Week 5 Day 3: Dwell On These Things

"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.” Philippians 4:8 NASB

When we dwell, we reside. It's a place we live in, are settled in and we feel at home there. It's a place that we stay for a long time without moving, becoming a permanent resident.

Our minds can dwell on something by thinking or speaking about it constantly. The things we dwell on become the source that determines if we are happy or not. We can linger on our thoughts, mulling them over and over. We become preoccupied by them and even obsessed by them. To dwell draws our eyes, our focus and our attention to something. We take a long hard look at a particular object, place, person or circumstance.

The implications of dwelling on things for a Christ follower are clear. Since the fall, we have been wired to look, linger and dwell on the negative things in life more closely than the positive. We need to break the cycle of our natural negativity by looking for the good intentionally.

We must choose to find and dwell on the good.

The very best things for us to dwell on are God and His characteristics. When we learn the truth of Who He is, not who the world says He is, we are set free of the habit of dwelling on thoughts that bring pain, anxiety and dissatisfaction. It frees us up to look for the good, recognize it and seize opportunities that come our way as part of the purpose, will and grace of God.

When we dwell on the negative we become blinded by pain. That means pain prevents us from seeing anything else but our painful thoughts and circumstances. This is why we must be so very careful about what we dwell on. The sun is obviously in the sky, but we don’t have to look at it to know it. Looking at the sun even briefly leaves us with a “sunspot” in our vision. We must avert our eyes and seek healing for them, or they will be permanently damaged. Dwelling on pain leaves us just as blinded and just as damaged, we must avert our thoughts and seek healing for them.

No matter what our circumstances are, we ALWAYS have the freedom to choose our thoughts. This is what enabled Paul to rejoice in his beatings and imprisonment. It is what enabled Corrie ten Boom to not only survive horrors of the holocaust but thrive in the midst of them. Her jailers could abuse her physically, but she was in control of her thoughts.

She dwelled with her Lord, knowing He had control of her spirit and her soul. She didn’t dwell on her fears, but kept her attention directed at her Savior. She remained steadfast and found peace by abiding with her eternal God and not her temporary circumstances. Her sister’s dying words to her in that horrifying place were, "There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still.”

Are you able to see good, even in the midst of bad situations? What steps can you take to be the one who controls where your thoughts go?

Meditate on “dwell on these things" today.