stay positive
Paul didn’t write these following words from a palace of comfort, he wrote them from a prison cell in Rome, chained at the wrist but never chained in his thinking, and that is exactly why we need to hear him today. He said finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:8 NKJV) That isn’t a suggestion, that’s is a command from a man who learned in whatever state he was in to be content, and he’s handing that same secret down to us.
Somebody has been living off the negative report for far too long. You’ve been feeding your spirit a steady diet of what didn’t work, who didn’t call, and what didn’t come through, and you need to know that the enemy isn’t fighting your circumstances nearly as hard as he’s fighting your mind, because whoever controls your thoughts controls your life. Solomon said it plainly in Proverbs 23:7, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Not as a man wishes, not as a man hopes, but as a man thinks. Your thought life is the blueprint the rest of your life is being built from, and if the blueprint is cracked, the building will lean.
That’s why Paul doesn’t just tell us to avoid the negative, he tells us to replace it. Romans 12:2 says be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Renewal isn’t passive, it’s a decision you make every single morning to take those thoughts captive. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us we have the power to cast down every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. You aren’t a helpless victim of your own thinking, you’re a soldier with authority over it.
Staying positive isn’t denial. It isn’t pretending the storm isn’t real. It’s choosing, in the middle of the storm, to fix your eyes on what God said instead of what the storm is saying. Isaiah 26:3 promises that God will keep in perfect peace the mind that is stayed on Him. Stayed means anchored. It means that when everything else is moving, your mind refuses to move off of what you know to be true about God. Colossians 3:2 says set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, because what you set your gaze on will eventually set the direction of your feet.
So here’s the charge for your week. Whatever is true about your future because God said it, think on that. Whatever is noble about the way God sees you, think on that. Whatever is pure about the promise over your life, think on that. Whatever is lovely about the grace that brought you this far, think on that. If there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy in what God is doing in you right now, even if you can’t see the full picture yet, meditate on that until it becomes bigger in your heart than everything trying to convince you otherwise.
Joshua was told in Joshua 1:8 that the book of the law should not depart from his mouth, and he was to meditate on it day and night, so that he could be prosperous and have good success. That’s your model. Meditation isn’t a one time decision, it’s a daily discipline, and it’s the difference between a life that drifts and a life that is anchored.
Stop rehearsing the pain and start rehearsing the promise. You can lay every negative thought down. Lay down the doubt, the fear, the report that says it’s over, because the God we serve is still writing, and He has never once needed your permission to turn a situation around.
