Mrs Janelle Dignan
Pastor's Wife
Bible Baptist Church
Jefferson City, MO
You Decide!
Did you make any new year resolutions this year?
This year, more than ever, I want to make each day count for Christ. I want to make each day a " good day". The more time I spend having "bad days", being depressed, stressed, worried, and having pity parties, the less time I have to live for Christ and make a difference in my sphere of influence.
Isn't it amazing how circumstances can affect and control us? We wake up to a dark, rainy day so we are grumpy and down in the dumps all day long. You woke up late, you woke up " on the wrong side of the bed", you don't feel well, the kids were fighting all morning, your daughter spilled her milk all over the floor, your husband tracked in mud all over your freshly mopped floor, you got a flat tire on the way to work, etc. etc. These and many more are bad moments that we transfer and change into "bad days".
John 10:10 "...I am come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." So many of us are just trying to cope through life. CHRIST came to give us a life abundant.
I have met people going through terrible trials who have had the most amazing, positive attitudes. While I've met others, who have stubbed their toe on the bedpost the night before and they just don't think they are going to make it. What is the difference?
I believe the difference between these two groups of people are their focus.
Here are a few tips to help us keep our focus on the right things and to help us choose to make each day good:
1. Start each day in God's Word. Read and apply God's Word to your life.
Psalm 119:16 "I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word."
2. Pray. Do not just read down a list and monologue to God. Have an open conversation and listen to His Voice. Maybe just be silent for a time.
Matthew 6:7 "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do..."
Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
3. Be thankful. Each day, for about the last decade, I have written some things down from that day for which I am thankful. Some are big things for which I am thankful and some are very small. Even if many things went wrong that day you can still find something for which to be thankful. It is amazing at the end of the year how I can look back through my journal and see how blessed I have been. This brings even more gratefulness. This has helped me to keep my focus on positive things. Never forget to be thankful!
You will find this theme in principle from the beginning of the Bible clear to the end: be thankful!
Thankful people always go further in life.
Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."
4. Meditate. This is a very key element in the Christian's life. Meditation is so difficult because of the mind discipline it requires and because of the busy day and age in which we live. Psalm 46:10 says to "Be still and know that I am God..." Meditate on God's power and His Majesty, meditate on His justice, mercy, and grace. Meditate on His goodness! Meditate on the blessings of God. Meditate on what You can do for God. Meditate on God's Word! Meditate on the cross! The list could go on and on. If we could just incorporate this one thing into our daily lives, it could make all the difference in the world. A survey was given to many successful businessmen and many of them had one thing in common. Each of these men would meditate 10-15 minutes each day on being successful.
How important Biblical meditation is to the Christian!
Psalm 1:2
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."
Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:..."
So, tomorrow morning when you awake, incorporate these tips into your life then, you decide.
Am I going to choose to make today a "good day" or a "bad day"?
You decide!
Did you make any new year resolutions this year?
This year, more than ever, I want to make each day count for Christ. I want to make each day a " good day". The more time I spend having "bad days", being depressed, stressed, worried, and having pity parties, the less time I have to live for Christ and make a difference in my sphere of influence.
Isn't it amazing how circumstances can affect and control us? We wake up to a dark, rainy day so we are grumpy and down in the dumps all day long. You woke up late, you woke up " on the wrong side of the bed", you don't feel well, the kids were fighting all morning, your daughter spilled her milk all over the floor, your husband tracked in mud all over your freshly mopped floor, you got a flat tire on the way to work, etc. etc. These and many more are bad moments that we transfer and change into "bad days".
John 10:10 "...I am come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." So many of us are just trying to cope through life. CHRIST came to give us a life abundant.
I have met people going through terrible trials who have had the most amazing, positive attitudes. While I've met others, who have stubbed their toe on the bedpost the night before and they just don't think they are going to make it. What is the difference?
I believe the difference between these two groups of people are their focus.
Here are a few tips to help us keep our focus on the right things and to help us choose to make each day good:
1. Start each day in God's Word. Read and apply God's Word to your life.
Psalm 119:16 "I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word."
2. Pray. Do not just read down a list and monologue to God. Have an open conversation and listen to His Voice. Maybe just be silent for a time.
Matthew 6:7 "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do..."
Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
3. Be thankful. Each day, for about the last decade, I have written some things down from that day for which I am thankful. Some are big things for which I am thankful and some are very small. Even if many things went wrong that day you can still find something for which to be thankful. It is amazing at the end of the year how I can look back through my journal and see how blessed I have been. This brings even more gratefulness. This has helped me to keep my focus on positive things. Never forget to be thankful!
You will find this theme in principle from the beginning of the Bible clear to the end: be thankful!
Thankful people always go further in life.
Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."
4. Meditate. This is a very key element in the Christian's life. Meditation is so difficult because of the mind discipline it requires and because of the busy day and age in which we live. Psalm 46:10 says to "Be still and know that I am God..." Meditate on God's power and His Majesty, meditate on His justice, mercy, and grace. Meditate on His goodness! Meditate on the blessings of God. Meditate on what You can do for God. Meditate on God's Word! Meditate on the cross! The list could go on and on. If we could just incorporate this one thing into our daily lives, it could make all the difference in the world. A survey was given to many successful businessmen and many of them had one thing in common. Each of these men would meditate 10-15 minutes each day on being successful.
How important Biblical meditation is to the Christian!
Psalm 1:2
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."
Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:..."
So, tomorrow morning when you awake, incorporate these tips into your life then, you decide.
Am I going to choose to make today a "good day" or a "bad day"?
You decide!
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