The following is the
way the Holy Spirit worked in my heart when preparing for the most recent TLC
Bible study. I hope it blesses you the
way the study blessed me. Joy Wade
Philippians
4:8&9 NASB95 Finally,
brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any
excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice
these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
The Apostle Paul is
writing to the church at Philippi. In
these selected scriptures, Paul appears to be finishing up a thought,
“Finally”. What follows is a list of
adjectives which are the boundaries for what one’s mind should be focused upon.
In other words, if a thought or line of thinking cannot be described by one or
more of these adjectives, then a believer is NOT to dwell on that. In contrast Paul says purposefully choose to
focus on thoughts that fall into these categories, letting your thinking dwell,
or “live” in that place.
Obviously this is not a new concept to the
Philippians. Paul says he taught these
principles to them, they understood them and they saw him practice this type of
focus while in their presence. He further commands them to practice this kind
of thinking. The result is that God’s peace is with the believer who chooses to
dwell on this kind of thinking.
God knows what kind of
thinking will keep the believer at peace with Him and in their hearts. He led the apostle Paul to give us a list to
follow.
The parameters Paul is
giving are to help me guard my thoughts so that they are in line with the
thinking of Christ. Thoughts that are
true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, contain excellence or
worthy of praise are to be those parameters.
This is a practice I must choose to come back to when I find my thinking
in dark, critical, judgmental, malicious, deceitful, depressing, untrue,
fearful, lustful, evil or just plain lousy places. If I am struggling to be obedient to this, I
am to throw myself on the mercy of the throne of grace (Heb.4:16) and ask God
to help me to have the strength to think on things He approves of. Christ understands my weaknesses. It’s not how many times I fail that God
focuses on; it’s how many times I look to Him to pull me out of the pit I’ve
fallen (or jumped) into.
Once I’ve found
victory over my thinking and am focused on Christ’s type of thinking, I need to
let my mind stay there. I dwell in a
house; when the weather got so cold, the wind was blowing and the snow was
falling, I chose to stay inside my house and not leave it. Likewise, I need to keep my thinking inside
the safe, warm “house” of the mind of Christ. This means keeping the door of my
thinking closed to the outside influences If the thinking of the world, my sin
nature or Satan tries to squeeze through the cracks, I must discipline my mind
to turn my attention to thoughts that meet this criteria. There are times when
I must honestly admit this is extremely difficult to do. It is in those times that I just cry out to
the Lord to change my heart and my thinking.
Paul told the
Philippians to think about the example he set for them in practicing this kind
of thinking when he was with them. So
therefore I must choose to be around people and learn from people who practice
this in their life. Praise the Lord that He gave me just such a man as my
husband, but also, I need friends who are willing to gently correct my thinking
if they judge it to be distorting of God’s position. I must be willing to hear
a gentle correction. (If I won’t listen to the gentle correction then I may
find myself facing a harsh correction.) I
find when I seek to learn from and be around the person who practices
godliness, I can be convicted where I am going astray and encouraged to follow
their example of Christ centered thinking.
This takes me to Paul’s next commandment of “practicing”.
Something that must be
practiced is something that is a learned habit, not a natural one. Thus it doesn’t come naturally to the
believer to think in this manner. If this is a new concept, then I’ve got to
practice it. I mustn’t fool myself or allow myself to be lulled into a false
sense of having “attained” it. Satan,
the world and my own sin nature never take a vacation. They are always finding new ways to try to
lead me astray in my thinking and actions. I need to often go back to the
“text” book in order examine if my thinking lines up. I need to ask the Holy Spirit to convict me
of thinking that isn’t led by Him. I
need to find time to quietly listen to His leadings and convictions. I must be willing to obey when I find Him
trying to lead my thinking to the acceptable place as described by Paul.
Lack of peace, unrest,
fear, grumpiness, critical “harsh” thinking, dissatisfaction with others,
depression, lingering self-pity, indecisiveness on moral issues, feeling
pushed, confused, discouraged, worried, obsessed or condemned are all “red
flags” that my thinking is not lined up with God’s thinking. I am in the throes of living without God’s
perspective, which is tantamount to being without the peace of God. However, the practice of this kind of thinking
is going to produce in me the Peace of God and that is the peace that passes
all understanding.
These are questions
for applying what I’ve learned and keeping myself accountable.
1. Is this True?
Honorable?
Right?
Pure?
Lovely?
Of good repute? (promoting the good
reputation of my Savior)
Excellent
Worthy of Praise?
2. Whose voice does it reflect?
God’s
Voice vs. Satan’s Voice
Stills
you
Rushes you
Leads
Pushes
Reassures
Frightens
Enlightens
Confuses
Encourages
Discourages
Comforts
Worries
Calms
Obsesses
Convicts
Condemns
3. Am I
at peace, content, courageous, assured, calm?
