S. Philippians 4:4-8 (NIV) 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 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.
O. Paul provides great encouragement. He teaches us to always rejoice and to let people see that rejoicing in our lives. Further, we are not to let anxiety overtake us - and we can succeed in that area by giving everything to God in prayer. The positive result will be that we will enjoy God’s peace in our life. He offers a final word about such rejoicing - that is.. we are to think about the good things of life.
A. For me, to overcome anxiety and potentially depression, the key is to rejoice, pray and think about good things. This is a great teaching. What I take away from this is - choices lead and feelings follow. I can choose to be negative and experience all the consequences of that thinking, or I can be posiitive, thinking about good things and rejoice. When the negative thinking starts to come into my mind, I pray and give this over to the Lord - again by rejoicing and thinking of His goodness to me.
P. Thank you Lord Jesus for this great word today. Thank you for teaching and reminding me that choices lead and feelings follow. Holy Spirit fill me and guide me. With your leading I know I can choose to rejoice and think about the good things of life that you have provided me. When negative thoughts come up, I’m giving everyone of them to you in prayer and returning to that posture of rejoicing and being thankful. In Jesus’ name!
