Positive Thinking Is Neither Focusing On Sweetness Nor Denial Of Negative Truths

Truth Is Always Positive At Its Root And In Its Fruit...Always! Jesus made some very comforting and positive promises to all of His disciples which included believers of all generations. One of those wonderful promises was to comfort, encourage and reassure us in our fears, sufferings and death. This positive promise is in John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." What a wonderful promise. It is a positive promise of help from God, from Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It is a positive assurance of our eternal future with Him in heaven. When Jesus encouraged His disciples to overcome their "troubles" by "believing" in God's ability to help them through their trials and ultimately into the very presence of God, that was "positive thinking". And when He promised them He was going away to "prepare a place for them and then return to Earth and take them to heaven", that was positive thinking. Though positive thinking is always positive, the subject of the thinking may include some very frightening facts of truth. And truth, whether encouraging or frightening, is far more important than pacification, conciliation, appeasement or compromise. These things may purchase temporary physical peace, but seldom, if ever, result in truth. It is the truth which purchases freedom and secures spiritual peace."And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32. An example of that kind of positive thinking is found in Jesus' teaching His disciples about the positive aspects of the last days and the hardships which would accompany those end-times prophecies. The content of Jesus' words may seem negative but these are also positive promises ... positive thinking. Things are going to get better after they get worse is positive thinking for believers. Matthew 24:1   And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.   Matthew 24:2   And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Positive!  Matthew 24:3   And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?  Those signs, though negative in nature were positive as indications of the return of Christ, the resurrection and rapture of the disciples. That is positive thinking. Jesus answered the question with five important facts .... First "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." Matt.24:4-5 Jesus was not thinking negatively but positively. Second "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Matt.24:6-8 These "sorrows" may seem negative, but they are positive. Third "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another." Matt.24:9-10.  Yes this "affliction" is horrible but true and yes, positive. Fourth "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." Matt.24:11. Negative for those "deceived", but true and positive for true believers. Fifth "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Matt.24:12. "Iniquity" is negative; "cold love" is negative, but the love of God in the hearts of Christians lives on and on, and that is positive. I can't cover all of the other end-times prophecies here, but they continue down to what we know as "The Blessed Hope". the return of Jesus Christ to gather His true believers unto Himself. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt.24:30-31.  That, my friends is "Positive Thinking" for true believers in Christ ... and unbelievers who will hear the truth of it. And only negative to unbelievers who will not hear. RB

On Leaving The Negative Past As You Enter A Positive Future

Even Jews see a spark of light in the Old Testament which is a flame in the New Testament. Many Jews who are still in darkness see that spark of light in their Old Testament which records a Creator and a chosen people and foretells them of a coming Messiah (Christ). Nature and creation itself is another spark of light which illuminates the doubtful mind to the reality of God and His anointed one, Jesus Christ. Your faith is not in vain if that spark guides you to Jesus who said, "...I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Jn.8:12. 

If your self-will is to turn away from that spark of light and go back to darkness, down the old road, the "broad way" of old habits, old ways, then go back, for that is where your heart is and you will never be satisfied with the new way, which is a narrow way, the way of the cross, the Jesus way. But if you will go forward, up the new way of life which is narrow but light, the Jesus way, then don't even look back, as Lot's wife did at Sodom. For you would never again be satisfied with your old loves, old habits and that old way of thinking, speaking acting and being. Choose ye this day... which way. 

Even non-Christian Jews who believe in Jehovah God and the Old Testament, which tells of a coming Messiah, have more light than unrepentant souls who have no light at all and have rejected the God of the Bible ... both Old and New Testaments. Though they may worship some false god or embrace some form of religion, the "light" they claim as truth ... is darkness. Jesus said "... If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matt.6:23. Yes, unsaved Jews who believe in the Old Testament, but not in Jesus as their Messiah, are also in darkness. But their belief in Jehovah God and His Old Testament are a spark of light which soon, in the coming Tribulation, will turn them to see Christ as their prophesied Messiah and their faith will be complete. That time shall one day arrive as prophesied here ....

Zechariah 12:10   And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him (Jesus), as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. RB

Here is an example, of that spark of light, Jews vaguely see, "through a glass darkly", in the Old Testament.

This Way Or That

From American Alliance Of Jews And Christians

By Rabbi Daniel Lapin

And the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you.  

(Genesis 12:1)

Ancient Jewish wisdom points out that the logical order seems reversed.  Ordinarily, people on a long trip walk out of their front door, leaving their homes.  Then they leave the city, and finally they leave their country.  In this case however, the Torah is emphasizing how Abraham utterly separated himself from all the influences of his previous life. First he abandoned the values of his land.  This was hard enough but it was still easier than leaving the cultural identification of his birthplace.  The hardest challenge still lay ahead.  Now he had to leave the traditions of his father's house. In order to make the most of the grand adventure which lay ahead, he had to turn himself into a blank slate, open to all that the Lord would reveal.  To do this, he rid himself of all prior negative influences on his life.

And Abram went, as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was seventy five years old when he left Haran. 

(Genesis 12:4)

To his credit, Lot, Abraham's nephew, accompanied his uncle.  With one big difference.  Lot did not undergo the cleansing process of eliminating all earlier marks on his soul.

When the time came for Lot and Abraham to part ways, Abraham remained true to his course and continued walking before God.  Lot, however, found himself seduced by the sordid city of Sodom.

Here are another two people related to one another who must part:

And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each woman to her mother's house...And they raised their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth cleaved to her...And she said, "Lo, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods; return after your sister- in-law"...And Ruth said, "Do not entreat me to leave you, to return from following you, for wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God.  

(Ruth 1:8-16)

In the same way we asked what difference between Abraham and Lot made the former cling to God while Sodom seduced the latter, we now ask what distinguished Ruth from Orpah? Orpah left her mother-in-law and became the grandmother of Goliath.  Ruth clung to Naomi and became the grandmother of King David.

Ancient Jewish wisdom points out that when the two girls married her sons, Ruth totally abandoned her idolatrous upbringing while Orpah was more ambivalent.  How do we know this?  

Naomi's words reveal the truth.  She didn't merely say to Ruth, "your sister-in-law has returned to her people."  She revealingly added "...and to her gods."  That's right, Orpah never abandoned her idols when she began her new life as a wife. Ruth did.

Before embarking on his new life, Abraham left all the negative traits of his life till that point.  Before embarking on her new life, Ruth abandoned her idolatrous past.  Abraham and Ruth succeeded spectacularly in their new lives, while Lot and Orpah failed.  We are being taught an important lesson.  

Whenever embarking on an odyssey with the potential of serious life transformation, first rid yourself of old destructive habits.  King David put it quite succinctly:

Shun evil and do good...

(Psalms 34:15)  

_____________________________

My Comment:
Shunning evil and doing good is commendable, but where is Jesus, Messiah (Christ) in all of this? He is there, in all of these Old Testament verses, visiting Lot at his home in wicked Sodom. Also descending from Ruth and Boaz the great great grandparents of Jesus' mother, Mary. Jews see the spark but not quite the light. Those who do are called "Completed Jews" or Christians. RB

"What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"

Matthew 24:3   And as (Jesus) sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us ... what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?  

Matthew 24:4   And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 

Matthew 24:5   For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 

Matthew 24:6   And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 

Matthew 24:7   For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 

Matthew 24:8   All these are the beginning of sorrows. 

Matthew 24:9   Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 

Matthew 24:10   And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 

Matthew 24:11   And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 

Matthew 24:12   And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 

Kate Smith Sings "God Bless America" The Story Behind The Song

A Very Special Piece of History

Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said that when he and a million other guys first heard her sing "God Bless America" on the radio, they all pretended to have dust in their eyes as they wiped away a tear or two.

Here are the facts... The link at the bottom will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of "GOD BLESS AMERICA". But before you watch it, you should also know the story behind the first public showing of the song.

The time was 1940. America was still in a terrible economic depression. Hitler was taking over Europe and Americans were afraid we'd have to go to war. It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans.

This was the era just before TV, when radio shows were HUGE, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.

Kate was also large; plus size, as we now say, and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings".

Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV, but with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.

Kate was also patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America, and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she  went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote "White  Christmas") and asked him to write a song that would  make Americans feel good again about their country. When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her. He went to his files and found a song that he had written, but never published, 22 years before - way back in 1917. He gave it to her and she worked on it with her studio orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from God Bless America. Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America. Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song.

This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time, and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, "You're In the Army Now." At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it's Ronald Reagan.

To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country.  Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry..... And for many generations of Americans to follow.

Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you'll enjoy it. Many people don't know there's a lead in to the song since it usually starts with”God Bless America ....." So here's the entire song as originally sung.....  APPRECIATE and ENJOY!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0