Finally, brothers, 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. (Philippians 4:8 ESV)
I am sure we can all agree that there is so much negativity going on in this world right now. Everywhere you turn, everywhere you read, it can be hard to escape and this morning especially as I felt the heaviness of the consequences of evil, I needed a word and a reminder on what to focus on during this valley of the shadow of death. As I gathered my coffee and water heading to my office; my sanctuary of peace and the space where I pour my cares and troubles out to God, I asked Him to provide me with a verse to meditate on today and the days to come. He then directed me to use this scripture verse to “Ctrl-Alt-Del” any negative thoughts attempting to dampen my spirit.
The purpose of this common function that we use often when working on computers is to interrupt or pre-boot a computer system. When I thought about this as it pertains to my own life and mindset, I knew that I needed to focus on the good and to think on these things repeatedly. We have the ability to control what we put into our minds and if we allow the enemy to fill us with negative thoughts, then that will determine our actions and outcomes. Once we begin to think on something negative, we have the ability to use our free will to think of the alternative; something positive and to delete anything negative.
I know this is harder to do than to say. I get it and I am feeling the same way but if there were ever a time that we all need to read this verse and to focus our attention on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, any excellence, and anything worthy of praise, this is the time. I challenge you today and I am challenging myself as well to study this verse, commit it to memory, meditate on it throughout the day and when a negative thought or emotion begins to stir up commotion, control the outcome, think on the alternative and delete the negative.
Stay Encouraged and Think God Thoughts!