A Beautiful Mind
Phil 4:8-9
8 Finally, brothers, 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. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
NIV
My seventeen-year old son and I were having an interesting conversation this week. We were imagining what it would be like if we could hear the thoughts of other Christians during the Sunday morning worship service. I imagined some were planning lunch; others were thinking about their carburetor problem or perhaps taking note of which boy was sitting with what girl. Then my thoughts ran to the more general, everyday thoughts that we entertain. If anyone could hear my thoughts sometimes, I fear that they would be greatly disappointed in me.
There are times that I feel like a horrible Christian because of the thoughts that traipse across my mind in any given day. But then I am reminded of the old analogy, “You can’t help it if a bird flies over your head, but you can decide not to let it make an nest in your hair.” That is a funny word picture, but there is a profound truth in it. We are all subject to all kinds of thoughts that come to mind. The presence of the thoughts do not make us a failure in Christ’s eyes. We just have to be diligent to cast down the wrong thoughts as the Bible exhorts us, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor 10:4, NIV)
The trick is to take the wrong thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ… not to serve wrong thoughts tea and scones, and spend the afternoon with them! That is the ultimate goal, but it can be difficult to do. Such a simple concept, but hard on the flesh to accomplish!
There are times that I feel my peace slipping and need a touch from the Father to assure me that all is right in my world. When that happens, I have learned the hard way to take a little while for some quiet introspection. Where did I lose my peace? Oh, yes! That’s right. I lost my peace when I begin to think about what could happen if the Lord did not answer my prayer. Then, of course, fear began to penetrate my thoughts and torment my heart. Other times, I realize that I have been harboring wrong attitudes toward others and that causes me to be out of unity with the Spirit, and ultimately, out of peace.
Philippians is one of the “prison epistles” of Paul. He wrote it while serving time for being a follower of Christ. I am sure he had ample opportunity to practice these very verses. Sitting in prison, out of active ministry, unsure of his future… these are circumstances that could easily give him the case of the ‘mulligrubs” or blues. But we find Paul saying over and over again in this book, “Rejoice!” The truth of that finally seeped into the cracks of my mind. To rejoice is a choice. Rejoicing is not done when everything is going our way. Rejoicing occurs when we choose to remember the goodness of God no matter what our present circumstances are like.
In most every case we can choose to look upon the positive in our situation rather than the negative. Sad because your children are growing up and leaving home? Rejoice at the years you had with them and look forward with excitement to developing adult friendship with them. Same situation, just a different attitude about it. Afraid of your future? Recall that God knows and whatever tomorrow holds, your loving and faithful Heavenly Father holds tomorrow.
Dear Lord, help me to have good and pleasant thoughts. Convict me when I allow my thought life to slip away from the ideals in your Word. Help me to be a good steward of my mind and quicken my spirit to know when the enemy is speaking lies to me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Joining you in this prayer. Bless you.
Thank you, Denise. I am glad that it stirred your heart to prayer. Bless you!
Thank you for your beautiful loving words of truth!
Bless you, Linda, for being such an encourager!
Oh so true, Sherri! I love what you shared with us. I have been learning over the last 7 to 8 year’s that rejoicing is a chose. It is not always easy to choose, but it pleases our Father.
You’re right, Heather! It does please our Father. And I think that when we offer it as a sacrifice, it honors Him all the more.