Category Archives: positive

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Don’t Worry – Be Happy!

In the late 80’s Bobby McFerrin came out with a catchy little tune with a great message that we couldn’t help but join in and sing a long to a great little reminder: “Don’t Worry Be Happy!

Don’t Worry Be Happy

Here’s a little song I wrote. You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry, be happy.

In every life we have some trouble. But when you worry you make it double. Don’t worry, be happy. Don’t worry, be happy now

Chorus:

Don’t worry! (Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) Be happy
(Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) don’t worry, be happy.
(Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) don’t worry
(Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) be happy.
(Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh) don’t worry, be happy…

We find this same message in the Scriptures and it is certainly a lesson worth learning. It is easier said than done, but it’s not impossible, because with God’s help, all things are possible. We just have to learn to get out of the way and allow His power and wisdom to flow to and through our lives.

“6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-7

In just two verses we find an incredible instructions with an amazing promise for those who are disciplined enough to put these Scriptures into practice.

BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING!

The first thing the Scriptures teach us, are to “Be anxious for nothing!” In other words: Don’t worry about anything. There is no need for us to get worked up about what is happening or not happening in life. We are not supposed to let anything, no matter it’s size or shape to wreck us with worry.

Anxiousness is worry generated by any thoughts, images, emotions, and/or actions of a negative nature that we allow to repeat themselves in uncontrollable ways that cause us to perform a continual risk analysis in order that we might avoid, solve or get rid of anticipated potential (real or unreal) threats and any consequences we think they might bring with them into our life and living.

So what are we supposed to be anxious about? NOTHING!

PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING!

The Second thing the Scriptures teach us: Is that in the place of being anxious about anything we should “In everything talk to God with an attitude of gratitude!” Just taking the time to have conversation with our Creator can and will make a difference. It is important to remember that a conversation is made up of talking and listening, so please make sure that you tell God whatever you have in your heart and on your mind, but then make sure that you also take the time to listen to whatever it is that He has to say to you, because often in what He says to you, you will find the power and wisdom to overcome and experience the freedom of victory and all the blessings that come with it.

PEACE IS YOUR REWARD!

The third thing the Scriptures teach us is that we will be rewarded with a PEACE that cannot be explained or understood. This peace does not mean that we will be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means that we can be in the midst of these things and still be calm in our heart knowing that God has got us…

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The Gift Of Choice!

The reality that I am created in the image of God still blows me away. And if I am honest, most days, I don’t even come close to even come close to getting what that reality really means. What I do know is that it means that God loves me BIG and has given me this human experience as a gift to grow in my relationship and understanding of Him.

When we actually take the time to step away from the busyness of life, we can’t help but to think about all the gifts God has given us to be thankful for. I encourage you to take time everyday to think about some of the great blessings God has blessed you with and take the time to show some gratitude by saying thank you.

Out of all the great gifts that God has given, one that amazes me to my core is the gift of choice. God has given each one of us the gift of being able to choose for ourselves the life we will experience and live. When we stop and think about it, that gives us great reason to rejoice and be happy, because with that choice comes great power to decide and determine the direction of our life and living.

The thought of this great gifts makes me think of the tremendous responsibility we have been given to be the “master of our fate and captain of our soul” as talked about by William Ernest Henley in his classic poem “Invictus”.

Invictus

“Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

So what are we to do with this great gift of choice? We are to choose wisely to live the life of blessing we were created for and we would do well to learn as quickly as possible that our choice do indeed have consequences. So, let’s start off with an extra positive choice:

“4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” -Philippians 4:4

Once again, we see the tremendous power we have at our disposal. We have the ability to choose who or what is going to be the focus of our lives. Others do not get to decide this for us, unless we give our power of choice away to them. It is our power and our choice – what we will focus on. I want to encourage you to focus on the God Who made you and His amazing plan for you to live a life of blessing made up of living, learning, laughing and loving.

You’ve got the power – will you use it? That’s the BIG QUESTION isn’t it. We have the power, but most of us never ever get around to using it. We might every now and then tap into it, but for the most part, we tend to wander around aimlessly, just getting by. You have the amazing power to choose the life you will live – choose wisely!

It is interesting to me that Philippians 4:4 tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord” two times, almost as if there is some understanding that we are not really going to get it the first time. When it comes to choice, we can be happy or sad, mad or glad – the choice is ours. I choose to rejoice in the God, Who gave me the power to choose for myself and look forward to growing in the blessing of that incredible power that changes everything…

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What We Feed Grows!

We have been given an amazing gift – the gift of choice. Each one of us get to choose what will be the focus of our life and living. We have the power of choice and make no mistake about it, the choices we make have the power to determine the life we will live.

I love stories and one of my favorite stories is: The Story Of The Two Wolves!

The story goes that there was an old Cherokee Indian chief, who was was teaching his grandson about life. The old Chief told his young Grandson: “A fight is going on inside me, a fight between two wolves – a dark wolf and a light wolf.”

The Dark one is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The Light Wolf is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The old Chief told his young Grandson: “The same fight is going on inside you grandson…and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.”

The young Grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee Chief smiled and simply said, “The one you feed”.

This is true in our lives as well. The attitude, emotion or feeling that we feed will grow and take up leadership in our life and help determine it’s direction. Feed the positive and the positive will grow. Feed the negative and the negative will grow. The choice is yours and you do have the power. The real question is: Will you use it wisely?

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:4-7

Another way to think about it is like growing a muscle. My Grandmother used to say: “If you don’t use it, you will lose it!” If we don’t exercise our muscles, they will atrophy and die, but if we use them, they will grow and become stronger. To grow a muscle, we have to exercise it!

To overcome anxiousness and worry, we have to exercise our faith muscle by trusting that God loves us and has an amazing plan for our life. We have to believe that God uses even the bad for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purposes.

Make sure that you are feeding the right wolf and growing the right attitudes, actions, thoughts and responses in your life. You will be amazed at the difference it makes in your everyday living and the blessings that flow to you and through you!