And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.  -Luke 9:62

We look for excuses, we want to keep our options open, because we know that we are easily distracted.  A distracted disciple is a disciple who is going to go off course and a disciple off course can do a lot more damage than good.  If God has called you to it, then He will see you through it!

Jesus invites us to follow him, but it is not a “him and them” deal.  It is a follow him only deal!  I still remember the first time I ever really used a plow.  After I had cut a few rows, I stood back to admire my work and had the most crooked and ugly mess.  One of the old timers told me:  “Before you start, look up ahead of where you are going and pick you a fence post or tree and focus on it!”  I did and I made the prettiest straight rows you have ever wanted to see.

If we want to serve the Master with our best, then we have to focus on Him.  We cannot look at what we want or what others want, it has to be about what he wants.  It is not about our happiness or the happiness of others, it is about the pleasure of the King.  Being fit for the Kingdom comes from our being focused on the King of the Kingdom.  He is the one who makes us fit.  So stop playing games and get in the game and give it all you’ve got and then some by staying focused on Jesus and not looking back, when you do, you will truly begin to live blessed!

“No Christian can be a pessimist, for Christianity is a system of radical optimism.”   -William Ralph Inge

The Scriptures are full of examples of this idea of OPTIMISM.  They do not teach that life will be easy.  In fact, they teach that it is a challenge, but that we overcome and grow through the challenge.

The way of the Christian is not blind wishes for something better.  The way of the Christian is faith that sees and makes reality.  The Scriptures Teach FAITH and faith is optimism in it’s highest and most powerful form!

Ecclesiastes 3 teaches us that Everything Is Part Of The Plan And There Is A Purpose!
When it says:  There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

In John 14:27, Jesus Reminded Us That He/We Got This, when he said:  “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Psalm 46:10 is that gentle reminder that helps us to answer: The “Do You Really Know God?” question, when our Creator reminds us to “Be still and know that I am God.”

And in Matthew 5:3-10, some wonder “Was Jesus Crazy?” And the answer is:  “No He Was Full Of Faith And Optimism!”, when he taught:  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land.  Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.  Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning says that “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

OPTIMISM then, is seeing the good, looking for the best, finding the blessing and trusting the outcome!  To become optimistic, we have to learn to control our thinking!  The opposite of optimism is not pessimism, it is helplessness!

The Truth is that we always have the ability to choose a more effective response to whatever challenge we are facing!  And the fact that optimism is a learned behavior, means that there is hope for all of us!

Researchers say that we have some 60,000 thoughts a day and that around 95% are the same from day to day.  Of that 95% that stays the same from day to day, they say that 80% of these are negative.  The world we live in programs us into negativity with what we watch, listen to and read.  We have to make a choice: Who or what is in control?

If optimism and faith go hand in hand, then we can best understand them as a muscle!  Use it and it will grow and become more powerful.  Fail to use it and it will atrophy and die.  Real growth requires continuous TRAINING!

Optimism is about learning to discipline our mind to create and yield to more empowering explanations of what is really happening.  We have good thinking explanations and bad thinking explanations!

The Bottom Line: You are a victim or a creator and you make the choice about which one you are!  It is important here to remember that orientation matters!  Victims complain, criticize, blame, gossip and compare!  Get caught up in this orientation and  it’s hard to get out!

The question: “WHAT DO I WANT?” helps you to break out of the wrong orientation and into the right way of living.  The answer to this question is the work of a CREATOR!  We were created in the image of our Creator, which means that we are creators ourselves.  Creating is what we do and when we begin to live from this orientation, then we cannot help but to be optimistic. 

You are “RESPONSIBLE – RESPONSE – ABLE TO CHOOSE!  Viktor Frankl says ”Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

The key to a blessed life is BALANCE and balance comes through optimistic faith that believes and trust that God has something better for us!  WE NEED TO FIX OUR THINKING!  This requires some thinking! (Which is what we are here doing right now!)

Remember: Our minds tend to generate around 45,000 negative thoughts a day!  Start thinking “ON PURPOSE” “POSITIVE POWER” GOD THOUGHTS!  Here are just a few to get you started:  *I am God’s Creation!  *I have amazing purpose!  *I am blessed and highly favored!  *I have meaningful and growing relationships!  *I build up, encourage and always see the best!  *I look for, see and accentuate the positive!  *I choose to release anger, so that it can never enslave me!  *I eat to live!  *I enjoy my work – what God has given me to do!  *I am encouraged and I encourage!  *I am fulfilled and enjoy meeting the needs of others!  *I start now!

If you have a stinking thinking, negative attitude that is sinking fast into pessimism, then it is time for a FAST FIX: And the Fast Fix is simply this:  PRACTICE GRATITUDE!  Start to think about and focus on all that you have to be thankful for over anything negative.

Your mind is a garden that has to be weeded and seeded!  Here is a very important question:  What are you planting?  Galatians 6:7 says:  “Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.”   Get rid of the bad – deal with what needs to be dealt with and start planting some good stuff! 

I have been thinking a lot about miracles lately!  Miracles are an expression of love from our Creator to His creation.  We are surrounded by them everyday, but tend to miss most of them, because we are not tuned in.  The miracle is what gets the attention, but it is not really the big deal.  The big deal is the source of the miracle, which is God, Who we way to often take for granted.

Miracles are natural and happen everyday, just like the sun coming up at the beginning of the day and going down at the end of the day.  Miracles are expressions of God’s love for you and me.  Can you feel warm embrace and gentle presence?

When you stop and think about it, you are a miracle.  The person that you get caught up in judging is a miracle.  What people do to make a living is a miracle.  Prayer is a miracle that allows us to communicate with our Creator, Who shows love by allowing miracles to flow into and through our lives.

Take a moment before you move to the next thing and stop and think about some of the miracles that you have had happen in your life today.  Really think about them, pay attention to them and express gratitude for them.  If you do this right, it will help to tune you in, so that you can experience even more miracles and in even greater ways than you could dream or imagine.

Life is a miracle, so make sure that you live blessed!