Philippians 4:4-9 - How To Rejoice In The Lord Always

"Whatever is lovely." Who all got to watch the sunrise this morning? Anybody? I drove in this morning to the church. The sun was popping through the clouds. One thing we're very blessed with here in Kansas is we get beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Most of the time, we're so preoccupied driving to and from somewhere, we don't pay attention to them. Shame on us. What you focus on expands. What is lovely for you today? Maybe it's a bouquet of flowers. Maybe it's the sunrise or the sunset. Maybe it's somebody you love. What's lovely for you today?

The Bible tells us, "How lovely are the feet of those who bring good news." Every time we share the gospel, that's lovely. Something we can focus on.

Let's keep going here. "If there's whatever is commendable." Let's talk about commendable. What we love to do is catch people doing wrong. What we look for is what's correctable. But Scripture's telling us, "Look for what's right." It's a management principle you hear in business: Catch your people doing the right things and say something. Don't just wait till they mess up. Look for what's commendable.

Now, sometimes that's not easy, especially if you've got teenagers living at home who are going through that very selfish, eye-rolling phase. Sometimes you have to look hard for what's commendable, but look for it anyway. And let me even preface that. It doesn't stop at high school. When they show back up at your house in college, it's similar. Look for what's commendable. What can I compliment you on? What can I admonish you in and build you up in? What's commendable?

"If there's any excellence." I want you to think about the excellence around you. What are things that are excellent? Maybe it's a well-cooked meal. Maybe it's something that somebody builds that's built well. What is excellent? Maybe it's just excellent service. What can I focus on that's excellent? I always laugh with Paul here. Paul probably focused on there was one meal that the jail cook made that he really liked. Macaroni and cheese night was probably his favorite because the cook did that with excellence. Even in the worst of situations, we can find excellence if we look hard enough.

Let's keep going here. "If there's anything worthy of praise, there's lots of things to be praising for." And if I—if I'm running out of things, I, Carl, life's just crazy. Great. Start with Jesus. "You took on the form of a human being. You were in a manger. You died on a cross. You went to death. You rose from the grave. Praise you." That's the place to start. That's the great thing here. Paul reminds us early on, "The Lord's at hand." If you're running out of things, if you can't think of anything, remember, Jesus is right here. Start with Him and build from there.

Here's what happens when we take this to heart. We begin to see the world differently, and we begin to operate differently. Can I just speak to the family here for a minute? One of the biggest disappointments is when we as Christians are the loudest complainers to the world around us. Remember, "Let your reasonableness be known." How different would people look at us if we just be a little more reasonable in what we had to say?