Positive Or Negative-Your Choice

 

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the Bones.” Proverbs 17:22

What kind of people do you like to associate with? Positive and upbeat or negative Debbie Downer types? I am pretty sure most people would answer positive. 

It is necessary to stay delighted in order to be positive and hopeful. You can be a pit dweller feeding on the negative aspects of life or you can choose to be lifted above it all and think looking up. 

Wherever you find yourself in this spectrum what is the point of your gloom anyway? By reading God’s word daily you can be affirmative thinking front and center. Make a list of positive things in your life and let go of negativity. 

PRAYER: Lord help me each day remind myself of all you have done for me. Bring to mind my many blessings. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Give Up Your ‘Right’ To Be Angry

 

Be angry without sinning. Don’t let the sun set on your anger.Ephesians 4:26 CEB Bible Gateway

Yes Christian writers do get angry and they do have ups and downs. Satan loves to try to get us to explode at our spouse or an innocent telemarketer or even a child. Anger is a human reaction that does produce the righteousness God desires it says in James 1:20. 

No one really has a right to be angry but when that emotion rises to the surface recognize it and deal with it. Anger can lead to bad consequences if not nipped in the bud. 

Are you dealing with anger right now? Have you stopped to talk to God. Even Jesus felt that emotion. Stop, breathe, give thanks for good things, and ask God to help you navigate your feelings. 

PRAYER: Help me Lord to give my negative emotions to you. To focus on the good and not the bad. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Don’t Poke Jesus In The Eye

 

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?Romans 2:4 NIV Bible Gateway

I was relaying to a friend about Christian writing and that it is necessary to bring hope to people not condemnation if you are trying to win them to the Lord. Jesus would say “sin no more” but not poke you in the eye.

It is easy to find fault but Jesus wants people to be instilled with hope that no matter how raunchy and low down their sin He is still God and loves them and can set them free.

Are you poking anyone in the eye even if only in your thinking? Love wins people not slapping them around.

PRAYER: Father I have been guilty of wrongful judgment and remember that all of us have sinned. Help me be kind and teach me to reach out to those I would rather not deal with. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Start Each Day With A Clean Page

 

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.Matthew 6:34

Do you carry problems with you into the next day or do you make a concerted effort to begin anew leaving the old behind to start fresh? 

It takes discipline to learn to control thinking especially if you tend to hang on to things seemingly thinking your concern will speed things along. It is always best to start out bringing nothing with you into the new day. Kind of like an artist easel where the old page is torn off and replaced with a clean piece of sketch paper.

Let go of expectations, grudges, second guessing, resentment, ill will, bad thoughts and ask God to give you fresh thinking for a new day. 

PRAYER: Today I want to start things fresh Lord not dragging my old junk onto the new day. Help me. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Do You Need Rest?

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NIV Bible Gateway 

Have you ever woken up and it seems immediately the enemy starts to attack you as he knows your weak points. It happened to me recently and it is a feeling hard to describe but you know God loves you and you have much to be grateful for but an issue you have continued to pray for is still hanging over you and you are weary. 

Hang on friend. God is still working and He is in the business of deliverance and miracles. 

First and foremost is to get your focus off problems and onto your blessings. Satan has a way of trying to get you thinking the wrong way. Continue praising God even in storms of life and wait and see what happens. 

PRAYER: I thank you Lord for the promises in your word. I choose to trust in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

With A Click You Are No Longer Relevant

 

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35 NIV Bible Gateway 

In the Mark Wahlberg movie Arthur The King he had a line that I used for today's title. A click of the mouse, hitting delete and so forth. None of that matters to God. Mankind does not determine your true destiny. 

Whatever you are going through God is greater. If you focus on making God your top priority forgetting your human issues and trust God things will go better. Be still. 

Court battles, family tension, kicked under bus by a friend, medical diagnoses you continue to press in and trust God, don’t get mad at Him. Focus on Him, not the daily news and stress in the world. Remember God is in control. 

PRAYER: Lord God Heavenly Father thank you that you alone are above all things and work things to your good. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

#BG2

You Can’t Drag People To The Crosd

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:44

Only the Holy Spirit can convict people of their need for Him. You as a follower of Christ can pray and plant ‘seeds’ so to speak but it is not up to you. 

What have you been waiting for? Maybe a lost wandering child to return to his first love? Perhaps a chance to ask forgiveness for something? 

God knows your needs and desires. His heart is broken too over the hurt in your life. Continue to be still and not get ahead of God. 

PRAYER: Lord I thank you for your plans for my life and for the lives of those I pray for. Your plans are unfathomable. Help me be still as I wait for answers to prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.