DWELL ON THESE THINGS - by Todd Benjamin Lout

Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].  PHILIPPIANS 4:8 & 9 - Amplified -   This passage in the Bible opens a door for us to live in a way that leads to a better life.  For sure we will experience countless things that cause our meditation to dip into the negative....way into it. But here we are given a key to rising above circumstances, rather than allowing them to overtake us.  I don't believe God is expecting us to deny that hard things are taking place, or that certain sins are tempting and so on.  What our Maker is telling us is that we don't have to dwell in the muck and mire. Even King David, who went through some very tough trials, would "vent" about what's happening, but he would end up releasing them through praise once again. This ultimately worked out for him.  God has recipes for a better way of living all through His word.  Philippians 4:8 & 9 is one of them.  He  knows what staying in a negative mindset can do to us. As someone who has been on blood pressure meds for 20 years, I know too!  Doctors have run tests on me for 5 hours at a time. They would have me think of things that stress me out. My bp would skyrocket. Then, they would instruct me to focus on things that are life-giving to me, (a beach, mountains, being creative, solitude), and take my blood pressure again in a half hour.  The dramatic drop in my blood pressure has been shocking.  Thoughts have much to do with how the physical body functions.  We all know that anxiety can cause ulcers even.  Dwell on these things that produce life. It sounds nearly impossible for many, I know, but it is possible. We just need to invite Holy Spirit in to work with us to break life-long bad habits in our thinking.  We are kids of the King. We can certain take authority over our minds and declare that we have the mind of Christ (the mind of the Anointed One and His Anointing).  When we are intentional about this shift, God will help us with this.  Eventually we will see that we're handling things differently, approaching people in a better way, staying away from harmful things, and so on. Also, people will be drawn to us when we have a higher / positive mindset. God says it. Paul says it. Science proves it. Let's do it!