Believe in God and believe in you…

August 2, 2023

After a win on he field we often hear athletes thanking “those who believed in me.” The truth is usually that they believed in themselves, and the others came along for the ride. People with self-confidence and belief in themselves and what they are doing tend to attract others – supporters and fans. That is true in athletics, in business and in life in general.

Another thing that I’ve observed about people who believe in themselves and their abilities is that they often have a strong belief in God and that God is in their corner in their efforts. You often see athletes stop and thank God after a success on the field. It seems that believing in God is the foundation upon which they build their belief in themselves. Perhaps faith in God is the first step to faith in oneself.

Having faith in yourself is essential in business, too, and in life in general. One who does not possess faith in themselves might spend their entire life in fear – fear of failure, which prevents them from even trying. A strong belief in God doesn’t necessarily take away all fears, it just allows you to deal with them better. With a strong belief in God, fear does not paralyze; instead, it raises a caution and causes one to stop and plan how to overcome whatever is driving that fear. That planning is always based upon moving ahead; not standing still, frozen in fear.

I have advocated here in the past that even a simple little prayer based upon a sports phrase will help. So, the next time that you are facing a daunting task stop and ask God for “a little help, here.” It will put you into a positive frame of mind and allow you to “see” the way forward. With that litel help from God you will have the self-confidence that you need.

Indeed, you will be halfway there.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Believe…you don’t want to be wrong.

February 26, 2021

I recently stumbled across a number of quotes from noted French philosopher and novelist Albert Camus . This is one that caught my attention – “I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn’t, than live as if there isn’t and to die to find out that there is.”

There is a phrase about “backing into something” that seems to cover this thought. Faith based upon the thought that you really don’t want to be wrong about God’s existence is probably better than no faith at all, but it is sort of backing into belief.

We are in the Lenten season, which could be a real downer, since we know that it is leading to the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. There are many somber ceremonies associated with the Lenten season – the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday – yet we also know that ultimately they lead to the most joyous occasion of all Jesus’ resurrection on Easter. Even the Earth itself celebrates the resurrection with Spring and the re-birth of plants and reemergence of animals that may have been hibernating. Easter and Spring is an annual refresh of our belief in God.

Believing in God brings a certain orderliness to life that otherwise might appear to be very random and thus very confusing and unsatisfying. Faith helps us explain things – things that happen around us and things that happen to us. Faith also helps us get through things as they happen, because faith leads to hope and hope fuels perseverance.

Faith also fills what otherwise would be a huge void in our lives – the meaning of life itself – and gives us purpose.  It is through faith that we accept what we cannot understand, trusting in the God of our faith to handle those things. Faith overcomes our fear of the unknown by placing those things in the hands of God.

So, have faith and go through life confident that you are right and that, in the end, you will receive the reward of everlasting life that you have been promised. There is no alternative that makes any sense and you certainly don’t want to be wrong. Back into faith if you have to, but get into it any way that you can.

Have a wonderful and faithful day.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Use your powers today…

April 24, 2019

From a recent post to the Jack’s Winning Words blog comes this quote – “Kindness is within our power even when fondness is not.”  (Henry James)

As I thought about that quote, and contemplated writing something about it; other, similar thoughts came to mind –

Compassion is within our power even when sharing is not

Forgiving is within our power even when forgetting is not

Believing is within our power even when understanding is not

The point of all of this is that we have it within our power to deal with the events and circumstances that life presents even if we cannot change them. The key is being able to accept that we cannot change them and moving on by dealing with life as it is and not as we would like it to be.

I’ve posted here in the past about the amazing stories that have come out of some of the most terrible hate crimes of recent times. I recall one in particular which involved a mass killing in a church. Sometime later, several survivors of that atrocity were interviewed and shared that they had forgiven the shooter and were now praying for his forgivesoul. They will never forget, but they had forgiven.

Perhaps the issue for most of us is focusing too much on the part that comes after the “even when” in those sentences. It takes a conscious effort to be kind to someone that we may not “like” or of whom we may not be fond. Having compassion for the plight of someone is possible, even if we cannot imagine or share their situation. It is especially hard to move on to forgiving someone who has wronged us in some way when we cannot get the act out of our minds and forget it.

For many, the final saying above is the hardest because they cannot let go of the need to understand everything and just believe. Yet, at the very core of faith is believing. It is the surrender of the need to understand that frees us to accept God and have faith. Thatwoman-praying need to understand is man’s ego coming out and the need to try to control things. Faith is admitting that we are not in control and putting our trust in the one who is – God. Faith starts with the little prayer “Not my will, but thy will be done.”

Start by believing even when you don’t understand. I think you’ll find that the rest of those things that are within your power – kindness, compassion, forgiveness and more – will come more naturally. Use your powers today.

believeIt’s going to be a great day.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Believe and the door will open for you…

June 4, 2018

I get an email every weekday from Jack Freed with the latest entry to the Jack’s Winning Words blog. Many times they serve as the inspiration for what I post here. Jack finds little quotes from various sources and adds a short comment to each to provoke thought and reflection. I’m sure that he intends that each day’s post stand alone; however I found that two recent posts just seem to go together.

Today’s post was – “Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.”  (John Dryden)

As Jack (and me, too) gets older he is more cognizant of the ravages and toll of age on the body, while the mind can still race around and jump as if it were still young. I certainly notice it more as I try to keep up the gardens around my historic home.

Last Friday’s post was – “Every wall has a door.”  (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Jack used that quote to offer life advice about overcoming difficulties in life. I’ve often written about that topic here.

facing the wall 2It hit me, when I saw those two quotes in juxtaposition in my mail in-box that they really go together as a way to look at the end time of life. After all, death seems to be the final wall that we all face.

Certainly the human body does begin to break down and eventually gives up altogether; however, God has clearly given us a door in that wall, a way to overcome the death of the human body – eternal life through his Son Jesus Christ.

Just as believing that you can overcome obstacles in life is critical to success in problem solving; believing in the eternal life promised by Jesus is critical to opening the door to the wall that death seems to represent.gods-hands-2

Like many other things in life, we all tend to overthink this topic. We focus in our minds too much on the scientific facts that we understand about death and not enough on the promise that our faith demands that we believe. There was another quote, this one from Bob Dylan that Jack used sometime ago that also fits here –

“You either believe or you don’t believe, there ain’t no in between.”

Death is just another wall in our lives and Jesus is the door in that wall. Thus, the title for today’s post – Believe and the door will open for you.

Have a great week ahead…

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Posted by Norm Werner

Trying to understand the greater happiness…

February 22, 2017

Jack Freed use this quote in his blog – Jack’s Winning Words – recently – “Smile, things are going to work out.  You may not see it now, but you’re being directed to a much greater happiness.”  (ThisInspiresUs). Jack went on to write – Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled or afraid…I am with you.”  That’s the greater happiness.

hurry hurryIn today’s find it now, buy it now, do it now world, having the patience, the perseverance and faith to wait for that greater happiness goes against the grain. We have become an instant gratification society, while religion has remained a “hope for it, pray for it, wait for it” practice.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to having the faith that the promised “greater happiness” will come is dealing with the fact that this state of greater happiness will come after we have left this earth. For many people, the thought that they have to die to be born again into the state of greater happiness is not something that can easily accept or internalize. People want that state of greater happiness now, here, while they can enjoy it within the

mystery head

current physical world that they know. They cannot even conceive of the next life, the one promised to those who believe in and accept Jesus as their savior.

Another factor is the kind of hazy descriptions that we have of that next life – a house of many rooms, one of which will be ours or a peace that passes all understanding or looking upon the face of God. We have a hard time relating to that within the context of what we understand about this life. Some other religions have created extensive and elaborate descriptions of the afterlife, mostly using terms and examples from this life, so that the adherents can relate to it. It is so much easier to imagine Heaven as being just like this world only better.

Perhaps a big part of our challenge as Christians is to let go of any thoughts about this life and this world and just trust that the next life and the greater happiness that is promised to us there. We need to stop worrying about whether we’ll be reunited with our lost loved
ones in heaven or whether our past pets will be there with us. That’s all the stuff of this world. We should focus instead on the fact that we will be united with Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit and all of the Saints in a greater happiness that we can’t even imagine – fee of pain, free of cares, free of fears, free.

So, maybe believewe need to substitute much more believing, in place of all of the effort we make to try to understand the unimaginable. We can’t and don’t need to understand, we just need to believe and accept. Once we let go of the things of this life, we are ready for the things that come in the next. It is sort of like those cute ads for the web site LetGo.com; we have to let go of the things we don’t really need any more for this life and certainly not for the next. If I can let go of the baggage of this life and just believe; I’ll be better prepared to experience the promised greater happiness – maybe I’ll even experience a little of it here. What a wonderful thought that is to focus upon today.

Let go and have a great day!

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Posted by Norm Werner

Believe, see and do…

July 21, 2014

“I wouldn’t have seen it, if I hadn’t believed it.”  – that little quote from today’s Jack’s Winning Words blog sounds a lot like something Yogi Berra might have said; however it was actually by  Marshall McLuhan, a well known media guru and futurist. Marshall was talking about the Internet as we know it, which he foresaw by decades. He is also the coiner of the phrase – “The message is the medium.”

aha momentThere are other things to which that quote might apply. Quite often people testify to witnessing miracles, which are usually based on believing that they can happen in the first place. Jack went on to discuss “aha” moments – those times in our lives when the light bulb comes on over our heads and we suddenly understand something or maybe have a great original thought or idea. Do you have those times in your life?

Sometimes the “aha” turns out to be an “oh, crap”, when you finally realize that you’ve been doing something wrong or just committed a faux paus. At those times, the light bulb that comes on is shedding light on something that we’d probably wish not to be in the spotlight. But, let’s stay on the positive side of things.

Many times an “aha” moment just pops out at us. It could be the name of someone or something that you just haven’t been able to recall or it could be the solution to a problem that you’ve been wrestling with for days. Sometimes; however, you just have to bear down and make that “aha” moment come, or as Gary Freidman said –

“Think until it hurts, until you can see what others can’t see so you can dothinking hard what others can’t do.”

Marshall McLuhan saw things in our future that others couldn’t see and he thought about them, wrote about them and did something about them. Lest we forget, it is that second part of McLuhan’s quote that supports the first part- first he believed.

 

So, if yowoman catching staru believe that you can overcome that obstacle in your life or make that breakthrough at work or achieve that relationship that you’ve always imagined; you have taken the first step to achieving your “aha” moment and making it come true. Maybe you will find it easier to believe that God will be there to help you achieve that “aha” breakthrough and that’s OK, too; at least you’ve placed your faith in the right place. Once you believe, start thinking and think until you can see a way to your goal when others can’t.

Believe and have a great week! I can see that.

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Posted by Norm Werner