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What you fix your mind on and determine to do will become who you are! 

Paul tells the church of Philippi to “FIX” their thoughts on what is ” true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.”  And to “Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” This has often been my go to verse when I need to get myself off an old negative thinking tape and back on the right track.

But after reading this verse many times before, this time I saw something new.

In the very next verse Paul encourages them to “keep putting into practice all you have learned…everything you have heard from me and saw me doing. THEN the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4: 8-9, emphasis mine).

So here you have Paul in prison telling those who are outside the four walls of his dark cell to Fix their thoughts on what is worthy of praise. He says do what you see me doing even in my darkest moment stuck here in a prison cell. Paul said he realized how to be content in all circumstances…whether he was full or hungry, whether he had much or little.

I am always drawn to people who push through and remain who they are no matter what circumstance surrounds them. How did Paul do it? His model was Jesus. He knew who he was through knowing Jesus intimately and he never forgot what he was doing it for. Once you know the “Who” God created you to be – no circumstance can change that.

Paul tells them what you know to be good and right and true KEEP doing it. KEEP at it. PRACTICE what you have learned and THEN peace will come.  Even in the trial, the dark  moments of our lives, we can feel peace if we maintain our focus on the good and not the evil around us.

I think we lose peace when we lose sight. When we allow our circumstances to lie to us and make us forget who we really are and what we were placed here to do, we lose our PEACE.

The problem is we hear, we see,  and if we are really inspired and motivated we do it once or twice. BUT we don’t keep at it long enough for it to become a part of us – for it to become who we are. And we especially don’t keep at it when the going gets tough. We allow excuses to take over and we listen to the wrong messages. The messages that direct us far from who we want to become.

I thought about the old phrase “monkey see monkey do” and became curious. I wanted to know how people train monkeys to do human tasks – tasks that are unnatural for them. Of course these days you can find a video on everything. So I saw how people in Thailand were training monkeys to pick coconuts.

The very first step in training a monkey to pick a coconut was not what you might think. The first thing they did was have the monkey watch a human spin and touch a coconut. The monkey struggled to be held against his will and clearly did not want to be there. But over and over the monkey watched and took it all in.

The next thing the trainer did was put his hand on the coconut with the monkey and began to spin the coconut together. The monkey resisted at first not understanding what he was being asked to do. But by the end he was spinning the coconut like a pro all on his own. When the monkey had mastered being comfortable with handling the coconut, the trainers set up low hanging coconuts to practice on. He struggled to break the coconuts free and then with each success he grew more and more confident. Now he was ready for the real deal. Swinging from tree to tree and breaking the coconuts free. By the end of the monkey’s training, he was able to pick 500 plus coconuts a day.

Are you seeing a pattern, yet? The monkey watched then he did. The monkey grew one step at a time, struggling to master each new task. He got good at the basics then became great at his trade. The problem is we see others who are at the top of their game and not when they were struggling to get there. We feel down on ourselves because we aren’t where they are and doing what they are doing. But are we willing to keep at it- no matter what the cost? No matter how much we struggle?

How do we become the person that seems so out of reach for us? How do we accomplish what is unnatural for us? Monkeys weren’t born to be coconut pickers. If they can learn to do something completely out of the norm, can’t we?

Les Brown is a motivational speaker whose life wasn’t always so motivational. He recounts the many struggles he had to overcome to get to the “Les” we see today. I love his story of refusing to accept a no and spending countless hours and time learning, growing, and intentionally putting in his mind the messages that would help him reach his goals. He said “I was HUNGRY! People that are hungry are willing to do the things today others won’t do in order to have the things tomorrow that others won’t have.”

The thing about Les is he chose his mentors wisely. He found people who were living the dream he had in his heart and watched and watched and watched some more. He soaked it in and intentionally chose the messages he listened to. His mentor once told him “You must program yourself to succeed.” He instructed Les to read 10-15 pages of something positive every day because “faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing”.

I find I have to continually fill myself with truth or else the negative begins to creep its way back in. Yesterday, wasn’t a good day. I struggled to see the purpose in the countless hours I am putting towards the dream in my heart. I couldn’t even motivate myself to write this blog. But this morning I woke up determine to throw out the old tapes that make me think small and intentionally put the right message in my heart. And I began to write…

What old tapes do you need to throw out so you can make room for the right messages? Messages that will encourage you to become the “WHO” you never thought you could be? Graham Cooke says, “What we focus on we empower.” What are you empowering in your life? Will what you are empowering help you become the “You” – you are dreaming of? If not, I suggest you choose your mentors and messages more wisely!

Be Blessed ~ Be a LIGHT!

However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. Ephesians 4:7

What do we do when life doesn’t work out as we planned? My daughter turned 9 this week and unfortunately she woke up puking instead of celebrating. It was definitely a bummer and not the way we wanted her birthday to go.

Fortunately, for her,  the next day she bounced back to life again. But for some of us, we can feel like the bounce back never comes. Like life is just one loooooooong bad day. Somehow our Cinderella fairy tales don’t seem so dreamy anymore and we wonder, “How did I get here?”

This world can throw punches – one hit after the next. Knocking us down again and again.  Then to add insult to injury our own mind chimes in and beats us up some more.  We tell ourselves horrible things – things we would never want anyone else to hear.

Oh come on admit it – are you your best cheerleader or are you more like a drill sergeant  that points out every missed step? One thing I know, is the punches will always hurt worse when you turn your back on yourself when you need yourself the most.

Ephesians 4:7-12 tells us that God gave each one of us a special gift in order that we may build up others.  I think the devil tries to keep us distracted with all these messy, painful, and frustrating moments to keep us from opening our gift.

My daughter may have been sick on her birthday, but we still opened gifts. Fortunately for us – none of the bad, the ugly, the shameful things that have happened to us can negate God’s gift. The bible says that God knew you before you were even born, and set you apart by appointing you to a special task. (Jeremiah 1: 5)

This is my “WHY”.  I want to be a light that helps others see theirs. I don’t want anyone in my reach to miss opening their unique gift to the world. Every heart deserves to be rescued. Rescued from the pit of “I’m not enough” and encouraged to be all they were created for!

That devil – he’s sneaky. He is good at keeping us from believing God would care enough to give us a unique gift.  He has convince countless hearts they are too unworthy, too damaged, too disgusting, too unloveable to be used for anything good.

Pastor Steve Furtick says these painful moments in our lives are just “scenes not the story”. God is not finished. Don’t let a scene direct your entire story.  Don’t let the devil lie to you that just because something bad happened to you – a bad ending is inevitable.

NO, IT IS JUST NOT TRUE. NO MATTER WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU, YOU HAVE A GIFT MEANT ONLY FOR YOU JUST WAITING TO BE OPENED!

You can change the ending to your story. Your story doesn’t have to follow the script your hurt begs you write.  Sometimes the biggest fear we have to overcome is the fear of who we think we aren’t! Our messy ugly scenes can lie to us. They make us believe,  “that’s all she wrote”.

Don’t let the devil convince you any longer that you don’t have a WHY! YOU have a specific WHY deep inside of YOU that only YOU can do.  Be determined to not let another year pass without discovering your WHY and refuse to let the painful scenes you’ve experienced keep you from creating the ending God has been dreaming for you all along!!!

Share your WHY with the World. I’d love to hear your unique WHY below.

Be Blessed – Be a LIGHT!

“If your reason isn’t big enough, your excuses will be!” ~unknown

I often need reminded, refuel, and encourage to keep on keeping on and to not give up on the dream God has placed in my heart when the going gets tough. I  would be lying if I told you I never wanted to throw in the towel. The thing I have found is that every time I have felt pulled in the opposite direction of what God has for me, He is always there to remind me of my call!

I want to be that for you today. I want to  encourage you that whatever you’re working towards Don’t You Dare Give Up! Keep doing one thing each day that aligns you with the new you you want to be, and before you know it, you just might not recognize yourself anymore.

Words are powerful and sometimes when we can’t seem to muster the strength to believe in a better tomorrow,  we need someone else who was once where we are to speak into our heart a truth that ignites our dreams again. My prayer is that this list of 40 quotes that have encouraged me to keep going, will encourage you. Some are my ideas and some are from those who have helped me remember the reason I began this journey in the first place!

1. All successful endings require someone who was willing to take the first step afraid. ~ Josie Muterspaw Shine Healing Ministries
2. Your willingness to be a light can change a life. ~Josie Muterspaw Shine Healing Ministries
3. Success is not an indication of how much knowledge you begin with, it is an indication of how much effort you are willing to expend.~Josie Muterspaw Shine Healing Ministries
4.  A mind made up refuses to listen to anything but the possible. ~Josie Muterspaw Shine Healing Ministries
5. Every success is the result of a struggle that someone overcame! ~ Josie Muterspaw Shine Healing Ministries
6. FEAR has two meanings: Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. The Choice is yours! ~unknown
7.  Impossible is God’s starting point. ~ Christine Caine
8. Life is too short, the world is too big, and God’s love is too Great to live ordinary. ~ Christine Caine
9. People who won’t take step #1 will never take step #2. ~ Zig Ziglar
10.  Anything in your life that feels hopeless is under the influence of a lie. ~ Bill Johnson
11. Learn to walk in God’s perception of who you are, because yours is not good enough. ~ Graham Cooke
12. Problems are invitations. They allow us to have encounters and experiences that enable us to discover who God is for us. ~ Graham Cooke
13. Whatever we focus on, we give power to. ~ Graham Cooke
14. A renewed mind transforms every circumstance into a kingdom opportunity. ~ Graham Cooke
15. The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. ~ Tony Robbins
16.  Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. ~ unknown
17. Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. ~ unknown
18. Don’t downgrade your dream to reach your reality. Upgrade your conviction to match your destiny. ~ unknown
19. You are your only limit. ~ unknown
20.  Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. ~ unknown
21. The fears we don’t face become our limits. ~ unknown
22. The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. ~ Rob Siltanen
23. Excuses sound best to the one making them up. ~ Tyrese Gibson
24. Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. ~ George Bernard Shaw
25. If you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want become the sacrifice. ~ unknown
26.  When you are interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient; but when you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. ~ Kenneth Blanchard
27. Every person falls down at some point. Successful people choose to get back up. ~ Dave Ramsey
28. If you want something you’ve never had, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done. ~ Dave Ramsey
29. Where you are today is the sum of every choice you’ve ever made. If you don’t like where you are, start making different choices. ~ Dave Ramsey
30. When you realize God’s purpose for your life isn’t just about you, He will use you in a mighty way. ~ Dr. Tony Evans
31. Part of reaching your destiny is understanding your detours. ~ Dr. Tony Evans
32. There is something down inside of you that knows there is something more and it’s roaring to get out. ~ T. D. Jakes
33. Success is never an accident, it is always on purpose. ~ T. D. Jakes
34. It’s not so much where you are going, it’s what your willing to give up to get there. ~ T. D. Jakes
35. Routine is the enemy of instinct…it’s better to change and fail than settle. ~ T. D. Jakes
36. Change is inevitable, growth is optional. ~ John Maxwell
37. If we are growing, we will always be out of our comfort zone. ~ John Maxwell
38. Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time. ~John Maxwell
39.  You will never influence the world by trying to be liked. ~ John Maxwell
40.  Don’t be so afraid of what you aren’t that you never find who you are. ~ Josie Muterspaw Shine Healing Ministries

Be crazy with me and believe you can change the world! The next time you feel like giving up reach for this list and refuel your heart with a new determination to NEVER GIVE UP OR GIVE IN! God has great and mighty plans for your life. You were place here to be a light that changes another’s life. Who will miss out if you choose not to be that light?

I’d love to hear from you. So be sure to share your thoughts or a quote or Bible verse that has been a source of encouragement to you below!

Be Blessed ~ Be a LIGHT!

This is the time of year when we pause to reevaluate our lives and long for something new or different. What I have found is this is often short lived. You see we are really good at thinking about all the changes we want but not so good at addressing the heart issue that may be keeping us from those changes.

I recently was studying a verse that really made me have to take a double look at this whole issue we can experience in our heart.

“For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, …and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them” (Matthew 13:15, NLT).

In my many years of counseling others, I have seen this heart condition often. Pain and fear of more pain cause us to shut down and harden our hearts in certain areas. Then we don’t hear Him, see Him, understand Him,  or turn to Him. We close off our heart and don’t allow God into the places we need Him most. The last phrase of this verse is what really caught my eye…”they cannot turn to me and LET me heal them.”

It is a cry from his heart to ours – begging us not to close off.  Because when we do we don’t let Him in so He can heal us.

What I ask you to consider, is there a place in your heart that has been crushed with such an intensity that you have closed it off and are resistance to opening it up again? This unhealed place may be the very thing that is keeping you from the changes you long for in 2017.

I guess in the end the places we harden are the places we most struggle to let something go. There are various definitions of a harden heart that point to the seriousness of such a state. To be hardened means we become unresponsive, resistant to God’s grace, determined to believe a certain way, and left callous and unable to feel. I have found the harder the heart the deeper the hurt and that fear and shame are the greatest initiators.

We all have moments where our hearts are broken; a promise not kept, a moment we felt unloved, used, or unimportant. These moments mark our soul whether we acknowledge them or not with beliefs we form about ourselves and others that can block our ability to give and receive love.

The real problem is that when we are hurt, we can live imprisoned by the fear of more hurt. Then we end up rejecting the gift those who come into our lives desperately try to give us, especially God.  Fear becomes our rudder directing us everywhere we turn. We fear rejection, being known, being different, being vulnerable, failing, not being good enough for anyone or anything and we hardened more and more.

I love Danny Gokey’s song, Tell Your Heart to Beat Again. There a line that says: “Yesterday’s a closing door you don’t live there anymore. Say goodbye to where you’ve been and tell your heart to beat again.” We all have to come to a decision if we want real change, to stop letting our painful experiences paint the possibilities of our future and realized it is never too late to tell our heart to beat again.

George Vaillant, a Harvard psychiatrist who directed one of the largest and longest studies on adult development answered the question we all have, “What accounts for a happier and more meaningful life?” After 75 years of study Valliant confidently stated, “The study’s most important finding is that the only thing that matters in life is relationships…there are two pillars of happiness: one is love, the other is finding a way of coping with life that does not push love away.”

There you have it, letting yourself be loved and loving others is the single most important thing you will ever do if your goal is a more meaningful and happy life!

Robert Waldinger, the current director of the above study, says, “being human means there’s a wall-builder in all of us.”

My prayer for your new year is a NEW HEART BEAT. This will require that you let yourself be fully known by God and others. Even the places in your heart you’ve tucked away long ago. I know the thought of this may terrify you, but you will never find the acceptance you long if you don’t fight back your inner “wall-builder”. We all need the experience of being fully known and accepted by another- experiencing someone who really gets us and accepts us for all that we are and all that we aren’t.

God’s love is the unconditional acceptance every heart needs and longs for. He is the most stable, regulating, and unfailing relationship we could ever pursue. We need Him. His love is matchless. His grace is unending. He knows everything about us yet loves us anyway.

God meets us right where we are, not expecting us to have it all together. The Bible is clear that nothing can separate us from His love. The only thing standing in the way is us – we refuse to embrace Him back. We find it hard to accept and believe His love is unconditional, and needs no pre-requisites or qualification to apply. Unfortunately, our view of God is clouded by our early relationships. The ability to view God as unconditionally loving, delighting in us, and caring deeply about our wounds can be hard to comprehend.

NO MORE RULES !

Jesus came to change the rules you have been playing by. Maybe others in your life made you feel you had to earn love and somehow you always fell short. His sacrifice placed a red X across the pages of that rule book marking out every condition placed on you by others in order to be loved, and accepted.  He became the sacrifice He knew we could never be, to release us from the rules and regulations of our past. He said “It is finished” no more sacrifices needed.

Paul emphatically stressed that we cannot add anything too what Christ already accomplished. He was passionate about reminding the early Christians that we should not invalidate the grace of God by stacking a checklist of rules in front of the free gift Christ gave us through the cross. He stated, “If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily” (Gal 2:21 MSG). If we feel we have to clean up our own mess before God will accept us, we have missed the message of the Cross.

All words fall short when trying to describe what His love makes possible. He waits, longing for you to let Him in. He wants to gently pick up the million pieces of your broken heart and put you back together again. This is God promise to us, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean…And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezekiel 36:25-26, NLT).

God wants to give you a new, tender, and responsive heart. He only asks that you open up to Him; placing within His hands all the fears of what love used to mean so that He can show you what real love is. He is longing for you let your heart beat again and receive what is freely yours: freedom, love, acceptance, grace, hope, and a forever connection.

Will you tell your heart to beat again?  I pray you let this love letter from God’s heart to yours sink into any deep and devastated places within you and soften your protective barriers. My prayer for you is that 2017 will be the year you see the changes you long for and your heart will beat in a whole new way!

My Beloved,

My heart is for you. I long for you to understand how much I love and adore you. I smile every time I think of you. Nothing you have ever done, thought, or experienced could make me not love you. I rejoice when you rejoice and hurt when you hurt. Give your heart back to me – all of your heart. I want to offer you a RESET button – my grace. Let me plant new dreams, new hopes, new life in the soil of your heart. I have such great plans for you. I can’t wait to tell you all about them. Please don’t hide your heart from me any longer. Don’t you see my plans and purposes for you need your cooperation? You have 100% of my love and acceptance – no strings attached. You don’t need to do anything more, better, or greater to receive my love. No more striving in your own strength to earn what is already freely yours. Trust in me again. I long to heal your every hurt, your every disappointment. I accept you fully, love you wholly, and want you on my team. You are mine and I will never let you go. Open your heart to me so that I can set you free!

Yours Truly,

Jesus

Be Blessed – Be a LIGHT

(Excerpts from this blog post are copied from my book, Shining Freely, coming in 2017.)

 

Christmas lights shining bright, presents wrapped neatly under the tree, and baby Jesus in manger are just a few of the many reminders of the season. My heart smiles when I hear the  sweet little voices of children singing one of my favorite Christmas songs: “Happy birthday, Jesus. I’m so glad it’s Christmas. All the tinsel and lights and the presents are nice but the real gift is You.”

All this holly jolly spirit got me thinking about what Jesus would say about what Christmas has become.  If He is the “REASON FOR THE SEASON” what would He want us to know? I believe He would say:

I came and made myself vulnerable for you – because you matter to me. I knew it was going to require everything of me. Even my very life, but you were worth it all. I understand why gifts are given this time of year, but an important point has been missed. You give things – I gave from the deepest part of me. I gave you all of my heart. What would Christmas be like if my people actually became vulnerable with each other and gave from their heart instead of their wallet? Many people have forgotten how to love because of modern day conveniences. You give a gift card instead of performing an act of love. How would Christmas be different if you stopped giving things and you gave from the deepest part of you? Christmas should not be just a one time of year holiday – it should be a lifestyle of shining your light everyday to make someone else’s merry and bright! The point of why I came has been lost. It was all for LOVE- being love to make others feel loved.  It was never meant to be about giving things but always about being the gift for another. 

How many times have you given a gift out of convenience, instead of your heart? I am guilty of the same. So many gifts to buy so many presents to wrap. “Oh, this looks good” we say – often failing to think about the heart needs of the one we are giving to.

Convenience means “the state of being able to proceed with something with little effort or difficulty.” Wow, does that not describe what Christmas has become – a routine. Something that requires little effort and thought.

Giving from the heart means something entirely different. It is about being vulnerable – fully open and willing to sacrifice.  Jesus came knowing it would cost him everything, but He came anyway. It is sad to say but with all the media displays of trauma and sorrow and all the pain we’ve personally felt,  we end up largely cut off from our hearts. Its just too risky to love like Jesus loved.

It is easier to give from our wallet than risk from our heart. 

That’s really what it all comes down to – it isn’t convenient to love. It requires much effort to connect and go the extra mile to make someone else feel special, important, and noticed!

We have all felt it – the smile that spread across our face when we see Christmas lights beautifully displayed. Somehow Christmas lights never lose their wonder and always bring a smile to the young and old. No matter your age when in the presence of bright shining lights, we feel warm, joyful, hopeful, and even a little excited about what is to come!

What convinced us to put our lights away and only display them one time of year?

You, yes you reading this right now, were place here in this time, in this space strategically by God to be a light to your world. What impact could we make as CHRIST- followers if we SHINED our light the whole year through? What hearts would warmed? What joy, hope, and excitement could be spread?

Christmas is about so much more that things wrapped under the tree. This is what CHRISTMAS means to me:

Christ’s love spill for you and me

Humility and vulnerability that was willing to meet our deepest need…and our

Responsibility as Christ followers to…

Illuminate our light and

Spread love…by

Thinking of other’s needs above our own…while having

Merry and joyful hearts…so that we

Add value to those around us…because we are willing to

Selflessly love one another!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS -May you never look at Christmas the same again and PLEASE, don’t put your light away. Keep them shining all year long!

Be Blessed – Be a LIGHT!

 

“Be mindful of the future but not at the expense of the moment.”

                                                                                            ~ Qui Gon Jinn

I am not so good at the whole fun side of life. I have always been a “do-er”. I have missed the joy of many moments wading in the waters of discontent. I seem to be most comfortable forging ahead – nose to the ground determined to get to where I am headed. I think I have this invisible productivity meter in my mind always pushing me to do more and warning me when my output is insufficient.

I heard in my heart, Josie, you don’t enjoy life – you seek to conquer it. It is as if I am always on a quest. The act of always looking ahead leaves me off balance. If everything I do is about accomplishing something – when is there time for just plain old fun? I asked myself, “Why does everyday have to involves something BIG to matter?”

We all want balance but often don’t want to give up certain things to obtain it. 

For me to have balance I need to give up my desire to accomplish something BIG everyday! Maybe today the greatest thing I do is hold my daughter and tell her how amazing she is. When did that become not enough in my mind?

What do you need to let go of? What is driving the fun right out of your life? My dream of doing great things for the Lord can’t be more important than the sweet people God has given me to live life with. Fun has to balance out the ambition and drive or one day I will look back and only see all the memories I failed to create.

Anytime we place too much importance on one thing  we run the risk of getting off balance! Is there something in your life tilting you in one direction? Is it a relationship, a promotion your after, a title behind your name, a calling on your life? You may have a pure heart about what you are pursuing. I believe I do. BUT even with good intentions and pure motives we can still get out of balance.

I want to serve God more than anything and do great things for Him, but I can’t get so wrapped up in the future ahead that I forget the simple things of today. I want to enjoy life not conquer it. I want to pause to experience life instead of always pushing ahead. With my nose to the ground I never see the beauty of the moment right in front of me.

Every moment matters! I’ve been asking myself how can I learn to enjoy the simple things of life and not perceive them as insignificant? I am realizing I don’t always have to do a BIG thing each day to make a BIG impact in this life.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.” For me this means I have to balance my ambition with seasons of FUN. I will forever remain out of balance if I refuse to see that life isn’t always about DOING. Sometimes it is just about BEING fully present with the ones I love!

Take a look at your priorities and focus. Are you placing too much emphasis on one aspect of your life causing you to be out of balance in another area of your life?  It is never too late to make a change and balance things out a bit.

Be Blessed ~ Be a LIGHT!

My little one has a bent towards negativity. I see how it destroys her confidence and robs her of joy. As a momma my heart hurts for her, as a therapist I feel compelled to teach her the right way to deal with these nay saying negative robbers of joy.

You see she is an amazing gymnast- a clear natural-born talent. But there is just one BIG problem, her fear and negativity are squeezing every ounce of joy out of it for her.  Her focus is on what she doesn’t like, what she can’t yet do, and how many eyes are upon her.

So given that you can’t take the therapist out of a girl… I came up with an idea. Knowing the dreaded practice was upon us, I decided to help her come up with a go to phrase that she could repeat to shift her focus off those negative thoughts. Oh, I had some good ones  “I can do all things through Christ”  “I CAN DO IT!” and my favorite of all, “Get back fear, Mia’s here!” Oh my, I guess I got a little desperate. She turned her nose up to all my best attempts to encourage her little heart.

She sat at the kitchen table and I could tell her wheels were spinning. Suddenly her sweet little fingers began to write. My eyes were glued with anticipation. She wrote,  “Shut up and do it!”  Not quite the encouraging words I was hoping for, but it will do.

Sometimes we need to be bold with the thoughts that rob us of living life! Her little heart knew just what she needed to do. She needed to tell those thoughts to SHUT UP and then do what she was born to DO!

I’m reminded of a comment Zig Ziglar made. He said, “Not everyone that comes to you with a problem wants to solve it…Some people allow their negative history to determine the possibilities for them.”

Sometimes we rather stay where we are then fight the fears that taunt us. We grow friendly with our negative thoughts and they end up fitting us like a comfy pair of our favorite pajamas. But I want to encourage you since, obviously, I did such a good job at it with my daughter 🙂 to say, “SHUT UP” to the nay saying robbers of joy from your past.  Stop letting your past determine the possibilities for your future!

Negative thoughts will rob you of life every time you believe them!

David knew the best way to live well. Even when he was being chased by an angry mob seeking to kill him, HE PRAISED.  His focus was clear – His eyes and heart were always bent towards God! In Psalm 57: 7-11 we see the words he spoke to the Lord as he was fleeing for his very life.  He said, ” My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! Wake up my heart…I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the Earth.”

Wow, if only we would praise this way – living our lives in awe and being amazed and fully confident in WHO GOD IS for our every need. One of my favorite pastors Graham Cooke says, “Believing has a grin attached to it. Believing has a stance. You are responsible for your confidence. God has given you His WORD – you need to be confident about it. If you don’t believe in the outcome the process will undo you…Rejoicing gets you surrounded by who God is and your perception opens up.”

Open yourself up to awe and wonder. Be amaze by who God is and what He has done for you. Speak life to your dreams and the promises in God’s Word for you.

I decided I would take David’s actions to heart and write my own Psalm of praise to help me remember my focus when life gets gloomy and tries to steal my joy. My wish is to share a piece of my heart with you to encourage you that your focus determines whether or not you will be undone by the process. God already knows the outcome. Will you trust Him to get you there?

My Psalm of Praise

Each morning my heart rejoices in your presence. I jump to my feet to experience more of you. Lord, you are magnificent. You are beauty and grace. You are Holy and so worthy of all my praise. Lord, I lift your name high. You keep your promises to me, you pursue me, you hold me, you comfort me, you guide me, and you shelter me. Lord, I praise you and thank you for meeting me right where I am but with each encounter you never leave me the same. Lord, I am in awe of you – may I never lose sight of you. You propel me forward and I can’t help but follow you. Everything in me longs for more of you. Your love amazes me, consumes me, overwhelms me, and motivates me to be all You have called me to be. Lord, thank you for your love. Thank you for saving me . Thank you that you NEVER give up on me! Thank you that you are faithful, trustworthy, and you will accomplish in my life what YOU have promised. My heart swells when I think of you. My feet dance and my eyes light up when I remember all you have done for me! May thanksgiving, praise, and rejoicing become my lifestyle because You are worthy of nothing less! 

My challenge for you this week my friends is write your own personal Psalm of Praise to God. Meditate on it every day for 7 days and reflect on what changes in you when you focus on Who God is and not your circumstance.  May you be changed from the inside out!

Be sure to comment below with your very own Psalms of praise to encourage us all along on our healing journeys!

Be Blessed – Be a LIGHT!