Turn Your Life Around by Annette Capps Are you happy with the direction your life is headed? Would you like to change the course of your life? Your life today is not by chance or fate. There is no mysterious force causing your life to be either miserable or great. You are the sum total of your past decisions. Or, as David Ingles' song says, "You are the total of your talking yesterday." There is not much we can do to control the circumstances that surround us, but we can control three things: our talking, our thinking, and our decisions. When we are faced with difficulties in life, as all of us are, we have the opportunity to face them with faith and overcome. The alternative is to face them with fear and negativity and be depressed and defeated. Faith is not an emotion, although at times it may produce emotion. Faith is confidence that God will guide you to make the right decision. Faith is confidence that His strength will sustain you. Faith is confidence that God will bring good things in spite of apparent disaster. WHAT ARE YOU SAYING TO YOURSELF? In every situation, we have the power to decide what we think. What you say to yourself in your own mind is just as powerful as what you speak, for out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth speaks. What do you say to yourself? Do you tell yourself that nothing ever works out for you? Do you say, "I can't do anything right! I am so stupid"? Even if you hold your tongue and don't say it, you are doing immeasurable damage by allowing this to go on inside your head. We need to monitor out self-talk as carefully as we monitor the words we speak with our tongue. Negative thought patterns lead to a negative attitude, which leads to negative speaking, which leads to a negative and defeated life. When bad things happen, you have the power to choose to say to yourself, "Good things happen to me. Nothing will ultimately defeat God's will for my life." If you are locked into negative patterns of self-talk in your life, use the principles of binding and loosing. Say, "Holy Spirit, I ask your help. In Jesus' name, I now loose, dissolve, and release all negative beliefs that have created this pattern of---(sickness, poverty, and so forth) in my life. I am willing for You to reveal these patterns and beliefs to me." TURN YOUR BOAT AROUND In every situation in life, we have the power to decide what we do. If you don't like the direction your life is headed, you can turn it around. It is your decision. I'm not saying it will be easy, but you are in charge of your life, not others. What you may not realize is that even your small decisions in life add up to what you are today. If as a child, you chose to steal candy, then shoplift as an adolescent, lie and steal cars as a teenager, embezzle as an adult, you may well be a prisoner today. You chose the course of your life. No one forced you to do it. If you take responsibility for your decisions, and begin to make good ones, you can change the course your life has taken. Likewise, if you are a free person in society and a good citizen, you chose your course also. It may have started with a decision as small as, "It is wrong to steal candy. Correct parental instruction is very important, however, I have seen children raised in horrible circumstances become model citizens. I have also seen children raised in good Christian homes choose to become criminals. They made their decisions. No one can make decisions for you, and you can't make decisions for others, including your children. DON'T FIGHT THE NEGATIVE When you fight the negative, you lock yourself in a self- defeating pattern. The more you dwell on the negative, the bigger it becomes, even if you are against it. Refuse to focus on the negative things in life. Yes, they are there. You can't deny them, but don't focus on them. Let's say that the bank is threatening to foreclose on your house. You can say, "I will not lose my house. I will not lose my house!" What are you focusing on? Losing your house! So, even though you are trying to be positive, your focus is negative. What should you say? How about, "I have the wisdom of God in me. I have divine knowledge and know exactly what to do." In this situation, you may think that what you need is money, but what you really need is wisdom. Someone could show up today and give you money to pay your last three mortgage payments, but if that is all you get, you will be in the same situation next month. If you have the wisdom of God, He might direct you to a good job opening where you can sustain your monthly expenses and not always be depending on a miracle. Instead of fighting the negative circumstances, ask God for wisdom to get you out of them. Jesus said to overcome evil with good. Which is more powerful? Good is, so focus on it and you will overcome. That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Philemon 1:6 If Christ is in you, then you can begin to declare that you are filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. (Col. 1:9) Acknowledge every good thing in you because of Christ's Spirit that is within. Draw from His wisdom and His power and you will turn your life around! Back to Newsletter Index.
