1Yr_Home_Pastor“Then said Thomas…, Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” John 11:16. Thomas, a loyal follower of Jesus, had a mental attitude that made him respond to life in a negative way. When the Savior announced that He was going to Bethany where He would resurrect Lazarus, for example, Thomas expected the worst.  Keenly aware of the Jews’ hostility toward the Lord, he said, “let us also go, that we may die with Him.”  If he had just thought about the Master’s earlier statement that the death of Lazarus was for the glory of God, He might not have been so pessimistic. But even though Thomas witnessed the great miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead, he later had difficulty believing that Jesus Himself had risen from the grave.  Only when he saw the Lord with his own eyes did his outlook change.  If we pay careful attention to the words and promises of God and remember that Christ lives and reigns, we can look to the future with hope.  We will still face depressing circumstances, and we may even slip back at times into negative thinking.  But one thing is certain – we will be positive about the outcome. Happiness often depends upon the quality of our thoughts.