Wednesday, November 19, 2014

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY WORDS

You are responsible for your own life, your own happiness, your own joy...you are responsible for taking the stewardship over your own spirit...it's up to you to protect your mind, your emotions, your very self from being infected by the negativity oozing from the unhealed emotional wounds of someone else's unresolved issues which have nothing to do with you...it's up to you to stop taking the deformed things that they create personally, and realize once and for all that it really is their problem and not yours...it's up to you to guard your own heart from verbal and emotional toxicity...it's up to you to say no to the possibility of connecting to someone else's negative energy...it's up to you to refuse to let someone else's cold, dark shadow of insecurity, jealousy, or hatred block out your beautiful, warm and life-producing sunlight of faith, hope and optimism...

You have the power to choose what you get out of life, because, very simply, you only get what you put out...the way that you think, speak and act determines every outcome...if you act in a way that is positive, you will draw positive things from the Universe into your orbit...if you deliberately minimize the drama, you will attract positive situations, positive people, and create a continual positive flow/movement from good to great to excellent...
You are the thermostat of your life, not the thermometer...drama usually comes from your reaction to other people’s actions...it's the tail trying to wag the dog...but you have the power to be proactive rather than reactive...that's why forgiveness is so powerful...it's why perspective is so important... it's why you have to stop and think if someone else's contrary words or actions really matter in the long run...you have to decide if it's worth it to you and the quality of your life to let it go or to hold on to it, or if you just so need to be "right" that nothing else really matters to you...
It all starts on the inside...when you minimize and shut down the drama within yourself and choose to stay focused and calm, the world around you inevitably begins to reflect the world within you...or as Jesus put it, "on earth as it is in heaven"...
If there is drama in multiple areas of your life...if you are constantly attracting chaos...you have to be honest with yourself...you are the constant in every life-situation, so you have to lay your defenses down and admit to yourself that you may be creating the drama...
This is not an accusation or an indictment..."there is therefore now no condemnation"...no blame/no shame, whatsoever...you can be a very good and worthy person, and still exist within the vortex of chaos and drama, so it's your prerogative to live out your life however you want to live it...but it IS an invitation to the possibility of living your actual and destined ABUNDANT LIFE,  a life that is really established on righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit...it IS an invitation to be fearless and free of all regrets...it IS an invitation to enjoy being comfortable in your own skin, with the ability to relax and have fun in every step of the journey, without the need to defend yourself or prove yourself right or to spend the energy to prove some point to someone who probably isn't even thinking about you...it IS an invitation to drive in your own lane, with no temptation to keep looking in the rear-view mirror, and no fear of what may or may not be down the road...
 It has to begin with you...it has to begin with your willingness to trust in God, but to never forget that He has empowered you to make the creative choices that will move your life in the right direction...you have to forgo the luxury of blaming a "devil" or your very human parents or your ex or your religion or your society or whomever or whatever else that takes the focus off of you...
It's your life...
It's your destiny...
It's your happiness...
And it has to begin today...right now...embrace this moment and make it yours...the journey of a million miles begins with one step...
Choose what you want to think and say today, and how you want to feel, and don't let anyone hijack even a moment of it...
It really is that simple...

16 comments:

  1. Brandy Williamson said...

    That's some good truth there!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark Alan Fout said...

    Awesome!!! I HAVE TO SHARE!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nic Pocker said...

    Thank you Bishop Jim Swilley for those wise and uplifting words.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nic Pocker said...

    God bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jacob Israel said...

    And the crowd say's? Amen!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Joshua Levi Lester said...

    I'll offer up a selah with the crowds amen

    ReplyDelete
  7. Vicki Crews said...

    Thank you for the reminder! Perfect timing!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Holly Anderson said...

    Brian and myself were just saying this to someone last night

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hannah Aaron said...

    My God, that's a mountain-top sermon, if I ever heard one; a gmiddle-of-the aisle, standing on your feet, put on the Whole Armor of God, a guard-your-heart-&-mind; tell the Devil to get behind you & move forward, onward, and upward, into the Beautiful, Abundant, Plentiful Life God has for you, has given you & to live in ..the JOY of the LORD! (Sorry! Got excited, uplifted, encouraged, and inspired!) I am definitely sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Angel Miller said...

    This reminded me of Kramer on Seinfeld surely everybody recalls that show. People have often told me Hey Angel thats you U are Kramer. I like Kramer best on that show. Outlandish dramatic creative. Kramers a mess so am I!!! I know the word drama gets a bad wrap. SO WHAT? I am learning not how to change but to return to the joy of who I am . My gracious husband is my Seinfeld. Evcellent status JIm Earl Swillley!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Brent Sudduth said...

    I needed that

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lance Stonecypher...

    Amen!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Angel Miller said...

    I simply could not get the beauty of this status off my mind today.It kept provoking sometimes uncomfortable thoughts but I knew God had something special to yet reveal to me so it hit me while driving home from running errands that my fears about authority figures were simple to dismantle.face. And overcome as I thought of how just as a security gaurd with a badge cannot arrest me neither can the world have any authority over me in any way shape or form.So a person doesnt like me understand me forgive me or accept me JUST BECAUSE THEY CARRY A RELIGIOUS BADGE does not make thier opinion of me true I say if you cant tell the difference ask for credentials!!! I owned my own authority today like a pair of new shoes taking dominion honestly a tad uncomfortable but more equipped than ever before

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ken Wortley said...

    :-)

    ReplyDelete