THINK ON THESE THINGS -- Summary

THINK ON THESE THINGS ... FINAL THOUGHTS

Finally, brethren, whatever is ...

* True

* Honorable

* Right

* Pure

* Lovely

* Good repute

* Excellence

* Worthy of praise

Let your mind dwell on THESE things. (Philippians 4:8)

For several days we have dissected this verse that Paul gives us for controlling the things that we allow our minds to dwell on. The last one in the list is to dwell on things that are worthy of praise. What are things that are worthy of praise? The word means "things to applaud; commendable things." When I think about this I think about the difference between one who sees the glass half-full vs. seeing the glass half-empty.

There's a sad story about a man in the hospital whose bed was positioned next to the window. He described in great detail to the man in the next bed the things that he saw: the trees, the birds, the fountain in the park. Children playing. People sitting on the lawn with their picnic lunches. It was a scene of great beauty.

The man in the next bed became very jealous and angry that his roommate had the view all to himself. This was not fair. During the night the man by the window became very ill and had difficulty breathing. Rather than call for help, the man in the bed near the door allowed the man to struggle. Shortly afterwards, the man by the window died.

After the nurses wheeled the dead man out of the room, the other patient begged to be placed by the window. He was so glad that now HE would get the best view. Now in place, he leaned up to look out the window only to discover a brick wall.

The other man had filled his mind with things worthy of praise. Instead of "Stinkin-thinking," as Zig Ziglar calls it - he allowed his mind to dwell on things that were worthy of praise.

Some of us get stuck in life because we allow our minds to dwell on things that are not even real. We conjure up in our minds what people are thinking about us or we allow our minds to read into situations that are unreal or not based on fact or truth. Rather than enjoying life as God intended it to be - we have a "brick-wall" view of life.

Will you purpose to commit this verse to memory? When you are tempted to think the opposite of the eight things on Paul's list - take those thoughts captive on dwell on these things!

Great quote: We are locked in a battle. This is not a friendly, gentleman's discussion. It is a life and death conflict between the spiritual hosts of wickedness and those who claim the name of Christ. Francis A. Schaeffer