Sunday, July 15, 2007

Actions follow thoughts follow actions follow thoughts sermon Philippians 4:4-

Actions follow thoughts follow actions follow thoughts sermon Philippians 4:4-9
4 Rejoice* in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.* 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, beloved,* whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about* these things. 9Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
I’ve been thinking about thought lately. Does that make sense? Have you ever realized how your thought life can affect the rest of your life? It can really affect your spiritual life. Let’s think about it for a minute.
Starting in verse 4, “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS”. The Greek word for rejoice is chairo which means “to be full of cheer.” All of you should always be full of cheer. What does ‘all’ mean? All means all and that’s all all means. Who is Paul talking to in these verses? He is talking to each of us. He is giving an example of two women from verse 2 (Euodia and Syntyche). The suggestion here is these two women were fighting. Who knows what they were bickering about, but whatever it was, they were not bringing glory to God. Because of their actions (the bickering), God was being removed from their thoughts.
The main breadwinner in the family can have this happen quickly to him. One of the members of my last church was exactly like that. Before I got there, he worked many long hours to support the family he was ignoring. He moved to another job where he was around people who did not have a relationship with God and his thoughts started to suffer. Then he started at a new job where he could excel. He was a people person. He could talk to anybody. But then in his quest to ensure he supported his family, he started back with the long hours. He lost out on time with his family, lost out on time with his church, and his thoughts and actions were focused on work.
Eratic talk can make us lose our focus for God. The tongue can deceive and be sinful. Proverbs 10:19 says “when worlds are many, sin is not absent.” ON the other hand, Psalm 71 says “may my tongue tell of your righteousness.”
In vs. 5 Paul says to “let your gentleness be evident to all.” He is still talking to the women specifically and generally to the entire house church. Be gentle, slow to anger, quick to think. At Schwan’s we have warehouse guys load the trucks overnight. Yesterday the lead came to me complaining about the way my truck looked when I got in the night before. Out of spite, the guys loading it the next day did a poor job.
We as humans do this every day. We take it all personally. Instead of assuming the best of people, we assume the worst, and on top of that, assume it is against us. I had no clue they wanted me to straighten up my truck each night. The loaders could have asked and the miscommunication could have been avoided. But instead of doing that, they automatically assume I don’t care. Can we be gentle and can we give the benefit of the doubt?? I pray we can start to do that more and more.
“Do not be anxious about anything…” Does being anxious (take thought/worry) actually help any? If I worry about a situation will that make the outcome better than if I do not worry about that same situation? Matthew 6:25-34 “Do not worry…Look at the birds of the air. Are you not much more valuable than they? Your heavenly Father knows you need them. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
So do not worry, but in ALL situations…what does all mean? All means all and that’s all all means. In all situations (not just those that make you anxious) present your requests to God. How do we come to God? With thanksgiving, by prayer and petition. Prayer is the communication between the created (us) and the creator (God). Why do we pray? Because God tells us to in the bible. As pastor Bill Lee tells me, “The point is that we are not so much directing God's activity, but participating in it when we pray according to His will.
John makes that point in 1 John 5:13-15 that if we abide in Him and therefore pray in accordance with His will He will answer our prayers. That is the point Jesus makes in John 14:13&14, asking in Jesus' name implies asking as His representative. So, in these cases we are not moving the hand of God so much as we are aligning with it.”
As we pray, and we pray in the will of God, God acts. With thanksgiving we pray. Psalm 100 says to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. His love endures and his faithfulness continues forever. So, vs 6 could be written as at all times pray and talk to God, and be thankful at all times, that you are able to be in His will, and ask what you want of him. If your will lines up with his and you ask in the name of Jesus, your request will be granted because it is God’s will.
If our thoughts line up with the will of God, then the actions which follow will be good. If our thoughts (which can be prayers in themselves) do not line up with God and His word, our actions will trail off into the rabbit hole after Alice.
Now what do we think about??? Look at vs 7. Whatever is true (not concealing), whatever is right (honest), whatever is pure (innocent, modest, clean), whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…if there be any virtue and praise in the things you want think about, think about these things.
In vs. 9, Paul gets a little conceited (I think). He says that “whatever you have seen me do or whatever you have learned from me, do that same thing. This is how he wraps it up. Do as I do AND do as I say. He is not saying he is perfect, but he is saying he is following Jesus Christ and his actions model that. Since his actions model the second person of God, his thoughts also will model the thoughts of God. As his thoughts are on God, the God of peace is with him (and with us).
Did the egg or the chicken come first? God came first and made everything perfect. Do actions create thoughts or thoughts create actions? Think only things that are good in God’s eyes and your actions will follow.