Work your Negative into a Postive

In this everyday life we are surrounded by circumstances and issues.  So how do we keep a good attitude, a right mind, and a joyous spirit???  It's about your attitude.  Before you ever go through something you need to figure out what your approach will be to get through it. 

I used to be a super negative person.  Not because I wanted to be, but it was a predisposition to my own life circumstances.  As a result of previous experiences, I always looked for the bad.  Even when I was on "Great Street"  I continually looks for "Terrible Alley".  In my mind, nothing good could last for long, especially not to me. 

As I have gotten more familiar with God and His word, He started showing me my own behavior for what it was.  Negativity, with no Hope. 

Being negative is a tool the enemy gives us to keep us down.  To keep us from living our purpose, and most importantly to keep us from living the life God desires for us to live with hope of goodness and abundant life.  Notice I said the enemy gives it to us.  Once we accept the negativity there is no need to hang around because it's solely at our discretion whether we carry it with us or discard it immediately.  There is a spirit of self doubt, low self esteem, and anger that can come with negativity.  So we have to be fully prepared to deal with it and not let it linger.

Notice I did not write "turn" your negative into a positive.  From experience I know that it's not that easy.  I know that retraining your thought process is hard work.  I know that you have to work everyday not to let negativity creep in. I today, still work extra hard to remain positive in tough times, and not to allow myself to fall down the rabbit hole of negative thoughts.  If you were like me, sometimes I wasn't happy until I shared my negative thoughts. I would be at work and something would change in procedure, and it was my greatest joy to get with my coworkers and complain, then call my mom and complain, then get home to my husband and complain some more.  But, where did it get me???  I was the only one feeling like crap, and of course the people that allowed me to come dump my madness on to them felt bad too. 

As I started living out God's word and drawing closed to Him, I realized just how like people attract each other.  I was ready to live in the promises of God, but those around me had set up residence in Terrible Alley.  It made me realize what a deficit I was when I was like that.  So I started taking baby steps, the negativity did not just go away, I had to work the bad into good.

Reciting scripture is powerful.  Even if you don't get it all the way.  Even if you are not feeling it.  Speak that scripture into the atmosphere and you will feel a chance.  Then I started writing down my negative thoughts as they occurred.  When I wrote them down I would then think of an alternative to combat it. Once I did that, I would actively and symbolically throw them away.  Yes, there were times I had a trash can full by the middle of the day.  What that help me do is not to internalize what I was feeling.  Most importantly when the negative would come and get in the way, and I could not scripture it away, nor write it away, I would pray.  I would pray until I felt better.  I would tell and still do say to God over and over again, "this is not how I want to think, please give me the mind of Christ.  It was not, and has not been easy, but it works.  I find myself on the positive side of things now.  I don't look for the bad, I expect the good.  Why, because scripture tells me that "all things work for the good of those that love God" (Rom 8:28).  And I do love Him, with all my heart I love Him.

Pray to God, tell Him you love Him and that  you want to change your mindset, that you are in need of a renewed mind.  Purpose within yourself that you will work your negative into a positive with the strength of God on your side and go ahead and walk it out starting today.  I promise this change is for the better!

~God Bless U

God isn't Gas, He's Oil

Often times people want to use God as a filling station. They come get filled up and replenished, then they aren't heard from again until their empty, needing to be filled again.  I know some say what's wrong with that. But ask yourself would you only want people to come see you when they need something. No nobody would. So why do we do God that way?

We have to start caring about how we treat the most important relationship in our lives.  We have to remember God isn't gas, He's Oil!  Think about it, gas runs out in your car constantly, but oil keeps you going and has staying power. You may need to replenish every now and again, but it keeps the car running day after day, year after year. We don't want to run on half, or quarter tanks of gas, we want to be full of the Oil that flows! 

God Bless U

Joy Everlasting

I wanted to quickly encourage you today to be happy on purpose. No matter what's going on around you, or what's going wrong in your life, choose how you decide to look at it.  There are so many negative things that happen in the world, but we get to make the decision on how it affects us.  I received some troubling news today, and usually it would have been enough to keep me sour all day.  But, I remembered the scripture that says "speak those things that are not as though they are". So I decided to speak life to a dying situation. And what I found was I was encouraged to look at that situation differently. Instead of being in despair, I was empowered by the Word of God and the joy and peace it brings. It wasn't necessarily that the outcome changed, but my mindset did. I remembered that all things work out for my good and that God will supply my every need. 

I chose to keep my joy. I chose to stay in the light instead of being pulled down to darkness.  I don't believe life is about being happy all the time, but God does wants us to be happy. So much so that He gives us a greater gift than happiness... JOY!  Joy is what we have, when happiness just won't do. I'm happy when I get to the beach, or when I recieve something I've been praying for.  I have joy when I'm at the beach, and when I can't get there because of circumstances and life. I have joy when things are not going great, but I'm sure God has my back. 

 

What I've found is that joy is everlasting.  When we say to God I want to be happy, he gives us a measure of joy to sustain us between those times and  during.  So I encourage you to be happy on purpose, because God has something so much better in store.

 



~God Bless U

Trust God

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”. 

I was up early this morning working on a chapter of my book and this is one of the scriptures God gave me.  At a time like this I find it to be great comfort and encouragement that He has my life in His hands and that He's just as concerned about what I'm concerned about.  Thank you Jesus, for covering me, for strengthening me, and for loving me. 

I want to remind you all the there is no better place to be than in the Will of God.  You can be sure that He has mapped out ever contingency, ever turn, and every road for you.  He wants us to believe in Him and know that He has the best plan. Don't waste your days worrying and questioning God about your life.  Just trust Him to lead and guide you to greener and more fruitful pastures.  Remember the wilderness experience with the children of Israel?  Joshua 5:6 and Numbers 32:13 tells us they moved about in the wilderness for 40 years  because of their murmuring and complaining, and their unbelief which caused God's anger. Don't be like them! Trust that God will lead you, and trust Him to prosper you, and trust Him to strengthen you and to be with you always. 

I encourage you today in this,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. 
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

God Bless U

Tonight's Prayer

The Lord is my Sheppard
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in still  waters
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the path of righteousness
for His name sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I shall fear no evil.
For You are with me
Your rod and Your staff,  they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
In the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever,
Amen.

*23 Psalms was on my heart tonight. It is a timely prayer, no matter the situation or circumstance. Pray it in heart felt sincerity and experience what God has set aside especially for you.

God Bless U

Everyday Opportunities

I often struggle with what is profitable to blog. I never want to just write for the sake of publishing a post, or throw something together. I always look to be found downloading from heaven. Not my will, but God's will be done. 

Just this morning I realized God's not going to say write this especially for All things by Prayer! When He told me to start this blog he made it real clear that this would be a journey for those that come across it and for me. It would be my experiences, steeped in scripture that would provide the context for this blog. Thank you Jesus, for insight, for settling me down to receive and be reminded of your purpose. I thank you for the opportunity to share your Word and spread the Truth!  Amen.

Be encouraged man, woman, or child that has come to read this. The lesson:  God's not always going to show you the grand purpose of things. Some things He calls you to do may even seem small and useless against this great big world.  But be encouraged to just play your part! He knows better, and has better than what we can ever imagine.  Just ask Naaman (2 Kings 5)!

Do it, not because it makes you happy, or brings you glory, nor because it's popular, nor easy.  Do as God has instructed because He said so. There is no better reward, nor is there a better place to be than in God's Will.  I look forward to sharing the small, everyday things with you for both of our growths.  After all this is "ALL Things"! 

~God Bless

What Are You?...

What are you?... I truly can't get over when  people ask me that question. And it all together saddens me.  In other words they're saying; "what is the difference between us.  What do or don't we have in common.  Are you a Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Apostolic, Pentecostal, COGIC, etc?"  My question to them is why? Why does it even matter to you?  Will it make you like or love me any less? Or will you decide depending on my answer if I truly love the Lord, if I have enough faith, if I'm real enough, or if you will ever speak to me again?

I know this isn't a popular topic and many will disagree with me.  I'm okay with that though. I am ready to cut beyond the religious tape and get to the meat and potatoes of things.  I don't and I'm sure others don't need the extra.  Our plate is full.  We are mothers, wives, daughters, workers, coaches, husbands, brothers fathers and christians, among the many other hats we wear.  I don't need to have one more title put on me.  I don't believe the christian organization determines right or wrong. ( I am not venturing into Catholisism, Scientology, Muslims, Mormanism, or those others.) Iwant to be clear that I am only speaking about the organizations that cosider Jesus Christ in His full Glory their core belief system. I consider those, different sections of the body of Christ.  We all have one thing in common for sure and I'm sure if you look deep enough a few others also; we love God, we believe that Jesus came and died for our sins, that He is the son of God and that through Him we can obtain eternal salvation.

I don't discount the ways of any of the bodies of Christ listed above.  But my thought is this; know that we are all part of the body and our congregations and those identical to us don't make up the body as a whole.  In other words, one organizations ways are not the only way to go. (whew, I'm in trouble now!, lol)  Are there some very distinct core things you should have under your belt? Yes, there is. But what religious organization you belong to is not one of them.

Here is my point. The word of God says in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-14:

 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. (NIV)

For the sake of a mental picture imagine this. A picture of a body , I call it Christian.  As I start to name my body parts I start with the Head.  I name is Jesus Christ, because the word says He is our head.  But then I label my  left hand - baptist, and my my other hand -apostolic, and my right foot -cogic, and my left foot - methodist, and so on and so on.  We are all one body under the head of Christ, just different parts.  

And I believe that is okay.  I have sat under some of these organizations and I find for the most part no fault with any of them.  Except some in the faith have no tolerance for other organizations that differ in doctrines.  We should have but one doctrine, and that is the doctrine of Christ.  Love, charity, patience, peace, long suffering, righteousness, holiness, sanctification all under our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Those should be the things we live by.  The word of God is true and I believe God never intended us to be so separate in our thinking.

So where do I stand?  I stand with my feet firmly planted in Jesus. I do believe in the Apostolic way, the way the apostles went and the very words in the book of Acts.  I also believe the Methodist.  There is a method to the Christian life, you can not come to God any kind of way. I also believe in the Baptist.  If Jesus was baptized before the people as an outward show of His devotion to the Heavenly Father, then who are we to disagree.  And so on with the other organizations.  But that is as far as I go. 

It doesn't matter to me the doctrine and dogma of others as long as the core principles line up with the Word of God.  We need to have one very important thing in common, no wavering, and no variances:  Jesus Christ!  Not that He was just a prophet, or a very important historical figure, or that He is one of many gods. But that He is the Savior of this world. That He died on Calvary's Cross.  That He Was, and Is, and Is to Come. That He is the One True Living God. That He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, and that He will one day come again and we will reign with Him in Heaven.  That is what I'm about.  I mean people that mean Jesus. And if we have that in common, then God can work out everything else.

I pray this has helped someone.  Let's not get caught up in religion and tradition as the Pharisees and Sadducees did in the days of Jesus.  People are hurting and they are in need of a Savior not our  own opinions and doctrines. We are to introduce them to Jesus and preach the Good News.  He is the only one that can clean us up and put us on the right path.  I would sit with any one of the Christian organizations as long as they had a good solid foundation and the true Word of God was going forth.  That's all it takes. But, I am not a babe in Christ and I can rightly divide the Word for myself.  Many can't and are unsure and  don't know which way to go.  Help them go the way God planned, not how we think they should go.  I have seen people not fellowship or speak to others because they differed in organizations.  But that is wrong, and a trick of the enemy to keep us divided.  

The above scripture goes on to talk about the members of the body not being fully functional  if it was all the same.  This is true for us too.  We may be different parts but we are one body with one Head, again  that is Jesus.  When someone asks you that question; What are you? Your answer should be, A follower of Christ. That is enough!

I pray no one is offended and that my words and thoughts are received in love. That I am a helper to my bretheren.  God Bless you.

Communicating with God

Did you know that communicating with God  is the most important thing in the life of a believer?

It is important that we constantly communicate with God and that He in turn speaks back. Our basic form of communication is prayer.  Prayer is how we build our relationship, it's how we give the matters of the heart over to Him, and how we enter into His presence. The relationship with God is much like the relationship of a husband and wife.  I' ve been married for almost fourteen years and by far what makes it successful is communication.

Prayer; constant communication between you and God, is the foundation to your spiritual life. It's intimate time with Him, a one on one experience that leaves you strengthened and encouraged to go a little further assured that He is right by your side.

There are many instances in the bible that shows just how important prayer is. King David was a praying man. He knew how to come before the Lord in prayer. David inquired of the Lord many times and God answered him. 

In the book of Daniel we see that Daniel diligently inquired of God and prayed to Him earnestly. God moved mightily during that time for Daniel and the three Hebrew boys, so much so that they found favor during their captivity in Babylon.

And finally we see that even Jesus, the Son of God, that though He was fully God and fully man still took the time to pray to the Father. Anything that we know Jesus did, we should be found doing the same.

It is so important that we pray.  The bible declares we should "pray without ceasing", so this means all of the time, about everything so that God can give us direction.

Prayer is not hard! You don't have to have big words or grand gestures. You just have to have an open and willing heart.  Sit quietly in a room, in your car, get on your knees, kneal down, or even lay prostrate on the floor. However you need to do it, just do it.

Begin to tell Him how greatful you are, How worthy He is, just begin to praise Him. The word says "enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise". That is a model for prayer and as you begin to open up the Holy Spirit will take over and usher you into worship before God. And the more you pray, God will mold your prayer life to His will and pleasure.  Don't get discouraged, just keep communicating, keep praying.

I want to pray with you now: 

Father God of heaven, in the name and precious blood of Jesus, I come before your throne to give you honor and glory and to bless your Holy Name. Lord I pray that whoever you have led here finds exactly what they are looking for and that it strengthens and encourages them to keep pressing on in your name. Let their heart be content with the place you have put them in and let them be renewed by Your glory. I ask these things in Jesus Name from now and forever more ~Amen.

Keep praying, start praying! It' never to late to get in line and get it right. Communicate with God, he's waiting for you.  He wants nothing more than relationship with us and prayer is the very foundation.

~ God bless you real good!