There is a
law in Psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would
like to be, and you hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become
exactly as you have been thinking.
- William James
One of
America’s foremost Psychologists.
In Creative
Visualization – relaxing deeply and then picturing a desired goal in your mind
exactly the way you want it to be. …you can picture in your mind what you want
to have happen and it will happen.... Quite often the things I was picturing
came true quickly and in unexpected ways.
– Shakti Gawain
Author of Creative
Visualization.
I would like to commence this presentation by asking simple but salient
questions – questions that I am convinced would jolt us out of our reverie;
questions that are meant to spur us to greatness and awaken the giants in each
of us. I dare ask - do you want to move from:
§ Zero to Hero?
§ Grass to Grace?
§ Upgrade from nobody
to Somebody?
§ Transit from failure
to Success?
§ Graduate from poverty
to Prosperity?
If these questions speak to your heart’s desires, then, you must change
your thinking. Your desire must be strong. You must have the spirit of No Retreat, No Surrender.
What I want to share with you goes by different nomenclatures: Shakti
Gawain calls it, Creative Visualization. Dr. Maxwell Maltz calls it, Psychocybernetics.
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale calls it, Possibility Thinking. I call it, Your
Future is in Your Picture!
To establish and justify the fact that I will not be talking mere
psychology, I want us to look at some Bible passages:
At Ephesians 3:20 God’s Word says you can
exceed your expectations – “Now unto Him
who is able to do EXCEEDINGLY and ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL that we ASK or THINK, according to the POWER
that WORKS in us….”
Psalms
81:10 says, “I am the LORD Thy God who brought you out of the land of Egypt: OPEN WIDE YOUR MOUTH and I will fill
it.”
IMPORTANCE
OF DEVELOPING APPROPRIATE MENTAL PICTURES IN OUR LIVES
A Chinese proverb
says that a picture is worth a thousand
words. Obtain a picture and live. The
picture you have determines the future you possess. While some people have
appropriate pictures of themselves, others do not. At Jeremiah 1:11-12, God
confronted Jeremiah and asked, “…
Jeremiah, what seest thou?” Jeremiah replied, “I see a rod of an almond tree.” The LORD said to him, “Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my
word to perform it.” The picture you have determines what God will bring to
bear upon your life.
Jesus
encountered a man who was blind. Realizing that the man’s life was filled with
restrictions, He took him aside to restore his sight. At Mark 8:22-25 we
read,
And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him
out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw anything. He
looked up, and said, I see men as trees,
walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look
up: and he was restored, and saw every
man clearly.
First, the man
did not see as he ought to see. He saw men
as trees. Jesus knew that he was not seeing clearly. He did what He did and
the man’s sight was fully restored. He began to see clearly. I dare to ask you:
§ What do you see?
§ Who do you see?
WHAT you see is as important as WHO you see. Fact remains that the you,
you see is the you, you will be. Twelve men were sent to spy out God’s Promised Land to Hebrews enroute Canaan.
Two men came back with the appropriate picture but ten came back with wrong
pictures in their minds. Their report said it all, “And there we saw the giants, the
sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as
grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:33).
Do you see a
giant or a grasshopper? Do you see an achiever or a failure? Do you see a
person on a world stage or a person relegated to the background? Do you see a
job creator (employer) or a job seeker? What you see is what and who you
finally become. …we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
IMAGINATION: KEY
TO PICTURING YOUR FUTURE
To create a future you so desperately desire,
imagination must be your strong ally. William James made a significant
statement that I consider critical:
There is a law in Psychology that if you
form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you hold that
picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been
thinking.
The formation of this “picture in your mind” is nothing other than the use of imagination.
Imagination enables you to create mental pictures. When these pictures are
fully developed, an imagineer begins to piece the images on his/her mind
together, a kind of putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Every great invention or
innovation followed this process. There is nothing mystic about it.
Dale Calvert, a
networker employed this method of picturing one’s future in one’s picture to
achieve success in his networking business. In their book, Dream Achievers: 50
Powerful Stories of People Just Like You Who Became Leaders in Networking
Marketing, Anthony and Erik Masi quoted Mr. Calvert as saying,
When I started my business, I lived in a little 600
square-foot house. To inspire myself, I would drive my beat-up Chevette over to
a really nice community where there were huge houses on a lake. I took pictures
of these gorgeous homes in their beautiful settings. I’ll then put them all
around my house and visualize one day that I would live there too. Nine years
later we bought a home there! And right now, I’ m building a 15, 000
square-foot home on a 100-acre piece of land.
BENEFITS OF DEVELOPING A MENTAL PICTURE
In his book, Success Secrets of Self-made Millionaires,
Brian Tracy advocated the employment of Back-From-The-Future
thinking. According to him, this is a powerful technique that is practiced
by high-performing men and women which can have an amazing effect on your mind
and on your creative abilities. He suggested that individuals should create
visions for themselves for the long-term future. The clearer your visions are,
the more you are likely to be driven by them and to achieve them. “When you create a mental picture of where
you are going in life, you become more positive, more motivated and more
determined to make it a reality. You trigger your natural creativity and come
with idea after idea to help you make your visions come true…. Perhaps, the
greatest discovery in human history is that you become what you think most of
the time.” He wrote.
MAXIMIZE
YOUR IMAGINATIVE CAPACITY
The word, “Imagination” comes from the root words, Image and Imaging. To “imagine” means to see through the mind’s eyes. To
imagine, therefore, entails seeing in your mind the formation or existence of a
thing. It conveys to us the understanding of the process of allowing a given
phenomena take shape. This picture that takes shape in a creative mind is what
finally becomes a product or service in the real world. It is pertinent to
state that imaginative people are creative people.
To some people, their imagineering capabilities have
been so developed that imagineering has become their second nature. Great minds
like Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, etcetera were like that. In modern times,
imaginative people are scattered all over the globe and can be found in various
research centers, Research and Development departments of small, medium and
large corporations. The interesting thing is that these are also found in
various homes, schools and offices. One of the characteristics of imaginative
people is that they see farther than their peers, see worth in worthless things
and potentials in seemingly inconsequential objects.
Imagining how birds fly was what provided the
idea-seed for Wright Brothers to think of a flying machine that could move
people from place to place. This was at a time when common belief had it that
whatever went up must surely come down. However, imagination and determination
proved to be two great allies in the desire of these two brothers who worked
hard to invent airplane.
The science of telepathy was what gave birth in the
imagination of Graham Bell who imagined the possibility of inventing a device
that could enable people to communicate with one another. Today, we have
telephone in various designs and capabilities. O'Callaghan (1999:1) writing on Imagineering: The
art or science of using imagination to intuitively make practical applications
from knowledge observed:
Imagination and intuition are the
foundations of all improvements and advancements made by humankind. If someone
had not imagined it was possible for man to fly, no one would have attempted to
fly. If no one had intuitively reasoned a propeller shaped like an
airfoil could be used to power aircraft, no one would have attempted it.
Imagination or intuition is the basis for all advancements and new
designs. The design of all prototypes is based solely on intuition.
The designer intuitively reasons or imagines the design and designs changes
that result in the working prototype. Only after testing does the design
cease to be intuitive or imaginative, instead becoming scientific fact.
Until then it only existed in the designer's mind or imagination. Imagination
is the process by which the human intellect travels beyond the limitations of
his or her senses; imagination opens doors to an abstract world that is
governed by the same rules as the physical world. The science of
Imagineering is based on intuitively applying the laws of the physical world to
an abstract imaginary world in an orderly and consistent manner to make
predictions. These processes give scientific credibility to imagination
and intuitive reasoning.
MOSES: EXAMPLE OF FUTURE IN YOUR PICTURE
Moses'
life is a study of faith in action. He demonstrated the Can-Do Spirit of an
average person. He showed that human beings have the capacity to dare any odd
and to come out victorious. There is power that inhabits every one of us. You
can, if you think you can. Moses was a man who understood that the picture you
form in your mind goes a long way in determining the future you will have, if
only your faith can take a long look.
MOSES:
VISION OF BECOMING PRINCE, JUDGE AND DELIVERER
Moses' life is an inspiration. Exodus
2:11-15 tells us. At Exodus 2:14, Moses
was asked, “Who made you a Prince or a Judge over us?”
Why and how? Was
he accusing Moses for accusation sake or was Moses guilty of trying to be a
“Prince and Judge” over them? Moses actually envisioned himself as a Prince and
Judge or Deliverer over the Hebrews in Egypt.
A careful study
of the Hebrews in Egypt in the days, “When the Pharaoh who knew not Joseph”
came to power (Exodus 1:8) and all the diplomatic games he had played in
slashing down the Hebrews' population, including the circumstances that
surrounded the birth of Moses, all revealed that the Hebrews' daily lives in that
era in Egypt were that of “Sighing and groaning” (Exodus 2:23-24). At a point
in the lives of Hebrews in Egypt, despondency set in as a result of their
“Cruel bondage” (Exodus 6:9).
Moses, at 40
years had observed the humiliations, exploitations and other numerous human
right violations perpetrated against his people by the powers that were. Simply
stated - the Hebrews were dehumanized. Over the years, Moses' people's pathetic
state and tales had brought mist into the man's eyes. He had pondered over and
over what should be done. One day, however, an idea dropped into his mind as
Acts 7:23 tells us, “As he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his
mind….” Mark the phrase, “...entered his mind.” Just before his fortieth
birthday, an idea came into his mind; a vision flashed on the screen of his
mind, immediately, he took hold of it, not letting go his grip on it.
What was Moses’
vision, his idea? To Deliver and Judge his people; to give them respite! To
borrow Dr. Schuler's terms: when Moses had “Nested,” “Invested,” and “Crested”
his ideas, he swung into action. Led by his vision as a Redeemer/Deliverer, he
came upon an Egyptian pummeling a Hebrew, slew him and buried his corpse. That
was an act of a redeemer and deliverer. Encouraged by his success, he ventured
into the work of a Judge when he saw two Hebrews as they fought each other. In
trying to mediate between them, he was told off by the offending party.
Realizing that his act of redemption of a Hebrew, which eventually led to the
death of an Egyptian had become an open secret; aware also that Egyptians would
view the death of a fellow Egyptian who died for a 'worthless' Hebrews as
treasonable, Moses ran away from Egypt and went into seclusion in Median.
Succinctly
stated, Moses saw the plight of his people and despite his royal upbringing
longed to share in their lives (Hebrews 11:24-26). With a long-term view of an
end to their sufferings, he saw the Hebrews as a people without a leader, sat
down with his education and special training and mapped out strategies towards
accomplishing his vision. His faith had a long look.
To reach his
goal and accomplish his mission of delivering his people, he first envisaged
himself as a Prince, a Hebrew Prince, Judge and Deliverer. As a Deliverer, he
killed an Egyptian who was trying to kill a Hebrew. As a Judge, he went to
mediate between two fighting Hebrews.
Although, those
he had tried to salvage rejected him, yet, he kept the rope and after another
forty years, his vision came through. Acts 7:32-36 tells us that his vision as
a Judge and Deliverer over his people clicked. Moses had held tenaciously to
his visions.
Desires of
tough-minded optimists die-hard. Dare to dream. Hold on to the line, be tough
skinned and don't give in to doubt, frustrations and discouragement. At Acts
7:32-36, Stephen, the first Christian martyr while he recapitulated on God's
scheme of things for the nation of Israel and for the rest of mankind as it
concerns human salvation strategically posited Moses and told how Moses' visions
of becoming a Prince, Judge and Deliverer came to fulfillment:
But when he was approaching the age of forty, it
entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And when he saw one
of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the
oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren
understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not
understand. And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting
together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, “Men, you are
brethren, why do you injure one another?” But the one who was injuring his
neighbour; pushed him away, saying, “WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?
You do not mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?” And
at this remark Moses fled and became an alien in the land of Median, where he
became the father of two sons. And after forty years had passed, an Angel
appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai in the flame of a burring
thorn bush. And when Moses saw it, he began to marvel at the sight; and as he
approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord: “I am the
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.” And Moses shook
with fear and would not venture to look. But the Lord said to him, “Take off
the sandals from your feet, for the place you are standing is holy ground. I
have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, and I have heard
their groans, and I have come down to deliver them. Come now, and I will send
you to Egypt.” This Moses whom they disowned, saying, “WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND
A JUDGE?” is one whom God sent to be both a RULER AND DELIVERER with the help
of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. This man led them out,
performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the
wilderness for forty years.
“Dreams do come through and true!” I thought I
heard you say. Yes, dreams do come through and true. I want you to remember
that for Moses it all started with a tiny seed-vision when it “entered into his
mind.” I am convinced that when Moses muted that idea to some of his friends
and close relatives, they must have laughed at him. Some may have tried to sow
seeds of doubt and discouragement in him. Some may have made certain
pessimistic comments about the visions he had expressed. Obviously, there were
criticisms and other negative comments by those who seem to be ‘rationale.’ You
may have come across these kinds of people who would take you through the
drills of “reason” with all the facts that it is not possible; that it can't be
done.
Read this: when Wrights' Brothers were working on
their “Flying machine” idea, a somewhat skeptical editorial which appeared in
New York Times of May 25, 1908 observed, “Flying
machines, one and all, have quickly illustrated the adage of our youth, 'What
goes up must come down.' ” Today, the skeptics have been proved wrong
while Wright Brothers have been proved
right. When Graham Bell went to a bank to obtain loan to finance the production
of his telephone machine, the irate bank manager drove him away because his
idea was not only impracticable but weird as well. You and I are witnesses to
the doggedness, can-do spirit and workability of the very ideas that were
repudiated by the “experts” because, today, not only are machines flying and
men could speak to each other from one end of the earth to the other, but also
the fact that the world has been revolutionalized and made better by these two
inventions. The world would not have been what it is today if these inventors
had given in to the tauntings and skepticisms of those around them. Someone had
rightly observed:
Beware of those who stand aloof and greet every
venture with reproof; the world would stop if things were run by men who say,
“It can't be done!”
Don't
kill that dream; execute it! Be assured that any dream that would bring glory
and praise to God; cause the expansion of God's Kingdom in the hearts and
communities of men and ultimately bring blessings upon mankind is a seed of
good from God. Writing to Philippian Christians in Philippians 1:6 and 2:13,
Apostle Paul under inspiration wrote,
Of this I am convinced, that He who has begun a good
work in you will bring it to completion… for it is God who is at work within
you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Dare to create
that picture and God will see to it that it becomes your future. Let your faith
a telescopic view. I do not know the vision you have of yourself. Do yourself
this favor: whatever may be the circumstance of your present, hold on to the
rope. Someday, somewhere and somehow it will click. At Habakkuk 2:3, God's Word
has this to say:
For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it
hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it;
for it will certainly come, it will not delay.
MY
CHARGE
I charge you to see the hero/heroin in
you.
I charge you to see beyond the
restrictions of your present.
I charge you to see beyond the
limitations o your environment.
I charge you to see beyond your parental
background.
I charge you to see beyond your personal
limitations.
I charge you to have faith in your faith
and to doubt your doubt.
CONCLUSION
Your future is
in your pictures. At Revelations 3:18, Jesus challenged, “I counsel thee to … anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” May God enable you to see
what and who you ought to see for the glorious future that He had ordained for
you in Jesus’ name!
_____________
Hilary
Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah is a Gospel Preacher in the Lord’s Church, and MD/Chief Executive, Grand-Heritage Global
Communications.
Copyright
protected:
*Your Future Is In Your Picture was culled
from, FAITH TAKES A LONG LOOK and IDEATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP by Hilary
Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah.
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