¶ Welcome to Starting Right
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac . I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day . So grab your cup of coffee , sit back , relax and let me help you start your day right . One of my favorite verses is found in Psalm 126 and verse 3 .
It says the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy . I believe it is God's desire that we live our lives and we are able to experience the joy of God , the joy of the Lord , in every part of our lives , all through our lives . That doesn't mean we're not going to have problems and difficulties .
Sometimes things will be extremely difficult and extremely painful . But after even the worst of times that we have to face , the peace and love and joy of God can still be there for us to help us overcome the pain of what we've been through . But did you know that joy is as much an attitude as it is anything else ?
If we're not able to maintain a correct attitude about this life , about God , about our walk with God and what we believe that God is able and willing to do , we at times are going to struggle Over . In Romans 8 , verse 6, . It says the mind of sinful man is death , but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace .
There are so many things that try to control our minds , whether it be what we watch or what we hear , or the people around us . All of those forces are trying to draw us to focus on something , and they're not necessarily bad things . But the only thing that will really keep our minds filled with joy and peace is when we're focused on what God tells us .
It becomes a part of our attitude . What do you expect today or tomorrow or next week or next month ? What are your expectations ? I know I have a hard time with that .
Sometimes , when I'm facing what seems to be extremely challenging and difficult situations I'm coming up against , I have a hard time keeping my mind focused on being positive and wanting to look towards the best .
But when I dig back into God's Word and I talk to Him I listen to songs of worship and encouragement , I talk to people who will lift me up and encourage me and won't let me get dragged down Then my whole attitude changes and I come back up and I have strength to face what I'm going to go through and strength to face it without fear .
Let me tell you a story today about a man who once went diving with his brother off the coast of Bora Bora . There were two other divers that accompanied them on the boat , a man and his 10-year-old son . The father kept asking are there any sharks around here ? And everyone kept reassuring him no , nothing dangerous , nothing to worry about .
As the father and son plunged into the water , one of the other men said I hope that guy is going to be okay because he knew that they were almost certainly going to see sharks , although they were diving in a lagoon and not on the outer reef .
The lagoon was known to be full of white-tip reef sharks , but still they felt justified in reassuring the man because these sharks were not considered dangerous unless you really provoked them . The father on his dive was taking some pictures underwater in the coral and a white-tip swam by Soon . There were other sharks that appeared .
They passed to his left and to his right , gliding over him and under him . Tip swam by Soon . There were other sharks that appeared . They passed to his left and to his right , gliding over him and under him and all around him . He probably had a dozen encounters within 10 minutes .
Shortly afterwards , back on the boat , all he said was beautiful dive , wasn't it ? Everybody agreed beautiful . And then he said thank God , I didn't see any sharks . And then he said you know that most often we receive what we expect to receive , and when we learn to expect good things from God , he's willing to give them to us .
That's why , in Philippians , chapter 4 and verse 8 , paul writes this and now , dear brothers and sisters , one final thing Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable . Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise .
Paul is reminding us right there that our minds are to be focused on all of the good things that God has for us , all of the wonderful , powerful things that he wants to do for us and in us , because when we focus on those things that God has for us , we will start to see those things becoming more real and active in our lives .
I hope that you choose to expect good things from God today , that he will be with you , that he will guide you , that he will give you something to laugh about and enjoy , no matter what else you are facing . Keep your hearts open to what God has .
Keep your expectations high on His love and His goodness being poured out upon you , and God will be with you and he will bless you . I hope you have a great day , my friends , we will talk again tomorrow . Thank you for listening today , and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday , right here on Starting Right with Danny Mac .