February 06, 2011
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Success, but Programmed
for Failure Information and
Motivation – Have you ever
been to a motivation
seminar? …where you see the possibility for something brand new? Then
we go
home with our new knowledge and excitement and it lasts until our first
encounter with our old lifestyle, whereupon it evaporates. We have
little
understanding of the role our hearts play. Our minds and
feelings are on the surface and easy to discern. However, our heart or
subconscious
is much less obvious. In reality, the decisions we make are
predominantly
driven by our hearts in a rather mysterious way. When we “decide” to do
something new or “feel” that we should change something, we often just
impose a
conflict on our hearts that causes us to be double-minded and stressed
instead
of changed. Listen to Paul’s explanation of how it feels. I
do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but
what I hate
I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do… Rom 7:15-16 NIV It is also
true that our hearts (or conscience / sub-conscience) often need to be
changed.
Our hearts may
condemn or condone our behavior
in a wrong way or a right way. My
conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord
who
judges me. 1 Cor 4:4 NIV Indeed,
when Gentiles, who do not have the
law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for
themselves,
even though they do not have the law, since they show that the
requirements of
the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing
witness,
and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. Rom 2:14-15
NIV Guard your heart – “Guard your
heart, for out of it
come the issues of life” (Pro 4:23). In Hebrew, "Issues" means
boundaries, the limits we set on ourselves. When we change the limits /
boundaries in our hearts, we can fulfill our destiny and receive
everything God
has for us. Some boundaries are very good, while others are protection
mechanisms that keep us from our best... fear of change, fear of the
unknown,
fear success, etc. How our hearts
get programmed – God created
us, so we all come with
a certain amount of pre-programming in our DNA that draws us into our
destiny. In
addition, we inherit certain things from our ancestral heritage at a
heart
level. We also pick up a few things in the womb via the emotional state
of our
mothers. The rest comes from our family upbringing, our religious
beliefs and
our culture. The
final package is much
more resistant to change than just tampering with our thoughts and
feelings
might suggest. Education and motivation will not save us from the
direction of our
heart. Saying a few mental affirmations in the morning will just result
in some
extra stress and failure for that day. How we change the
programming – First, let’s
consider how we change
our hearts in the wrong direction. Let’s say someone has offended or
hurt us by
their actions. We might generate a vow that will embrace the thought
that, “I’ll
never let that happen again.” Our definition of self now includes the
conclusion that “I have been wronged” in our self-concept. Now our
hearts will
adopt this vow deeply and confirm it by periodically drawing us into
that exact
same painful event at every lap around the mountain.
Most of us have experienced the pain of
becoming like the thing we most abhor. In fact the more the Holy Spirit
convicts of our need for change, the more we are inclined to be
sensitive to
the same failing in others… and offer our self-righteous judgment, the
Pharisee
phenomena of all religion. The easiest way to spot a hypocrite is to
catch
someone complaining about all the hypocrites in church! …for
at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself,
because you
who pass judgment do the same things. Rom
2:1 and Mt 7:1-5 Change for the
better – Changing our
hearts can be fairly
easy, once we learn to simply reverse this process. It starts with
love. Just
as we felt the hatred of an offence and created a vow, now we need to
feel the
love of God and the brethren, and feel the prophetic promise of our
particular
destiny. The pleasure and thrill of that future is so enticing,
exciting and welcoming,
that we commit to achieving it and make a vow in the positive
direction. We have
not arrived yet, but our hearts are now aligned with something
positive, and
circumstances begin to offer opportunities for success at every lap
around the
mountain. Now we just have to act on them. What might stop us? Fear of
change,
old vows, wrong programming, lack of skills, etc. Our hearts must have
the
answer for this question, “Why do I deserve success?” The answer lies
in our
identity, who we believe we are… in Christ, in business, in life, etc. Our hearts
get convinced in several steps: 1) we have to see the possibility
(hope), 2)
believe that it could happen (faith), and 3) we have to experience some
beginning success in our new identity (progress). Let’s think a little
more
about each step. 1. Hope – the spark
begins when we allow ourselves to explore
the desires of our heart and find where they overlap with the desires
in God’s
heart. Since we’re created in His image, it’s not too hard to meditate
on those
areas and find them, if we look. It’s quite exciting to dream. 2. Faith – the next step
is simply the
confirmation of the Holy Spirit. When you touch a hope that is shared
by God,
you will feel a green light in your spirit that will cause your heart
to leap.
This too is a fairly simple process – if you give yourself permission
to try.
You will move from an intangible hope to the substance of faith. Faith
is the
substance or assurance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1). 3. Initial progress – Change is not
just a cerebral
process. You have to get out and put the plan for success in place and
do it.
Faith without works is dead - remember (James 2:20, 26)? This step is
also
fairly easy and does the most to change our hearts / self-concept. 4.
Anticipation and
Optimism - Once we have
hope, that mixes with
faith to produce the initial steps, then we begin to look at things
differently. Our hearts are actually creating favorable
circumstances and
opportunities. We had been programmed to look at the
negative. Now we begin
to see new open doors. For example, Elisha's servant saw a
SMALL cloud
the size of a man's fist, not exactly a thunderstorm, but Elisha looked
with
ANTICIPATION and when he saw the SLIGHTEST change, he interpreted it as
the
beginning of the breakthrough that he was believing for and
anticipating. Change as a
lifestyle – Jesus
suggested that we should be
like a child with regard to the Kingdom. The reason is that when we get
one
thing fixed in our hearts so that we can be successful in that area,
the next
one shows up fairly quickly and the process starts over. Successful
people know
this and look forward to change with anticipation and consider it an
adventure.
It’s scary for everyone, but the satisfaction of receiving our
inheritance far
outweighs the pain of sitting on the sidelines. Creative
genius is seldom rooted in intellectual genius or emotional enthusiasm.
It is
nearly always someone whose heart is aligned with God’s and who can
follow the
intuitive leadings of his own heart. I
believe in education and enthusiasm, but I want them to ride in the
back seat
of a car driven by my heart down the path of life in Christ. At some
point, the
voice of the Holy Spirit and the leadings of our own heart start
resonating
with the same message. The Father and I are on the same glorious page,
building
something great in the mountain of my heart’s passion. You’re being
invited into the Kingdom right now. The fear and stress can stop you,
or the
promise of possibility can motivate you to the next level. The enemy
would like
to convince you to remain under the bed… the economy is in trouble,
world
events appear close to war, currencies may fail, your past failures,
etc.
However, in the Kingdom, you are being invited to your finest hour and
your
greatest success… if you can make a few changes in your heart. It’s
worth it!
Plus, we’re being invited to change this world and fix it. Join the
party! You
will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of
joy; In
Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Ps 16:11 NASU I’m reading Wired for Success, Programmed for Failure by James B. Richards, excellent insight on this topic. PS: the video version of this newsletter is also available.
Desire to Destiny is available now at our store along with reviews. Not sure what your dream is? This book will help you pull the curtain back on your future. Newsletter - If your newsletter comes incomplete (filtered), you can always catch the latest version in our archive along with 200 others. 1800+ people from around the world get Kingly encouragement from our weekly newsletter. Invite a friend to subscribe - they will be blessed. How to Start a Small Group - Kings are increasingly getting involved in Bible study or mentoring groups to facilitate their "Release." Here are some helpful suggestions www.Releasing-Kings.com/Starting-a-Group.html. We've also updated our Vision Brochure with graphics to show how to become a King and how you can help Release Kings. Lastly we've created a guideline to help you take your dream to the next level by considering the elements of a business plan. See Write Your Business Plan. French Translation - Releasing Kings is now available in French thanks to the efforts of Cees Bakker and Support Ministries in the Netherlands. In France, copies can be obtained from Editions Menor or Librairie Chretienne CLC. The Title in French is “Libération des Rois pour le ministère dans le monde du travail”. Cees is also the guy who made the Dutch translation possible - available through his website. He can be contacted for Releasing Kings conferences in France and throughout Europe. Facebook - I'm posting more information on Face book at http://www.facebook.com/john.garfield1
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