The power of positive thinking.
This has been my lesson for today. It wasn't in my quiet time this morning, but on the way to work I listen to 106.9 the Light, which is Billy Graham's station and the sermon this morning was talking about having a way of positive thinking. He used specific verses. (NIV below)
Romans 8:4-8
4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man[a] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind[b] is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
He also used...
Ephesians 4:22-24
22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
He used several more but I couldn't remember them all while I was driving. So much in life is negative. Just looking at the world you can see all the craziness, the sinfulness, and the constant negativity that is bringing people down. More people are hypochondriacs, more people suffer from depression, busy-ness, and being overwhelmed. More murders on the news, more kids being made fun of, more gangs, more martyrs, more crazy politicians. It's easy, to let yourself get caught up in the negativity. Some people, I've even noticed in their testimonies, they focus most of it on the bad parts of their life...instead of what God's done since. Like it's cool to tell all the crazy drug stories, or the time I almost died...it's just 'easier' to focus on the negative. Let's focus on the good, the positive, the happy, the HOPE, that's what Jesus did, and that's why He changes lives!
If I focus on the negative in life, then really... I'm not LIVING! The only way to turn it around, is to be different. To be positive. It's contagious.
My boss sends me an article this morning about Nick Dusenbury, who is a guy I met through CharlotteOne - the singles ministry. He's a great guy, and he works at Forest Hill, which is the church I went to last summer for a little bit. Here's his story.
http://www.billygraham.org/News_Article.asp?ArticleID=290
So after reading this, and his main focus was on the amount of negativity around the kids in middle school that he works with...I'm thinking, God must be trying to tell me that it's so important to be positive!
I love working with the kids at my church, and I love being involved in their lives. It's so super important to be positive, because they are hearing and seeing and reading so much negativity. Some people in my life, I know are very negative. I have to beat it...I have to be a positive person in their lives...
Did you know there's even a Happy News website. It's http://www.happynews.com/. There's also a link on the right side of my page to the Happiest Blog on Earth! Check it out.
I'm going to focus on the positive-ness in life. :) And if I'm not...call me out on it! I'm going to post some pictures from Summerpalooza. It's our Sunday night event we do with the youth and it's so much fun. Last night we had kids show up an hour early, just because they love being there! Praise God we're making an impact in their lives!
Romans 8:4-8
4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man[a] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind[b] is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
He also used...
Ephesians 4:22-24
22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
He used several more but I couldn't remember them all while I was driving. So much in life is negative. Just looking at the world you can see all the craziness, the sinfulness, and the constant negativity that is bringing people down. More people are hypochondriacs, more people suffer from depression, busy-ness, and being overwhelmed. More murders on the news, more kids being made fun of, more gangs, more martyrs, more crazy politicians. It's easy, to let yourself get caught up in the negativity. Some people, I've even noticed in their testimonies, they focus most of it on the bad parts of their life...instead of what God's done since. Like it's cool to tell all the crazy drug stories, or the time I almost died...it's just 'easier' to focus on the negative. Let's focus on the good, the positive, the happy, the HOPE, that's what Jesus did, and that's why He changes lives!
If I focus on the negative in life, then really... I'm not LIVING! The only way to turn it around, is to be different. To be positive. It's contagious.
My boss sends me an article this morning about Nick Dusenbury, who is a guy I met through CharlotteOne - the singles ministry. He's a great guy, and he works at Forest Hill, which is the church I went to last summer for a little bit. Here's his story.
http://www.billygraham.org/News_Article.asp?ArticleID=290
So after reading this, and his main focus was on the amount of negativity around the kids in middle school that he works with...I'm thinking, God must be trying to tell me that it's so important to be positive!
I love working with the kids at my church, and I love being involved in their lives. It's so super important to be positive, because they are hearing and seeing and reading so much negativity. Some people in my life, I know are very negative. I have to beat it...I have to be a positive person in their lives...
Did you know there's even a Happy News website. It's http://www.happynews.com/. There's also a link on the right side of my page to the Happiest Blog on Earth! Check it out.
I'm going to focus on the positive-ness in life. :) And if I'm not...call me out on it! I'm going to post some pictures from Summerpalooza. It's our Sunday night event we do with the youth and it's so much fun. Last night we had kids show up an hour early, just because they love being there! Praise God we're making an impact in their lives!
Comments
I am the Operations Manager for 106.9 The Light and just wanted to say thank you for listening! I'm glad that the Lord has been able to use the station in your life.
Tom Greene