In 1988, an earthquake devastated the northwestern section of Armenia, killing an estimated 25,000 people. After the earthquake, a father rushed to his son’s school only to discover that the school had been flattened. The father remembered dropping off his son earlier that day, and as he did every day he told his son, “No matter what, I’ll always be here for you!”

When the father saw the school he feverishly began removing rubble from where he believed his son’s classroom had been. The other parents were wailing, “My son!” “My daughter!” Some even told the father to go home, that there was no chance any of the students were alive. But the father replied, “I made my son a promise that I’d be there for him anytime he needed me. I must continue to dig.”

Courageously, he proceeded alone. He simply had to know: is my boy alive or is he dead? With seemingly supernatural strength, this father continued to dig…for 8 hours…12 hours…24 hours…36 hours.

Then, in the 38th hour, he heaved away a heavy piece of rubble and heard voices. “Armand!” he screamed. “Dad! It’s me…Armand! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d save us! Dad, take them out first, I know you’ll be here for me!”

Moments later the father was helping his son Armand and 13 other frightened, hungry, thirsty boys and girls climb out of the debris. How could this happen? When the building collapsed, these children had been spared in a tent-like pocket. When the townspeople praised Armand’s dad, his explanation was, “I promised my son, ‘No matter what, I’ll be there for you!'”

Who is your neighbor? Who are you required to help in this world? Should you be involved in the business of rescuing others? Or is it just better to sit by and watch people suffer? 

A religious leader asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story about a man who was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes and beat him, leaving him almost dead.

A priest saw the injured man and quickly passed on the opposite side of the road. So did a second priest! Then a Samaritan man, considered lowlier than a dog but evidently having some wealth, took pity on the stranger, bandaged his wounds, put him in an inn and cared for him.  Jesus then posed this question, “Which of these three men was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hand of the robbers?”

The religious leader responded, “The one who had mercy on him.” In every human soul, there is a void—an emptiness, waiting to be filled. What will you pursue to fill that void—success, family, prosperity, education? Or are you willing to step out and set a different standard for your life? A standard that can make a difference?

Our third power-phrase is this:  The difference between great and small people is that while all may fall, small people just fall but great people get up again.

You see, positive thinking is the power to look at your situation and find just one positive aspect, one positive thought that you can hold on to in order to transform your negative situation into an opportunity!

Regardless of what you may face today remember this, NEVER GIVE UP! You may be at the end of your rope but remember… one positive thought has the power to loosen the grip of impossibility and propel you forward into possibility!

The second power-phrase I want you to ponder this week is: “Great people are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.”

Standing before a large audience of farmers, Dr. Schuller recalled another family tragedy. During the great depression and several years before the tornado disaster, a drought destroyed the family crops, forcing his father to mortgage everything to survive.  Dr. Schuller recalled entering the bank and seeing a sign on the wall that stated “Great people are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.”

 Five years after the destructive tornado, Schuller’s father had completely rebuilt the farm, paid off the mortgage taken after the Great Depression drought and retired a successful man!

Have you ever considered how to generate a positive thought? Over the next three days I want to introduce 3 power-phrases for you to frequently recite, and allow them to fill your sails with the wind of positive expectation!

First, Tough times never last but tough people do. 

This phrase comes from the title of one of over 37 books authored by Dr. Robert Schuller, pioneer of the first television church service.

Living positive in a negative world, or developing positive thinking patterns in difficult situations, provides a creative energy and stamina necessary to tackle life’s biggest challenges.

You may be thinking, “If you only knew the problems I am facing!”  Well, Dr. Schuller’s family certainly had their own share of problems. His own father, at the age of 60, lost everything when a devastating tornado destroyed their livestock, their crops, the family home and their barn. Nothing was left! Ten farms were utterly destroyed by that storm. Only one man rebuilt! http://bit.ly/1EFXOOW

A man once wrote of this experience. As a small town prepared to be flooded before the building of a large dam, a unique thing happened. In the months before the flooding, all improvements and repairs stopped! Why paint a house if it will be destroyed in a few months? As week by week the town deteriorated, the man offered this conclusion, “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.”

Hope is the picture of the future. Without that picture there is no confidence to move forward and certainly no power by which to live!

If you need hope today, you’ll find inspiring resources at LeslieMcNulty.com—you will find stories of people just like you discovering hope for everyday life!  http://bit.ly/1EEHSMX

God is a partner in our labor working things together for us. What a pleasure it is to trust in HIM, knowing that He is working behind the scenes on our behalf!

Change surrounds each one of us because of difficulties in this natural world. However, in this time of transition we use our faith and our passion to latch on to God’s will, and connect to the wealth that is available for transfer into the hands of those in the kingdom of God.

We are not down and defeated without hope or alternatives, but we are UP…expectant and dreaming of new possibilities in changing times!

Scripture: Romans 8:28

The blessing of the Lord makes you rich and He adds NO SORROW with it. There is no negative effect of God’s blessing. No regret, remorse, fear, anxiety, or defiled conscience in God’s wealth plan!

Embrace these scriptures as your contract with your Creator:

“But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”

Remember that it is the Lord your God who GIVES YOU POWER to become rich.

“But YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

You are unstoppable with these powers at work in your life!

Scriptures: Prov. 10:22, Deuteronomy 8:18 NIV, Acts 1:8 NIV

When we understand the One Who lives in us and is our Helper, we are not afraid to take on any challenge. The key to overcoming is not perfection, but perseverance!

An American swimmer was after a new Olympic gold record. During the 7th race he was continually behind the Croatian swimmer, but a photo finish moment would determine his destiny. With 6 inches left to go, his opponent lifted his head and reached out for the wall. The American kept his head down, allowing for one more stroke.  Stretching his right hand out, he touched the wall 1\100 of a second before the hand of his opponent, and history was made. One extra stretch was the difference between victory and defeat!

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Scripture: John 14:26, Philippians 3:12-14

The Prophet Isaiah said, “the fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.” If you are fearful today, there are both practical and spiritual solutions available to you. You need to know that miracles are available today!

Regardless of your situation, today you can rise above whatever holds you back and discover that you have a friend with God! He will come to you today and reconcile what distresses you. Just say these simple words with me: come into my life, Lord, release me from the fear that holds me back.

Scripture: Isaiah 32:4