Monday, May 4
Think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
8
Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.
One of the best parts of living in community with others is the ability to help keep each other's thoughts and ideas in check. For example, sharing a joke with people close to you is a good way to know if your "material" is funny enough to share in a more public setting. If you tell that joke to a group of kids and they roll their eyes, you can’t always trust their reactions as it might really be hilarious to grown ups. But if you tell it to a group of friends and they stare back blankly, you can know it’s not a keeper. The same goes for dreams, ideas, and plans. We can talk to friends, people in our Bible studies, members of our life group, and hope that they will give us sound feedback.
Part of the problem with living in quarantine is how quickly we can become isolated in our own heads. The mainstream news feeds our thoughts and fears. Social media can take those thoughts and fears and blow them up into giant, absurd, scary things. This can happen in a matter of minutes if we don’t keep it in check!
Now, more than ever, it is important for us to keep our hearts and minds accountable. There are two very certain ways of doing this:
- Ask yourself if your thought, dream, or fear is based in the truth of God’s Word. We always must go to God’s Word and see if our thoughts match up or fall in alignment. If they don’t, then we can toss them aside.
- Ask a trusted member of your community to pray with you about the thoughts, dreams, or fears. When we are together in prayer God promises to work for our good. If we are unsure of an answer, a friend doesn’t know the answer, and neither of us can find a comparison in God’s Word, we MUST take it to the Lord in prayer.
The enemy would have us dwell in places of darkness - and sometimes that can be our own mind. We must kneel before our heavenly father and ask him to help us live in truth and victory over our fears.
Prayer -
Dear God, help me to trust in you when I am afraid. My mind can wander to places it shouldn’t go when I don’t look to you. When I have doubts and fears, fill me with your love and your peace. Help me to turn from darkness and think about what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Amen.
