The Strangest Secret

The Strangest Secret
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. 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. Philippians 4:8-9
I’ve been meditating on this verse off and on all week for several different reasons. I have a few different points I’d like to bring out on this subject. #1 The Bible is clear that the battlefield for our soul is in the mind. It is also clear that we can only think about one thing at a time. This verse in Philippians is God telling us how to think and what to think on. The Bible is also clear that the enemy has the ability to throw thoughts at us and it is up to us whether we accept them and make them our own. So if a thought comes to our mind and it is something we know we shouldn’t be thinking of, we need to rebuke it and begin to think about something we should be thinking of. We can start with this verse and go through the list until we find something to think on that we should be thinking on.
Secondly, I was thinking about ways we can improve ourselves and change our position in life. I began to think about an old story I once heard by Earl Nightingale. He said the human mind is much like a fertile field. The field doesn’t care what the farmer plants. If he plants it & waters it the field will produce the fruit of whatever is planted. If he plants corn & nightshade both will come up. One is a crop & one is a poison. The human mind is much more fertile than any field. It too, will produce the fruit of whatever it is we think about it. You will become what you think about! If we want to change, we must change what we think about. We can think about things that are productive and positive or we can think about things that poison our minds and therefore also poison our lives. The verse above gives us the perimeters in which God wants us to think for us to be successful!
Thirdly, along the same lines, I was thinking about the verse in Job where he talks about making a covenant with our eyes not to look with lust at a young lady. We too, need to make a covenant with our eyes not to look at anything we shouldn’t be looking at. What we look at and what we listen to affect our thinking. Our thinking affects the way we live! The battlefield is in our minds. An old golfing buddy of mine used to say that golf is played on a 5 inch course. The one between your ears. I agree! Also life is played on a 5 inch course, the one between your ears. Change your thinking and you will change the way you live! Change your thinking within the perimeters of where God wants you to think and He will take you places you could never dream of!
Consumed by the call,
Pastor Marty