I’ve often found myself, in the past, being held back from what I thought was possible. I guess this is still happening with me to be entirely truthful. I think what held me back was a lot of fear. But also, there’s, I think, something that happens to all of us as we grow older. We tend to measure the possibilities of our future only by what has happened in our past, especially if we’ve had some setbacks. We may have become a bit cynical and think things can no longer happen in our lives. We’ve been burned and we can easily become a little bitter.
This is a scenario we all can relate to. We have to get rid of the bitterness, though. It’s not good for anyone to stay there. But what about our dreams being dashed? Well, it’s not good for us to let that happen, either. We need to keep thinking about the possibilities.
You’ve often heard of the Thomas Edison story. In the process of inventing the light bulb he was told, “You’ve tried this a thousand different times. You’ve failed.” His response was, in essence, “No, I haven’t. I’ve eliminated a thousand ways it won’t work. I only need to find one way to make it work.” That’s a positive attitude. You could say that’s failing your way to success, I guess. Failure is a part of life, though. I think we’re too afraid of it sometimes. We can move forward boldly and not cowering in a corner. Nothing happens if we do nothing, right?
No, but the reality is that the real game changers in life came from people who believed in something when no one else did. They tried something no one else would try. A lot of the technologies we have today were developed by people who the rest of the world thought were crazy. So, I guess it pays to think outside the box. If they had listened to other people they never would have accomplished their goals. I’m glad we had a few dreamers in the past who helped us move forward as a society. These things don’t just happen. If everyone thought exactly alike then nothing would ever change.
So, maybe more of us should be critical thinkers. I believe critical thinking skills were something they forgot to teach us in school. We learned how to respond with facts and figures on a test. But instead of our teachers asking us what we think, they often told us what to think. So, we not only didn’t learn the skill from them, I guess, we didn’t even learn that it was a skill, or that it was needed. It’s something I’ve found to be useful, though, as I’ve gotten older. I think we need to examine our commonly held beliefs sometimes. We can then try to work a change in areas where they don’t measure up. That’s the value of critical thinking in our lives.
I was thinking about this topic mostly along the lines of our spiritual lives. I thought about how we often don’t see God move in our lives in ways we would like him to. I wondered why that is. As I thought about it more I came to a conclusion. I think we often are indoctrinated by what we see. As a result, I believe we often let our experience dictate our theology instead of the other way around. And if our experience is Biblically based, then that’s not bad thing. But I think it often isn’t. We stop believing God for supernatural healing because we haven’t seen anyone healed or experienced it in our own lives. We wonder anymore if it’s possible. We don’t see miracles in our lives. So, we wonder if God still does miracles. I would agree that we don’t often see miracles but that doesn’t mean that we can’t.
In Matthew 17:20 it says, “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” In the first part of this verse Jesus was admonishing the disciples for their unbelief. They wondered why their prayer didn’t work. Then he emphasized to them the importance of faith and moving the mountains in our own lives. I just don’t think Jesus would have told us this if He didn’t mean it.
It rejuvenates your body and energy levels to participate viagra sales in canada in lovemaking acts regularly. Many research studies showcase the antidyslipidemic, view for more info cialis online immunomodulatory, adaptogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This way, you can increase your semen count levitra generic online and improve sperm motility. There is good news for viagra pills price appalachianmagazine.com men experiencing ED because of a bent or deformed penis. But what is faith? What does it mean to have faith? Do you remember Hebrews 11:1? It says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” There’s a lot said in this one little verse, and I think we often miss it. It tells us what faith is, though. It says faith is the substance. Of course, that faith originates from God. But if I look in Mark 11:22 Jesus says, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.” Jesus was talking to his disciples again. He is telling them to have faith in God. So, that tells me that we need to do something. We need to pray. But we also need to believe what we are praying for. See, I think we often pray but then we walk away thinking, “I sure hope that works, but it probably won’t.” But, that’s not faith. Faith is an assuredness, an expectancy from God because we know who he is. And it’s not a head knowledge. It’s a heart knowledge. That’s the substance. You just believe it in your heart.
And how do we get more faith? Well, it says in Romans 10:17, “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So, we get faith, and our faith grows by getting into His word and getting His word into us.
I’ll leave you with the next verse following Mark 11:22, Mark 11:23: “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
Matthew 17:20 says, “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Mark 11:22 Jesus says, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”
Romans 10:17, “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Mark 11:23: “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”