You can make it. Each of us can make it. Success can be ours. We can build our life.

The main success factor is to have belief. Once you have belief, there are general

principles for achieving success.

Success is biblical. The Bible has a lot to say about the power of belief. The Bible has a lot to say about the principles of success.

God intends for us to be successful. Ephesians 4:20 says that God's power is able to do more for us than anyone else. And, to do more than we can ask or think. Hebrews 4:16 says that Jesus made it

possible for us to come openly to His throne in heaven to obtain mercy and grace to help in the time of need. Then, Jesus sent to us from heaven the Holy Spirit to abide with us as a comforter, teacher, and helper according to St. John 14:26 and Acts 2:38.

Consider these things that are available to us: God's power,

access to God's throne, and the Holy Spirit within us. How can we not be successful? I will tell you. We are not successful because we do not take advantage of what God has made available to us.

What other helps has God provided to us:

Prayer power

Holy Scripture

Faith (sincerity)

Perhaps the only thing that God has not provided to us is the self-discipline to pray and study in order to build a sincere heart of faith. God has not provided to us the self- discipline to persist until faith and belief reach a level that is acceptable to God.

Jeremiah 29:13 reports that God said

that if we would seek Him with all of our heart, then we would find Him.

How many of us have spent the time on our knees to seek the Lord? How many of us have stayed in the Word until God showed up? How many of us want God's will for our life rather than our own will? You must be desperate for God. You must know that you need Him.

Have you stayed with the program until you found God? Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has good plans for us.

Be assured, God has a plan for your life that fits your desires, abilities, values, and skills. God's way leads to satisfaction, happiness, and fulfillment. God's way is "life and life more abundantly."

Most of us do not

know what that perfect plan is for our lives. We do not really know what the possibilities are for us. We do not actually know what are our own deepest desires of the heart. We must depend on God to show us.

Once you are flowing with God, you will say to yourself, "this will work, I can see this happening, I can make it."

What is your part in this? How do you make success happen? What are you going to do?

Is it not all about building you own belief or faith? Look at St. Matthew 9:28-29, 15:28, 17:20, 18:19, and 21:21-22. Each of these passages emphasizes that the key factor to healing and receiving is faith or belief. Jesus said,

"let it be done unto you as you have believed." Everything depends upon our faith.

Let us talk about the major obstacle to success in our lives - inadequate faith. How are we going to get the necessary amount of faith to be on God's team? With faith, we can achieve far beyond what anyone would predict for us.

Just wanting to have faith is not enough. You cannot make yourself have faith. You must have a burning desire for a relationship with God. You must have a burning desire to be with and for God.

I have known a lot of people. Only a few of them are successful. Only a few of them have found a meaningful life.

To assure success, you must have a goal - a target- a description of who and what you wish to be. It must really matter to you. You should put it at the top of your priority list. It is what you take care of first.

God wants you to be successful. God wants you to be a good example to people. God has filled His Word with principles and commandments

that lead to success when combined with prayer, study of The Word, and a sincere heart.

Be alert to a warning in The Holy Scripture in St. Luke 16:8 which quotes Jesus as saying, "the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." This means that you cannot only believe that God will provide, but like the

farmer who prepares the land, plants seed, weeds the field, waters the field, fertilizes the field, and after all of this finally harvests the produce of his labor, you also must labor. Like people who succeed because of their love of money and power, you must expend the same kind of effort. However, for your level of ability and talent, you will have more success than the ungodly who

have your same level of ability and talent.

I want to convince you that God will not do for you what you can do for yourself. Having faith that God will provide for you if you wait long enough is not really faith at all. If you are going to wait and do nothing, then you are like an automobile with the engine turned off. The steering wheel can be turned, but you still

will not go anywhere. Guidance will only occur if the automobile is moving. The same is true with you. God cannot guide you if you are not moving. You must be doing something in line with your perception of God's will for your life. Only then can you be guided. Only then can you achieve your dream.

And, you need to know that God has a plan

for you. It is imperative that you really believe this in your heart. You must be confident that God has a good plan for your life. You must believe in the "good plan" for your life are you will never achieve the success that God has for you. Then, and only then, you will have hope. Hope that is undying. Hope that cannot be quenched. Unshakable hope that you can make it!

Many people that have gone before you attest to the truth that God has made a way for you. That after God gives you a vision for your life in response to your faith and sincerity, God will then give the provision to you. You can have the "good life" with hard work, smart work, and going with God.

Hear The Word of God concerning being

successful as reported in St. Luke 11:9 and 10, "⁹I say to you also, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and he who knocks, it is opened to him." (George Lamsa's translation from the Aramaic of the Peshitta)

Achieving success with God's help is also reported in Romans 8:13 and 26, "¹³If you live for the flesh, you shall surely die, but if you live with the Spirit which overcomes the lust and deceits of the body, you shall surely live. ²⁶It is with the Spirit that we overcome our inadequacies, our weaknesses, and our failures."

You do the best that you are able to do and then rely on the Spirit to help you overcome your weaknesses, inadequacies, and failures. No one is perfect. We all have inadequacies and weaknesses. There are many people that are smarter than you are. There are many people that are not as smart as you are. There are many people that have a better personality

than you have. There are many people that do not have as good a personality as you have. Like, get over it! No two people are made the same. However, with faith and hard work, you can get the job done. You can make it!

God has a plan, a way and a purpose wherein you can use what you know, you can use your abilities and skills to be successful.

Negativism, we have all experienced that. It is a killer like evil. Remove yourself from the presence of people that are negative. Stay away from people that tell you it will not work. Stay away from people that tell you that it will not happen. Negative people are deadly killers like evil.

When a really negative person is around, doesn't it prevent the best from

happening. When a really evil person is part of your group, doesn't that prevent good from winning. Stay away from both the evil and the negative.

Consider the "Golden Rule." You should avoid being negative to others. Do not rain on their parade. When someone comes to you excitedly describing a great new plan, be

excited with them. Holy Scripture even says to cry with those that cry, mourn with those that mourn, and laugh with those that laugh. The responsible way to handle the situation is to go later to your friend in order to bring up any concerns that you may have. Be diplomatic in order not to hurt their feelings. Just be sure that the truth you see is also seen by them.

If you want people to be encouraging to you, you be encouraging to other people. Do not rain on anybody's parade.

Not only must we avoid negativism, we must avoid having fear. Fear leads to stress which inhibits our powers of reasoning. Fear and stress make us stupid. With fear and stress, you can not think

clearly and creatively. You will not have great plans and creatively carry them out if you have stress. You will be denied success if you have fear and stress. With fear and stress you will be overcome.

Job 3:25 says, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." What you believe is going to

happen to you is what happens to you! Does not this show the power of your thoughts and yours words. This shows the power of suggestion.

God has made our words to have power. We must speak positive things. We are not lying. We are just speaking what we want to be and not what is. Rely on II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not

by sight."

Distractions are another enemy of our success. Hebrews 12:1 says, "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." To be successful, we will need to be overcomers of our obsessions and sins. A mind obsessing on something does not

have time for a plan or a purpose but only for failure.

Obsessions are distractions that will kill your future. How to overcome them. It is a war you know. Wars are won by having a multitude of wise counselors according to God's Word. Go to your pastor for counseling. Go to other wise and successful men for wise counsel. Do not

go to losers for advice. Only go to the winners for counsel. Get your advice from those who have gone where you wish to go.

Wise counselors that you respect can advise you about how to get rid of obsessions and distractions. A good counselor can be really helpful. Be persistent in following their advice. Be sure that your counselor is not telling your

your business around.

Get to the place of not thinking about your previous obsessions but of thinking of your dreams and thinking of what you want to accomplish. Be thinking of what you want to be, what you want to do, and what you want to have. And, be persistent about pursuing your dream.

If you stay persistent, you will get confident

about it. And if you have a right mental attitude and you keep with consistent action, that will lead to success. People that are successful are consistent, diligent, and persevere to the end. Perseverance is the key, the proven secret key that unlocks the door to success.

You need absolute faith that you will

achieve your dream. Bring your whole being to bear on the quest for your dream. Then, you will bring your subconscious mind into the arena of problem solving to meet your goal. Additionally, by seeking God, you will bring in the Holy Spirit and God's power to help you. So with a sincere heart, passionate prayer and seeking God, studying

God's Word, and wanting your dream so bad that it hurts, you will be helped by your subconscious mind and the Holy spirit.

Ideas, solutions, coincidences, and visions will come from the Holy Spirit and will also come from your own subconscious mind. You must truly care a lot before this happens.

Holy Scripture reports from St. Mark 9:23 that Jesus said, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." And study and contemplation plays a part as reported in St.Mark 4:24, "And He said unto them, 'Take heed what ye hear; with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you; and unto you that hear shall more be

given.' " The promise is that if you hear lots of the "real" truth and if you consider what it means and how to use it, then you will receive knowledge and virtue to the same degree.

Truth - Isn't that the Bible, God's voice to us. Myles Monroe calls the Bible the Manufacturer's book of operating

instructions for humans. The Bible is our instruction manual. It tells us "how to do it."

All of the world's religions tell us that it is important to believe. Believing is powerful. Believing has power. Believing changes us and changes things in the world.

Proverbs 23:7 says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

We need to be thinking about what we want to be. we cannot let our thoughts run wild. We need to control what we think about. We need to stop unproductive or destructive thoughts and replace them with thoughts that will get good results. We need to control our thoughts every minute of every day.

Let us say it again. We can become

confident and full of belief and faith by getting on our knees in prayer, by reading the Word, by having a sincere heart for God, and by working hard and smart. This gives us the hope to encourage us that we can make it. Then we can be persistent.

Rember the greatest law as

given by Jesus in St.Matthew 22:37-40, "³⁷Jesus said unto him, ' 'Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹And the second is like unto it. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thy self. ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' "

Jesus said that we would know that we were His because of our love for one another. And, our goal will be to use our talents and abilities to perform a service for our fellow man. Focusing all of your attention on money is not productive; it will not give the good results that you desire.

Focus on performing a service of some kind. Pastor Harris serves

as a Pastor to shepherd people; to lead them to God and to develop them. Also, he serves with the Berryman House to help people transition back into the community. Also, he performs a service in the area of HIV and Aids awareness.

Pastor is not motivated by the thought that he can make money doing these things. Actually, he has provided much of the needed money over the years. As he continues on his journey, the money will come because the service he provides will be appreciated and people will respond.

The service that you perform will also have a monetary reward if the service is needed and is delivered with quality.

Jesus said that you cannot serve two masters without one being somewhat ignored. If money is your god, then you will not be with God. However, if you serve God and perform a service for people "as unto the Lord" then you are not using money as your God. However, the money will come.

In the business community, the way

this is said is, "too many people want a job with a paycheck, but they are not interested in a career and are not interested in their work and are not interested in providing a service." Rewards in business come from providing outstanding problem solving and being dependable, reliable, and consistent.

Problem solving is what God designed us to do. Problem solving is what people will pay money for. A job is really problem solving on one topic or in one area of need. Someone or people in general need something done; they need a solution to their problem. If you are able to solve really expensive problems, you will receive a lot of money in return. If you choose to solve simple problems, you will not receive much

Select the type of problems that you will solve to ensure that you will be satisfied with the income that you will receive.

Look at your future from God's perspective as best you can. What does God have planned for you? Serve God, put God first, worship God, and try to stay in the center of God's will for you.

Recall the report of Revelations 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Whoever hears, listens, heeds, and opens the door, I will come in and live with him." It really is up to us. God is here 24/7 but where are you. Is it all just too much trouble for you?

Do not say that it's not for you. Do not say that other people may be able to succeed but

not you. Use the power of suggestion. The power of suggestion is truly powerful. Scripture is filled with admonitions to speak, to use your words, to ask in prayer and believe that you will receive.

If people see, hear, and speak about something long enough and intensly enough, they will believe that it is true and will happen.

People have been controlled by the power of suggestion in Germany, the Soviet Union, Cuba, Iraq, and China. In US political affairs, things are stated as true by parties with the anticipation that if they proclaim something often enough, people will accept it as being true. Advertising is based on this same power, the power of suggestion.

The power of suggestion uses pictures, videos, TV, radio, newspapers, songs, slogans, statues, awards, clothing, jewelry, movies, parades, debates, and many other things.

For better or worse, we succumb to the power of suggestion. Use the power of suggestion to suggest to yourself who you are, what you are, whose you are, what

you have, what you will be, how much you have, how successful you are, and more:

I am special to God.

I can do it.

God has special things for me to do.

I can serve an important function in the world.

The Bible talks about the power of our words

which means that we can be successful if we talk it up. Success is all about the power of our words. And, about what we put into our heart and what we put into our mind.

This use of our word and prayer works. You will become fired up, stirred up, energized, and filled with hope. You and your life will become forever changed.

You are not going to be successful unless it is really important to you. You are not going to be successful unless you really believe that it is possible. You must know that success is yours.

With faith and belief, it will happen. Success will happen if you are thinking about it all the time. Success will happen if you stay fired up. Success will happen if you stay

excited about it all the time.

Use the power of suggestion to stay excited and full of hope.

For your success, you must believe that it is right for you and that you can handle the success.The success that you want must be something that you can handle physically, emotionally, and psychologically.

Because of the power of God, you do not need to have the physical, mental, and emotional capabilities that would be expected for what you want to do. However, you need to be "within range." You need to have the "peace of God" that what you seek is "reasonable" or "close enough."

God can give us wisdom, favor with man, insight, favorable

circumstances, and other advantages that can make the difference.

Also, our brain meets our needs by changing to become more adept or doing better at the things we are doing for most of the time. This means that assignments given to us by God may develop our brain, our emotions, our physical skills, and our psychological makeup.

The thing to realize is that you are not in control. No one is. The most powerful man in the world may have a wife that does not love him or have a terminal illness. Or, he may be assassinated. Or, his child may be mentally retarded. The list of "out of control" possibilites is endless.

For God to make us successful, we need to do "all" that we can and seek God always.

God will not do for you what you can do for yourself. And, have you "done all?"

You should not start to expect a miracle until you have done all. We want to be smart, shrewd, calculating, energetic, and persistent. Jesus criticized the "children of light" for not being as smart, as wise, or as shrewd as the children of this world.

You must be accountable, responsible, and do your part to achieve your success. Then God will do for you what you can not do for yourself. God will perform miraculous things along the way to your success. That is, you need to be like the car in motion that can be guided, divine guidance.

Now, let us talk about some things to do.

Firstly, write down your goal so that it will happen. Here is a case in point. At a major university, students were asked whether or not they had written down goals for their life. Forty years later, in the mid-90's, the 10% with written goals had 90% of the wealth. So be a wise person that learns from the experience of others, write down your goals.

And, write down a description of what kind of person you want to be, where you are headed, where you want to be, and what you are intending to achieve. Make copies and place them where you can read them several times a day.

Read until you believe because if you know that you can do it, than you can. It's the people that believe that they will fail who

do fail.

Know this. If God asks you to do something that you have not believed that you could do, you can do it. Change you view and opinion and go with God's opinion.

After you have written your goals, select some slogans or phrases to repeat to help your belief. For example, if it's to be, it's up to me. And,

anything worth doing is worth doing well. And, if not me then who? Look at the light side, not the dark side.

The slogans and phrases that you choose to repeat to yourself need to keep you on target for your goal. Along with prayer and reading the Word, you use the slogans and phrases to sell yourself on believing that you can make it.

After written goals and slogans and phrases, you need reminders like pictures, books, plaques, statues, memorabilia, banners, signs, knick-knacks, lapel pins, and purse or pocket items. Surround yourself with items that signify what your goals are. Their presence makes your goals more real and achievable. Their presence makes you believe. Their presence reminds you

of where you are going to be.

Mirror-talk also builds belief. Sir Winston Churchill gave each speech to the mirror several times before making the speech to the British people. During the "great depression" salesmen at one company were taught to practice presentations in front of a mirror and to proclaim their sales goals to the mirror.

That company had greater sales during the depression then before the depression. A truly astounding accomplishment.

Mirror-talk makes you tell your story in a believable and forceful way. Mirror-talk gives you confidence, makes you a believer, and causes your body language to support your words. And, body language is more important than what

you say. In fact, how you say is more important than what you say.

Mirror-talk can be important in how well liked, appreciated, and respected you are. With mirror-talk, you can practice meeting people, talking with people, encouraging people, being friendly with people, and building relationships with people.This gets good results because

people treat us as they perceive we treat them. How people treat us is just a reflection of how we treat them.

Tell the mirror:

I can do this.

People like me.

I like people.

God is good.

God will help me.

I'm energetic.

I feel good.

Life is good.

Do you have interview or a meeting scheduled? Step in front of the mirror and practice as if you were really doing it. Then try it repeatedly in front of the mirror and you will become powerful, assertive, creative, and convincing. Remember the saying, practice makes perfect. And, because you are looking yourself in the eye, you develop words that are real.

Mental pictures or visualization is the next belief builder. You need to see yourself as you will be. Exactly what is it that you are intending to accomplish. You need to see it. You need to see yourself going through your day when you have achieved success. You need to see yourself responding to people. You need to see how you are going to be. Mentally, in your

mind's eye, practice being the person that you want to be. You may not be as wise as you wish to be. You may not be as kind as you wish to be. You may not be as smart as you wish to be. Your decisions may not be as good as you wish them to be. You may not be as diplomatic as you wish to be. You may not have as many leadership qualities as you wish to have. You

may not have the good ideas. However, in your mental picture or visualization, you need to see yourself excelling at all of these things. You need to see yourself as you are to be.

Go a step further. Pretend that you are the person that you wish to be. Then think, speak, and do what that person would do. Tell yourself that you can act like that

person even if you are not now that person.

Here is your plan:

Written goals

Slogans/phrases

Mirror-talk

Mental pictures and visualization

Act the part

Imagine having. We do not walk by what we see, sight; we walk by faith as it says in IICorinthians 5:7. We walk by faith.

Speak out what you want, what you seek, what you desire, that you want to be healed, that you want your friends and family saved and blessed. Your words have been given the power to make things happen.

Do not say I am a failure, sickly, feeble, weak, unsure, stupid, ignorant, unable, etc. Even if they are true, say I am coming out, overcoming, learning,

being healed, and am becoming a success.

To stay on track and encouraged, do something new each week. Read a book. Start doing something new that will help you. Make up a new slogan or phrase. Work on a new mental picture of you further along the road. Meet a new person. Learn a new word since they are so powerful. Words are powerful. Get a small

dictionary and start learning new words. Some people believe that the person with the biggest vocabulary is most likely to be successful.

In your mind, tell the person that you are talking with what you want them to think. You might think to yourself, you like me. You are going to give me this job. You think that I am really dependable. You think that I am a fine fellow.

Tell these people what you want them to be thinking. You will find that the results of this are amazing.

Several years ago I started praying for favor. People in stores began treating me like I was really special. I saved a lot of money. It was wonderful.

Use this mental talk on yourself also to build up your belief. This is still the power of suggestion.

Hear me now. Did you know that there are no little jobs. Only little people. Eminently successful people have often reported that they accepted each job with full enthusiasm and energy. The eminently successful realize that each job is an opportunity to prove yourself, to learn something new, to impress your boss, to hone your skills, to develop, to contribute where they are doing what their job is then.

I will repeat that. Along the way to your success, there are no little jobs.

Similarly, on a job interview, stress what you can do for them and how you can help them. Go easy on the "what can you do for me." Be sure that they realize that you are the type of person that will concentrate on the job and get it done well.

Upgrade your mental attitude. Say that with God I can do all things, with Christ in me. Say that God has a plan for you and stay in prayer, stay in the Word, and keep your heart sincere for the things of God.

Remember, your obsessions will kill you and your obsessions will prevent your success. Your obsessions will crowd out your thoughts.

If you have an obsession in your life, go to your pastor or another good counselor for help and seek the Lord for help. None of the things you have heard about can help you if you are trapped in your mind by some obsession. You need to get serious about overcoming it.

Because you need to see and believe that this will work, that

you can make it, that you can do it, that God has made a way, that it is right here, and let's get on with it and do it.

Thank you Jesus for all of God's promises.

With prayer, the Word, and a sincere heart, all things are possible.

Amen.

Main Page - Pictures/Posters - Glass/Stone-Original Art - Inspirational - Music/Audio - Next Page