Optimistic Journey » Positive Self Talk

Choose Your Thoughts

Jarrod Clark — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:26:23 +0000

“…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” – Matthew 12:34

God has given us the wonderful gift of choice. And one of those choices is the ability to choose our thoughts. Day in and day out, we’re bombarded with thousands of thoughts. Some are good and some are bad.

I’ve heard it said that the average person has somewhere around 7,500 bad thoughts a day. This may be an alarming statistic to swallow but the truth is, you can change those negative, defeating thoughts.

Here’s the key, you don’t have to entertain every thought that enters your mind. Whatever you meditate on will take root, multiply, and grow.

If you’re unsuccessful at something, don’t meditate on what went wrong, dwell on what went right. if a friend betrayed you, don’t think that you’re “less than” or “not good enough.” No, your thought should be, “It’s their loss.” “That person lost a good thing.”

Maybe you had a bad day, and you’re tempted to get in despair. Your declaration should be, “as long as I’m among the living, I have hope.”

You see, the enemy wants to get you down in the dumps. The scripture says that the thief came to steal, kill, and destroy. How does he do that? Partly by appealing to your thoughts. The enemy wants to plant negative seeds of doubt, discouragement and defeat into your mind.

But you don’t have to be a slave to your negative thoughts. No, there’s a better way. God wants you to have an abundant life. A life full of peace, wholeness and joy.

I love how Philippians 4:8 puts it. It says, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.

In other words, if it’s not building you up, don’t think about it. If it doesn’t bring a smile to your face, don’t think about it. If someone says something about you and it’s not true, don’t think about it. If it’s defeating you, don’t think about it.

If it’s causing you stress and bad health, don’t think about it. If the critics and naysayers come at you with a false negative report, don’t think about it. If an enemy comes at you with a bad accusation, don’t think about it. Notice, none of these things are noble, admirable, excellent or worthy of praise.

Next time you’re tempted to complain, remember the Nation of Israel and how they were stuck in the wilderness for forty years. Day in and day out, they circled around that same mountain. They were stuck in a rut. They didn’t progress forward, partly because they complained.

Remember, every complaint starts with a thought. Every thought is a seed. If you plant bad seeds, you’ll reap a bad harvest. Make a choice today. Choose to think positive thoughts of life, abundance, and wholeness as you charge forth on your journey of life!

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January 10, 2012 -- Meditate on These Things (2)
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How the Words “So What” can Change Your Life

Jarrod Clark — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:57:36 +0000

Sometimes living an optimistic lifestyle requires us to have a “so what” mentality. That doesn’t mean that you don’t care. It doesn’t mean that you’re being tossed to-and-fro in the wind. No, it simply means you say “so what” to the things that don’t matter.

If someone cuts you off in traffic– “so what,” don’t give power to things that don’t matter. Keep the bigger picture in mind. Maybe you lost the battle, “so what, that’s okay.” You may have lost the battle but rest assured you’ll win the war.

Maybe you didn’t finish your task. Maybe you didn’t cross the finish line– “so what,” tomorrow is a new day. It’s a new day with brand new mercies and compassions. God will give you the strength to cross the finish line in due time.

Remember, in the grand scheme of things, everything works together for your good. Your steps are ordered by God and He has a plan for you.

When you keep the bigger picture in mind, the little petty things don’t matter. When God is for you, nothing or no one can be against you.

Rather than letting the little insignificant details of life stress you out, keep the grand picture in mind. If it doesn’t directly affect God’s divine plan for your life– “so what.” If it irritates you, “so what.”

If someone doesn’t want to be your friend, “so what.” That just means there’s room for the ones who are deserving of your friendship. If a door of opportunity closes, “so what.” Let that serve as good news. Because that means that the Almighty God is drawing you closer to the divine destiny He has for you.

In the same way that we have to organize our homes or our working spaces, we must do the same for our inner man. That means you have to hold on to the things that are of value, and dispose of the things that have no relevance.

Choose to sort the insignificant things in your life from the things that hold great importance. Say “so what” to things with no meaning and put your focus, time and attention on those things that matter the most. When you do so you’ll draw closer and closer to the divine destiny that God has for you!

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Put God First

Jarrod Clark — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:08:51 +0000

The way that you start your morning off will determine the course of your day. If you wake up with a good attitude and expect that something good is going to happen to you then you’re setting yourself up for God’s favor to pour down on you.

The moment you wake up, Satan goes to work on your mind. He immediately starts feeding you negative and defeating thoughts. He’ll remind you of what’s going wrong in your life. He’ll inject your mind with thoughts of worry, defeat, fear, failure, depression and doubt.

That’s why it’s important to wake up on a good note. Decide to take control of your thoughts early in the morning. Don’t focus on the negative, instead, start the day off with a good prayer. Take out sometime in the morning and read an encouraging passage of scripture.

When you do this, you’re fighting the enemy with what the Word of God says about you. The last thing the adversary wants you to do is pray to God first thing in the morning.

In the natural, one of the first things we do in the morning is get coffee. We’ll do whatever is necessary to get our physical body prepped for the day. But too often we neglect the spiritual. This reminds me of a question I heard a very wise person ask. They asked, “Did you spend even as much time getting yourself inner-man ready this morning as you did your outer-man?”

I want to encourage you to make a habit of starting the day off on a positive note. I’ve heard it said over and over that the mind is the devil’s playground. Don’t give the enemy control of your mind, no, take control of your thoughts. Keep first things first.

The first thing you do in the morning is going to set the tone for the rest of the day. Don’t let your day be a downward spiral of negative defeating thoughts. No, get a good positive momentum going.

Matthew 6:33 reminds us to seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Make a conscious decision to put God first when you start your day. As you do this, you’ll find that everything else will fall in place as you charge forth on your journey of life!

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Photo credit: by Andres Rueda

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Make Positive Declarations

Jarrod Clark — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 03:33:47 +0000

One of the greatest faith filled actions you can do is speak things into existence. The words we speak have so much power over our lives.

It’s amazing that something so small as the tongue has so much impact over our lives. Too often, we go around making negative declarations over our lives even when we don’t intend to.

Many times we’re guilty of saying such things as, “I’ll never accomplish that goal, it’s too far out of my league” or “I don’t have the talents or credentials.” You may even say things like, “I don’t deserve anything good.”

But my friend, I’ll have you to know that death and life lies in the power of the tongue. God has given you the power to speak death or life into you your situation. He even bids us to choose life. The Lord says, in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life!”

Your declaration should be that you are above and not beneath, you are the head and not the tail. You are a lender not a borrower. Make the positive declaration that you’re blessed going in and blessed coming out. You’re blessed in the city and in the field such as the scriptures remind us.

Instead of making negative declarations and thinking that you don’t have the talents or the skills, make a positive statement. Declare that you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you such as Philippians 4:13 says.

You can make a Romans 8:28 declaration that all things are working together for the good of him who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

Say out loud with your mouth that He is a God who makes all things new! Be thankful that God is working behind the scenes to change the old you into the new you. Day in and day out your positive declaration should be that the favor of God is on you!

Pray that the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart are acceptable in the sight of the Lord. You can’t afford to make negative declarations over your life. For in doing so you’re literally speaking death into your life. Instead, take the faith walk and make positive declarations ahead of time and watch God perform miracles as you charge forth on your journey of life!

Photo credit: by Leonard John Matthews

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He Always Builds You Up!

Jarrod Clark — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:18:03 +0000

From time to time, we allow negative thoughts to creep into our minds. Even the best of us fall prey to those defeating mindsets.

But if we don’t watch it, we’ll find ourselves basking in those negative thoughts. And before long it starts to effect our moods and our actions.

But if it gives you any consolation, God is not the author of those bad thoughts. He doesn’t create that defeating mindset. The enemy is the one who would have you to lose all hope. He’s the one who persuades you to give up on all your dreams.

But God causes you to do the opposite. He’s causes you to remain hopeful even in the darkest of circumstances. He persuades you to continue pursuing your dreams and visions even when it seems no progress has been made.

The scripture says that Satan came to kill, steal and destroy. But Jesus says, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly!” So as you can see, the devil wants to break you down, but Jesus wants to build you up.

The devil will tell you there’s no way possible you can achieve that dream, but God says through Him, all things are possible. The devil will convince you that everything is falling apart. But God says all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord, and are called according to His purpose in Christ Jesus. The enemy will try to persuade you that you’re a nobody but Jesus says you are great. You are favored in His eyes! The devil will try to curse you but time and time again, Jesus says that you’re blessed in the city and in the fields. You’re blessed coming in and going out!

It’s time to put a stop to the defeated mindset. Next time you find yourself in despair, recognize that as a work of the devil. Jesus would never cause you to feel sad. He would never cause you to throw in the towel. No, the whole time Jesus is there cheering you on. He’s saying, “you can make it!” He says “you are more than a conquer.” He says “you’re a winner.”

Jesus is that still small voice that encourages you to keep climbing higher and higher. He’s that small flame in the dark when it seems all hope is lost. When you’re faced with those negative thoughts, realize that they are not of God. Pinpoint them as being from the accuser. When you learn to do this, you’ll began to walk in the endless light that God has in store for you!

Photo credit: by Andrea_R

September 12, 2011 -- Look for the Silver Lining (0)
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Woah, It Could’ve Been Me!

Jarrod Clark — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 04:23:24 +0000

Are you like Lot’s wife who looked back at her problems and turned into a pillar of salt? Or are you like Paul who learned to be content in whatsoever state he was facing?

In Job 10:15, Job cried out Woe unto me. That means he was sad, distressed, and discomforted over the trials and tests that he faced.

Many times in the trials of life, we have a tendency to look back at the problems we face. When storms arise, we tend to magnify our problems instead of magnifying our God.

A natural law of attraction says that whatever you focus your time and attention on is what you’ll acquire more out of life. In other words, if you focus your energy on what’s wrong in your life, you strengthen the ability to find more things wrong. However, if you focus your efforts on looking at the positive aspect, or the things that are going right in life, then you’ll notice that you find more and more other things that are going right also.

In Genesis chapter 19, Lot and his family were given specific instructions while escaping Mount Sodom. They were told to run and do not look back at the destruction of the city otherwise they would be turned into a pillar of salt. And sure enough as they escaped Lot’s wife, Edith, turned and looked back and indeed she turned into a pillar of salt.

You may be facing a current trial or dwelling on issues of your past. But I encourage you to look forward towards the future. Instead of crying out like Job saying, “Woe it’s me” try looking at the positive and say, “Woah, it could’ve been me!”

In other words, things could always be worse. No matter how bad you think you have it, someone has been dealt a worse hand than you.

Don’t look back at your past, lest you turn into a pillar of salt like Edith did. Instead, be like Paul and say “…I have learned to be content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Phillipians 4:12

Make no mistake, I’m not saying that it’s not okay to mourn. Just like the scriptures say, there’s a time to mourn and there’s a time to dance. But I hope you’ll realize that God will turn your wailing into dancing! I believe the sooner you make the decision to look at the positive aspect, the better off you’ll be.

Your declaration should be that things can always be worse. And the sooner you change the saying from “Woe it’s me” to “Woah, it could’ve been me,” the sooner you’ll witness the next dimension of life that God has in store for you as you charge forth on your journey of life!

Photo credit: by duane.schoon

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There’s Power In The Tongue!

Jarrod Clark — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:53:39 +0000

Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. – Proverbs 18:21

In the beginning, God spoke everything into existence. In Genesis 1, He said, “let there be light,” and there was light. In Mark chapter 4, He rebuked the winds and spoke to the sea “Peace be still,” and the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

All throughout the scriptures, He’s constantly affirming positive words as to who we are. You are more than a conqueror. You are the head and not the tail. You are above and not beneath. Even, Paul said in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”

You may wonder, what do all these passages have in common? They are all instances when God is speaking something into existence. Paul is affirming that regardless of his situation he has learned to be content. He speaks in confidence that he(you) can do all things through Christ which strengthens him(you).

But isn’t it a good thing that we serve a God who speaks good things over our life? Even since the beginning, every creation that God ever made was created through speaking it into existence. After He created light, He created space and water. He did all this through verbally speaking. We know through all this that there is power in the tongue.

You see, the good news is that God has given you the authority to speak good into your life. But the fact of the matter is, whatever you speak over you is what’s going to come into existence. If you go around saying that you’ll never amount to anything, that’s what you’ll acquire out of life. When the enemy tempts you to get down and disgusted, know that you can fight his attacks with what the Word of God says about you.

If there is a mountain or hardship that’s in your way, know that Jesus said, in Mark 11:23 that you can speak to your mountains- tell them to be moved and cast into the sea. If you have faith and don’t doubt this, it will happen.

Creflo Dollar once said, “The small bit in a horse’s mouth can control his direction. It’s that small bit that controls the outcome or destination of that horse.” You see, the bits (or words) that come out of your mouth can either lead you to a destination of destruction or of life. Make a choice to speak good bits over your life today and watch as you rise to a new dimension as you charge forth on your journey of life!

Photo credit: by loswl

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It All Starts With A Thought

Jarrod Clark — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 02:36:56 +0000

It’s amazing how all of the decisions we make are directly connected to our thoughts. If you sit there and think about a fudge sundae for long enough you’ll find yourself taking the action to obtain that fudge sundae.

A wise man once said, “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.” I believe that before those impossible things were accomplished, it started off with a thought. Someone decided to prove that the impossible can be done.

The world has conditioned you into thinking that if you don’t have this, that, or the other thing, then you aren’t successful. But God’s way of thinking is that you already have everything that you need. You may not physically have it yet but God will provide it for you!

The good news is that God has given you the power to change that negative mindset. But it all comes to a decision. You have to want to change your thoughts.

The world tells you that in order to be successful you have to have a great job and make a lot of money but God says that you are more than a conqueror. The world would have you to believe that you don’t have the skills but God says that you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you!

The world would have you to think that you’re not good enough, but God tells you that you are the apple of His eye, and that you have more than enough.

You see, in order to grow you need to make a decision to change those negative thoughts. Change those negative actions. Go from that old way of thinking to a new way of thinking. When the doctor gives you a bad report, you don’t have to accept that, declare that you are healed! When that teacher tells you that you’re not smart enough, believe what God says for you. You’re an overcomer and you have all the knowledge to conquer that course in life.

When the enemy comes against you with a trial, instead of getting bothered and upset speak over your situation. Make positive declarations over your life. When you do this I believe that you will march into a new season as you charge forth on your journey of life!

Photo credit: by Scarleth White

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It All Starts With Your Thoughts!

Jarrod Clark — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 01:54:10 +0000

I heard a story about these doctors that found a new way to treat patients with depression. Instead of using the traditional methods like just giving them medication, they started having their patients make positive declarations.

After doing this, they told how these patients had remarkable results. In fact, some of these patients were facing life threatening diseases and they didn’t feel like there was any hope.

The first thing the doctor would do is ask these patients, “has anyone ever survived this disease? Has anyone ever made it?” And of course the answer was always yes – and the doctor said, “well I want you to start saying, ‘I will be one of the ones to make it! I will be one of the ones to beat the odds!”

And they begin to do this day in and day out. “I’m getting better. I’m recovering. I’m going to make it.” And it’s amazing how many of them, not only came out of that depression, but many of them did make full physical recoveries!

..This story should inspire us in many ways to evaluate our state of mind. It speaks volumes on how our mind plays a big factor not only on our ability to accomplish goals or learn new things in life, but it is a big contributor to our state of well being.

I’m not saying that if you’re depressed to just simply “change your thoughts” and everything will be alright. (No, depression is a mental illness and should be treated with extreme care. If you have symptoms of depression take the step of faith and seek counseling.)

But know that much of the step to recovery is in changing your thoughts. No matter what you’re facing, whether it be depression, fear, worry, doubt or insecurity, know that these are all strongholds that start with negative thinking.

I encourage you that just like these patients who made full recoveries to change your thinking today. You should declare that you are one of the ones who will be healed. You will be one of the ones to own that multi-million dollar per year business.

Declare today that you can make it through anything that comes your way. In doing this I believe that you will tap into the full abundance that God has in store for you!

Photo credit: Corrie.

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Post It On Your Bathroom Mirror!

Jarrod Clark — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:01:44 +0000

Experts say that one of the best things we can do to combat in-securities is to focus on our assets. We should write down those things that we have going for us and put them in a visible place where we see it everyday.

I totally agree. I believe this is one of the best things that you can do for yourself. Whether it be an insecurity or any thought that you want to change, make a choice to write down your positive attributes and focus on them.

Today I want to encourage you that optimism is at hand. Know that you can erase those defeatist negative thoughts and replace them with encouraging and uplifting thoughts.

Maybe someone told you that you’d never accomplish your goal. They probably said you weren’t strong enough. No, I dare you to combat that thought today. Know that you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you.

You may have grown up in an environment where you were encouraged not to dream. You were probably told that it’s pointless to dream and that your dreams won’t come to pass. No, the scripture says that you should write the vision and make it plain. Dare to dream today! There are endless possibilities out there awaiting you!

You may have restrictions on you. You may feel like you’re limited to what you can accomplish in life. Because of this you might feel like you’re in bondage. No, you should believe contrary. The scripture says whom the son sets free is truly free indeed.

Anything thought that has been holding you back from your destiny, negate it with a powerful scripture or affirmation of some type. Write it down on a post-it note and stick it on your bathroom mirror. Every time you wake up and look in the mirror, you will be reminded of your strengths and not your weaknesses.

Know that you can accomplish anything that you set your mind to do. But understand that it starts with your thoughts. If you can believe it then you can achieve it. Today, take a hand full of post-it notes and write down that which you have going for you. Post it on your bathroom mirror and watch supernatural miracles happen as you charge forth on your journey of life!

Photo credit: SpecialKRB

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Choose Your Thoughts

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