4:8 My Thoughts

For my quiet time, I have been reading Self Talk, Soul Talk by Jennifer Rothschild each morning. This book has been good for me, seeing as how I tend to be my own worst critic. Today I was reading the part where she talked about deciding to "4:8 her thoughts" in a moment when she was tempted to dwell on a negative situation. She spoke of intentionally turning her thoughts to the good things in that situation instead.

The 4:8 reference is to Philippians 4:8. I liked this and decided that I wanted to share it with you because it goes nicely with the "good things" posts I have written about lately. I want to intentionally 4:8 my thoughts-- seeing the good in bad, seeing the light in dim places, seeing Truth when I am prone to only see lies.

I included some different versions, as they all had an aspect I liked to them!

Philippians 4:8 (Contemporary English Version)
Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8 (New International Version)
Finally, brothers, 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.

Philippians 4:8 (The Message)
Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

How about you? Do you need to 4:8 your thoughts?

PS. My "good thing" for today is the fact that I have managed to post here on my blog regularly-- even multiple times a couple of days! After a couple of weeks of feeling dry where blog posting was concerned, it's nice to be back in the swing of things!