The Word To Live By:5-11-26
Phil Waggoner
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. Philippians 4:8
The Word To Live By: This is step 8. The first seven are stand firm, get along with people, help somebody, rejoice, pray, supplicate, and give thanks. Next is to dwell on whatever is true. The only thing that is true is a circumstance or incident that lines up with the Word of God. Remember, just because something is a truth doesn’t make it THE TRUTH. What you allow your mind to dwell on is what is going to determine the direction you allow your attitude to go. The Bible tells us that meditating on the Word of God will bring success in our lives (Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:1-3 for example. And don’t even get me started on Psalm 119.) God’s definition of meditating is simply dwelling on a promise or a precept of God and picturing in your thought life how that will affect you. Instead of dwelling on the negative side of what may happen if such and such comes to pass, dwell on what victory looks like if the promise of God comes to pass. “So, are you saying that dwelling on a promise of God will bring it to pass?” No! The only thing that will bring the promises of God into manifestation in your life is faith in God and walking by the steps of faith laid out in the Bible. What I’m saying is dwelling on a promise of God when you find yourself in a negative situation will bring the peace of God into that situation and open the door to the wisdom of God to know what to do. As far as I’m concerned, one of the greatest gifts that God has put into people is imagination. You can imagine anything you want. And it’s just as easy to imagine whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, anything excellent, or worthy of praise as it is to imagine your world crashing in on you. I have two favorite places I like to be - five hundred feet below timberline on a mountain lake that you have to backpack into to get there, and sea level on a white sand beach with three-foot waves. I have two favorite go-to scriptures, Psalm 23 and Romans 8:38 (But in all things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.) And I promise you that at some point, probably several points, I will imagine, think on, dwell on all four of these when I am tempted to worry this week. One more to go.
Read through the Bible in a year: Acts 20:1-16; Judges 13; Job 41;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 11, Luke 21:19-38, James 3
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160