What's there to think about?

Everyone has limited capacity for stuff in your brain.  You can fill that space with whatever you choose, but we cannot expect to live a flourishing Christian life if you keep insisting on filling up the space with junk or rubbish!  It doesn't have to be bad, but it is just that stuff like that serves no purpose anymore!

We so often let junk remain in our minds and this taints the things we see around us and impacts our faith. 

If you leave a pile of trash around long enough, it will decay, sometimes smell, but maybe the most common side-effect is the fact that it make the environment around it lose value and beauty.

In the same way, when we thing on junk, we will stop seeing the beauty and value in all that Jesus has done for us and all that we are in him.   We will begin to see only the negative and it will impact how we act.  

In Philippians 4:8 Paul tells us 

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. 

We can find things in the natural to think about that meet this criteria for sure, but this weekend I saw this in a different light

Whatsoever is TRUE - what does the WORD say about you and your circumstances, your trails and the solutions!   Think on that instead of on how bad the situation is, or how unworthy you feel.

Whatsoever is HONEST - the word honest there means 'august' (not the month but inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic:) what in this world inspires that kind of feeling? God's amazing grace and mercy and love for me!

Whatesoever is JUST - that is righteous!   God has made us righteous in his sight when we trust in Jesus!    That's amazing isn't it?

Whatsoever is pure - you have been made totally pure and blameless in God's eyes. Whatever we have done or will do that is inconsistent with holiness, as children of God, he has obliterated it from his memory!  It was totally wiped away... Are you getting this, when I start to think on these things, everything begins to change within me!

Lovely - this word in Greek means acceptable or to be friendly towards.  Did you know God is friendly towards you?  He's not mad at you (he's not even in a bad mood) he wants to have fellowship with you and Jesus has made us totally acceptable to God (I'm getting excited typing this!)

As we think on the things that are of good report, of testimonies and bible verses that are for our edification, that junk stuff doesn't have place to live and we start to think about the goodness of God and it's hard to be discouraged! 

If as a Christian, you're feeling downcast, discouraged or depressed, I'll 100% guarantee that  it's because of what we are meditating on (thinking about). Today my encouragement for you is start to think about these things above, instead of looking at the junk in your life and in the world and just see what happens.  Fill your mind with beautiful, encouraging and empowering things about the amazing, wonderful, powerful and ever-loving God we serve.   Where your thoughts go, that's where your emotions and actions will follow, so get the thoughts filled with God's kind of stuff and leave the junk where it belongs.


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