I don’t know about you, but I am my own worst enemy when it comes to allowing my thought life to defeat me in my spiritual walk. Since God so plainly addresses in Philippians 4:8-9 what should define our thought life, I decided to dig into each word of this passage to see where I may have — may have? HA! Where I HAVE — work to do.
“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. Whatever you have learned of received
or heard from me, or seen in me — PUT IT INTO PRACTICE.
And the God of peace will be with you.”
~~Philippians 4:8-9~~
~~ T R U E ~~
<alēthēs> literally, not hidden, unconcealed; real time
The past and the future are hidden/concealed.
Yesterday is gone, so allowing our thoughts to settle on “if only I’d…..” is fruitless.
“Forgetting what is behind…” (Philippians 3:13)
Tomorrow isn’t here yet so we shouldn’t be consumed with “what if” thoughts either.
“Take no thought for tomorrow…” ~~Matthew 6:34~~
Yesterday and tomorrow aren’t “real”. “Right now” is the only thing that is real.
~~ H O N O R A B L E ~~
<semnos>: august; venerable; grave; honorable (of deeds)
August (DIC): having a formal and impressive quality; marked by dignity
You are a child of the King of Kings. Display dignity like the daughter of the King.
Venerable (DIC): old and respected; valued and respected because of old age, long use
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls”
~~Jeremiah 6:16~~
Grave (DIC): authoritative or weighty; meriting serious consideration;
important; significantly serious; considerable, great
No flying by the seat of your pants.
Consider your thoughts because they turn into actions.
Honorable (DIC): performed or accompanied with marks of honor or respect;
attesting to creditable conduct; consistent with a reputation
that is not tarnished or sullied; characterized by integrity; guided by a keen
sense of duty and ethical conduct
Honorable thoughts don’t include scheming or manipulating.
Honorable thoughts are consistent with what your mouth says.
Honorable thoughts don’t always look for a way around doing what is right.
~~ R I G H T~~
<dikaios>: having regard for that which duty demands;
observing divine and human laws; one who is such as he ought to be;
in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God
Upright (DIC): marked by strong moral rectitude
(the quality or state of being correct in judgment or procedure)
Righteous (DIC): acting in accord with divine or moral law :
free from guilt or sin; genuine or excellent
Virtuous (DIC): chaste; potent; efficacious
Potent (DIC): having or wielding force, authority, or influence
Efficacious (DIC): having the power to produce a desired effect
The phrase “duty demands”,
coupled with the definition of “efficacious”,
brings Romans 12:1-2 to mind.
“1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters,
in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God
—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is
—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
~~Romans 12:1-2~~
~~ P U R E ~~
<hagnos>: exciting reverence; venerable; sacred; pure;
immaculate; properly, clean, i.e. (figuratively) innocent, modest,
perfect:—chaste, clean, pure (unmixed with any other matter;
containing nothing that does not properly belong).
“Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”
~~Psalm 86:11 ~~
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them;
I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
They will be my people, and I will be their God.”
~~Ezekiel 11:19-20~~
“I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you,
but that you may live in a right way
in undivided devotion to the Lord.”
~~1 Corinthians 7:35~~
~~ L O V E L Y ~~
<prosphilēs>: acceptable; pleasing; lovely
Acceptable (DIC): capable or worthy of being accepted;
regarded favorably; given approval or acceptance
Pleasing (DIC): giving pleasure; agreeable; (ANT) unpalatable, unpleasant
The word “unpalatable” brings to mind
“taste and see that the Lord is good”
~~Psalm 34:8~~
Think thoughts that wouldn’t turn God’s stomach.
Lovely (DIC): delightful for beauty, harmony, or grace;
attractive; eliciting love by moral or ideal worth.
“Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind
to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered,
following the word of the LORD.”
~~2 Chronicles 30:20 ~~
“…How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
~~Psalm 133:1~~
“I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.
Then the world will know that you sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
~~John 17:23 ~~
“1 I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
~~Ephesians 4:1-3~~
~~ O F G O O D R E P U T E ~~
<euphēmos>: things spoken in a kindly spirit; with good-will to others;
sounding well; speaking auspiciously.
Looking at the antonyms and synonyms made the definition clearer
than the definition itself. Haha
Check the synonyms and antonyms of “auspicious”.
(SYN): hopeful, bright, encouraging, fair, golden, heartening, likely, optimistic,
promising, propitious, roseate, rose-colored, rosy, upbeat
(ANT): bleak, dark, depressing, desperate, discouraging, disheartening, dismal,
downbeat, dreary, gloomy, hopeless, inauspicious, pessimistic, unencouraging,
unlikely, unpromising, unpropitious
NO DEBBY-DOWNER THINKING!
~~ E X C E L L E N C E~~
<aretē>: a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action;
Virtue (conformity to a standard of right;
having a beneficial quality), moral goodness;
any particular moral excellence, as modesty
(not too proud about yourself or your abilities;
living true to your nature, in dress, speech, or conduct),
Purity (quality or state of being pure; saturation).
How you think, how you talk, and how you walk should be aligned.
Think about saturation (full of moisture; made thoroughly wet, having high saturation; pure).
SATURATED = FILLED
We have to constantly be aware of what we are filled with.
IT’S ALL ABOUT CHOICES.
“When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy.
They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.”
~~Acts 13:45 ~~
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
~~Acts 13:52~~
“The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them;
he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God
—he and his whole household.”
~~Acts 16:34~~
“I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters,
that you yourselves are full of goodness,
filled with knowledge and
competent to instruct one another.”
~~Romans 15:14~~
“and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
~~Ephesians 3:19~~
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.
Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another
with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.
Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,”
~~Ephesians 5:15-19 ~~
“9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more
in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern
what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—
to the glory and praise of God.”
~~Philippians 1:9-11~~
“Though you have not seen him, you love him;
and even though you do not see him now,
you believe in him and are
filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
for you are receiving the end result of your faith,
the salvation of your souls.”
~~1 Peter 1:8-9~~
~~ W O R T H Y OF P R A I S E~~
: a commendable thing; approbation, commendation, praise
Commendable (DIC): to recommend as worthy of confidence or notice
Approbation (DIC): an act of approving formally or officially; (obsolete): proof
Think thoughts that prove who you say you are as a child of God.
Praise (DIC): an expression of approval; commendation; worship; value, merit
Do the thoughts you think, if said out loud, praise God?
~~ T H I N K ~~
: by reckoning up all the reasons to gather or infer;
to consider, take account, weigh, meditate on a thing, with a view to obtaining it
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is.”
~~Proverbs 23:7~~
The word “thinks” literally means “reckons in his soul”.
The dictionary definition of the word “reckon” is:
to count; to estimate, to compute;
to determine by reference to a fixed basis.
God is our absolute—our fixed basis.
“Whatever you have learned of received
or heard from me, or seen in me — PUT IT INTO PRACTICE.
And the God of peace will be with you.”
~~Philippians 4:9~~
LEARNED <manthanō>: to learn, be apprised: (DIC): to give notice to; to tell
RECEIVED <paralambanō>: to receive something with the mind by oral transmission; by the narrating to others, by instruction of teachers (used of disciples); to receive near, i.e. associate with oneself (in any familiar or intimate act or relation); by analogy, to assume an office; figuratively, to learn:—receive, take (unto, with).
HEARD <akouō>: to hear; to attend to, consider what is or has been said; to understand, perceive the sense of what is said to hear something; to give ear to a teaching or a teacher and to comprehend and understand
- Comprehend (DIC): to grasp the nature, significance, or meaning of unable to comprehend what has happened; to contain or hold within a total scope, significance, or amount; to include by construction or implication
To see the “big picture”—to connect the dots
- Understand (DIC): to grasp the meaning of understand; to be thoroughly familiar with the character and propensities of; to accept as a fact or truth or regard as plausible without utter certainty
Isn’t that kinda a definition of “faith”?
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.”
~~Hebrews 11:1~~
SEEN <horaō>: to discern clearly (physically or mentally)
Brings to mind when Paul said
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
~~1 Corinthians 11:1~~
PRACTICE <prassō>: perform repeatedly or habitually
It’s all about CHOICES!
- Matthew 7:24-27 “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
- Luke 8:19-21 “19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.“
I know there is a lot of information, but I think it’s important to go through this checklist regularly. It’s so easy for us to drift into unhealthy thought patterns. As you go through this list, don’t just read it for knowledge’s sake, but take note of areas where you need to do some thought-renewing, and then jot down ways you intend to do so. And I would love to hear from you as to any ideas you have to keep your thinkin’ in check.
I am praying for you, and I hope you will do the same for me!
We are in this together!!