Think Peace

A happy Friday to you! I'm praying that God will reveal himself and his love to you today and guide your steps. I'm going back one more time to the well of Philippians 4:4-9 to close out the blog for this week. Today, this is what I'm focusing on:

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... And the God of peace will be with you. (v. 8-9)

What God is impressing on me is how important my thought world is. Everything I do first originates in my thinking. The kind of things that my mind dwells on determines how I feel. If I spend lots of time listening to and reading and watching programming that's about all what's wrong in the world, the govenerment, the economy, the church or my neighborhood, then I will never enjoy the blessing of true peace. I am choosing to fret instead of choosing to feel joy. I will live instead with pent-up anxiety, anger and frustration. And it will show.

Do I really long for the peace of God to be the dominant overtone of my life? What kinds of things am I dwelling on? I need to intentionally think about the beautiful rather than the ugly, the best instead of the worst, things worth cheering instead of things I feel like cursing. There is so much beauty in my life when I stop and think about it! There is so much to be thankful for and praise God for.

The world is under the dark veil of cynicism and distrust. Some people are only happy when they have something to be upset about. But it's not really happiness, is it? They grow addicted to their negativity. It eats away at their peace and leaves them feeling consistently miserable, convinced that everyone is out to rip them off or steal what's rightfully theirs. Peace comes when you let go of everything, realize that everything you have is a gift of God's grace and revel in all the good that God brings to your life and to the world around you. Sometimes, you just have to look a little more closely to see it!

I hope you choose peace, my friends.

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