“If you want a thing bad enough to go out
and
fight for it,
to work day and night for it,
to give up your time, your peace and your sleep for it…
if all that you dream and scheme is about it,
and life seems useless and worthless without it…
if you’d gladly sweat for it and fret for it and plan for it
and lose all your terror of the opposition for it…
if you simply go after that thing you want
with all of your capacity, strength and sagacity,
faith, hope and confidence and stern pertinacity…
if neither cold, poverty, famine, nor gout,
sickness nor pain, of body and brain,
can keep you away from the thing that you want…
if dogged and grim you beseech and beset it,
with the help of God, you will get it!”
—Les Brown
Active Faith
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
TD Jakes quoted, “I can tell what you’re waiting on by what you’re working on. The waiting mentioned in the verse above is active not passive. It is referring to what you are believing God for? In most cases we accept the reality that we have been given and refuse to even act on the dreams and ideas God has placed inside of us. Day after day we stay in our comfort zones wishing for things to change, but not actually believing they will. We want the boat to move but we are too afraid to stick an oar in the water, to set our course and begin our journey. The journey of a million miles begins with the first step, but if we never develop the courage to start we’ll never finish the race. This life is a gift from God. What we make of it is our gift back to Him. Paul stated in Galatians, that he had run his course. Not anyone else’s course, but the one the Lord had set before him. The choice is yours, choose life. Start where you are with what you have and dare to be an element of change. Build the life of love, service, and generosity that God has planned and purposed for you. Trust and believe that whatever desire God has placed in your heart He will equip you with the tools to see it through to completeion1
1 Philippians 1:6
Faith moves forward
-Unknown-
God Will Save Me
A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.
A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.”
The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.”
As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.”
The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!”
The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop.
A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, “Grab my hand and I will pull you up!” But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!”
Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned.
When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”
And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning. I sent you a car. I sent you a canoe. I sent you a motorboat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you looking for?”
Our Deepest Fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson
Be Original
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27New International Version (NIV)
You were fearfully and wonderfully created by the Father1. Like a fingerprint you are unique. There is no one else like you. He has instilled in you the gifts and talents that only you can use to bring your dreams and ideas to life. Don’t waste time trying to mimic others. Focus all your efforts on being the best you that you can be. Stir up the gift that lies within and become the person God created you to be.
“You were born an original, don’t die a copy”
-John Mason-
1 Psalm 139:14
Excerpt from Common Sense, written in 1776 by Thomas Paine
I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon … if I can.
I seek opportunity … not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen,
Humbled and dulled by having the State look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk,
to dream and to build. To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a handout
I will never cower before any master
Nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And to face the world boldly and say:
This, with God’s help, I have done.