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Feb

Definite Purpose

Posted by: Eric Mulford | Comments (0)

My Definite Chief Purpose in Life

To impact the culture for the cause of Christ by developing alliances between the world commerce and body of believers.

To accomplish this Purpose it is essential that:

I excel in my role in the world of commerce. My role in the world is to coach others to achieve success in their business and career.

I help others to achieve success in their careers by focusing on the Biblical Principles of Success. The Coaching Program accomplishes this. Coaching with biblical principles of success integrated into the business model.

I create programs and products that make it possible for people to change their thinking so they can change their world. Believers are losing their effectiveness in the world. This isn’t biblical! The Bible is filled with examples of people rose to power in the midst of a wicked world.

I reproduce the classic works from the past and re-purpose the material in such a way that it is relevant in today’s world and reflective of a Christian commitment. Because their is nothing new under the sun we look for those things that have been written in the past that can be re-purposed for help in the present.

I concentrate on developing strategic alliances between commerce and the body of believers. The christian influence is needed in the world of commerce. In times of economic crisis commerce should work together with the body is believers so that all efforts are maximized. Churches with these magnificent edifices that sit vacant all but four hours a week are a classic example of economic inefficiency. Finding ways in which these two can work together to accomplish joint benefits for the communities they serve is the alliance.

Such an alliance could be made to produce sufficient influence to change, in a single generation, the business, social and moral tendencies of the entire civilized world. -Napoleon Hill

Rationale:

I have the experience and passion to bring biblical principles to the workplace in such a manner that with the friendly cooperation of others we can see the Definite Purpose realized.

It will take an army of individuals who will function as a team to accomplish this Purpose. A commitment to the task is essential for this army to exist.

If you would like to develop a purpose like this for your life.

Categories : Bible Studies

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Jul

The Thought-Factor in Achievement -Lesson 5

Posted by: Eric Mulford | Comments (0)

In this study my personal notes are in the quotes throughout the passage.

ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute. A man’s weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man’s; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man’s. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.

A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.

This is the reason that training programs some times fail. The weaker (the trainee) must be willing to be helped. All of the power to develop the strength to succeed is contained in the man who will. He is the only one who can alter his condition. This is why I focus training on your responsibility to create your own environment for success. You must take control of your environment and recreate it for you own success.

It has been usual for men to think and to say, “Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.” Now,
however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, “One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves.”

The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed.

He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.

A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. ” Proverbs 16:32 The man who is in control of his thoughts is in better possession than the one who has all the possessions from conquering a city. Being in control is the greatest position of power available to man.

Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in order to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, by any means; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically; he could not find and develop his latent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not having commenced to manfully control his thoughts, he is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to act independently and stand alone. But he is limited only by the thoughts, which he chooses.

There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a man’s worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements.

Once a man possesses his thoughts rather than being possessed by them he has more power than all the rest. He is in a position where plans become clear, resolution is fixed, and independence is gained. Until you make your thoughts your servant you’re not ready to achieve.

The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great Teachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to
prove and know it a man has but to persist in making himself more and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.

Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and ambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics; they are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts.

“I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.” Psalms 119:99 Greater intellectual achievements are the lot of the those who will make their meditations on the Word of God. They have learned to thionk outside themselves. They look to God for answers and direction. They don’t just think they meditate.

Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.

Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends; by the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.

A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness
and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him.

Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly
fall back into failure.

Did you get that? I have seen this too many times even in my own life. The victory leads to a point where the thoughts that brought me there left in the celebration and the victory was fleeting. You must maintain beyond the victory the very thoughts that brought the victory in the first place.

All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and are of the same method; the only difference lies in the object of attainment.

He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.

What thoughts are you willing to sacrifice to achieve enduring success? Thoughts of selfishness, self-service, and self-indulgence will not result in lasting victory. Taking control of your meditations will give you greater power and understanding than all your teachers. Controlling your spirit gives you greater power than the one who conquerors a city. So what will you do? Will you master this one thing that is entirely in your possession? Will you choose to think only on those things that will bring the greatest good rather than the greatest personal satisfaction?

Categories : Bible Studies, Positive Thinking Lessons

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Jul

Love Contrasted Lesson 2

Posted by: Eric Mulford | Comments (0)

This is the second lesson in the series. In this lesson Paul contrasts Love with all of the other things that men hold dear in the church today.

Paul begins by contrasting Love with other things that men in those days thought much of. I shall not attempt to go over these things in detail. Their inferiority is already obvious.

He contrasts it with eloquence. And what a noble gift it is, the power of playing upon the souls and wills of men, and rousing them to lofty purposes and holy deeds! Paul says, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” We all know why. We have all felt the brazenness of words without emotion, the hollowness, the unaccountable unpersuasiveness, of eloquence behind which lies no Love.

He contrasts it with prophecy. He contrasts it with mysteries. He contrasts it with faith. He contrasts it with charity. Why is Love greater than faith? Because the end is greater than the means. And why is it greater than charity? Because the whole is greater than the part.

Love contrasted here with your gifts and abilities. That is at first almost insulting, for you can take those gifts and abilities and use them to express your love. Right? The point is that you cannot simply apply love to the gift. You must instead love beyond the gift. What about you, does your love go beyond your gifts?

Love is greater than faith, because the end is greater than the means. What is the use of having faith? It is to connect the soul with God. And what is the object of connecting man with God? That he may become like God. But God is Love. Hence Faith, the means, is in order to Love, the end. Love, therefore, obviously is greater than faith. “If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

Which passion rules your life? Is it Faith? or is it Love? Are you known as a person of faith or a person of love?

It is greater than charity, again, because the whole is greater than a part. Charity is only a little bit of Love, one of the innumerable avenues of Love, and there may even be, and there is, a great deal of charity without Love. It is a very easy thing to toss a copper to a beggar on the street; it is generally an easier thing than not to do it. Yet Love is just as often in the withholding. We purchase relief from the sympathetic feelings roused by the spectacle of misery, at the copper’s cost. It is too cheap—too cheap for us, and often too dear for the beggar. If we really loved him we would either do more for him, or less. Hence, “If I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, but have not love it profiteth me nothing.”

Think about your acts of “charity”. Do they serve the needs of the other person or simply still the sympathetic feelings aroused by the thought?

Then Paul contrasts it with sacrifice and martyrdom: “If I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.” Missionaries can take nothing greater to the heathen world than the impress and reflection of the Love of God upon their own character. That is the universal language. It will take them years to speak in Chinese, or in the dialects of India. From the day they land, that language of Love, understood by all, will be pouring forth its unconscious eloquence.

It is the man who is the missionary, it is not his words. His character is his message. In the heart of Africa, among the great Lakes, I have come across black men and women who remembered the only white man they ever saw before—David Livingstone; and as you cross his footsteps in that dark continent, MEN’S FACES LIGHT UP as they speak of the kind doctor who passed there years ago. They could not understand him; but they felt the love that beat in his heart. They knew that it was love, although he spoke no word.

Take into your sphere of labor, where you also mean to lay down your life, that simple charm, and your lifework must succeed. You can take nothing greater, you need take nothing less. You may take every accomplishment; you may be braced for every sacrifice; but if you give your body to be burned, and have not Love, it will profit you and the cause of Christ nothing.

Jesus said that it would be by love that all men would know that we are his disciples. How does that fact move you to make the decisions you make concerning fellow believers? How is that manifested in your church attitudes and attendance?

Spend the time until the next lesson reflecting on all of the things that you do because of your love for others. Make a list of those things. How many are completely dependent upon your gifts and abilities? Now ask God to show you which of those things are really done because of love and how many are simply done because you are exercising your gifts/abilities. How would you manifest your love to others if you couldn’t use your gifts and abilities? Several years ago there was a very popular Christian song which said “they will know we are Christians by our love” How do people know about your faith in Christ? Is it because of your faith? Or is it because of your love? Jesus never said people would know His disciples by their faith.

Categories : What's Love Got To Do With It

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Jul

The Greatest Thing in the World

Posted by: Eric Mulford | Comments (0)

LOVE

THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD

This is a Bible study taken from the Book “The Greatest Thing in The World” by Henry Drummond. This is the first chapter in the series. My comments and questions appear in the quotes section.

Everyone has asked himself the great question of antiquity as of the modern world: What is the summum bonum—the supreme good? You have life before you. Once only you can live it. What is the noblest object of desire, the supreme gift to covet?

Do you see Love as the greatest thing in the World? If so, how did you come to that understanding?

We have been accustomed to being told that the greatest thing in the religious world is Faith. That great word has been the key-note for centuries of the popular religion; and we have easily learned to look upon it as the greatest thing in the world. Well, we are wrong. If we have been told that, we may miss the mark. In the 13th chapter of I Corinthians, Paul takes us to CHRISTIANITY AT ITS SOURCE; and there we see, “The greatest of these is love.”

Why do you think that Love is superior in position to Faith? Explain in detail your answer. Now think about how that can change your everyday life.

It is not an oversight. Paul was speaking of faith just a moment before. He says, “If I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.” So far from forgetting, he deliberately contrasts them, “Now abideth Faith, Hope, Love,” and without a moment’s hesitation the decision falls, “The greatest of these is Love.”

And it is not prejudice. A man is apt to recommend to others his own strong point. Love was not Paul’s strong point. The observing student can detect a beautiful tenderness growing and ripening all through his character as Paul gets old; but the hand that wrote, “The greatest of these is love,” when we meet it first, is stained with blood.

Nor is this letter to the Corinthians peculiar in singling out love as the summum bonum. The masterpieces of Christianity are agreed about it. Peter says, “Above all things have fervent love among yourselves.” Above all things. And John goes farther, “God is love.”

This may be the most important thing for you to take note of in the entire study. Love was not Paul’s natural inclination. It may not be your natural inclination. But it can become your first response. How easily do you respond with love? Or is this something that you have to work on?

You remember the profound remark which Paul makes elsewhere, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” Did you ever think what he meant by that? In those days men were working the passage to Heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments, and the hundred and ten other commandments which they had manufactured out of them. Christ came and said, “I will show you a more simple way. If you do one thing, you will do these hundred and ten things, without ever thinking about them. If you love, you will unconsciously fulfill the whole law.”

You can readily see for yourselves how that must be so. Take any of the commandments. “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” If a man loves God, you will not require to tell him that. Love is the fulfilling of that law. “Take not His name in vain.” Would he ever dream of taking His name in vain if he loved him? “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Would he not be too glad to have one day in seven to dedicate more exclusively to the object of his affection? Love would fulfill all these laws regarding God.

And so, if he loved man, you would never think of telling him to honor his father and mother. He could not do anything else. It would be preposterous to tell him not to kill. You could only insult him if you suggested that he should not steal—how could he steal from those he loved? It would be superfluous to beg him not to bear false witness against his neighbor. If he loved him it would be the last thing he would do. And you would never dream of urging him not to covet what his neighbors had. He would rather they possessed it than himself. In this way “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” It is the rule for fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all the old commandments, Christ’s one SECRET OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

This is an incredibly profound statement about fulfilling the law. Take some time to think deeply about this. Answer this, fulfilling the law is really made possible by ___________.