Have you experienced waking up with loads of negative thoughts in your head?  Well, I guess no one is exempted from this.  We normally term it as “waking up at the wrong side of the bed”.   But, rather than staying on that course of negativity, we always have options on how we maneuver the rest of our day.

In Christ, He called us to be the head and not the tail, on top and not underneath (Deuteronomy 28:13), therefore, we have hope to rise above it.  He gave us free will to choose which way to go.  Do we want to be subject to those depressing thoughts and live the rest of the day on a spiral downward way?  Or do we want to submit ourselves to the Word of God where He infuses us with  a confident expectation that only and surely His goodness and mercy shall pursue us all the days of our lives as we dwell in His presence day in and day out?

“Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.”  (Psalm 23:6 AMPC)

Yes, my head was so busy the moment I opened my eyes.  There were too many cares and concerns that were trying to put weight on me before I even got out of bed.  It was heavy.  But instead of asking myself, why or what caused them to come, I asked the Holy Spirit to show me the way out.

I stood up and went straight to my keyboards and started thanking, praising and worshiping Him.  I expected Him to meet me and His presence to fall on me all because His word says, “He inhabits the praises of His people” (Psalm 22:3).  I know in my heart as well that when He comes, He will not just sit there and do nothing.  He surely will reveal Himself strong where everything else become shadows in the light of His presence.  All darkness flees when the One Who is the Light of the world manifests Himself.  This is when He comes to overwhelmingly speak and touch us that changes the direction of our thoughts, pulling down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of our God Who is ALMIGHTY.

There will always be battles in our minds.  There are always choices that we are to make decisions on.  But thank God for His grace, mercy and abounding love that He gave us the Holy Spirit to abide in us forever, guiding us, leading us, convicting us of our righteousness and revealing to us the things that He has already freely given.  All we need to do is choose to listen with the intention to obey what He has spoken.

In the midst of worship, He reminded me that He always has a feast prepared for us in the presence of our enemies.  In the midst of confusion and “seemingly hopeless” situations, those spirit-breathed word of God that He revealed to us in the past and the ones that He is currently revealing are there at the table ready for us to partake while the enemy is watching as we feed ourselves that nourishes us.

He showed me the two trees in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life.  We have a choice which fruit from the two trees are we going to partake?  Both are in front of us!  Shall we eat from the tree that has conditions that is beyond our capacity to perform?  We do good, get good; we do bad, get bad?  Or  shall we feed from the Tree of Life where Jesus came to give us life and have it more abundantly?  It is by His finished work where He set us free from the law of sin and death.  He is the fulfillment of the law that sealed us to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  He is the HOPE of glory (Colossians 1:27).  In Him is where we have a joyful anticipation that we shall see His goodness in the land of the living.

Before I knew it, my heart was filled with joy and peace.  My mind was bombarded with His goodness that displaced those negative thoughts which initially crawled in at the onset of the day.   Truly, the renewing of our minds come when our focus is set on meditating His word day and night that eventually transforms our lives accordingly.  As a man thinks, in his heart so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.” (Joshua 1:8 AMPC)

It is He Who leads us the way to be able to live each day filled with hope, joy and peace.  The verse above says, “YOU shall make YOUR way prosporous!  YOU shall deal wisely and have good success.”  It is in meditating on the word that changes our options.

To meditate means to moan, growl, utter, speak.  This word means to think about something in earnest, often with the focus on thinking about the future plans and contingencies, possibly speaking to God or oneself in low tones.  It also expresses the “growl” of lions and “coo” of doves.  (from Vines Concise Dictionary of the Bible)

We may have different ways of meditating the word of God, but my preference is hearing myself speak.  When I’m alone in His presence, I opt to listen to what I’m saying for out of the abundance of my heart, my mouth speaks.

A lot of times we really don’t know what is inside our hearts until words are spoken out.  When challenges squeeze us, listen to the first words that we hear ourselves speak.  It’s either they are fear-based or faith-based words.  Take it from there and move to feed on His faithfulness for He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He is God Who doesn’t change just because we fall short of His glory.  He is steadfast in His love for us and His love never fails.

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you,  and My covenant of peace shall not be removed,”  says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”  (Isaiah 54:10 ESV)

When everything is said and done, we put our trust in Him Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond what we dare think, dream or imagine.  We do what He has called and led us to do.  We dwell in His presence and be more aware that He is in our midst 24/7.  We feed on His faithfulness for He Who promised is faithful.  He never leaves us nor forsakes us.  He is with us ALWAYS!  This is the confidence that we have in Him.

“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”  (Psalm 37:3)

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for always revealing to us Your redeeming strategies that keep us to be the head and not the tail, to be on top and not underneath the challenges that come our way.  Thank You, Jesus, that because of what You have done at the cross, we have been declared VICTORIOUS and not victims.  Thank You for the invitation to come to know You in a deeper way that we may find and be filled with peace, joy and love when You powerfully reveal Yourself to us, not by might nor by power, but by the Holy Spirit.  Amen!