Ep. 39 | Philippians 4: What are you dwelling on?

ABOUT THE EPISODE

Today’s study of Philippians 4 brings us to discover a few parting words from what Paul may have thought was his last letter.

Joy in the midst of suffering

From prison, Paul urges followers of Jesus to rejoice in all circumstances. His example of joy while in chains gives us the perspective to know joy is possible in the midst of the most difficult situations. 

Agree in the Lord 

Paul also writes to two women who worked with him and helped him spread the Gospel. His direction was to “agree in the Lord.” We don’t know what the disagreement was, but it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the ability to find common ground in the goodness of God. Unity in Christ matters!

Pray- Don’t worry

Both prayer and worry require dwelling on something. But, while worry leads us to dwell on anxious thoughts and outcomes, prayer is an intentional dwelling with the Holy Spirit as you take your requests to God. The result of the latter is a peace beyond understanding for your soul.

Paul invites us to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, praiseworthy. In what ways are we tempted to dwell on the opposite of that list?

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WHAT IS NEUE THING?

Neue Thing is a non-profit ministry, founded by Cherie Wagner, that exists to equip women with the Word of God. Cherie’s life-long passion is two-fold: knowing Jesus Christ and making Him known. Author of Found On My Knees, Awake O Sleeper, Rest, Hope, and Psalms for Life, Cherie writes Bible studies for women that will encourage them to know and believe God’s Word, equip them to live it, and empower them to take it and transform this generation for Jesus Christ.

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RESOURCES

Found On My Knees: The Journey from Brokenness to Blessing
Awake O Sleeper: Ephesians
Rest: 30 Days of Exploring God’s Invitation to Rest
Hope: Tethered to an Unwavering God
Psalms for Life

Transcript

0:09

Hey everyone, this is Cherie Wagner and this is Tami Milbrandt and you are listening to the Neue Thing Podcast. Well, hello again, everyone. Welcome back to the Neue Thing Podcast. You know, it's been a minute since Tami and I've actually been sitting in these chairs behind these mics recording. I know the rhythm of you receiving the podcast hasn't changed, but summertime and schedules that come with summer have switched things up for us a bit. So we actually recorded a ton in advance and then we kind of caught up to real time now. So it's been a bit and it feels very exciting to be back with you all sitting in the chair, Bibles open and ready to dive into the book of Philippians with you. So welcome back. We're so glad you're here listening. Welcome back everybody. Cherie, let's start, we're, we're finishing out the book of joy today. We're in Philippians four. And so there's no better way to start this recording than, knowing what has brought you joy. And maybe that's over the summer. Maybe if it's over the past week, maybe it's today, but tell us what has brought you joy. Well, so last night. I officially clicked "publish my new book" button, and it is now official that the Knowing Your Name Bible study is published. And it is just such an exciting time every single time this happens. This is now my sixth book or Bible study that's been published, and it is always such a journey. It's always... So many of all of the things, the ups, the downs, the highs, the lows, the anticipation, the fear, the dread, everything, right? But it was almost 11 o'clock at night last night and I was getting ready to click the button and Jeremy actually took a picture of me like all excited and it's not post worthy for sure. It's for sure not my most flattering photo. I did send it to some of my closest friends, but It is just a very exciting time. I cannot wait for this book to be in your hands. As I was going through it again and again and again doing all these final edits. I actually counted up the names of God that are included in this study and I didn't put in all of them from my personal time of study and, and preparation that went into this book. But the amount of names that are in the study is 189 names, titles, and characteristics of God. And friends, if you even get through like a portion of those. You, your life, your heart, your mind is going to be changed and transformed by spending time in God's word and sitting in his presence and coming to know those characteristics of who he says he is. And so get excited. I'm excited. This book I believe is going to change lives, um, and, and alter, you know, trajectories because it certainly did that for me. So, oh, Cherie, congratulations friend. I feel like everybody that's listening in their car or in their home, uh, are just clapping and so excited and thank you for the work that you put in to, um, creating these studies, building them. I mean, I have a, um, a different view of that from you knowing the hours upon hours of work that you do studying the word and then making it accessible for the rest of us. And so thank you, uh, from all of us. for doing that, and I cannot wait to get my hands on that study. Yay! So, Fran, what brought you joy this week? Yeah, um, easily what happened this morning, which I'm sure I'm not alone in, uh, whether your kiddos started back to school last week or today, um, or maybe that's coming up for you next week, but both of my kids started school today. And just, um, we had this weekend together and we were just prepping for what the school year is going to bring and we had a lot of conversations about the year, about friends, about teachers, um, and that has just really filled my cup. Um, it's brought me so much joy to then, you know, have all those conversations. And then we, um, we spent some time in the word this morning together as they were eating breakfast. And that is a new tradition that I really wanted to start with them this school year. And so I bought this really beautiful like Children's Bible and it's illustrated. And so, um, we read my my intention was just to read one story each morning as they eat breakfast and they loved it so much they wanted to read two and begged me to read a third and I told them they had to wait so then after then Nolan said do we have to wait till tomorrow morning or can we read more after school so That's a great question. So it was, um, you know, this is a time of like, you kind of have a clean slate. I don't know if you feel that way. Sometimes Cherie with a new school year, you can start new rhythms and routines. You kind of get your life back into a little bit of a routine. I'm the kind of person who thrives on routine. So it was both joyful for me in. In that, you know, kind of resetting that routine and then in them because they, they thrive on routine too. And so watching them walk into their classes and kind of look at their friends and their teacher, um, I just know I'm just expectant of what God has ahead for them in the school year. So that's very joyful for me. That's so good and reminds me to wake up a little bit earlier when Redford goes back to school so we can work time in like that because we usually do that in the car, but I kind of like the idea of doing it while we're here so I can be more focused, which is really great. I love that friend. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, so Yeah, we are jumping into Philippians four, which is, um, which actually contains some of the most well known verses in Philippians. And I would venture to say some of the most well known verses in the New Testament. People love portions of Philippians and you'll see why as we get to it, but we're going to talk through this final chapter together and hopefully plot some really practical applications for us to live by as we wrap up this beautiful book on joy. So let's jump in. Thank you. Yeah, let's do that. Okay, so, um, Philippians 4, packed with all kinds of good things from Paul here, and what I always find remarkable about Philippians 4, Cherie, is that what we know about it, um, now is that Paul may have thought that. Yeah. That this was his last letter ever, like he may have thought this was his final letter. So what is happening in Philippians four is so important and it's why it's just packed with so much, uh, it's called practical counsel, but, and it really is that, but it's this. Last kind of push for this is how to live and this is how you live for Christ and how you can find great joy in doing that. And so he starts out some of the words that he uses again in my translation. I really love so chapter four starts out and says, so then my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown. In this manner, stand firm in the Lord, dear friends, my joy and crown. I just love that. I love the amount of joy that flows through his words when in his circumstances are just so undesirable. I mean, be reminded, friends, he's writing this in prison. He thinks this could potentially be his last book, which means that the persecution he's enduring is severe enough to Come to that conclusion. And he, his words are filled with so much joy and love and encouragement. It's really astounding. I mean, you know, I was, I sent something to Tami earlier this morning. Um, and I was. I guess what I would like to say is sometimes scrolling through social media can actually provide some sort of benefit. Sometimes things pop up in my feed that I don't even follow and I'm like, where did that come from? But this one was actually like a welcomed, like surprise. Somebody posted something about Philippians and it caught my attention because I knew we were going to be in Philippians four this morning. And it says, Philippians is seen as the happiest book of the Bible, yet it was written in prison. Your circumstance does not determine your joy. And this is so clearly seen in Paul. I mean, he goes on, I mean, we'll, we'll come back to some of the verses that we might skip here, but he goes on to implore them to rejoice in the Lord always in verse four. Always. And he goes, I will say it again. Rejoice. Just in case you didn't hear it the first time, I'm going to implore you twice at all times, rejoice in the Lord. No matter what you're going through. And he goes on to say, don't worry about anything. Like present everything to the Lord in prayer. And so. It's just such a reminder to me today, every single day comes with unexpected things and undesirable things. And sometimes we find ourselves in extended seasons of undesirable. And yet what an important reminder to all of our hearts today that our circumstances need not determine our joy. And it certainly didn't for Paul. And he set a really incredible example for us to look to and to follow. Yeah, that's right. So in, in verse two, um, what he, this is really interesting that he includes this, right? So he says, I urge Iodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Okay. Primarily, most of us are women, right? That listen to this podcast, Cherie, that follow your teaching. Um, you lead a women's ministry. These are two women. Who have walked with Paul and have helped him to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. And they've been faithful in doing that. Um, so he, he calls them by name and he says, I urge them to agree in the Lord. What we, what we know is there was a disagreement. What we don't know is what it was about. And it doesn't really matter. What it was about, which I think is why that wasn't included here, because Paul's urging is to agree in the Lord and, you know, I think we can all say amen to this. Um, sometimes, you know, women are created differently and we have sometimes are all the time yet. We have unique opinions, a lot of the opinions on which we stand, and sometimes those opinions, we put a flag in and we are unmoving in those opinions. Sometimes for good reason, and sometimes honestly, just because pride gets in the way and we like to be right. And what he's saying here is, and so that can cause friendships to crack. That can cause distance. It can cause a lot of things that don't feel like Jesus, um, in our posture, in our language, in the way that we relate to other women. And part of that makes it really hard to relate to other women. Um, sometimes that can just be a really challenging relationship. I have said it, I've heard it said, being friends with men is just sometimes easier, right? Um, it really can be, and I think a lot of this is why. So, as women that are reading the scriptures and reading the word here, the urging is to agree in the Lord. And friends, I want that to be an encouragement to us today. You don't have to agree with other women on everything, but what we can agree on is in the Lord. Right? We can find common ground in the goodness of God, in his provision, in his protection, in his sacrifice for us. We can find common ground in that all day. So he's urging them to unity because they are children of the Lord. Philippians 4. I do too. And I love how it goes on to say in verse three that they have contended for the gospel at his side. I mean, they were involved together in the best work that they could commit themselves to. And even in those circles friends, it's so, um, possible for fallout and like the cracks like Tami was talking about and division to still occur. And so it's keeping your eyes on Christ and remaining in a place of humility that allows us to agree in the Lord together and to agree on the main things and to hold loosely the secondary and, you know, minor things that we don't have to agree on. And so. I just think moving directly from that to rejoice in the Lord always, it could have been just a continuous thought of Paul. He was seeing disagreement and how it was causing joy to be depleted, right? And so he moves into this refrain, this command for them to rejoice in the Lord always. And, and again, we find ourselves in a time in history where. Being a Christian was not applauded. It was persecuted and they were enduring hardship for the sake of the name of Christ. And he is saying, don't worry about anything. I mean, in 2023 where I am not enduring spiritual persecution, I worry about all the things all the time. And he's saying, don't worry about anything rather. Pray about everything and here's the caveat there. So it's it's don't worry about everything So here's what's interesting both require a dwelling on When we are worrying about something our mind and our thoughts are consumed by it when we are praying about something Actively engaging in the discipline of prayer our mind our thoughts Thoughts are hearts are consumed by it, but in an appropriate way. And it is such a fine line. I think the enemy tricks us into believing that we've prayed about it because we've been consumed by it because we've been dwelling on it. Yet prayer is very intentional friends. We don't pray and not realize it, right? We engage in and enter into prayer consciously and knowingly. And there's such this fine line. He's saying, don't dwell on it and worry, dwell on it in prayer, bring it to the Lord in prayer. And here's the result of that. Peace, he says, if you do that, verse seven, the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. So it's like you have peace in a situation that makes no sense in which to have peace. And it goes on to say, you not will, not only will you have peace, but it's going to guard your heart and your mind against all of the things that are tearing you down and causing you to be worried. I mean, what a beautiful, like, follow up to this conversation where he's calling these two women to unity. What are they worried about? Well, what they're disagreeing about. What are we worried about? Who knows what? All kinds of things. Pray about it more than you worry about it. Pray about it more than you dwell on it, and the peace of God is the promise that's extended to you. That's right. And we've probably all experienced that piece, right? Because it's, it transcends all understanding. And when you've had it before, you can't explain it. I mean, think about as you're driving or as you're listening, um, maybe you're doing the dishes. Um. God bless you, the dishes. Keep doing that. That's awesome. But think about a moment where you have had the peace of the Lord and somebody has said to you like, How do you just have so much peace in this situation? And you go, I don't know. I just do. I just know God is good, and I know He's gonna see me through it, and I just feel at peace. But probably you've said like, I don't know. I just do. That's what He's talking about here. That's what Paul is saying exists. And we've, like, it brings a smile to my face because once you've experienced it and you know it's real, You know how powerful it is. And so many of you probably have this verse, um, committed to memory, but if you don't, Philippians four, four through seven is one, please commit it to memory. Please take the next couple of weeks and. Do it in the car, do it in the shower, do it while you're doing dishes, break it up if you need to. This is one that we all need to have on the tip of our tongues at all times. Philippians Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice. Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don't worry about anything but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So good. I love that you brought up scripture memory because obviously it is such a heartbeat of this ministry and what we do every single year and several times throughout Philippians we have mentioned and encouraged you all to memorize that portion in Philippians two, um, where it just lays out the gospel so clearly. And I have a really amazing story to share actually. So my mom and my sister, um, they both really struggle with scripture memorization and they would be the first to tell you this. So I'm not like blowing their cover, but, um, it for very good reason to, they both have endured a lot of like health issues and different things that caused that discipline to be very, very difficult for them. And so they joined a Bible study this summer at their church with a bunch of other women. And one of the challenges that they were given through the Bible study and the Bible study leader was to actually memorize that same portion in Philippians. And they both were like, yeah, I don't know, like I can't really do it. And, but they offered like some prizes or whatever for whoever could do it. My sister was like, that's all I need. The competitive streak in her just like jumped out and she's like, I'm going to do it. And in, I think a day. She filled her time with listening to it, reading it, writing it out, having the note cards in front of her. And she sent me and my mom a video of her reciting the entire passage. And I had goosebumps all over my body because we've talked about this, me and her for years about just the struggle of memorization and how she wants to, but she just can't. And she did it. And now my mom is working on it. And I'm just. Like the joy that that brought my heart to know that, like the things that we write off and say, I can't do that. I can't do that. I can't do that. Like. Actually, a lot of it we can, and especially when it comes to something so important, like memorizing God's inspired word, I mean, the spirit equips us to do that. And so yes, continue working on Philippians to work on this passage in Philippians four, because these are words that we want on the tips of our tongue and on the forefront of our mind. When we brush up against the hardships of life, we want to remember these hope filled words. That's right. I'm going to share with you guys something that I have started doing over the past year. Maybe it's helpful to you, um, and you won't be able to see my screen, but I'm going to show Cherie. So at the, at the start of every book, as I'm reading through that book, I go back and I write it just at the, just at the front of the book. And I put a little box. that I can check off. Um, and I say memory verses and I put in Philippians 2 5, and I go all the way through the book and all of those I'm outlining the scripture that I'm going to commit to memory. And then I take it one at a time. I do it with my son, but I take it one at a time and then we go through and we, and we start to memorize them as we're really studying and engulfing ourself in a book. And so you could, if it helps you to pull those scriptures out to the front of the book as you're reading through it, like when you read through it and you go, Oh man, that's one that would really help my heart to memorize. Write it in the front of your, in the front of the book and then put a little box next to it. To remind yourself that you want to memorize that one. So yeah, that's something I have started doing that, um, is really helping on my journey to commit to scripture. Yeah. And it's an intentional, practical step any one of us can take. So I love that we say memorize scripture and you're like. I don't know where to start that right there. That's like a simple step we all can do. I love that. Um, this next portion of Philippians four jumps into my favorite section and I'm just going to like pause here for a bit and just really go through. It's actually just one verse, verse eight. And it's again, another verse that if you're familiar at all with the Bible, it's probably one that you love and one that you've heard. Maybe when you've memorized in the past, I'm going to read it to you. And then I want to really unpack this and talk about it. Finally, brothers and sisters. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure. Whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any moral excellence, and if there is anything praiseworthy, dwell on these things. Now, I've loved this verse for a real long time, and I've loved looking at it as kind of like the, the spiritual guardrails around my thought life, right? Like this is, these are the things that I should be dwelling on. And yet, I have found that it's really easy to look at this list and think, yeah, I'm doing that. I'm doing that. And not really taking a deeper look at the recesses of my heart and the recesses of my mind and what I'm actually dwelling on and what I'm dwelling on. is coming from what I'm feeding on. And so what I'm putting in my mind, what I'm allowing my eyes to see, what I'm allowing my ears to hear, what I'm allowing my heart to absorb and take in is what I am actually dwelling on. And I don't know if you've ever been like sitting in church and you're And if you're on this like weird train of thought and you don't even realize how you got there and you're like, Whoa, if somebody saw my thoughts right now, like if those bubbles above your head actually existed and you could look around the room, you would be mortified that that is what was showing above your head. And you're like, how did they get there? And you go back, right? You're like, Oh, Where are we at in the sermon? Where are we at in the scripture? Okay, I'm back. But how quickly our minds drift to things that do not fall within this list. And so what I thought that we could just do really quick is have a conversation about how do we know if we're actually dwelling on these things? Or if we're not, and where my mind went was to actually look up the opposites of these words, the antonyms of these words to really kind of be like a litmus test for all of us and for all of our hearts. Friends, if we don't ask ourselves the hard questions and really get honest before the Lord, we are doing such a disservice to our journey with Christ, right? Like let's. Let's dig into our hearts here in the dark places of our hearts and be willing to confess the parts that are not pleasing and honoring to the Lord. So it starts out with this, whatever is true. Well, the opposite of true is false. It's dishonest. So anything that we are. Watching, listening to, speaking, internalizing, absorbing into our hearts that falls under the categories of false or dishonest, causes us to dwell on things that are not the things that the Lord would want us to dwell on, right? And I mean, let's, I guess, Tami, let's get practical here. Like what would be some examples of some of these things as we go through it? Like things that are false, things that are dishonest, things that are not true. Yeah. Um, I think a way, maybe the first thing that comes to mind is this is, you guys, I don't know if I've admitted this on the podcast before, but here we go. Um, I used to love, I'm an avid reader. You may know that you may not know that. Um, I used to love Nicholas Sparks, like the romance, you know, um, I had to stop reading Nicholas Sparks books. And I, this is not like a, I don't like Nicholas Sparks. So if he ever listens to this podcast, just know that's not what it's about. What it is about is what it was painting in my mind was something that was false. It was a false reality of the perfect marriage, the perfect relationship, um, and the perfect story and happy ending. And what I found as I was feasting on that was I was comparing that to my imperfect marriage, my imperfect relationship, my story that doesn't always look happy and, um, It was creating this discontentment and, um, I, I had to name it and claim it. And then I had to remove myself from it. And so something that I really enjoyed feasting on, I haven't read a Nicholas Sparks book in a lot of years, and I think it has really done wonders for my marriage because I'm not asking my husband to live up to these false realities of these characters. For sure. Yeah. And I think like where we get lazy in this process is, okay, we might realize that we're dwelling on something that we shouldn't, but then we fail to ask, what does that produce in us? And what it produced in you is this discontentment. What it produces in all of us, I think, is that like we feast on this false reality and this dream and these unrealistic expectations, and then we look around us and we're just constantly disappointed and discontent in what the Lord has given us. And you know, you hear the expression, the grass is always greener on the other side. And I like strongly come against that constantly. And I say that grass is green where you water it. Like be faithful where God's planted you in your marriage, in your home, in your job, in your ministry, whatever it is, water the grass there and it will be green. And so I love that. I love that example. I too, um, have fallen prey to that as well. Filling my mind with romantic notions of. Unrealistic expectations, whether it be books or movies, and it does not produce anything worth having in my heart and in my mind. And so, it says, dwell on what is true, not on what is false. The second one Can I just caution us, too, on that for Like Netflix. I'm going to pick on for a second. Um, but these shows that also do the same thing that cat, you know, like these romance shows, or I'm not talking about like rom coms, you know, think things like that, but there are, I can't think of the one that I didn't watch. It was like really, um, really big a year or so ago. Uh, it's really helpful that I can't remember it anyway. Um, but it was on Netflix and it was, I think a story about, um, A girl, and she falls in love, and it's like this whole thing, and, um, It had some things that probably were, that were not really, um, Biblically pleasing, uh, in the storyline. Well, I know that they weren't. But also, the thing that I thought was most, um, That made me the most nervous as I heard people Watching it and listening to it was, Are we able to separate that fantasy world That false reality of the way people look, the way their bodies look, the, um, the intimacy that they have with their spouse, um, because, you know, it's like, well, is there a reality that they have jobs and children and, you know, all of these things, right? And what is, what are we, again, what are we building up? in our minds, not only by what we read, by what we watch, and then looking at our own lives and saying, well, I don't look like that. And I don't have, you know, two hours to do hair and makeup every day. And then, you know, and feel presentable. And, and again, Comparison will absolutely destroy us because it is not the fruit and seed of our hearts because it is not what Jesus created in us. And so the enemy will use it to destroy. So what we might think as something that is very innocent, a way to check out a way to separate from our day. And I do this friends. I do this all the time. It's a way to just shut my brain off because I'm exhausted. Sure. The enemy is using what feels very innocent to attack. And when we're tired, we're most vulnerable, friends. So remember that. We think I need to just tune out and tune in to this. And that's when we're most vulnerable to the enemy's attacks because our guard is down. We're exhausted. That's the worst time to binge some of this stuff, right? And so it goes on to say whatever is honorable. So this next word that we're going to look at kind of the opposites of honorables. Antonyms are corrupt, deceptive, and interestingly enough the word dishonest came up in a lot of the opposites of these words. And so there's this like deceptive nature in which the enemy is constantly working to get himself into our minds, which makes sense. He's the father of lies. He opens his mouth and he only speaks lies. And even if it's a twisted form of the truth, that's still a lie. So again, you have The world painting things in this light that looks good and looks okay and innocent and fine, and it's twisted just enough. Twisted just at all is still deceptive, right? It can be like one degree off of the truth and it's still deceptive and it's still dishonest. And so this idea of corrupt and deceptive and dishonest, like in what ways are we exposing ourselves, our minds, our So I'm going to kind of go back to entertainment and viewing options and all of that because we just have a plethora of options in front of us on any. And we have been so desensitized by the over sexualization of culture that we now consume more of what we would have called straight up pornography even 10 years ago. We consume more of that now and think it's not so bad. And every aspect of that consumption is destroying our hearts and our minds. Um, and it makes me think that the scenes that we will watch in movies, or even read about in books that are highly intimate. Would we just as comfortably stand in a room with those two people, watching those two people engage in the act as we do sitting in our living room or in our bedroom and watching it on a screen? Because friends, it's no different. Those people on the screen are human beings. And they are engaging in this thing that is intended to be private, and scripture says keep the marriage bed holy, like, and when we consume that kind of material, we are going against that command in scripture, right? Our. Our, um, convictions in this area need to be raised up to a much higher bar. But again, culture has been intentional and systematic in, um, desensitizing us so much that what we consume now today and call, hmm, it's basically okay, truly would have been pornography 10, 12, 15 years ago, right? If it's dishonorable, we have no business. Participating in it. Yeah, that's right. And let's just go there because, um, Colleen Hoover is, um, is one who she's just, well, I don't know, maybe she just hit the scene. Maybe, maybe I'm just late. Um, which is usually the case. But Colleen Hoover has like 10 best bestsellers out there right now. And I have read, um, two of them. And, um, when you read them, everybody who has read her is going to feel like you kind of I hate to admit that you've read her stuff because the smut factor is so high. I mean, it's so high. And it does. It's cringeworthy. It's like when you're reading it, you're like, you feel this thing in your gut that exactly what you just described, Cherie, that you're like, I don't think I should be reading this. I don't really think that I should be you feel like you're a fly on the wall of a wall that you don't want to be in but it's part of the book and you're just like getting through it but we're drawn to darkness so we're drawn to it right that is just the failure of our flesh we're drawn to it it's why there are so many people who struggle with the abuse of pornography The abuse of reading novels like this, and then you go, but the, but the rest of the book was good. Friends, I said this. These words came out of my mouth because Colleen Hoover is a talented writer. She is. She's a talented writer. However, it is not, it does not... Edify? Edify. Thank you. It does not edify us to read her, to platform her work when it is not what scripture tells us to do. When it is going against, like you said, the antonyms of all of these things, whatever is true. Just whatever is pure, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, you guys, I have to, if I'm thinking about a Colleen Hoover book, I'm literally crossing out all of those things. Yeah. And it doesn't matter that she's a great author. She is. But friends, there are so many great authors out there. And so you can read a great story. If you're a fiction reader, like I am, some people don't like fiction at all. But if you love fiction. There are so many good authors out there that that isn't part of the story. And I just want us to encourage one another about that, because what happens is these authors get platforms and then everybody's reading it. Everybody's doing it. So the world tells us, well, you should just do it too. That's how I got captured in. And I was like, I got it. I gotta see what Colleen Hoover's all about. And then it was like, one of our mutual friends said to me in a message, she said, I felt like as I was reading it, I needed to look at my husband and say, like, I'm reading smut. I just need you to know, like, that's what I'm reading. And friends, if that gut feelings comes up and it, like, it just doesn't feel right to you, it's not, yeah, we trust that. Yeah. We've got to ask ourselves what we are consuming. What is it doing to our desires? What is it doing to our contentment? What is it doing to our peace? What is it doing to our joy? We have to ask ourselves that. And so Paul goes on with this list, whatever is just, well, opposite of just is unjust, inequitable. Wrong. That was one word that jumped out to me, wrong. Like in any way in our conversations, in our thoughts, in our convictions, in our actions, if we are participating in things that go against the justice that God requires of us, right? Mal, what is it? Uh, Micah 6, 8. And what do you require of us, oh Lord, but to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. If it's opposed to God's justice, friends, we have no business. being a part of it in conversation, in thought, in deed, anything. And so, um, let's go on. Uh, this is taking up more time than I thought, but I think it's really, I think it's really good. Uh, whatever is lovely. So here are some of the antonyms here. Unpleasant, repulsive. This makes me think of the things that we determine fall under the umbrella of joking around, sarcasm, um, humor, things that we'll laugh at that actually are not funny, um, and when we, when our lives brush up against the realities of some of the horrors in this world, it makes, I think it just raises the bar in our minds of like, oh. This is actually a reality for somebody else and it's hell for them and I'm laughing about it as a joke. Right? Like it does make me think about when I went to Thailand on a short term trip to work with an anti trafficking organization and the jokes and the humor that, that Fill up so much of culture that are sexual in nature And then you think about these young girls that are actually enduring this as their life like it's not funny It's not funny, and it shouldn't be in our speech and our vocabulary We've got we got two more here Whatever is commendable. I thought this was interesting this also included the word wrong So the opposite of commendable is just, it's wrong, but it also used the word unworthy and Paul in his writing, the epistles, he talks a lot about, um, you know, living our lives in a way that's worthy of the calling to which we have been called. I know he talks about it in Ephesians. He talks about it. I believe in Philippians as well, this idea of worthy, and it's not worthy in what we do and in our own striving, but Christ's blood covers us and has made us. here. And we walk worthy of that calling in Christ. And so if we are engaging in anything that is considered unworthy friends, it's like it's tainting our testimony and our witness to this world. Um, and then lastly, he ends this sentence, this verse with, if there's any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy, kind of tied all this up into the word moral and the opposite of it is evil, sinful, and unethical friends. This is where the rubber meets the road. Anything that God calls sin, we agree with him on. Period. If we come to a portion of God's Word and we're like, Hmm, I don't know if I agree with that. Here's the most loving way I can present this to you. You are wrong and God is right. Okay? When we come to a place where like, I think I disagree with God. Okay? You are wrong. He is right. And what God calls sin. We, we've got to agree with him on that is what confession means. It's saying, I agree with you, God, on the matter of my sin. And then repentance is turning from it. And I think we just need to have a reckoning today in this verse. Yeah, that's right. Oh, that's good. Because we've been studying first John and first John in, in, In John, he talks about, I mean, he really goes into this idea of what is sin and that those who are filled with sin, those who walk with sinful hearts are not of the Lord. They are not children of the Lord if they choose sin. They're actually a child of the devil. And so I love that you called that as straight as you did because that's exactly right. That's exactly right. Yeah, that was helpful Cherie. Thank you for walking us through that. Yeah Yeah, it took up most of our time, but I think it was important to kind of go through all that So yeah, it was because we oftentimes we take scripture. We just read through it quickly, right? But when you're really studying it and you're looking at what those Antonyms are and you're saying how much of this is true in my own life in my own heart It feels like, you know, um, really taking a deep look at ourselves and understanding it even better. So, I, I think, um, The next part, again, we're kind of hitting on the high parts of Philippians 4 here, you guys, and so just to kind of wrap up some of our time, um, maybe the most well known verse in the book of Philippians is Philippians 4. 13, and it says, I am able to do all things through. Christ who strengthens me, you'll see this on every athlete on every bracelet on every right. And it's a great like I can score the touchdown because Christ strengthens me. And listen, I never am sad to see that with with athletes with big platforms, because it's true because it's a good word. Christ gives us the strength that we have with him. We are nothing without him. We are nothing. Yeah. Right. With him, we can do anything. So I, I like it. Here is, um, here's what we talk about with a context issue with scripture that I know that a lot of us have a holy discontent about, but it's cherry picking scripture without understanding the context. And so that it's a wonderful scripture to memorize. But what I want us, what, what I want to Really look at today is the verse right before that where Paul says it. Let's let's kick it off in verse 12 He says I know how to make do with little and I know how to make do with a lot in any and all Circumstances I have learned the secret of being content whether well fed or hungry whether in abundance or need I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. This is a verse, friends, not about go get him. You can do anything. You've got this. You've got the winning touchdown. This is a verse, friends, that If I have much, or if I have little. If I am in a season of abundance, or a season of scarcity. If I am on the mountaintop, or if I find myself in the valley. If I have much to be joyful for, or if I have much grief that is following me. Yeah. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me because I know that a life with Christ is a life of contentment and I can be content in my walk every day because I have Jesus Christ. That's right. That's right. And remembering that God's not going to strengthen us to do something that's opposed to his will for us either. And so as we look at this scripture and want to cling to it as a promise, let's be aware of the ways in which we try to build entire. Theological systems out of context with one verse, right? Like God equips us for what he's called us to, and he strengthens us to accomplish his purpose and his will for us. And so remember that whether you are going through a drought season or whether you are on the mountaintops. God equips you to do what he's called you to do. He strengthens you to do that. And I guess one of my final encouragements for us today is, um, remember that, that the strength comes from him and it's not your own strength. So friends stop striving, stop striving for the gifts of God that are given freely. His grace, his peace, his strength, um, Receive them today. This is much of what the joy of Philippians is wrapped up in. Is Paul has received the gifts of God in very undesirable circumstances and the outflowing of that is joy. It's joy. Yeah, so. Verse 14, just to kind of, no, I'm sorry, verse 19, to wrap it up, what you just said, Cherie. And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Friends, I read this quote the other day, and it said, The secret to having it all is knowing that you already do. We have it all. Because we have Jesus. This is not all in terms of material things. It's not all in terms of safety and protection and security. It's, it's all the things that the world makes it in terms of having it all. The secret to having it all is knowing that you already do. Because we have Christ Jesus. That's right. That's right. I have written in my Bible at the very end of Philippians, we always have the choice to rejoice. So choose to rejoice today, friends. Choose to rejoice. We're so glad that you tuned in and listened with us. What a trip this has been through Philippians, and we're not done yet. We've got a special episode coming up next that we're really excited about before we jump into our next prison epistle, but. One quick plug for the Neue Thing Gathering friends. If you have not gotten your tickets yet, let me tell you, they are selling a lot faster than I actually anticipated, but I'm so excited. We're filling up the space. We're filling up the seats and we want you there. So if you're still on the fence about August 14th, grab your tickets today. They're only 10 and it's an incredible night filled with. All of the things that are intended to fill your heart and to fill your soul and to fill your mind with the things that Philippians 4, 8 are talking about, whatever's true, right? And so join us for the Neue Thing Gathering and friends. We'll be back in a couple of weeks with our next episode for you. Thanks everybody.