Magnetic Christianity: Using Your God-Given Gifts to Build the Kingdom. Gus J.D. Lloyd

super-sized. That’s another thing the world tries to sell us on – in order to have value, everything needs to be big and grandiose. Though perfectly capable, God doesn’t often do super-sized. He typically does small but mighty.)

      There may come times when we feel as if we just can’t go on. It happens. Sometimes we allow the weight of the world to pull us down. We feel as though we have found ourselves in the middle of an episode of Mission: Impossible. If you feel that way, think about this: every time they had a mission to accomplish on Mission: Impossible, in the end they accomplished the mission. It turns out the missions weren’t really impossible after all. (Gee, suddenly I feel cheated.) So, they got the job done, and they were just a bunch of human beings. Imagine if Almighty God had been involved in the mission! Now imagine this: Almighty God IS involved in the mission of your life. If you truly believe that God is with you (and I hope you do, because He is), then you must believe that anything is possible for you.

      Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible,

      but for God all things are possible.”

      Matthew 19:26

      Strength From Above

      When I was growing up, my mom had a bunch of favorite sayings. Things like, “Go fly a kite!”, “Go jump in a lake”, “Take a long walk off a short pier” and “Go play in traffic” were standard fare around our house. I was always waiting for “Go stick a penny in a light socket,” but that one never caught on. Now, before you go judging my mom as an unfit mother, you need to understand something. You see, Mom and Dad had six kids in a span of eight years. At any given time Mom had three in diapers. Then in the later years, they had six, count ‘em SIX teenagers. Sanity in those days was surely elusive. Walk a mile in those shoes, my friend. I’m guessing you would come up with some choice sayings, too.

      One of Mom’s favorite sayings was really a prayer. And it was a prayer that was always answered. How do I know? Because Mom is still around to this day, and Mom is one of the most positive people I know. Mom would lift her eyes heavenward and cry, “Give me strength!” And while she may not have felt it at the moment, that strength always came. And it came from the source of all strength, Jesus Christ. The same source you and I can tap into every moment of every day and receive all the strength we need to accomplish whatever God wants us to accomplish.

      I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.

      Philippians 4:13

      Lastly, we must remember that the things we think about are going to be the things we bring into our reality. We must always keep our minds focused on positive things. What we put into our minds is what is going to come out. If we keep feeding our mind with negative thoughts, then those negative thoughts will come out of us and we will attract negative things and negative people into our lives. This may sound like so much new age mumbo jumbo to some, but tell that to St. Paul. In his letter to the Philippians, he exhorted them to put only good stuff into their minds. We would do well to follow his advice.

      Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

      Philippians 4:8

      I would like to offer a tip that has been very helpful to me in my struggle to keep my mind on positive things. It is an ancient practice. Whenever you find yourself drifting into negative thoughts, find a word or a phrase that will help snap your mind back to where it should be. Some people call this a mantra; others refer to it as a centering prayer. Call it what you will, but I have found it very helpful. There have been two that I have used throughout my life. The first is, “God, come to my assistance. Lord make haste to help me.” (From the Liturgy of the Hours) The other is, “Son of David, have pity on me.” (Mark 10:48) These brief little prayers are reminders to me that I need to rethink my thinking. Find a word or phrase that you are comfortable with and use it throughout the day to bring your mind back to excellent thoughts.

      A positive attitude is one of the hallmarks of a Magnetic Christian. As you reflect on just the few Scripture passages I have presented here, I think you’ll see that we can’t not be positive about life! (How about that – using a double negative to encourage a positive.)

      Questions for Reflection

      1)How do I answer the question, “How are you?” How can I change my answer to reflect a more positive outlook on life?

      2)What are my predominant thoughts and thought patterns? Do I keep my mind focused on good things?

      3)Is there a word or phrase that I can use to keep me focused on positive things? Perhaps a favorite Scripture passage or prayer?

      4)What are the five things for which I am most thankful? Write them down and recall one each time you find your thoughts turning negative.

      5)Is there a time in my life when God turned something that seemed very negative at the time into something positive? How can I better envision the positive outcomes that God wants to bring from every situation in life?

      Prayer

      Father, you know that we can be so negative. Forgive us for the times when we only see the darkness. Help us to keep our minds focused on your goodness, and to share a positive attitude with a world that so desperately needs it. Amen.