Hello, welcome back for season two of the Excel Stillmore podcast. I am your host, Chris

Emerson, and I'm here to encourage you with tips and strategies to help you build stronger

relationships, deepen your faith, and just get the most out of your life. Thank you for

joining. Let's get started. Welcome back. I'm so glad you're here. Today is a celebration. It is an

optimistic view of what it means to be a Christian. For some of us,

it might be a realignment where we get away from this perpetual negativity and from the message

of fear and uncertainty in this world, and we get back centered into what it means to be a Christian.

The truth is, God's people ought to be the most positive and hopeful people in this entire world.

Our lights ought to be shining via our attitude and our dependency upon God.

Because of the things we know about God, we are the ultimate optimists. We can make lemonade out of even rotten old lemons. As my friend Mark Roberts once said,

when God's people fall in the lake, they get out and check their pockets for fish. There is always something good

that can come. The reason is twofold. There are two things that you and I know for sure that not

everyone does. Number one, God is with us. We exist in the palm of his mighty hand. We are forever

protected by the power of the creator of the universe.

And that comforting truth is never far from us because God is never far from us.

Secondly, we know that this life is not all that there is.

We expect that there will be trials and testing.

We face that with courage because we know that even 2nd Corinthians chapter 4,

as our outer man is undergoing decay, some may get sick, some may die,

our inner man is being renewed day by day because that is just one day closer to

eternity with God. So that is exactly what I want to talk to you about today. And to help us do so,

I wanted to use this title. I've been meaning to use it for a long time. It is one of my favorite

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