Philippians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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. 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.
Proverbs 4:23
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Devotion
Paul begins verse eight with, “Finally, brothers.” Paul is getting close to wrapping up this personal letter to the church at Philippi. Here Paul encourages his readers to focus their minds on a list of seven qualities that will enable them to experience the peace of God. I personally call this the Philippians Grid. In this context, this grid is a framework through which we filter our thought processes. Paul is telling us that if we want to have peace with God, we must first filter our thoughts through this spiritual framework.
In Proverbs 4:23, Solomon writes, “Above all else, guard your heart (mind), for it is the wellspring of life.” This communicates the importance of protecting our thought processes. The heart refers to the center or seat of our emotions. Our thinking guides our emotions that in turn impacts our actions. Everything flows from our thinking! Therefore, it is very important to protect our minds from thoughts that are not godly.
Therefore, let us fix our minds on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, whatever is excellent or praiseworthy.” We do exercise control over our thought processes. We determine what information we will process daily. We determine what we will watch, listen to and read each day. All this information is processed and impacts how we feel and what we do. Therefore, we must exercise discipline when it comes to what information we allow to influence our thought processes.
Here is a practical example of how this grid functions. Let’s look at the first quality Paul lists: “whatever is true.” When we are processing information, we should ask ourselves this question, “Is what I am thinking true?” So often we get ourselves in a mess because what we are thinking is not even true. False assumptions often lead us down a path that causes us unnecessary grief and heartache. As believers, we should look first to God’s Word for truth. What has God revealed to us about this subject in His Word? We must always make sure our thoughts are in alignment with the truth of God’s Word. We can save ourselves a lot of grief by starting with God’s Word as our primary source for TRUTH.
May the peace of God be with you as you filter your thoughts through the Philippians Grid!
Questions to Ponder
Do you take personal responsibility for your own thoughts, emotions and actions? Do you frequently act out of false assumptions? How are you guarding your heart against ungodly influences? How are you living out God’s Word today?
Prayer Points
- Thank the Lord for His Word, His indwelling Spirit within You, thank Him for saving you.
- Pray for yourself and our church family. Ask the Lord to enable us by His Holy Spirit to pay attention to our thinking. Cast down anything that sets itself up against the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
- Ask the LORD to help you to have the mind of Christ, to fix your thoughts on things that are good, pure, holy. Pray for a quickening of confession as soon as you feel your heart wandering.
- Ask the LORD to make you like a tree that is planted by streams of living water where your roots go down deep in Him.
Suggested Prayer
Papa, You know all things. You know these verses are so needed for our daily walk. Lord, help me and our church family to pay attention to what we watch, listen to, the time and quality of social media, music….all the things we are taking into Your temple, our bodies. Father, help us to commune with You in Your word every day and that You would teach us to be in the world but not of the world. Help us to guard our hearts in Christ Jesus, teach us how to do that by Your Spirit. Lord, You know how easily distracted I can get and so easily fall into my self centeredness. Teach me to bring those thoughts right to You and make that exchange with You. Thank You LORD for Your unlimited patience, grace and mercy and Your love that abounds for me and all those around me. Help me to overflow with Your love oh God in the Name of Jesus Christ I ask, amen.