Today’s Devotional Theme
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Daily Scripture
Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Encouragement
We people have a welter of thoughts roaring through our heads throughout the day. Right now I’m focused on writing this little piece, but in the background two or three unrelated “apps” are running: What is my wife reading about? What will we do the rest of this day? And so forth… And, to be completely honest, most of these thoughts don’t include the affairs of God at all. One indispensable lesson I learned from the apostle Paul – “Pray without ceasing,” 1Thessalonians 5:17 – is to keep a background app of prayer simmering on a back burner while I was doing a foreground task. In my last regular job before I retired, I toiled as a programmer. It involved a lot of thinking and planning, as well as talking with my coworkers. I cultivated a knack for keeping short prayers – for people in need, for my work – coursing through my head while I was focusing on the task at hand. I strove to keep a balance between the affairs of God and my more mundane plans to get through a difficult day.
Take Action!
Paul gives us lists of Godly things to incorporate into our lives. Perhaps the most famous is the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Today’s scripture gives us six attributes to hold in the background – and regularly to bring into focus. These will serve to dispel the irrelevant and – let’s face it – downright ugly thoughts we tend to entertain in our flesh – thoughts which push God deep into the crevasses of our consciousness, where He becomes a mere shadow, a wraith quite unable to give our spirits direction. If you’re like me, too often we try to solve the problem at hand with our own meager resources, instead of praying for a solution. I often marvel at how easy it is for me to forget to pray when I know from God’s word and my own experience that asking God for direction is by far the best way to smooth out or climb over the bumps we face every day.
Come into His Presence
Lord God, I thank you for giving us in Your word spiritual qualities through which we can counter the fleshly thoughts that too easily form a part of our character. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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