Thinking and Talking

Psalm 145:3, 5-6  Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.  
They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.  They will tell of the power of Your awesome works and I will proclaim Your great deeds.

What am I thinking about?  What am I talking about?  These were the questions posed to me by the Lord, when I read these verses today.  I started to pull apart Day 5 in "31 Days of Praise" and these 3 verses are what the first few sentences are based on.   " I magnify You, O Lord, I exalt Your name, for You are great and highly to be praised.  I praise You for the glorious splendor of Your majesty and the power of Your awe-inspiring acts."

A prickling of conscience guided by the Holy Spirit awakened in my heart.  As I meditated on this little pushing by the Spirit, I was utterly convicted.  My thoughts are generally focused on to do lists (gotta do the floors today, run to the bank....how I hate this chore or that chore, if only I didn't have to go to work, I wouldn't mind it so....), or things like the weather, (oh, it's gonna snow again, geez, I'm tired of driving in this).  Then there is the conversations, the irritations, the confrontations with others...Do you ever have them in your head, you know, the "well if they say this, I will say that" or "how dare they talk to me like that, I should have told them..." And then there's the "I am not going to do such and such, if they think I'm picking up after them...."  And of course when I am thinking on all such things, you can imagine what eventually comes out of my mouth...nothing positive that's for sure !!   Is it any wonder my days are so often filled with frustration and lukewarmedness toward the things of God. and even God Himself?
David had the right idea.  He looked around Him and saw the Lord.  It allowed the wonder of creation to fill His thoughts with awe of the one who created all.  And He spoke it aloud!!   Ps 145:1-2  I will exalt You, my God the King; I will praise Your name for ever and ever.  Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever.   What if we did a little study on the Sun, or the ecosystem we live in, or on the human body...we would learn amazement at their creation and sustaining?

There is a lot to think about here on Earth.  I do have things that need taking care of.  But that doesn't mean that my sole focus should be the things of Earth. Colossians 3:1-2  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  I can think about the awesomeness of God while I go about my day.  If I just take the time to notice the little things and the intricacies of my world, I am sure it will lead me to wonder and awe of the one who created and sustains all.  Where my thoughts go, so goes my speech.  If I am not focusing on the negative, then my talk will become more positive as well.  Instead of always talking about my problems, my busyness, or just plain complaining about nothing in particular, I could tell of my gratitude towards God and His goodness.  There is always something to be thankful for.  I could talk about something beautiful I saw, or something good that happened.  If I look out my front door, the woods across the street look stunning with their snowy white blanket against the starkness of barren winter trees.  Praise God for the beauty.   When I go to my bank, it  is always pleasant.  The people there are so nice.  Wouldn't it be better to talk about them than the unpleasant clerk at some other place.  There is always something I can find to praise God about.  To extol His virtues and be in awe of Him. The love of God Himself, when I think of my sinfulness and that He loved and died for me, the magnitude of His mercy towards me...It's truly astounding that He should be bothered with such a one as me.  It takes a little more (maybe a lot more)  work, a little more effort to be positive.  It's so easy to fall into negative.

This is a hard lesson for me.  And I really want to change in this area.  Can I start my day with praise?  Absolutely.  I have a Bible.  I can read one of the praise Psalms out loud.  I also have my little "31 Days of Praise" Book.   I can and will do this by choice and on purpose.

Psalm 143:8-10  Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You.  Show me the way I should go for to You I lift up my soul. Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in You.  Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.  

Once again, Lord, the morning brought  me a visit of Your unfailing love and patience.  Thank You for showing me the way I should go.  Rescue me from my enemies of complaining and negativity and lukewarmedness.  I put on Christ, teach me to do Your will and let me be led by the Spirit on level ground, not the highs and lows of emotional, fleshly lead living.  Thank You.