Thinking Stretching Your Thinking With 8 Tent Pegs

Thinking

Stretching Your Thinking With 8 Tent Pegs

We live in our minds

Your thinking defines your dwelling place

Paul in Philippians talks about stretching

 As a never ending thing in his life and ours

The reason is there is more of God and His Kingdom of Heaven

Then our minds can hold

So he gives us some advice to enlarge or stretch our minds or thinking

Eight points, think of them as eight tent pegs

To keep stretching the curtains of our mind

When we put into practice these eight things

They will make more room for more of the peace of God to dwell with you  

Finally, brothers,… (8 things)…think about such things….put it into practice.

And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 NIV

Stretching Your Thinking With 8 Tent Pegs

Isaiah speaks of a woman who wanted

to have a family but could not.

She was full of sorrow as she knew

she would never hold her own baby.

She would never know the joy of

seeing her child grow and develop.

She would never know the fulfillment

of labor and sacrifice, and see the day

of maturity and her legacy continue.

Yet, Isaiah says to this woman

who lived in a small tent to…

"Enlarge the place of your tent,

stretch your tent curtains wide,

do not hold back;

lengthen your cords,

strengthen your stakes.

You might ask the question which

comes first the baby or the larger tent?

It would seem Isaiah is saying

stretch your tent curtains first.

Paul in the Book to the Philippians

speaks of a stretching in his life…

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14

Paul never saw his life as perfect.

There was always more.

He could see God had so much more for him.

For Paul to take hold of the prize,

the gift of all heaven had to offer…

He would have to strain toward the

future promises and purposes of God.

The Lord’s Prayer teaches all of us to pray…

“Thy Kingdom come thy will be

done in earth as it is in heaven.”

Paul realized Our Father in Heaven has so

much for us and if we are to obtain those

blessings, we will have to forget what is behind.

Forget, means let go of knowledge.

Our thinking has to change as we grow up.

In this world we gain a knowledge that keeps us

from the heavenly gifts and purposes of our lives.

Paul says the ones who are

stretched are the mature ones… 

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.

And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 

Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

 Philippians 3 15-16

Our thinking changes as we mature.

As we pray to our Father in Heaven

and read His Word, we gain a knowledge

that challenges the things we come to

know growing up in this world.

When Paul gets to Chapter 4, he gives

us 8 things to enlarge our thinking.

Eight tent pegs, if you will, to

stretching and enlarging our tent.

Making room for more of God’s

purpose and blessing in our lives.

 

The first tent peg is think about what is “True”.

 Truth, you heard the saying “truth hurts” but

God tells us “the truth will set you free”.

If we are to mature, the first

thing we must do is seek the truth.

No matter how hard it is to reach the truth

nothing else matters without the truth.

The second tent peg is think about what is “Noble”…

Honorable, worthy of respect.

Put yourself in the highest place.

There are a lot of things in life

that are not worthy of respect.

Our thinking must focus on

what is honorable and respectable.

Think like a king or queen.

 Think about the best the

Kingdom of God has to offer.

 

The third tent peg is think about what is “Right”.

Being right is to be innocent, holy and just.

To think about what is right is to be vulnerable.

You and I are not always right in action and thought.

So be open to being wrong, be humble and willing

to think right even if it proves you to be wrong.

The forth tent peg is think “Pure”.

Our thinking can get cluttered

with stuff that does not matter.

It is a stretch to clean up our

thinking, to eliminate self-talk.

It is also hard to keep our thinking free

from jealousy, envy, greed and a host of

other things that muddy up our thinking.

 We need to put filters on our thoughts to think pure.

The fifth tent peg is to think “Lovely”.

To think friendly toward others…

Acceptable, looking for and pointing out the good.

Focused on the common good.

The sixth tent peg is to think “Admirable”…

reputable, well-spoken of .

  

 There are a lot of bad reports

but the mature mind looks and thinks

about the good report, the positive news.

Don’t spent much time thinking on the

negative, of the problem, but the solution.

We have to take out the trash to see the best.

Tent peg number seven and eight go together,

to think “Excellent” or “Praise worthy”.

It is a stretch some times to find excellence.

But we should not forget that excellence

is something we press for, so

praise the achievements along the way.

Give encouragement by thinking

of what has been accomplished.

What is commendable and show appreciation for it.

Have an attitude of gratitude.

Paul says to think on these things.

As Paul concludes he says…

Put it into practice.

And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:9

Take these eight tent pegs and

stretch them out a little farther.

Enlarge your thinking so you can hold

more of the peace of God in your tent.  

Compass for the Mind

Scripture Reading

Isaiah 54:1-3 NIV

"Sing, O barren woman,

you who never bore a child;

burst into song, shout for joy,

you who were never in labor;

because more are the children of the desolate woman

than of her who has a husband,"

 says the LORD.

2 "Enlarge the place of your tent,

stretch your tent curtains wide,

do not hold back;

lengthen your cords,

strengthen your stakes.

3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your descendants will dispossess nations

and settle in their desolate cities.

Philippians 3:12-16 NIV

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Philippians 4:8-9 NIV

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.