Happy Thoughts part 2
You don't have to believe everything you think. Seriously. I'm not sure exactly where thoughts come from... past experience has a lot to do with it, I think... but just because you think something is true doesn't necessarily make it so. And I can say this from my own past experience. I'm a pretty laid back guy, but I tend to overthink things. Or not think about them at all. The extremes, right? All or nothing. And either extreme can really end up driving you crazy. Basically YOU driving YOURSELF crazy. Getting caught up in what's ifs. Or what could have beens. Its exhausting. And its the opposite of rest. The best way to experience this gift of God that we've been given--the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Jesus--is to let Him live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. Have you ever heard the saying, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plan"? Now I don't necessarily think God finds our plans funny. But that point is that life happens while you're making those plans. You have to be able to roll with the punches. Because while GOD knows the end from the beginning, WE see in part and know in part. Nobody knows what the future holds... but we DO know the One who holds the future in His hands. We know God's thoughts for us. Thoughts of peace, and not of evil. An expected end. And we know the extraordinary effort He went to in order to GIVE us that expected end. So we can trust that what God has for us is what's best for us. And we can trust that what God has for us... is what is available to us. The gift has already been given. All we have to do is receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. Experience what we've got by sharing it. By giving it away. By knowing and believing that we've got it. If you're always trying to get something--in this case, looking for love in all the wrong places--you're going to get discouraged. You're going to get frustrated. Because if you're always trying to get something that you've already got, all you're really going to be able to do is rob yourself from it. Drive yourself crazy. Bang your head against the wall and come away with nothing but a headache. Luckily, there's a more excellent way. A Way (Truth, and Life) in which you don't have to do anything in order to be anything. You don't have to earn love. And thank God for that, because it CAN'T be earned. It has been freely given, and must be freely received. God loves you, but I don't think He will force you to accept His love. I heard a preacher once say that God is a stalker, because no matter what you do He will never leave you nor forsake you. But at the same time I think God is too much of a gentleman to force you to accept Him. And if you have to force someone to accept you, that's not REAL acceptance at all. And that kind of nonsense leads to bad thoughts. Resentment. Bitterness. Things of that nature. Luckily (again) we don't have that old, selfish, beast nature anymore. We have the love nature of the God who IS love. We have His life. His Spirit. His nature. His mind. And all we have to do is let that mind of Christ--that's already in us--BE in us. All we have to do is USE that mind of Christ. Set our affection on things above. Focus on what is truly important. What you magnify is what manifests in your life. So magnify the good stuff. Think happy thoughts. Let love rule and reign in your life!