IT'S NOT ABOUT ME!

Any time I get to thinking too much, and realize that my focus might be more about myself than about others or about God and Jesus, I strive to keep this thought in my mind:  "It's not about ME, it's about HIM."  As I was driving down the road having that thought yesterday, it occurred to me that too often "I" am wanting to be in the spotlight of something.  I'm being selfish.  I'm concerned about my wants or my feelings.  Not that it is always bad to do so, but too much of it can lead to depression or negative thinking in a hurry.  I was thinking, "It's hard for my light to shine for HIM, if I'm too concerned about myself being in the spotlight."  I decided to make a little meme to share this thought with others, just in case they, too, had these selfish thoughts from time to time.

I suppose we all do, really.  It's easy to get caught up in ourselves, isn't it?  I blame mine on hormones, just to be honest, because I'm rarely "down" about anything. When I am it almost always equates to a hormonal issue that's out of whack for a short time.  (Oh, the joys of the mid-40's! NOT.) But it makes me think of those who might not ever "get out" of these thoughts....what about them?  And what if it wasn't a hormone thing?  What could I do to help get the negativity from my mind?

For me, what I've found has been found driving down a highway. When you live in a remote area as I do, you spend a lot of time driving on highways.  Often I listen to my favorite Pandora station, but I have a very favorite thing to do, and that is to put it on my iTunes "worship" playlist filled with acapella praise and worship songs from various groups, such as Hallal, The Zoe Group, Narrow Way, and a few others.  I LOVE IT!  It instantly "peps" me up and makes me feel better!

So now I think, WHY DO I NOT JUST START OUT EVERY DAY WITH THIS PLAYLIST?!  Well, I do listen to that playlist often and at random or scheduled times, but I haven't wanted to listen to it all of the time because I wanted it to be different.  I wanted that list to be "reserved" in a sense, but now I see that my thinking is WRONG.  I NEED those songs each and every day. I NEED to be uplifted every day! MAYBE if I listened to them ever day - at the beginning of every day - it would change the whole day...or at least change ME for the whole day.  Who knows? (God.)  

So today, I'm starting out with HIM even more so than usual Bible reading as soon as a I wake up and quick prayer before leaving the bed.  (I need to work on that part, too.)  And as I go through the day, I'll remind myself to keep ME out of the spotlight, to shine brightly for HIM, and strive to always remember that none of this is about me ever.

Think On These Things

Finally, brothers, 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. Philippians 4:8

It seems so simple, doesn't it?  To think on "these" things:  Things that are true....noble....right...pure...lovely....admirable....excellent....praiseworthy.  It seems like we wouldn't have any trouble at all thinking of good things.  But we do.  We all do.

We wake up each morning and some of us hit the ground running.  Others of us, it takes a few hours (coffee, hot tea, Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, etc.) before we're ready to get going.  Hopefully we start our morning by talking to God or reading His Word, but maybe we don't.  Maybe we grab the TV remote to catch the morning news/gossip.  Maybe we grab our phone or laptop to check Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Maybe we're up making the kids breakfast, helping check last minuet homework, or packing lunches before sending them out the door.  Very quickly our minds can be filled with "stuff".  Maybe it's good stuff, but maybe it isn't.

From what we see, to what we read, to what we hear, our minds and hearts are filled with lots and lots of "stuff".  It's up to us to guard our minds and our hearts so that our minds only think on things that are in that great list in the scripture above.  The only way to do that is to guard our eyes and ears first.  Maybe we will need to change the radio station, delete a song off of the iPod, stop watching certain TV shows or movies.  Perhaps we will even need to change who our friends are - or at least limit our time with them if they are influencing us in a bad way.

Our minds are filled and bombarded with information and this "stuff" we're talking about.  If we take bad stuff out....we must replace it with good "stuff".  We have to change our thinking.  The phrase "power of positive thinking" is great, but the "power of Jesus' thinking" is BEST!  When we grow to be more like Jesus, we'll change the way we look at life.  We'll change the way we think.  There will be no more stinkin' thinkin'!  We'll be thinking of "such things" as Philippians 4:8 mentions.

It's never too late to start thinking like Jesus.  Maybe your morning started off bad.  It doesn't mean the rest of the day has to be downhill.  Change your thoughts - change your world.  Be more like Jesus.  Think on "these things" all day long!

What Do You Expect? - Part 2

Well, unfortunately, I didn't hear from anyone about your thoughts from yesterday's post....."What Do You Expect?"....in reference to positive thoughts versus negative thoughts, but, I had some other thoughts about this matter today. 

A month or so ago, I was traveling home from Oklahoma City.  As I scanned through radio stations, I came across a popular TV/radio preacher talking about "favor". I listened to what he had to say, though I don't typically believe that a lot of his teachings are biblical. He explained that many of the things he gets in life - the good things, special treatment, and such - are because of him being a Christian.  He talked about "favor" and how we, too, can have God's favor - if we are Christians and expect those things.  His basis was this scripture: "Jesus grew in wisdom, in statue and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52)

When I got home, I talked to my husband about the radio message.  Parts of it were great.  We should be positive thinkers (like I mentioned in my Part 1 post), we should expect God's blessings, we must believe that God can do great things, etc.  But, parts of that lesson aren't biblical.  The notion that God won't allow Christians to suffer or that God will give only good things to Christians.  This preacher didn't come right out and say those things, but he might as well have.  He basically said that because he is who he is he gets special treatment: good seats in airplanes, business deals that turn out right, traffic jams that suddenly un-jam.  But the whole time the emphasis is on himself - not God.  He believes that Christians who are living right will get preferential treatment.

So, what about persecution?  I wrote about that a few months ago.  If God doesn't allow Christians to suffer, then why did Paul end up in jail? Why was he beaten?  If God doesn't allow Christians to suffer, then why do Christians get cancer? If God only gives good things to Christians, then why would evil people ever be in powerful positions?  You see, that way of thinking doesn't make sense.

Maybe you took my "Part 1" post that way....like the radio/TV preacher attitude.  I hope not!  I certainly didn't mean that way. But, just in case you did, hopefully this post will clear it up! (By the way, I let my husband read that post before it was posted and he didn't take it that way. He'll read this one before it's posted, too! I have him read a lot of them before posting them....just to get his thoughts or impressions.  I want his opinion and suggestions!)

So, what do you think?  Will God bless us for how we live?  Yes.  Absolutely.  We read of those blessings throughout the Bible.  He will bless those who love Him and who serve Him.  He will hear the prayers of those who are striving to do His will.

We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.

John 9:31

But, He will also allow His children to experience trials, sorrow, and tragedies. We see those examples throughout the Bible, as well. 

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

1 Peter 4:12-13

Maybe these "bad" times are to strengthen our faith, maybe they are serving to fulfill God's ultimate plan or to bring someone to Christ, or maybe He is just allowing things to happen naturally.  We may not always know.  But, the thing is - when the bad things happen or undesirable things come our way, our attitudes, our responses, our reactions as a Christian - will be different.  Well, they should be different.

Even in the bad times, a Christian can expect good things.  We can and should expect blessings from God.  In bad times, we expect God to be with us, as He has promised that He will.

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:10

Expecting the best doesn't mean that we'll get preferential treatment at all times, as the radio preacher suggested.  Expecting the best means that we will have a positive attitude in all situations - even if things don't turn out the way we want them to. That is what living the faithful Christian life is all about.  That is what God wants us to learn as we walk with Him.  That is why we must have total faith in Him.  Our faith isn't in ourselves and what we do.  It's about what He has already done.

What Do You Expect?

I've been thinking about this question lately.  I'm wondering if what we expect out of life and what we expect from other really matters?  I believe it does, but see what you think.

My husband and I have a "game" we play.  It has to do with getting good parking places, getting quick check-out lines at Walmart, and things like that.  I always expect to good parking places and quick check-out lines.  He always expects to get the farthest parking places and the slowest checkout lines.  And, guess what?   We usually both get what we expect!  So, does my positive attitude have anything to do with it?  Does God allow me to get those "good" things, but allow my husband the opposite?  Maybe so.  Maybe there is something to expecting the best.  Maybe God blesses our positive attitudes.  Maybe God tries to teach us lessons in our negative attitudes....or our impatient attitudes.  Of course, since these examples are to my advantage I like those things.  If it were not in my favor, I probably won't like them, would I?!

So, what do you expect from your behavior?  What do expect to tempt you?  Do you expect that someone will make you mad today?  Do you expect someone to cross you today?  Do you expect for someone to offend you today?  Do you expect to make a poor decision today?  Do you expect to waste time today?

With each of these questions, we have the choice to react in a certain way.  The way we choose to react is the way that our expectations will either be proven true or false.  It's up to us.

Now, think about your children.  What do you expect from them?  Do you expect them to obey you - as a parent?  Do you expect them to respect you?  Do you expect them to throw a fit?  Do you have high expectations from them or do you have low expectations?  I tend to think, that no matter which we expect from them - to a large extent - we will get from them.  

Can our expectations be unrealistic?  Sure.  There is always the possibility that we can have unattainable goals, unrealistic expectations.  I can expect to be small and petite all of my life, but it will never happen.  I can lose weight and become extremely thin, but I can never be small and petite.  That's not how God made me.  I can expect to be 30 years old again, but it's not going to happen.  Those things are unrealistic and will never happen.  But, I can expect to find someone to serve in some way today and I believe I will have that opportunity today.  I can expect to find time alone to be with God today and because of that expectation, I will make that time available in my schedule.

So, what do you think?  What are your thoughts on our expectations?  Do you believe God blesses us in our positive attitudes?  Do you believe that He tries to teach us lessons in our negative attitudes?  I look forward to hearing from you!

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12