1. Believe and Trust. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Man is alive and well today. From the beginning of eternity, if there was a beginning, He has always been alive and well. He, along with His Father and the Holy Spirit created the Universe as we know it today, and as it has always been.
Two thousand years ago, He came to this earth as an infant human. He lived into His early thirties. He was then wrongly accused by the Jewish leadership and crucified by a Roman Procurator. In the eyes of His holy Father, He paid for the sins of mankind, and in three days, rose from death to ascend back to His Father in the eternal kingdom. He wants us all to be there with Him where He is, alive and well, forever, time without end. Believe in Him. Trust in Him.
"For . . . If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be rescued and redeemed. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith, and redeemed. As Scripture says, 'Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.'" -- Romans 10:9-10
"He is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before his presence with great joy— to the only wise God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
-- Jude 1:24-25
2. Desire to simply "BE." In this regard, this prayer can be your mantra: Create in me an irrepressible desire to take up space in your fullness; To be operative touch with my purpose, my destiny, and the strategic timing of my existence, totally absorbed in my commitment to "BE."
In doing so you can say to the world, 'I am here. I take up space. I am real. For the brief time I exist on this earth, I am! Now the rest of you out there need to learn how to deal with that.'
Who are You anyway, and Why are You Here? Come to understand your over-all place and purpose in the plan of God.
3. Awareness of the tangible Presence of God. Tangible in the sense that God is so real and palpable to you that He is impossible to ignore. In this world of pain, few really understand the enjoyment and sheer pleasure of a life lived in the Presence of God. You can be one of those persons.
4. Never marginalize God's Strength and Power in You. There is really nothing quite as satisfying as the quiet confidence that OMNIPOTENCE is operating in your personal experience.
5. Avoid the Snare of Religion. Too many of us are too busy being "Religious" -- practicing our religion -- to even be aware that God is there. Religious membership and its practices are no substitute for an authentic engagement with the God of the universe.
6. Psalm 23: How it might be read --
"The Lord is My Shepherd. He knows what I want.
He makes me relax and enjoy his world around me.
He helps me appreciate the deep dimensions of life.
He heals the "rawness" of my mind.
He will make sure I do the right thing because he has an investment in my life that he wishes to protect.
I am not afraid, no matter how extreme the crisis, or how strong the force of evil. For he is at my side, feeling it with me. His power to protect me is absolute, so why should I worry?
Dear Lord, you give me a feast right where my enemies can see it. You let them know that I as special to you.
I never had it so good. And this is only the beginning.
It's going to be this way for the rest of my life.
And I am going to live with you Father, because a Father and his child ought to be to be together -- always."
7. The Line of Least Resistance. If we go through life taking one placebo after another, trying to find ways to go with the flow -- we become disoriented and unhappy when we finally discover that the line of least resistance makes men as well as rivers crooked. Some think that 'if the door seems to be shut, that's God telling you that you are not in His will.' WRONG! If the door seems to be shut, kick it down!
8. Your Fingerprint. Never minimize your own ideas. Never let anyone else do so either. Your ideas are as unique as a solitary jewel, and as different as your fingerprint, but far more important. Let your fingerprint be a constant reminder of how different you really are from the rest of us. That is how you were created. And you were created that way for a reason important to God.
9. Failure. "Failure" is not failure at all. It is simply a process of success. Don't be frightened of failure. Failure is merely experimentation, an ordeal of discovery by trial and error. Failure is, therefore, the stony path to success.
10. T, O and E. Trained, Organized and Equipped. Come to realize that God has given you the precise equipment, ability and resources to achieve your objective -- your purpose, your reason for living.
11. Allow yourself to become creative and responsible. Decide that you will no longer be a creature of circumstance, but that you will CREATE AND BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN CIRCUMSTANCE.
12. God controlled and self activated -- not controlled or manipulated by the ego-needs of others. You're not a mule to be yanked about by the reins. You are God's person on this earth. Act like it.
13. Never forget God's measure of you. The Cross on which Jesus died is God's measure of your worth. Believe intensely that your life counts, that when you leave this planet, it will be a better place because you made it so.
15. Do NOT Dismiss Your Emotions as irrelevant. Become a FEELING person, vulnerable to the needs, hurts and heartaches of others. God is a feeling Person. He is "touched by the feeling of our infirmities." (Hebrews 4:15)
16. Martin Luther wrote 95 theses and nailed them to the church door in Wittenburg, Germany in the year 1517, and it changed the world. He only wrote 95.
There remains a thesis for you to write: A THESIS 96 -- your thesis -- that will shape the world, or your corner of it. Here, we speak not of a written document, although it may be that; here we speak of a life lived. It is time for you to be the atom split, the thermonuclear fusion, the beginning of a chain reaction which will be felt in every corner of the planet. Be that rock which God heaves into the lake causing ripples that brush every embankment of that lake.
17. Spiritual Warrior. What God wants to create in you is a desire -- a desire to be part of an elite, a cadre of spiritual NAVY SEALS, totally absorbed, totally focused on their mission to the world, in their desire to touch others with the love of God.
Except for the first, none of these notions are more important than the other. If you are able to implement them in your life, you will soar like and eagle or a peregrine falcon instead of stumble through pain. Follow these precepts and you will find your life filled with meaning and purpose, challenging, and immensely rewarding.
