Did you know that your thoughts determine your attitude? Stop and think for a minute about how you start each day. Do you start the day praising God or saying, “Oh, no! Another day to work!” There is no such thing as an “oh, no, another day” for Christians. Or at least there should not be. Our minds should be fixed on Heaven and serving the Father each day, to the best of our abilities. I was one who used to arise, tired and feeling defeated with a “poor me” attitude. But God showed me that He wants me to have an attitude of gratitude each day. Joyce Meyer has some excellent advice for those of us who tend to have an “Eeyore” kind of spirit. She says that each time we have a negative thought, we should focus on something about which we can be thankful. Praise God! It works! I can’t say that I don’t have negative thoughts at all any longer, but I choose to focus on the positive. And you know what? It shows on my face! I am God’s child and I choose to focus on the good things that are happening in my world!

If all that I think about is what is happening on earth, all of the negative things that I hear daily in the news, then my focus is not where it belongs. So, I still listen to the news, but instead of being dismayed by it, I pray about the situation and move on to thanking God for whatever He brings to my mind. I was not created to be a negative person. I was created to praise my Creator, so changing what I think about has been life-changing. As most of you know, I have surgery coming up in a week and a half. I am choosing to focus on the good things: the surgeon is skilled and has an excellent reputation, the hospital is a Christian one and the staff will pray with you if you ask them to, my husband has been supportive and compassionate throughout this ordeal, my children have been encouraging me, my online friends have offered support and encouragement, and the list goes on and on. I could focus on the scary operation and all that could go wrong. But I am CHOOSING to focus on the good because I have been called as a child of the King of Kings and nothing is going to happen to me that He doesn’t allow.

The people in the world have a tendency to focus on the negative. Have you noticed that there are a lot of complainers and whiners in the world? I recall that when my children were young and would whine, I would tell them that I couldn’t understand them when they whined; they had to speak clearly and tell me just what it was they expected me to do for them. Once they stopped whining, I would talk through the problem with them. I can just feel God saying to His people, “Would you just stop whining and tell me clearly what it is you expect from me?” Our minds and hearts are being changed daily to be more like the Lord so that we can say that we will do whatever the Lord wants us to do, that we will accept the bad with the good and thank Him for the good. Is this easy to do? No, of course not! Nothing that has value is easy. But you can train your mind to be renewed by selecting what you think about. I hope that you choose to think about what is good and perfect and pure. The world won’t change, but you will! Blessings for a good day filled with thankfulness!

Where I Belong by Building 429