Joel Osteen - Rule Your Day: 6 Keys to Maximizing Your Success and Accelerating Your Dreams

Y ou have a space that belongs only to you. Its your thoughts, your attitudes, and your emotions. Its who you spend time with. Its what you watch and listen to. Thats your atmosphere. Thats what you have control over. The reason some people live worried, offended, and negative is because they let everything in. They listen to the news all day, they dwell on the medical report, and they go to lunch with people who are critical. Somebody cuts them off in traffic, and that sours the rest of their morning. The problem is that theyre not ruling their atmosphere. You have to be careful what you allow in. You cant stop every negative thing from coming, but you can stop it from getting down in your spirit.

You need to keep your atmosphere full of faith, full of praise, full of hope, full of victory. Its up to you to say to anything that tries to poison that atmosphere, No, thanks. Youre not welcome here. If somebody leaves you out at work and doesnt invite you to a meeting, the offense will come, saying, Be angry, be bitter. Thats not right. You can let that offense in and live upset, or you can say, Sorry, offense. Youre not welcome here. Sorry, bitterness. Theres no place for you. Im going to stay in peace. Im going to enjoy this day. You dont have control over what other people do, but you have control over your thoughts, your attitudes, and how you respond.

The writer of Proverbs says, A person who doesnt rule his spirit is like a city with broken down walls. In King Solomons time, the walls were what protected the city. If the walls were down, the opposition could come in and take the city. In the same way, if you dont keep some walls up around your spirit, if you dont rule your atmosphere and put up some boundaries, then everything is going to get in. If your child is off course, instead of trusting that God has him in the palms of His hands, worry will get in and you wont be able to sleep at night. If your business slows down or you lose a client, instead of knowing that God is your source and that Hes going to provide, stress will come and anxious thoughts will say, What am I going to do? If someone is talking about you, trying to make you look bad, instead of letting God fight your battles, you will let the offense in. Youll live defensive, trying to prove to them that youre okay, which is wasting valuable time on what doesnt matter. You dont need their approval; God has already approved you. Now keep your walls up. Quit allowing all that negativity into your spirit. Your time is too valuable, your assignment too important, to let everything in. Be selective. If its not positive, hopeful, and of a good report, dont dwell on it. You cant control the whole world, but you can control your atmosphere.

The Scripture says that God has made you to be a king, that you are to reign in life. Negative things will come, but you have to remember that youre the ruler. You have the authority to decide what you allow in. Am I going to dwell on this offense? Am I going to hang around this person whos pulling me down? Am I going to stay focused on this bad break and live in self-pity? Its up to you. You rule over your kingdom with your attitudes and with what you choose to focus on.

When we turn on the news, theres so much thats negative. We hear about natural disasters, the divisiveness in politics, the unrest in our society. If you allow that division to get into your spirit, if you allow the disrespect and the anger to get in, its going to pollute your thoughts, steal your joy, and make you sour. You have to be proactive. What are you watching and what are you listening to? Is it building you up, making you more positive and more hopeful, or is it tearing you down, stressing you out, making you angry and upset? You dont need that in your atmosphere. Life is hard enough without adding all these negative things that make it more difficult.