“The
Lord longs to be gracious to you.”
Isaiah 30:18
On December 31, the clock
strikes midnight ushering in another New Year.
Another 365 days to fan the flames of your unfilled hopes and
dreams. A new beginning and gift full of
promise. But you must accept it, unwrap
it and use it. Not everybody does. Maybe you dread what the New Year holds;
retirement, the empty nest, chronic illness, unemployment, life without a loved
one. Well, God loves to take people at
the end of their rope and set them on the road to peace, joy and victory. He is the expert at drying tears, calming
fears, injecting courage into anxious hearts and removing the sting of old
memories. He “makes all things new” Rev.
21:5. But He never leads you back, just
forward.
Listen: “The Lord longs to be gracious to you.” What do you want to see happen this
year? Does it include having your own
business? Losing some weight? Reuniting with your family? Only you can complete the question, “What if
I could…?” You alone know what makes
your heart leap. Stephen Covey says,
“Begin…with the image of the end of your life as your frame of reference…Each
day will then contribute to the vision you have of your life as a whole.” Seek God.
Determine your goals. Write them
down, and then release the outcome to Him who “longs to be gracious to
you.” To be gracious means “to show
favor.” The desire of God’s heart is that you walk in His grace and favor every
day of this year.
THE
IMPACT OF EVERY WORD YOU SAY
I am sure you have heard
someone say, “You are going to eat those words.” It may sound like a mere phrase to us but in
reality we do eat our words. What we say
not only affects others, but it also affects us. Words are wonderful when used in a proper
way. They can encourage, edify and give
confidence to the hearer. A right word
spoken at the right time can actually be life changing. Proverbs 15:23 says, “A man has joy in making
an apt answer, and a word spoken at the right moment” – how good it is.
Personally, I must bless
with my words and not curse because whatever I say stands and happens the way I
said it. One of the powers the Almighty
God bestowed on me. We can literally
increase our own joy by speaking right words.
We can also upset ourselves by talking unnecessarily about our problems
or things that have hurt us in relationships.
WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN WE SPEAK?
The words that come out of
our mouth go into our own ears as well as other people’s, and then they drop
down into our soul where they give us either joy or sadness, peace or upset,
depending on the types of words we have spoken.
God desires that our spirit be light and free so it can function properly,
not heavy and oppressed. We can learn to
choose our thoughts, to resist wrong ones and think on good, healthy, and right
ones. I have often said, “Where the mind
goes, the man follows.” And it could
also be said that where the mind goes, the mouth follows!
PLAN
TO SAY SOMETHING POSITIVE
Having a positive outlook
on life and speaking positive words based on God’s Word is one of the most
wholesome things we can do. You do not
even have to be talking to someone to increase your joy with your words. The mere confession of good things is enough
to cheer you up. When you get up in the
morning, if there is something you need to attend to that day that you are not
looking forward to, you can say, “I dread this day,” or you can say, “God will
give me strength today to do whatever I need to do and to do it with joy.” Which of these two statements do you think
would better prepare you for the day?
Anyone who wants to be
healthy is careful to choose quality food that will provide good
nutrition. If we want to be healthy in
our soul and spirit, we should also choose to take in words that will build us
up and increase our peace and joy.
Fortunately, we do not have to wait for someone else to cheer us
up! We can do it with own words by what
we choose to talk about. When we
understand the power of words and realize that we can choose what we think and
speak, our lives can be transformed.
WHAT
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT IN 2013?
We talk a lot and quite
often pay no attention to what we are saying, let alone think seriously about
the impact of our words. If we are
honest with ourselves, we may find that some of our bad moods are directly
linked to our conversation. Even some of
our problems can be linked to bad choices we make about what we say. I want to encourage you to take some time and
think about the types of things you usually talk about. What kind of conversation do you enjoy and
participate in?
We all have challenges in
life, but we can make them better or worse by the way we talk about them. I am not suggesting at all that we deny
reality, but we can choose what we talk about.
Instead of feeding ourselves a steady diet of “bad news”, we should
choose to read, watch and talk about good things. Your words may not be the cause of all your
problems, but they can cause a lot of them and they should be given a good deal
of consideration when we are looking for answers to the problems we encounter
in life.
I believe there are many
good things happening in the world and there is probably more good than bad,
but the evil is magnified in a way that often seems overwhelming. Turn on any news magazine and you will find
it filled with reports of murder, theft, wars, famine and all kinds of horribly
tragic events. One thing is for sure,
speaking negatively could hurt you and speaking positively never will, so why
not go with the positive and see what kind of results you get?
