Happy New Year!
In this new year I want to continue to grow, to learn and to live my Back 9 mission statement, “Encouraging others to lead a life of significance.”
Today, I want to bring to your attention, while reminding myself daily, that the way we think and what we choose to believe affects everything we do. Many people roll their eyes when you speak about “positive” thinking, but I can say for sure I would rather be positive than negative. Who wouldn’t rather be around positive people than negative people? I know I prefer the positive!
I love to study in Numbers 13 the account of the 12 spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan which God had ALREADY PROMISED to give them. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who came back with the attitude and mindset of “let’s take the land!” Their outlook was positive and full of FAITH!
They were the minority. The other ten reported a land “flowing with milk and honey,” but had NO “trust” in the promise of God. The ten men saw the size of the people and their strength and said, “We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that’s how we must have looked to them.” “We can’t attack them and take the land.”
They were negative.
I would like to encourage you as you are just stepping into this new year–there will be highs, lows, happy times, sad times, and all the stuff that comes in between. That stuff in between is life too! None of us can predict the future or what is around the corner, but we all have some choices that only we can make:
1) Who will we look to for direction? Ourselves? Other men? Or, our Creator?
2) Who will we choose to trust?
3) What will be our personal outlook and attitude?
When I study Scripture I see that Caleb and Joshua saw the very same thing the other 10 men saw. BUT, who they chose to look to, who they chose to trust affected their outlook and attitude….which allowed them to enter the Promised Land. The other 10 wandered for 40 years in the desert and then died without ever entering the land which God had promised to them as well. Those 10 CHOSE DIFFERENTLY and those choices impacted their future.
I encourage you this year to choose Jesus.
Trust Him with your life.
We face a battle. It sounds exhausting but I can give witness that even though I am tired at times and have moments of discouragement, it is exhilarating because I have learned who to turn to–Jesus. He is the source, the LIGHT, for our paths. Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill HIS GOOD purpose” [emphasis mine].
Don’t miss this–we were created by God for God and His will. Your life can be so meaningful and fulfilling but it takes a realization, an embracing and surrendering to HIS Will, not ours!
All Scripture is God breathed and intended for us to apply to our lives. Believe and embrace this Scripture for your lives as you surrender to Jesus: “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
Invite Jesus into your life, to be Lord of your life. Allow His Holy Spirit to do a new thing in your heart, thus in your mind, thus changing your actions, which, in turn, will change your life.
If you already have a relationship with Jesus, seek to go deeper. I can give personal testimony that the deeper I go, the more alive and more rewarding life has become.
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” ~Winston Churchill
May we all make choices in 2019 that reflect an attitude that is positive and full of faith as we seek to trust God and live out God’s will in our own lives.
