Philippians 4:4-9 (King James Version)
4 Rejoice
in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let
your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be
careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And
the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally,
brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be
any praise, think on these things.
9 Those
things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me,
do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
For my text today I would like to use
the last part of Verse 8,
“If there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise,
think on these things.”
This message has been on my heart for
quite some time.
I want to preface my thoughts this
morning with the teaching of Solomon in
Proverbs 23:7 where he says,
“For as he
thinketh in his heart so is he…..”
As we think in the core of our being so
are we. The quality of our lives depends
upon our thinking habits. We are what we
think!
Philippians 2:5
“Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
To have the mind of Jesus calls for complete surrender to the will of God.
His mind is a pure, loving, compassionate, forgiving mind, with a passion
of the lost souls of humanity. Jesus is
the will of God. He was in unbroken,
consuming fellowship with God the Father.
Think like Jesus and you’ll be like Jesus. His will was to do the will of His Father. He
said in John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.”
Our thought life produces our behavior
habits!
If we think doubt filled thoughts we
will
be unbelieving individuals with negative attitudes.
If we think faith filled thoughts we will
be
faith filled people with positive attitudes.
Praise God for His Word!
“Think” the Word of God!
This type of praise and thinking will result
in the JOY of the Lord.
A child of God who will let their mind
dwell ....
on who God is and who they are in Him
and what He has made them
and all
that He has done
will thank their God and worship and praise Him.
(Key word "dwell"
...to live or continue in a given condition or state.....not
just show up once in a great while.)
A heart filled with praise to God
can not – at the same time – retain doubts, fears, criticism and
anxieties. The praise filled heart is
filled with the JOY of the Lord and the JOY of the Lord is our strength. (Nehemiah
8:10)
Positivity rejoices in the Lord always!
You can NOT truly worship and have a
praise filled heart and at the same time harbor unclean or evil thoughts. The praise filled mouth can not be busy
magnifying the Lord and lifting up Jesus and at the same time speak negative,
unbelieving words.
Verse 4
of our text - “Rejoice
in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”
Our JOY comes from Him. Our
happiness comes from Him. He is the one
that makes it all happen.
Hebrews
13:5
“……..for
he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Verse 5
of our text gives us another positive attitude……
“5 Let your moderation be known unto all
men. The Lord is at hand.”
When you are experiencing negative situations, wrenching periods of difficulty in your life ....pressures, anxious times .... when you feel worried or defeated .... move closer to God. The closer we move to Him, the better we can defeat these earthly situations.
Start thinking and speaking words of life - positive words.
Scripture teaches that if we obey the Gospel and "dwell" in Christ, when the trails come, God is already there and we will receive ...(Verse 7)
"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
