WEBVTT

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Day 336, or December 2nd. Keep focused on what

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is good. Our thoughts today are from Philippians

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4, verse 8. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever

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is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,

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whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever

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is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy,

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think about such things. And now the big picture

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surrounding this verse. Paul concludes this short

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letter by warning against trusting in the world

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rather than God. This is written to a newly established

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church based in Philippi, a military town with

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little spiritual life. He closes by encouraging

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all believers to know peace with their fellow

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believers and God, and enjoy real peace in all

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circumstances. These are striking words from

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an author who is writing from a filthy, smelly,

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damp cell, as nearly all prisons were in those

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days. His mind is focused on the best, even though

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he is surrounded by the worst. He is not resentful

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of others' freedom, but urges them to enjoy it

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to the full, in Christ. And now today's action

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step. When I ponder the verse for today, how

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can I have time to do anything wrong? If I concentrate

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on things that are true and noble, I wonder how

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that will change my TV viewing. If I focus on

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what is pure, lovely and admirable, what has

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to change about the books and magazines I read?

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Only thinking about anything that is excellent

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or praiseworthy will, I am sure, concentrate

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my mind on things that are good for me. However,

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I lose focus regularly. A distraction doesn't

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have to be bad in order to be a distraction.

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It just has to deflect us from the best. After

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recording the whole Bible as part of the step

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-by -step MP3 audio, I have since listened to

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it as well as other recordings, and have found

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them so helpful. I tend to tidy things up at

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the end of the day because I hate coming downstairs

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in the morning to an untidy room. Whilst doing

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this, I listen to the Bible on my MP3 player.

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It's a great habit and very edifying. Try it

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and see if it works for you.