Filtering Success Principles through Biblical Truth
Here’s how Beyond Positive Thinking relates to these two books: In Beyond Positive Thinking, we teach people how to tap into the Force that created the universe. The question you may be asking is: Why would I want to do that? Answer: So you can access God’s ability and experience God’s power!
The way you tap into the Force that created the universe, the way you access God’s ability and experience God’s power, is by learning how to live by faith and walk in love. The phrase “Live by Faith” sums up the book Think and Grow Rich. The phrase “Walk in Love” sums up the book How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Living by Faith
In its most basic definition, to live by faith means you live independent of the sense realm. You conduct yourself by faith and not solely by what you see and how you feel. The challenge in every person’s life is the battle between responding to life versus reacting solely to your circumstances. Living by faith means you respond to life instead of always reacting to your circumstances.
One way you can respond to life is by using visualization and affirmations. Think and Grow Rich talks about visualization and affirmations, but God’s Master Success Book shows us how these success principles work (in Hebrews 11:1) and why these success principles work (in Mark 11:23). Hebrews 11:1 defines visualization by telling us what faith is.
Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
According to God’s Master Success Book, faith is the substance that makes what you see out of what you don’t see (faith is the substance of things hoped for). Faith gives substance to your dreams. The only evidence you need is the picture you hold in your mind of you living your dreams (faith is the evidence of things not seen). You must see yourself living your dreams. The thought-image of you living your dreams is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
Next, in Mark 11:23, Jesus tells us how to release our faith:
Mark 11:23 (NKJV)
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will some to pass, he will have whatever he says.”
The context here is faith. Therefore, according to Jesus, the thing that makes visualization work is speaking words out of a believing heart. Sweeping statement now: Contrary to much of what success literature states, we don’t solely become what we think about; success isn’t solely a result of what a person thinks. The old adage, “You become what you think about” (i.e. think and grow rich) simply isn’t always true. Jesus didn’t say, “he will have whatever he thinks.” He said you’ll have whatever you say IF you believe it in your heart. Jesus said you’ll have whatever you say IF you believe it in your heart.
Question: Why is it that one person seems to be succeeding in life while another seems to be failing? I use the word “seems” because nobody is really a failure in life because God created each person with unlimited potential. Did you decide to be born? No, none of us did. Then why are you here in this life? You’re here in this life because you’re an individual miracle of God, and you came into this world as 100% pure potentiality. Every human being is a miracle of God with unlimited potential. You are a miracle of God with unlimited potential.
So what separates the successful from the unsuccessful? Answer: The way they believe. So let’s answer the question: What does it mean to believe in your heart?
- To believe in your heart means to believe apart from your mind and your body. Thinking is of the mind; believing is of the heart. Believing with your heart is believing independent of what your five physical senses may indicate.
- To believe in your heart means “to live in accordance with.” This means living like the person God destined you to become. If you really believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, then you’ll live in accordance with who you are in Christ – you’ll live in accordance with who you are, what you have, and what you can do because Jesus is alive, and because God has positioned you in union with Him.
- To believe in your heart means to take action. Faith is a noun, but believe is a verb. Believing is equivalent to taking action, which means putting into practice the success principles contained in God’s Word.
Believing in your heart includes believing independent of the sense realm, living in accordance with who you are in Christ, and acting on God’s Word. You know you believe something in your heart when it changes the way you see yourself and how you feel about yourself. The way you see yourself and how you feel about yourself are so important because the way you see yourself and how you feel about yourself determine what you do, and what you do determines how your life turns out.
Walking in Love
The reason walking in love is so important is because we live in a world filled with people. There are two aspects to walking in love: Loving yourself and loving others. This is confirmed in Galatians 5:14.
Galatians 5:14 (AMP)
For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.
The idea here is that you can’t really love others until you first receive God’s love personally for yourself. Receiving God’s love personally is the key to walking in love effectively.
Loving yourself includes two things: The way you see yourself and how you feel about yourself. This is confirmed in Genesis 1:26.
Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
The word “image” refers to self-image, the way you see yourself. The word “likeness” refers to self-esteem, how you feel about yourself. Receiving God’s love personally equates to seeing yourself the way God sees you and feeling about yourself the way God feels about you.
Loving others includes two things: Accepting people and appreciating people. First Corinthians 13:7 from the Amplified Translation includes the phrase: Love is ever ready to believe the best of every person.
1 Corinthians 13:7 (AMP)
Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
In the midst of all the problems, challenges, and circumstances in life, love is ever ready to believe the best of every person. Believing the best of people is what walking in love looks like. Believing the best of people can be summed up in two words: Acceptance and Appreciation. Everyone wants to be accepted and everyone wants to be appreciated.
Let’s talk about acceptance first. Everybody wants to be part of something – that’s acceptance. The easiest way to convey acceptance is to smile because a smile is contagious. The next time you’re in the grocery store and your eyes meet someone else’s eyes, smile at them. Invariably, they will smile back. Whenever you smile at someone, here’s what goes off in their mind: “I don’t even know this person, but they accept me because they smiled at me.” Why is that? Answer: Because a smile is contagious and it denotes acceptance. Whenever you smile at someone, here’s what goes off in their mind: “I don’t even know this person, but they accept me because they smiled at me.”
Now let’s talk about appreciation. Everybody wants to feel special – that’s appreciation. The easiest way to show appreciation is to give a sincere compliment. There are two types of compliments: external and internal. An external compliment is telling someone what you like about their appearance or their attitude. Whenever you give someone a sincere compliment, here’s what goes off in their mind: “I don’t even know this person, but they appreciate me because they told me so in the form of a compliment.”
In contrast to an external compliment, an internal compliment is not telling, but listening. An internal compliment can be summed up in one word: Listen. Many of you know that some people really don’t want solutions to their problems; they just want a listening ear. Reader’s Digest said it this way: “Many people call a doctor when all they really want is an audience.”
Here’s a prayer I like to pray every day: “Thank you Father for divine appointments and divine connections.” The reason this prayer is so effective is because people are God’s most important resource on the earth. Thank you Father for divine appointments and divine connections!
When you tap into the force that created the universe, the power of God is released into your life. As you live by faith and walk in love, God’s ability shows up in your life to help you realize your God-given dream. When God’s power and ability show up in your life, your life will never be the same again!