What kind of filter are you using?

I keep being drawn back to this idea of filtering. In fact, last night Jason and I even had to go buy a new water filter for our fridge (ours was a casualty of last week's fridge fiasco). Many times, God uses repetition to get our attention. So, when I kept hearing the same phrase used over and over again, I knew that I needed to apply it to my life out of obedience.

When I was reading Made to Crave this excerpt from chapter 14 really stuck out to me:

"What about you? Do you have something from your past that causes emotional emptiness? As a first step toward healing, can you think of one thing good from this past situation? Or maybe something good that has happened despite the pain from the event? If not, ask God to give you some good place to park your mind with this draining issue from your past. Then, try walking through the following exercise based on Philippians 4:8.
Whatever is true...
Whatever is noble...
Whatever is right...
Whatever is pure...
Whatever is lovely...
Whatever is admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy...
Piece by piece, God has created a mosaic in my heart—one of restoration, healing, and compassion. I am the person I am today in part because of the hurt of being left behind by my dad. I wouldn’t have chosen that piece of my mosaic, but how good of God to place right beside the hurt a clear piece of glass shaped like those warm icicles from so long ago. A memory I can think on. A memory that fills me better than any piece of chocolate cake or nacho chips. A memory that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. And filling."

Source

So, I finished that book and about a week later I attended the women's workshop at church. When talking about renewing our minds, this is what I learned:

Step 1: Remember the ABC...
Actuating Event - things that we cannot control; triggers that cause tough emotions to flair up; "pop ups" like from AOL in 1999
Beliefs/Thoughts about the Event - we recognize more of the emotions rather than the actual belief
Consequences of Those Beliefs - emotions; physical actions; what stems from these thoughts?
Disputing False Beliefs with the truth - know the truth; know God's Word; identify the truth based on God's Word
Effect New Consequences - emotions that are manifested out of the knowledge of the truth from God's Word

Step 2: Identify...
What are my emotions? Are they true?

Step 3: Filter...
Philippians 4:8 test - Is it [my emotions or my feelings that are troubling] true? Is it honorable? Is it just? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Is it commendable? Is it excellent? Is it worthy of praise?

Step 4: Replace...
If the answer to the above question is "no", then take off the "old self" and put on "new self" (Colossians 3:9-10). Be ready with weapons to replace your "old self" (aka God's Word).

Step 5: Accountability...
We cannot renew our minds by yourself. Surround yourself with people who are encouragers, not discouragers. Surround yourself with people who will speak truth into your life.

As I mentioned in my Mad Men post from yesterday, about 24 hours after this workshop, I was sitting on my couch watching TV Sunday night when I started to feel sick to my stomach. I thought about the "Philippians 4:8 Filter". I knew the verse, but I'd never heard it called that before. Then, in two weeks, it was being brought to my attention over and over. So, I took the hint and went through it.

Is this show true? No. It's not real life. Real life probably never has to will look like this.
Is this show honorable? No. As how that allows infidelity to be okay is not honorable to my husband. It's polluting my mind.
Is it just? No. He never gets caught. Or his wife is just okay with it. That's stupid. Both of them are stupid.
Is it pure? No way. This isn't hard. Adultery in any form is not pure - EVER.
Is it lovely? No, it's making me sick just watching it.
Is it commendable? No. No explanation needed.
Is it excellent? No. See above.
Is it worthy of praise? No. Not by me. Maybe some crazy gross men would think so, but according to God's Word, the only thing that I should praise are things that are given by God. Adultery is the opposite.

Thus yesterday's blog post was written.

So, that all seems kind of obvious, right? Like, it's not hard to figure out that if your mind is being effected by something that is externally being put into it, like a TV show, then turn the TV show off. But, what about things that are internally polluting our mind? How are we supposed to renew our minds and filter through the good and the bad in those circumstances?

The same way.

For example, I really want a house. Jason and I live in an apartment now, and it's a great apartment but I just really am tired of living there and I want a house. But, we've only been married for seven months, we're both just beginning our careers, and houses are a huge and an expensive investment.

So, how to I filter through my obsession of driving through neighborhoods almost on a daily basis and getting the "gimme wants"?

Yeah, I have 146 pins for what I want in a home.
It's not something I'm proud of.
Look at this board here.

Is this show true? Yes, eventually Jason and I will buy a house...Lord willing.
Is this show honorable? Yes. We want to buy a house big enough for the family we dream of having someday.
Is it just? Yes. Maybe not right now - it's not justifiable - because we still have time left on our lease and we're in the middle of saving for a down payment.
Is it pure? Yes and no. Yes, I want a house because I want to fill both extra bedrooms with a child someday. No, right now we don't NEED it and I really would like to have a house because that's what I want. I want more space. I was to show it off. I want others to come over and say, "Oh you have such a beautiful house!"
Is it lovely? Yes. After I finish decorating. Just kidding. But yes, buying a home with my husband with the money that God has blessed us with is a lovely thing...in His timing.
Is it commendable? Yes. It's a huge step forward. It's a huge investment. To be able to purchase a home is utilizing the blessings that God has given us with our jobs and our ability to manage and save money well.
Is it excellent? Yes. I hope so.
Is it worthy of praise? Again, yes and no. Yes, we will absolutely praise God for our home. I am confident that He will provide. But no, we don't deserve praise for it - it will truly be a gift from God.

Based on that, if I were someone else looking at my answers, I'd tell me that my obsession with buying a house isn't unhealthy, but I probably need to dial it down until the time comes. I need to renew my mind to focus on having contentment in our apartment and in this place of not having the responsibility of being a homeowner. That gives us more time without the financial pressures just to grow in our marriage.

So I ask you today, what kind of filter are you using? Are there things in your life that you need to put through the Philippians 4:8 Filter? Do you need to renew your mind, your heart, and/or your spirit? Is there something that is keeping you down, causing a pit in your stomach that you can't quite put your finger on, that needs to be dealt with?

Put it through the filter. Let the Lord work on you. Surround yourself with those who are encouraging and not discouraging. Spend time allowing truth to saturate your mind. Spending time in communication with Christ today.

[Worry] Warts are Gross

When I was in 4th grade I had to create a business as a school project. Our entire classroom was covered in upside down refrigerator boxes for about a month. I don't remember the name of our business, but I do know that at first our business failed. 

Then, we learned about worry dolls. 

My mom taught my friend and me how to make worry dolls out of clothespins. We made hundreds of them, and they sold so well! In the end, we didn't fail.

Source

Ironically, we didn't fail this project because worry exists in the world. In fact, not only does it exist, it is ever present and prevalent in our lives. 

Last week I introduced you all to the book I'm reading called Calm my Anxious Heart. Well, I'm finally on chapter nine. I took me a day and night to finish chapter eight. Yes, I'm a slow reader, but it took me so long because I truly struggled through the chapter called, "Worry is not a Rocking Chair".

If you've ever taken the Myers Briggs personality test, you'll know what I mean when I say that I'm very much a "J". I'm convinced that this personality trait, plus the fact that I'm a sinner living in fallen world, leaves me with a lot of worry. As Jason says, I'm a "worrier". 

This is me way too often.
Source

This chapter of the book went all military on me (meaning that it broke me down and then eventually it built me back up). When the author, Linda Dillow, did a study on the topic of worry among women, she found that women worry about these things the most:

• Money
• Parenting
• Marriage
• Health
• Job security
• Weight
• Threats

Here are the reasons why women worry about these things:

• The world is out of control
• Families are out of control
• My life is out of control

Like Linda, I can definitely identity with these women, but for me, this list of reasons begs the question:

Who IS in control?

As I've already stated in a previous post, we know that God is in control.

In the book, Linda places a quote at the beginning of this chapter.

"George Müller said, 'The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.'  All our fret and worry are caused by calculating without God."*

When she wrote, "We say with one breath that we trust God and with the next breath how worried we are! Worry and anxiety give a small thing a big shadow, and this shadow creates problems, not just in the soul and spirit, but in the body,"**

When I read this yesterday, I felt like Linda could see into my filthy, unfaithful heart.

How many of us do this? How many of us sit at church and nod our heads and sing and worship, go to bible study and live out our "good Christian life", but then when we are alone or when one thing doesn't go our way, we freak out and ask God why he's doing this to us? I know that I am so very guilty of this.

I could probably write a book myself just on this topic alone. I could go on and on about how the only thing that God has done for us is send his perfect and holy Son to die on the cross for our sins. I could state that we are all hypocrites and in the middle of circumstances that are less than ideal, we should cling to the cross rather than blame the Sacrifice. I might even would add that if God gave us what we deserve, we probably would be a lot more upset about where we'd all end up.

But, I'm not a preacher. I'm just a girl who writes a blog to share with those of you who read it about what I'm walking through in my life. So, keeping that in mind, I will fall back into line and tell you all that I fail at not being anxious and not worrying each and every day. I fail miserably.

(And here it is folks, the call to action. You must have known by now that it was coming soon)

If you feel like you may identify with this, if you, like me, are a chronic worrier, here is some truthes that are so obvious, but sometimes so difficult to truly embrace.

• Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.**

• Perhaps the most striking characteristic of worry is its absolute impotence. Worry never changes a single thing except the worrier.**

• Worry is definitely counterproductive. Like our earlier illustration of a rocking chair, it doesn’t get us anywhere, but at least it gives us something to do, and women like to do something!***

• 1 Peter 5: 6-7 gave us an alternative to carrying the anxiety ourselves. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."****

Source

May we cling to the truths of scripture.

May we pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). May with cast our anxiety on the Lord (1 Peter 5:6-7). May we be strong in Christ and not fear what circumstances come our way (Isaiah 35:3-5).  May we recognize that God has placed us here for a purpose, not just to survive (Matthew 6:25). May we not be anxious about tomorrow (Matthew 6:33-34). May we lift our voices in prayer instead of wasting away our days being anxious and worrying about things that God is sovereign over (Philippians 4:5-7).

Source

 
 Enough rambling for now...that picture was worth all the rest of my words (so stinkin' cute, right?). 

Prayer Focus for the Day: May we ask God to lead us to a place where we do not worry and we solely rely upon him for his provision. May we ask him to place people in our lives who can encourage us in this area of worry and anxiety. May we also ask God to place us in others' lives to be someone who is an encouragement to them.





****Dillow, Linda (2012-01-05). Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment with Bonus Content (p. 116). Navpress. Kindle Edition. 

***Dillow, Linda (2012-01-05). Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment with Bonus Content (p. 114). Navpress. Kindle Edition.

**Dillow, Linda (2012-01-05). Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment with Bonus Content (p. 113). Navpress. Kindle Edition.

*Dillow, Linda (2012-01-05). Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment with Bonus Content (p. 108). Navpress. Kindle Edition.