Philippians « Journeyman Journal

Fixing My Thoughts

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Our church just started a new sermon series on the Spiritual Disciplines. Last week the topic was mediation and Ray challenged us to meditate on the following verse this week to practice this discipline:

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8, NLT)

So, that’s what I’ve been doing. We even talked about the verse and meditation during Monday’s Elder Meeting. It’s a short verse, but there’s a lot to consider here…plenty to mediate on. The first thing I noticed is that Paul is NOT asking us to take action, to do something (which is my natural inclination). He’s simply saying we should “fix our thoughts on” and “think about” these things. That’s it…nothing more (at least for now…perhaps the actions should only happen after the meditation and contemplation?).

Then I started thinking about these questions: What is true? What’s honorable? What’s right? You get the idea. What exactly am I supposed to be thinking and fixing my thoughts on? I struggled here. I prayed about it. I meditated on it (that was the point right?). And the answer became very clear…and something I would have missed had I not slowed down and mediated on this short little verse of Scripture…

What’s true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise?

Only one thing: GOD

He’s the source of all that we’re supposed to think about. He’s what we’re supposed to fix our thoughts on. Now, we may be thinking about His beautiful creation or some amazing piece of art or music, but HE is the ultimate source that we should be fixing our thoughts on.

So that’s what I’m working on now…fixing my thoughts!

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ⁹ Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

26.05.2010 Church, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings 2 Comments

God is Working in You

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

There is on old saying in Christians circles (I am not exactly sure where it got started) that goes something like this: “Don’t give up on me…God’s not finished with me yet”. I can relate. I am a mess. Just when I think my spiritual life is moving right along…BAM!…I hit something (or something hits me?). It’s a journey. You can’t give up. You have to keep pressing on and letting God use the ups and the downs to shape and mold you. It doesn’t happen overnight no matter how much you want it to.

But God is working…

Work hard to show the results of your salvation,
obeying God with deep reverence and fear.
For God is working in you,
giving you the desire and the power
to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:12b-13, NLT

Two things stood out for me as I read this passage this morning. First, “God is working in you”. That’s the process, the journey, of walking with God. We do our part (“work hard…obeying”) and God does His part. It’s a relationship. It’s a partnership. You cannot do it alone. He won’t let it work that way.

Second, is that the work God is doing in me is to give me “the desire and the power to do what pleases Him”. I need them both. I need the desire because it’s not my nature (thanks Adam). I need the power because I am not strong enough on my own (I have proven that over and over again). But God knows that. I need Him. He will not allow me to make it on my own. That’s what the journey and the relationship are all about.

I am a mess. God knows it and He is not afraid of it. We are in this together. And that’s cool! I am far from where I want or need to be in my spiritual journey, but that’s OK…God isn’t finished with me yet! And He has done some pretty amazing work up to this point. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

24.01.2009 Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings 2 Comments

Through God’s Eyes

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

As part of my current college course (Spiritual Formation) we have gone through several exercises this week to practice solitude and listening to God’s voice. These are uncomfortable exercise…but that’s supposed to be part of the point as we get out of our comfort zone and learn to hear God speak into our lives. It has been hard. It has been good.

Last night was a 30 minute exercise of silence and listening. After the first 5-10 minutes (I wasn’t watching the clock) God did a LOT of talking. This is probably indicative of how much I haven’t been listening recently..He unloaded on one very specific topic: Having a Servant’s Heart. I won’t go into all of the details, but here are the highlights:

Am I leading from a servant’s heart or am I serving out of simple duty and obligation? (I hate it when He asks questions like this because I rarely like the answer!)
God wants my motive to service…not service because I’m supposed to or because it feeds my ego. (OUCH)
Two examples for me to chew on: Jesus washing His disciples’ feet (He wanted to do it…it wasn’t just a duty) and Philippians 2:4-11.
Here’s the big one: He wants me to really start seeing other’s as He sees them—through God’s eyes!

This is all about my motives for ministry and service. Am I doing it for my own benefit or for God’s benefit? Is my heart truly in the right place? I’m not saying I am serving out of some dark place…but it’s not the best place. It’s for God’s glory not mine. It’s not about me…it’s about Him.

God, grant me a servant’s heart!

20.11.2008 Ministry, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments