Guard Duty

Philippians 4:8 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, let your mind dwell on these things.

If you’ve been following Truth in the Morning for a while, you know a while back I was working on carving out a nice office space in which to work at home. I love my little office. I’m surrounded by things I love; little jars and stone boxes with soil from countries of previous mission trips, books and more books, photos of loved ones and more. I have the necessities for writing and working. The ceiling fan keeps these hot Texas summer days more tolerable. A comfy chair in which to relax is waiting for me when I need to step away from the computer. The drapes are aesthetically pleasing to me and the color of the walls even makes me happy. I often come in here at night just to sit and read or soak in the peace I find in my little nook.

Recently, however, I have been putting together the mission training materials, pulling out stored research information, and digging through some of our family records. The business end of running a household, bill paying, etc., all happen in here, too. It didn’t happen overnight but little by little things started to pile up while they waited for ‘X’ (fill in the blank here) to happen and now I find my office more of an ‘office’ than a peaceful retreat in which to be creative and exercise the gifts God gave me. I want my peace back, I need my peace back.

The Scripture above, Philippians 4:8 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, let your mind dwell on these things, tells us in no uncertain terms where we need to focus and fill our minds. If we clutter our thoughts with fear, anger, resentment, poor pitiful me or somebody done me wrong songs, we do not have room for all the whatever’s Paul listed. Just like my office morphed from peaceful and creativity inspiring retreat to, well…an office, our thoughts can gradually be taken over by the negatives in this world and we no longer see the beauty and peace available to us when we focus our minds on godly issues.

How much more we can be of service to the Lord when we channel our thinking on all that is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellence, and worthy of praise!

My mind is made up and I am committed to taking my place of peace and joy back today! We need to take back our minds and thoughts in the same way. We need to take inventory of what we have in them now, edit out all that is either unnecessary or unproductive, and set boundaries on what we allow to enter in. We need a security check at the hypothetical doorway to our minds and to remain diligent in policing all that enters so the peace of God is not shoved in a corner but fills every inch of space! And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.