Chapter 20 How it Works
We are ready to surrender to God and have Him direct our paths.
It is often that pain brings us to the point of surrender. After we surrender to God, what is next? What do we do? Those who have worked at examining themselves have stopped dreaming for something that is not going to happen, and are facing life on life’s terms. It is God that burns away all self-deception. The great problem with deception is that we do not know that we are deceived. We will find that when we face fear rather than run from it, that fear evaporates. We stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to us (or didn’t do for you), and we learn that the only thing we can really count on is the unexpected. As we see God acting on our behalf, a new sense of safety and security AND trust is born. We stop being so critical of others, and pointing fingers, and we have patience and long suffering for people as they are. We keep the window of Grace open.
We learn to be content with what we have, because what we have is exactly what God wants us to have at this point and time. We drive ourselves into stress trying to accomplish things we think that are important to us. How much of that is just desire for things in the material world, or a human relationship, and how much is desire for what God wants? If our desires are in line with the will of God, what God wants, we will not experience the many stresses people go through. We at least won’t experience them in the same way. We will be given by God the answers to our challenges and problems. God will show us a way.
Philippians 4:11-13 “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” If we are diligent in our work in examining ourselves, and asking God to help us, We will begin to realize that we can in fact do all things through Jesus who gives us the strength to do it.
We stop looking for an easier softer way.
We learn to see relationships as they really are and not as we want them to be.
What you see is what you get is never truer than in relationships. Entering a relationship hoping the other person will change is very risky at best. Most of the time, it is not going to go well. People do not change easily, and they are not going to change for you, no matter how much we wish it to be so. We are dreaming, and the dream will soon turn into a nightmare. We stop trying to control people, and alone does not mean lonely. We also stop working so hard at putting our feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring our needs. It is OK to stand up for yourself. We deserve to be treated with love, kindness, and respect. We learn that our body really is the temple of God. We begin to care for it and treat it with respect.
Don’t be so serious all the time, take a deep breath and allow yourself to laugh.
Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good [like] a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”
We get in life what we believe God has for us…and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
When we read the bible, and receive the promises of God, our lives truly do change. It’s a new way of looking at life. We learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen. More importantly, we learn that to achieve success we need direction, discipline and dedication. God will provide all those things. We also learn that no one can do it all alone and that it’s OK to risk asking for help, most of all we ask God for help. We learn the only thing you must truly fear is the greatest thief of all and that is FEAR itself. Fear is one of the enemy’s most popular weapons that he uses against us. Worry, anxiety, and fear can overwhelm us, controlling our every move and decision. It takes time to learn to trust God, and not be worried. So much of what we spend our time worrying about never even happens. Is our work for ourselves and our desires, or have we determined we are not working for ourselves alone, but to serve others as well
Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Toxic feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and given to God, or they will suffocate the life out of us and poison the world that surrounds us.
We also must learn to detach from toxic people.
We learn to admit when we are wrong and when we realize it, we promptly admit it. It is pride that prevents us from doing this. Be thankful and take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: food to eat, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.
We take responsibility for ourselves and stop blaming others. Never, ever settle for less than your heart’s desire, because God has said, that He will give us the desires of our heart.
Psalm 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
I am very thankful to God, for being long-suffering with me all my life, and patiently guiding me in the way He wants me to go. If we will humble ourselves, and repent, God will appear to us in our hearts, and He will let us see what we need to see, so that we may glorify Him with our lives. Finally, with courage in your heart and God by your side we take a stand, in simple trusting faith you begin to let God design a life for you, after all He is the architect of life
Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
We ask God to reveal us where we are lacking, where we need help. We ask God to show us the truth about ourselves.
I Corinthians 13:3-5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you–unless indeed you fail the test?”
For Jesus, it was about obedience. He was focused on the few, the small, the overlooked, and the insignificant. Jesus had a soft spot in His heart for the outsider and stooped to honor children, women, and those marginalized by the culture
We have surrendered to God and the next step is to take inventory, to examine ourselves. This is something we will do throughout our life, living a life of faith. If we will do this inner journey, our lives will change in dramatic ways for the better.
Thankfulness: It is the habit of my life to thank God and others for what they have done
Gentleness: My life is free from all outbursts of selfish anger or rage. I am approachable,
quiet in spirit, open to criticism, and don’t get defensive when I am corrected or rebuked.
Humility: I do not have an inflated self-opinion and consistently consider others as equal with myself.
Pure Attitudes: My lifestyle is one of right relationships
Acceptance: I refuse to fight back in the flesh when people criticize, condemn, reject or complain against me
Peacemaking: It is my practice to try to bring peace between others who are at odds.
Boldness: I have been able to launch out and take risks for my beliefs, keeping fear under control and taking risks when God calls to me to do something.
Trust: I not only believe, but I am going to act as God is guiding my life and situations. My life is one of simple reliance on the Father.
Persistence: I hang in there, even when the going gets tough
Harmony: I do not take part in gossip
Submission/Surrender: I do not resist those placed in authority over me
Giving Living: I regularly practice generous giving
Family Time: I make time for family.
Forgiveness:I have fully forgiven everyone who has ever hurt me.
Restoring others:If I can, I try to reach out to them humbly and help them as God leads me and guides me.
Making it right: When I have been wrong, I have made it right.
Money: I love God and not money
Selfish Ambition: I am not going to gain at the expense of another
God Time : I have set aside time to be alone with God
Thought Life: Daily I turn my mind to God and the things of God.
Living above Reproach: I avoid the appearance of evil
Truthfulness: I tell the truth,
Guarding the tongue : I abstain from slander, gossip, harshness, unkindness, biting criticism, caustic remarks, obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking.
I am a witness: When the opportunity arises, I am happy to share what God has done for me.
Passion: I hunger after righteousness.
Well, that’s a big list, isn’t it? If we want success, we won’t just say “nobody is perfect”
Successful people GO TO WORK on themselves with the help of God, and they take steps to change and improve.
Successful people are interested in solutions, and not excuses. We can learn great things from our mistakes when we aren’t denying them.
Self-examination is searching for the truth about ourselves.
We want to discover the attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, fears, actions, behaviors, and the behavior patterns – that have been blocking us, causing us problems and causing our failure, or preventing us from living a much more fulfilling life. We want to learn the exact nature our “character defects” and what causes us to do the things we do – so that once they are removed – we can live with new attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, actions and behaviors for our highest good, and for the highest good of those with whom we come in contact. This prepares us to live a life of purpose. Notice I said OUR character defects, not the defects of others.
Read Bible versus slowly and let them reach into us.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
In our self- examination, we discover what has prevented us from experiencing the full Sunlight of the Spirit. What we are searching out in our self- examination, is not only the behavior that works against us, but also the very nature of that behavior. Is the way we have acted come from fear, or from resentment, ignorance, defiance, or from a need for revenge because others have treated us unfairly? For us to successfully self examine ourselves, we must get into the details, and a broad brush is going to produce a mediocre result. Through self examination we progress into deeper knowledge of ourselves and what makes us tick, and what makes us sick. One way that the curses of the parents are visited on the children is when parents display that they have no faith in their children. The father said, “You are stupid” “you will never amount to anything” “with your attitude you are going to prison” “you are lazy” The child RECEIVES what they are told, and go on to act it out the rest of their lives. As ministers of the great gospel of Jesus, we are sent to heal the broken souls. We reveal the truth, and we put down the lies. Speak life over your children and all other children.
We can never know God until we get honest.
In our selfish attempt to fulfill our desires, we are in constant conflict and competition with others. Nearly every serious emotional problem is a case of selfishness. All self-centered people have UN-needed difficulties in all areas of their lives. Selfishness blocks out the knowledge we need as well. This knowledge only comes from God and no other.
1 John 3:20-21 “in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God”
Living the Jesus life is not about trying to be more religious and devout. Adherents of the world’s major religions—Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam—are all about trying harder to gain a higher power’s acceptance. Not so as a follower of Jesus. It’s not about trying harder until you “get it.” We follow Jesus’ ways through simple acts of implementing His practices into our lives. We need to understand that Jesus in saving me from my sin means that things are going to happen. It’s my life that will be saved, restored, and recovered. I hope you’re nodding your head in agreement. So many Christians today are unhappy, unfulfilled, and disgruntled. Life is difficult, and through the perils, difficulties, attempts to try this or that, we find ourselves the bull’s-eye target of Jesus’ own words:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced way of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matt. 11:28–30)
THE RESENTMENT EXAMINATION
What is resentment?
“Resentments are like swallowing poison and expecting the other people to die.”
Resentment is when a person has ongoing upset feelings towards another person or place because of a real or imagined injustice. The word resentment comes from the Latin word “sentire” which means “to feel”, and when you put “re” in front of any word, it means “again”, so the word resent means “to feel again”. After we experience what we perceive as being wronged by someone, the first response usually is anger or frustration. But then after a while, after we have reviewed in our mind what happened, and have felt the anger or anxiety again and again, we move to the next stage, which is resentment. Resentment is a cancer my friends. I can’t emphasize this enough. The person you resent feels nothing of your anger, YOU are the one feeling it, NOT them.
How to Accept What Happened in the Past
Before you begin to overcome resentments, you should know the following things:
- It’s a process.
- It may get worse before it gets better.
- It requires a great deal of willingness and an open mind.
Resentments are negative feelings that we may have been carrying around for years. During this time, they may have done significant damage to your ability to interact with the world. They also can damage your health. I know it sounds dramatic, but these are often big, deep-seated issues. Don’t expect to be able to say a chant and—poof! They’re gone. You should know that you are embarking on a long and probably painful journey, but the destination is completely worth it.
If we have resentments, it means we have not forgiven, and this is why this is so important.
4 Steps to Let Go of Resentment
Step 1: Make a list of all the people you have resentments towards
If you do this honestly, then the list could be pretty long.
Include ANYTHING that gives you an automatic negative feeling. You can also include places and institutions (a school you attended, an airport you had a bad experience in) nothing is too trivial or too small. Also included in this list should be your regrets because regret is resentment toward yourself. If we have travelled far on the road of sin, we will have deep regrets.
Step 2: Next to the person’s name, write what they did to cause you to resent them
Again, nothing is too small. If you resent your boss, it may be because that person gives you unreasonable deadlines, or could simply be because you don’t like their hair. The reason for the resentment doesn’t have to “make sense”—it just has to be honest. This is where it will get hard, and you will feel worse than you did before starting. Try to have faith that the end result will be worth it—because it will be! We can have buried feelings, but even buried, those feelings are impacting our lives and holding us back. One reason people do not do an examination like this is they don’t like to feel the hurt, so they prefer to bury it. The problem is this does not really work. It has to be dug up and removed. These feelings though buried do in fact keep us from the blessings that God wants to bestow on us. Its like a spiritual cancer in our bones. The doctor examines before they prescribe a course of healing, and that is exactly what we are talking about here and that is spiritual healing. Anyone have resentments toward an ex?
Step 3: Now you write what part of your life each resentment affects
If you resent an old teacher who made you feel inferior, you might say that it affects your self-esteem or confidence. The point is to become aware of the specific ways that the resentment is impacting your identity, and your ability to feel safe, secure, and loved. It is really sad how someone can give up so much of themselves just in the pursuit of love and the one they are pursuing really doesn’t love them. An ex lover made us feel rejected and unwanted, and maybe nobody would ever love us truly. We may resent our parents for things they did or did not do. We may have resented how we were treated in high school. You may say something was a long time ago and doesn’t matter, but it does matter. It is still there inside of us, and it does block the power of God.
Step 4: Next to the reason, or cause for resentment, you are going to write down your part. This is how YOU have contributed to the problem. This is where honesty and willingness come in. You must be honest about your part, and willing to admit it. Otherwise, you may get stuck. You should be able to develop a clear picture of who you resent, why you resent them, the negative ways that it affects your life, and the part you played in all of it. Probably the hardest to forgive are our friends and family, those people closest to us. We may have also harmed others. Forgiving and loving takes us to a new plateau on our journey.
These resentments can surface in our present day relationships and we are not aware of it. We can avoid forgiving because we don’t know how or don’t think its possible, or simply don’t believe we should forgive. Even if the pain is not sharp today, it can still be holding us back because we have not forgiven. Resentment is a big offender, and many spiritual diseases stem from our resentments. We have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the SPIRITUAL sickness is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically.” Remember we are comprised of three parts. Body, Soul (mind) and Spirit. What we are talking about here is so important because this is how the power of God is greatly enhanced in our lives.
We have three relationships
- Our relationship with God,
- Our relationship with ourselves,
- And our relationship with others.
In honestly seeking God, we get headed in the right direction with our relationship with God, then we get headed in the right direction with our relationship with ourselves, and finally we get headed in the right direction with our relationship with others. After doing these things, over time, we deepen our relationships in all three areas. The work in all three areas is a life-long process. If we work at these however, we will see results. Don’t assume you know all about God, or that we even know anything about God. Just turn to the Father of all heavenly lights. He is there. Trust me. Believe me. I have no reason, no motive to tell you these things other than it is the truth and it is the truth my friends that set us free.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
I AM RESENTFUL AT:
List the people you are resentful towards or had a resentment in the past. You can get a piece of paper and make columns to put these items in. Employers, co-workers, friends, Christians, someone in your church or people who stole from us, harmed us, humiliated us, bullied us. Family members or anyone else you can think of.
What happened?
Why am I angry? Or Upset, or have hard feelings.
What part of me was offended or threatened?
My self-esteem, my pride, money, ambitions, personal relationships.
What part did I play? Where was I to blame?
I was not honest, I was self- seeking, I was afraid, Inconsiderate. I was manipulating for my own advantage.
Do you see any evidence of pride, self-pity, self-deception, or self-will in your attitudes and actions? The Holy Ghost can help you humble yourself and face the truth, even if the truth is painful. With the help of the Lord, you can recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Selfishness and self-centeredness is really at the root of all our problems. All of the conditions of the mind listed in this chapter really have as their cause selfishness.
Questions like these may help:
- What was I trying to get out of the situation?
- How did I try to control the situation?
- Was it any of my business?
- What actions did I take or omit to get what I wanted?
- Did I ignore reality? Living in a fantasy world?
- Were my expectations reasonable for myself and for others?
- Did I lie to myself or to others?
- Did I ignore the feelings of others and think only of myself?
- How did I act like a victim to control others, get attention and sympathy, be special, and so on?
- Did I resist help from God and others?
- Did I insist on being right?
- Did I feel slighted for lack of recognition or acknowledgement?
In most cases it was found that our pride, our money, our ambitions, our personal relationships, (including sex) were hurt or threatened. “Our stuff” was threatened. On our grudge list, we set opposite each name our injuries. Was it our self-esteem, our security, our ambitions, our personal, or sex relations, which had been interfered with?”. We pray for OURSELVES, and pray for THEM as well. Why? Because we need to rid ourselves of these resentments. Well, why on earth would we want to be free of resentments? Shouldn’t we justifiably be angry with these people? Don’t we have a right to be mad? I have heard some on Facebook recount what their ex did to them and THEY WERE NOT going to forgive or forget!
From our resentments stem spiritual disease, and spiritual disease can lead to physical disease, poverty, and emotional illness. Resentments come from what? From not forgiving. When harboring such feelings, we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit; these things are poison; because that’s how we get dominated. The wrong doing of others real or imaginary has the power to kill us spiritually, and our spiritual health always manifests itself in our lives here on earth. This is not some guru babble here. We have a problem with some or many people, so resentment becomes a way of life for us. Even if we feel that a resentment is justified, which we usually do, these resentments are NOT FORGIVENESS. Well, that’s very simple, isn’t it?
NOT FORGIVING leads to RESENTMENTS and resentments block both our spiritual and physical progress. This is so important!
Mark 11:26 “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
God really means it, and this is a BIG wall blocking many from RECEIVING the POWER of God in their lives. These are not high “perfect” ideals that we can’t achieve. People automatically assume “well, that’s nice, but that is not reality.” We can do what Jesus COMMANDS us to do, and we do it by the POWER of the Holy Spirit.
How do we get free of ongoing anger and frustration?
This is how we do it: We realized that the people who had wronged us were spiritually sick. Though we did not like their behavior, and how that disturbed us, they like ourselves were sick as well. We all need a physician and the doctor is Jesus. They like us suffer from selfishness. We run around seeking what life should give us rather than what we can give life.
Mark 2:17 “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
We ask God to help us show the people who have offended us, the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended, we said to ourselves, “This is a sick person. How can I be helpful to them?” God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.
Pray for the person or the thing that you resent.
Ask in prayer for everything you want yourself to be given to them.
Ask for their health, their prosperity, their happiness.
Luke 6:27-28 “But I tell you who hear Me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you”
Luke 6:27-28 “pray for those who mistreat you”
Now I hear some of you saying BUT they did this and that to me. I don’t care what they did to you, do what Jesus said to do. Even when you don’t really want it for them, and your prayers are only words and you don’t mean it, go ahead and do it anyway. Do it every day for two weeks (or more) and you will find you have come to mean it and to want it for them, and you will realize that where you used to feel bitterness and resentment and hatred, you now feel compassion, understanding and love. The way to get over a resentment is by seeing that the person we resent was spiritually blocked off, just like we are when we harm others; and to pray that we show them tolerance, pity, and patience. We pray for the person we resent that they get the good things in life that we want for ourselves. This softens our heart toward them and allows us to look at the situation around the resentment more realistically. I never said any of this was easy, but what we are talking about here will put you in a new relationship with God and an incredible lightness of being. If you think about it, how many people truly forgive? And how many of these same people have frustrations about their walk with God?
Scripture states that our chief enemy is Satan.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
We should recognize that behind our flesh and blood enemies, ultimately Satan is at work. The Apostle Paul probably understood this better than anyone. At one time, he persecuted the followers of Jesus, even casting his vote to have many put to death while he watched in approval. A case could certainly be made that Paul considered all believers to be his enemies and vice versa. But when God got Paul’s attention on the road to Damascus, he grasped for the first time, the mercy of the Lord. He understood that the followers of Jesus were not his enemies, as God gave him tremendous insight about his real enemy–Satan.
We must put out of our minds the wrongs others have done to us and we resolutely look for our own mistakes. Where had WE been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened? Though a situation had not been entirely our fault, we tried to disregard the other person involved entirely. Where were WE to blame? This inventory is OURS, not the other persons. When we see OUR faults, we list them. We placed them before us in black and white. We admitted OUR wrongs honestly and were willing to set these matters straight.”
We can’t change anyone else, but we can change ourselves.
What’s the EXACT NATURE of OUR wrongs? It’s important that we see OUR part in the resentment. Let’s see how WE got the ball rolling in the first place. There are two important points that I want to mention. First, almost every resentment can be boiled down to a simple statement
- “They’re not acting the way I think they should “or
- “Life’s not treating me the way I think it should.”
This is very self-centered and a form of trying to play God. It doesn’t matter if they are acting badly.
Luke 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Something that I think is very interesting is that it can be that what we resent in OTHERS can be the things we struggle with OURSELVES. In other words (using gossip as an example), people who are bothered most by being gossiped about, usually participate in gossip themselves. We are merely seeing in others something we don’t like about ourselves. The other person’s behavior is being a mirror for us, so we can see OUR OWN defects. Let’s look at the resentment from an ENTIRELY different angle. What did WE do? What’s OUR part?
Matthew 7:5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
1 Corinthians 11:28 “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup”
It is also important to remember that, like Paul, each of us was at one time an enemy of God:
Romans 5:9-11 “Since we now have been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled shall we be saved through His life? Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation”
Because we have experienced the mercy of God, should we not also extend it to others?
Let’s take an honest look at ourselves and see if we have acted towards others in a manner that is not pleasing to God. With repentance and godly sorrow, ask for His forgiveness and seek the forgiveness of those you may have damaged by your words or actions. We are either serving the cause of Christ, or doing the work of the enemy of our souls. Perhaps there are people who have hurt or persecuted you or your family in some way. If so, God calls you to forgive them. Pray that the Father will help you to see these enemies through His eyes. Ask Him to give you a forgiving heart. It may mean that you will need to go to someone to extend forgiveness so that your relationship may be healed and restored.
One of the most pervasive, tenacious sins in the Christian culture today is not forgiving.
It is disobedience to Christ, and it renders our prayers impotent. An unforgiving spirit comes from a heart with too much pride in it. We feel justified in not forgiving because of the wrong done to us. We even enjoy our hard feelings towards those who have wronged us. Maybe we think the sin against us was so grievous that we cannot possibly forgive.
Matthew 19:26 “with God, all things are possible.”
Probably the most common stumbling block in this area is when we say that we have forgiven someone outwardly, while still harboring the resentment or anger in our hearts. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 18:23-35 when the king’s servant, who had been forgiven his debt, turned around and refused to forgive the debt of a fellow servant. The king turned his anger towards the man, threw him in jail and ordered him to pay back all that he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35).
As we are doing our inventories, we want to ask God to forgive us of past sins no matter how long ago or how small they may be. The reason for these inventories is to ask God to remove the things that hinder us. We also want to find one trusted person and open to them and admit our wrong doings. This is part of the healing process and it works. Do not omit this part of healing.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”
If you are struggling with your prayer life, ask yourself if you have any unforgiveness in your heart. From time to time, each of us must take a deep look at our own hearts, asking the Lord to reveal if we have any hard feelings. We can find healing, and we can become like Christ. The spirit of Christian forgiveness is not “I forgive you because I am a nice person,” but, “I forgive you because I know I desperately need forgiveness myself” We forgive as we have been forgiven. I forgive your sin because God has forgiven mine.
God can remove every hurt and pain that you have in your heart.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
Jesus prayed for His enemies . . . how can we do less? One of the most amazing commands of Christ is to love our enemies. In our flesh, we naturally want to retaliate or fight back when we are treated unkindly or persecuted. Jesus preached forgiveness and mercy:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
He took His command one step further, adding another level of difficulty
“Pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
Overcome evil with good and a lot of evil requires a lot of good.
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21).
How will the unsaved most likely come into God’s kingdom–through your resentments, or by your loving acts and your prayer for them? This is an extremely important concept to teach children, as their first response is often to hit back, think up revenge, cease friendship, etc., rather than praying, continuing to be kind, etc.
Remember if we have resentments, we have not forgiven
How to Pray for Your Enemies We have to do this if we are going to succeed
“God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” Romans 4:17
Sometimes it is hard to imagine that our enemies could ever turn away from evil and come to Christ, but He has called us to pray for them. What seems impossible to us is possible with God (Mark 10:27). What greater love could there be than to pray for God to draw them into His kingdom? Here are some passages from Colossians that you can pray on their behalf:
Pray that God will rescue them from darkness and bring them “into the kingdom of the Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14)Pray God will make known to them His glorious riches through the mystery of Christ (Colossians 1:27).Pray that they may “know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3).Pray that they will “put to death whatever belongs to their earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).Pray that they will rid themselves of “anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language. (Colossians 3:8).Pray that they will become one of God’s children, holy and dearly loved, clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12).Pray they will come to know the love of the Lord (Colossians 3:14).Pray that they will come to know the peace of Christ and that it will rule in their hearts (Colossians 3:15)
Our next inventory is the fear inventory
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of POWER, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
What am I afraid of?
Why do I have this fear?
Which part of self, have I been relying on which has failed me? We have to learn to be honest with ourselves. At this point in our inventory, or at any point, we may have a big tendency to blame others. That will get you nowhere. Even if much of what you say is true its not going to help you to dwell on that. What we have to do is LEARN so that we can defeat people that are going to mess us up, even if they didn’t intend to. We walked into those traps because we were ignorant. The bible says my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
Mostly we are talking about self-reliance here.
We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We put them on paper we asked ourselves why we had them. Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us? Self-reliance was good as far as it went, but it didn’t go far enough. Some of us once had great self-confidence, but it didn’t fully solve the fear problem. Perhaps there is a better way. For we are now on a different basis of trusting and relying upon God.
We trust God rather than ourselves.
Fear is a thief! The bible says the devil is a thief. Fear is a weapon of the devil. It robs us of our relationship with God and others, and prevents us from going where God wants to take us. Are you…
Afraid of losing what I have.
Afraid of not getting what I want.
Afraid of being found out.
Fear in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Fear brings about caution and prevents us from being hurt. In other words, if I am by the ledge of a cliff, and I experience some fear, it is a good thing because it is letting me know that I am in a dangerous position. However, if going near a sealed window on the twenty-ninth floor of an office building freezes me in panic and fear, this is not a valid fear.
A great acronym for the word fear is…false evidence appearing real
LIVING IN THE PRESENT MOMENT, ONE DAY AT A TIME.
Fear lives in our thoughts about the future. We are afraid something is going to go wrong. Well thinking like that can surely bring it about.
We may fear losing our jobs and being broke.
We may fear failure for the disapproval it might bring.
We may fear telling the truth because others may not like us for it.
We fear the unknown for the dangers it may bring. We fear uncertainty, not knowing whether we will find what we are after. We want to be happy. Yet the very nature of fear makes us anxious in the present and not at peace. Many of our fears are not so strong that we would label them as fears. They may be just concerns, little thoughts we have about how things may turn out. They may not even be conscious concerns – in many cases they surface in our dreams, in conversation with a friend, nevertheless, they fill our minds with thoughts. Our self talk keeps us trapped in time – it dwells on the past or the future.
When our mind is in the past or future, we are not experiencing things as they are, we are seeing them through the judgments of the past and our fears for the future. At times, we can be so caught up in our self-talk that we do not even notice the present. We ignore what is going on around us, do not really hear what people are saying, do not appreciate how we really feel. If you’re like most people, your mind is in the past or in the future. If we bring the mind from miles away to the activity of the moment, if you silence the clatter in your head to focus on the present moment, you’ll gradually experience a surprising sense of well-being. Indeed, tuning in to the NOW is one gateway to perceiving eternity.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God;
FATHER GOD is the eternal, ever-present One Life beyond forms of life that are subject to birth and death. GOD is not subject to birth and death. GOD is the always ever present I AM. God does not say “I was” or “I am going to be” I AM is present. God is not only beyond but also deep within everything. This means that GOD is accessible to you now in your own deepest heart, IF you surrender YOUR WILL to HIS WILL.
Matthew 6:34 “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”
We are in the world to play the role HE assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think HE would have us, AND humbly rely on Him, THEN does He enable us to match the storm with serenity. Faith means courage. ALL people of faith have courage. They trust Father God. We never apologize for God, instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. How do we get rid of fear? I’ll bet you could guess. That’s right – through prayer! It is not that fear goes away and never comes back again. We overcome fear. We overcome fear because through prayer, we’re asking God to direct us toward His Will – to do His Work – to do His bidding. We must go deeper than just changing our actions, because who we are is what drives our thoughts and actions. God often says in the bible to not be afraid. If we are in His will, our fears are gone or greatly diminished.
Matthew 8:26 “And he saith unto them, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”
FEAR OF REGRET
When the fear of regret is overwhelming, this keeps us from moving forward. We lack the courage to confront our fears. When driven by fear, openness and creativity are replaced by ‘watching your back’ and ‘looking good.’ Unless we confront these fears, they can influence our decisions and actions. We tend to defend the perspective that made that previous choice seem like a good idea. Unfortunately, by defending your historical choices, you also prevent yourself from creating a better future. The courageous person accepts the present and let’s go of the past.
Fear is operating in our minds and we are not aware of how it influences our actions
Driven by the fear of losing it, managers will often hold on to power and make decisions that are influenced by this fear. True power is gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding it. Those with courage have recognized that, only when you let go of your fear of losing power will you be able to create an environment where everyone is empowered to engage. We do not own the power, the power is God and God alone. Do you have the courage to distribute decision making power in your organization? Or are you afraid your colleagues will prove to be at least as capable as you are? This applies to pastors as well. Pastor are afraid to lose their central place. Jesus said make disciples. We are not seeking power but rather we seek to empower others.
FEAR OF LOSING FACE
In the short tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” two weavers promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions. When the emperor parades these new clothes before his subjects, it takes the untainted mind of a child to point out the obvious fact that the emperor is naked. When you see the kind of behavior this tale illustrates in an organization, you know that fear of losing face permeates the environment. That’s when you will hear a lot of talk about following routines and processes, and not much conversation about shared purposes and customer needs. It takes courage to ask daring questions like, “Why are we measuring this?” and “What is the purpose of this meeting?” When you’re not afraid to lose face, you can stop unnecessary window dressing activities and spend your energy on important improvement instead.
FEAR OF LOSING FRIENDS
On Facebook do we hesitate or fail to post what we know to be true because we don’t want to offend people, especially our friends? Well it may be time to get new friends. The life of Jesus is not a life of compromise. When we let go of our fear of losing friends, you can start to see your full potential and strengths. The effect will be improved results, personal growth and friendships will turn into deep and mutual trust or they will vanish., Some use guilt trips, and anger, and other various mental tricks to manipulate this fear in people. They seek to hold you hostage but Jesus set us free.
FEAR OF FALLING BEHIND
If the fear of falling behind is widespread in an organization, the focus will be on doing as much as possible without ensuring that what you are doing are the right things. In this environment, piles of paper on your desk and tons of unanswered emails show that you have a lot to do. But this may lead to a false sense of productivity. When you let go of your fear of falling behind, you will be able to stop focusing on short-term productivity and spend some time on the strategic initiatives you ‘never had the time address because of all the firefighting.’ Do you have the courage to take time to reflect and try to find a smarter way of doing things? That’s when the work can become part of the growth strategy it is supposed to be.
MORE ON FEAR
Napoleon Hill says that there are six basic fears, every human suffers at one time or another. A whole lot of fear going on. Its time to throw off the shackles of fear and live in the freedom that Christ offers us. All of these fears are based in the flesh. It is dying to self, dying to the flesh that ultimately is the victory over these fears.
The fear of POVERTY
The fear of CRITICISM
The fear of ILL HEALTH
The fear of LOSS OF LOVE OF SOMEONE
The fear of OLD AGE
The fear of DEATH
Our fears will lose their power when they are exposed. The courage to talk openly about these fears will be rewarded with true power, satisfaction, recognition, and peace of mind, and good relationships. The bible says confess your faults to each other so that you will be healed. Fears are nothing more than states of mind. Our state of mind can be under the control and direction of God. We can create nothing which we do not first birth in our minds in the form of thoughts. Following up on that idea, our thoughts do translate themselves into our physical lives, whether they are voluntary or involuntary, conscious or unconscious. God in us. What do we think will happen when God lives in us? Big things are going to happen my friend. People are excited to get a new car, but imagine a new mind, and a new life!!!
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”
FEAR OF POVERTY
There is nothing wrong in acquiring money. The bible says we can’t LOVE money and God at the same time. Money is merely a tool in our hands that we use to see to our needs and to glorify God. The two roads of poverty and riches are different roads indeed. If you want riches, you must refuse to accept poverty. The word “riches” here includes our financial, spiritual and mental states.
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;”
Matthew 25:29 “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”
Fear of poverty is a state of mind, nothing else! But it is enough to destroy your chances of success in anything you do.
This fear paralyzes reason, imagination, self-reliance, enthusiasm, it discourages initiative, leads to lack of purpose, and encourages putting things off. It takes the charm from one’s personality, and destroys clear thinking, causes short attention span and overturns persistence. It destroys ambition, and dulls the memory and invites every kind of failure. Despite the obvious truth that we live in a world of over-abundance of everything the heart could desire, with nothing standing between us and our desires, excepting lack of a definite purpose.
People are hungry, they need to eat, people are tired, they need to rest. People are sad, they need some joy. People have no direction, no desire, no definite plan. They need a direction, they need desire, and they need a plan. The biggest one is desire,
God will give you new ideas. a new mind. Hey thats what we need. How can you accomplish it with the same mind that never has accomplished much? We need new tools and a new way to think. God is not dumb, and He will make you smart. Nothing brings people so much suffering as POVERTY! Only those who have experienced poverty understand the full meaning of this. It is no wonder that man fears poverty. People can’t be trusted when it comes to money. This is a rather sad commentary, but it is TRUE. Most marriages fight over money and it’s no wonder the divorce courts are busy. So eager is man to possess wealth that many will acquire it in whatever manner they can-through legal methods if possible-through other methods if necessary or expedient.
Doing an honest examination may disclose weaknesses which we do not like to acknowledge. This form of examination is essential to all who demand more out of life than mediocrity and poverty. Remember, as you check yourself point by point, ask yourself definite questions and demand direct replies. When the examination is over, you will know more about yourself. You are after the truth. Get it, no matter at what cost. Few people realize that they are bound, spiritually and physically through some form of fear. So subtle and deeply seated is the emotion of fear that one may go through life burdened with it, never recognizing its presence. Only rigorous honesty will disclose the presence of this universal enemy. Here is a list of the symptoms for which you should look:
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF POVERTY
INDIFFERENCE. Expressed through lack of ambition; willingness to tolerate poverty; acceptance of whatever compensation life may offer without protest; mental and physical laziness; lack of initiative, imagination, enthusiasm and self-control.
INDECISION. The habit of permitting others to do one’s thinking. Staying “on the fence.” “Playing it safe.” Fear of offending somebody.
DOUBT. Generally expressed through alibis and excuses designed to cover up, explain away, or apologize for one’s failures, sometimes expressed in the form of envy of those who are successful, or by criticizing them.
WORRY. Usually expressed by finding fault with others, a tendency to spend beyond one’s income, neglect of personal appearance, scowling and frowning; drug and booze abuse; nervousness, lack of poise, self-consciousness and lack of self-reliance.
OVER-CAUTION. The habit of looking for the negative side of every circumstance, thinking and talking of possible failure instead of concentrating upon the means of succeeding. Knowing all the roads to disaster, but never searching for the plans to avoid failure. Waiting for “the right time” to begin putting ideas and plans into action, until the waiting becomes a permanent habit. Remembering those who have failed, and forgetting those who have succeeded.
No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit… —Helen Keller
PROCRASTINATION. The habit of putting off until tomorrow that which should have been done last year. Spending enough time in creating alibis and excuses to have done the job. This symptom is closely related to over-caution, doubt and worry. Refusal to accept responsibility when it can be avoided. Willingness to compromise rather than fight. Compromising with difficulties instead of harnessing and using them as stepping stones to advancement. Weakness of, and often total lack of self-confidence, definiteness of purpose, self-control, initiative, enthusiasm, ambition, thrift and sound reasoning ability
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday… Don Marquis
THE FEAR OF CRITICISM
politicians seek office, not by displaying their own virtues and qualifications, but by attempting to scandalize their opponents. Pastors criticize each other trying to get the upper hand.
The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment… Elbert Hubbard
The fear of criticism robs people of their individuality and creativity. Parents often do their children big damage by criticizing them. One’s nearest relatives often are the worst offenders. through unnecessary criticism. Employers who understand human nature, get the best there is in men, not by criticism, but by constructive suggestion. Parents may accomplish the same results with their children. Criticism will plant FEAR in the human heart, or resentment, but it will not build love or affection.
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF CRITICISM
This fear is almost as universal as the fear of poverty, and its effects are just as fatal to personal achievement, mainly because this fear destroys initiative, and discourages the use of imagination.
The major symptoms of the fear are:
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. Generally expressed through nervousness, being timid, or afraid to speak up. Too much time spent on make-up and appearance.
LACK OF POISE. Nervous and not confident.
WEAK PERSONALITY. Indecisive, not sure, the habit of side-stepping issues instead of meeting them squarely. Agreeing with others to get along.
INFERIORITY COMPLEX. The blowhard bagging to cover up feelings of inferiority. The know it all. Using “big words” to impress others, (often without knowing the real meaning of the words). Imitating others in dress, speech and manners. Boasting of imaginary achievements, such as claiming to be a supervisor in a past job, when they were only an employee.
SHOWY. The habit of trying to “keep up with the Jones,” spending beyond one’s income.
LACK OF INITIATIVE. Failure to go after opportunities for self-advancement, fear to express opinions, lack of confidence in one’s own ideas, giving evasive answers to questions asked by superiors, hesitancy of manner and speech, deceit in both words and deeds.
LACK OF AMBITION. Mental and physical laziness, lack of self-assertion, slowness in reaching decisions, easily influenced by others, the habit of criticizing others behind their backs and flattering them to their faces, giving up too easily, paranoia.
THE FEAR OF ILL HEALTH
Some unethical people engage in the business of “selling health” and have had a lot to do with keeping alive the fear of ill health.
Man fears ill health because of the terrible pictures which have been planted in his mind of what may happen if death should overtake him. He also fears being put into debt because of it. A reputable physician estimated that 75% of all people who visit physicians for professional service are suffering with hypochondria (imaginary illness). It has been shown most convincingly that the fear of disease, even where there is not the slightest cause for fear, often produces the physical symptoms of the disease feared.
Playing upon this common weakness of fear of ill health, Big Pharma has cashed in.
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF ILL HEALTH
The symptoms of this almost universal fear are:
NEGATIVE SELF-TALK. The habit of negative use of self-suggestion by looking for, and expecting to find the symptoms of all kinds of disease. “Enjoying” imaginary illness and speaking of it as being real. The habit of trying all “fads” and “isms” recommended by others as having therapeutic value. Talking to others of operations, accidents and other forms of illness. Experimenting with diets, physical exercises, reducing systems, without professional guidance. Trying home remedies, and “quack” remedies. Looking for a quick fix and results without working for them.
HYPOCHONDRIA. The habit of talking of illness, concentrating the mind upon disease, and expecting its appearance. Nothing that comes in bottles can cure this condition. It is brought on by negative thinking and nothing but positive thought can affect a cure.
Hypochondria, (a medical term for imaginary disease) is said to do as much damage on occasion, as the disease one fears might do. Most so-called cases of “nerves” come from imaginary illness.
LACK OF EXERCISE. Fear of ill health often interferes with proper physical exercise, and results in over-weight, by causing one to avoid exercise and an active lifestyle.
SUSCEPTIBILITY. Fear of ill health breaks down Nature’s body resistance, and creates a favorable condition for any form of disease one may contact. The fear of ill health often is related to the fear of Poverty, especially in the case of the hypochondriac, who constantly worries about the possibility of having to pay doctor’s bills, hospital bills, etc. This type of person spends much time preparing for sickness, talking about death, saving money for cemetery lots, and burial expenses, etc.
SELF-PITY. The habit of making a bid for sympathy, using imaginary illness as the lure. The professional victim. The habit of feigning illness to cover plain laziness, or to serve as an alibi for lack of ambition.
“Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. How everything affects me is the center of all that matters – self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking”… Ezra Taft Benson
ADDICTION. The habit of using alcohol or narcotics to change how we feel.
THE FEAR OF LOSS OF LOVE
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF LOSS OF LOVE
The distinguishing symptoms of this fear are:
JEALOUSY. The habit of being suspicious of friends and loved ones without any reasonable evidence of sufficient grounds. The habit of accusing wife or husband of infidelity without grounds. General suspicion of everyone, absolute faith in no one.
FAULT FINDING. The habit of finding fault with friends, relatives, business associates and loved ones upon the slightest provocation, or without any cause whatsoever.
Don’t find fault, find a remedy… Henry Ford
HARMFUL RISK TAKING. The habit of gambling, stealing, cheating, and otherwise taking hazardous chances to provide money for loved ones, with the belief that love can be bought. The habit of spending beyond one’s means, or incurring debts, to provide gifts for loved ones, with the object of making a favorable showing. Insomnia, nervousness, lack of persistence, weakness of will, lack of self-control, lack of self-reliance, bad temper
THE FEAR OF OLD AGE
The possibility of ill health, which is more common as people grow older, is also a contributing cause of this common fear of old age.
The most common cause of fear of old age is associated with the possibility of poverty. “Poorhouse” is not a pretty word. We are afraid of living our remaining years in poverty. Another contributing cause of the fear of old age, is the possibility of loss of freedom and independence, as old age may bring with it the loss of both physical and economic freedom.
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF OLD AGE
The common symptoms of this fear are:
The tendency to slow down and falsely believe one’s self to be “slipping” because of age. (The truth is that man’s most useful years, mentally and spiritually, are those between forty and sixty).
The habit of negative self-talk, telling ourselves we are old instead of reversing the rule, and expressing gratitude for having reached the age of wisdom and understanding.
Believing the lie that we are too old to use our initiative, imagination, and self-reliance.
The behavior of dressing to appear younger or using makeup to appear younger or drastic surgeries, rather than accepting our age as a positive thing.
THE FEAR OF DEATH
We may say we believe in eternal life, in a heaven that is a life of bliss, a life much better than this world. But we act as if we fear death, and our actions speak louder than our words. We act only slightly different from people who claim to have no belief at all in heaven and hell. Isn’t it amazing that, centuries ago, Christians sometimes celebrated a believer’s funeral as his “birthday,” the person’s entry day into heaven? They celebrated because they really believed it was so.
We need to go back to the Bible. It reminds us many times that nothing, not even death, can snatch God’s people from him.
Psalm 23:4 “Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.”
Psalm 49:15 “As for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of death.”
Matthew 5:4 “He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all”
John 5:24 “I assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”
Romans 8:35, 37-38 “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away.”
1 Corinthians 15:51-55 “Let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. When this happens — when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die — then at last the Scriptures will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Philippians 1:21-23 “To me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go and be with Christ.”
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF DEATH
The general symptoms of this fear are:
The habit of THINKING about dying instead of making the most of LIFE, due, generally, to lack of purpose, or lack of a suitable occupation. This fear is more prevalent among the aged, but sometimes the more youthful are victims of it. The greatest of all remedies for the fear of death is a BURNING DESIRE TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING, backed by useful service to others. Having something to live for, a purpose, helps us to stay healthier and live longer. A busy person seldom has time to think about dying. He finds life too thrilling to worry about death. Sometimes the fear of death is closely associated with the Fear of Poverty, where one’s death would leave loved ones poverty-stricken. In other cases, the fear of death is caused by illness and the consequent breaking down of physical body resistance. The commonest causes of the fear of death are: ill-health, poverty, lack of appropriate occupation, disappointment over love, and insanity.
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”
You should examine yourself very carefully, to determine whether you are susceptible to negative influences. If you neglect this self-analysis, you will give up your right to attain the object of your desire.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST NEGATIVE INFLUENCES
THINK AND ACT FOR YOURSELF.
Do not EXPECT troubles as they a tendency to show up as expected, and expecting problems is an invitation for problems
2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Every thought.
Thoughts as well as words are powerful things.
It’s so important to turn to God who will tell us the truth. It is with the truth that we succeed. If we listen to the demons, and believe their lies, we are doomed before we begin. We need to see the truth about ourselves before we can go on with our lives and live them to the fullest potential God has for us. This is so important! Without doubt, one of the most common weakness of all human beings is the habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other people, and GOSSIP. This weakness is more damaging, because most people do not recognize that they are cursed by it. You can have control over your thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all facts known to man! By the power of God, you can walk in the happy destiny God has for you, but if you fail to control your own mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else.
You were given a will-power for this purpose. It is the flesh, Satan and the world that pervert what God has given us to use for His Glory. ALL THOUGHTS TEND SHOW UP TANGIBLY IN OUR LIVES. The mind, makes no distinction between constructive and destructive thoughts. It works with the material we feed it, through our thought processes. Garbage in, garbage out. The mind will translate into reality a thought driven by FEAR just as readily as it will translate into reality a thought driven by COURAGE, or FAITH. For example, you can say “oh this will never work” OR you can say, we have some challenges here, let us figure out how to overcome those challenges. Men with negative minds tried to convince Thomas A. Edison that he could not build a machine that would record and reproduce the human voice, “because” they said, “no one else had ever produced such a machine.” Edison did not believe them, and his faith was the thing that lifted the great Edison above the average person. Men with negative minds told F. W. Woolworth, he would go “broke” trying to run a store on five and ten cent sales. He did not believe them. He knew that he could do anything, within reason, if he backed his plans with faith. He ignored the negative suggestions of others, and he made a fortune of more than a hundred million dollars. The bible says we reap what we sow. If we sow negative, what do we think we will reap?
Controlling our thoughts is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. There is no half-way compromise. We are talking about bondage and freedom here. The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite God-given purpose backed by a definite plan. Study the record of anyone who achieves noteworthy success, and you will observe that they have control over their own minds, moreover, that they exercise that control and direct it toward the attainment of definite objectives. Without this control, success is not possible. Your plan does not have to be detailed in the beginning. You can start your plan with your objective. I want to build an online business is a start. A negative influence for example would be your relative saying “oh you can’t do that, you don’t have any skill, experience or money”
BOTH FAILURE AND SUCCESS ARE THE CHILDREN OF OUR THOUGHTS.
The Road of failure is paved with excuses.
People who fail to succeed have one distinguishing trait in common. They know all the reasons for failure, and have what they believe to be air-tight alibis to explain away their own lack of achievement. Some of these alibis are clever, and a few of them are justifiable by the facts. But alibis cannot be used for victory. Firmly plant in your mind there is no excuse for not achieving a life full of purpose, abundance and victory. There are things that are beyond our reach. If you are 50 years old it is not reasonable to expect to be a neurosurgeon. It is not making an excuse to say that it is not something we want to pursue. There are however thousands of other opportunities we can discover and succeed at.
A character analyst compiled a list of the most commonly used alibis. As you read the list, examine yourself carefully, and see if you are using any of these excuses.
IF I didn’t have a wife and family . . .
IF I had enough “pull” . . .
IF I had money . .
IF I had a good education . . .
IF I could only get out of debt . . .
IF I hadn’t failed . . .
IF I only knew how . . .
IF everybody didn’t oppose me . .
IF I didn’t have so many worries
IF I could marry the right person
IF I could get a job . . .
IF I had good health . . .
IF I only had time . . .
IF times were better . . .
IF other people understood me
IF I could just get started . . .
IF I were only free . . .
IF I had the personality of some people . . .
IF I were not so fat . . .
IF my talents were known . . .
IF I could just get a “break”
IF I didn’t have a “past” . . .
IF I only had a business of my own . . .
IF other people would only listen to me . . .
.
IF conditions around me were only different
IF I could live my life over again
IF I only had embraced past opportunities . . .
IF I didn’t have to keep house and look after the children
IF I could save some money . . .IF I only had somebody to help me . . .
IF my family understood me .
IF I lived in a big city . .
IF I did not have to work so hard
IF I hadn’t lost my money . . .
IF I lived in a different neighborhood . . .
IF I had been given a chance . . .
IF other people didn’t “have it in for me” . . .
IF I were only younger . . .
IF I had been born rich . . .
IF I could meet “the right people” . . .
IF I had the talent that some people have . . .
IF people weren’t so dumb . .
IF my family were not so extravagant . . .
IF I were sure of myself . . .
IF luck were not against me
IF – and this is the greatest of them all –If I had the courage to see myself as I really am, I would find out what is wrong with me, and correct it, then I might have a chance to profit by my mistakes and learn something.
Building alibis with which to explain away failure is common. The habit is as old as humanity, and is fatal to success! Building alibis is a deeply rooted habit. Habits are difficult to break, especially when they provide justification for something we do. Plato had this truth in mind when he said, “The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.” Another philosopher had the same thought in mind when he said, “It was a great surprise to me when I discovered that most of the ugliness I saw in others, was but a reflection of my own nature.” “It has always been a mystery to me,” said one successful businessman, “why people spend so much time deliberately fooling themselves by creating alibis to cover their weaknesses. We can use the time to fix the problem and then no alibis would be needed.”
The bible tells us to die to self. Paul said “I die daily.” When we die to self, all the things that have been holding us back are “killed” along with the flesh, for all these things are but products of the flesh. “Come and learn of me” said Jesus. There is no penalty for ignoring all the things in this chapter, but there is a price you must pay if you do not use it. The price is FAILURE. There is a reward of stupendous proportions if we humbly examine ourselves and seek the face of God. It is the satisfaction that comes to all who put the flesh to death and in doing so RECEIVE the blessings of God.
Selfishness always destroys, sooner or later the end is the same.
“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” 2 Corinthians 7:10
James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
All of us struggle with our conscience, trying to make peace within ourselves. We may try to deny what we’ve done, find excuses, and try to squirm out from under it. We may work hard to be “good,” trying to counteract our wrongs. We do everything we can to even out the internal score. We must stop rationalizing and admit the truth. We are all born with a built-in buzzer that alerts us to what is wrong. God holds everyone accountable. The problem is when we ignore the “buzzer” God has put in everyone, after a while the “buzzer” doesn’t work anymore and our hearts have become hard. THAT is a very dangerous place to be.
Romans 2:14-15 “They know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right ”
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all the same testing’s we do, yet he did not sin. Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most”
Hebrews 2:18 “Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested”
GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE! He is your friend. He wants to help you. Let Him help you. Think about this. If you are agreeable to do the will of God, is it not in God’s best interest to help you?
GET OUT OF YOURSELF
“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” – Proverbs 28:13
We must recognize that what we are doing is wrong. We always find ways to justify our actions. “Oh, it’s not really hurting anyone”
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” I John 2:16
You must not blame others – “If my wife/husband were just more affectionate.” … “If women/men were not so seductive.” Adam blamed Eve and she blamed the serpent. Instead, you must begin to take responsibility for your actions. Make yourself accountable to a spiritual authority, perhaps a pastor or mature believer. Everybody needs a “safe” person to share their struggles with. You must recognize that will power alone is not the answer. At a weak moment, your “will” may fail you. By admitting that you need God’s help, you open access to His supernatural intervention in your life. You must yield your will to God’s will. That’s when He can begin a new work in your life. Imagine the great creator of the vast universe is on your side! What a game changer that is!
Give yourself time. Often, God chooses to take us through a learning and growing process that can be very painful. Victory over selfishness should be viewed as a marathon, not a sprint. We are dealing with the flesh. It is cunning powerful and baffling. Without help it is too much for us. Do not beat yourself up when you fall, just get back up on the bicycle and ride it. The devil will accuse you when you are down, and make you feel like it’s hopeless.
One Day at a Time
Nothing is going to work until we realize God really is in control. . When it comes to finding freedom from something like addiction, we need something more than simply controlling the behavior ourselves. We must learn how to surrender. When we surrender it will open the door to becoming the whole person God intends us to be. There is not a single magic bullet solution. The truth is that finding real freedom does require work. Addictions are patient. Sin is patient. They will wait for the right time to strike. Our defense will end up encompassing all our lifestyle, what we eat, what we read, exercise. We overcome evil with good. Put goodness in your life in truckloads. The very first and best way to start overcoming is to dive into helping others. This is a huge action step and it works.
Whenever we experience stress, depression, anger, boredom or any negative mood state, we reach for the drug of choice. Instead of reaching for pornography we need to reach for Christ.
PEOPLE WE HAVE HARMED INVENTORY
PEOPLE WE HAVE HARMED INVENTORY
Who did I harm?
What did I do or fail to do?
Which part of self- caused the harm?
Self will
Self-esteem – ego
Emotional security
Financial security
Pride, defiance,
Financial ambitions
What is the nature of my wrongs, faults, mistakes?
Self- seeking
Dishonest
Inconsiderate
Afraid
Lacking in self- control
What should I have done instead?
independence
Self-pity
Self-reliance
Personal relationships
Social ambitions
Sexual ambitions.
If we have been thorough about our personal examination, we will have written down some or a lot. We have listed and analyzed our resentments. We see that they are a dead end. We have commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on them as sick people. We have listed the people we have hurt by our conduct, and are willing to straighten out the past if we can.
In our inventories we will discover, for the most part, that our troubles were of our own making. We will see how we played a part in every resentment and fear we’ve ever had and how our conduct has harmed others. By taking stock of ourselves and sharing our inventories with another person, we will gather a list of things about ourselves that we view as objectionable. These are the very things that have blocked us from God, which is the only Power that can truly help us.
If our lives didn’t get better, why would we want to stay with the Lord? If all we had to look forward to being was restlessness, irritability and discontentment, why do the work? God through Jesus offers so much more – a new way of living not just a new way of thinking which is far more wonderful than ANYTHING we could EVER have imagined. THAT’S why we take the steps to work out our salvation.
Philippians 2:12 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
The moment you start to resent a person, you become their slave. They control your dreams, rob you of your peace of mind and good will, and take away the pleasure of your work. They block your relationship with God and nullify our prayers. You cannot take a vacation without this person going along! They destroy your freedom of mind and stalk you wherever you go. There is no way to escape the person you resent. If you want to be a slave, Let resentment into your living room.
Am I SELFISH? If I am resentful, it is because someone did not do what I wanted them to do in the past. They did not do it my way. That is being SELFISH. If I am angry, it is because someone is not doing what I want them to do right now. They are not doing it my way. That is being SELFISH. If I am fearful it is because I know someone is not going to do what I want them to do in the future. They are not going to do it my way. That is being SELFISH. If I feel guilty or remorseful, it is because I got my own way at your expense. SELFISHNESS is the root of all my trouble. We learn a new way to combat sin in our lives. Experience has taught us that will power alone is not enough.
The Power of love
We tried to obey God, and we failed. We overcome sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. God through His Spirit teaches us what love is, and prepares our heart to receive not human love, but divine, eternal, and everlasting love. If I possess this love, I have power to overcome all things. God’s love is greater than my selfish desires. At the core of child predators is selfishness. At the core of all sexual sins is selfishness. Will I try to manipulate you for my own gain with no thought for your needs? No, I won’t. I will seek the best outcome for you, because I love you. Will I steal from you? No, I won’t. Will I seek to cause trouble in church for my own needs for power and control? No, I won’t. Will I lie for personal gain? No, I won’t. The pure doctrine is the doctrine of love. It transcends all religion, all traditions, and all other teachings, because all the true teachings of God have as their foundation love.
I John 4:8 “He that loves not knows not God; for God is love”
By forgiving we free ourselves from the bondage to another person that is maintained for as long as we stand in judgement of them. Forgiveness is love in action. Our spiritual examination isn’t about finding out who you are, it’s about finding out who you are not, so you can get rid of it and who you are in God will shine thru. That’s why self-knowledge avails us nothing. We need to find out what GOD wants us to be.
Hating destroys the hater.
Nothing that you fear is as bad as the fear itself. The person who fights life’s battles without fear fights one enemy – the real thing confronting him. But the person who fights with fears within him fights three enemies
- The real thing to fight,
- Plus, the imaginary things built up by fear,
- Plus, the fear itself.
And the greatest of these is fear. Fear defeats us before we even begin to fight the real enemy. That which we fear grows in proportion to our obsession with it. The more we fear a thing, the bigger it becomes, which in turn increases our fear. How blessed we are that our God awaits our call for the strength, the companionship that He has guaranteed us! We are in partnership, every day, if we’d only recognize it. We can move toward and through anything. And the added benefit is that we come to trust our partnership. We soon know that all situations can be met. All experiences can be survived.
Avoiding is no longer our technique for survival.
In his book, “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” Dale Carnegie says:
“When we hate our enemies, we give them power over us – power over our sleep, our appetites and our happiness. They would dance for joy if they knew how much they were upsetting us. Our hate doesn’t harm them at all, but turns our days and nights into a hellish turmoil.”
No matter how much harm we feel has been done to us, and how much we feel our anger is justified, our job now is to pick up the mirror. We are responsible for our own actions and reactions, we have no power over anyone else’s actions or emotions, nor do we want them living rent-free in our heads. Lord knows, we have enough work to do on ourselves without muddying the water with other people’s behavior, get on with your business of making a new life. Today I release and let go of all resentments and bad feelings I have towards anyone.
Today I choose to walk in the love of God. When I walk in the love of God, the power of that love evaporates all my hard feelings towards others, and I can love them. The love of God is so much greater than my personal hurts. I will not become a victim, I will not idolize my hurts, and have part or all my life revolve around them. My life revolves around God now and His great healing power.
In Christ, we get a new pair of God glasses that are in focus, and when we look at everything through our new God glasses, we realize everything has been fine all along. The problem was that our vision was distorted. It was distorted because we were looking at everything from a position of self centeredness; looking at the universe with us at the center. From that view point, everything was not fine. As soon as we change to being God-centered or love-centered or others-centered, peace of mind becomes our constant state.
The past is the past… LET IT GO!
The way you are is NOT the result of what has happened to you, it’s the result of what you decide to KEEP INSIDE of you.
At a certain point, we forgive because we decide to forgive. Healing occurs in the present, not the past. We are not held back by the love we didn’t receive in the past, but by the love we’re not giving in the present.
An expectation is a premeditated resentment. To be wronged is NOTHING unless you insist on remembering it. If I totally trust God, I would never experience fear. Our fears and anxieties reveal our current lack of faith, and it also could be called agnosticism, and many Christians are agnostic without realizing it. Which is a general belief in some higher power, (God) but that power is not available for a relationship with us. They have instead a relationship with traditions, and/or a relationship with their own thinking. Their “god” is merely an extension of their own mind.
It’s not what’s going on around me that makes me feel the way I’m feeling, it’s what I’m thinking ABOUT what’s going on around me that makes me feel the way I’m feeling.
And when I change the way I’m thinking about what’s going on around me, my feelings toward them also change. Every time I have a negative emotional reaction, I am always telling myself something about what’s happening, and if I have a negative emotional reaction, whatever I’m telling myself is always a lie, and all I must do to stop having these negative emotional reactions is to become aware that I am telling myself a lie, and the moment I know I’m telling myself a lie, I stop doing it.
There is only one cure for resentment – break the chains. This happens when we commit to a relationship with the Lord. Our attachment needs to be on God and God alone. And since God is love, we release resenting someone by loving them! We unhitch from that trailer carrying the heavy loads of resentment.
Matt: 11:30 “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”
On the slope of Long’s Peak in Colorado lies the ruin of a gigantic tree. Naturalists tell us that it stood for some four hundred years. It was a seedling when Columbus landed at San Salvador, and half grown when the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth. During its long life, it was struck by lightning fourteen times, and the innumerable avalanches and storms of four centuries thundered past it. It survived them all. In the end, however, and army of beetles attacked the tree and leveled it to the ground. The insects ate their way through the bark and gradually destroyed the inner strength of the tree by their tiny but incessant attacks. A forest giant, which age had not withered, not lightening blasted, nor storms subdued, fell at last before beetles so small that a man could crush them between his forefinger and his thumb. Aren’t we like that battling giant of the forest? Don’t we manage somehow to survive the rare storms and avalanches and lightning blasts of life, only to let our hearts be eaten out by small sins and resentments?
If only you were more like me then I wouldn’t have to be upset at you right now, so why don’t you work at becoming more like I want you to be… is a recipe for resentment. Writing it all down, creates more order and focus, and enables us to discover the repeating patterns in our actions.
Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Amen
Pride and honesty cannot coexist. Pride is an illusion. Pride distorts the truth about things as they are, as they have been, and as they will be. It is a major obstacle to your spiritual life. Pride is a misunderstood sin. We think of pride as self centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. These are elements of the sin, but this is not the heart of the beast.
Pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen.
Enmity means ‘hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.’ It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us. Pride is essentially competitive in nature. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of my will and not thine be done. The proud will not accept the authority of God. The proud put their own ideas against God’s great knowledge, their abilities versus God’s priesthood power, and their accomplishments against His mighty works.
We were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.
Romans 12:1 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice cue— the kind he will find acceptable”
The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.
May we be convinced that Jesus is the Christ, choose to follow Him, be changed for Him, captained by Him, consumed in Him, and born-again. We make a lifelong commitment to seek one day at a time to know the Lord’s will and to have the power to carry it out. Our greatest desire is to improve our abilities to receive guidance from the Holy Ghost and to conduct our lives accordingly. This desire is such a great contrast to the attitudes we had when we were lost in our sins. Before we began to wake up, we thought hope, joy, peace, and fulfillment would come from an earthly source. Whether this source was alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, dishonest spending, unhealthy eating, or codependency, love addiction, or blindly following tradition and religion, our effort was to get by in a world where we felt confused, and alone.
Some of us were lonely in a crowd. When others tried to love you, perhaps you couldn’t feel it. Their love was never enough. Nothing satisfied the hunger you felt. As we search the Word of God, and APPLY the truth we find there-in, our hearts and lives have changed. Our lives have become a testimony of the saving Grace of the Loving God of the Universe.
We began to understand and appreciate our need for the Savior, Jesus Christ, and His role in your life and to treasure the Light of Christ. You have begun to realize you are not just talking to yourself when you feel your conscience guide you. Clumsy and unpracticed as you may have felt initially, you now pray to the Father in the name of Christ for a closer relationship with Him. You deliberately “seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written”
Wise men still seek Him
How can we honestly say that we’re entirely ready for God to remove our defects of character? If we think in terms of all or nothing, we may get stuck here because we will never feel entirely ready. It’s important to keep in mind that we seek guiding ideals. No one can work them perfectly. Our part is to keep moving, to get as close as we can to being ready. In Jesus’ day, there was a pool where people came in hope of finding miraculous healing.
John 5:5-9 “One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him, and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’ ‘I can’t, sir,’ the sick man said, ‘for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me’ Jesus told him ‘Stand up pick up your mat there ahead of me. Jesus told him, stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!’ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!”
This man was so crippled that he couldn’t go any farther on his own. He camped as near as he could to a place where there was the hope of recovery. God met him there and brought him the rest of the way. For us, “entirely ready” may mean getting as close to the hope of healing as we can in our crippled condition, using the support available to us. When we do, God will meet us there and take us the rest of the way. Our confession readies us for God’s work of cleansing and releasing.
James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
You will grow in your ability to resist temptation as you study the scriptures and pray and meditate about them. Learning to receive revelation takes practice and patience. You can prepare yourself by studying what has been said by prophets and apostles and by trying to live according to their teachings. You can prepare by being ready to receive, write down, think about, and follow the guidance you receive. When you express gratitude to the Lord for the blessings you have received, your capacity to receive guidance will increase.
Prayer and meditation are powerful antidotes to fear and depression.
Our worldly desires die out and we have a new desire to obey the commandments of God who has replaced the former desires. Whether your addiction has been to alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, self-destructive eating patterns, compulsive spending, or you are a religious Pharisee, you can come to realize that it all began in your mind and heart. Healing also begins in your mind and heart, the center of our being. As you become willing to be changed by coming unto Jesus Christ, you will learn of His power to heal.
Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
KEYS TO THE KINGDOM…HUMILITY
“If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them”
God is ever living, ever present, and ever active. He backs up all things with His powerful Word. All things exist in Him. The relationship of man to God could only be through continual, complete, total dependence. God created by His power, and He must hold His creation together by that same power. We look back to our beginnings to realize we owe everything to God. Our main goal, our highest good, and our only happiness—now and forever—is to offer ourselves to God as empty vessels that He can fill, to show His power and goodness. God doesn’t give us life once and for all, and then leave. He gives us life moment by moment, with a constant working of His mighty power. Humility, the place of total dependence on God, is our primary duty and what is best for us. That’s just how it is!
It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. Saint Augustine
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility. Saint Augustine
Pride, which is the absence of humility, is the root of every sin and evil. When did the devil and his angels start down that road of disobedience that led to them being cast down from the light of heaven into outer darkness? It was when they began to be focused on themselves. When the serpent beguiled Adam and Eve, they, too, fell from the special place God had made for them. They dove headlong into the abyss of wretchedness we are all in now and can plainly see. In all of heaven and earth, pride and exalting yourself opens the gates of hell. It is obvious, then, that nothing can be right again until our lost humility is restored. Humility is the original and only true basis of relationship a human being can have with God. Jesus came to bring humility back to earth, to make us sharers in it, and by it to save us. In heaven, He humbled Himself to become a man. Humility brought Jesus, and Jesus brought humility, down to earth. Once He was here,
“He obediently humbled Himself even further by dying” (Phil. 2:8).
Pride is behind our failures. Humility is not one of many good traits; it is the root of all of them, because it places us in the right relationship with God. A right relationship with God causes us to do all that He desires. We make a choice, with our wills, minds, and emotions, to become empty vessels that God can fill with His life and glory. Then we will see that humility is simply acknowledging the truth about who we are and yielding to God His rightful place.
The same power that worked in Jesus, can work daily in us.
“Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He made Himself nothing; He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form He obediently humbled Himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. Because of this, God raised Him up to the heights of heaven and gave Him a name that is above every other name.” (Phil. 2:5-9)
Pride’s power is in the spiritual realm. Our struggle against self and pride may seem hopeless when we think of the power of darkness that is against us. The life of God, which entered the human race when Jesus was born, is the root where we must stand and grow. The same power that worked in Jesus, can work daily in us. Life that has been revealed in Christ is now our life. His life is waiting only for our permission to gain possession and mastery over our whole being.
We can not neglect the Christ life, if it is neglected, the joy of salvation will be little felt. The place where Jesus found it—the place of lowliness—is so little searched for. We must die to self.
We give up trying to get men to honor us and seek the honor that comes from God.
We learn to count ourselves as zero so that God may be everything. Jesus alone is lifted. We make humility our main joy and welcome it at any price, Without humility, there is very little hope of a faith that will overcome the world.
“The Son can do nothing by Himself.” (John 5:19)
“I do nothing on My own, but I speak what the Father has taught Me.” (John 8:28)
“The words I say are not My own, but the Father who lives in Me does His work through Me.” (John 14:10)
“I do nothing without consulting the Father. I judge as I am told. And My judgment is just, because it is according to the will of God who sent Me; it is not merely My own.” (John 5:30)
“For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent Me, not to do what I want.” (John 6:38)
“I am not here on My own, but He sent Me.” (John 8:42)
“I’m not teaching My own ideas, but those of God who sent Me.” (John 7:16)
“I have no wish to glorify Myself.” (John 8:50)
“And remember, my words are not My own. This message is from the Father who sent Me.” (John 14:24)
Jesus became nothing, so that the Father could be everything. He submitted His strength and will completely so that the Father could work in Him. What did Jesus have to say about His own power, His own will, and His own glory, about His whole mission with all His works and teaching?
We admit that we have no value except as an empty vessel for God to fill. The claim of self to be or do anything must not be allowed for one moment. More than anything else, humility is what becoming like Jesus is all about. We are to be and do nothing by ourselves so that God may be all.
“Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt.11:29)
“Whoever wants to be first must become your slave. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give My life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:27-28)
Look at how Jesus started His season of public teaching. When He called His disciples to Him on the mountainside, He began:
“God blesses those who realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them…God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them” (Matt.5:3,5).
“Whoever is least among you is the greatest.” (Luke 9:48).
After telling the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus said again,
“For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored” (Luke 18:14).
“No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from God alone.” (John 5:44)
“You will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7)
Give yourself to seek only the honor that comes from God.
“In human form, He obediently humbled Himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on the cross.” (Philippians 2:8)
Death to self is humility’s destination.
Death to self is humility’s destination.
“His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive His own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, He has given us all His rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in His divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
The danger of pride is greater and nearer than we realize, especially when things are going very well. When God’s provision is present with powerful effect, when miracles are happening, when others take notice, there are dangers there.
“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in His good time He will honor you.” (1Peter 5:6)
When He says He will “honor you” and “lift you up,” He means that He will form that character of Jesus in you. Your part is to take every opportunity of humbling yourself before God and man. Stand firm. Persevere with faith in the grace that is already working in you and with full confidence in that the grace God will give the victory that’s coming.
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him” (Philippians 2:13).
Come to God, humbling your proud heart before Him, and He will reward you with more grace, and replace your pride with humility. The Spirit of Jesus will conquer and bring a new nature of maturity inside you. He, the meek and lowly One, will live inside you forever.
“The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: ‘I live in that high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts’” (Isaiah 57:15).
May this destiny be ours!
WHAT IS DYING TO SELF?
When you are forgotten, or neglected and you don’t have hurt , but your heart is happy, THAT IS DYING TO SELF. (not easy to do)
When you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you are loving and patient THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you are content with what you have, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you are not seeking praise and glory THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him , THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you can receive correction and reproof with no rebellion or resentment rising within your heart, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
“That I may know Him…being made conformable to His death”. (See Philippians 3:8-11)
“I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” –1 Corinthians 15:31
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” –Luke 9:23
But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” –James 4:6
Conversion is the process of being changed from one form to another. When I convert dollars to pesos, I am changing from one form of currency to another. Converted is the completed process whereby we have changed from one belief or course of action to another. Conversion is a spiritual and moral change. Converted implies not merely mental acceptance of Jesus and his teachings but also a motivating faith in him and his gospel—a faith which works a transformation, an actual change in our allegiance to God in thought and deed. We change from carnal to spiritual
Isaiah 1:18 God said, “Come now, let’s settle this. . . Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow”
Father God can make a lot more out of our lives than we can. He will deepen our joys, expand their vision, quicken our minds, lift our spirits, multiply our blessings, increase our opportunities, comfort our souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find abundance in this life, and will claim the victory of eternal life. Fear can keep us from doing this.
Ephesians 3:14–19 “For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God”
We want the peace that Scripture describes as that which surpasses all understanding, but maybe it seems the harder we try to find it, the more we do not experience it. There is a theme found through-out the bible that there are two paths open to us. On one path, we believe the proud arguments against God, and on the other path we think God’s way. Is change possible? We try to make changes and yet they don’t happen or happen to the extent we want them to. What makes it so hard for us to make the changes we need to make? Jeremiah says in
Jer.6:16 “stand at the cross-roads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it”
The path the people of Israel were on was marked Death and Destruction, while the road Jeremiah pointed to was marked Rest and Peace.
We read in the bible about the transformed life, but we fail to experience it. We settle for a life filled with limitations on God. We give up, and settle for what we accept and what we call “reality.”
Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, (THE WAY YOU THINK) that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Christian spirituality is not primarily a set of beliefs – or a list of obligations. First and fore-most it is a relationship. It is a journey toward union with God. If we are painstaking about diligently and prayerfully working on ourselves, working out our own salvation, we will be amazed before we are half way through.
“We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self- pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.”… The Big Book of AA.
We have opportunities every day to be gracious with our thoughts, with our words and with our actions. Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates:
- Is it true?
- Is it necessary?
- Is it kind?
What a beautiful world it would be if we could all see the light in ourselves and share that light—that love—that amazing grace with the unexpected and undeserving, just as God has done with us.
Financial healing and success in life.
The verses below dont overtly speak to money, but they are powerful verses to meditate on.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
There is nothing wrong with making money. The bible says we can’t LOVE money AND God. Set out to make more money with the intention of being a blessing to others.
Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
2 Timothy 1:7 “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death.”
Proverbs 31:26 “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.”
Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Our universities are filled with classes in general knowledge that has little practical use in the real world. Most of the professors, even the business professors, have done no great thing to accumulate money. They specialize on teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize on the organization, or the use of knowledge. They also do not teach how to think.
Knowledge will not attract money, unless it is organized, and guided, through practical action plans with a definite end. Many falsely think that “knowledge is power.” But it is not, it is potential power. It becomes powerful only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end. Many obtain a college degree only to find their skills are not marketable, or they need to go on for a master or PHD. The colleges of course are making money on this grand fraud and they also sell the textbooks by legal price gouging. They are always writing new editions so that the old books can’t be used by students for free or much cheaper price. Federal grants are being wasted on useless classes and the tax payer as always picks up the bill for incompetence and stupidity. The educational institutions fail to teach their students how to organize and use knowledge that they acquire, or in other words, how to function in the REAL world.
That word education is derived from the Latin word “educo,” meaning to educe, to draw out, to DEVELOP FROM WITHIN. Before you can be sure of your ability to turn DESIRE into its monetary equivalent, you will require SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE of the service, merchandise, or profession which you intend to offer in return. Ministries also need a definite purpose and the plans to carry it out. Perhaps you may need much more specialized knowledge than you have the ability or the inclination to acquire, and if this should be true, you may bridge your weakness through the skills of other people. The person who stops studying merely because he has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what may be his calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge. There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it. No one is ready for a something, until they believe they can acquire it. The state of mind must be BELIEF, not mere hope or wish. Open-mindedness is essential for belief. Closed minds do not inspire faith, courage, and belief. Being willing to believe can be a start.
Learn, Work,Include God = SUCCESS
Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty. A great poet has correctly stated this universal truth through these lines:
“I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, however I begged at evening when I counted my scanty store. “For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, but once you have set the wages, why, you must bear the task. “I worked for a menial’s hire, only to learn, sadly, that any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have willingly paid”
A BURNING DESIRE TO BE, AND TO DO is the starting point from which the dreams happen, and indifference, laziness, or lack of ambition are dream killers.
What do successful people do?
- First. Be a detailed as possible about what it is you want.
- Second. Think about what you will have to give to achieve what you want. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.) Are you willing to work more than 8 hours a day? Are you willing to take night classes after work?
- Third. Write down a definite date when you will have the success you want.
- Fourth. Create a definite plan and become willing to put it into action Start taking on positive habits.
- Fifth. Write out a clear, statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, how long is it going to take to get it? State what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it. What you are willing to give is the time spent researching and gaining knowledge and the work you will put into it. Write down how the money you acquire will be used for the glory of God.
- Sixth. Speak out loud what you seek to achieve. SPEAK TO THE MOUNTAIN ! There is power in the words we speak over ourselves. Ask God to help and guide you. Be willing to OBEY AND TRUST GOD. The old-timers knew. Look at the truth in this song:
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear, can abide while we trust and obey. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil He doth richly repay; not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross, but is blessed if we trust and obey. But we never can prove the delights of His love until all on the altar we lay; for the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows, are for them who will trust and obey. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, or we’ll walk by His side in the way; What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; never fear, only trust and obey.
What we are talking about here may seem impractical or a bunch of superstitious mumbo jumbo, but they work. They have been used by successful people. Andrew Carnegie, who began as an ordinary laborer in the steel mills, but managed, despite his humble beginning, to make these principles yield him a fortune of considerably more than one hundred million dollars. Let us not forget, Columbus dreamed of an unknown world, staked his life on the existence of such a world, and discovered it! Copernicus, the great astronomer, dreamed of a multiplicity of worlds, and revealed them! No one denounced him as “impractical” after he had triumphed.
Within every failure lies the seed of an equal or greater success.
Henry Ford, poor and uneducated, who dreamed of a horseless carriage, went to work with what tools he possessed, without waiting for opportunity to favor him, and now evidence of his dream is seen all over the earth.
Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity, and despite more than ten thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality. Practical dreamers DO NOT QUIT!
Lincoln dreamed of freedom for the black slaves, put his dream into action, and barely missed living to see a united North and South translate his dream into reality.
The Wright brothers dreamed of a machine that would fly in the air. Now one may see evidence all over the world that they dreamed soundly.
Marconi dreamed of a system for harnessing the intangible forces of the ether. Evidence that he did not dream in vain, may be found in every wireless and radio in the world, including our cellphones.
Michael Dell founded Dell Computer Corporation, dba PC’s Limited, in 1984 while a student at the University of Texas at Austin. Michael Dell dropped out of school to focus full-time on his fledgling business, after getting about $1,000 in expansion-capital from his family. Today, Dell computer is worth billions.
The greatest achievements were at first just a dream.
I stumbled quite by chance into a thing most grand and beyond explanation, I came upon the light, and the Son that bears His Name. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the eagle waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs. In our dreams are the little seeds of a new reality, even as small as a mustard seed. I see 10,000 mighty oaks, with Eagles perched in them all, and I see the Glory of Almighty God come down in fire from heaven above. FB post by me.
Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Through some strange and powerful principle of brain chemistry God wraps up in the impulse of STRONG DESIRE “that something” which recognizes no such word as impossible, and accepts no such reality as failure.
ALL THOUGHTS WHICH WHICH ARE MIXED WITH FAITH, begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counter- part. The greatest emotion is love. If that which we desire is a labor of love, our desire is powerful indeed.
Understand that our mind will translate into its physical equivalent, a thought of a negative or destructive nature,
OR
thoughts of a positive or constructive nature. What we sow we also reap.
Therefore, many people experience “bad luck” and “misfortune” There are millions of people who BELIEVE themselves “doomed” to poverty and failure, because of some strange force over which they BELIEVE they have no control. They are the creators of their own “misfortunes,” because of this negative BELIEF, which is picked up by our minds and translated into our reality. God has built it into our makeup that we CURSE ourselves when we are in sin and rebellion. Sin always manifests itself in our physical reality, in our bodies and in our minds. Perfection will come through practice. It cannot come by merely reading instructions. You can read about baking a cake or you can bake some cakes and really learn how to do it through practice and trial and error. It is essential for you to encourage the positive emotions as the dominating forces of your mind, and discourage and eliminate negative emotions.
as a man thinks in his heart so is he. Proverbs 23:7
The thoughts and inclinations of the heart shape the reality of who we are. They shape our thinking which will ultimately shape our actions, and our actions or lack thereof will shape the quality of our lives.
Phil. 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
FAITH is the starting point of all accumulation of riches!
FAITH is the basis of all “miracles,” and all mysteries which cannot be analyzed by the rules of science!
FAITH is the only known antidote for FAILURE!
FAITH is the element, the “chemical” which, when mixed with prayer, gives one direct communication with the Mind of Christ.
I Corinthians 2:16 “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
If a man repeats a lie over and over, he will eventually accept the lie as truth. Moreover, he will BELIEVE it to be the truth. Every man is what he is, because of the DOMINATING THOUGHTS which he permits to occupy his mind. Thoughts which a man deliberately places in his own mind, and encourages with sympathy, and with which he mixes any one or more of the emotions, constitute the motivating forces, which direct and control his every movement, act, and deed! This is how cults gain domination over their members through repetition of lies.
THOUGHTS WHICH ARE MIXED WITH ANY OF THE FEELINGS OF EMOTIONS, Will bring fear, poverty, disease, failure, misery; OR they will bring prosperity, health, success, and happiness. We have a choice which thoughts will dominate and fill our minds. Now, let us go back to the starting point, and become informed as to how the original seed of an idea, plan, or purpose may be planted in the mind. The information is easily conveyed: any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought. We write out a statement of our major purpose, or our definite goal, commit it to memory, and repeat it, in audible words, day after day, until these positive things have been buried deep in our minds.
Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always pray without ceasing,”
We are what we are, because of what we receive from all the many forms of media and from what other people say. Resolve not to receive the things that are not going to help you. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality, therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person. Our minds make no distinction between constructive and destructive thoughts. It works with the material we feed it. Our minds will translate into reality a thought driven by FEAR just as readily as they will translate into reality a thought driven by COURAGE, or FAITH.
If you wish evidence of the power of FAITH, study the achievements of men and women who have employed it. At the head of the list comes Jesus Christ. Christianity is the greatest single force which influences the minds of men. The basis of Christianity is FAITH, no matter how many people may have perverted, or misinterpreted the meaning of this great force, and no matter how many dogmas and creeds have been created in its name, which do not reflect its tenets. The sum and substance of the teachings and the achievements of Christ, which may have been interpreted as “miracles,” were nothing more nor less than FAITH. Miracles are produced only through the state of mind known as FAITH! Some teachers of religion, and many who call themselves Christians, neither understand nor practice FAITH.
Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40
For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, EVEN OUR FAITH 1 John 5:4
PRAISE GOD HALLELUJAH THANK YOU JESUS!!!
The mind takes any orders given it in a spirit of absolute FAITH, and acts upon those orders, although the orders often must be presented through repetition, before they are interpreted by the mind. Hand over the thought to your IMAGINATION, and see what your imagination can, or will do, to create practical plans for success in your endeavor. Our imaginations were given to us by God, but imagination is misused for selfish desires and fantasy, and becomes vain and foolish. Our desires are on His plans and His will. READING THE BIBLE WILL BUILD POSITIVE FAITH.
READING THE BIBLE WILL BUILD POSITIVE FAITH.
Your mind will hand over the plan, or plans you need. Be on the alert for these plans, and when they appear, put them into ACTION IMMEDIATELY. When the plans appear, they will probably “flash” into your mind in the form of an “inspiration.” This inspiration may be considered a direct “telegram,” or message from God. We can become the masters of our own happy destiny if our destiny is in the will of God, and He is the Captain of our fate. Smaller plans lead to larger plans. Don’t let starting small STOP you! When I began this ministry, we were feeding a small number of children in our area, and then over time we fed much larger numbers of children.
What we tell ourselves is a big part of converting Desire into Success. The other principles are simply tools with which to apply how we talk to ourselves. Keep this thought in mind, and you will be conscious of the important part the principle of self-talk is to play in your efforts to achieve the goals God has given you. Have the faith of a child.
Matt.18:2-4 “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
OUR MENTAL DIET
Start paying attention to your self-talk, the conversation of your mind. Whenever you catch yourself in negative self-talk, especially internal dialogue that expresses fear, doubt or self-loathing, STOP IT! And then replace it with more encouraging positive words. For example, you do something wrong and you catch yourself saying “Why am I so stupid?” Immediately say “DELETE!” and then say something positive and encouraging that is appropriate to the situation, such as “I am getting better and better.” You can also give yourself a direct suggestion that will assist you such as “slow down,” focus,” or “relax.” Think, Think, Think, Easy does it, and One day at a time.” PRACTICE thinking positively and turn negative words or phrases into positive ones. When you start paying attention, you will probably be surprised at the number of times you say negative and derogatory things to yourself about yourself or a situation. Counter the stinking thinking with lots of repetition. It can be done silently, in the privacy of your mind, or out loud if you prefer. Use boring repetitive tasks as an opportunity for re-setting your mind to think in a new way. A lot of people like to use affirmations in the shower, while driving, at the bus stop, on a bus, plane or train. Visualization is the language of the mind. When you visualize yourself doing something the RIGHT way, while using directed self-talk, especially in a relaxed state, it makes a strong impression on our minds. The combination makes for very powerful results. The powers of darkness have worked to keep us all distracted and “busy.” All the media we now use, keeps us in a non-stop short attention span theatre, jumping from one thing to the next.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
The contents of this chapter, all of it is not New Age. The devil counterfeits the truths of God. It is very possible to throw out real truth in a desire to do right.
The imaginative faculty functions in two forms. We can call one regular Imagination and the other one is known as “creative imagination.” Through regular imagination, we arrange old concepts and ideas into new combinations. This faculty creates nothing. It merely works with what is already known. Through creative imagination, the finite mind of man has direct communication with God and is not God very creative? We think that He is. It is through this faculty that hunches, inspiration, and impressions are received. This is the faculty of the creative process. The creative imagination works automatically. This faculty functions ONLY when the mind is ramped up and stimulated by the emotion of strong desire. In my situation, the motive behind my strong desire is a desire to significantly alter the future of the children in extreme poverty that we minister to here. My strong desire comes from my love for them.
The greatest desires are born out of Love.
1 Corinthians 13:13 “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
The creative faculty becomes more productive through using it. Like anything else, use it or you lose it. Keep in mind as you follow these principles that the entire story of how one may convert DESIRE into the achievement of your goals cannot be told in one statement. The story will be complete, only when one has RECEIVED IT, and made use of a combination of spiritual truths. Desire is only a thought, an impulse. It is intangible and abstract, and of no value, until it has been transformed into its physical counterpart. While the regular imagination is the one which will be used most frequently, in the process of transforming the impulse of DESIRE into achievement, you must keep in mind the fact, that you will need the creative imagination as well. Your imaginative faculty may have become weak through inaction. It can be revived and made alert through USE. This faculty does not die, though it may become dull through lack of use. No matter how old you are, or your circumstances in life, I want you to start dreaming again, I want you to start hoping again, I want you to start believing again.
God can make even dead dreams come back to life.
Transformation of DESIRE into reality, calls for the use of a plan, or plans. These plans must be formed with the aid of the imagination. Put your imagination to work on the building of a plan, or plans, for the transformation of your DESIRE into your goals. Start putting any part of a plan into writing. Your plans will evolve and build. When put to paper you have given concrete form to your intangible desire. Read the preceding sentence once more. Read it aloud, very slowly, and as you do so, remember that the moment you reduce the statement of your desire, and a plan for its realization, to writing, you have taken a major step to converting the thought into its physical reality. It can’t be only selfish desire. Let it be a desire to help others. God is an artist, let Him paint for you His will for your life.
Below are reasons why people do not reach anywhere near their full potential.
LACK OF A WELL-DEFINED PURPOSE IN LIFE.
There is no hope of success for the person who does not have a central purpose, or definite goal at which to aim. Many people have no such target in life. God will help you with that. Your purpose may be to help support those who are out in the field.
LACK OF AMBITION TO AIM HIGH .
There is no hope for the person who is so apathetic as not to want to achieve and enjoy the success of plans realized. The Spiritually healed person will be infused however with a new enthusiasm and ambition.
LACKING EDUCATION.
This is a handicap which may be overcome with comparative ease. Experience has proven that the best-educated people are often those who are known as “self-made,” or self-educated. It takes more than a college degree to make one a person of education. Education consists, not so much of knowledge, but of knowledge effectively and persistently APPLIED. Men are paid, not merely for what they know, but more particularly for WHAT THEY DO WITH THAT WHICH THEY KNOW.
LACK OF SELF-DISCIPLINE.
Discipline comes through self-control. This means that one must control all negative qualities. Before you can control conditions, you must first control yourself. Self-mastery is the hardest job we will ever tackle. If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. There is a healthy control of the Holy Spirit and there is an unhealthy control of the flesh. They are sometimes called “control freaks”
Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit.
ILL HEALTH.
No person may enjoy outstanding success without good health. Many of the causes of ill health are subject to mastery and control. Don’t cause yourself to be in bad health by lack of self-discipline. These, in the main are:
- Overeating of foods not conducive to health
- Wrong habits of thought that manifest in physical illness.
- Sexual sin
- Lack of proper physical exercise
PROCRASTINATION.
This is one of the most common causes of failure. Some make the mistake of “waiting on God” instead of WORKING and GIVING NOW while waiting on God. Procrastination is taking care of yesterday
LACK OF PERSISTENCE.
Most of us are good “starters” but poor “finishers” of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for PERSISTENCE. The person who makes PERSISTENCE his watch-word, wears down the walls of failure. Knowing your purpose will give you persistence.
NEGATIVE PERSONALITY.
There is no hope of success for the person who repels people through a negative personality. Success comes through the application of POWER, and power is attained through the cooperative efforts of other people. A negative personality will not induce cooperation. The cause of a negative personality is selfishness.
LACK OF CONTROLLED SEXUAL URGE.
Sex energy is the most powerful of all the stimuli which move people into ACTION. Because it is the most powerful of the emotions, it must be controlled, through transmutation, and converted into other channels.
UNCONTROLLED DESIRE FOR “SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.
The gambling instinct drives millions of people to failure.
LACK OF DECISION.
People who succeed reach decisions promptly, and change them, if at all, very slowly. People who fail, reach decisions, if at all, very slowly, and change them frequently, and quickly. Indecision and procrastination are twin brothers. Where one is found, the other may usually be found also. Kill off this pair before they put you into the bondage of failure.
DOMINATED BY FEARS.
These fears have been analyzed for you in this book. They must be mastered before you can reach your fullest potential. Knowing God will eliminate fear.
WRONG SELECTION OF A MATE IN MARRIAGE.
This a most common cause of failure. The relationship of marriage brings people intimately into contact. Unless this relationship is harmonious, failure is likely to follow. Moreover, it will be a form of failure that is marked by misery and unhappiness, destroying all signs of AMBITION.
OVER-CAUTION.
The person who takes no chances, generally takes whatever is left when others are through choosing. Over-caution is as bad as under-caution. Both are extremes to be guarded against. Life itself is filled with the element of chance. If you want to succeed, you must take risks.
WRONG CAREER.
No one can succeed in a line of endeavor which they do not like. Ask God to help you find your PASSION.
NO FOCUS.
The “jack-of-all-trades” seldom is good at any. Concentrate your efforts on one DEFINITE CHIEF AIM.
SPENDING MONEY.
The shopaholic cannot succeed, mainly because he stands eternally in FEAR OF POVERTY. Form the habit of systematic saving by putting aside a definite percentage of your income. Money in the bank gives one the ability to seize opportunities when they arise.
LACK OF ENTHUSIASM.
Without enthusiasm, one cannot be convincing. Moreover, enthusiasm is contagious, and the person who has it, under control, is generally welcome in any group of people. Enthusiasm is easy if you have found your PASSION.
INTOLERANCE.
The person with a “closed” mind on any subject seldom gets ahead. Intolerance means that one has stopped acquiring knowledge. The most damaging forms of intolerance are those connected with religious, racial, and political differences of opinion.
THE FLESH RUN RIOT.
The most damaging forms of intemperance are connected to eating, strong drink, drugs, and sexual activities. Overindulgence in any of these is fatal to success.
CAN’T GET ALONG WITH OTHERS.
More people lose their positions and their big opportunities in life, because of this fault, than for all other reasons combined. It is a fault which no well-informed business man, or leader will tolerate. This comes from growing up a spoiled brat and remaining one.
POSSESSION OF POWER THAT WAS NOT ACQUIRED THROUGH SELF EFFORT.
(Sons and daughters of wealthy men, and others who inherit money which they did not earn). Power in the hands of one who did not acquire it gradually, is often fatal to success. QUICK RICHES are more dangerous than poverty.
INTENTIONAL DISHONESTY.
There is no substitute for honesty. One may be temporarily dishonest by force of circumstances over which one has no control, without permanent damage. But, there is NO HOPE for the person who is dishonest by choice. Sooner or later, his deeds will catch up with him, and he will pay by loss of reputation, and perhaps even loss of liberty.
EGOTISM AND VANITY.
These qualities serve as red lights which warn others to keep away. THEY ARE FATAL TO SUCCESS.
“Check your ego at the door. The ego can be the great success inhibitor. It can kill opportunities, and it can kill success.” Dwayne Johnson
GUESSING INSTEAD OF THINKING.
Most people are too indifferent or lazy to acquire FACTS with which to THINK ACCURATELY. They prefer to act on “opinions” created by guesswork or snap-judgments, or simply following the herd. They have never developed the capacity of CRITICAL THINKING.
PROCRASTINATION, the opposite of DECISION, is a common enemy which practically everyone must conquer. Procrastination is taking care of yesterday.
Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by “opinions” when you reach DECISIONS, you will not succeed in any undertaking.
Take no one into your confidence, EXCEPT the people who are in harmony with your plans. Choose ONLY those who will be in COMPLETE SYMPATHY AND HARMONY WITH YOUR PURPOSE. Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to do so, often handicap one through “opinions” and sometimes through ridicule, which is meant to be humorous. Thousands of men and women carry inferiority complexes with them all through life, because some well-meaning, but ignorant person destroyed their confidence through “opinions” or ridicule. You have a brain and mind of your own. USE IT, and reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information from other people, to enable you to reach decisions, as you probably will in many instances; acquire these facts or secure the information you need without boasting and announcing your plans.
Great decisions may require great risk.
Lincoln’s decision to issue his famous Proclamation of Emancipation, which gave freedom to the colored people of America, was done with full understanding that his act would turn thousands of friends and political supporters against him. He knew, too, it would mean death to thousands of men on the battlefield. In the end, it cost Lincoln his life. That required courage.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Calvin Coolidge
There may be no heroic connotation to the word “persistence,” but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel… Napoleon Hill.
The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. How bad do you want it? STOP NOW and ask yourself, how bad do I want it? Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this weakness may be remedied by building a stronger fire under your desires. It could be time to think about your desires again. Maybe we have the wrong desire, or somebody else’s desire for us. We need to find our passion, what we are passionate about.
The word “desire” is found 153 times in the Old and New Testament
Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?”
Poverty and mediocrity is attracted to the one whose mind is favorable to it, as money is attracted to him whose mind has been deliberately prepared to attract it. Mediocrity will take over the mind that is not occupied with success.
Catch the full significance of the statements in the preceding paragraph, and you will understand the importance of PERSISTENCE in the achieving success for that which you desire. Without PERSISTENCE, you will be defeated, even before you start. With PERSISTENCE, you will win. Persistence is a state of mind, and therefore it can be grown inside our character.
Like all states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes, among them are these:
- DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE. Knowing what one wants is the first and, perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties. Think about what you really want and ask God to help you if you do not know. I know exactly what I want. I want to build pathways for the children here that lead to escape from brutal 3rd world poverty, and a pathway to God.
- DESIRE. It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence when we have the burning desire to accomplish our purpose. Without a passion, there is a lack of desire. Ask God that you can find your passion. You can also ask God what is His passion for you.
- CONFIDENCE. Belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages one to follow the plan through with persistence. This confidence can be found in God. Are we confident of God? Then we can be confident in ourselves.
- DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. Organized plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.
- ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE. Knowing that one’s plans are sound, based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence; “guessing” instead of “knowing” destroys persistence.
- CO-OPERATION. Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation with others tend to develop persistence. Gather people into your circle who agree with your plans. Let God show you who your alliance group is.
- THE RIGHT KIND OF WILL-POWER. The habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the building of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose, leads to persistence. Our will-power is made harmonious with God’s will. This creates a synergy between heaven and earth that is unstoppable.
- HABIT. Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of courage. Some say, “fake it till you make it” I am here to tell you that it works. One habit is a prayer habit. Pray each day at an appointed time and make a habit out of it.
SYMPTOMS OF LACK OF PERSISTENCE
Here you will find the real enemies which stand between you and noteworthy achievement. Here you will find not only the “symptoms” indicating weakness of PERSISTENCE, but also the deeply seated causes of this weakness. Study the list carefully, and face yourself squarely IF YOU REALLY WISH TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO.
- TOSSED TO AND FRO not able to recognize and clearly define exactly what one wants.
- PROCRASTINATION, with or without cause. (Usually backed up with a formidable array of alibis and excuses).
- NO AMBITION in acquiring specialized knowledge.
- INDECISION, the habit of “passing the buck” on all occasions, instead of facing issues squarely.
- EXCUSES instead of creating definite plans for the solution of problems. Excuses are easy and they make failing easy.
“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” George Washington Carver
- ALL ABOUT ME there is but little remedy for this affliction, and no hope for those who suffer from it. Self-seeking and Selfishness are doomed to fail. Seen in people that brag and boast. People who will dodge any blame and blame others. They make decisions based on how they think they will look.
- APATHY, Lack of conviction usually reflected in one’s readiness to compromise on all occasions, rather than meet opposition and fight it. This is caused by selfishness which always leads to not caring for others.
- BLAMING OTHERS for one’s mistakes, and believing in bad luck. Many people play the blame game. We don’t like to take the blame. That is a character of leadership, to take responsibility for things that have gone wrong. Its something I have fought here, constantly hearing people blame others.
“If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you. The world will be yours and everything in it, what’s more, you’ll be a man, my son.” Rudyard Kipling
- WEAKNESS OF DESIRE, due to neglect in seeking God for our purpose in life, which ties back to lack of faith. Thinking that God is out there somewhere and not really involved in our lives. Weakness of our purpose. If we believe in our purpose strongly, that is the desire that we need.
- QUITTING at the first sign of defeat. Winners never quit and quitters never win. This is caused by not doing the things we need to do before starting. Rushing in without the wisdom and work that should precede it. Unrealistic plans for that point in time.
“Learned helplessness is the giving-up reaction, the quitting response that follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn’t matter. Arnold Schwarzenegger”
- NO DEFINITE PLAN, placed in writing where they may be analyzed, and modified as needed. Get any plan, your plans can change. It is important to get started.
- The habit of neglecting to move on ideas, or to grasp opportunity when it presents itself. INDECISION, DOUBT AND FEAR. Then regret for not taking action when we could.
- WISHING instead of WILLINGNESS TO WORK AND STUDY. Dreaming, but never doing. “I will give when I get a big bunch of money.” That is a cop out. Give one dollar.
- COMPROMISE with POVERTY instead of aiming at better so that we can be of help in the kingdom. General absence of ambition to be, to do, and to own. LACK OF AMBITION, lazy people.
15.SHORT CUTS, trying to GET without GIVING a fair equivalent, can be reflected in the habit of gambling, endeavoring to scheme and scam for money rather than working for it.
FEAR OF CRITICISM,
failure to create plans and to put them into action, because of what other people will think, do, or say. This enemy belongs at the head of the list, because it generally exists in one’s subconscious mind, where its presence is not recognized. It ties in with accepting the negative input of others.
STICKING IT OUT
There are four simple steps which lead to the habit of PERSISTENCE. This does not take a rocket scientist, or a big college degree. What you need is:
A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment.
A purpose is not a plan, it is what the plan hopes to achieve. Don’t know your purpose? It helps to start serving anywhere. Ask around, look online at food banks or any place or church that does something to help people. Cut some grass for free. Help someone move. Visit the elderly. Help a single parent. If you use FB, be an encourager, a peace maker. Make your purpose unselfish. Don’t say I want a million dollars because I have always wanted a luxury boat. Instead what good could you do for others if you did have more money? Put that first. The bible says seek the kingdom of God first and all things will be added to you. If your purpose is to help others and you are genuine, you will have more passion and energy and you need those things to succeed. Some selfish people do get rich and they don’t help others much or at all. We can’t put the money in the coffin.
A definite plan, with continuous action to bring it about.
Your plan can be in general with a lot of room to adapt as you go. It is important to start no matter how small the start is. If you don’t have a plan, that can be your job now. Start going through all the many options out there. What can I start small? I don’t have any money. In searching for your plan to earn more money, remember that service to others is important. We do not realize all the things that open up in our minds and in our lives when we selfishly serve others and give a part of what God has prospered us.
A definite decision to block out all negative and discouraging influences, including friends, family and acquaintances.
This is easier said that done if your negative people are close to you. Negative people simply have not learned how to think. Its likely nobody tried to teach them. Negative people tend to repel positive people. Positive people also don’t like to cast their pearls to the swine. Negative people tend to drain the energy out of you, and one way they do that is to kill your joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength.
An alliance with people who will encourage you to follow through with the purpose and the plan.
This has sometimes been called the master mind group. This is something that takes time. Enthusiastic people can be roses with thorns. It looks good at first, but the bunny rabbit turns into a snake ready to devour you. People that have a real relationship with Jesus will be the best allies you will ever have. They can correct you and forgive you. The self-righteous will condemn you, attack you, malign you. Some alliances will be temporary and that’s okay. God has put you in their lives for a reason, and He has put them in your life for the same thing.
These four steps are essential for success in all walks of life. These are the steps by which one may set their path on the road of happy destiny. They are the steps that lead to freedom and independence of thought. They are the steps that lead to riches, in small or great quantities, both spiritual and financial. They are the four steps which guarantee favorable “breaks.” They are the steps that convert dreams into physical realities. They lead, also, to the mastery of FEAR, DISCOURAGEMENT and APATHY There is a magnificent reward for all who learn to take these four steps. God wants you to succeed, because it is in God’s best interest that you do so, IF you are IN HIM.
DEVELOPING YOUR GENIUS
The capacity of creative imagination is one which many people never use during an entire lifetime, and if used at all, it usually happens by mere accident. A relatively small number of people use, WITH DELIBERATION AND PURPOSE, their creative imaginations. Creative Imagination is a gift from God. The faculty of creative imagination is the direct link between the finite mind of man and Infinite mind of God.
We are talking about a higher level of thought that is brought about by a burning desire to serve God and do His will. We are not limited as many are, wrestling with the problems of our physical wants and needs. While on this exalted plane of THOUGHT, the creative faculty of the mind is given freedom for action.
Matthew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so, then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
The analysis of thousands of people, showed that men who succeed in an outstanding way, seldom do so before the age of forty, and more often they do not strike their real pace until they are well beyond the age of fifty. This study disclosed the fact that the major reason why most men who succeed do not begin to do so before the age of forty to fifty, is their tendency to DISSIPATE their energies through over indulgence in physical expression of the emotion of sex. Most men never learn that the urge of sex has other possibilities, which far transcend in importance, that of mere physical expression. The majority of those who make this discovery, do so after having wasted many years at a period when the sex energy is at its height, prior to the age of forty-five to fifty. This usually is followed by noteworthy achievement.
We have covered a lot of ground in this chapter. You will find you can use this chapter as a reference and go back to it time and time again. The truths I have presented in this chapter are truly powerful. Lets go on now and finish the chapter talking about Christ living in us.
The Bible teaches that the reflection of the image of God does not come from a modification of who we are, but by the replacement of the sinful human nature with the divine. The old nature is “put to death” (see Romans 8:1-14). This is what Jesus refers to when he calls us to daily deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow him—to the point of death (Luke 9:23). This is also why Paul calls us to become a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). For new life to come, we must die first.
The Holy Spirit can only fully enter us and bring his divine nature with him when we are fully empty.
When the churches die to self, it is then that Jesus will take possession of them, and work through them His GREAT LOVE. May the Lord help his people. May the Lord burn away the apathy and deception, consume the selfishness that exists in OUR hearts, and stamp them with HIS IMAGE. When self is hiding with Christ in God; then Jesus will be revealed in our lives. Our characters will be shaped in the form of Jesus, and Christ in us becomes the hope of glory for those our lives witness to. The Holy Spirit Now Controls us. We will possess the attributes of Christ, because He lives in us.
We can only receive the light of heaven, as we are willing to be emptied of self. We can’t understand the character of God or receive Christ by faith, unless we agree to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
In Christ “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Him ye are made full.” Col. 2:9, 10
Christ can live fully in us when we die to self. Until we die to self, we can’t possess the faith that works by love and purifies our souls. God will breathe HIS LIFE into every soul who dies to self and lives to Christ. Complete and total death of the soul is required, half measures will not work. Unless we allow God to do this, we will continue to carry everything that destroys our joy and sabotages our destiny. There are some who are seeking, always seeking, for the Holy treasure, but they do not make an entire surrender of their wrong habits. They do not die to self that Christ may live in them. Therefore, they do not find the precious treasure.
I noticed over the last year some people my age died. Well that is something we might notice. Im talking about some people I knew. I first noticed people dying on fb several years ago when a supporter would pass away. I was like… hey don’t die on me.
Ive also had the odd feeling from checking up on someones FB page and they died with comments on there about that. Then the page also dies and there are no more posts. I scroll down to look at some of their posts, somewhat fascinated by what they most recently said. Did they have any clue there were about to die? I did not notice that they did. One day they are posting some thing about something, and the next there is no more. Life really is short. We don’t think that when we are young. We feel immortal. I feel very mortal.
Death was some far far away thing when I was young, but now it is a destination on the road sign with miles inscribed on it. It is a destination that will be reached. All that matters in this short life is our service to God. Does it do any good really to achieve all manner of great things, and it was all for ourselves? If we gain the whole world for ourselves what good is it because we will all be put in the box or urn. Our lives are boxed and taped up and put away. Without Christ, it is all for nothing. Without dying to self, we will never serve HIm, and all we ever did is just a taped up box in the corner.
To work for God successfully, we must die to self, surrendering all to God. In words of great tenderness, Christ invites us, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” When we respond to this invitation, when we learn what it means to find rest by lifting the cross and following Him, we will be true witnesses for Him. But until this lesson is learned, self will appear, and Jesus will be but a faint shadow in the background. When the heart is emptied of self-importance, THEN the door to Christ swings open and you will hear His voice. Clear away the pride that keeps the Lord Jesus out, He cannot possibly enter; for He forces no entrance. Our fitness for God’s service will be found in constant communion with him. When we consecrate ourselves to God, the power which comes alone from God will bring success in our work. In the presence of God, He is always guiding us. We must die to self before God can use us fully to his glory. If we will learn of Christ as little children, we will see a success wherever we are.
To bear the cross of Christ is to control our sinful passions by the Holy Spirit, to practice the Christian life even when it isn’t comfortable to do so, to see the wants of the needy and distressed and deny ourselves to relieve them, and to open our hearts and our doors to the homeless orphan, and the sex trafficked child. It is self that divides brethren; but self must die. Christ will then be revealed in our words, and in our tender caring for one another, our dear souls need the converting power of God; they need transforming grace. Jesus has borne all our sins, should we not have this spirit of forgiveness for others and extend it to them
When self-dies, there will awaken within us an intense desire for the salvation of others, which will lead to persevering in good works. There will be a sowing beside all waters; and earnest prayers will enter heaven in behalf of perishing souls. There will be a BURNING DESIRE, a persistence that will not let go. Our love for Jesus will also mean an intense passion for the souls of our fellows. When we are fully emptied of self, when every false god is cast out of our souls, the vacuum is filled by the in flowing of the Spirit of Christ. We are purified from everything that defiles us. We are the temples of God. We are conformed to the Spirit, and we mind the things of the Spirit. Christ is all and in all. We receive with meekness the truth that is constantly being unfolded, and gives the Lord all the glory, saying,
God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.” “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” [1 COR. 2:10, 12.]
It is the LORD JESUS that compels me and drives me. He has taken over my life. My life is but and becoming a faint memory. It is God that has told me to save them. It is God that has given me the vision and strength to do it. I count my life as nothing, because it is nothing. In the power of God and by the name of His Dear Son Jesus, we will save them.
“Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seemed not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoice not in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; berth all things, believeth all things, hopes all things, endure all things. Love never faileth” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, RV).
When we surrender to Christ, a new power takes possession of your new heart. Something happens that we can’t do ourselves. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural nature. We start living life in a different way that we did before we surrendered to God. We have started on a new way and a new path full of discovery and promise. It is exciting stuff! We gain power from God to overcome things that use to defeat us, and we are not confused and baffled as to decisions we need to make. It is a hope we start to share with others. It is also a peace that is beyond understanding as we travel our new road to happy destiny.
Thank you for taking your time to read my book. I hope that it has been of help to you. I ask that you also help the children here in terrible great need after decades of being forgotten.
I appreciate so much all of you who have prayed for us and sent financial support.
No matter how old you are, or your circumstances in life, start dreaming again, start hoping again, start believing again
Thank you Jesus for loving me when I could not see.
A short section about demons
Any soul not surrendered to God, is a potential abode of demons and demonic activity. It is therefore no surprise that the churches have lost all focus of their intended purpose and that is to save souls.
Let’s now turn to the Bible, and see what God says.
There is no NEW AGE, it is the same old sewer.
Many people, including theologians believe that evil spirits belong to the world of superstition and myth. Satan is nothing more than a “literary device,” a personification of evil; and demons are mental and emotional disorders, such as schizophrenia, paranoia, and psychoneurosis. The many scriptures attesting to the existence of supernatural evil are either rejected as myth or viewed as allegory. According to this thinking, demons, or evil spirits, were conjured by primitive imagination; today we understand them as mental and emotional disorders. Satan is an emblem of evil; a literary personification.
As Wisdom is personified in Scripture (Proverbs 8), so is Evil. As “gods” are conceived in ignorance and superstition, so are demons. Such reasoning may appeal to some, but if we are honest with the Scriptures; if we accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God, then we should be willing to lay aside our personal ideas, and believe what the Bible plainly reveals. The truth is, all attempts to see demons and the devil as “mere mental diseases” and the “personification of evil” are really attempts to rationalize something that seems irrational. But the Bible is clear:
Satan is a literal, personal being; and demons are spiritual personalities that think, reason, speak, and express fear, and under certain conditions, can enter and possess the mind of a human being!
DEMONS OUR ENEMIES
Demons are spirit beings without a body which seek a body to live in. They need a body through which they can express themselves. The word “demon” comes from the Greek word “daemon” or “daimonian” meaning breath or spirit. Although we cannot see these spirit beings, nevertheless they do exist. Pagan societies have always known that they exist. Jesus Christ acknowledged their existence. In the gospels, we have references to Him casting them out of various people. In fact, He said:
“These signs will follow those who believe. In My name, they will cast out demons.” Mark 16:17
One of our functions as Christians is to cast out demons. We don’t need to be afraid of them.
“He, who is in us, is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Demons have an intense desire to live in a body. The legion of demons who lived in the man who had come out of the tombs, begged Jesus to send them into the swine. They said, “Send us to the swine that we may enter them.” This is the desire of demons, to find a body in which they may live and thus express themselves, because without expression nobody is alive.
Demons have a Personality
As we look at the Scriptures, we find that demons have specific marks of personality.
THEY KNOW WHO PEOPLE ARE
the demons in the man in the synagogue said to Jesus: “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24) They knew that Jesus was the Messiah.
THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE
Jesus asked the demons in the man who came out of the tombs the question: “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’” (Mark 5:9) It was not the man responding. It was the demons in the man. They knew who they were. Demons do have knowledge of themselves.
THEY HAVE A WILL
Jesus said: “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.” (Matthew 12:43-44) Yes, demons do have a will.
DEMONS HAVE EMOTIONS We
James:
“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble!”
THEY CAN SPEAK
as we have already seen, the demons spoke to Jesus:“I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24)
THE ACTIONS OF DEMONS
THEY HARASS
One of the primary activities of demons is to harass people, especially Christians. They are the agents of Satan, sent to both block Christians in their walk or to prevent people turning to Jesus. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
THEY PUT PEOPLE IN BONDAGE
We are assured in Scripture that we did not receive the spirit of bondage (or slavery) again to fear.
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15) No, we have not received the spirit of slavery, but rather the Spirit of adoption through Jesus Christ. Accordingly, demonic power, acting through people, causes them to be compulsive in their actions, e.g. in their talking or eating or in other habits.
THEY ENTICE.
James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. When we fail to crucify the flesh, and allow unclean or wrong desires to tempt us, then we open the door to demonic power and can be enticed by demons into deeper sin.”
DEMONS DECEIVE
1 Timothy 4:1-2 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”
DEMONS EXPLOIT AND CREATE FEAR
The Scripture makes it clear that God has not given us the spirit of fear or torment, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) “…fear involves torment.” (1 John 4:18)
Those who are in total fear are often tormented by demon powers.
DEMONS DRIVE DESTRUCTIVE OBSESSIONS
The man from the tombs had a demon which often seized him and he was driven by the demon into the wilderness.
“For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.” (Luke 8:29)
This is the function of demons, to drive and compel if they have the opportunity.
DEMONS DEFILE
“To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” (Titus 1:15)
DEMONS FIGHT
They fight against our personal harmony, our peace of mind and physical well-being, causing trouble with other people, especially those closest to us. Their great distinctive mark is restlessness.
They can affect our emotions, attitudes and relationships, they amplify resentment, hatred, fear and rebellion. In addition, they can affect the thoughts of the mind, causing
DOUBT, UNBELIEF, INDECISION, AND PROCRASTINATION.
These are the keys to FAILURE. In the area of the tongue, they can influence or cause lying, cursing, gossip and blasphemy and in the sexual area, perversion, homosexuality, fornication etc.
If we have recurrent evil, disruptive, emotional attitudes which dominate us against our will, for example resentment, hatred, fear, envy, jealousy and pride or extreme moodiness with changes from being extremely talkative to unnaturally quiet, or if there is an unnatural restlessness and talkativeness, these can be the signs of demonic activity
THE WAR OF THE FLESH AGAINST THE SPIRIT
We are told in Scripture:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:16-25)
Furthermore, in the following Scripture we are reminded again of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God:
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)Further confirmation is given to us in Ephesians:
“But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them.” (Ephesians 5:3-7)
“It is, therefore, imperative that those who seek deliverance must repent from all sin. We must no longer be the slaves of sin. “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:6)
We are told not to present our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness.
“Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:12-13)
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart.” (Proverbs 20:27)
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).
That there is only one Spirit of God, namely the Holy Spirit, giving access to God. “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18)
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” (1 John 4:2)
WE MUST HUMBLE OURSELVES
If we are going to receive anything from the Lord, we must be humble. We must humble ourselves absolutely before God and others. The bible says that God gives grace to the humble and resists the proud
WE MUST BE COMPLETELY HONEST
Without honesty there is no true repentance.
CONFESS OUR SINS
It is important that we come before the Lord humbly and confess our sins. We can also confess them to others. This provides great release and deliverance.“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed…” (James 5:16)
REPENT
Repentance involves a decision not to do the same thing again. Remorse is being sorry for our sins. We decide not to go back into the same sin.
FORGIVE
It is imperative that we forgive others.
“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Mark 11:26)
CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD TO BE DELIVERED
“For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
When we come to minister in deliverance, we must be certain of our authority in Jesus Christ. This means we must be totally committed to the Lord and have no doubt whatsoever, that greater is He in us than He who is in the world.
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Jesus said: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:18-19)
We have the authority to minister in the name of Jesus and we must exercise that authority. It is imperative that we move in the power of the Holy Spirit as we minister because it is the Holy Spirit who does the deliverance, not us.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
FAILURE TO ACCEPT GOD’S FORGIVENESS
we must realize that when we turn to Jesus we are accepted and loved by God, and totally forgiven.
“to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:6)
“Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
“But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) 4.
“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of FAITH and LOVE, and as a helmet the HOPE of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8) 5.
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
“Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.” (Acts 19:19“
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” (Psalm 107:2)
THE BLOOD OF JESUS