Centred in Perspective

Celebrate God. All day. Every day. When we turn our worry, issues, problems, or our successes, victories, and achievements into prayers of petition or praise, we lean away from ourselves and into a perspective centred on God’s sovereignty and our salvation…

4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

8-9 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.
Philippians 4:4-9 MSG

What is the centre of your life? For many people it is their family. Or their goals and ambitions. Career or educational aspirations could be your centre. Or just plan self – you. For others, it is their pain. Illness and disease can be the centre when pain is the greatest feeling. Worry about the future or regret about the past occupies the throne in many lives. What’s your centre?

Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Are you proud of it being the centre of your life? If family is your centre, you might be very proud of that focus. If regret is your centre, you might be embarrassed or bitter. The feelings we have around our central focus of life vary widely. God’s instruction through all of this is to look up.

This encouragement from the Apostle Paul challenges us to displace whatever is the centre of our lives and make Jesus the centre. He acknowledges for us that what we think about in our minds has a great impact on our direction in life. And so, we see a great list of things to dwell upon. Take a moment to consider how well your thought life aligns with this list. Consider one change you can make this week.

In verses 6-7, we are instructed to turn negative focus into prayer and praise. I think this is a new perspective on life. Some folks want to make this into a gospel of positivity or possibility. They would say name it and claim it. Speak it into your life. Hogwash. This is about perspective and not about positivity or possibility.

I’m a very positive and optimistic guy, but I don’t want to ignore reality. God isn’t saying to pretend reality isn’t real. This is all about having the perspective that God is in control and that Jesus provided our rescue. When we trust fully in God’s sovereignty and our salvation in Christ, everything changes.

When we turn our worry, issues, problems, or our successes, victories, and achievements into prayers of petition or praise, we lean away from ourselves and into the perspective centred on sovereignty and salvation. Then we realize that the God who knew us before we were made and who sent his son to save us can make everything come together for good. God’s good. God makes things work together.

As we put into practice what we learn from God’s word, along with everything we have heard and seen and realized in terms of God’s presence and power in our world, we will experience God working in us and around us and through us.

Celebrate God. All day. Every day. Live your life with the sovereign God who offers salvation at the centre of your life. It will change your perspective on everything…

Amen.

Marc Kinna