We are moving in 5 weeks. Likely, from our current location on the East coast of the mainland US to an island in the middle of the Pacific. But of course, we won't know that for sure until it actually happens {thank you for always keeping things exciting Navy submarine community...}. As you can imagine, my mind has been busy going over move details; when to request movers for our household goods, when and from where to ship our car, whether to sell or ship our second car, hotel and rental car reservations, dog flights, dog pre-flight appointments, Hawaii animal quarantine paperwork, updating Power of Attorney, real estate paperwork regarding buying a house in our new location {which we can't actually do till we arrive thanks to the uncertainty of our orders}, etc, etc.
Additionally, one of our dogs GI track's completely shut down recently resulting in him not eating for days and throwing up. This led us and his veterinarian to believe he had some sort of blockage for which he underwent multiple exploratory stomach surgeries costing a fortune, but turning up nothing. We still don't know what is wrong with him, but are "waiting and seeing" at this point. Our current hypothesis is that he got stressed out because my husband and I were gone for a weekend while he stayed home with our kids and their grandparents {whom he loves}. He always stops eating for a few days after any change, but doesn't usually throw up and completely stop digesting. And if he thinks being comfy in his own home while we are gone for a weekend is stressful... he's got another thing coming with this move we have coming up!
In light of all that is going on in our family, I am so grateful for Good Morning Girl's recent Bible study, Intentionally Focused, that has helped me to fix my eyes on Jesus throughout all of this. Scripture has reminded me of what is truly important in light of eternity, and made all the things going on in my life seem not so monumental. Furthermore, the study reminded me of the power of our minds over our actions. An intentionally focused mind leads to an intentional focused life.
Some days it really is a battle to control my mind. It can be exhausting to capture every thought and submit it to Christ. Some days I get so focused on me; my needs, my desires, my problems. Which is why I have this verse written on my wall this week.
The key actually thinking on these things in Philippians 4:8 is found in the verses preceding it which say, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." According to John Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament, "though we walk in the midst of evil and trial, we are able to occupy ourselves with all that is good when we are at peace." The peace of God, which we enjoy when we lay our burdens on Him, guards our minds, making it possible for us to dwell on truth, honesty, justice and purity, rather than on ourselves and our selfish motives and desires.
As I walk through this transitional time in our family life, I have been pleasantly surprised by the peace surpassing all comprehension God has blessed me with as I daily, moment by moment, practice thanksgiving, and lay my anxiety on God. That doesn't mean there aren't times when I struggle with this, but I am able to look back and see the marked difference in my personal level of peace at times when I have been faithful to let go of my concerns and trust God for their outcome, versus when I have continued worrying and striving to deal with my concerns on my own. The former frees me to think on more important heavenly things, like those described in Philippians 4:8, while the later keeps me in bondage to the world.
Philippians 4:8 deals with what we are supposed to be dwelling on once our hearts and minds are at peace regarding our own lives and issues. Since this verse serves as a summary of Paul's exhortations regarding our behavior and relationships, the things that we are to dwell on affect our relationships. Matthew Henry's Commentary says, "we are ordered to get and to keep a good name" Not that we are to hold our reputation among humans as higher than our relationship with God, but we certainly do not want to be the kind of Christians that give Christianity a bad name!
Wesley's Explanatory Notes point out an interesting detail about our verse. "To sum up all (exhortations), there are eight particulars in four-fold rows, the former containing their (the Christian's) duty, the latter, the commendation of it." When we look at the verse in this way;
Truth (in speech) is lovely.
Honesty (in action) is of good report.
Justice (in regards to others) makes one virtuous.
Purity (in regards to self) makes one praise-worthy.
Surely, if Christians acted this way due to their minds being consumed by these thoughts, the surrounding world would have nothing to complain about them and God would certainly be glorified! Recall Paul's opening prayer for the Philippians. The whole point of us thinking on these excellent things is that we may become sincere and blameless for the purpose of glorifying God. I like how the NLT says it, "For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation- the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ- for this will bring much glory and praise to God" (Phil. 1:10-11).
This reminds me that we are not supposed to just read and understand this verse. Titus 1:1 says, "I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives." The point of reading the word of God, which provides us with knowledge of the truth, is to allow it to change us so that we will live godly lives for His glory. We need to prove ourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers (James 1:22). "But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:25).
So lets seek out that blessing that is promised when we do what the Bible demands and spend some time thinking about how we can go about dwelling on truth, honesty, justice, and purity.
Dwell on truth. Get it into your head and your heart. Because "the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart" (Luke 6:45). Fill your heart with capital "T" Truth from the word of God and expect that treasure to spill out in your words and actions. How do we do that? We study the Bible and we go beyond studying and we memorize life-giving words that become mantras. We play these truths on repeat in our minds and they will surface in times of need; when we need encouragement, when we need direction, when we need correcting, when temptation needs resisting, when the devil needs refuting. Our words and actions in our time of need will reflect what our minds dwell on the rest of the time. So dwell on truth.
Dwell on honesty. This is probably the biggest issue the world has with believers. We preach it, but we don't always live it, and the world calls us hypocrites, and they are right. To some degree, there is no way around this. The standard to which we aspire is impossible to achieve. But we have been made new! "If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (Ephesians 4:21-24). If we belong to Him, sin does not own us anymore. Galatians 5:13 says "For you were called to freedom brethren, only do not let your freedom become and opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." We are free! We are forgiven and our sins are covered by grace. Let us not use that as a free pass to keep on living "in accordance with the lusts of deceit" but let's "put on the new self" that looks like God. God, who is righteous, and holy, and who is above all, love. Living honestly while proclaiming Jesus just got real simple... love. like. Jesus. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).
Dwell on justice. "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:16-18). Don't turn a blind eye to those suffering in the world. Everything we have is a gift of God's grace, it is our responsibility to steward that grace well. Sometimes it is hard to know what we can really do to make a difference, but if nothing else, dwell on justice by praying. We can all ask God to soften our hearts in love to fellow man. We can all appeal to His justice and pray for those in need and pray for how we can be a part of His solution.
Dwell on purity. "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3). He has made us holy and yet, it is still our responsibility to purify ourselves. With respect to our minds there is a common saying, "garbage in, garbage out" that really rings true. What are we feeding our minds on? What are we reading, watching, listening to, and otherwise exposing ourselves to? It's not unreasonable to imagine that those influences might seep into our thoughts, and eventually actions, if we aren't careful. Furthermore, we may not be able to help what thoughts pop into our head in a given moment, but we better be "taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor 10:5) and not giving the devil a foothold in the battleground of our minds.
Our minds truly are a battlefield, and if we aren't intentional about what we fill our thoughts with, we can be sure that our enemy, the devil, is taking advantage of our neglect in this area. Let's not allow that to happen, but instead make our minds a stronghold for God in our lives by dwelling on truth, honesty, justice, and purity.
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