Today we are going to take a posture of peace by stopping the spread of negativity.
Posture is a short audible fist bump to remind you God is with you in everything.
Together we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.
We are in Romans chapter 8 today and I love Romans chapter 8. I always want to
encourage you to read Romans chapter 8 in its entirety. Today we're going to be reading
verses 5 through 7. It says, For those who live according to the flesh have set their minds on
what the flesh desires, but those who live according to the spirit have set their minds
on what the spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the
spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit
to God's law, nor can it do so. If we want to be a people who live at peace, who bring life,
who are led by the spirit and carry light powerfully into this dark world, then we have
to get really serious about stopping negativity. Starting with the negativity in our own hearts and
minds because negativity is poison. It's death. It depletes and it destroys. It has never ever
brought life to a person, a situation, a conversation, or a relationship. In fact,
negativity weakens every relationship it enters. It steals our vitality. It keeps us from fully
experiencing life, the life that Jesus died for us to have. And because of hurt, pain, frustration,
confusion that we so often are faced with in this world, we often procrastinate dealing with
negativity, dealing with negative thoughts, negative emotions, negative perceptions. But by not dealing
with it, we actually lower our expectations for blessing and favor and the power to change.
You know, instead we just write people off, sometimes including ourselves. We doubt the true
nature of God based on negative experiences or conversations with other people or faith communities.
We become double-minded because we so desperately want new, but we continue to see and think and
feel and act based on beliefs that are rooted in accusation and blame and doubt and criticism.
And in that mode, if we get breakthrough, we can't hold on to it because our thinking is so held back
by returning negativity that we just refuse to overcome. And I say refuse because even though
not every thought is our own, you know, some thoughts are planted by other people or the enemy,
we decide what thoughts stay and what thoughts go. We decide what words we speak and what words we
leave unsaid. We decide if we're going to be bitter, hopeless, full of rage, or vindictive.
You know, negativity is not authored by the spirit. It's not the way that heaven thinks.
It is a worldly mindset. It is a way of thinking, a way of life that is actually hostile towards God,
according to Romans 8. It fights everything he is and everything he promises to be for you.
It works against his purposes. And you know, it's not just an internal struggle in our heads and
hearts, but it's external as well because our world is saturated in negativity. I mean, we're
bombarded every day with messages that seek to create fear and worry and panic and hopelessness.
And then we are encouraged to share them with others because negativity loves company. Negativity
loves joining with more negativity to justify and spread itself. I mean, just look at social media.
This is a tool that was built to actually bring connection. And it's turned into this courtroom
that is full of accusing and condemning and shaming and humiliating people,
often without having to prove whether the facts are even true or not.
You know, recently I was reminded of Ephesians 4.29 that talks about, it says,
Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only words that build others up, that your words
may bring grace, give grace to those who hear them. If you are a new creation in Christ, if you're a
Jesus follower, if you are a person of the kingdom, negativity in how you see and think
and speak and act and feel about others and yourself, it is never an option. It is never
an option. Jesus gave everything so that you never have to be a slave to negativity again.
It is not your master. It cannot tell you how to think, how to act, how to feel, how to see the
world unless you let it. And you know, many of us decided by April that 2020 was going to be a
horrible year. I mean, I saw the post all over social media wanting to just fast forward through
the year, get through it. 2020 just sucks. You know, 2020 didn't stand a chance because we all
had made up our minds so early on that it was just going to suck. And the message has continued each
month to get louder and louder. Now, look, we don't have to rejoice in the suffering of this year.
We don't, but we most certainly don't have to cower to it. We don't have to be overcome by it.
We don't have to partner with it and we don't have to surrender our entire year to it.
What, what if, what if this is your year of breakthrough? What if 2020 is the year that you
receive radical transformation or radical blessing or the answer to a long awaiting prayer?
Are you even open to receiving that? Are you just so completely shut down by all the negativity?
You know, it's not too late. We serve a God who is not bound by time, but he gives it to us as a gift.
We serve a God who is not pressured or pushed around by evil and he gives us himself so that
we don't have to be pushed around by evil either. We serve a God who is always at peace and who is
always with us so we can always be at peace. Don't let negativity have the final say in your day,
in your year, or in your life. And remember, you have a helper. You're not alone in stopping
negativity. Ask the Holy Spirit for his help today. Ask him to set you free. Ask him to show
you what that looks like. You know, living free from negativity, it is not impossible, not even
in 2020, because nothing is impossible with your God. The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah
26 3. In Hebrew, it is shalom shalom, meaning complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing
broken. This is who you are in Jesus, because of Jesus. You are a living testimony of Jesus'
ultimate win. With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus' victory on display and
Satan's defeat on replay.