Paul, with some of his final words offered words of encouragement to all of us;
"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice." Philippians 4:4.
Joy is contagious. But joy is also a choice. It is not necessarily a product of anything happening physically around you. Joy comes from the within, from an assurance that the one who loves us is with us and he has promised to never leave us orphaned. That is why we are joyful. Our joy gives us strength to face whatever comes tomorrow because we know it will be alright because God is with us. That is why the first thing the devil goes for when he is looking to bring you down is your joy.
Paul also advised; "don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Philippians 4:6. NLT.
The last thing most people do is pray. Prayer is usually the last resort when every other thing has failed. We would rather first try; worry, anxiety, complaining and more about the situation than pray.
When we pray, we get an insight into God's perspective about what we are going through. Whenever I practise this scripture, I find I just tend to see the good or positives in situations others would give up on. So instead of worrying, pray about everything.
Let's take one more, the apostle says; "and now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippuans 4:8 NLT.
This one is huge. We are the sum product of the most dominant thoughts in us. Paul is telling us here that the responsibility is ours. We fix our thoughts.
It is also our responsibility to monitor what our thoughts are about. Use the simple test in this verse to choose your thoughts; it should be; true, honourable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise. If it does not pass any of the above test, push them aside.
