DEVO: Choose a Positive Attitude
By Rick McDaniel
“It’s hard to go forward, it’s hard to be happy, it’s hard to reach success if you are negative or around people who are negative. Psalm 118:24 says “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Philippians 4:4 says “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice!” God wants us to be joyful and positive about life.
It is not easy to be positive, there are all kinds of challenges we face in order to be and stay positive. I read this prayer that says, “Dear Lord, so far today, I’m doing all right. I haven’t gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self-indulgent. I haven’t whined, cursed, or eaten any chocolate. However, I’m going to get out of bed in a few minutes, I’ll need a lot more help now.”
You have only one life and if it is going to be all you want it to be you must begin with your attitude because that it is the starting point. You have got to get your attitude right, since life is filled with a host of things you cannot control the one thing you can control is your attitude.
You can’t control everything. What you can control is your attitude. That you have under your control. You get to choose how you will respond, how you will think, how you will act in regards to what happens to you in your life. A positive attitude will help you in many, many, ways.
I’m not saying everything in your life can be changed by being positive. I am saying that there are many things that can be changed for the better. I’m saying that if you want your one and only life to be good that you absolutely must begin with your attitude.
Let me tell you what attitude will do for you. Your attitude determines your happiness. If you want life to be good, then take charge of the way you look at life. Life is 10% what happens to you, it is 90% how you respond to what happens to you. Nobody gets a free pass out of disappointment, loss, problems – nobody. You can’t do it, but what you can do, is choose how you will respond to the challenges of life, to the disappointments of life, to the losses of life.
John Wooden, the famous former basketball coach at UCLA said. “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” Your attitude determines your happiness – it does! You can have that kind of attitude. You can say, “This is the day the Lord has made,” and it doesn’t mean that everything is going your way. It simply means that you choose to rejoice and be glad in it. You choose. It’s the greatest power that any human being has; the power of choice. You get to choose! How do you see your life? How do you view your circumstances? Look at your circumstances. Look at your life. You decide, is God for you or against you? I can tell you, He is for you.”
“The Lord is for me; I will not fear.” Psalm 118:6
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
Source: https://www.oneplace.com/devotionals/high-impact-living-with-pastor-rick-mcdaniel/choose-a-positive-attitude-11705491.html
