Wednesday 6th May - Philip
Some of you will know me well enough to know that I am a bit of a fan of the writing of Max Lucado. Not that I am an avid reader but between Max and Ken Follett that makes up about 90% of my reading.
I like Max Lucado because he challenges me without being overly theological, or overly ‘preachy’, his conversational style makes him easy to read, I don’t have to concentrate too hard. For the past couple of years I have subscribed to Max’s week-day devotional email, and in these recent weeks his email has been based on his book ‘Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World’. As this was one of his books that I had not read, I decided to get it on my Kindle, so this week I started to read the book.
In these troubled times, it seemed an appropriate title. Being anxious is probably a very common emotion at this time. How can I find calm in this chaotic world?
Max bases this book on Philippians 4 verses 4-8 and suggests that this passage has a 4 point plan (CALM) that leads to the promise in verse 7: “the peace of God, which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds”
I like Max Lucado because he challenges me without being overly theological, or overly ‘preachy’, his conversational style makes him easy to read, I don’t have to concentrate too hard. For the past couple of years I have subscribed to Max’s week-day devotional email, and in these recent weeks his email has been based on his book ‘Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World’. As this was one of his books that I had not read, I decided to get it on my Kindle, so this week I started to read the book.
In these troubled times, it seemed an appropriate title. Being anxious is probably a very common emotion at this time. How can I find calm in this chaotic world?
Max bases this book on Philippians 4 verses 4-8 and suggests that this passage has a 4 point plan (CALM) that leads to the promise in verse 7: “the peace of God, which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds”
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In another of Max’s books he says:
“God never promises to remove us from our struggles. He does promise however to change the way we look at them.”
We may not have the power to change the chaos around us, but we do have the power (through God’s help) to change the way we look at it.
Our attitude, our perspective and our outlook on life can affect our ability to cope with the uncertainty and the chaos that we can find ourselves in. Making an intentional decision to think on what is good in this world, will inevitably have an effect on our overall outlook. What does the old song say? "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative".
The Message version pf Philippians 4:8 puts it quite bluntly:
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.
I have been reminded of this as I look at how spring has sprung, trees have bud and fresh green leaves appeared, blossom has come and some fruit in my garden has started to set, my strawberries are in flower, at the allotment my seeds have germinated, my potatoes are breaking through the ground and we saw our first goslings and ducklings as we walked along the Embankment this week. Nature is irrepressible, it perseveres no matter what we throw at it. God is good, he is faithful and he is in control. I may not understand it, but I KNOW IT TO BE TRUE therefore...........
“God never promises to remove us from our struggles. He does promise however to change the way we look at them.”
We may not have the power to change the chaos around us, but we do have the power (through God’s help) to change the way we look at it.
Our attitude, our perspective and our outlook on life can affect our ability to cope with the uncertainty and the chaos that we can find ourselves in. Making an intentional decision to think on what is good in this world, will inevitably have an effect on our overall outlook. What does the old song say? "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative".
The Message version pf Philippians 4:8 puts it quite bluntly:
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.
I have been reminded of this as I look at how spring has sprung, trees have bud and fresh green leaves appeared, blossom has come and some fruit in my garden has started to set, my strawberries are in flower, at the allotment my seeds have germinated, my potatoes are breaking through the ground and we saw our first goslings and ducklings as we walked along the Embankment this week. Nature is irrepressible, it perseveres no matter what we throw at it. God is good, he is faithful and he is in control. I may not understand it, but I KNOW IT TO BE TRUE therefore...........
If I consider these things: ..............................................Then:
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