Think About It
Reading and Meditation
Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
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 everything, 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, whatever is true, whatever is noble, 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 4:1-9)
According to one little boy, "Thinking is when your mouth stays shut and your head keeps talking to itself."
The way our head talks to itself tells a lot about how we are doing morally and spiritually. To guard our mid and to keep out the influences that will hinder our walk with God is to use our mind in the way He desires.
The Bible gives us clear guidelines - spelling out the kinds of things we should think about. For example, Psalm 1:2 and Psalm 119:97 tell us to meditate on God's Word day and night. That should be our first priority in the thinking department.
But we have a life to live, and we can't spend all of our waking moments meditating on Scripture. Yet even when we are thinking about the mundane aspects of life, we need guidance. Paul told us that we should think about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). In our daily activities, those words should govern what is on our mind.
When our head "talks to itself," it needs to say, "Keep the impure and ungodly thoughts out of here!" When we're thinking that way, we'll know what to do, how to behave, where to go, and what to say. - Dave Branon
Let us think about what's good -
What's right and pure and true;
May God's Word control our thoughts
In everything we do. - Fitzhugh
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2)
Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long. (Psalm 119:97)
Right thinking leads to right living.
Extracted from Every Day with Jesus written by Selwyn Hughes
Salvation in a sentence
Reading and Meditation
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden our hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the desert,
where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.
That is why I was angry with that generation,
and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways'
So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "
See to it, brothers that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said:
"Today , if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion." (Hebrews 3:1-15)
'We will never be able to understand the gospel,' said a lecturer at the college where I trained for the ministry, 'until we can condense it into a single sentence.' When I first heard him make that statement I thought to myself, 'If the gospel can be condensed into a single sentence, then why do I need to spend these years training for the ministry?' Later I came to see what he meant: putting something into a single sentence is a way of showing how clearly we comprehend its essential features.
Whenever I am asked what are the essential features of salvation my mind immediately goes to the words of Jesus on the cross: 'Today you will be with me in paradise' (Luke 23:43). Take His first word: 'Today.' That suggests salvation is immediate and present. Notice there was no delay between the request from the thief - 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom' (Luke 23:42) - and the Master's reply. Christ did not say to him, 'I'm sorry, but you do not have enough time to prepare yourself for paradise. If you had come to Me earlier, when I could have instructed you and made you one of My disciples, I might have been able to help. Now, however, it's too late.'
Oh, the wonder of eternal salvation! It never asks us to make ourselves better before we come to God, never puts us on a period of moral probation, never postpones acceptance until some long or painful process of purification has been accomplished. The old hymn puts it beautifully when it says:
The vilest offender who truly believes
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
That moment!
O God, how can I sufficiently thank You for the immediacy of Your gospel? Other faiths would first send me away to work on improving my character; You receive me just as I am. And in that I rejoice. In Christ's name. Amen.
