Today we continue with the next power phrase to help you develop the positive kind of thinking necessary to turn your negative situations into opportunities:
Power-Phrase #2: “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 mentioned in the previous blog post, 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!
When Jesus comes into a life He brings the world with Him. Suddenly, a person with limited motivation, expectation and imagination starts to dream of doing the impossible. Dare to think limitless in some area of your life. Understand that there is more to you than meets the eye. Jesus sees the real person you are to become. He puts a vision in your heart that is bigger than what you can do without Him.
Scripture gives us an expectation of this new life that will ignite our passion for the adventures God is calling us to. Years ago, as we got out of a boat into the water off Bahol Island in the Philippines, the moonlight hit the water at just the right angle to reveal thousands of snakes in the water beneath us!
We survived, and you will too, as you get out of the boat and take the risk of walking on water. God will never give up on you. Never forget that. And that’s not all: as we throw open our doors to God, we discover at the same moment that He has already thrown open His door to us!
What if you had God’s complete attention for 5 minutes and could ask any question you want? Let’s look at a recent survey done by USA today entitled: “Questions for God.”
In the survey the following question was posed to adults:
If you could get in contact with God directly; ask a question, and get an immediate reply—what would you ask?
34% wanted to know: “What is my purpose here?”
19% would ask: “Will I have life after death?” Have you ever thought about life after death?
16% want to know: “Why do bad things happen?”
12% had no idea what they would even ask.
What burning question might you have for God?
Scientists say, God? What need is there for God when we have science that certainly explains all? Yet, with all of our medical understanding, scientists still face increasing incurable ailments of the mind, soul & body, and the fact that they do not have all the answers.
So who is God and where does He fit into your world? In reality, He is only one step—one decision away!
Where does life find you today? You may be in the midst of a hurricane or a financial storm. Perhaps you are facing other issues. Remember, peace is not the absence of turmoil. Peace is the rudder of the soul that provides solitude in the midst of turmoil! God promises to keep in perfect peace all who trust in Him; all whose thoughts are fixed on Him!
Have you found the source of peace? Mahatma Gandhi said, “A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.” The scriptures say, whatever is true, noble, and right, whatever is pure, lovely, and admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. And the God of peace will be with you. http://bit.ly/1IzEZ40
Scripture: Philippians 4:8 (paraphrased)
There is a story of Jesus traveling to the other side of the lake with His disciples. A storm raged against the boat, yet Jesus was asleep. His disciples were distraught and a bit annoyed that Jesus was asleep with no apparent concern for the danger that they were facing! When they awoke Him He spoke, “Peace, be still…” and to everyone’s amazement, the storm ceased.
I remember one of our Florida hurricanes that blew against our house. The water pounded so hard that it sounded like machine guns blasting against our cement walls. My husband was sound asleep—I couldn’t believe it! I decided to write out my prayer to God because I wanted to sleep too. As soon as I committed my prayer to Him, I climbed back in bed and drifted off to sleep!
You see, peace is not resignation—but resiliency…an individual’s ability to properly adapt to stress and adversity.
Scripture: Mark 4:39
Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered. The tensions grew. Yet, two pictures still remained veiled.
As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd. A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Surely this was the winner. The second painting was uncovered and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?
A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. However, a spindly little tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls, and one of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters. In the elbow of that branch, a little bird had built a nest. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested pure peace.
If a little bird can transcend such turmoil, how do you and I find peace in the crazy world in which we live?
The scriptures say, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
Knowing the results of apathy, how do you and I overcome it? First we have to understand it. What is apathy?
- They observed but they did not act.
- They knew but they did not care.
- They heard but they did not respond.
- They thought of themselves rather than thinking of others.
Are you a part of the collective they? Helen Keller said, “Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all—the apathy of human beings.”
Just as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Helen Keller overcame apathetic concern for their causes, you and I can discover renewed hope, and expectation. Why wait? Let’s do it now!
I encourage you today to go to my website, www.LeslieMcNulty.com. We are here to help you, and have made tools available to you that can change your life!
At about 3:20 a.m. on March 13, 1964, a 28-year-old manager in Queens, New York, returned to her quiet residential neighborhood, parked her car, and began to walk the 30 yards to her door. Noticing a man at the far end of the parking lot, she paused. When he started toward her, she turned the other way and tried to reach a police call box. The man caught and stabbed her. She started screaming that she’d been stabbed, and screaming for help.
Lights went on in the apartment building across the street. Windows opened. One man called out, “Let that girl alone!” The assailant shrugged and walked away. Windows closed and lights went out.
The assailant returned and attacked Genovese again. This time she screamed, “I’m dying! I’m dying!” This time lots more windows opened and lots more lights went on. The assailant walked to his car and drove away, leaving Ms. Genovese to crawl along the street to her apartment building. And somehow, she managed to drag herself inside.
The assailant returned a third time, found Genovese on the floor at the foot of her stairs, and finally succeeded in killing her.
During those three separate attacks over the course of 35 minutes, not one of Kitty Genovese’s neighbors tried to intervene. No burly neighbor dashed outside to save her life. Worse than that, of the more than 30 people who saw at least one of the attacks and heard Genovese’s screams and pleas for help, not one of them even called the police.
After much deliberation, and one phone call to a friend for advice, one man finally urged another neighbor to call authorities, which she did. Police arrived in two minutes, but by then, it was too late.
Interviewed afterward, the residents hesitantly admitted, “I didn’t want to get involved,” or “I didn’t want my husband to get involved.” One said he was too tired to call police and had gone back to bed. Several couldn’t say why they hadn’t helped. Many of them said they’d been afraid to call. They couldn’t say why within the safety of their own homes they had been afraid to call the police—even anonymously.
Albert Einstein said, “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”
I want to ask you a question today. Who can you reach out to in your world and show them that you care? What family member, student, or co-worker needs a kind or helping hand?
It cost one human life to wake up 30 families. How many destinies can be changed when you and I emerge from apathy to action? Consider it. It does not matter your sex, your age, or your culture—wherever you are today, you and I have power to initiate change! http://bit.ly/1TkC6bo
Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I live my dream? Where do I begin?”
Abraham, a man of God in the bible, desired to have a family. He and his wife were very old, beyond the child bearing age. But God gave Abraham a dream and told him to, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, that’s how many descendants you will have!”
Maybe life’s struggles or hard economic times tell you to downsize your dream but ideas are meant to be SUPERSIZED! Dream big – live large with your ideas!
When capturing your dream, take off the limits. You are like a star in the sky, shining with potential. If each one of us dares to dream the impossible we can change our lives, our families and our communities!
Go to my website and download your free “LIVE YOUR DREAM” worksheets! http://bit.ly/1gmsroF
Scripture: Genesis 15:5
God’s Word never fails to work in those who accept it as such, because they are not entertaining doubts as to its being fulfilled in their own experiences. God has given all His blessing to faith, He has none left to give to unbelief!
