Yaaay!! I’ve fallen in love with a new word. “Thriving” “Thrive” .
Okay, one of my favourite singing groups “Casting Crowns” would be releasing their new album next year January, the name of the album is “THRIVE”.
When I saw the word I decided to check the dictionary meaning to get a deeper understanding. Its not like I had no idea what it meant but I became curious all of a sudden.

According to the online dictionary I used , thriving means :

1. To make steady progress; prosper.

2. To grow vigorously; flourish

3. To grow strongly.

4. To do well.

5. To be successful.

6. To fly high.

7. To gain in wealth and possessions.

8. To progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances.(My Fav)

The “opposites” of this word include :
1. Fail

2. Decline

3. Wither

4. Wilt

5. Wane

6. Perish

7. Languish

8. Droop

9. Shrivel

10. Stagnate

So now that we’ve gotten the meaning of this word, the question is What do you THRIVE on?! What makes you successful? What makes you prosper? What makes you strong!!!?! WHAT DO YOU THRIVE ON. Do you thrive against all odds ( good, bad). Do you give up at the dying moment because you think you can’t make it?

I don’t know about you dear, But I want to THRIVE. I want to flourish. I want to shoot up. I want to bloom. I want to conquer.
Say to yourself : I CHOOSE TO THRIVE! I CAN, I WILL, I CHOOSE TO FREE MY SELF FROM NEGATIVITY OF ALL FORMS.
We were made for so much more, We were made to THRIVE!!! And we can only thrive with GOD. He’s the only source. Quoting Casting Crowns lead Singer , “Life can be so challenging and it’s easy to become overwhelmed. What a gift to be reminded we were made to thrive! ‘Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.’”

For Hall, nature seemed to underscore scripture on a family vacation in Gatlinburg, Tenn. when he looked at the trees near the river. “Their roots are exposed and you can feel them just doing everything they can to get to where the water is,” he says. “When I talk to families about how they are doing, they always say ‘just surviving.’ That is not the life that God designed for us to live. That’s not saying that you’re not going to have problems. None of the New Testament people had it easy. They all had troubles, some even at the expense of their lives. The book of joy, Philippians, was written from prison. Hard times are going to come, but God didn’t put you here just so you could survive through hard times. He put you here to thrive, to dig in and to reach out. This record is an effort to draw a picture of what a believer, a follower of Jesus, would look like if they dug into their roots and understood God and themselves more, and then instead of trying to go be Christian for God, they just let God give them chances to be a Christian.”

“If I could just get to the weekend.”
“If I could just get through this semester.”
“If I could just get to the vacation.”
“If I could just make it through today.”
So many of us today are simply surviving. But we were not made to survive, we were made to Thrive. Like a tree planted by the water (Jeremiah 17:7-8) we should be digging into God’s word to know Him and know who He has made us to be. We should be reaching out to the world and showing others who He is through our lives and our stories – knowing Him and making Him known.

That is what THRIVING is all about. Thriving is not about surviving or managing or coping. NO!! Its all about flourishing vigorously!
So, when next you are asked “How are you?” Don’t just say I’m “there” “managing” “surviving”. Look into the face of the person and say “I’M THRIVING”!!!!!!!!!!!

….Because we were made to thrive.
***shalom….***

**ADR!3LNAL!N3**

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