Christian positive thinking

DAILY BIBLE READING:

2 Kings 3:1–4:17 
Acts 14:8-28 
Psalm 140:1-13 
Proverbs 17:22

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Proverbs 17:22 (CSB) "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

What we think about is just as important as what we eat. In reality, it's probably more important.

I'm sure that you've noticed within our American culture that quite frequently a food or beverage will be labeled unhealthy. Whether it's sugar, or sugar substitutes, or fried foods, or carbonated drinks, we are told to avoid these products because they are not good for our body.

However, our culture is not nearly as concerned with what our minds feast on. Yet, our Verse for Today reminds us that the state of our minds directly affects the state of our bodies. It tells us that if we are happy, it is like medicine to our bodies and if we are broken and depressed, it adversely affects our body in powerful ways.

Proverbs 17:22 "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones."

Everyone of us has experienced the truth of this verse. 

We can remember spending time with friends and laughing so hard that our cheeks hurt - but we felt so alive! We needed less sleep. Any aches we may have had temporarily disappeared. We just felt great!

Yet, we may also know what it is like to feel utterly defeated, completely hopeless, and hopelessly depressed. Even if the sky was brilliantly blue, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everything else was going wonderfully well, we didn't notice. We just felt like staying in bed all day. We had no energy. Our body ached. And we dreaded another day.

Friend, what you think about and how you respond to what happens to you directly affects everything else in your life. If you allow your mind to dwell on the negative, then eventually, your body will feel the effects ... and it's a downward spiral. Yet, if you insist on thinking only about what is good and right, this too will affect your body and everything else.

As a Christian, we struggle with our thought life just like anyone else. Yet, there is no reason that we should be negative. There is so much going for us!

God is our Father.

Nothing can happen to us without coming from His hands.

He has promised to work everything for our good.

Jesus, our older brother, died to make us a part of His family.

God's Holy Spirit has taken up residence in our body.

One day, we will be with our Lord in Heaven forever and ever.

On and on we could go.

So, keep your chin up and only think about what is good!

Colossians 3:2-4 "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Philippians 4:8 "Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable - if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy - dwell on these things."