Keep the Bouncer at the Door

Day 311 of Photo Inspirations -- Keep the Bouncer at the Door
Yesterday, as I was having my morning devotion,  two different friends came to my mind. I try to live "in the zone" so that when a name pops in my head,  then I pray for them.  And there are times when I not only pray for them, but a particular encouraging word or scripture comes to mind that I text it or email or call them.  I did that yesterday.  That scripture had a lot to do with "fixing our thoughts on good things".  In the face of adversity, that's not easy to do, especially when those circumstances are staring us down.  But, from my own experience, I know it works, because it's replacing negative thoughts with God's Word which always brings light to the darkness.

Later in the morning, I was on a conference call and the guest speaker was giving us incredible words of wisdom.  He said, "You've got to get your thinking right.  You become what you think about. Be mentally strong.  Stop negative thoughts."  I've never heard it put this way before, but he also said, "Keep the bouncer at the door of your mind."  

It sure does make sense to have "security" on guard for our minds.    You know a bouncer is the beefy, muscular guy employed by a nightclub or similar establishment to prevent troublemakers from entering or to eject them from the premises.  Well, that's what the speaker meant about protecting our minds.  Keep the bouncer there to eject those negative thoughts from entering and kick them out if they do slip in through the back door.  I like to say "Change the channel" when negativity, worry, concern, depression, tries to creep in.  A better station to listen to is one that speaks optimism and can-do-anything.....Channel WWHB (World Wide Holy Bible).  Hmm -- maybe that really should be a TV Station.

I knew, as I was listening to this conference call, I had been on the right track when I sent words to my friends about guarding their thoughts.  This is that scripture and today, I urge you to change the channel or if this illustration makes more sense to you, make friends with the bouncer so you and him can "clean house" of those troublemakers!

Philippians 4:6-8  "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

God Cheers Wildly For You and Me

Everyday we have to make important decisions and we have to know when to say "yes" and when to say "no". At times, saying "no" isn't easy, especially when we just don't want to let someone down.

And, often, we give too many yeses to good things, but not best things. I watched a great example of this a few weeks ago. My son is an avid marathon runner. It's one of the ways he stays fit and mentally strong. He runs at least twelve 26.2 mile marathons a year. He was all geared up, powered up, and strengthened up for the Seattle Marathon a few weeks ago. His 10-year old son, Brennan, asked him if he was going to be at his baseball championship game (at the same time as Ryan's marathon). I heard him say to Brennan, "You know that I've been training very hard for this marathon and you know how important that is to me. Right?" Brennan replied, "Yes". Then Ryan said, "So do you want me to cancel my marathon and come to your game?" Brennan's reply again was "Yes", so I know you know where Ryan was.....at Brennan's game -- and NOT at the marathon he had trained for.

After years of being unable to say "no", I am choosier with my time and more intentional with what's most important to me. And I’m discovering how a well-placed "no" opens the door for the right "yes". But more than that, it has opened the door for opportunities of great experiences with my family, friends, and even great ministry opportunities. I am learning the best way to be as bold with my "no" as I am with my "yes". I still don’t love the thought of letting someone down. But I realize my job is not to navigate a person’s opinion of me. My job is to investigate God’s desires for me. And the best way to do that is to wait prayerfully and believe my "no" makes room for someone else to say "yes" -- someone who is better suited and better equipped to meet the need right now. God even cheers wildly for me....when I make the RIGHT decisions that He leads me to make!