Philippians 4:8 NIV
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.
What
Is On Your Mind?
A number of years ago
before I was married I went on a white water rafting trip with some
friends. The most memorable part of the
trip was a turn in the river that we reached with the water rushing beneath us
in a torrent. We were fast approaching a
giant boulder on the left and our raft leader urged us to paddle as hard as we
could to try and get the boat to turn to the right of it. We were all just
normal people, some a bit more athletic than others but none of us were
professional paddlers. We whacked at the
water with our paddles but clearly we didn’t give it our best because rather
than missing the boulder we ran straight up it; three fourths of our raft out
of the water resting upon the side of the giant granite rock. As soon as we hit the boulder with a crash,
the fellow on the front of the raft was popped out of it by the force of the
impact and went flying ten feet up in the air, over the boulder and into the
pool of water beside it. Our eyes were
as big as plates as we watched him shoot up in the air out of the raft. Fortunately he did not hit any rocks, his
life jacket kept him afloat and as soon as we worked the rubber raft off the
boulder, we collected him from the icy water and continued careening down the
river. The raft leader never criticized
us for not paddling hard enough to avoid the great boulder; we all knew we had
avoided a great tragedy when our fellow rafter missed the rocks in his flight
but we learned our lesson. From that
point onward, when our leader ordered us to paddle hard, we gave it all we had.
Looking back, it was not
our bodies that failed us, it was our thinking.
We all decided individually that we were putting our best effort into
paddling when we weren’t. The thought
each of us had was “I don’t need to work any harder than I am. Of course I was wrong in how I thought and so
was the person paddling next to me….all of us were wrong but nonetheless our
thoughts controlled our actions. It has
always been that way for every person who has ever lived. What you think decides what you do. In each situation you face you might have a
multitude of thoughts, some contradicting others but eventually a thought wins
the moment and you do something or don’t do it.
You decide you need a new top and so you buy it. You think you have been treated badly and you
get upset. The thought comes to you that
your hair is too long and so if that thought persists, you get your hair
cut. We are both the masters and
prisoners of our thoughts. Our thoughts
take us along like the rush of a mighty river and deposit us wherever they
choose…unless of course we use our paddles and push against the force of the
current.
A few years ago I read of
a songwriter who composed and did the lead vocals on a fairly popular Christian
song. Its theme was healing and it was
autobiographical. The fellow had
experienced a miraculous healing from cancer.
He had been diagnosed with terminal cancer but through prayer was cancer
free. As a result he wrote his song
about believing in miracles. There was only
one problem. He had faked his illness
and fooled even his wife into thinking he had cancer. For months he gave his testimony at concerts
in vast arenas and his song climbed the charts.
It all came crashing down however when his hoax was uncovered. Even now though, the song is sung in churches
and by popular Christian groups. Why did
this nice Christian man pretend he had cancer?
We cannot say for certain but we do know that the decision to do so was
the result of thoughts running through him that he did not reject or disable.
Throughout the Bible we
find examples of good people who did things that seem absurd or in
contradiction to who they appear to be.
Yet all we do, like them, whether good or bad, is the result of thoughts
we create or accept. Why would someone
like David commit adultery with the wife of one of his bravest soldiers? He did not stop the thoughts he had that he
needed to have Bathsheba regardless of what was right or wrong. Those thoughts grew in size and strength until
his conscience was swamped by them. Why
did Ananias and Sapphira decide to pretend to the people of the church that
they were giving to God all the proceeds of the sale of their property when
they weren’t? Now a man named
Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back
part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles'
feet. Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your
heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of
the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold?
And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think
of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." (Acts
5:1-4 NIV) It was Ananias’s thoughts that poisoned his actions and corrupted
his life with God.
We see this with Miriam
who despite the respect and prestige she enjoyed as a part of her brother
Moses’s inner circle of leadership, she did not think he deserved to have as
much honor as he garnered among the people.
He had after all married a Cushite wife and the thought of how atrocious
this was perverted Miriam’s heart so much that she tried to unseat Moses as
leader of God’s people. It is so
strange, this bitterness she harbored, and yet we see the same phenomenon in
every strata of life. Families are
ruined because of bitter thoughts, careers are wrecked because of poisoned
ruminations and the world is filled with chaos as a result of resentful thinking that goes unchecked. Consider the terrible depression of Saul, the
first king of Israel. He could have no
peace because he would not stop thinking that David was trying to take his
throne from him and that the people would welcome David as Saul’s replacement. When the men were returning home after
David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of
Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with
tambourines and lutes. As they danced,
they sang, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of
thousands." Saul was very angry;
this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of
thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he
get but the kingdom?" And from that
time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. (1 Samuel 18:6-9 NIV)
Ponder the painful
circumstance of Naomi’s unhappiness. She
lost her husband and both her sons and the misery that brought her became
unshakable. When she returned to her
hometown of Bethlehem, Naomi told her friends that they should no longer refer
to her by her given name. "Don't call me Naomi," she told
them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
(Ruth 1:20 NIV) Yet at the root of Naomi’s
melancholy were her thoughts that insisted she had no happiness in her cup and
God was her enemy. We all have felt some
level of this kind of misery at one time or another if we have lived a little
and suffered great trials but it is the thoughts we let have life in us that
keep us unhappy and prolong our depression.
The Bible insists that we are responsible for our thoughts and it is not
the circumstances we face that determine our internal state but rather the way
we handle our thoughts.
Regardless of what is
happening, whether good or bad, difficult or easy, we are capable of managing
our thoughts so that we are never miserable or bitter or overcome by rage. God insists that with Him a part of our
thinking, we can change our thoughts so that we are more peaceful and joyful. 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. (Philippians 4:8 NIV)
You decide if you will do this.
It is not up to anyone else to help you here. Circumstances do not decide this. In your heart, you choose the content of your
thoughts. Lovely things or miserable
things, pure thoughts or lustful thoughts, noble concerns or corrupt ideas; all
of this is up to you as to what you will roll over in your mind. We all know this is so but we most of the
time ignore it, choosing to accept the fairy tale that it is what happens to us
that determine our thoughts.
Never forget that your
thoughts don’t form in a vacuum. There
are two spiritual forces at work in your mind.
At all times they are jostling for dominance in the formation of your
thoughts. They never sleep, never take a
break. Either the Satanic kingdom is
influencing your thinking most or Christ and the Kingdom of God. Don’t blame either though because you decide
who of the two you let roam about in your mental home. You control the doors and you decide who
takes charge. You choose either to have
God thoughts or Satan thoughts. Although
it is the Apostle Paul offering the challenge through the Holy Spirit, it can
be either Satan or Jesus making this declaration. Whatever you have learned or received or
heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. (Philippians 4:9 NIV) If it is Christ you decide to follow and His
Word you have generating your thoughts, then a miracle will occur. As you close your mind to Satan and put into
practice what the Lord has told you in Scripture, God will join you in your
thinking and be a part of your inner world.
And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4: 9 NIV)
Your thinking is often
rooted in habit. If you regularly think
about your frustrations, disappointments, mistreatments and lusts, that sort of
thinking will be ingrained in you and it will be hard to remove. But if you frequently give your mind a break
from evil and think about God and what you have read in Scripture and ways that
you can bless and help others, your thoughts will grow increasingly peaceful
and happy and contented. Here is a habit
you could develop that will help you. Each
hour turn your thoughts over to Christ with a simple little prayer. “Lord Jesus, help me see things as you
do.” “Lord God of all peace, cleanse my
thoughts of all dirty and bitter content.”
“Father, guide my thinking so that it is righteous and holy.” Follow the prescription of the Bible and take
your thoughts captive, not letting them rule over you but ruling them with the
power the Holy Spirit has given you to be in charge of what you think.