Smile at Life

Smile at Life

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, dwell on these things.”

 

As I woke up this morning my body felt as if it had been in the boxing ring.  I ached all over. My feet seemed as if they were in a permanent bend in the shape of my hills I hand on yesterday from 7 in the morning until 9 in the evening. I laid in my bed stretching, rolling my feet in the air and trying to muster up the desire to get out of bed.  Then I looked up at the light flickering as the fan spun around and around and it suddenly got my attention on something other than my self and all my aches and pains.  I became still and looked at the light as if I was seeing the light of the Lord shining on me.  I began to talk to the Father and smile, because as I talked to Him He reminded me of how wonderful LIFE really is.  Philippians 4:8 came to my mind and I was compelled to praise the Lord

 

Dwell on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good, excellence, and worth of praise, I began to speak out loud. Think on these things, the Lord tells us, and He will give us peace even in the storms of life.  Have you ever tried it? Well, let me tell you if you haven’t I want to encourage you to try it today.  No matter what you are going through look up and see the promises of God to fill you with peace.  Begin to find something good to think about. You can pick anything in your life, a memory, a person, a special situation, the beauty of creation, or the fact that you have been given Life through Christ.  Now that is really something amazing to think about.

We are all born to be sinful, selfish, and really no good at all.  That old sin flesh of ours likes to really challenge us and fight us as we strive to be a follower of Christ.  It is a real problem we all have to deal with; the flesh at battle with the spirit.  But Philippians give us a strategy to overcome the battle.  The Lord promises us that when we think of the things He tells us to dwell on that He will give us peace.  Read the entire 4^th chapter of Philippians and see what He says. We have a tool to guard our hearts and minds from falling into the pit.  The question is, will we use it or just know its there?  I hope we will all choose to use it.

 

Thinking of the good around us, in us and best of all, the good of our Lord, will develop within our spirits a joy that cannot be taken away from us.  Sure there are lots of bad things we have to deal with and we will suffer often in ways that are so very painful, but truly, even in those times of our lives if well will begin to praise the Lord, speak positive words, remember the good things and believe God’s promises, than we will not just be able to look at life in a different light, we will begin to smile at life. 

Isn’t it wonderful to know that our God loves us so much that He has given us such simple ways to overcome the battles we face? Give it a try today.  Begin right now thinking about something that makes you feel happy, something that is truly good and right and pure and honorable.   Before you know it you will be smiling and praising the Lord for the peace He brings you.

 

Father, I pray for each of my beloved brothers and sisters that are reading this devotion today. I pray they will step out in faith and speak and dwell on the things that are good, because all good comes from You and thus they will begin to dwell on You, the very source of their peace and joy. I pray they will smile at life because Life is what You have given to them. In Jesus name Amen.