Tag: positivity

bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, Faith, Jesus Follower, Transformation Prayer, Uncategorized

Pessimist or Pollyanna?

krisshetter 
I have told you this so that 
my joy may be in you and that 
your joy may be complete.
John 15:11

A prayer to live a joy-filled life.

Gracious God your gifts and blessing to me cannot be counted.  And yet so often I turn to the negative parts in my life and place my constant thoughts in them.  When I rise I forget to be thankful that I have yet another day in which to serve you and be blessed by you.  And as I go about my day when you place joyful moments at my fingertips I take them for granted.   When I lay my head down to sleep I can easily recall all that went wrong in the day rather than what went right.  But your joy is there for the taking.  I want to live basked in your greatness, your beauty and your joy.  I can and will, with your help, find joy in every circumstance.  You are working for my good at all times and I just need to remember that promise.  Thank you for giving us your Son who implanted the Holy Spirit in us – a spirit of joy and of goodness.  I pray this in your Son’s Holy name, Jesus.  Amen

I always called her a Pollyanna.  The term comes from the movie of the same name in which a young girl arrives at a small town filled with bitter people.  But her neverending, cheerful spirit wins them over.  Nowadays, a “Pollyanna” seems to be said as a negative.  That, along with wearing “rose-colored glasses” are attributed to people who just want to see the positives in everything.  I know, makes you sick, doesn’t it?

But my mother-in-law truly is such a person.  And this last year that cheerful, joy-filled spirit was truly tested, not only with all the lockdowns but with a diagnosis of cancer.  On her worst days she was a bit dispirited.  Yes, worst days.  I mean the woman seemed to look forward to her cancer treatments because she would probably run into a friend and chat for hours while the poison did its deadly work. 

A cheerful heart is good medicine, 
but a crushed spirit dries up 
the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 

At times being a “bit dispirited” can seem like my best day.  I’ve been a well-trained, tried and true pessimist for so long that the concept of daily joy is a lot of work for me to achieve.  It’s easy to sit back and marinate in the mess of life.  It takes work to get up, dust ourselves off and say “oh well let’s make the best of this.”  

Thank goodness our strength comes from the LORD.  I’m committing myself to stopping negative thinking and instead, like playing a game of “Where’s Waldo,” searching for the joy in the moments of my life.  I know they are there because joy is one of the promised fruits of His spirit.  

He’s there somewhere! Just keep searching!

I stood in Walmart the other day waiting in a long line to check out.  Normally, I’d be mentally lopping off all the heads of the cashiers for taking so long and planning my complaint letter to management for not opening more registers.  Instead, I settled in to God’s joy.  I was happy to have found all the items on my long list and the people watching at Walmart is topnotch!  I was so bathed in God’s joy that I even let someone with only two items go in front of me.

I could have turned a simple shopping trip into a miserable experience very easily.  I’m counting on God to keep giving me opportunities to flip the script from pessimist to Pollyanna.  Because when the day comes when I need it most, I want to be well-trained and tested in living a joy-filled life.

If you want this too, add the prayer to your daily prayer list and watch and see how God works in your life!

bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, Faith, Jesus Follower, Transformation Prayer, Uncategorized

Pray It Till You Make It

krisshetter

Although controversial to some, I credit evangelist Joyce Meyer with the jumpstart to my transformation from “baby Christian” to a maturing one.  Why? The day I broke down and said to God, “Why am I still so unhappy?  Why can’t I experience joy and peace in my life?” He admonished me and asked, “What have you really done?”  Yes, He really did say that, out loud, twice.  I landed on my knees and asked Him to direct me.  I knew that I hadn’t been “all in.”  My first step was to go and buy a devotional.  As I stood in front of the many books I prayed, “God, tell me which is the one I need right now.”  And that’s how I ended up with Ms. Meyer’s book, Power Thoughts.

“Power Thought: My thoughts are not hidden from God. I know I can change with His help.” 

Joyce Meyer, Power Thoughts Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations for Winning the Battle of the Mind

The reason it spoke to me is that it focused on that tiny part of me that ends up ruling everything about my life – my thoughts.  At the time, I proudly wore a badge of pessimism.  I was constantly outraged, angry, hurt or sad.  And yet on the outside my life was truly blessed.  I needed to attack the devil living inside my head with the power of God (Psalms 139:23).

Words are extremely powerful.  They can hurt and heal.  They can tear down and build up.  They can cause fear and joy.  With words we can complain or comfort.  And what is prayer but words?  

I’ve been challenged to create a list of statements about my life as God sees it (Isaiah 55:8). It’s not a list of what I’m like right now.  It’s not a New Year’s resolution list.  It’s a list of prayers, based on the Word of God, of what I will be and have in my life with God’s intervention.

Power of Positive Thinking – Mayo Clinic

“Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.”

This may sound a bit “new age” – and it’s true that a list of positive changes in our lives that we decide to just talk about may never come to fruition.  But as Christians we have the transformational power of prayer at our fingertips (James 5:16).  And our challenge will be to not only listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance but to then pray daily those changes.

It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.

Oswald Chambers

So, get out a new sheet of paper and join me as we create our transformation list January 11-29.  A transformation into mature Jesus followers.  A transformation into the people God truly wants us to be.  Because up until now, what have you truly done to walk fully in the life He wants for you?

bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, Uncategorized

Patience, Grasshopper

krisshetter

I’ve told my friends that looking back over my life so far, I really have only one regret.  It’s that I wish I had a closer relationship with Jesus when I was the parent of young kids.  My husband and I attended church fairly regularly.  But I was wrapped up in childrearing worries and stresses and didn’t know how to turn all that over to God.   I could’ve enjoyed many more hours of sleep had I not been such a “woulda, coulda, shoulda” person.  I found myself, during a very long season of self-doubt about my parenting skills, constantly praying for patience.  Literally praying every single night for about two years for patience.  You see, I was so afraid of turning into my mother – screaming at my kids and losing control – that I thought patience was the answer.  One Sunday, our pastor’s sermon was about praying.  He said, “If you keep praying about the same problem over and over and over maybe it’s time to start praying for something different.”   He had a knack for speaking on issues near and dear to me.   So that night I stopped praying for patience and instead prayed for ways to help me deal with difficult situations.

As I’ve grown closer to Jesus, He has taught me a lot of lessons.  He’s still teaching me.  And step-by-step He has moved me closer to my original plea for patience.  You see, I wasn’t ready to learn the hard stuff yet.  He just wanted me to start turning to Him when I was in need, when I was broken.  Patience may be a virtue but it is a heck of a hard thing to have and use regularly.  

You, too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”

James 5:8

I first needed to learn what standing firm, standing safely in God’s arms even meant.  I didn’t have the wisdom needed to grasp the joy in hearing that the Lord is coming near.  I heard on a Joyce Meyer’s podcast this morning that God gives us a lot of leeway and grace when we first become Christians.  But once we hear the Word and gain His wisdom, expectations change.  We are expected to act as His children, not as children of this world.  Think about that.  Every time we attend church, do a Bible study, listen to a Christian podcast, see a Christian post on social media we are hearing His Word.  We are learning the nature and expectations of God.  And He expects us to live as He prescribes.

A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is the one’s glory to overlook offense.

Proverbs 19:11

Wisdom that we glean from God yields patience.  And when we are patient, that glorifies what we have learned from God.  We cannot be steeped in the nature of God without also knowing and acting in patience.  Why? Because patience means love.  It means grace.  It means forgiveness.  Thank God He is patient with us.  I never feel God rushes me to learn a lesson.  In fact, my lesson in patience has taken about 26 years.

I looked up on-line “how to be patient.”  I came across a website that focuses on self -improvement.  Here’s their reasons why we should learn patience.

  1. We make better decisions by assessing situations rather than going in emotional and blind.
  2. We have less stress by understanding some things take longer than others.
  3. Our relationships are improved because we are more flexible and understanding.

Doesn’t that all sound like something God would want from us?  Being wise, giving our stress up to God, and loving and being grace-filled toward others.

They then described a 6-step process for learning patience:

  1. Understand and counteract triggers
  2. Increase your self-confidence
  3. Put on your “positive glasses”
  4. Change your attitude – “why are you in such a hurry?”
  5. Visualize worst case scenarios
  6. Release tension and stress through eating right, exercise, enjoying activities

Now imaging trying to do all that without God.  Here’s my Christian re-do of these six steps:

  • Pray for God to reveal the areas where you struggle with patience (sometimes we pretend we aren’t being impatient and justify our actions) 

John 16:24, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.  Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

  • Recognize that God loves you.  Accept He wants the very best for you.  

John 16:27, “No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” 

  • Remember that joy can be found in trials.  And most of all that God has delivered for you in the past.  He is faithful. 

2 Thes 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”

  • Rejoice each and every day, if not every hour, for all the great things in your life.  

Prov 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

  • To be honest, visualizing worst case scenarios has been helpful to me.  If I’m waiting in a long line at Costco and start getting impatient I think, “Well, what have I got to be impatient for anyways?” or “Well, if I’m late because of this line I can call ahead and let them know.”  

Matt 6:27, “Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

  • Yes, eat right, exercise, enjoy new and old activities.  And pray.  And pray.  And pray.  Give up all those thoughts, those worries, those fears, those negative emotions to God.  Cry out to Jesus and ask Him to remove whatever negative thought you have right then. 

1 Samuel 2:1, “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high.  My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.”

When we get closer to God – become fluent in His character – that is when He can work His ways in us.  And God is always patient with us.  My friend and I were having lunch today and she said she is starting to have more moments in her difficult life where she looks up and gives a little smile – recognizing those growth moments God has put in front of her.  As for me, I described for her my process of writing and how I study the topic, pray, and then start writing.  I rarely stop writing one of these posts until I am done.  The words just come out of me onto the computer.  My whole body is focused on getting these words down.  I told her how weird it was that I was interrupted multiple times while writing this post.  And as I drove home from lunch, I was listening to a praise song and it hit me.  Patience.  The topic of this post.  And I had just been tested.  I was not annoyed about the interruptions.  I felt blessed hearing from a few friends.  And normally I would’ve been distracted during lunch, thinking about what else I needed to write.  I would’ve failed my friend who I need to support during this time in her life.

I called my friend from my car and said, “I just got it!  Patience!  I was tested!”  And she said, “I realized that while you were telling me.  And I’m glad it finally came to you.”  Maybe this whole actually studying God’s Word really does work.  Time to look up and smile.

30daysofpraise, christian encouragement, Uncategorized

Always Faithful

krisshetter

Have you ever “waited for the other shoe to drop?”  I used to live my life out that way all the time.  If something was good, I was just waiting for it to go bad.  If something was bad, I was waiting for it to get worse.  I truly don’t understand how my husband has put up with me for 31 years.  If we got a nice tax return and decided to go on a trip, I just knew some extraordinary expense was going to come up.  My “buyer’s remorse” was legendary amongst my family.  It’s not surprising that my faith in God was at best lukewarm and at worst non-existent.

As I’ve learned and studied more about the character of God one thing stands out above all else – he is ever faithful and never changing.  Throughout the Bible He reminds us that He will keep His covenant with us.  He is the rock to stand on, the bronze wall to withstand attacks, and the fireproof blanket that keeps us from the flames.  Malachi 3:6 says, “I, the Lord do not change; So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.”  But notice who does change: “Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them.”  All God asks of us, “Return to me, and I will return to you.”

Is there anything in your life that is so stalwart? No.  I can say that without even knowing you.  Our friends will disappoint us.  Our spouses will fail us.  Our families might even turn from us.  Our houses will crumble and our bodies will decay.  But God is always faithful, always present, always waiting for our return – with open arms.

I found this beautiful version of Take Me to The Rock that I hope you enjoy! When was there a time you felt God had left you only to realize the opposite had occurred? Share your praise in the comments below!