Quit fooling yourself

Do you get up every day and think you have a handle on life? Do you stack the deck in your mind to make your thoughts and actions appear favorable? Are you ignoring the facts by embracing the opinions of others who do the thinking for you? Have you jumped on the bandwagon without knowing where the bandwagon is going? Then, quite frankly, you are fooling yourself. The psychological definition of being delusional is maintaining a false belief that resists reason or is revealed when confronted with an actual fact. Do you still believe in things even though they have been proven to be wrong? Then you are delusional.

Let’s take for example the political rhetoric we face every day on the TV, radio and Internet. One side says one thing, the other side counters and everyone ends up confused. But what are the facts? Truth is relative and depends on one’s perspective. In a sea of reactive opinion we are treading water and not addressing the issues of humanity. But is there an absolute truth? Any action and behavior that supports life is based on an absolute truth of growth and expansion. Are you selfish about what you have earned and unwilling to share in the bounty of life? Do you reject those who haven’t benefitted from life simply because they don’t have the material bounty or the good breaks you might have?

An interpretation of Matthew 25:33-46 in the English Revised Version (ERV) is as follows: “The Son of Man will put the sheep (good people that give) on his right and the goats (bad people that are selfish) on his left. Then the king will say to those good people on his right, 'Come. My Father has given you great blessings. Come and get the kingdom God promised you. That kingdom has been prepared for you since the world was made. You can have this kingdom, because I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your home. I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me.' "Then the good people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our home? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?' "Then the king will answer, 'I tell you the truth. Anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.' "Then the king will say to those bad people on his left, 'Go away from me. God has already decided that you will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever. That fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. You must go away, because I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your home. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.' "Then those people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you alone and away from home? Or when did we see you without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?' "Then the king will answer, 'I tell you the truth. Anything you refused to do for any of my people here, you refused to do for me.'"Then those bad people will go away. They will have punishment forever. But the good people will go and have life forever."

Are you buying into the rhetoric that says look out for number one and number one alone? If you do, you are fooling yourself. Jesus embraced the poor and downtrodden and gave them hope. He said that whatever we do to the least of these, we do to him. If someone shows up at your door in need and you slam the door in their face you have done it to Christ. His door was open to all to raise the consciousness of all mankind. In John 6:37 Jesus says, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Or, as the Good News Bible (TEV) says, “I will never turn away anyone who comes to Me.” Are you fooling yourself by thinking that you are better than others? Do you think that others who don’t have what you have are not worth helping? What has truly made this country great are neighbors helping neighbors. People go out every day and dedicate their lives to helping those who haven’t had the opportunities or blessings that they have. They don’t posture about who’s right or wrong; they act. They don’t prophesize about some end time when things are going to get worse and then better; they make it better now!

Step out of your comfort zone and extend yourself to help those in need. Whether they need food, shelter, counseling or a loan. Live what Jesus taught us and give your time, money or wisdom to help those who desperately need it. In the Wilmington community there are many churches, missions and organizations that reach out daily to help those in need. Visit their websites, call them, reach out to the community and give of the blessings that God has bestowed on you. He will reign down His blessings on you and your family for the love that you have given. Quit listening to the power mongers and their message of doom and gloom. Quit fooling yourself and bless yourself with the wisdom of God. Contribute to the expansion of life and the growth of your community, whether locally or globally.

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. Please visit my Eschatology Refutation Blog. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." ©2009 Dean A. Banks. All Rights Reserved. Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

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Make thanking God the first thing you do everyday

It is has been said by many successful people that the first thing you do to accomplish your goal is to set the tone for your trip by taking the first step. How many of us dream of our goals and yet, no matter how hard we try, never reach them? Why? Is it because we don’t have the skills to accomplish what we seek? Is it because we aren’t lucky? Or is it because we don’t set the tone for our trip by giving thanks for our blessings? This seems to be the best starting point for any trip toward your goals.

Giving thanks for your blessings allows you to humble your spirit and acknowledge your connection to God. Since everything comes from God giving thanks accepts the fact that we are an extension of the Almighty. God, from His point of stillness, emanates 144 octaves of energy known as the electromagnetic spectrum. Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it just simply changes form. Matter is a denser form of energy. It vibrates slower than sunlight. The only thing that separates matter and energy is its rate of vibration. Check out the current discoveries in quantum physics to corroborate these observations. We are always connected to God whether we see it or not. If you want to change your life for the better and manifest your dreams you need to start where you are right now. Don’t wait for some fantasy time in the future when all things are perfect, because that time doesn’t exist. The only time you truly have is NOW! Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’ll get it together tomorrow. You might not have a tomorrow; we are all one breath away from death. Make good use of the time you do have.

When you start your day by giving thanks to God for your blessings you are setting a positive tone for your day. You will be surprised how things fall into place, how people interact with you and how problems roll off your back. Don’t allow others to “rent space in your head” with their skew on life or their problems and attitudes. Set the tone for God to guide your steps throughout the day by giving thanks to Him the first thing everyday. Make your gift of love and thanks to God a priority. Blessings will abound when you make the time to respect your creator. Be true to God and yourself!

Life is a process of keeping what you want and getting rid of what you don’t want. The only thing that truly matters is what you think about yourself; not what others think about you. If your focus is upon how much better, smarter or more incredible you are than others, than you’ve missed the point. It’s not about competition; it’s about creation. God has given you talents and gifts in specific combinations only for you to manifest. Will you do something with those gifts or will you sit on them? If you sit on them it’s like telling God He didn’t know what He was doing when He created you. There hasn’t been a human being ever alive that knows what God knows. Human arrogance is so foolish. Don’t buy into the humanistic top-of-the-food-chain crap that some religions feed you. They too are missing the mark. We are extensions of the Most High God and we are His prized creation. Shouldn’t we be acting like we are?

Respect of God and His creation is the first and foremost step to achieving peace, harmony and abundance in this life. Without it, we are lost. Focus on the blessings. An old church hymn says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done.” When you recognize that God has created this universe with everything you need to survive and thrive, why not be thankful for it? What would you do without the air you breathe? You would die. It’s that simple. This planet and the life it gives is in such delicate balance that it couldn’t have happened by chance. And who’s to say that evolution was not the process that God chose to manifest His creation? Whoever does needs to examine the facts and not blindly rely on myths and stories to the contrary. God emanates life to each and every one of us; the plants, the animals, the universe. Respect that balance by giving thanks to God everyday.

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

No Job is Completed Until the Paperwork is Done…

Now that you’ve set yourself on the path of receiving those great ideas from God that are being channeled to you, because you are you, what do you do next? Internalize them. Start doing your research. Read about others who have had similar ideas and how they manifested those ideas. This will give you an insight into what you path you need to choose. Absorb as much as you can and then organize your thoughts by mapping them out graphically in front of you. Writing ideas down and looking at them creates a physical-mental feedback system that leads to emotionalizing your ideas. Be playful. Look at it this way; what If I had unlimited resources to accomplish my ideas? How would I use these resources to make it happen? Following is a statement that reflects the process of preparing your ideas for fruition: "No job is completed until the paperwork is done" (Unknown Author).

I'm sure we've all heard this one before. There is a great deal of wisdom in this quote. When you have an idea the first step to manifest this idea is to write it down. As with all work, documentation is the key to knowing where you've been, to get a good idea where you will be going. Finishing all types of work requires that you submit the paperwork for billing and payment. In this article we will concentrate on writing down your ideas for examination. Writing down ideas to manufacture and market your ideas is of prime importance. How you get this idea to work for others and yourself is by writing it down and examining it from all angles.

Good ideas have to withstand the scrutiny of others and it requires their input to give you other ideas you might not have considered. A good place to start is in Mindstorming. This is different than Brainstorming. Brian Tracy, in his paper on Creative Problem Solving talks about this method as the "The 20-Idea Method." According to Brian, all you need is a piece of paper and a pen and write down your goal or idea at the top of the page. Brian says to be specific, detailed, and focused in your questions and you will find practical, effective answers. He follows by saying that "once you have written the question, jot down twenty answers. Let your mind flow freely. Write down every answer that comes to you. Don’t worry about whether it is right or wrong, intelligent or foolish, possible or impossible. Just come up with at least 20 answers. Whatever you write, keep writing until you have at least 20 answers. If you get stuck after writing the obvious answers, write about the opposite solutions. Don’t be afraid to be ridiculous. Very often, a ridiculous answer triggers a breakthrough thought that might save you years of hard work."

He follows by saying to "go back over the answers and select the one that seems to be the most appropriate for you at this moment. You will often have an instinct or feeling about a particular answer. It appeals to you for some reason. This is an unconscious suggestion that you are on the right track. Once you’ve selected the best option, here’s a way to double the creative impact of this exercise: Transfer the answer to the top of a new page and then write 20 ideas for implementing it in your life. You will be astonished at the outpouring of creative ideas that flow from your mind through your hand and onto the paper."

Brian states that the second method of creative problem solving is called brainstorming. "This is a form of mindstorming done with a group. In brainstorming you again start off with one problem or question, but this time, you have a variety of individuals contributing to the solution. The keys to brainstorming are simple. First, the problem or question should be stated clearly and simply so that it is understood by each participant. Take a little time to discuss the problem questions, and then write it on a flip chart. This will dramatically increase the quality of answers generated. The aim of the brainstorming session should be to generate the most ideas possible within a specific period of time. An effective session will last anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, and 30 minutes is usually ideal."

"The best number of participants for a brainstorming session is between four to seven people. Any less than four and you run the risk of not having enough stimulation. Any more than seven and you may find that there is insufficient opportunity for everyone to contribute", Brian states. "Each brainstorming session requires a group leader. The role of the leader is to keep the ideas as free-flowing as possible. The group leader is a stimulator of ideas, encouraging each person to speak up with anything he or she has to contribute. The most important rule of brainstorming is to avoid evaluating the ideas during the process. The focus is on quantity, not quality. Evaluation and discussion of the ideas will take place at a separate session, away from the original brainstorming."

His method suggests that a recorder be present. "This person will write down every idea as it is generated so that the list can be typed up and circulated at a later time. The final keys to successful brainstorming are positive emotions, laughter, ridiculous ideas, and absolutely no criticism of any kind. The group leader needs to ensure that no one says anything that throws water on the ideas of anyone else."

By implementing the processes of Mindstorming and Brainstorming, your ideas have a chance to be examined in the light of your understanding and the understanding of others. Do the paperwork. Write down your ideas and examine the world of possibilities associated with those ideas.

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

To Everything There is a Season, and a Time to Every Purpose under the Heaven…

Yesterday I wrote about doing something with your ideas. One reader raised a question, saying "Well, what does that have to do with spirituality? Everything! Ideas are gifts from God. It is God’s way of blessing you with concepts that you have the skills to create. How many times have you seen an invention on TV and said, “I thought about that idea 10 years ago.” You might have, but did you do anything about actualizing the idea? You either didn’t have enough faith in the idea or your ability to manifest the idea, or you listened to friend who said. “You’ll never be able to get enough money to make it and market it.” How many great ideas have gone by the wayside because someone listened to someone who didn’t know what they were talking about?

The desires that God has planted in your heart are no mistake. God’s universe is a big clock that ticks with the greatest precision. It knows when an idea has come to its season. As the verse in Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, ” To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” This verse was popularized during the sixties by the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds. It is fairly self-explanatory, but how does it apply to me? God blesses you every day with the right thoughts at the right time. What you do with those thoughts is up to you. Only when you make them a priority do you begin to emotionalize them. In my first article for Examiner.com I talked about the statement, “I’ve done it” and the acronym for I’ve. Let’s review:

Internalize- read about others accomplishing their desires and make the time to relax and meditate.

Visualize- see the end result of your desires and create a picture in your mind of fulfillment.

Emotionalize- release your passion and feel the joy of accomplishing your desires.

When you internalize events and situations in your environment by either observing them or by reading about them, you prime your internal idea pump. You release not only ideas but ways to implement those ideas. By making the time daily to meditate, you enter the peace and stillness of God and hear His still small voice guiding and directing you to ideas and ways to manifest those ideas. Ideas are rarely focused on in the external chaos of life without major distraction. Focus requires reducing the external “chatter” and mapping out the ways an idea can be manifested.

Once you have ways of manifesting your ideas you need to plug them in to various situations to see how well they will work. Visualization is the tool which allows this process to happen. See the end results of your ideas and then emotionalize the feeling of fulfillment that creating and manifesting those ideas brings. Look at the best outside shooters in basketball. Do they stand where they just made the shot? Most of them shoot and run because the ball has already gone through the basket in their minds. They have seen it!

Ideas are stalled and dead without someone exercising their passion about the idea. I have seen many ideas that weren’t very good in business presentations but the proponent of the idea was so passionate about the idea that he almost convinced you that the downsides of the idea were minimal and fixable. Be joyous and happy when you explain your ideas to others and you will awaken an interest in them. They might give you another idea or approach about your idea that you might not have considered. Thank God we all don’t see the same things the same way!

Ideas are gifts from God. Take these precious and rare jewels and actualize their potential. These ideas are as is said in Swahili, “Azizi Johari.” Something to be expressed and appreciated, not hidden. Jesus said, “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth [it] in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light” (Luke 11:33).

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com.