Shut the Front Door!

"Sticks & stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!" We've said that, but we didn't mean it. Some words DID and DO hurt us! Someone spoke negatively about us when we gave something our all, or someone spoke ugly about one of our kids or family members. Or our mind is playing the same old record: “You’re not good enough. You’re not pretty or handsome enough. You're not slim enough. You’re not smart enough.” But we don't have to accept those words or let them into the doorway of our hearts and minds. We can close and lock those doors.

We have the opportunity every day to “Shut the front door!” I heard Kristin Chenoweth, as a judge on the “So You Think You Can Dance” show, give her remarks about the exquisite and inspiring dance by a young lady. She exclaimed “Shut the front door! Shut the back door! Shut the garage door! Shut them all!”

And that’s the message I’m conveying to you AND me today. It’s time to SHUT THE DOOR to those voices – the ones that say “You might as well give up. You’re going to fail again.” And to those that whisper in your ears “You’ll never outlast this setback!” Or, “You’re getting old. All those aches and pains are just going to get worse.” Or those inner voices that taunt you and say, “Those kids of yours are the most unruly, impolite, rowdy, and uncontrollable kids on this earth.” Or, “You’re never going to get that promotion!” On and on…..those voices that continue to get louder as they scream "FAILURE" in our heads.

Proverbs 4:23 says “More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it.” Actually, we should be guarding our minds like the army guards Fort Knox. Below the fortress-like structure of Fort Knox lies the gold vault that is protected by a blast-proof door weighing 20 tons and 21-inches thick and made of the latest torch-and-drill-resistant material. Members of the Depository staff must dial separate combinations known only to them. Beyond the main vault door, smaller compartments provide further protection. That's the protection we should be providing for what we allow in our minds.

That scripture in Proverbs tells us to guard and protect our minds. We control the doorway to what we’re going to allow in. We have the “Master” filtering codes. We can dwell on every negative thing people AND the enemy of our souls have said, every derogatory comment, or we can choose to kick it out the door, then lock the door, and dwell on what God says about us." Let’s shut the front door, the back door and ALL doors AND windows where the enemy likes to sneak in and infiltrate his lies and keeps trying to take us down with his nasty words of defeat and fear. WE ARE WINNERS -- he's the LOSER!! Now SHUT THOSE DOORS!!

Be Sure to Think AND Think Before You Speak

Have you ever said some dumb “something” and so wished you could retract those words, but it was too late? The damage was done. I sincerely wish we had a built-in “pause” button that gave us a delay between what we are thinking and what we are about to speak. Often those hurtful words babble out just too quickly. Just a little “damage control” over our thoughts might have saved us from……damage to someone’s spirit and our relationship with them.

Speaking of “thinking” before we speak that hurts others -- what about the words we speak about ourselves? We need “damage control” over those words, too. I’ve heard people say words so negative about themselves that I want to put my finger to their lips and say "Shh. Don't say that!" They’ll say self-demeaning words like “I’m so stupid", "I just look at a cookie, and I gain weight", "I get a cold this time every year", "I could never do that", "I’ll never be able to afford that", "I’m too old to do that", “I can’t EVER remember names”, etc. And, you know what? They will continue to get what they are saying and thinking.

I am generally an optimistic thinker…AND speaker. I wasn’t born that way, but through conscious effort and repetition, I’ve become that person that sees the glass, not just half full, but FULL. I really do wake up each morning, anticipating a great day, good health and success, good things coming my way and I sincerely believe that I can overcome any difficulty, because of God Who is in me. I consistently pray Psalms 141:3 “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips” and Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD.” It really takes “a village” (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, angels, and saints) to help me because the natural inclination, in myself alone, would to be concerned for what this day and tomorrow could hold. Thanks be to God -- my thinking AND speaking have given me such a full, blessed and joy-filled life.

We really can control and change our thoughts and what we speak. It’s like changing the channel on a TV – we see a program we don’t want to watch, so we change the channel. In the same way, when a negative thought comes to us, rather than continuing to think that negative thought….we can change the channel to something good and positive. Those who think themselves a failure or unworthy of success and live in fear of what tomorrow may bring, will encounter closed doors, being late to appointments and other distractions that will keep them from succeeding.

But, if we make a conscious effort to thinking, speaking, writing, reading and watching the good and positive "stuff of life", eventually, it will be second nature for us to shift any negative focus to positive. If we think positively, expect favorable results, then our situations and circumstances will change. If we persevere, we will transform the way our mind thinks, as well as the beautiful things that will start coming our way.

My thoughts for today for you AND me are: "It's a beautiful day. We are loved. We are blessed. We are favored with good and great things coming our way. We have many friends and are making even more friends. We walk into a room and it brightens up just because we entered it. We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. We are healthy and whole. We are lovers. We are givers. SOMETHING GOOD is going to happen to us today!"

Faith-Filled Words = Blessings

At my Life Group last night, we talked about how important it is to speak and believe what we are wanting in our lives. The fact is, our words have incredible power! When we speak faith-filled words, positive things just naturally come our way. But, many people just focus on negative things in life, and then they speak negative words that position them for more negativity coming their way.

But when we begin to think and speak the blessings and favor of Almighty God, we’re like a magnet that draws God’s favor in our lives. It’s time for us to declare, and for us to teach our children to declare, “I am strong. I am loved. I am smart. I am happy. I am empowered, and a successful child of the Most High God. I’ve been handpicked by the Creator of the universe to be here. I have great things in my future!” And when we exude that positive attitude through our thoughts and actions, the winds of blessings begin to shift in our direction -- and not only are our lives changed forever, but that positive influence will change the lives of those in our world.