THINK ON PURPOSE
For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is an virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things--"fix your minds on them. (Phil.4:8 TAB)
More often than not, when I set myself to seek the Lord, I find that there are lot’s of scattered thoughts that suddenly appear like pop ups on a computer screen. Paul had no knowledge of computers, but he certainly described the best way that we can defrag our brains. Truly, there are times when so much starts passing through my brain that nothing really makes sense. When this happens on a computer, it just locks up and quits responding. Sometimes you can just close all the programs and start over. Sometimes you have to restart the computer. And sometimes you have to do a hard shut down. If you understand this, then you are also thinking of further steps that are often necessary.
Well, sometimes I can just shake my head to clear it and other times it seems as though I may as well give up and come back later. I never have this problem when I am throwing up a quick prayer for something specific. I can check in quick, let God know what I want, and move on with ease. It is the quality time that seems to suffer all the interference. I wonder why! Could it be that the devil does not like us spending quality time because he knows it activates the grace of God?
God tells us in Philippians not to worry about anything, pray about everything, let God know exactly what we want, thank Him for it and then go in peace. He guarantees that peace beyond our own understanding will guard our hearts and minds if we will just do this.
I like how the Amplified Bible says, “For the rest.” In other words, here is the key for everything else. God knows that when push comes to shove, as a last resort, most everyone throws up a prayer. It takes some work to convince people not worry about anything and to pray about everything. It also takes an effort to receive the peace that God promises. However, if we will apply the “for the rest” plan, we will see it all working together like a high-speed computer.
All things with God require us to think of them on purpose. Think about it. Would you want someone off the street operating on your heart? No! You want someone who has studied and practiced. Not only that, you would want them focused on your surgery and not distracted by other things while they were cutting on you!
The Amplified Bible describes good report as, kind and winsome and gracious. If we want to see all these things functioning at full capacity in our lives, then we need to think of them on purpose. I know of nothing in this world that can produce a 30, 60, and 100 times return, one hundred percent of the time. Those who promise such things always have a long disclaimer after the promise. God has no fine print and no disclaimers. His promises are yes and amen. Think about that on purpose!