Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

July 20
Saturday


EARWORMS

READ:
Philippians 4:4-9
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If there is any virtue
and if there is anything
praiseworthy__meditate
on these things.
__Philippians 4:8
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They burrow. They bore in. They attach themselves inside your head. Earworms, a term once used exclusively for insects, is now the name for those unrelenting tunes that you can't get out of your head. Songs like, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," the "Barney" song, or my personal nightmare: "It's a Small World After All."
They say the only way to rid yourself of the insidious infestation is to replace it with another tune__your "cleaner" song. New words and a fresh tune can crowd out the old.

Maybe we could use a cleaner song for our thought-life as well. When lustful or vengeful thoughts creep into our minds, reading and meditation on God's Word can help to clean up our thinking.

Scripture tells us to love the Lord "with all [our] heart, with all [our] soul, and with all [our] mind" (Matt. 22:37) and not to "be conformed to this world" but to "be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind" (Rom. 12:2). It instructs us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Phil. 4:8).

When our minds wander to evil, the best "cleaner" is to allow the wisdom of the Bible to permeate our thoughts and hearts (2 Tim. 3:16). __Cindy Hess Kasper

````````````Dear Lord, our desire is to spend time in Your Word.```````````````
````````````We know that meditating on Your Word fills our minds`````````````
````````````````with thoughts of You and helps to keep our```````````````````
`````````````thinking from wandering to evil. Help us to do so.```````````````
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Character is the sum total of all our thoughts,
words, and deeds.

****************************Today's Bible Reading __ Philippians 4:4-9*****************************

4 Rejoice in the Lord
always,. Again I will say,
rejoice! 5 Let your
gentleness be known to all
men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer
and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known to
God; 7 and the peace of
God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard
your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren,
whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good
report, if there is any virtue
and if there is anything
praiseworthy__meditate on
these things. 9 The things
which you learned and
received and heard and saw
in me, these do, and the God
of peace will be with you.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The virtuous life is to be the believer's focus (v.8). What is "true"
refers to basing one's life on reality according to God's Word.
"Noble" means honest or worthy of respect. "Just" corresponds to
a moral sense of what is fair. What is "pure" indicates a character
that has not been mixed with debasing qualities. "Lovely" means
expressing love toward others in relationships. Finally, "good report"
carries with it the idea of a positive reputation, which indicates
reliable Christian character.

[Dora]

Thank you Cimi! I could use this reminder daily.