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In Christ, Mark
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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.
It’s hard to keep your mind positive in a world where there’s so much negativity propagated. Just by watching or reading the news, we are bombarded with an enormity of bad things happening which paints a picture that we are in constant peril or danger in life. This attitude has become pervasive in our society to the point where it’s hard to find anyone these days that is optimistic and this is just where Satan would want God’s people today.
You see, our enemy wants us to live in a spirit of despair, as if there is a lack of hope. He wants us to see darkness, despite the ever present existence of light. Ultimately, he wishes to depress us to the point where we are paralyzed by our worries and fears, unable and unwilling to see the real truth, the truth that our God has never been more alive, present, and good.
This is why this current series of messages are so important. For in one verse found in Philippians, chapter 4, we find the Lord speaking to us through the words of the Apostle Paul and urging us to change our life mindset using the power of positive thinking. Look again at these words from verse 8:
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.
Satan is the great deceiver. Jesus called him the father of lies. Believe what he is selling and you will buy into the false narrative that we live in a world where we are all doomed.
We can accept that worldview and be misled or we can turn to the Lord who is perfectly true in every way and allow Him to impact our thoughts. If we do that then we will think of things that are true and the truth will set us free to live in peace and hope, seeing that there is infinitely more good and light in the world than evil and darkness, even if the media doesn’t promote it.
Allowing the Lord to drive our thinking will also lead us to think in noble ways, ways that are morally superior to those of the world. We can have no greater lofty thoughts than those who come from our Lord God on High, the One who holds the greatest position of authority while reigning supreme over all creation.
This blessed Almighty King will also guide our thoughts toward right and righteous things. In a world where sin has been normalized to the point of acceptance, God remains completely opposed to transgression and will never lead any person into it. Through the Holy Spirit, He will always ensure His people live fully in accordance with His will and that will always lead to perfectly right living.
And when we perfectly live in the right ways of the Lord, we will display a life that is pure, cleansed from the impurity of sinfulness and set apart from the ways that people in the world live.
This is what we have learned so far through our first two messages and the Lord could have stopped there but as we will see today and tomorrow, He still has more to say about the way we think. Let’s look at two more encouraged thought processes today:
1. ...whatever is lovely
Lovely thinking is centered on things that are pleasing, wonderful, or nice. Visualize the things you value and treasure most in life, the things God has provided that bring you pleasure, and you will be in the positive place encouraged by this part of the verse.
Pessimism and negativity are the kryptonite for lovely thinking so if you are adopting those mindsets, pray and ask the Lord to remove them before centering your thinking on the lovely things in life. This will make sure you are always aware of the blessings God has provided, blessings that will bring to you a spirit of praise and thanksgiving.
2. ...whatever is admirable
I don’t know about you but when I think of all God has done and continues to do, I grow in my awe and admiration of Him. He is a great God, greater than anyone we have in life. He made the very world we live in, a world filled with beauty and wonder. We should never take for granted the sun that warms us, the moon that illuminates the night sky existing within a universe filled with other planets and stars, and the rain that falls to sustain life and growth of His created things like the animals and plant life we see all around us. Look around creation every day and marvel in it, allowing your mind to think admirably about a God who made it all.
I would also encourage you to hold admiration for the very grace of God that saves you as a Christian. Before you accepted Jesus as Savior, you were in a place of hopelessness, destined for eternal damnation and torment. But God so loved you that He didn’t wish for you to die and so He sent His one and only Son Jesus to die the death you deserved and bring you the eternal life you couldn’t earn. All God asked of you was to simply believe and I hope you worship Him for that as much as I do.
Think about God and how much He and Jesus loved you to ensure you could be saved and you will have no better admirable thoughts fill your mind.
As we conclude this third message in the series, I pray we are seeing the incredible importance of the power of positive thinking and how we can better adopt it. Allowing our thoughts to be true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable will get us to the place our Lord wants us to be.
Tomorrow, we’ll finish by looking at the final two exhortations.
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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