A few times a week I briefly look at the news. Just a quick glance at it is troubling from the standpoint of righteousness and truth. If I linger long on it, I find it making inroads into my anxiousness. Everywhere a person can turn there are mounting problems which all result from the sinfulness of mankind and wrong decisions. In contrast I was thinking about one of the most precious verses of Scripture in all the Bible. Philippians 4:8 says, “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.” By immediate context this comes right after Paul writes, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

What we are to initially do with the cares and burdens that arise from being in the world is to go to God in prayer and lay them before Him who is in sovereign control. Also, by this focus of verse 8, following the command not to be anxious (verse 6-7), we know that Paul does not mean we are not to be informed and take seriously, by prayer, what is happening around us. We are not to live in a fantasy that all things are good in the world and with us if they are not. In fact, Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 that we are, “sons of light,” and because of this we understand the times in which we live, and keep the conditions of sin surrounding us in perspective even in relation to the promised coming of Christ. It is one thing to understand the times through the Word of God by seeing what is happening around us, and quite another to struggle with an anxious focus on those things.

What should we focus our Christian life and mind upon? Paul brings us a summary of beautiful phrases reminding us to, “Dwell on these things.” Paul wrote this letter from prison, yet it tells us how he spent his personal contemplation time. There were incredible sinful and unjust issues abounding in Paul’s day in Rome, and Paul had the most severe of personal problems and concerns. Yet, he says, “Dwell on these things.” We may look around us and say, “Well things are so corrupt that to think in terms of what Paul states is near impossible.” If that is our excuse it is because we have our eyes away from Christ. Everything stated here is reflected in Him and in a knowledge of His coming kingdom. We know from Scripture that we are in the world but not of the world. The statement made years ago by a nutritionist, “We are what we eat,” also has an application to the spiritual realm. If all we intake is the garbage of evil and the trouble surrounding us, it will affect us spiritually. Feeding continuously only on the world will lead us to wrong thinking and temptation. We need to be aware of the mire but take our eyes from the mire and instead spend quality time with Christ.

How do we do that? The answer to that is found in the definitions of what Paul is writing. He begins with, “whatever is true.” Well brethren, we know that the source of truth is the precious Word of God! The theme of the letter of Paul to the Philippians is joy. The word for joy is used five times in the letter to the Philippians, but the essence of joy is expressed throughout.  This is not a false or frivolous hyped-up feeling to disregard reality, but it is a true joy based on faith. Joy has its habitation within the person who has their confidence in God and is walking with Him. We can have joy because of Christ even in the midst of inconceivable hard circumstances. This is that peace spoken of in verse 7. So Paul says, “Whatever is true…dwell on these things.” The “whatever” points also to the truth emanating from the Bible. Truth are those things agreeable to the Scriptures by content and intention, or the essence of what must be understood as truth is that which can never be in opposition to the Bible.

This is why we can recommend good books to read. If a book is good, it is because it is consistent with the Word of God. I hope we can realize the general lapse into the world’s troubles, philosophies, ideas, and entertainment that will never arrive at what Paul describes here. Paul goes on to describe our focus as, “whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure.” There is much literal filth and confusing philosophies confronting us continually through media and those who accept the prevailing demonic mindset of our world and culture. The word, “honorable” means honest. The word “right” has its root in righteousness and the idea is according to God’s standard. The word, “pure” means modest, or chaste and clean.

Years back there was a time when Christians were wearing insignia which read, “WWJD” – meaning what would Jesus do? There is the same mindset here, but of course this like all else it must begin in our heart as a desire to please Christ (2 Cor. 5:9) and be like Him. Paul goes on to write, “whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute. If there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” To even casually read this is so fresh and distinct from other things in our world. Reading this is like taking a spiritual bath! Let us not be confused. We cannot earn our way to glory by pursuing these things or embrace them outside of a relationship to Christ. In reality only those born from above even desire these things. This is 2 Corinthians 5:17 being exercised because “old things have passed away, new things have come.” The Christian desires the beauty of these words in refreshment and longs for this manner of living.

For a moment consider how most people spend their time because of the focus of their life. I cannot help but think of how people become so involved in so many various activities that are empty of true value. The question for each of us is, how does what I spend my time, energy, and resources match with Paul’s wonderful command? Take the time to look at Revelation 21-22 which is our promised future. We see that what Paul has described for us to dwell our minds on is what eternity with our Lord will be like. If these things Paul expresses are not pleasing to us now, how do we expect to enjoy them eternally? To walk with our God is to practice these things commanded of Paul. They should affect our will and give us the greatest sense of pleasure and joy. Even with the world around us being so severely immersed in vanity and sins, we can find peace in knowing God is in control and that He will make all things new. Living for Christ with our knowledge of Him and our hope fixed on Him, brings a true degree of joy that cannot be found in anything else. For those that belong to Him, He provides a sense of supernatural well-being as we follow His commands.

This is why without faith it is impossible to please God. It is the exercise of our faith by our obedience in sanctification that is pleasing to Him and a privileged joy to our soul.