Preach This: Philippians 4:4-9 Series

Preach this - Phil. 4:4-8

Scripture Text: Phil 4:4-8 (NIV)

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

We are to choose to dwell on the excellent things, the good things and the praise worthy things of life: So to do this morning I have a video testimony for you from the Ramos:

Play Praise video: Of thanksgiving to God for the healing testimony of baby Jacqueline Ramos – parents Kristen and Tom also have son Dylan.

Let’s read our text again today:

Scripture Text: Phil 4:4-8 (The Message)

4Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!

5Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

6Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.

7Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

8Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

Introduction:

Thesis: Many people get offended if you tell them what to think – no one likes anyone telling them how to think. Yet the Bible tells us how we should think – whether we like it or not.

I find it amazing how many people have “Stink-in – think-in!” and not “Positive think in.”

When they observe a situation one person sees all the obstacles another sees the possibilities.

When one reads a book they find the golden nuggets while another finds all the mistakes or disagrees with the premises.

One person can see the glass ½ full the other sighs as its ½ empty.

Mindsets are crucial – they are keys to ones attitude and ones actions.

A person’s thought life does impact their health both mentally and physically. A persons thought life either brings them joy or sorrow. A persons thought life either brings them worry or contentment. A person’s thought life causes hope or hopelessness. A persons thought life either sees the positive or the negative.

It’s usually a matter of decision that a person thinks the way they do they decide which force wins out in their life. The positive or the negative, the good or the bad and the comparison list could go on.

Jonathan Edwards states:

“If any think it is a more perfect definition of the Will to say that it is that by which the soul either chooses or refuses, I am content with it; though I think it enough to say, it is that by which the soul chooses: for in every act of will whatsoever, the mind chooses one thing rather than another; it chooses something rather than the contrary or rather than the want or non-existence of that thing. So in every act of refusal, the mind chooses the absence of the thing refused; the positive and the negative are set before the mind for its choice, and it chooses the negative; and the mind’s making its choice in that case is properly the act of the Will: the Will’s determining between the two is voluntary determination; but that is the same thing as making a choice. So that by whatever names we call the act of the Will-choosing, refusing, approving, disapproving, liking, disliking, embracing, rejecting, determining, directing, commanding, forbidding, inclining, or being averse, being pleased or displeased with-all may be reduced to this of choosing…Mr. Locke says, “The Will signifies nothing but a power or ability to prefer or choose” (page 10, Freedom of the Will).

Really the Bible tells us that we choose our own mindsets – we choose to be positive or negative – we choose to worry or to be happy-we choose to see things and think certain things by the choices we make with our minds.

Our free will choice can give us hope or it can give us hopelessness.