Tag: God

Positive People

Jennifred Jones

Most of us like being around positive people; most of us think we are positive people.

Did you know God wants us to be positive people? He created that desire in our lives. He is a positive God and He wants us to be positive people. ‘Yeah but’ and ‘what about’ you start to say. Nope, the choice is ours. God said to choose this day, to choose life, to choose to believe.

Without even realizing it many times we slide over into the negative and let that affect us, our decisions and our families.

People secretly want to be positive since that’s the way we’re designed, but often give in to negative out of fear of bad happening if they get too positive, too happy, too joyful, too expectant of good things in their lives,  so they ‘play it safe’ and stay either neutral or negative. ‘I don’t want to get my hopes up and then they get dashed to the ground.’ And so, all the joy is sucked right out of their lives under the guise of playing it safe. It’s no fun to live like that!

Then to keep ourselves ‘safe’, we try to tone down other’s excitement lest we get excited too and that might cause a ‘scene’. What would people think if I were actually happy every day?  Bah, Humbug isn’t only around at Christmas time. We have to guard against him on a daily basis!

A joyful, happy, merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

Happiness, joy, positive attitudes and good health go hand in hand.

Don’t miss out on your good life.

Take it.

It’s yours.

Start today…be positive and good towards yourself!

Beauty

Jennifred Jones

Be on the lookout for beauty in your everyday life.

I believe God likes it when we add beauty to our surroundings, our home, our yard, our kitchens, our closet, our wardrobe. Beauty adds something uplifting to our spirits that nothing else can.

If you don’t see beauty where you are, make some! Place a pretty vase in the sunshine to catch the rays and make rainbows, open the windows and refresh the air inside your home. Artistically hang up your children’s drawings to brighten your laundry room walls and see their smiles when they walk in and find their little ‘Rembrandts’ placed where everyone will notice!

For dinner table decor go outside and gather colorful stones, some sticks, moss, acorns, autumn leaves, or whatever you see that looks interesting and make an outdoor arrangement inside– using your old stoneware plate, or tarnished silver platter from grandmother to place everything on, and let the kids help…better yet, let them do it all! It’s good for them to learn the experience of making beauty.

We are creative beings made in the image of God and when we make beautiful things we feel better inside. That’s just the way we’re made! And there’s nothing wrong with that feeling.

Toss the beauty of a kind word, a compliment or a smile to those at home and away and watch how that beauty changes the other person.

People really do want to see beauty. It’s like an oasis in the everyday mundane. Beauty gives hope of better things and better times to come. It reminds us of the God that made us and His watchful care.

Go out today and create some beauty. It doesn’t have to cost a thing and the effects are lasting!

A New and Different Way

Jennifred Jones

I believe God has called us to a different way. Jesus said I will show you a better way.

In Moses day,  God distinguished Himself and His people by the way they dressed, what they wore, what they ate… that was how others knew they belonged to God. It was also one way God’s people would remember who they belonged to. It was part of their identity.
Since Jesus came, God said he was showing us a new way. He says people will know we are Christians by our love. No, it’s not by our address or how we wear our hair, or how much jewelry we do or don’t wear, or if we can or can’t wear fingernail polish, short sleeves, hats or beards. Those are not to be our identifiers. Our identifiers are that we show love to the world in the way that Jesus did. We overcome evil with good…we give a soft answer to turn away wrath… we become peacemakers instead of fault finders.

‘Why should I do something good for that person? They don’t deserve it, in fact they did something bad to me and they should pay for it.’ That’s returning evil for evil and will cause more hard feelings and nothing will be changed except the walls of hate and bitterness grow higher.

Jesus is the great reconciler who made us and wants us to be at peace with each other. Return good for evil even when it is not deserved. One quick look at how much we ‘really deserve’ helps us keep things in perspective.
Actually we’re all the same, seeking love, forgiveness, help; we want reconciliation, but we’re stuck hiding behind fears of abandonment, isolation, rejection- thinking if we can only get even it will fix their (our) problem. But it doesn’t work that way in God’s economy.
Jesus went about doing good, and He hopes we’ll do the same.
When we do good, were tapping into a higher strength than our own. We’re tapping into God’s power and He will do the work that needs to be done.

The interesting thing about doing good is: when you do something good for someone else, you always feel good too.

Who in your life today needs you to shower some good upon?