Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)
In my years of helping others I have found that a person’s beliefs will eventually make or break them. From our beliefs we have thoughts and from our thoughts we take action and from our actions we create results. The results, most of the time coincide with our beliefs. If we believe we are going to succeed we will eventually succeed. If we believe we will fail, we will eventually fail.
Our beliefs are developed over the years from life experiences. Most of them date back to when we were quite young. What is so sad for me to handle is when a lie becomes a belief and in-turn that lie prevents a person from being everything God wants them to be. As God tells us in Jeremiah, he has great plans for us but sometimes the world and other people try to convince us otherwise.
I can remember sitting in a 12 Step meeting years ago when a young man in his twenties said he finally figured out why he was a piece of “crap” (edited for this blog); it was because his Dad told him he was a piece of “crap” early and often every day throughout his childhood, teen and early adult years. The good news for this man is he recognized it and was ready to overcome this paralyzing belief of worthlessness his Dad had bestowed upon him.
Will power is often not enough to change destructive and paralyzing beliefs, especially when these beliefs have been a part of us for much of our lives.
Many people know the above verse from Jeremiah 29:11, but fail to read and act upon the three verses after it. God does indeed want us to have a prosperous future and he tells us how to obtain it in verses 12-14: “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.”
God gives us three steps to follow:
1. Call Him and come and pray to Him and He will listen. (i.e. pray, pray, pray)
2. Seek Him with all our heart and we will find Him. (i.e. ALL means ALL…our toxic beliefs spread like cancer to ALL aspects of our life and in order for God to eradicate them we must surrender ALL to Him or He cannot fix us.)
3. Find Him. (This is often the most difficult part as we expect God to show up with the answer in person and unless you are Moses it doesn’t happen that way. God usually shows up in the form of other people, scripture and/or the books we are reading. Thus the reason to hang around people who have beliefs you want, read the Bible daily and read books about the beliefs you are trying to attain.)
If you are paralyzed by beliefs that are nothing but lies told to you from the past, start calling, seeking and finding the Lord and He will indeed prosper you.
P.E.A.C.E.
Examples of other toxic/paralyzing beliefs: I’m not smart enough-I can’t have fun without alcohol-My past will always be in the way of my future-Life is supposed to be fair-I can control other people-I can stop my addiction through will power-People are always out to get me-It’s never my fault-I’m too fat to be attractive-I’m too short to be respected-Breaking a rule is breaking a rule only when I get caught- Flattery is a great way to get what I want-It’s a dog eat dog world-Never trust anyone-All people with money are arrogant-All poor people are dumb-I’m poor therefore I will never amount to anything-People will always take advantage of me when I try to help them, therefore I choose to not help others-The church is out to get my money….the list goes on and on and on.
If you believe in God then believe in his plans he has for you and his plans do not include any of the above beliefs.
jay@eaglelaunch.com
