At times, it feels like our thoughts can make or break us. This daily devotional begins our look at setting our thoughts above by as they pertain to God.
Nuggets
- We set our thoughts above when we are pursuing godly perfection.
- We set our thoughts above by thinking of God, thereby strengthening our relationships with Him.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the On Things Above series
We just got finished studying Philippians 4: 8. It was the basis of the Moralities Lead to Godliness series.
Devotions in the Moralities Lead to Godliness series
I was kind of surprised that Beveridge, talking about what we are to set above, hooked it to this verse. Now, don’t get me wrong. I think thoughts are a biggy to give Him.
Resource
I just think there are better verses to use to instruct us to set our thoughts above. I mean, our thoughts do need to be all the things listed here — but so do a lot of other things.
Let’s see if anyone else went this way.
Apparently, they did. I am going to have to break this into two. We are going to leave the connections and application for the next devotion.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Let's Put It into Context #2
When we look up the definition of affection in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it says, “the state of being affected.” Affect means “to act on and cause a change in (someone or something).”
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Setting Our Thoughts Above
"Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things" (Phil. 4: 8 CSB)
We set our thoughts above when we are pursuing godly perfection.
Pope went in the same direction that Beveridge was going. He wrote that we need to corral our thoughts to focus on pursuing perfection.
If we focus our thoughts on God, we can renounce our self-righteousness and focus on the righteousness gained through faith. Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives.
Pope interpreted this verse as Paul’s admonishment to train our minds to gain a high degree of faith. This is important. Pope felt that “the ‘thinking’ signifies that intent contemplation of perfection which feeds the soul’s regenerate longing to attain it.”
Resource
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal requickening in us that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Glossary
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Oh, yeah! We want regeneration.
Meditation is a big part of achieving regeneration. Pope said that disciples need to think of the end goal — perfection — as a whole.
Horton said that is because the spiritual graces spring from the same root, making thinking of them as a whole easy. If some of the spiritual graces are absent, our character is defective.
Resource
Pope said disciples also have to make sure we consider each individually. We have to specifically work on, as Horton said, those spiritual graces that are out of character for us.
I can see that. When we were going through the attributes of God, we said they were all interconnected.
But we do know there are some that we are better at than others. So, we need to meditate on them more than the others.
Hall felt there some other things that needed to go into the thought process. He felt the meditation should include evaluation that leads to accountability. Hall also cautioned that this was not a once-and-done exercise.
Resource
Pope also reminded us that we can’t stop at the thinking stage. We have to put our spiritual graces into practice. Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom and lead to holiness instead of enhancing this world.
God is the one to accomplish that change from thought to practice. We, however, have to be diligent in doing our part.
Horton said that our thoughts have a chicken-and-egg thing going on here. He wrote, “Our thoughts partly result from our disposition, and partly create it. In the former light they may serve as a test of our real state to ourselves. But mainly we would speak of the thoughts as tending to form character. Such thoughts are those voluntary ones which we choose to indulge.” Our thoughts do direct the way we grow.
Resource
So, once we get our thought corralled, how are we supposed to set them on things above?
Setting Our Thoughts on God
“God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you” (Ps. 139: 17-18 CSB)
We set our thoughts above by thinking of God, thereby strengthening our relationships with Him.
Does it give you a warm feeling to think that God is thinking of you right now? Not only that, we’ve talked a couple of times how God delights in us.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Tuck wrote, “Nothing can be more delightful than to feel that by our loving obediences, our sweet spirit of submission, and our devoted services to others, we are starting happy thoughts in the mind of God.”
Resource
When we feel God close, we tend to think more about Him. Those thoughts turn to joy.
Tuck gave us a progression our thoughts take.
- Historical interaction with God.
- Our interaction with His handiwork.
- Personal experience.
- Different forms of interaction based on salvation.
Thinking of God promotes delight and consolation. Spurgeon wrote, “The thoughts of God often move the souls of Christians, strengthening them in faith, arousing them to love, bestirring them to zeal.”
Resource
Think about verse 18. “… when I wake up, I am still with you” (Ps. 139: 18 CSB).
I know we talked about it once, but I can’t find it. There are three definitions of sleep used in Scriptures.
One is the physical sleep that we know. The second is sleep because our sin separates us from God. The third is eternal separation from God.
Sleep 1 and Sleep 2 apply here. We retire to our beds for Sleep 1, and God is right there. We wake up hours later, and God is still right there. God never leaves us.
Sleep 2 means we are separated from God because we have not ABCDed. But the wonderful news thing is that God is right there when we come to Him for salvation. We just have to genuinely submit our lives to Him.
Sometimes even after we ask Jesus to be our Savior, we fall back asleep. God is right there waiting for us to come back to Him.
The only sleep we don’t want is the eternal sleep. That means judgment day has occurred and we didn’t genuinely ABCD. Our sentencing will be separation from God as we spend eternity in hell.
To read a devotion in the Hell Does Have Fury series, click on the appropriate button below.
When I read these verses, I see a genuine, simplistic relationship. There is humility and wonder. There is longevity.
There is true love.
Father God. It is so hard to corral our thoughts at times. The stress of this world demands our attention. Then, we day dream for how we wish life would be — knowing our lives will never go that way. We need to keep focused on You. We need to ensure that our relationships with You are where they should be. Help us to look solely to You. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: Joy of Living And Dying – Seeking God with Elaine