July 31, 2017

Yesterday I wrote about the first step of acknowledging your personal accountability and responsibility in the process of understanding the principle revealed in Matthew 7:7 when Jesus said, “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” If you have not read the introductory article (July 30/17), I would encourage yo to go back and do so now.

Today I would like you to consider a couple of examples of how our thinking, beliefs, words and intentions are displayed in our self talk and impact the process of the message we transmitting in terms of our “asking.”

Have any of you ever considered a diet at some point in your life? You wanted to lose some weight, right? If your daily ongoing thoughts were directed towards, “I need to lose weight,” then your asking involved the process of calling for a need to lose weight. In order to comply with your ongoing need to lose weight, your body hung onto the weight, so you would continue to have the need to lose it. You got what you asked for, but it may not have been what you really wanted, because you were asking for the wrong thing.

When you look in the mirror if you think in terms of ” your being fat,” your subconscious mind which controls the functions of your body complies, and you continue to get “the being fat” answer. If you think losing weight is hard, guess what, it will be hard for you.

You can apply this principle to any and every area of your life, because the asking is really about the emotional frequency vibration you are transmitting. As Earl Nightingale says, “You get, or you become, what you think about most of the time.” The proper response might potentially be, “I Can Eat What I Want and Never Gain Weight!” Does this always work? No, not if you make the choice to implement actions which are contrary to your intentions and “pig out” when you eat. There must be congruency between your asking and your actions. Your thoughts, beliefs, words, and intentions dictate your actions giving you the results in your body, and in fact in every area of your life.

Another quick example: God’s Word is very clear about tithing (giving 10% of your income back to God). Over the years I have heard numerous people say, “I can’t afford to tithe, I don’t have enough money to do it.” When you understand what I have been sharing with you about the principle of asking, it clarifies a significant point about the concept of giving and our attitude around money. People who say, “I can’t afford to tithe, I don’t have enough money” are vibrating, “I don’t have enough money” and that is what they will continue to receive in their life, not enough money. There will never be enough money for such a person, because their focus is on, “lack of money.”

The act of giving is an expression of generosity and vibrates a frequency of having “more than enough.” When an individual, living from a focus of lack, comments with something like, “What do you think, money grows on trees?” They are transmitting a vibrational frequency of limited resources and that is what they will continue to get in their life, until they change their “asking.”

One other thing, God’s Word says, “God loves a cheerful giver.” If we are giving from a sense of sacrifice, we are coming from a place of lack. Sacrifice is not a feel good emotion and we want to feel good, right? That is why we should give and do so cheerfully.

The reason for these examples is to help you understand what the concept of asking is really about. It is more complex than simply saying a few words and calling it a prayer.

July 30, 2017

Having covered the first half of the technical principles identified by Napoleon Hill in The Law of Success, I want to give you the opportunity to engage in the principles revealed so far and read the entire book for yourself. Incorporate all the principles into your life. If you should do so you will discover for yourself the path to living a successful life and moving in the direction of fulfilling your destiny. Napoleon Hill was realistic in terms of the effectiveness of his training. He came to realize human nature being what it is, most people will never take action and follow through. Your responsibility, your choice, your outcomes.

I would like to introduce today a principle and concept which many people think they are familiar with. How you have connected to this principle may be different from other people, but the principle is what it is, a universal principle. For me, my connection comes from a Biblical perspective.

Matthew records the words of Jesus in his Gospel (7:7-8), “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. {8} For every who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

I would suggest to you there is a three step process in the art of successfully manifesting what you want to see happen in your life. The first step is in acknowledging your personal accountability and responsibility in the process.

You must know what you want. Napoleon Hill says, “Define your dream and get a burning desire for its achievement.” You must decide what you will ask for.

It is often assumed Jesus is speaking, in these verses, about making a prayer request. The truth is, He is really addressing a much more complex and all encompassing principle which engulfs the entirety of who you are, what you think, believe, say and intend. It involves not only your willingness to say YES to the relationship with Jesus, but also your willingness to say YES to the relationship with others, and yourself.

When we understand the depth of what Jesus is addressing when He says, “Keep asking and you will receive,” it provides the opportunity for transformational change in your life. I would suggest, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR, AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE REALLY SAYING!

There is more to this word, “ask” than is normally shared in the church. According to Strong’s Greek & Hebrew Dictionary, the Greek word Jesus used carries the ideas of “beg, call for, crave, desire, require.” It also includes the concept of that which is ongoing. According to Strong’s Greek & Hebrew Dictionary the word “seek” means, “(literal or figurative); specially (by Hebrew) means to worship (God).” It also carries the concepts of “be (go) about, desire, endeavour, enquire (for), require” in an ongoing manner. Jesus is including in the process of your asking the importance of your connection, your relationship with God. When you knock or rap on a door you are taking specific and deliberate action towards a goal or desired outcome and you are doing it with a persistence. These words used by Jesus mean much more than simply making a prayer request to God. It is about the ongoing, vibrational, emotional, frequency which we are transmitting. This is important because, your asking originates in your thoughts, beliefs, words, and intentions, and the actions which follow then create the outcomes in your life.

This is something for you to consider. I will give more detail into this process in tomorrow’s article.

July 29, 2017

In concluding the section on the eighth technical principle, being a person who always renders more service than that for which you are paid, I share with you a Biblical Self-Confidence Formula which I put together a few years ago adapted from what Napoleon Hill wrote in The Law of Success.

1. I know, “in Christ,” I have the ability to achieve whatever God calls or directs me to be and do; therefore, I demand of myself persistent, aggressive, and continuous action towards its attainment.
-Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
-Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”

2. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind eventually reproduce themselves in outward, bodily action, and gradually transfer themselves into physical reality. “I get, or I become what I think about most of the time.” Therefore, I commit to focussing on my dream, goal, vision or calling. I create a mental picture in my mind of what it is I am seeking to achieve. I think, pray, breathe and live it into reality. In seeking to be more like Jesus I follow the example of Jesus in this.
-Proverbs 23:7 “For as I think in my heart, so I am.”
-Colossians 3:1-2, “Since, then, I have been raised with Christ, I set my heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. {2} I set my mind on things above, not on earthly things.”

3. I will write down and daily review my dream, goal, vision, or calling seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance, understanding and wisdom related not only to the next step to be taken, but also to the bigger plan God has for my life. I will choose to take action and implement the steps necessary to achieve my objective in love.
-John 16:13, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide me into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell me what is yet to come.”
-Colossians 3:17, “And whatever I do, whether in word or deed, I do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
-Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever I do, I work at it with all my heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, {24} since I know that I will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ I am serving.”

4. I fully realize the achievement of my dream, goal, vision, or calling cannot truly be attained and endure unless my life is built upon truth, justice and love, therefore I will engage in no action that does not benefit all whom it affects. I will look for a “win, win, win” in everything, for everyone, and seek its reality. I know a negative, selfish attitude towards others can never bring true lasting success. I commit to seeking to be more like Jesus in my thinking, in what I chose to believe, and what I say, and the attitudes I express, so God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
-Micah 6:8, “And what does the LORD require of me? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God.”
-Philippians 4:8, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– I think about such things.”

I leave you with Napoleon Hill’s parting words on the Law of Increasing Returns. “By the very nature of the subject of this lesson it can never be finished, for it leads into the heart of all human activities. Its purpose is to cause you to take the fundamentals upon which it is based and use them as a stimulus that will cause your mind to unfold, thereby releasing the latent forces that are yours. This lesson was not written for the purpose of teaching you, but it was intended as a means of causing you to teach yourself one of the great truths of life. It was intended as a source of education, in the true sense of educating, drawing out, developing from within, those forces of mind which are available for your use.

When you deliver the best service of which you are capable, striving each time to excel all your previous efforts, you are making use of the highest form of education. Therefore, when you render more service and better service than that for which you are paid, you, more than anyone else, are profiting by the effort.”

July 28, 2017

Napoleon Hill identifies the eighth principle, being a person who always renders more service than that for which you are paid, as a law placed into our world by God at the time of Creation. He calls this The Law of Increasing Returns.

I mentioned the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:41 about going the second mile. Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ wrote about this verse, “How does one go about living like Jesus on a daily basis? Among the many grand and glorious principles taught by Jesus Christ, I believe that the principle of ‘the second mile’ completely showcases the dynamics of true discipleship . . . . It is the second mile principle that will put a smile on our face, a spring in our step, and a song in our heart. The first mile is the trial mile and the second mile is the smile mile. The key to living life with a smile is a Christ-centred life. It has been said, ‘A person wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.’”

What is the principle of the second mile? It is to do more than is required or expected of us. Jesus is saying anyone can go one mile (5:46,47). The first mile is to love those who love us. The second mile is to love those who do not love us. We must always remember that life is lived on three levels. The hellish level is to return evil for good. The human level is to return good for good and evil for evil. The heavenly level is to return good for evil. The second mile is to return good for evil.

Napoleon Hill challenges individuals to an experiment. He writes, “During the next six months make it your business to render useful service to at least one person every day, for which you neither expect nor accept monetary pay.

Go at this experiment with faith that it will uncover for your use one of the most powerful laws that enter into the achievement of enduring success, and you will not be disappointed.

The rendering of this service may take on any one of more than a score of forms. For example, it may be rendered personally to one or more specific persons; or it may be rendered to your employer, in the nature of work that you perform after hours.

Again, it may be rendered to entire strangers whom you never expect to see again. It matters not to whom you render this service so long as you render it with willingness, and solely for the purpose of benefiting others.

If you carry out this experiment in the proper attitude of mind, you will discover that which all others who have become familiar with the law upon which it is based have discovered; namely, that – You can no more render service without receiving compensation than you can withhold the rendering of it without suffering the loss of reward.

‘Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed,’ says Emerson; ‘for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end pre-exists in the means, the fruit in the seed.’”

As I reflected on this principle, I am reminded again, we are 100% responsible for the outcomes in our life. What we think and what we believe and what we say and the intentions of our heart matters, because they impact our actions which determine the outcomes in our life, for time and for eternity.

 

July 27, 2017

The eighth technical universal principle identified by Napoleon Hill in The Law of Success is the habit of performing more service and better service than that for which you are paid. Remember the technical aspect of these universal principles denotes they have nothing to do with your gifts, talents, or any other inherent abilities. It is all about your willingness to take action and simply learn and do what is needed to bring about your success in any and every area of life. You are 100% responsible for your actions, or lack of them.

Napoleon Hill suggests there are two reasons for rendering greater service than you are required to do. He writes:

1. You will benefit by comparison with those around you who do not render such service, and the contrast will be so noticeable that there will be keen competition for your services, no matter what your life work may be . . . . Whether you are preaching sermons, practising law, writing books, teaching school, or digging ditches, you will become more valuable and you will be able to command greater pay the minute you gain recognition as a person who does more than that for which you are paid.
2. By performing more service and better service than that for which you are paid, you not only exercise your service rendering qualities and thereby develop skill and ability of an extraordinary sort, but you build reputation that is valuable . . . . The very fact that most people are rendering as little service as they can possibly get by with serves as an advantage to all who are rendering more service than that for which they are paid because it enables all who do so to profit by comparison.”

There is the possibility when you take such an approach to life there will be those who do not take kindly to it. I remember a time in my much younger years when for a short time I worked in the metal press shop in a factory. There was a minimum production quota that was expected from each employee. Most of the employees simply met their quota. When the presses were set up to engage in multiple machine runs, I was always put with an long term employee on the first machine. It seems we were chosen for this position because we were willing to work. For us the frustration came when those behind us would chose to take alternating washroom breaks backing up the line and slowing production to the minimum quota level.

Don’t allow others to dictate your actions and limit who you are. Make a decision to be the very best version of you possible. In Matthew 5:41, Jesus in referencing the Roman law which demanded a Jew carry the equipment of a Roman soldier for a mile, suggests going a second mile. Doing more than you are required to do. He goes on a few verses later and says, “love your enemies and do them good.” There is great power in going beyond what is required. When you do, you are living at cause in your life, rather than effect. You are demonstrating you have the ability and power to be more and do more. This is an important principle leading you to success in your life.