Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

MIND GAMES

What are you dwelling on? Or maybe I should ask, “What is on your mind all the time?” If you are like me, I am thinking of my day’s schedule, my work/ministry, paying the bills, working out or other earthly things. But look at the list of things Paul is telling us to dwell on. None of those things in that list have anything to do with our normal stuff.

What is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise? Nothing in this world, that’s for sure. Paul is pointing us heavenward. He is trying to get us to focus on the things of God, not man. So will you confess with me and begin to focus upward?

TEACHING MOMENT

Teaching our children to get “eternal eyes” is hard. Kids are concrete thinkers, for the most part. They have a hard time grasping concepts they can’t touch, see and hear. But is there anything more real than our faith in Christ? Is there anything more concrete than the love of Christ? Look for ways today to show your children how to live true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise lives. By living that way they make those things very evident for others to see.

And you – will you join me in doing the same? We need true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise lives. We need to be a beacon of light in a dark world. We need to be living in such a way that when people see us, those words of this verse shine like a lighted billboard at night. People see us and say, “Now I get it. I see Jesus in them.” Now wouldn’t that be just what Paul is saying? Wouldn’t that bring joy to the Father?