our thoughts can start to get unhealthy. Routine maintenance on our "cages" is a good habit to get into.
Philippians 4:8 is a great cage cleaner: "Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things."
Dear friends, this task is not one that we can do on our own... we need the living Word of God to wash our minds and renew it. In order for that to happen we must pick up the Word daily, read it (even if it is only a few verses), think on it, pray over it, and let it cleanse our "cages" (minds) and bring health to our "birds" (thoughts).
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