Saturday, April 28, 2012

BECOMING A BETTER ME...part #1

In the past year I have become a big fan of Joyce Meyer. My sister, Karen, first introduced me to her when we read Battlefield of the Mind together. I truly believe that if it hadn't been for reading that book I would not have handled the death of my father as well as I did. I am much closer to God and feel it has made an amazingly positive impact on my life and how I feel about life.

Now I listen to her shows almost every day. I like them because they are packed with loads of inspiring information in only 28 minutes. I would love to attend one of her weekend conferences one day.

I lean toward being a very judgmental, negative and pessimistic person. I don't like this about myself and I want to change it.

Joyce says, "I'm not where I need to be, but thank God, I'm not where I used to be. I haven't arrived, but I'm on my way."

She and I have very similar personalities. I connect with almost everything (I was not abused as a child.) she says about her life, feelings and attitudes. I hear God speaking to me through her.

I was raised Catholic, but now call myself a Christian (A different post for a different time.). I love when Joyce says, "Jesus didn't die so we could have religion. He died so you could have a relationship with God though Him." RELIGION has turned a lot of people (me included) off to God. Relationship is what I want and I am continuing to grow to find more of.

Note: Two things she talks about that I do not agree with are: she believes in speaking in tongues and she doesn't believe in the evolution of man. The "speaking in tongues" part is just a little too strange to me and we'll drop that there. As far as evolutionism and creationism goes...I have no problem embracing the evolution of man, while still being a Christian. God thought of everything else, why not that.

Anyway....I've just started reading her new book, POWER THOUGHTS. Every page has something that touches me, reaches a new part of me and makes me think a little deeper.

Here are some things, so far, that have made me think:

* "God always rewards openly what we do in secret for His honor and glory."
* "All of us have the privilege and responsibility of choosing our attitudes, no matter what circumstances or situations we find ourselves in."
* "It is vital for you to understand that you can choose your own thinking."
* "Determine beforehand that you'll keep a positive attitude in the midst of every negative situation."
* "Misery will always be an option."
* "God uses trials and pressure to produce good results in our lives."
* "Focus on doing what we can do and trust in God to do what we cannot do."
* "Thinking excessively about problems only makes them appear to be larger than they really are."
* "A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of allowing your circumstances to have power over you."

3 comments:

D.E. Malone said...

I can see that she probably has a huge following by what you have quoted above. People need those messages to get through tough times, especially these days. I especially like the 'thinking excessively about things make problems appear larger' quote. How true! Thanks for sharing.

Juli said...

Very inspirational ideas.

I if have learned nothing in my 37 years it is that happiness is a choice and we can not control what happens to us, but we can control how we handle it.

About the whole religion thing, it's funny, my sister and I just had this conversation an hour ago. I am my niece's godmother. She is having her first communion, and while I am not into the traditional catholic religion per say, I am very spiritual. I have offered to stay behind and watch children, etc. to make room for people who are devout in the family. The joke is, one of these people is her Godfather who is the most corrupt catholic EVER. He insists on being there because it would LOOK BAD if he wasn't. *sigh*

Maybe I should throw a dollar in the plate for him when I stop by the church to get all my other nieces and nephews... Maybe light a candle even...

Connie said...

Sounds like this is a really positive, growth experience for you. Good luck with it!