Years ago my pastor taught me how to use God's recipe to find peace and joy. He explained that when reading or studying my Bible that I should watch for words like therefore, so and then. Words like these link themes and topics. They connect verses with the ones to follow.
These connective words and phrases help us achieve a more complete understanding of scripture and what the results of following or not following God's instruction can mean to us and to those we love.
Today I saw a then in my scripture reading in Philippians 4:8 & 9.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. 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. 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.
I would guess that most all of us are seeking peace. Sometimes, life can feel like a maelstrom.
The then in the portion of scripture in Philippians points us to the how of finding the peace of God. We need to keep our hearts and minds focused on the truth of God's Word, on those things that are not corrupted by the world. And we should be thinking about the beauty around us in nature and in the people we know. Also, we must contemplate on the things that are splendid and beautiful. And then to actually include what God has taught us in our lives, not just talk about it. We need to live like Christ lived and do the things He did. THEN we will know peace. It will become part of who we are.
Fix your thoughts on what is . . .
True
Honorable
Right
Pure
Lovely
Admirable
Excellent
Worthy of praise
Do . . .
What we learned
What Christ did
It's not easy. The world pulls at us. It keeps telling us how ugly life is. Television focuses on corruption and hopelessness. There are games, books and movies filled with violence and evil.
But life is about more than all of that.
We get to choose what we include in our personal life. We choose how much of our time is spent in front of the television. We choose our entertainment. We choose what sites we visit on the internet - what blogs we read or don't read. We choose our friends.
The world seems to be filled with hate. We can take part in all of that . . . or not. But we need to remember that what we put into our spirit is what will dominate who we are.
I'm not advocating ignorance. Knowledge is profitable. However, there is so much ugliness and evil swirling around us and we are the only ones who can choose our focus.
If we have a friend who makes the most scrumptious chocolate chip cookies we've ever eaten it makes sense to use their recipe - right? Well, God gives us a recipe for discovering joy and peace. He has the only recipe that offers outstanding results every time.
I want to bake with God, using His ingredients. How about you?
Grace and peace to you from God,
Bonnie
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