Day 7 – Daily Devotional – January 11, 2025 – God Thoughts

READ 

Phil 4:7-9   And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, 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. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. 

EXAMINE 

Hello, Bethel   Nobody needs to remind us that we’re living in troubling times.  Pandemics, political unrest, and volatile economic uncertainty have a way of causing peace to fly out the door. In this passage, written to former slaves, Paul reminds us that those who are in Christ can experience the very peace of God because we belong to the God of Peace! These verses demonstrate how a biblical mindset is absolutely crucial to experience sanity in an insane world. Here’s the truth: we CAN control what we think! It may take GREAT effort, but again, we…control our thoughts.  Or at least we should!

Don’t buy into the lie of current culture that we’re prisoners of our circumstances.  No! The above passage says we must control our thoughts to possess the peace of God.

APPLY 

Our days are full of incoming messages competing for the attention of our mind and affection of our hearts. In this whirlwind of constant communication, it’s easy to become distracted by the worries of our world. This leads to a drift from the valuable truth of God’s Word. And when we drift from the “truth path,” we’ll ultimately come to a place of discouragement. But when we take hold of the thoughts in our mind, with the help from the Holy Spirit, we’ll live a much contented life. Paul reminds us in this passage that we serve a God who is with us and guards our hearts and minds with His peace. When we surrender our cares to God and meditate on what is “true, pure, lovely, and worthy of praise,” we make room in our hearts and minds to enjoy the peace of God and presence of God! 

PRAY 

Ask God to show you what distractions are taking up space in your mind and heart today. Are there any worries you haven’t fully surrendered to Him? Any lies you need to replace with truth from God’s Word? Pray for sensitivity to the Holy Spirit as He reveals these things to you. Spend time meditating on His Word until it resonates in your heart. Practice this throughout your day and ask Him to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.