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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The Apostle Paul cared deeply for the church in Philippi. This is very obvious as we read his letter written to them as he was incarcerated in a Roman prison cell. Paul hoped to be able to visit his brother and sister Christians but that was far from a certain possibility. He knew his words might be the last chance to speak to the Philippian believers and so in the final chapter (chapter 4), we find Paul delivering a series of exhortations designed to encourage his readers as they sought to carry on his work for the cause of the Gospel.
The exhortations we have covered to date involved the following:
1. Always living with a rejoicing spirit.
2. Displaying gentleness and compassion to all.
3. Finding incomprehensible peace by trusting fully in God instead of being anxious about the things of life.
And this brings us to verse 8 where we find the Apostle urging the Philippian Christians to adopt the power of positive thinking. Look again at his words here:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Examine our world today and you will find that negativity is pervasive. Optimism is in short supply and so it’s not surprising to find depression as a major issue along with the matter of anxiety that we looked at in yesterday’s message.
Indeed, there’s plenty of reason for people to adopt a pessimistic view about their lives and the environment they live in. Watching the news, one is bombarded with stories about shootings or sexual misconduct befalling citizens. Rarely, do we hear about the good that is happening as it isn’t considered newsworthy. This happens because the public continues to accept the narrative that everything is dark and evil.
Politics are just as bad and it doesn’t matter what political party a person aligns with. One side is always finding the other at fault in something. There is no room for compromise or compliment, only incessant conflict and dissension.
This propagated negativity has a trickle-down effect into a person’s personal life. Millions upon millions of people see their lives as tainted and flawed. Instead of focusing on the good things in life, they focus on the bad and always find some reason to complain at the expense of considering how much they are blessed. These people need an injection of optimism and we find just that through the words of Paul.
Let’s examine each component that leads to the power found in positive thinking. We’ll do this over the next four messages, looking at two items a day. Here’s the first two:
1. ...whatever is true
We need to seek truth, not be misled by lies that are either manufactured externally or internally.
Are there evil and dark forces at work in our world?
Yes, definitely.
Do the evil and dark forces of the world exceed the good works that God manifests in the world?
No, not even close.
The truth is, there is far greater light and love in the world than there is bad. Don’t allow the media to shape your world view. Seek whatever is true and you will find that there are wonderful and heart-warming actions carried out by people every second of every minute of every hour of every day. The scriptures encourage us to “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Our Lord is making sure this happens each and every day so don’t lose heart. Seek whatever is true and seek it in the Lord. He will show you the reality of His goodness is alive and well, in and all around you.
2. ...whatever is noble
What does it mean to think about what is noble?
We need to define the word “noble” first. Look in the dictionary and this is the meaning you will find:
1. a: possessing very high or excellent qualities or properties
b: very good or excellent
2. possessing, characterized by, or arising from superiority of mind or character or of ideals or morals
Here the call is to allow our thoughts to be fixed on things that are of very high quality so to adopt a mindset that creates a superior moral character. Essentially, the Apostle Paul is exhorting the Philippian Christians to set themselves apart from the world through their thinking, to think in a holy way that can only be found in the Lord. For there could be no better source of noble thinking than the God who was supremely noble in every way. It was true in Paul’s day and it remains true today.
Seek to think about things that are true and noble.
These are the first two components of adopting a mindset powered by positive thinking. Tomorrow, we look at the next two.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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