If you can control your thoughts, you can overcome in life. No person, spirit, or circumstance has the right or ability to control your thoughts. You are the master of your inner man! You are the captain of your soul. Learn to nurture and protect it by deciding what thoughts you will think (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Changing location has nothing to do with prosperity. It is possible to be poor in a wealthy society; just as it is possible to prosper in a poor society, and even during a crisis where others are in want all around you. Isaac obeyed the Lord, and he prospered! “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous” (Genesis 26:12-13).

The picture you have in your heart is more important than what you have in your wallet, your past, your friends, your education, or anything else. Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flows your life!

Do you recognize the importance of your dreams? Many dismiss their dreams because they dismiss themselves. Don’t let life, people, failure, or your present condition keep you from the seed of a dream in your heart!

You might have been born into a poor family, with a poor education and poor friends in a poor neighborhood, but you do NOT have to stay there! There is no one limiting you. You are not a prisoner of your past, your neighborhood, your status or lack of education. When Christ comes to live in you there is a new power in operation!

Ask God to help you stay passionate about the right things. God is in you and He dreams with you! Ask Him to direct your steps and your vision. The desires that are in your heart are the desires He puts in you. Why? Because we are in relationship with Him!

The highest form of learning, and the least expensive, is to learn from others. The lowest form is personal experience. It will always cost you time and opportunity.

One industrialist said, “It’s a shame that people learn from their own mistakes rather than from others. By the time they learn the lessons to be productive, it is time to retire.”

We should always desire to breathe deep of the wonder of life. Science tells us that deep breathing is the best guarantee that every cell gets oxygen in our body to keep it healthy. I always want to pray for those I see walking around with an oxygen tank and tied to a machine.

I see so many people tied to the machine of television and computers and cell phones. It has become their oxygen life-line for inspiration and meaning. Playing football on a computer is not playing football, it is playing on the computer.

Don’t make the mistake of living a virtual life. Learn to breathe the breath of God deeply and experience what life is really all about…Euphoria!

How many have had a moment of inspiration for an invention that would bless the world, but talked themselves out of it because of age, education, or fear and never took the step to make it a reality? How many saw an illness ravage a loved one, friend, or even themselves but resigned themselves to the limits of medicine and lived with their pain? How many have wanted to study abroad and envisioned a life of service to another culture but allowed the ceiling of financial shortage to kill that vision?

The potential of a new Creation in Christ is as far superior to human potential as human potential is superior to animal potential. Jesus said “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).  He is saying that following His success will make you someone that others want to follow. Men will be caught by your posture, words, peace, and authority in the midst of challenges. That is true leadership!

We want His type of success and level of success. We want a success that goes beyond a dollar amount into a human value amount. It needs to go beyond a benefit to one generation to an eternal benefit. That is the lifestyle and leadership only He can offer.

Nothing is impossible to the new creation!

We all are familiar with sitting down in a restaurant and placing an order. We look at the menu and enjoy making our choices. I have seen some people get very anxious about it, and I have seen others wait and wait and wait because they can’t make a choice.

Years ago in Russia, where the food was rather bland, I recall looking forward to working on the border of China and going to a Chinese restaurant in the city of Khabarovsk. I was excited to eat spicy food, and with over 200 items on the menu, I was ready!

I asked for a certain type of rice but was told they didn’t have it, so I asked for another.  They replied, “Don’t have it,” so I asked for another.  They again replied, “Don’t have.” I gave up and asked what they did have.

“No rice, only potatoes.” Then I ordered Peking chicken. “Sorry, don’t have.”  So I switched to Szechwan chicken. “Sorry, don’t have.” Hunan chicken? “Sorry, don’t have.” I finally gave up and asked, “What do you have??”

“Only Russian chicken legs.”

What would you do? I tell you this because some people believe it doesn’t matter what they really want in life. Many people think there is only one thing, opportunity, or flavor on the menu of life, just like I experienced. It might feel like you have no choice—but you always do!

Joshua 24:15
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

You may not immediately get what you ask, but you can respond in a way that keeps your faith alive and an answer coming. Anger, disgust, frustration, or even hate is NOT the response that will bring a miracle. Forgiveness, mercy, joy, patience, and love toward others will turn the decisions of others into a triumph for Christ.

When Paul and Silas were thrown in prison, they could have responded with great anger because it was Jesus who told them to go to that city. They could have responded with tears, depression, resignation, etc., and everybody would have agreed to their sob story…but they chose to sing!

When the presence of Jesus is fresh in you, then you will have a good response to whatever is on the menu of life, or not on it. Your response is what makes you different, because you know you have a different source. The jail shook and doors flew open, and Paul was led out of the city as a dignitary, because he saw beyond the situation!