I know I am a little late, but I wanted to send you a picture of the moon I took while on a family vacation last week. I was definitely looking up and thinking of you! Thats why I took the picture. ;) I have been thinking about my favorite verse today. I have used it to encourage several people lately, so I think the Lord wants me to send it out to all of you. No matter where you stand in your current religious beliefs, this particular verse is a good motto for EVERYONE. Its Philippians 4:8: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (ESV). In other words, it is good to actively and consciously choose to think positive thoughts as much as possible. If you are a Christian, then you do this by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform your mind. The Word has much to say about controlling ones thoughts. Romans 12:2 says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, ...take every thought captive to obey Christ, and Proverbs 4:23 says, Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life (ESV). In other words, you will live out what you allow to grow in your heart, so protect it because you will become the thoughts that you allow to become a part of your heart. If you are always thinking negative thoughts, then your attitude becomes negative and others will think of you as a negative person, and then everything snowballs from there. However, if you consciously choose to consider the positive side of things and think positive thoughts, then your heart is encouraged, you dont become bitter and negative, and others are drawn to that and encouraged by you. If you are a positive person, positive things will happen in your life that flow from the way you choose to think. Whether you are a Christian or not, you can certainly benefit personally from these instructions given in the Word of God. Proverbs 17:22 says, A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. All of us desire to live healthy, productive lives. None of us want to live as dried bones (dead and useless). Its all a matter of how you choose to think. Having a joyful heart is the key. Personally, I cant do that on my own. Even though I am by nature an extrovert, that gets me in trouble sometimes if I dont choose to think positive thoughts because what I think in my mind comes out of my mouth. I have to constantly hand over the control of my heart and mind to the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts in a positive direction when I am not capable of doing so myself. When Christ is in control, it is a whole lot easier for me to have a joyful heart and think positive. Its when I take back over control that I get myself in trouble. ;) Again, its all a matter of allowing your thoughts to be transformed and your mind renewed. I encourage you to try it. Pray and ask God to transform your mind and heart to be conscious of your CHOICE to think positive. Make Philippians 4:8 your motto in life and remind yourself often that you want to choose positive over negative thoughts. As you get used to training your mind to the positive, I guarantee you will see the power of God begin to transform your heart as well as other parts of your life. Once again, I want to remind all of my babies that I pray for you daily and I miss you all terribly. It is so exciting to watch you all grow as you post pictures of your lives. Lately I have been thrilled to see many of my babies posting pictures of their babies!! Wow. Oh how my heart swells to see you entering into new and exciting phases of life. Dont forget to LOOK UP and know that the God of all creation KNOWS YOUR NAME and loves you...and he placed you in my life so that we could pray for one another and support one another. You are definitely LOVED. :)
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 19:50:10 +0000