Meeting 12/19/20
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things." Phil. 4:8
I do believe there is power in positive thinking. I prefer the term "focus". Indeed, there are many, many bad things in the world to attract our attention. I call those "negatives". If you focus on the negatives, it doesn't take long to turn into a negative yourself. Anyone that has gone through hardship, realizes they have a choice in what attitude to put on. I hope they will choose the better way and be positive, making lemonade out of lemons. Some people continually get that backwards. They will choose to make lemons out of lemonade every time, always being sour, even during times of blessing.
Now, I'm not one to put my head in the sand and ignore the trouble around the world, but I don't believe I'm called to take on the burdens of the world. God specifically invited me to take on His burden and His yoke. He said His yoke is easy and His burden is light in Matthew 11. He is still on the throne. He has been given all authority. I have a responsibility to cast my cares upon the Lord. He has promised to take good care of me. I don't intend to be naiive about all of the world's calamities, tragedies, crimes, and injustices, but I think we could all do well to be a little more ignorant of the evil pervading our planet. We know it's there. It's no surprise. But we may do more harm to our faith if we constantly feed our minds with the bad news pumped through media. We are called to guard our hearts and minds. Be careful what you allow in your life. Engage in a pure, healthy diet. Monitor what your eyes see, ears hear, mind thinks, and body eats. Choose to be thankful, even when working through negatives. I like to think of turning a negative into a positive takes but one stroke of a pen. It's not that difficult. And now look at the positive sign: it's in the shape of a cross. Thank You, Jesus.
