"Your Mind Set"

What you dwell on daily has drastic results in your life. "Finally, 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. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." (Phil. 4:8-9)

The guarantee..."the things you learned, received, heard and practice" the God of peace will be with you. These things must be practiced! Our mind set is most important. What we think and dwell on will determine a lot of things in your life. "Whatever is true"...not false, not rumors, not controversial things but think in terms of reality. To face life's problems with the Lord, we must dwell on what is true to find peace in the midst. "Whatever is honorable"...deals with things that are dignified and serious. When faced with difficult situations, we must think in terms of doing things in an honorable manner. If one doesn't do that, they aren't dealing with what is true! "Whatever is right" ...our minds need to dwell on things that help us be responsible. Look out for what is right in each situation. Our minds do not need to wander in things that aren't right. The direction our life takes and when we encounter difficult decisions, doing right needs to lead the mind. "Whatever is pure"...deals with free from defilement. There should be no impurities or contaminated thoughts. Purity always clears up confusion because when confusion is present, something contaminated is mixed in the thought process. "Whatever is lovely, good repute"...are speaking to how you see things. Lovely, not ugly needs to be in our minds. When one is controlled by bitterness, resentful feelings, that's ugly and the mind will dwell on those. Whatever you think on will lead you to acting! If one dwells on how they have been wronged, their mind is not dwelling on lovely! One cannot move forward because the hurts lead the way in the mind. "Good repute" is where you speak well and listen for the good. That will affect your thought process. "Any excellence, worthy of praise"...should be where our minds are focused. People who speak of their past and how bad they had it growing up, dwelling on their terrible home life! Is there anything excellent and worthy of praise in that? That's what psychologists try to get people to do, go back to their past. We are in Christ and our whole status before God changed the day we entered Jesus. Whatever happened prior to that, it was buried with your old self in baptism!

Our mind set will determine much of your spiritual growth. It takes no effort to not think and let everything else dwell in the mind. We need to let the things that are true, right, honorable, pure, lovely, good repute, excellence and praiseworthy dwell daily in our thinking. The result? God's absolute guarantee...