A. Philippians 4:8 (READ)
1. Throughout this study, Paul has been showing us how to deal with the ANXIETY that creeps into our
lives and begin to STRANGLE us and WEIGH us DOWN.
a. Jesus warns us in Luke 21:34 to “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with . . . the
anxieties of life.”
b. Has your heart been weighed down with worry and anxiety?
- Are you laughing less than you once did?
- Do you see problems more than you see opportunities?
- Would those who know you describe you as increasingly negative and critical?
- Do you assume that something bad is going to happen?
- Most days would you rather stay in bed than get up?
- Do you magnify the negative and dismiss the positive?
2. If we answered “YES” to most of these questions, then the apostle Paul urges us to REFOCUS our
THINKING on the GOOD and not the BAD—the POSITIVE and not the NEGATIVE.
a. It almost sounds like Paul is promoting “The Power of Positive Thinking,” but it’s much more
than that.
b. POSITIVE THINKING can attempt to DENY the NEGATIVE—Paul is not asking us to DENY
the NEGATIVE, but to REFOCUS on the POSITIVE.
COMMENT:
It doesn’t mean that we don’t see the NEGATIVE stuff in life, but we decide that the NEGATIVE will NOT DOMINATE our LIVES! People who constantly DWELL on the NEGATIVE tend to be very UNSATISFIED with themselves and others, and even with God.
B. One thing that we know for sure is that life is full of UPS and DOWNS, the GOOD and the BAD, the
POSITIVE and the NEGATIVE. The question is: “ON WHAT DO WE FOCUS THE MOST?”
1. Do you ever find yourself MULLING over a NEGATIVE EVENT that HAPPENED to you?
ILLUSTRATION:
Your BOSS chews you out in front of your CO-WORKERS. Your SPOUSE gets ANGRY with you for some LITTLE THING that you SAID. Your BEST FRIEND blocks you on Facebook over a petty DISAGREEMENT.
All day long you run the NEGATIVE SCENARIO through your MIND, getting ANGRIER and more ANXIOUS each time you THINK about it. You THINK about the PERFECT COMEBACK—what you should have SAID or DONE to set them STRAIGHT. You might even THINK about getting REVENGE—how you can HURT them like they’ve HURT you.
2. Paul was certainly no STRANGER to GOOD TIMES and BAD TIMES.
a. He writes, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty [GOOD and the
BAD]. I have learned to be content in any and every situation…”- Philippians 4:12a.
b. Paul realized that if he DWELT only on the BAD THINGS that he HAD DONE and was DONE to him, there would no CONTENTMENT and JOY—only MISERY and HEARTACHE.
C. If we want to overcome WORRY and ANXIETY, we have to SHIFT our THINKING from all the BAD
things that bring us DOWN and CONCENTRATE on the GOOD things in LIFE.
1. Obviously, if we had a CHOICE, we would prefer the GOOD and avoid the BAD. But we don’t!
2. However, we do have a CHOICE on what pervades our MINDS and on WHAT or WHO we focus
our THINKING.
a. Proverbs 4:23- “Above all else, guard your heart [mind], for it is the wellspring of life.”
b. Romans 12:2- “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed the
renewing of your mind.”
c. 2 Corinthians 10:5- “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
MESSAGE:
I. NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE THINKING
A. NEGATIVE THINKING (THERE ARE SEVERAL ASPECTS)
1. Self-Pity
a. We all fall into this TRAP sooner or later.
b. Life is HARD for all of us. There is no one here this morning that hasn’t been IMPACTED in
some way by HARDSHIP and HEARTACHE.
COMMENT:
SELF-PITY surfaces when we THINK that we’re all ALONE. We THINK that we’ve been dealt an UNFAIR HAND while our neighbors, our co-workers, our fellow-Christians, enjoy a TROUBLE-FREE life. Then we throw ourselves a MENTAL PITY PARTY: “You people just don’t know what I go through. Try living my LIFE 24 hours a day and SEE how HAPPY you are.”
2. Blaming
a. BLAMING is an attempt to shift RESPONSIBILITY for your PROBLEMS on someone else.
COMMENT:
You’re just not HAPPY with the way your LIFE is going, so you FIND another person who seems to be the source of your PROBLEMS. It might be your HUSBAND or your WIFE, it could be your CHILDREN or your PARENTS. It often is a FRIEND, a NEIGHBOR, or your BOSS or someone at CHURCH. In your MIND you just cannot accept the POSSIBILITY that you are at FAULT.
b. BLAME-SHIFTING is dangerous because it leads to perpetual VICTIMHOOD.
3. Unwillingness to Change
a. Once you MENTALLY immerse yourself in SELF-PITY and come to the realization that
everyone else is to BLAME, the logical conclusion is that you CAN’T or WON’T CHANGE.
b. Unfortunately, this type of NEGATIVE THINKING tends to REINFORCE itself.
COMMENT:
We never have to face our PROBLEMS honestly. We THINK, “It’s not ME who needs to many any CHANGES. I’m not the PROBLEM here. I have every right to be HURT, and I’m not going to GIVE IT UP. That’s just the way I AM. God made me this way.”
4. Anger and Bitterness
a. That’s what NEGATIVE THINKING will finally LEAD to.
b. SELF-PITY, BLAME-SHIFTING, REFUSING to take CORRECTION and make PERSONAL
CHANGES, result in ANGER, DEFENSIVENESS, and BITTERNESS.
ILLUSTRATION:
You remember every MISERABLE thing ever DONE to you or AGAINST you. You STEW in your juices over the slightest NEGATIVE remark made by others. You adamantly
REJECT any notion that your LIFE could be DIFFERENT.
You hold GRUDGES—even though you say you don’t. You GLARE and TURN your HEAD when you see your so-called “ENEMY” coming toward you. You SHUT them out COLD. You GOSSIP about them. You HATE them and you want everyone else to HATE them.
COMMENT:
Our THOUGHTS matter. NEGATIVE THINKING leads to NEGATIVE LIVING.
B. POSITIVE THINKING
COMMENT:
Paul spells out the POSITIVE things on which we are to THINK ABOUT: That which is “True, Noble, Right, Pure, Lovely, Admirable, Excellent, and Praiseworthy.” Let’s take a brief
LOOK at each of them:
THINK ON THAT WHICH IS….
1. TRUE
a. This is everything that God is, and everything that Satan is not.
b. Jesus describes Satan as “The Father of Lies”- John 8:44.
COMMENT:
Have you ever noticed that most of the things that we WORRY about, never happens? In fact, most of the things that we get UPSET and ANGRY about, is EXAGGERATED by our THINKING. I believe that is Satan at work filling our MINDS with LIES and DECEIT to keep
us in a state of TURMOIL and ANXIETY.
c. Our FOCUS is to be on TRUTH.
2. NOBLE
a. This word refers to HONOR, ESTEEM, RESPECT.
COMMENT:
When we start ATTACKING people in our MINDS… Your WIFE because she put on some WEIGHT. Your HUSBAND because he can’t get a better JOB. The ELDERS because you don’t like their DECISION. …We throw this WORD right out the WINDOW.
b. There is no HONOR or RESPECT, only DISGUST.
3. RIGHT
COMMENT:
This is a LEGAL TERM, describing what is RIGHT under the LAW. It speaks of FAIRNESS and JUSTICE enacted on all people regardless of who they are. It describes RIGHTEOUS words and deeds. It does AWAY with all PARTIALITY and PREJUDICE and FAVORITISM. It is certainly much needed in today’s POLARIZED culture.
4. PURE
COMMENT:
This is exactly what you think it is. It speaks of that of that which is CLEAN and WHOLESOME, as opposed to that which is DIRTY or DEFILED or CORRUPT. It describes
one who is MORALLY pure. We used to say, “Get your mind out of gutter.”
What do you FEED your MIND on? What kind of BOOKS do you READ? What kind of MUSIC do you LISTEN to? What SITES do you CLICK ON when browsing your COMPUTER or SMART PHONE?
5. LOVELY
COMMENT:
This word REFERS to those things that aim toward LOVE and GRACE. It describes the pleasant and enjoyable things of LIFE—good MUSIC, good MOVIES, good BOOKS, good ART—LOVELY things that bring a SMILE to your face. God is not AGAINST us ENJOYING the THINGS that LIFE has to OFFER, just as long as it doesn’t violate His Word.
6. ADMIRABLE
COMMENT:
This word tells of those things that are good to HEAR. It describes the good report that comes from home or work or church. It tells of the hearing of the PLEASANT things—that which is POSITIVE not negative, CONSTRUCTIVE not destructive, things that BUILD UP not the things that tear down.
7. Paul concludes this list with catch-all categories: “If ANYTHING is…”
a. EXCELLENT (Not the kind of “Excellent” that Mr. Burns talks about on The Simpsons).
COMMENT:
This describes anything of MORAL GOODNESS. It speaks of VIRTUE—anything that characterizes the BEST in a PERSON—kindness, self-sacrifice, heroism.
b. PRAISEWORTHY
COMMENT:
Describes anything worthy of RECOGNITION. It can speak of an amazing HUMAN ACCOMPLISHMENT. Or it can speak of any of the ATTRIBUTES of God. Anything that meets God’s APPROVAL.
C. You don’t have to MEMORIZE the list. (Although, I’ve heard Don Ralston quote it several times.)
1. Paul is merely reminding us that if we constantly DWELL on all the BAD STUFF that happens to
us, we are never going to experience the JOY that God wants us to have.
2. Instead, Paul is urging us to FOCUS on GODLY THINGS—our BLESSINGS instead of our
PROBLEMS.
a. Hope that is based on faith in Jesus Christ.
b. Promises that are based on God's unchanging integrity and power.
c. Peace that is based on God’s presence and work in our lives.
d. Assurance that is based on God's unfailing grace.
e. Things that last for eternity and are stored up in heaven for us based on God’s dependability.
II. BIBLICAL EXAMPLE OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE THINKING
A. There is an Old Testament PROPHET who starts out with such POSITIVE THINKING about how MIGHTY God IS and what He can DO, only LATER to find himself wanting to DIE resulting from
ANXIETY and DEPRESSION brought on by NEGATIVE THINKING.
1. His name was Elijah- 1 Kings 18 & 19. (I’m not going to read it. I’ll just relate the story.) You
can follow with me starting with 1 Kings 18:20.
ILLUSTRATION:
Elijah was on Mount Carmel engaging in a remarkable CONFRONTATION with the pagan priests of Baal who turned the children of Israel from God toward IDOLATRY. The King and Queen of the day, Ahab and Jezebel, were to blame for the INFLUENCE of the Baal priests.
Elijah challenged the Baal Priests to a DUEL to prove whether Baal was God or if Jehovah (Yahweh) was God. An altar had been BUILT. Two bulls were prepared for sacrifice: one for the Baal priests, one for Elijah. A vast crowd of COUNTRYMEN gathered to watch. REPUTATIONS were at STAKE. Elijah was very much ALONE—the PRIESTS had an army of SUPPORTERS.
Elijah said, “You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the GOD who answers by FIRE, He is GOD”- v. 25. The people thought that was a good idea. It was a straightforward process. Take your best shot, go first, shout loud. And they did.
All morning there had been the ABSURD scene of sincere, grown men DANCING, SCREAMING, CUTTING themselves in order to gain ATTENTION of their god. Nothing worked! Elijah taunted them, “Shout LOUDER! Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened”- v. 27. The people CRIED out until the evening, and nothing happened.
Finally, it was Elijah’s turn. He REPAIRED the long-ignored ALTAR of the Lord, set WOOD and the prepared ANIMAL in place, and then . . . just to add DRAMA to the situation . . . he DRENCHED the whole thing with WATER. Then he prayed, “. . . let it be known today that you are God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord….”- vv. 36-37. With force, FIRE flew from heaven and CONSUMED the ENTIRE SACRIFICE—ALTAR and ALL.
Talk about EXCITEMENT—one man against a spiritually DEPRAVED nation, a powerful KING and QUEEN, and several hundred PRIESTS. Elijah overflowing with ENTHUSIASM, took a stand and came out VICTORIOUS with the help of God.
2. The SPIRITUAL HIGH Elijah had on the MOUNTAIN was great, but just a short three days later the prophet of God hit ROCK BOTTOM in his own SPIRIT and fled to the WILDERNESS.
B. Elijah allowed NEGATIVE THINKING to take over.
1. After DESCENDING from the MOUNTAIN Elijah had received DEATH THREATS from Queen
Jezebel.
a. When Elijah received word of the DEATH threats, “he was afraid and ran for his life a day’s journey into the wilderness. There he asked that he might die, saying, ‘I have had enough
Lord. Take my life . . .’”- 1 Kings 19:3-4.
b. But it wasn’t enough! God had many more PLANS for Elijah.
COMMENT:
Elijah’s THINKING shifted from the POSITIVE and MIGHTY things he BELIEVED God could do on that MOUNTAIN, to the DEATH THREATS of Queen Jezebel. He began to FOCUS on the NEGATIVE, and that’s when ANXIETY and FEAR took over
2. As you read on in 1 Kings 19, Elijah was so DOWN that he just SLEPT all the TIME.
a. An Angel of the Lord had to AWAKEN him at least twice so he would EAT something to keep
his STRENGTH up.
COMMENT:
Elijah had forgotten all about what God has just done for him on the MOUNTAIN TOP—how He DISPLAYED His magnificent POWER that brought the Priests of Baal to their KNEES. But now Elijah is RUNNING for his LIFE—hiding from the QUEEN. He’s ready to GIVE UP.
b. In the midst of Elijah’s PITY PARTY, God speaks to Him- 1 Kings 19:9b-13 (READ &
COMMENT) -We don’t need AMAZING EXPERIENCES to know that GOD is there.
COMMENT:
When Elijah ran for his life in the wilderness, he felt SORRY for himself THINKING that he was the ONLY ONE left serving God—that everyone else had turned to Baal.
But then God told him that there were “7,000 in Israel who had not BOWED DOWN to Baal”- 1 Kings 19:18.
God is saying to Elijah, “I’ve always been here for you—in the GOOD times as well as the BAD. Just open your EYES and keep FOCUSED on the POSITIVE, and you will see Me WORKING in both the BIG and SMALL things.”
CONCLUSION:
