Faith and Life

"And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way" (Mark 10:52 KJV).

"There is no sickness problem. There is simply a problem of the believer's coming to know his inheritance in Christ" (E. W. Kenyon).

The above quotes imply that God wants us to be healthy rather than sick. That the way to become healthy is to believe that you're already healthy and see it in your mind's eye. Seeing something in your mind's eye that you'd like to occur activates faith, and faith activates changes in reality.

Faith is the fulcrum that the seesaw of life teeters on. Faith is the tool perfectly designed to mold life the way you want it. If a block of marble is life, then faith is the chisel used to sculpt the block of marble into a beautiful statue.

A life without faith is a life not worth living. I say this because a life without faith is a powerless one. It's a life beyond your control. It's a life where you're merely an insignificant cog in the vast machinery of the universe.

If you have no faith and believe that you have no control over your life, you'll become depressed if not already depressed. Depression is the emotion of hopelessness, the emotion of powerlessness. And if you maintain depression long enough, you'll die an early death. The body will eventually shut down.

We're all hardwired to have faith and use it. Faith is what keeps us in control of our life. Faith is what keeps us happy.

Public Speaking, Envisioning, and Faith

I have read that the fear of public speaking ranks far above the fear of death for many people. But public speaking seems to be almost unavoidable, if you want to progress and get ahead in life. So the question is what do you do if you find yourself in a situation where you have to do public speaking in front of a large audience, and are deathly afraid to do so?

The answer can be found in your Bible. Contained within the Bible are God's promises. These promises can subdue your fear and give you the confidence that you need.

If you find yourself devoid of confidence and ready to pull a no-show or make an excuse as to why you cannot do public speaking, you need to claim God's gift of confidence. Say to yourself, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13 KJV).

When you say this, envision yourself doing public speaking with total confidence and ease. Envisioning is integral to the faith process. Envisioning is power.

If you find yourself jittery and nervous before doing public speaking, you need to claim God's promise of peace. You need to meditate on the following: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27 KJV).

When you meditate on this promise, you need to envision yourself doing public speaking in a relaxed and peaceful manner. Remember. Envisioning is essential to the faith process. In fact, envisioning and faith are one and the same.

View public speaking as a test of your faith rather than a curse. Use public speaking to build up your faith muscles. Anytime you have to do public speaking, clearly envision yourself doing it successfully with confidence and ease.

Envisioning exercises your faith muscles. Even if you fail miserably at public speaking, keep envisioning yourself succeeding until it materializes in this physical reality.

Remember. If you fail miserably at public speaking, people will forget about your performance a few days later. People are more concerned with themselves than you. So don't exaggerate your poor performance. In the grand scheme of the universe, it really doesn't matter.

Good Cheer, Faith, and Not Afraid

Today, I read the following passage from Matthew 14:26-31 KJV:

"And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

After reading this Bible passage, I am particularly aware of the following phrases:

"Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."

"O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

These Bible phrases state that you should be of good cheer, strong in faith, and not afraid. But how can you be of good cheer, strong in faith, and not afraid?

I think that the only way to be of good cheer, strong in faith, and not afraid is to completely trust God and your God-given ability to handle life's troubles. You can develop this kind of trust through regular prayer and affirmations. Having this trust will boost your confidence. And confidence is necessary to live life successfully.

In the above Bible passage, "the sea" could represent life's troubles. "Walking on the sea" could represent your God-given ability to rise above life's troubles and handle them successfully.

Faith, Source, and The Law

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

After affirming this Bible verse, I realize that God can and will supply all my needs if I tap into His power. God is the source of all things. He is the source of all health, wealth, and wisdom. By tapping into this source, a sick person can become healthy; a poor person can become rich; a foolish person can become wise.

How does one tap into this limitless source? The answer is by faith. Faith is the only path to this source. Faith is to believe a desired thing to be already materialized, even though it currently has not. This stepping out in faith extracts energy from The Source to create the desired thing.

Influential metaphysics teacher Neville Goddard calls this phenomenon The Law. Neville Goddard defined The Law as the technique of creating one's physical reality through imagining. This is exactly what using faith to tap into The Source is.

By using faith, you are vividly imagining what you would like to come into being. By repeatedly imagining this, you are bringing it closer and closer into reality.

An example of using The Law or tapping into The Source through faith can be praying, "Thank you God for making me healthy, wealthy, and wise." And vividly imagining yourself as already being healthy, wealthy, and wise as you go about your day.

Faith is the Metaphysical Force developed by certain Exercises

"And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all" (Acts 3:16).

Upon affirming this Bible verse, I understand that faith is the metaphysical force or energy within and around every living thing. Faith can be likened to the Force described in the movie "Star Wars," which gives the Jedi Masters supernatural powers.

The stronger my faith becomes, the abler I am to accomplish an objective. This objective could be good health, wealth, relationships, or other blessings. Faith is the metaphysical force behind success and living the good life.

Faith is like a muscle. For faith to be strong, certain exercises must be done regularly. These exercises comprise of prayer or affirmations. The more I pray or affirm something to be true, the better chance it will become true.

Just as a Jedi Master must do certain exercises to develop the Force, I must do certain exercises to develop my faith (metaphysical force).

Faith is a Force

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

After affirming this Bible verse, I understand that faith is a force that builds a bridge from where I am now to where I hope to be in the future. Faith is a very important force that I must use to direct my life. Without faith, it is very difficult to direct my life.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. In other words, I have to believe something will come to pass first, then I will see it manifest in my physical reality later. I have to believe that I can achieve my goals first, then I will achieve them later.

Faith begins from the invisible and intangible, and ends with the visible and tangible.

Many of the best self-help books regarding success emphasize the importance of faith. Books such as "The Secret," "Think and Grow Rich," and "The Magic of Believing" emphasize the importance of faith in achieving goals.

Though faith is an invisible force, its impact on success is essential and can never be overestimated.

Faith and Circumstances

Today I am affirming, "And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you" (Luke 17:6).

As I affirm this Bible verse, I am feeling a sense of power and control over my circumstances. Circumstances are no longer beyond my control. In fact, I control circumstances.

Faith is a force as real as gravity. Not only does faith change my behavior, it also changes the behavior of circumstances around me. Faith has the power to bend reality.

Word of Faith Movement, Faith, and God's Promises

The Christian religion has gone through several changes over time. One of the most recent changes is called the Word of Faith movement. The Word of Faith movement is based on the belief that if someone recites a biblical promise with faith, it will manifest in reality.

Not too long ago, I bought a small book that lists many of God's promises. The promises cover many areas such as advice, assurance, blessings, comfort, courage, endurance, faith, prosperity, goodness, guidance, help, hope, joy, love, needs, overcoming, peace, perseverance, prayer, protection, renewal, rest, safety, security, health, trusting, wisdom, and work. There is a biblical promise for almost every human need.

So according to the Word of Faith movement, if I want to be restored to full health, all I have to do is open my book of God's promises and recite with faith, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Likewise, if I want to be wealthy, all I have to do is recite with faith, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

And likewise, if I want to be wise, all I have to do is recite with faith, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (11 Timothy 1:7).

Furthermore, the Word of Faith movement takes the following biblical quote very seriously: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). In other words, if you pray for something that is covered under God's promises and you display faith, whatever you pray for will manifest in reality.

Some people reading this blog post may scoff, and declare what I have written is twaddle and unscientific. Before doing so, please dust off your Psychology 101 textbook and reread the following phenomena: self-fulfilling prophecy, self-efficacy, and the placebo effect.

If you are more oriented toward metaphysics, please read the following books for further support: "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill, and "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise L. Hay.

I am going to conduct an experiment on myself to see if the Word of Faith concept of reciting God's promises and displaying faith produce any positive results. Instead of orally reciting God's promises, I am going to recite them by writing them in my blog. I will write one promise per blog post. I will attempt to do this on a daily basis? Well, probably not. Who has time. But I will try to be as regular as possible.

Besides writing one promise per post, I will display faith by writing about how each promise positively affected me, even if it hasn't at the time. This is called stepping out in faith.

Stepping out in faith entails declaring yourself healed after you prayed for healing, even though it hasn't actually happened at the time. Then the actual healing follows. In other words, you have to believe first, then the healing follows.

Let the experiment begin.

Can Faith, Hope, and Love help you attain Success?

If you're a Christian, you've probably heard of the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love.

These virtues are not only important to Christians, they're also important to everyone who desires success.

Faith can mean trusting in God. But it could also mean trusting in yourself. Having faith leads to confidence. Having confidence is important for success.

Hope simply means optimism. A hopeful person is an optimistic person. An optimistic person will try to see the bright side of every situation that he faces. Optimism is very important to success, in that it fosters persistence when faced with obstacles.

There are different types of love. But here, we'll focus on ecumenical love: treating other people the way you would like to be treated. If you treat people with respect, they'll be more apt to help you achieve your goals than if you disrespect them. Thus, love leads to success.

The three theological virtues, faith, hope, and love, can help you attain success if you practice and develop them.