Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father call us to His side and show us what is good, and fill us with it. Father, we come to you with our worries and our cares, asking that you would daily take them from us. Pour them out of us and fill us with what you have called good! Fill us with the general good of your creation and design for daily living. Fill us with the specific good of your Will revealed in your Word by your Spirit that we might become more and more like your Son. Father, in the name of Jesus your Son, fill us as you desire, pour us out as you desire, and give us what we need not to endure your active love in us, but to embrace it and rejoice as you fill us to overflowing.
Your Morning Song: "Fill My Cup" by Andrew Ripp
Your Morning Scripture: Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
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In the two verses preceding the ones here above, God, through Paul, commands the Philippians, in all situations, to give their anxieties and worries to Him. We are to empty ourselves of fear and worry. For they are like water in that they fill every nook and cranny of whatever space they are in, like our hearts and minds. We are to pour out our fear and worry to God, trusting that He will take them so much that we thank Him as we ask. And God's peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, protecting us as fear and worry tend to return to prowl about the edges of our thoughts and feelings.
But what will fill our hearts and minds? Fear and worry poured out are replaced by what? In general, whatever, from God's perspective, is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, anything excellent or praiseworthy. These are the things in general that should fill up the empty space of us left behind when we gave our fear and worry to God. And specifically, beyond what is generally approved of by God, we also ought to be filled with the knowledge and practice of good sound Christian teaching. And this teaching should be, as Paul lays out, gained from face-to-face interaction, discipleship, life-shared learning.
But we have a problem. We live in a culture that daily and constantly denies God's command here through Paul. Whether through TV, movies, smartphones, laptops, the internet in general, or any other of the tidal wave of technology that really only amounts to entertainment, the world gives us incredible opportunity to reject God's command through Paul, both specifically and generally.
Do we watch and read and play things that are generally good by God's standards, and worthy of molding our lives to according to God's revealed Will in His word? Not everything has to be overtly churchy and religious, but is what we take into ourselves good by God's standards? The world calls out to us in a million different ways to pour into our hearts and minds things that are not true, not noble, not right, not pure, not lovely, not admirable, not excellent or praiseworthy.
And even sound Christian doctrine, sound Christ-focused teaching, can be done in an unhealthy way. Are we being discipled by someone face-to-face? Are we discipling someone ourselves? Are we getting our teaching from a person we know and who knows us? Or are we primarily getting our teaching from YouTube videos? They can be useful, but they cannot, must not be our primary source of sound teaching.
So what are we filling our hearts and minds with? And how are we filling them? Are we regularly together with other believers, learning and growing and be filled by what God calls good?
If you're anything like me, then this is a daily struggle. But the struggle is the evidence of the Spirit at work in us! Let's actively seek out what God calls good and be filled. Let's intentionally seek out each other to grow together in Christ-likeness. And may we not passively allow the world to fill us how and with whatever it pleases.
May we be a people known as "Filled with God's Good Things On Purpose."
