Good morning!
Text: Philippians; Proverbs 29:15-27
I am finding it more and more difficult to interact with the daily news. The political discourse is coarse and full of deceit. The international scene is full of strife and bellicose threats. Many of the personal problems I hear as a pastor make me shudder at the depth of pain and depravity. In short, our culture and our world are in a mess. It can feel so hopeless. Then, the Lord gave me these words from today’s reading (Philippians 4:8):
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
I wonder what it would be like if we prayed for our church, our community, our nation to think like Philippians 4:8 tells us. Proverbs 23:7 (King James Version) begins, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
Were we to think like this, we would become like this. Truth would replace deceit. Honor would replace the shameful. Injustice would evaporate; purity would replace impurity. The things in our land that are ugly would disappear in a sea of beauty and disgraceful things would be no more. Excellence would come forth rather than mediocrity; praises would replace cursing. In short, things would get much, much better. This is also true in our individual lives. I consider Philippians 4:8 worthy of a commitment to memorize that we all might think these thoughts. Will you?
in Him, Mike