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praise

Stinkin’ Thinkin’: Food for Thought

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Life and peace? Yes, please!

All around us things clamor for our attention, making peace a seemingly elusive concept just out of our reach at times. Paul tells the Romans a mind set on the Spirit leads to life and peace. That sounds great, but how do we do that? How do we take our minds off of our flesh and set them on the Spirit?

Stick around this week and see what God’s word has to say about it …

 

Food for Thought

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8, NLT

open bible 2During a recent conversation with a friend, she spoke of the horrible anxiety she was having due to horrific global events. Images from news stories were occupying her thoughts, and the resulting anxiety was waking her in the middle of the night.

I can sympathize all too well with my friend. If I’m not using discernment about what I allow to fill my mind, I can see the results in my thoughts and in the lack of peace I feel in my soul.

So, I should just stop thinking about that stuff and think about happy things, right?

Well, yes, sort of. Thought control is important, and the idea certainly isn’t new—seeing that Paul encouraged the Philippians to fix their thoughts on things that were excellent and worthy of praise.

But just as healthy food fuels our bodies, the content we allow in our minds fuels our thoughts.

While some people are naturally just positive thinkers, the Greek meaning of praise, is to be “ascribed to God, in respect of His glory.” So Paul isn’t recommending some watered-down “look on the bright side” theology here; he is encouraging the Philippians to fill their minds with more Jesus!

The truth is that it’s downright difficult to focus our thoughts on “what is true and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable” if we are aren’t filling it with such things. The music we listen to, the books we read, and the movies we watch all influence what we think. In turn, the thoughts that we allow to fill our minds reveal themselves in the words we speak as well as in our actions.

If we’re struggling with our thought lives, the answer is more Jesus. More time in His word. More praise music in our homes. More focus on Him and less focus on what the world is offering.

Fixing my thoughts,

Traci

Stinkin’ Thinkin’: The Lord, a Root Canal, and Me

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Life and peace? Yes, please!

All around us things clamor for our attention, making peace a seemingly elusive concept just out of our reach at times. Paul tells the Romans a mind set on the Spirit leads to life and peace. That sounds great, but how do we do that? How do we take our minds off of our flesh and set them on the Spirit?

Stick around this week and see what God’s word has to say about it …

 

The Lord, a Root Canal, and Me

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Isaiah 26:3 NLT

DSC_0363 (2)Squeamish is not a word that has ever been used to describe me, but I must admit that the dentist can get me feeling a little anxious. My dentist isn’t the one to blame because it’s all me. Between the sounds of the instruments, the foreign objects crammed in my mouth, and trying to answer questions with said objects in my mouth, I want to just skip my appointment altogether. For the sake of full disclosure here, every time I leave the office, I wonder why I got myself so worked up. It’s never as bad as I think it’s going to be!

Now that you know this about me, you can probably imagine that when I needed a root canal, I was not cool as a cucumber. It wasn’t a bad experience physically, but mentally it was awful! I’m talking, somebody give me a brown paper bag! I’m hyperventilating over here! It wasn’t good.

As I was lying in the chair, my mind was trying to go into panic mode. I did my best to keep it all together because let’s face it, I was a 30-something year old woman who knew how to behave, and I really didn’t want to be THAT patient.

During the procedure, I remembered today’s verse: You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! And so lying in my chair, with all the instruments crammed in my mouth, I began to think about the Lord. With intention, I shifted my thoughts from my circumstances to my Savior. I meditated on His character. I recalled His provision over me in the past and His promises for the future. I recited Scripture. I prayed.

There, lying in a dental chair, peace flooded my soul as I took my thoughts off of my circumstances and put them onto my Savior.

I realize your “root canal”— the situation occupying your thoughts and stealing your sleep, is likely much worse. You feel anxious and weary. Regardless of the circumstance that threatens to sweep you away, our God is a God of peace. Praise God, He is bigger than any circumstance we face.

He is there, His peace waiting to flood your soul as you take your eyes off your problems and fix them on your Provider.

Fixing my eyes on Him,

Traci

Living to Please God: Rejoice Always

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If people walk with me, talk with me, looking for truth

They’re gonna find out soon

If they’re following me, then they’re gonna follow you

So let my life speak loud and clear

Lord, I wanna hear

“Well done.”

Well Done – Mariah Peters

I want to live a life that pleases God. I’m pretty sure if you’re reading this blog, you do, too. It’s not always an easy thing to do. We all want to stand before the Father at the end of our lives on earth and hear,

“Well done, good and faithful servant. Come share in your Master’s happiness”
(Matt. 25:21).

 We know going to church, giving tithes and offerings, helping others, and all that good church-going stuff; but Paul gives some pretty clear instructions to the church in Thessalonica as to how to live a life that pleases God. This week, we’ll take a look at some of them.

 

Rejoice Always

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I Thessalonians 5:16

As messed up as this world is, we have plenty of reasons to rejoice. Birthdays, holidays, marriages, anniversaries, and other special occasions are all reasons to celebrate. The simpler things in life – a baby’s first smile, the feel of a loved one’s hand in yours, or a beautiful sunset –are remarkable moments as well. When things make us happy, It’s easy to give God thanks (though sometimes hard to remember to).

What about the unexpected bill? The diagnosis you didn’t want to hear? The horrific news of a tragedy? The tunnel that seems so dark you can’t even see a hint of light at the end; and if you do, you’re afraid it’s just an oncoming train!  How are we supposed to give thanks for or rejoice in those circumstances?

The Bible is clear: we are to rejoice in all circumstances. Even the really crappy ones. I know when you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders, the last thing you want to do is rejoice. You’ve probably got the “pray continually” thing down at that point – we tend to pray more when we need more. But rejoice? How can I thank God for a diagnosis of cancer? How can I rejoice in a $600 car repair bill? 

The obvious answer is you can’t. God isn’t saying you should be happy the car broke down. He’s telling you to rejoice because you know Who is in control, and that He will get you through whatever circumstance arises.

The Greek word used in this verse is cairo, which means to be glad or rejoice exceedingly. Not just sort of. Not a lukewarm, half-hearted hurrah. Rejoice. Exceedingly. As in “to an unusual degree,” according to the dictionary. Pray. Sing. Dance if you want. David, a man after God’s own heart did exactly that – in the streets of Jerusalem, much to the dismay of his wife!

When God says, “rejoice always,” I don’t think he’s talking about rejoicing because we just got slammed with a huge, unexpected expense. God wants us to look for the things we can rejoice about in such circumstances. By looking for the things we can rejoice in, things we can be thankful for, and the things we can praise God for, we turn our focus away from our problems and back where it belongs – on Him.

Rejoice always. You have a Savior who loves you, who died for you. No one will ever love you the way He does.

Pray continually. Talking to God constantly keeps your focus on Him and the lines of communication open between your heart and His.

Give thanks to Him. Acknowledge who He is in your life and what He’s done for you.

“…for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

In His Love,

Amy