The Jesus Affirmations

About the Book

The Jesus Affirmations: Using Biblically Based Truths to Transform Your Life utilizes the words of Christ as a foundation upon which is built a program to enhance your life. There is something about the nature of human beings which makes it easy to set ourselves up for failure. We are prone to engaging in negative self-talk and we are prone to believing what we tell ourselves in this way. We envision the most absurd situations in which we are the butt of jokes and not measuring up to the expectations of other, and often tell ourselves what we ‘should’ have done or said. With the Jesus Affirmations we have a collection of positive, life-affirming statements that, when practiced on a regular basis, can set us up for success. The most up-to-date brain research tells us that some of the things we were told about learning by our parents and grandparents are true. “Practice makes perfect” is something that is a reality and can be scientifically measured. The key to remember is that what we practice is what we get good at. When we practice any activity, even once, we cause a message to travel from one nerve cell to the next. Each time we do this there is a strengthening of the myelin sheath that surrounds the shaft of each neuron. Think of this myelin as Teflon on a skillet. Just as Teflon keeps things from sticking to the surface of the skillet, the myelin makes the electrical impulse ‘slide along’ more quickly as it passes through the neuron. The more you practice a particular activity, the stronger and thicker the myelin sheath gets. By practice, then, you improve the ease at which you can perform this action. Imagining a physical skill, such as shooting baskets, or driving a golf ball is easy to envision because they are everyday activities. But this occurs with anything and everything that utilizes nerve fibers – including your thinking. Taking this to the next level I remind you that no action can be carried out without a thought occurring first. Thinking is energy. As Goethe once said, “Energy will do anything that can be done in this world.” As we have learned in basic science class, energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed into something else. So, why not purposefully select those thoughts that we see as desirable, and leave the ones we don’t want alone? We can do this with every moment. In fact, we really are doing this right now. We can’t not do it. With every single thought we have, we make a choice of whether to keep it or leave it. Almost always, when we keep it, we are going to use it to follow up with some action. Sometimes the action is simply to continue practice - the same thought over and over again. Other times we turn our thought into an actual physical action. In The Jesus Affirmations: Using Biblically-Based Truths to Develop Healthy Habits of Mind I have written a set of twenty-five affirmative statements made by Jesus Christ from the Book of Matthew. Accompanying each affirmation statement is a meditation which is designed to encourage further thoughts on the scripture. These meditations are perfect for individual use, or small group discussion. The affirmations alone are designed to be used in practice in a prayerful setting. Repeating the affirmations aloud to yourself, or silently you establish the habit of making positive, life-affirming practices, based on the words of Christ. Dong this on a regular basis has the potential to increase the likelihood of these statements into becoming beliefs and beliefs into actions. Examples of the affirmations used in this book are: “The Holy Spirit works through me”, “I strive for peace in all my actions”, “I share the light of Christ”, and “I will not judge others”. This book has been written as a tool to help you improve your life and enhance your walk with God. My prayer is that you will enjoy The Jesus Affirmations and discover a new way to live a fulfilling life.

About the Author

Dr. Bruce McLaughlin utilizes his experience as an educator, public speaker, life coach, consultant, musician, and writer in putting together this collection of affirmations and meditations designed to enhance your personal relationship with God, Christ, and those most important individuals in your life. This book assists you in making a daily commitment to living life the way it was designed - with joy, strength, love, and a reverence for all life. He lives with his wife and three children in rural Illinois. You may reach him for speaking engagements, personal coaching & mentoring, or consulting via his website at www.drbrucem.com.