Participants: Curtis & Paula Eakins
Series Code: AL
Program Code: AL00175A
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00:01 I have a habit of thinking negative thoughts.
00:04 And I know it's not healthy but, 00:06 I just can't help it. Well, today program is 00:09 just for you entitled "The Art of 00:11 Positive Thinking." So, stay by. 00:40 Hi, welcome to Abundant Living. 00:42 I'm glad you're with us today and this is 00:44 my beautiful bride of over 10 years Paula 00:48 Eakins, hello, hello, doing alright baby? 00:52 I'm doing wonderful. I'm glad you're with me 00:53 today on these programs. I'm glad to be with 00:55 you today too. I really appreciate you. 00:57 I'm excited about this particular program. 00:59 I'm excited that you are my wife. 01:02 Praise the Lord, okay no comment on that one. 01:05 Thank you; let's move on swiftly, thank you 01:06 Jesus. Thank you Jesus, okay that's what I 01:08 get, yes, yes, yes, yeah, thank you Jesus, 01:10 alright. Of course now we're continuing our 01:12 series of mental wellness. And today is entitled 01:16 "The Art of Positive Thinking." 01:19 Again for thinking our thoughts plays a great 01:24 impact on our mental wellness and also those 01:28 who maybe going through depression, 01:30 mild or moderate. So, therefore this is 01:32 the program that is needed for this series. 01:36 Well, I guess the first question we want to have 01:38 Curtis as we kind of talk about that positive 01:40 thinking and that is what impact does 01:43 negative thinking have on the body? 01:46 Well, now we mentioned before the body and the 01:49 mind is closely related, alright. So, when the 01:53 mind suffers of course the body follows suit, 01:56 vice versa. And so therefore there is a lot 01:59 of things that the body goes through if the 02:01 mind is not healthy we have a diseased mind. 02:05 For instance, negative thoughts as far as 02:08 thoughts of grief, remorse, discontent, 02:13 jealousy, envy, hatred, revenge, all these 02:19 negative thoughts sends a negative message 02:23 throughout our entire system from head to toe. 02:27 I'm just going to enumerate just a few of 02:29 those. Number one, and a lot of people may 02:31 not be aware of this one; so I'm gonna start 02:33 with this one first osteoporosis. When we 02:36 have negative thoughts of those such of 02:39 that I just mentioned, then it actually depletes 02:42 calcium from our bones and sets us up for 02:46 osteoporosis just our thoughts. Now, we're not 02:49 talking about diet, we're not talking about 02:51 exercise, we're not talking about Sunlight or 02:54 eating foods that's rich in calcium, just our 02:57 thoughts alone will impact osteoporosis and 03:01 raise that risk of us getting a fractured 03:03 hip or other areas in the body. Another 03:07 negative impact of negative thinking has on 03:10 our system is also the Immune System. 03:14 Now, our immunity is also impacted from negative 03:19 thinking. It's decreased the white blood cells. 03:23 Now, with that in mind of course we open 03:25 up our selves for all types of bacteria's and also 03:28 infections, urinary tract infections, 03:31 also cancer as well. Breast cancer, 03:34 colon cancer, so all those will be impacted by 03:37 negative thinking. Now, if that's not bad enough, 03:40 also when we have negative thinking and 03:42 negative thoughts it constricts our blood 03:46 vessels. Thereby there's more pressure of 03:49 blood going through the artery wall, guess what 03:51 happens to our blood pressure, it goes up. 03:54 So, when our blood pressure goes up, 03:55 it also puts stress on the heart muscle, 03:58 heart attack or also the stroke. And well 04:02 there is also another thing as far as 04:04 negative thinking, it also impacts of course 04:07 depression. People can really slip into depression 04:11 just based on their thoughts alone and nothing 04:14 else. So, there's tremendous impact as far 04:17 as how we think what we think 04:19 about and our health overall well being. 04:23 Then I guess then I just speaking about that 04:26 then what about that the spiritual component. 04:29 How does our spiritual life or 04:31 component actually impact us? 04:33 Well, now our spiritual component plays a vital 04:36 role as far as our thoughts are concerned. 04:38 Okay. Now, there's several texts we're going 04:41 to look at and you may just wanna jot these 04:44 down, but Jesus said and I think it's Matthew 04:47 chapter 7 and verse 22. It says there in that 04:51 verse they, they say, "Lord, Lord, didn't we 04:56 prophesy in Thy Name." Now, that's the preacher 05:00 or the pastor or whoever. And it says, "Lord, 05:02 Lord didn't we cast out devils in Thy Name." 05:07 That's the healer. "Lord, Lord didn't we do 05:11 wonderful works in Thy Name." And then Jesus 05:16 response is very profound. Jesus response was, 05:20 depart from me, I never knew you, ye workers of 05:27 iniquity. Now, Jesus didn't say depart from me, 05:32 I knew you at one time but I forgot about you, 05:34 but Jesus said, we were never acquainted. 05:37 Oh, I see. I never knew you. Workers of not 05:42 sinners, workers of not transgression, 05:47 workers of iniquity, which is worse than the other 05:51 two. And so therefore, based on that statement 05:54 alone, what we do does not dictate who we are. 06:01 And then also we go to Matthew chapter 15 and 06:04 verse 8, where the Bible says there. Jesus says, 06:08 they honor me with their mouths, 06:11 they honor me with their lips, but their heart 06:16 is far from me. In other words, what we say. 06:20 Now, a lot of people can speak very eloquently, 06:23 alright, very profound and can lift one's spirits, 06:27 preaching and teaching, etc, but Jesus says, 06:30 what we say, what we speak with our lips 06:35 does not dictate who we are. So, who we 06:41 are is found in Proverbs 23 and verse 7. 06:46 The Bible says, "As a man or woman thinketh 06:51 in His heart, that's who He is." Therefore that's 06:56 the bottom line. And so therefore, the Bible 06:58 says, we will be judged by our thoughts. 07:00 So, that's why there is a profound spiritual 07:03 implication as far as our thoughts, be it 07:06 negative or positive would dictate who we are 07:10 and would be brought into the judgment. 07:12 Well, we're speaking about the word of God now, 07:14 here once again. And so, my question to 07:16 you is that then how can our thoughts 07:18 be in harmony with Christ? 07:20 Okay, let's go to the graphic and there is a 07:22 profound text I like to read and then 07:25 also expand upon at this time. 07:29 The Ultimate Solution, Proverbs 16:3, 07:33 the Amplified Version and it says this. 07:35 "Roll your works upon the Lord. 07:38 Commit and trust them totally to Him. 07:43 He will cause your thoughts to become 07:47 agreeable to His will." Amen, amen. 07:52 Therefore this is one way that we can coming 07:55 to harmony with God thoughts, we roll our 07:58 works upon Him. Commit and trust and our thoughts 08:02 will become agreeable to God's thoughts. 08:06 I'm thinking that you brought 08:07 that up about devotional time. 08:10 Yeah, if you have a, you know, 08:11 devotional place in our home, yeah. 08:13 I'm thinking about you know, 08:14 in order to be in harmony with the Lord we 08:17 have to have a time in which we connect with 08:19 the Lord, okay. And when we speak about 08:20 depression, when we speak about being blue, 08:22 when we speak about negative thoughts. 08:25 The Cross is where we need to go. 08:28 And you know, I've, I've said this before, 08:29 people have called me on the phone and have 08:31 talked to me about different things going on 08:32 in their lives and the first thing I asked them 08:34 is that, do you have a place in your home 08:37 where you meet with the Lord? 08:39 And they'll say things like, well you know, 08:40 I can talk to God anywhere. I said, no, no, 08:42 no that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying 08:44 do you have a special place in your home where 08:47 you and God meet? And the reason I said is 08:49 because you know, when you have a place 08:51 where you and God meet. It means that you 08:53 can go there, you can sit down, and you could 08:56 actually meditate on the word of God. 08:59 Now, in our home I have a special chair in my 09:02 home, it's next to a window, so, I can see 09:05 nature. It is absolutely a fantastic way and I 09:08 do it so much Curtis until, if I neglect in the 09:11 morning. If I'm going somewhere quickly or 09:13 whatever, I can actually feel the voice, 09:17 and I hear the voice of God calling me in that 09:20 room. When I get in that room and I sit back 09:23 in that chair, listening to music, I love fragrant 09:26 candles, I like to open a word of God, 09:29 my devotional books are there everything. 09:31 And this is where God and I meet. 09:34 And I tell people, if you've got a special place 09:36 no matter what is going on with you, 09:37 you could always run to that special place. 09:40 I call it getting up into God's lap and telling 09:43 him what's going on. And there's a scripture 09:45 that I like because God gives to me a peace, 09:48 no matter what is going on, okay, 09:50 it gives me a peace. And I'm thinking about a 09:52 scripture also, this in Philippians 4:7. 09:54 And in that scripture there is a comment 09:56 that's being made. It says, "And the peace 10:00 of God, which passeth all understanding, 10:04 shall keep your hearts and minds through 10:07 Christ Jesus." Amen, you know, Christ Jesus, 10:11 Christ Jesus is the one and when we think 10:12 about the fact that He died on that Cross 10:14 for us, yeah. You know, He would have 10:16 paid their price no matter what it would have 10:17 been, He would have down it again and again 10:19 for you and for me. And I think about that 10:21 one, it's one of my favorite texts because it 10:23 says that His peace. God will give us His peace. 10:28 We don't, the peace we have is not gonna work, 10:30 but the one that He give us, alright, and just 10:33 by having that special time with God. 10:35 Every morning begin your day with God, 10:37 do not neglect talking to Him. And say Father, 10:40 I know that nothing is going to happen to me 10:43 today that you and I together cannot handle. 10:46 Amen, amen. Wonderful text, wonderful passage. 10:49 And again we give you some strategies for the 10:51 art of positive thinking. I remember also this 10:55 one author that we mentioned before Ellen G. 10:57 White. I'm just gonna paraphrase. There are 11:00 three statements that she used that I read 11:02 that's very powerful as far as trying to create 11:05 positive thinking. She says three things 11:08 basically in a nutshell. Number one, Communion 11:12 with God. Number two, Study His word. 11:17 Number three, working with Christ. 11:22 Communion with God, prayer, prayer time in 11:24 the morning. Study His word preferably in 11:27 the morning time when the brain is alert. 11:29 Therefore, whatever you study that morning it 11:33 carries with you for the rest of the day. 11:34 Then number three working with Christ. 11:37 Get involved in something and therefore with 11:39 that text we just mentioned on our graphic 11:42 then our thoughts would become agreeable to 11:45 God's will. You just Asking for that and those 11:47 are some of the key things we can do and these 11:50 are some of the arts of positive thinking. 11:53 So then of course to start thinking positive then 11:56 you say that we, we need to really begin. 11:59 Yeah and, and also, yeah, begin. 12:00 And begin in the morning time, yes, 12:02 because this is very critical again as I 12:04 mentioned before. This is Christ's method and 12:06 the Bible says that Christ woke up early in 12:08 the morning while the town was still asleep to 12:11 go out in nature to commune with the Lord. 12:14 So, that's the key where the brain is alert, 12:16 it's refreshed. It's almost like a sponge. 12:19 So, whatever the brain takes in, in the 12:20 morning time it tends to stay with 12:23 us for the rest of the day. 12:24 Now, you have a time too at the house, so you 12:26 have a quiet time that you have with God also. 12:28 Oh, yes I do. And I have my office there in 12:32 my in our home and I close the door. 12:34 Now, my wife has a open door policy. 12:37 My door is closed. And I close the door and 12:39 I pray and the Lord and I we just come 12:42 together in the Holy Spirit. And we really have 12:44 a good time and sometimes you find 12:46 yourself when you study the word of God. 12:48 And those who study thoroughly, you find 12:51 yourself one subject would lead you into 12:54 another's topic. And that topic will lead you 12:56 into another topic. And you really have 12:58 to almost force yourself to stop and do 13:00 other things as well, but it's very confronting 13:03 to be there with the Holy Spirit, 13:05 asking for wisdom. Therefore, our thoughts 13:09 become agreeable with God's thoughts. 13:12 I was thinking of a time for me, 13:14 when I was diagnosed with cancer, yes. 13:17 And I thought about how as I was going 13:19 though, trying to make the decision, 13:21 talking to the family, what I was gonna do 13:23 next all those kind of things were going on at 13:25 the same time. And I remember sitting in that 13:27 my room once again in my favorite chair and 13:29 talking to the Father about everything that 13:31 was happening right away, of course you're 13:33 thinking life and death and all this kind of 13:34 stuff. And you know, this thought came to me 13:36 Curtis you know, you have every right at this 13:38 point to as you have been diagnosed. 13:41 You know, scream, holler, shout, get mad, 13:42 do all of that, you know. And, and, and go 13:45 into depression and you certainly have a right 13:47 to do that you know. And all of a sudden 13:50 the Spirit of God said to me, no you don't want 13:52 to do that because if you allow yourself to have 13:55 that negativity go on, it might set you into 13:58 a depression that you will not come out of it. 14:00 And so, I'm glad for the time that I have 14:03 with Him, so that when things are going on, 14:05 I don't care what it is, whether it's death or 14:07 illness or finances or your children or your 14:10 marriage, you can always go to the Father 14:13 and He will hear you, so I got a scripture. 14:15 Okay, what's your scripture honey? 14:17 I mean I have a lot of scriptures, 14:18 but I'm going to tell you right now. 14:20 This is one of my favorites, okay; it was 14:21 give to me quite a while back from a friend 14:23 of mine. And it's one that I really like, 14:25 okay, and, and if you have your Bible you have 14:27 got to go there and that is Jeremiah 29. 14:30 Now, its verse is 11, 12, and 13, but I want 14:33 to start kind of at 12 and move back up. 14:36 It starts off by saying, "Then shall ye call upon 14:41 me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, 14:44 and I will hear you." 14:48 Then it says, "And ye shall seek me and find 14:52 me when you search for me with all your heart. 14:55 Amen, amen, and then God comes back 14:57 and says this. "For I know, I know 15:00 the plans that I have towards you. 15:02 I've got plans to prosper you, not to harm you. 15:05 I have got plans to give you hope and a future." 15:09 In that verse is housed all of the information 15:12 that God wants to tell us about His love for us. 15:14 Now, when I think about the fact that He says, 15:17 I know the plans I have for you. 15:19 What I want you to do when you read that, 15:21 is to put your name there. What I say is, 15:23 oh but I know the plans that I have for you, 15:26 Paula, declares the Lord. Jeremiah didn't declare it. 15:29 Moses didn't declare it. God declared it, 15:32 and He said, I declare to you I got thoughts. 15:36 And my thoughts are not to harm you, so just in 15:38 case you're thinking I'm bringing this on, 15:40 that's not my thoughts toward you. He said, 15:41 but I want you to know that I have hope 15:44 and a future for you, amen. 15:46 Oh! What a wonderful feeling you get 15:48 when you read God's word. 15:50 Such, such a comfort, and now he is, such a comfort. 15:52 He has our best interests in mind, always. 15:54 And, and this is what we want to emphasize 15:56 in this program the art of positive thinking. 15:59 He has our best interests in mind. 16:01 So, it's wonderful, yes. 16:03 Well, I think at this point we're ready to 16:08 go into kitchen. I know that there is one 16:15 more point before we do this that talks about, 16:19 how do we get started? Okay, how do we get 16:22 stared, how? Yes, because a lot of people 16:24 out there maybe listening say, 16:25 Curtis, I have a history of just, 16:27 just negative thinking. How do I get started? 16:30 I mean it's a long road and how can I 16:32 just make the first step. 16:34 I ask people the same question 16:36 in a different way. 16:38 What's the best way to eat an elephant? 16:43 One bite at a time. Is that a vegetarian elephant? 16:49 Yes, probably, okay, and I wasn't expecting that part. 16:52 Let's go to our graphic you see what I'm talking 16:54 about because this graphic is very profound. 16:58 One Drop At A Time. Mind, Character & Personality, 17:03 it says this, "As one drop of rain prepares the way 17:09 for another, so one good thought 17:13 prepares the way for another." 17:16 In other words, let's start with one drop 17:21 or one good thought at a time. And before long 17:27 our thoughts would become so habitual 17:29 that positive thinking is so natural as a flower 17:33 that naturally turns towards the Sun. 17:36 Wow! Yes. So, a lot of times it maybe 17:38 difficult for some to do that, but again one 17:41 drop at a time, one thought at a time. 17:44 And replace negative thoughts with positive 17:47 thoughts, Philippians 4:8, "Finally brethren, 17:51 whatsoever things are pure, honest, just, 17:54 good report, it could be into virtue, it could be 17:57 anything that's worthy of praise, 18:00 think on these things. So, get yourself a pad, 18:04 write down those positive thoughts and 18:06 rehearse them throughout the day, 18:07 the art of positive thinking, okay. 18:09 Now, I think it's time to go into the kitchen. 18:11 We're gonna go into kitchen and we have a 18:14 wonderful dish. This is Pasta Lenticchie, 18:18 that's actually a, a recipe that was given 18:21 to me by the friend. I remember. And so, 18:23 you've got to get your paper and pencil 18:25 and meet us in the kitchen. |
Revised 2014-12-17