Thank you for reading the message this week, and thanks be to God for the opportunity to post the message this week. I hope and pray that everyone is having a good week so far.
Today, we will continue with our series in Philippians. Last week, we saw that we need to be gentle and kind to one another. We also looked into the fact that we need to give all our anxieties and all of our worries over to the Lord in prayer. When we take things to the Lord, we are entrusting out lives to the one who really has the power and the ability to help us.
For our message today, I want to focus on two verses that each tell us something important for the living of our lives for the Lord Jesus. First of all, we see in verse 8 that Paul says, "Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise." This is important as we try to keep our minds and hearts focused on the things of God.
The things that we allow to come into our minds have an affect on the way the we live. If we put things into our minds that are filled with darkness and negativity, that will cause us to think of things that are sinful and contrary to the will of God. For instance, I know many Christians who watch TV shows and movies that are filled with violence and other things that are contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the Scriptures. They keep putting these things into their minds, and it eventually leads a person away from following the Lord.
Instead of letting our minds be filled with sinful and worldly things, we need to fill our minds with what is true and with what is good. We need to pay careful attention to what we let in our minds and hearts. We need to watch programs and movies and read things that are in keeping with the Word of the Lord. We all need to keep our attention on what would bring glory to the Lord.
One thing that all of us need to fill our minds with is the Word of God. We all need to be reading the Bible more and more. And not just reading but also studying the Word. We need to let the Word of God get down deep within us so that we are not just hearers of the Word but doers of the Word. When the Word of God is within our minds, we will be focused on the things of God, and that will allow all of us to lead lives that bring glory to God.
Now, moving on to our second verse in our passage for the day. In verse nine, Paul tells the Philippians to follow him as an example of how to live for the Lord. In essence what Paul is saying is that they could look to him as he follows Christ. Paul is not saying to look at him and not at Jesus.
Jesus is our ultimate example of how to live and behave in the world. We read about how He acted in certain situations, and we do likewise. We read and comprehend His teachings and commandments, and then we put them into practice in our lives. There are holy people that are great examples of putting the life and teachings of Jesus into practice. Paul and the other apostles are good examples. In all things, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. If we do what He did in the world, we cannot and will not go wrong. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please keep praying about my being able to come up with the finances for my roof. Thank you
We need to be in deep prayer in regard to the situation in Ukraine as well as Israel and Gaza. Let us really focus in our prayers this week on peace for these people. Let us also pray for peace in Sudan.
Pray for the people in north central Kansas who were affected by the terrible flooding. Pray that they will get the aid and the help that they need. They had ten inches of rain in one day that caused rapid flooding.
For our prayer focus countries this week let us pray for those in the nations of Turkey and Lebanon. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, I will probably finish up Philippians, but it may take an extra week. I will post the verses on Tuesday, and I will post the book chapter on Wednesday. May God bless you all.