February 01, 2009
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Overcoming The Poverty of Self-Sabotage Fear (faith for failure) - Even successful people fail at some level of frequency. A poverty mindset can cause us to self-destruct right at the ceiling of our goal. We can come close and fail in everything from our dream, our diet, our relationships with other people, our job promotion, investments, or businesses. We see the next level but can't seem to reach it. Why the ceiling? Snatching failure from the jaws of success - I've been slowly learning a new career trading currency and futures over the last year. The experience of most traders is that they decide to try it, learn the simple principles from a successful mentor, experience success themselves, fund their account, and fail in a major way because they broke all the rules the mentor just taught them. After the failure some quit and others go on trying to figure out what happened. In trading, this phenomenon happens in a few weeks; in life it can take a few years or decades for Christians to go through the cycle. It takes months or years to fail in business or a marriage or a job; you can fail in a trading account in an hour. It's a very enlightening process because our motives and emotions are revealed! Reminds us of Paul - we don't do what we wanted to do. Something else is driving the bus!
How I see myself - Many of us have enough failures in our past that we simply create an expectation or fear that we will fail at our present endeavor. By faith, we create the future we think about because we act on those thoughts and beliefs. I can exercise faith to work for me positively, or against me negatively through fear.
At this level, the solution is to simply change our thoughts, our confession and our actions to produce the right result. With a new belief system, affirmations on our bathroom mirror, and action goals, we can change our life and start a coaching business. It sounds pretty simple, it does take courage, but you and I really struggle, like Paul, to live it out. It's not that easy - as you already know.
How I see God - Although changing what we think, say and do is a popular and Biblical formula for success, many of us can't implement that recipe because we are internally conflicted at a deeper level with the way we view God. Most of us believe God either knows or controls the future. When someone says, "God is in control" what we hear is "God controls everything." If he created time surely he must have the power to live outside it? Right? That has been our theological heritage since Christianity was influenced by Greek philosophy about 17 centuries ago. There are two false possibilities floating around in our heads:
The Reality - Irrespective of our philosophic theories, God has revealed himself in the Bible as walking through time with us. He rejoices with us in our successes and grieves with us in our failures and hurts. He has the power to control any event he wants to. However, He's given us a free will and he's given us access to His power to overcome the enemy and circumstances. He has limited himself to engage us in a relationship and share his plan and vision for the Kingdom... to fill the earth with His glory. He responds to us. He even changes His mind on occasion. The future is largely "open" for our participation in management and stewardship. Do we have the power to change the world? Yes, we do!... Both naturally, spiritually, and miraculously. All creation is waiting for these sons to take their place and become Kings that work with God (Rom 8:19).
Ramifications - We are more than conquerors; we are overcomers with the power to change the world. You and I are the means by which God has chosen to show himself strong. Paul's struggle in Romans 7 is the same as ours; he viewed himself as a slave to the law or a slave to sin. Those aren't the only choices. We can choose to be God's friend and begin to rule and reign with Him as we walk through time. That's the message of Romans 8 - relationship. Can you succeed in your dream without self destructing at your next ceiling? Yes you can. It takes wisdom, work, and a commitment to believe your role in the Kingdom is important. Your dream is personally important to God. He does care about you at a very personal level. In fact, when we stop doubting God and rid ourselves of the self-defeating poverty mindset, we find success comes much easier than we thought. Life is not hard; it's fun. When failures happen, we're not surprised, we don't doubt our identity, and we don't blame God. We just find a new solution to make it work. During his campaign, president Obama coined a phrase, "yes we can" that people chanted at his rallies. I believe there is a prophetic quality to that statement that reflects God's investment in Kings. Yes, we can change the world... through Jesus.
PS: I want to recommend some follow-up reading. Whenever we try to articulate a new truth the first attempt is usually somewhat flawed. Feel free to comment.
We're Dancing,
John and Sue www.Releasing-kings.com
You're invited into the vision to release Kings; communicate the message, make the money, and do the mission.
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