Positive Thoughts, Positive Words

Here lately, I have really been thinking about the power of our thoughts and words. I am all about some positivity in my life, and I try my best (though it is quite hard sometimes) to make positivity a top priority each day. I mean no one likes a Negative Nancy, right?

The older I get, the more I realize just how important our thoughts are and how 9 times out of 10, the way we think about things (whether negative or positive) affects the situation that follows one way or another. Though Satan is unable to hear our thoughts (what a blessing, huh?), he is able to hear our words when we speak them aloud. So if we are constantly complaining about things that are going on in our lives, we are allowing Satan to have the opportunity to take power over our situation. And I for one do not want to give Satan any opportunity to mess with me. You know why? Because he is a big 'ole bully, and I don't like him. Therefore, I shall verbally tell him to back off, please and thank ya... Buh-bye. By staying in constant communication with God, we are able to fight off Satan with strength only obtained from the Father. I personally would not want to go at Satan alone because I'm pretty weak, but the cool thing is that I have the power of the Living God inside of ME. So HAHA Satan, how 'bout them apples? (Insert emoji sticking its tongue out).

1 John 2:14

There was one instance a while back where I personally witnessed the power of the words we speak. Early one Saturday morning, I woke up feeling incredibly bad. My stomach was hurting like crazy, and I was super nauseous.  Well, long story short I ended up having to go to the doctor (after throwing up goodness knows how many time, yuck!), and I was told I had a pretty bad stomach virus. I almost had to get an IV because I was so dehydrated. I mean hello, I had nothing left in me! (Lol). But anyway, after several shots and a prescription, the doctor (Dr. Waters at the Semmes Urgent Care by the way, totally recommend her. She's a doll!) asked me who had been taking care of me while I was sick. My dad was in the room with me, and I pointed to him. So with a giggle (she's so nice and outgoing...speaking of positivity), she told my dad, "Well, I'll probably see you in here in a few days!"  Because the virus was super contagious, she expected my dad to catch it because he was the one (bless his heart) who cleaned up after me and made sure I was taken care of.  As we were walking out, my dad turned around and said, "No you won't... Know why? Because I'm speaking against this virus in the name of Jesus!" 

Later that night, I was feeling worse than ever and seriously thought I was going to have to go to the ER. (That gross medicine they gave me, the "anti-nausea" medicine, totes did not work.) As I proceeded to throw up several more times, both my dad and I had had ENOUGH of my having this virus and decided to take some action. We had a "come to Jesus, speak against Satan" meeting right there in my bathroom. There were tears (I'm a bit of an emotional person in general) and frustration over the sickness, but we prayed and spoke against the virus in the name of Jesus (just as my dad said we would). Well you know what happened next because our God is greater and stronger than some measly little virus? After 3 long days of extreme.yucky.gross sickness, I felt 100% better the next morning!!

Coincidence? I think not. :) And you know what else? My dad (or mom) never got sick. What a blessing! By the way, I'm so thankful for my dad and mom. Dad's the best little nurse out there! Hehe and mom is amazing, too!

This situation really helped me grow in trust and truly helped me learn to fully rely on God no matter how seemingly terrible a circumstance may be at the time.

 Here are a few verses to keep in mind if you ever need a gentle reminder of speaking positive words of healing: 

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. (Mark 11:22-24 NLT)

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. (Proverbs 18:21 NLT)

Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. (Isaiah 58:8 NLT)

“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. (Psalms 107:19-21 NLT)

Besides learning to speak words of healing, I am also working on speaking positively over everything in my day-to-day life. This is significantly more difficult, boo! It's so easy to get down on ourselves if we are having a bad day, if things aren't going our way, if we are frustrated, etc. Remember how I said earlier that it is all about our mindset? If we are focused on the negative parts of our situations, then of course those are the parts we are going to see the most. 

Here's a little analogy I have for you... a sports analogy, woohoo! I tell my volleyball girls all the time that volleyball is 10% physical and 90% mental (just like most sports are). You can have all the talent in the world when it comes to volleyball, but if you continually have a negative attitude and thought process, you can never be successful. If you think to yourself before a serve, "Ugh, my serves never go over. What is going to be different about this one?" or "My sets are terrible today." Well, guess what's going to happen? Those serves are not going to go over the net and those sets are not going to go where you want them to. Our mindset must change to thoughts such as, "This serve is going to go over." and "My sets are going to be great today." 

Life can be looked at in the same way, 90% mental, 10% physical. Sounds kind of cheesy, I know. But it's totally not. Making small adjustments in the way we think are what makes all the difference in the world. I've experienced situations firsthand where when I thought and spoke positively, I experienced a positive outcome. Simple as that. :)

Now trust me, I completely understand how hard it is to be positive all the time because let's be honest... There are just some days where we want to complain and let our frustrations out to someone. We want someone to listen to what we're going through. Now don't get me wrong; I think it's necessary to be able to vent to a best friend, a parent, a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, brother or sister, etc. I just think we should be careful in how we handle situations on a day-to-day basis and how we speak over or about these situations. I believe we should strive towards positivity because when others see and hear us speaking positive things, it can change their whole day or situation for the better. I don't know about you guys, but I definitely love to be able to brighten other people's day. 

As we start this wonderful month of July, let's all make a pack together and strive to start being more positive. Are you with me?! Hands in on 3... 1, 2, 3! Positivity! :) (Wow, I'm cheesy, I know. Hope you don't mind too much.) 

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Love & Blessings,
Claire

💚