Dwell on these things

Would anyone like to expound on what this passage and this example reveal to us and are they similar?

 

Phil 4:8-9

8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

From Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Study Notes on Gal. 5:22

My wife and I used to live on a beautiful wooded lot. The largest tree on the property was a stately red oak that was over 100 years old. In the fall, most of the other trees would shed their leaves and remain bare through the winter months. But that red oak tree would usually retain most of its leaves through the winter. When the spring came, the sap flowing through that tree would cause buds to develop, and in the process the buds would push the old dead leaves off the branches. Similarly, the life of the Spirit normally expels the old dead habits of the flesh as the new life within grows stronger. Rather than trying to remove all of our former sinful practices ourselves, we should cultivate the spiritual life, and the Holy Spirit will deal with them. This phenomenon has been called "the expulsive power of a positive affection."

 

Grace and Peace

 

Obsession

My Lord, I will be obsessed with You.  My want for everyone.

 

Quote from AW Tozer:

You become like that which obsesses you, which occupies you. Is that not true? You see what people are occupied with, and you can see their character changing by their obsessions. They are becoming like the thing which is obsessing them; they are changing; they are becoming different. Something has got a grip on them; they can never think about anything else, talk about anything else; and it is changing their character. Now Paul said, "For me to live is Christ – being occupied with Him." It is the wrong word to use, but nevertheless it would be a good thing if He became our "obsession," our continuous occupation. As we steadfastly fix our gaze upon Him, the Spirit changes us into the same image.

By T. Austin-Sparks from: Men Whose Eyes Have Seen The King - Chapter 4

The Crucified Life - AW Tozer

As we contemplate Him, His death and resurrection, I was moved by this passage from Tozer.  Read, consider and lift your hands in praise of the life He has given us.  Amen.

Christ’s triumph over death, the foundation and fountain of our faith, was everything to the early enraptured believers. Christ’s rising from the dead was first an amazing thing, then it became a joyful wonder, and then a radiance of conviction supported by many infallible proofs, witnessed to by the Holy Ghost. This became to the first Christians the reason for everything. The battle cry of those early Christians was “He is risen,” and it became to them outright courage. In the first 200 years, hundreds of thousands of Christians died as martyrs. To those early Christians, Easter was not a holiday or even a holy day. It was not a day at all. It was an accomplished fact that lived with them all year long and became the reason for their daily conduct. “He lives,” they said, “and we live. He was triumphant, and in Him we are triumphant. He is with us and leads us and we follow.” They turned their faces toward an altogether new life because Christ was raised from the dead. They did not celebrate His rising from the dead and then go back to their everyday lives and wait for another year to pull them up from out of the mire . They lived by the fact that Christ had risen from the dead and they had risen with Him. “If ye then be risen with Christ . . .” That word “if” is not an “if” of uncertainty. The force of the word is “since ye are then risen with Christ.”

Tozer, A. W. (2011-09-09). The Crucified Life: How To Live Out A Deeper Christian Experience (Kindle Locations 396-407). Gospel Light. Kindle Edition.