Living in the Lord’s favor is NOT a direct result of the investment you make financially into these so-called prosperity preachers.
God will not say, “Wow, family, you were just $20 short in giving to receive a blessing!” Therefore, you lost everything. Do not listen to that hogwash to get into your pocket.
Do not buy into; send $50 bucks and get a cloth or other premium. Do you honestly believe God will bless you after you receive a towel? Or, does your heart tell you that if I am the right person, I put others before myself, I am obedient to God’s word that some towel is going to turbocharge your blessings???
Turbocharge your blessing through faith! God knows and he does not need to see you waiving a towel.
“The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, ‘O God, forgive me,’ or ‘Help me.”–Billy Graham
For years for this very example, I would not darken-the-door of any church. Made fun of those that did.
Here is the skinny:
Yes, you should give what you can to the Church of your choice. Those that tithe should provide about 10% of your income. If your family is able, then let the Lord guide you.
God is going to judge us by our good works. For example, if you cannot give financially, can you give of your time?
If you are sick, STAY WITH YOUR DOCTOR! Pray as a family for God’s healing! If these healing preachers can truly heal. Why are they not touring hospitals to do just that? God does perform miracles! Let your doctor, however, tell you the miracle saved you. Not some dude in a $10,000 suit with a Rolex tells you.
This article is not me telling you how to believe. It is me telling you to be careful who you believe, God is your first choice EVERY TIME. Too many charlatans out there speaking for God. Telling you God told them to buy a specific airplane; are you kidding me???
The scary part is we do not have a way to challenge a claim someone makes coming from God. You do, however, can say, “Come on now God has been shopping for you a new airplane?” I do not begrudge a successful person the riches of life. However, I do have a problem with poor folks sending money to support the cost of an executive jet.
How many Church parishioners have flown with the Pastor? How many Church members that needed to be transported for Cancer treatment or other malady enjoyed riding on the Gulfstream 550 the pastor goes on vacation with. If the Church is paying for it, ask yourself, why is it not being used for these purposes?
(A conservative estimate it costs around $2100 per hour in fuel “402 gallons per hour” to operate a Large Corporate Jet. That number is before crew and maintenance)
If the Jet is being paid for with “For Profit” proceeds, that to me is totally fine. Just do not use poor folks’ money to ride first class, that at its core is disgusting.
I get why high-level executives fly around privately, heck if I made enough money from my book sales, absolutely I would love to have my own plane. Again, if I am taking money from poor people to do that, NO!
So many preachers out telling you to send money and receive some sort of premium. In my reading the bible, I only recall Jesus GIVING never taking. Or offering some incentive to gain his favor. The Bible teaches us good works, living as God instructs. Never does it say send in to get an anointed towel for $50 and God will bless you.
God does instruct us to give. I believe God wants us to give back to our Church, where we are fed his word. That part I can get my head around. I also think that by our good works, helping others, we will also receive God’s grace.
Some dude sending me an outline of his foot, I do the same and send $37 back will get me some sort of blessing.
Want to catch God’s eye. Give your life to him!
Do the work God puts forth in the Bible. Follow it to the letter. I promise you will receive everything the Bible promises. Give to the local Church that inspires you. My Church I want to support because I am fed the word of God. I do not have to buy a premium to receive God’s grace!
As I grow Spiritually, my thoughts have been turned to Preachers I one time admired to saying, Wow, God never said that! It talks about in the Bible false prophets.
I do have a magnificent Church I attend. The Pastor teaches straight from the Bible and offers a transparent approach to the sermon. Believe what God says in the Bible!
We all in desperate times would do just about anything to have peace, save our child from Cancer, save ourselves from Cancer, or the like. God does and can perform miracles in our life. Just make sure it is HIM the Lord you are speaking too! I promise you while on your knees praying, he won’t be asking, “How much money “seed-faith” can you give to save your child from cancer?
In this life, none of us utterly understand why a child suffers from Cancer or another horrible disease. Or how we as adults may suffer. The answer waits for us in Heaven. When it’s time to go home, it’s just time to go home. No amount of seed faith, prayer clothes, oil, or other premium is going to stop God’s will. No matter how much we do not understand or hate it, it’s only our time to go.
Our walk with God is with him!
A true Spiritual leader will teach you the path you need to walk with God. They will not tell you that God needs your financial investment to love you. God loves you with an everlasting love and always will. Seek him!
Choose who you wish to learn the word of God carefully. Make sure the Church and pastor truly align with the word of God. Do this and you will find life beyond anything you ever imagined!
This is a quick look at the first chapter of my book, Plan B Hell NO. Of all my books I love this one for many reasons.
Shatter your Plan B and give way to success!
Chapter 1
Learning the Difference
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”—Nelson Mandela
We are going to cover some perspectives that if you lean the difference between these ideologies, you will learn the first steps in unwavering faith.
You must change your mindset of lack in this first set of ideas that cause doubt. We don’t have the right resources. Learn when thinking of what you can do, say to yourself, “we just burned the boats now what?”
What to learn before you throw plan-b out:
Activity vs. Productivity acquire the difference!
Resources vs. Resourcefulness.
Failure, delays, obstacles, on the other side, is your success.
Unwavering faith!
Visualize, see yourself already having achieved your goal.
Gratitude is grateful where you are now and thankful for what is coming.
Learn to master these few things, and you will rocket ship your success.
First set: Resources vs. Resourcefulness
Where most folks fail in endeavors is their belief of a lack of resources. “I don’t have this; I don’t have that.” Ultimately, nothing begins, or they don’t finish what they started because they sold themselves on the fact “I don’t have.”
Here is what is lacking. Resourcefulness! It’s not a lack of resources; it’s a lack of ingenuity that causes you to fail. Some of the most beautiful photography does not get shot from a $10,000 camera but a $100 point-and-shoot or a smartphone. It’s not the gear; it’s the eye of the photographer. Take a look at what some of the top YouTube channels shoot with; most will tell you they started with a phone or a point-and-shoot.
We are learning to plan and execute with precision. Meaning, we learn to organize yourself for production. Days are about the output from hour-to-hour. We’re going to get into this later in the book.
So how do we learn to be resourceful?
The most obvious is research. Learn everything there is to know about what you want to begin. Your knowledge needs to be you are the news organization’s first call when they need a professional opinion. The what you do does not matter, the knowledge base you have is unmatched.
Learn to make do with what you have temporarily. If you need a tool to perform your job but do not own one, can you rent, borrow, a joint venture with someone who does. For example, I am a photographer, when I need a camera Lens, I rent it. If offered a job that requires a lens that might cost me tens of thousands of dollars to purchase, I rent it!
I currently have a full-time job. I don’t have time. Can you get up an hour early? Give one hour a day every day, and at the end of the year, you’ve invested 365 hours to your new endeavor. If you’re more inclined to succeed get up at 4:00 AM. You would be in good company, Bill Gates is up, Dewayne “The Rock” Johnson is up, and so is Warren Buffet.
Can you swap for things? If someone has something, you need to see if they’re willing to accept another form of payment from you. It’s a long shot, but long shots win at the track every day! You dare to ask for what you need.
Bend the rules of any situation. BEND NOT BREAK. Bend rules to accomplish. We never bend the rules to destruct or harm. Ever! Think outside the normal.
Learn to play several hands. Double down when you can. Never rely on one solution when others may work as well.
Communicate with potential clients, vendors, or angel help. Learn to voice yourself to get what you need. You will be amazed at how many good-hearted people are out there if you present yourself well.
When you think about resourcefulness, think about people who have defied all odds to achieve. We’ve all heard of or seen Escape from Alcatraz. Arguably a prison that should be escape-proof but turned out not to be.
We’ve all heard stories of cancer recovery; you’ll never walk again, obstacles placed before folks that didn’t listen. They defied the odds and overcame incredible adversity. Where there is a will, there is a way. Pardon the cliché, but it’s true.
Resourceful people also have patience. Where many fail is, they get frustrated because change is not immediate. Resources may be moving around with the help of the Universe to align themselves with you.
I told this story in a Podcast. Think about patience this way. Say you want a job, not just any job but your dream job. You pray about it, visualize it and know you can do it. You start losing faith, so much so eventually you give up. What you did not see was that your dream job that could have been yours currently occupied by someone that had you waited just a bit longer would have been available because that person retired. God was going to steer you to this job after a deserving person was able to retire with a bang. They earned that for years of service.
God was letting someone retire with the fanfare they richly earned, and he was going to put you in it because you stayed in faith, you made it. You got frustrated and moved on. How stupid do you think you would feel if you had this knowledge after you lost the opportunity?
Opportunity can come quickly, or slowly. If your faith stays true to the course, you’re on, when the knock-on opportunities door comes it will be more than we ever imagined. Imagine the wisdom you might have received from the person exiting your dream job. What did you miss because you could not be patient?
At this point, some of you may be saying, “but I’m not that clever.” Everyone can be clever. Here are some ways you can learn to quiet your mind. When you do this, it’s incredible how much your thoughts will begin to serve you instead of stress you.
Meditation is fantastic, and anyone can do it. What this practice allows you to do is to slow your mind down. Declutters your head so you can organize your thoughts and be receptive to receive new ideas.
If you want to learn to be more resourceful, learn to meditate so your mind can clear a pathway to new thoughts.
If life is not set too well right now, meditation can help you find peace. Living in your mind will cause us to live in fear, pain, and anxiety. Our thoughts wander off into the abyss of negativity.
Meditate to get in touch with your soul. When we live from the soul, all things are possible. During meditation practice aligning with God, the divine source will release your energy. Bring into our lives joy, happiness, and oneness with the universe where real peace can live.
Connecting with Devine Energy:
As part of healthy meditation practice, we can cleanse our bodies of toxic, life-draining anxiety. We can see what our deepest desires for health, family, relationships, all in our minds. When you believe in your soul, that’s when things begin to materialize.
It’s a simple process. Find some meditative music. Use headphones if possible. You can find lots of meditation music on YouTube®. Find a relaxing position; I like to lay down on my bed flat. Breathe deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth. Deep cleansing breaths relax!
As you begin your meditation, don’t worry if your mind moves in thought. It will take some time for you to get to a point in your meditation practice that you can control your thoughts. It’s ok.
Begin to connect with God, ask him to come into your life, and only pray to him. Release your cares to him. Then show him through your mind, see yourself receiving blessings, see yourself in the state that you want to be. Visualize in your mind, your deepest desires and then tell God how grateful you are.
There is a reason it is called a meditation practice. It will take a bit of time for the mind to clear trash thoughts. It’s ok. Continue this practice daily. Several times a day if you have the time. For sure, before bedtime.
Connecting to Devine source will open your life to wonderous new blessings and peace.
If you want to be resourceful, learn to open your mind, declutter your head so you can find new ways to achieve your goals.
Second set: Activity vs. Productivity
Massive in changing anything about your life. So many people tell me they don’t have time. They can’t fit another thing in their day. My short answer, “you don’t know how to manage your time.” I usually get a lot of expletives shouted at me. Hear me out before you hit the refund button.
You will need to indulge me in an activity. First, get two pages of a daily calendar that starts and ends with your work times. You need a daily view that breaks up the day hour-by-hour. Then what I want you to do is HONESTLY write down what you do for two days literally by the hour.
Yes, you can do it, and yes, it’s a pain in the ass. How bad do you want to change?
Chronicle your day, I mean from bathroom breaks to screwing around on social media. Chin-wagging with friends, talking on the phone, you get the idea. Be honest; this is not a test but will be an ah-ha moment. “Holy crap, I waste a lot of time.”
We can find you somewhere close to 20 hours per week. I promise you will be amazed.
So, this is what activity will look like now let’s talk about what productivity looks like — time-sensitive projects, client fires, things that are typically out of your control but do take time. Of course, we must adjust for issues as they arise. The point to all this is once we get distracted, we immediately get back on task.
What a day looks like filled with production:
Set times that you can do routine daily tasks. For example, email. Can you make two times a day for email? Morning and afternoon. Daily try and identify how much time you spend on email. Most emails can wait for a time.
Give each function of your day a set time to start and complete. Never leave a task incomplete for the day if you can finish.
Learn to keep distractions to a minimum. Let friends and family know that if possible, call you at designated times.
Social media is a killer of time. It boils down to is looking at what your sister-in-law cooked for dinner or is a success your passion? Also, keeping up with friends during the day, why waste productive time? Social media eats time with NO benefit to your success.
You have 24 hours in a day, you need 6 hours of sleep, leaving you 18 hours! Now tell me you don’t have time! Get organized with time. Time is a friend or foe.
Invest time for yourself. Imagine after a year of one hour a day; now, you have 365 hours invested in your freedom. Knowledge is freedom.
Change your perspective about sacrifice. If you feel you must sacrifice anything, you’re in the wrong mode. If you think you must surrender to realize a dream you have. Ask yourself why?
What you put into a thing, for example; getting up earlier to begin your day. Some would say this is a sacrifice. NO!
Anything you do to further your life is an investment, not a sacrifice. Learn to invest in your success. Everything you do that facilitates your life experience is an investment that yields a net result.
It’s not a bloody sacrifice to have a happy life. You don’t have to give up anything to have a happy life. You gave up an hour of sleep to further your life and that somehow realistically is a sacrifice?
Look at actions you’re engaged in that you feel is a sacrifice. Then HONESTLY ask yourself why you feel that way. My guess is you’re not adequately managing your time. Don’t get pissed. We all suck at managing time. Activity vs. Productivity!
Visualize what you want. Not just about material things.
Happy
Relationship
Body
Mind
Soul
Work
Home
See where we’re galloping off to here? It’s an all-encompassing visualization of our life. See the life you want to have. We do this in our mind’s eye.
The best time I have found to do this is during my meditation practice. Follow these simple steps:
Have a place where you can quiet your mind without interruption.
I find it easier to de-clutter my mind with soft meditation music or outdoor sounds like crickets, ocean, rain, this type of sounds are soothing.
Begin to see with eyes closed focus your mind on what you desire to see change. See yourself happy, in a happy relationship, new job, new body, focus until you smile. Stay in that state-of-mind for as long as you’re comfortable.
Do this practice at least once per day.
When you begin to believe it, the Universe will start to manifest your dreams.
Have patience and gratitude. Lock in your faith!
Gratitude for where you are, what you have today lets the Universe know you’re available to receive blessings. Demonstrate your true faithfulness in this life. Then learn to be grateful for what is coming, what you can’t see but desire to be a part of your life.
Be happy where you are and for what is coming, and miracles will abound.
Focus on Gratitude every day. Take moments out of your day to thank God for what you have and what you cannot see. Give praise for the life you have.
“When I wake up, I expect things to be good. If they’re not, then I try to set about trying to make them as good as I can ’cause I know I’m gonna have to live that day anyway. So why not try to make the most of it if you can? Some days, they pan out a little better than others, but you still gotta always just try.”–Dolly Parton
What is your expectation when you wake up every day?
If you begin each day with a grateful heart, realize you may have bumps in the road today, but you have a Monster Truck that blows right over bumps, fences, construction, mud, snow, ice, you name it your Monster Truck resolve for life can blow right through!
Let’s do like Dolly says and work to make every day a bit better even when it might not be the rainbow/marshmallow day you were hoping for.
Wake Up Happy!
Happiness truly begins with a grateful heart. Declare your gratitude each and every day. Several times per day. If we learn to be thankful for what we have, then God will bless our lives with more abundance.
We all have bad days and can find ourselves in a dark place. Everyone! Don’t fall prey to depression as best you can. Obviously, if you suffer, get help. Where and when you can smile, let God now that you’re grateful for the smallest of blessings. Moreover, you’re thankful for the benefits to come, happiness, health, and prosperity.
The other day while recording a Podcast, I had a bit of an epiphany. We’ve been talking about New Years resolutions, goals and how to get going. Speaking also about change being difficult and working through that.
My own question and a question that is posed to me all the time, “Why is change hard?”. Why if we’re Christians does God allow us to have trials and tribulations. He is God, so why can’t he just miracle me through?
That’s when it came to me. God is like a great coach. If you’ve played any sort of sports, you know that coaches work you hard to make you better. Get you in shape to handle the season of play. At the beginning of the athletic season, you may train, two-a-days, extended hours to prepare you for the season.
How I now see God, as my coach. What pain and struggle I have now is preparing me for the season. If you’re Christian, you understand you have seasons of life. How can God advance you to run a marathon if you can’t run a mile?
Training is hard, some days it takes us mentally to the breaking point. “I can’t do it” “It’s to difficult” yet the champion in you won’t quit. This too, can be the breaking point that your mind will try and convince you that this is too difficult. NO, NO, it’s not. That’s your brain telling you, the enemy putting that self-doubt garbage in your head.
Where people fail is getting into self-doubt or the feeling it’s too hard. Merely giving up at the first obstacle. Another fail is “this is taking to long.” It won’t work! Successful people will tell you they are because they’re willing to take one more step than you are.
God is preparing us to win. Training is hard, sometimes excruciating. Think about if you’re going to become a world-class athlete you can’t ski a downhill if the only slope you ski is the bunny-hill.
Being a competitive athlete takes training and preparation. So it stands to reason that if God is going to bless your life with more, you need to be prepared to handle it. He is not going to let you fail. Therefore training is a must. Don’t look at it that God is not answering your prayers, trials, and tribulations are God coaching you to win. Remember, you can’t play in the Superbowl if all you’ve played is flag football with your buddies.
Think about this for a moment. If the struggle is part of your current experience, look at it as coaching. Meditate on what lessons need to be learned. Are you stressed or calm? Calm allows change to occur for the better, stress stifles progress.
Look for learning in a tough situation. It may take some time, it’s not just going to stand up and say “hey, here is the lesson” you have to find the answer. It will come when you least expect it, and it will come on God’s timetable not your own.
When you learn to allow destiny to open up as it should, life will become incredible. You have to do the work nothing comes for free.
God is going to push you like a great coach will push to mold you into a world-class athlete. The same principle applies. Are you ready to be the world-class person you’ve always dreamed of being?
Allowing myself to realize wow God is my coach, he is coaching me to be a world-class player of life. That’s when I master each training objective, I move closer to God’s true blessings for me. This realization has indeed allowed me to breathe!
If you have questions or comments:
If this article has helped you, I will happily accept your cup-of-coffee! Thanks.
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”–Zig Ziglar
Achieving goals is awesome! When you learn from the journey, stay humble, and be grateful. You will gain more from your trip when you pay attention to the real blessings.
You can’t see the Finish / You can see the START.
If you set goals for this New Year:
Have you started?
Have you organized your goals into actionable daily tasks to achieve your goal?
If the answer is NO. What the hell are you waiting for???
Get started right now, today!!! Make a plan so that day you have actionable tasks and do them. Don’t procrastinate. If you do make that a goal this year that we don’t put off or delay. Our new mantra: we improvise, we adapt, and we overcome daily (sorry stole an imaginary line from a Movie, I love the phrase though).
Get going now and let’s make this a wonderful New Year, God Bless!
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