Merlin Crothers shares this with us: “You’ve got to accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative. Latch on to the affirmative. Don’t mess with mister in between.”
“You
may be too young to remember that old tune but it still holds a good message.
The spirit of the world tells us to have thoughts such as, ‘Oh no! Another
day!’ but the Spirit of Jesus says: “This is the day
which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24). Or, “clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of
triumph” (Ps. 47:1).
We may think that rejoicing and shouting to God with the
voice of triumph is appropriate for those whose life is going great, but not
for us. We want God to do something about our problem - do anything. But
as we learn the shout of triumph, we invite the Spirit of Jesus to rule and reign
in us. He wants each of us to emphasize positive thoughts and eliminate the
negative ones. No matter how dark a person’s life is He wants us to rejoice, be
glad and to always believe we are triumphant because He lives in us.
I’m so happy that God helped me to believe this. I had
often centered my attention on the unpleasant things that happened in my life.
As my attention changed toward thanking and praising God, my life changed!
Have you ever been at sea in a small boat when the water
was being driven by an angry wind! Jesus slept while the disciples worried.
When awakened by His terrified disciple, He told the sea to be quiet - and it
was quiet.
What is going wrong in our lives; the things around us a
well as all over the world? Many circumstances have elements of bad or evil,
but God tells us to shout with the voice
of triumph. Why? Jesus is living in us and He wants us to believe in His
triumph! I often quote to myself: “I want to remind you that your strength must
come from the Lord’s mighty power within you” (Eph. 6:10 LB).
We live in a dark world, but the darker it is the more our light
will shine! We may live with a mean person at work in a terrible environment
but, again, the darker our environment, the brighter His light can shine in us.
Soon after we proclaim victory in Jesus the thought may
come, ‘This is not going to help me’ or other negative thoughts. The dark
powers of this world do not easily give up. They want to win.
“There is no end to the things Jesus may do
for us once we concentrate on His love for us rather than on His failure to do
whatever we thing He should do. Jesus
could have come down from the cross but He shoes to say: Not my will but Thine
be done” (Luke 22:42).
Follow God’s guidelines for your life on planet earth. Rejoice,
sing praises, shout and above all learn
to believe that we are victorious in Jesus (see Rom. 8:37). He promised to
be with us always. We can learn to
believe that He is with us and is working in each of our lives according to His
plan.
Since I began learning to trust God, I have learned that
I need to keep my thoughts and desires on “Giving thanks always for all things unto God
and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20). This
helps me to believe that Jesus is triumphant in me!”
This article is by Merlin Carothers and taken from PRAISE NEWS of Foundation of Praise (Nov. 2011)
Today’s
8th truth: if you are “born again”, you are
a partaker of His Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4)
Tomorrow’s post: SPONGE THEOLOGY
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