KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, FL. February 12, 2012 - During a tough season in my life, I was sharing with a friend some of the things I was going through. After listening for awhile, my friend challenged me with a powerful statement. She said, “Kristi, you can’t be powerful and pitiful at the same time.”
These words struck me to the heart as I knew they were filled with such truth and wisdom. I hadn’t realized up until that point that my attitude regarding my health and other situations in my life were rendering me pitiful, stopping up the power of God and His flow of blessings in my life.
Through my friend, I was challenged to examine my attitude and words. I quickly discovered that I was projecting negativeness into my life and into the lives of others.
After that conversation, I decided I didn’t want to be pitiful anymore! Rather, I wanted to walk in the power of God and project hope into people’s life. To do this, I was going to have to choose to make internal changes in my thought pattern and attitude regardless of whether my external situation ever changed.
To help me in this transformation, I began to dive a little deeper in God’s Word. I needed to see what He said about my life and my current situation. I asked God to examine my thoughts, words, lifestyle, and belief patterns and reveal to me anything that did not match up with His will for my life (Psalms 139:23). Then, I made a choice to believe what God’s Word said rather than listen to my flesh, my circumstances, or the people around me. One by one I began to replace words, thoughts, and actions that did not line up with the heart and mind of God (Philippians 4:6-8).
As I made a choice to replace my complaints with words of thankfulness for the good things in my life, my outlook on my situation began to change. The joy of the Lord became my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). I love God’s testimony about Caleb in Numbers 14:24, “Because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.”
If you remember back to the Israelites’ 40 year journey through the wilderness, Caleb and Joshua were the only two out of two million people who got to inherit the land God had planned and purposed for them. Why? Because they had a different spirit than the rest of the Israelites. Same circumstances, but a different choice of words, thoughts and belief patterns.
I want to have a spirit of Caleb! I don’t want to miss out on God’s plan and purpose for my life because I am stuck in a routine of negative thoughts, complaints, fears, anger and other unhealthy traits.
How about you?
Let’s choose to lay aside our complaints and rise up with our heads held high knowing who we are in Christ Jesus (Leviticus 26:13. It’s time to walk in the power of God on a daily basis rather than allowing our circumstances to dictate how we feel or act. As we make the choice to rejoice, the joy of the Lord will be our strength. As we trust Him in the midst of our circumstances, He will not only enable us to face what is hard but He will help us emerge on the other side victoriously!
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Kristi Overton Johnson is a wife, mother, and the world record holder in water-skiing from 1992-2010. Having retired from professional sports, Kristi now helps others fulfill their God-given destiny.
With a passion to share the life lessons she learned on the water and a desire to encourage the hearts of people through her faith, Kristi founded her non-profit ministry Champion’s Heart.
Champion’s Heart provides life resources, addiction recovery, quarterly magazine publications, leadership training, and sports outreaches. In His Wakes, the water-sports outreach of Champion’s Heart, has helped over 10,000 at-risk youth from across the nation and world have hope, experience victory and discover their purpose through the sport that brought Kristi fame.
Kristi currently resides in Florida with her husband, Tim, and their three children.
To read more by Kristi go to http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/his-wakes
To learn about her mission and work visit Kristi Overton Johnson Ministries.
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