This morning I am perusing one of my favorite Pauline letters, his letter to the Philippians. I guess I like this letter because of Paul's transparency, his desire for more of the Lord, his dogged pursuit of all that the Lord has for him. I need that type of encouragement in my life, for sure. Anyway the verses I am reflecting on this morning are as follows - Philippians 4:4-9 NIV:
[4] "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! [5] Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. [6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
[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. [9] Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me---put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
I know I have reflecting on these words many times throughout my life, but they grabbed my heart again this morning. There is so much to think about thee days, so much to be concerned with, so much that can cause anxiety and worry, and it was nice to be reminded by Paul of a path forward into peace.
I love that he starts with the encouragement to rejoice, twice even! The Greek word is "Chairo" and it means exactly that to rejoice, but to do it exceedingly! Paul using it twice here means to rejoice exceedingly, exceedingly! Notice that this is an encouragement of how to approach our lives, not the response to our situation or circumstances. This is a mind-set, an attitude that we can choose to live within or not. Paul goes on to address the concerns of life in verses 6 & 7, but the overarching mindset that he encourages is rejoicing. What if we chose to wake up in the morning determined that we would rejoice all day long, regardless of the circumstances? I know I would definitely have a better day.
Paul writes the following a bit later, Philippians 4:12 NIV:..." Philippians 4:12 NIV: "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation." I think this secret is setting one's heart to rejoicing, first and foremost.
Secondly, Paul does encourage us to unburden ourselves unto the Lord, brining Him the things that cause us anxiety and releasing them to Him through prayer, and petition. It is a wonderful thing to unload our worry onto the Lord. Jesus gave us this very invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 NIV: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Finally Paul's encouragement is to think of things that lift us up, that will cause our minds to gaze on our Lord. He is our source, our life and our salvation. We can choose what to think on, and Paul's encouragement here is to do just that. To think about the true, the noble, the right, the pure, the lovely, the admirable, and the praiseworthy. I dare say that if we chose to force our thoughts onto this track, we would be quickly lifted out of our present perspective and see life differently.
For most of us, the great battle is in our minds. We must recognize that every thought that flows into our minds is not necessarily from us. The enemy works hard to convince us that those thoughts that bring anxiety, worry, division and doubt are from ourselves, but I have definitely learned that they are often from him. If you struggle with your thought life, I would highly recommend C. S. Lewis's Book "The Screwtape Letters". That book was foundational to my ability to recognize the lies and thoughts that are broadcast into my mind.
I have learned that when I am under attack to counterattack through prayer and petitions. I often will pray for salvation for some that I know who are lost, and find that the attack ceases soon after, for apparently my prayers are far more effective than the attacks of the enemy. If I am feeling constrained financially, thinking the Lord hasn't blessed me lately, or something stupid like that, I will counter-attack by deciding to give unto the Lord, to bless someone, and I find that the attack in my minds ceases. Hopefully that is helpful to someone today.
Paul provides us the path forward, rejoice, thank God, place our worries and concerns in His hands, to then set our minds on things of heaven, things of His Kingdom, things that are lovely and cause praise to well up within us. We are supposed to have a spring of living water within us (John 4:14), and the enemy tries to fill it in with the rock and mud of worry, doubt and anxiety.
In summary, let us choose this day to rejoice, and to rejoice again, and again and again! Let us choose to think about things that at lovely, pure, true, noble, praiseworthy and right. Let us counter-attack the enemies stream of negativity with Kingdom thinking. Let us press forward into the peace and rest that Jesus offers!
Amen and Amen!
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