April 25, 2016
In this post‚ I’m going to address a subject that touches each of our lives at some point—negativity, and how to rid our lives of it and replace it with positiveness and praise!
If you struggle with negative thinking, chances are it has become a habit for you. So breaking this habit and replacing your thought patterns with the positive will require determination, willpower, and effort on your part. It will take work to train yourself to think on the positive.
If you’ve been negative about yourself or your circumstances in the past, you can turn over a new leaf in your life and ask the Lord to transform you into someone who is praiseful and positive and able to influence others’ lives for the better. What was once your weakness can become your strength! The Lord can change your heart‚ your mind, your desires‚ your very nature, if you’ll just give it all to Him. That’s what it takes—ask Him to transform your life, and He will.
The power of praise and positiveness is contagious. So let’s all be carriers!
I hope the following words from Jesus are an encouragement and blessing to you.
There is a rule of thumb that is helpful to remember in fighting negativity: Positive anything is better than negative nothing. Anything you do that is positive is going to be better than what comes from giving place to negativity. Take the word “negative” and overwrite it with the word “positive.” They have the same number of letters, but the results of putting them into action are worlds apart.
Negative thinking in someone’s life can be devastating. It robs that individual of the potential that I have created within them. Negative thinking is really just old-fashioned pessimism. It is manifested in different ways and in varying degrees in different people, but the result is the same. Negativity hinders the fulfillment of My good purposes in people’s lives.
A negative outlook on life is so different from the optimistic‚ positive outlook that I wish for My children to have. It is the antithesis of faith. Faith is seeing the good and possibilities that others cannot see. Faith grows as you use it. Faith believes even when circumstances and conditions point to the opposite. Faith stands no matter what. Faith continues on even when something negative happens in your life.
So many people want to do great things. So many people dream of being a person who changes the world through some great work written, a great deed of courage performed‚ or great acts of compassion rendered to those in need. But the negative feeling of “I just can’t do it” robs people of the chance to make good on their dreams and the courage to step out and try for fear that their attempts will fail.
Negative thinking cripples a person’s life to one degree or another. It robs people of the opportunity to live up to their full potential and to achieve their greatest desires and aims. It can bring depression and other mental disorders, and that in turn can lead to physical disorders.
I call My children to rise above negative thinking. The it-can’t-be-done attitude hits at the very core of My children’s faith, that they can do all things through Me and that nothing is impossible for Me.1
There is so much to be positive about! If My children lack self-esteem‚ they have only to remind themselves that I, the Son of God, died for them. They are so valuable in My sight‚ and in My Father’s sight, that I took on human form and suffered torture and humiliation to die for them.
When you are tempted to doubt your self-worth and value, take some time to ponder on that truth.
Negative thinking takes away the wonderful joy and feeling of usefulness that I wish to give you. Some of My poor children have this negative thinking so ingrained in them that they walk about as half the women and men of God that they could be.
So make a conscious effort to think positively as you focus on Me; think positively about yourself, and also think positively about others. Have faith in Me and in My Word‚ and faith in yourselves, that I knew what I was doing when I chose you to be My follower. Live up to your full potential. Look up‚ for your redemption draweth nigh!
If you’re a chronic negative thinker, chances are you’ve already exhausted your resources in trying to change, so now it’s time to step back and let Me do it for, with, and through you—My way. I may tell you to do something that will initially seem illogical to you, but once you take the plunge and follow through, you’ll find that it’s that very path that leads you to victory.
There are many steps you can take that will get you going in the right direction, and later on, help you to stay on that path, such as:
Your life will never be perfect. Things will never be exactly as you want them to be. There will always be disappointments that come your way. Don’t let the chain reaction of discouragement set in. One thought of discouragement can lead to two, then three, and then more. Pretty soon you feel as if you’re surrounded by a haze of discouragement, that dark clouds are overhead and there are no blue, sunny skies at all anymore. Many times you do have a “right” to be discouraged, but that doesn’t mean you should be discouraged!
Feelings such as discouragement and negativity are natural, inborn reactions to things that happen—difficult situations or things that go wrong. These kinds of reactions are part of the nature of man.
That’s why rising above difficulties is a supernatural reaction. When something goes wrong, or you feel unloved or unneeded, or whatever the particular battle is, it’s human nature to get discouraged. But what you want to do is will yourself into rising above these natural responses by making the decision to surrender fully to the power of My Spirit.
Victory and happiness don’t come because everything in your life is free from troubles or problems. You’re happiest when you choose not to allow the things of this earth to get you down, when you choose to rise above.
Will you allow disappointments or difficulties to make you negative and discouraged, or are you going to say, “Praise God!” and then go on to walk in the positive lane? It takes a conscious decision to walk in the positive lane, to make room for positiveness and the gifts of My Spirit that give you the power to rise above.
Make a continual and consistent effort to fill your mind, heart, soul and spirit, and even your body—your eyes, your ears, and your mouth—with fervent, sincere, and liberating praise to Me. Praise Me even through the tough times. As you sing songs of praise to Me, you make room for victory.
Originally published December 2005. Adapted and republished April 2016.
Read by Debra Lee.
1 Philippians 4:13; Mark 10:27.
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