{"id":779,"date":"2019-01-14T14:02:06","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T14:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=779"},"modified":"2019-01-25T15:21:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T15:21:00","slug":"philippians-4-challenge-day-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html","title":{"rendered":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 9"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3969\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3969\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/files\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3969\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/sites\/403\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"www.unsplash.com\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3969\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">www.unsplash.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>HABIT #3:\u00a0<strong>Think on noble things.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ IT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things. . . . I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Philippians 4:8,12)<\/p>\n<p>The capacity of the human brain is the subject of ever-widening scientific wonder. Its twelve to fourteen billion cells are only a shadow of its complexity, because each cell sends out thousands of connecting tendrils so that a single cell may be connected with 10,000 neighboring cells, each of which is constantly exchanging data impulses. These twelve to fourteen billion brain cells times 10,000 connectors make the human mind an unparalleled computer. The mind\u2019s activity has been compared to 1,000 switchboards, each big enough to serve New York City, all running at full speed as they receive and send questions and orders. Put another way, there is more electronic equivalent in one human brain than in all the radio and television stations of the entire world put together!*<\/p>\n<p>The power that God infused into the human mind is beyond comprehension. Used properly, that power can bring light and wholeness to not just your life, it can shine a light of peace and contentment to all around you. But without the control and order that comes from God, our mind will run amok inside of us, leaving chaos and misery in its wake.<\/p>\n<p>Just as you choose to be joyful (habit #1), you choose what you think about. When you choose to dwell on noble things, good things, wholesome things, don\u2019t be surprised when contentment follows.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WRITE IT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html#comments\">Share in the comments below<\/a> and answer this question, \u201cWhat is an example of something noble, right, lovely or admirable that you can choose to dwell on today that could lead to contentment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>PRAY IT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Jesus, would you guard my mind and direct my thoughts to dwell on noble things today. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>LIVE IT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Write out Philippians 4:8 on a notecard and carry it with you today. Put it in a place where you can see it often. Whenever you catch yourself dwelling on negative thoughts, read Philippians 4:8 as an anchor to keep your mind where it needs to be today.<\/p>\n<p>Use\u00a0<em>#phil4challenge<\/em>\u00a0to spread the word about the Philippians 4 Challenge!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Hughes, Kent R. (2007-10-31). Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel (Preaching the Word) (Kindle Locations 2894-2899). Good News Publishers. Kindle Edition.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HABIT #3:\u00a0Think on noble things. READ IT \u201cFinally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things. . . . I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.\u201d\u00a0(Philippians 4:8,12) The&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[365],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phil4challenge"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 9 - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Day 9 of the Philippians 4 Challenge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 9 - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Day 9 of the Philippians 4 Challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-14T14:02:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-25T15:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/files\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge-300x181.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 9 - Next Steps","description":"Day 9 of the Philippians 4 Challenge","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 9 - Next Steps","og_description":"Day 9 of the Philippians 4 Challenge","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html","og_site_name":"Next Steps","article_author":"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern","article_published_time":"2019-01-14T14:02:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-25T15:21:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/files\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge-300x181.jpg"}],"author":"Josh Daffern","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@joshdaffern","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html","name":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 9 - Next Steps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/files\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge-300x181.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-14T14:02:06+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-25T15:21:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#\/schema\/person\/8ac2e15479ad6a320d2082837203cb7c"},"description":"Day 9 of the Philippians 4 Challenge","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/files\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge-300x181.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/files\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge-300x181.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-9.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 9"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/","name":"Next Steps","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Josh Daffern","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#\/schema\/person\/8ac2e15479ad6a320d2082837203cb7c","name":"Josh Daffern","description":"Born and raised in California, Josh graduated college from California Baptist University and spent two years as a missionary in Africa before coming back to America and finding the love of his life (Robin). Josh graduated from New Orleans Seminary with a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. Josh has been involved in full-time ministry for over twenty years. He enjoys hiking, beach volleyball, reading, playing anything competitive, and rough-housing with his kids. Josh, his gorgeous wife Robin, his outrageously handsome boys Zeke, Shepherd and Lincoln and his princess Elle, live in northern Virginia. Josh also blogs on Patheos as New Wineskins: an Apologist for the Modern Church and you can find links to all his content on joshdaffern.com. Enjoy the blog!","sameAs":["http:\/\/joshdaffern.com","facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern","https:\/\/x.com\/joshdaffern"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/author\/jdaffern"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions\/847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}