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#50 The Positive Power of One AFFIRMATION (09/11/02) By Dr. Robert H. Schuller Have you noticed how many people have tattoos today? Did I ever tell you I had a tattoo ... where it is ... why you can't see it ... and why I won't show it to you ... and what it is? It's a tattoo in my brain. It's a tattoo in my subconscious. It's a tattoo in my soul that will never go away. I live with it. I don't hide it. I show it in ways that people don't recognize that they're looking at a tattoo. What is that tattoo? It is an affirmation. It's something I've been telling myself for years and years. And the affirmation is quite simple. I want to try to teach it to you so you can tattoo your brain with it. Tattoo Your Brain with a Positive Affirmation I remember when Norman Vincent Peale, in one of his messages here in this church, told us how one day he visited a tattoo parlor in Hong Kong. He was surprised at all the designs and slogans you could have tattooed. One slogan was "born to lose" and the shopkeeper told Dr. Peale that it was amazing how many people chose that tattoo. People subconsciously
tattoo their own consciousness - their brain. When it so negatively
puts you down, that's pathetic. A tattoo doesn't go away, it stays
there. You put it there. So we need to learn the awesome
power of a positive affirmation ... and tattoo that in
our brains. It probably falls in the realm of a prophecy of a certain type, or a prediction. But when you declare that you have what you still don't possess, that's an affirmation. It is affirming what you believe is coming your way. Now the power of affirmations is just being discovered in psychology. And that's been my life study the past fifty years. It is interesting how it is now being accepted by many professionals who were so critical of it. My affirmation is a special prayer. I begin my morning as I get out of bed, saying, "Something good is going to happen to me today." Then at night I say, "Thank You Lord for the good news that came my way today." And then just before I fall asleep, "Something good is going to happen to me tomorrow." I share this affirmation with you because I know the power of positive affirmations. My affirmations have power because they begin in the Bible. My affirmations are drawn from the inspiration I receive from Jesus Christ. And so I know that tomorrow even if I might be getting some bad news ... I choose to say, "Good news is coming my way." Because every time I say that, I look for it, and I can find it! I can find good news in the most unbelievable places and that does a lot more for me than expecting, recognizing, responding, acknowledging and honoring bad news. So I don't really believe in bad news. There aren't too many people who have lived the faith, practiced and preached the faith like I have for fifty years every Sunday. And I've discovered that the God I believe in, the God that the Bible talks about, the God that Jesus prayed to, this God turns even bad news into good news in time. That's why in the Old Testament, the word that is used probably more than any other word is the word "wait" ... "Wait
on the Lord. Be of good courage Then St. Paul in his letter to the Christian believers in Corinth says: "All
the promises of God are God's promises are "YES." Decide to look for Good News when disasters happen because of the sinfulness of human beings, the carelessness, the recklessness of society, or the disobedience of countries or cultures. God can take the worst and draw the good out of it, and we are always surprised. It is then that God comes to surprise us with His special blessing in conflict and pain. As a pastor of fifty years, I''ve heard ever so often when there is a disaster, grief, or tragedy, "I didn't know so many people cared..." "I didn't know my family loved me so much. I love my family now more than ever." Or, "You should have seen all the cards and the telephone calls I received." What are they saying? They're saying good news came to bless them after the so-called bad news. "All of the promises of God are "yes" and "amen"! So I say to you today that I really believe with all my heart and soul and there is nothing I believe more than this: "Good news is coming your way." Begin today with the prayer: "Dear God, thank you for the good news that's coming this week." Do you dare to thank God for the good news coming today? That depends on whether you are in stress right here and now. Perhaps you've suffered enormous financial loses. Last week I told you about a man who retired because he had a net worth of $385,000. He could live comfortably with that much money plus his Social Security for the rest of his life. But his $385,000 was all invested in stock and today is worth only $1,036. He lost it all. But he said to me, "You know that means that I had to go back to work. And I'm back at work now and the good news is that I'm a lot happier back at work than I was in my short retirement. I think I'm going to live longer because I''m busy. And I like to work. I see people. I talk to people. I feel younger. God turned my bad news into good news!" Now that's the kind of a God I believe in. That's the positive faith we preach. If you are a possibility thinker, you are intuitively and instinctively challenged by problems andimpossibilities. So you get involved and the challenge turns out to be creative. Then you know you are alive! Dare to ask God today for a challenge and then expect good news! Good news comes in many disguises. There is good news even in the form of a conflict, a collision, heartbreak, or a tragedy. If you've got God in your heart, there is no bad news. If you don't see any good news today, then you need to remember that Old Testament word ... wait. W-A-I-T ... "Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart." God Turns Bad News into Good News The power of one positive affirmation will help you to get through your stress ... through failure ... through financial reversal ... or through cancer treatment. Affirm out loud that you already have what you wish you could experience. Declare it to be in reality what is probably only a hope in your heart. It is amazing. that's dynamic faith in action! Grab hold of the power of this one positive affirmation: "Good news is coming my way." Say it again out loud. Good news is coming my way. I promise you that everybody here is going to hear some good news tomorrow. I don't know what it will be. It may be through a contact. It may come through a connection ... a letter ... a compliment that somebody gives you. It may be a pat on the back. Are you in pain? ... or loss? ... or grief? Then get acquainted with my friend for many years, Art Linkletter, one of the greatest possibility thinkers I know. Art Linkletter received our first "Scars Into Stars" award when his daughter committed suicide under the influence of LSD given to her at a party. And he said that it was the pain of grief that caused him to review his value system. Suddenly his television fame and his pocketbook weren't very important. Art Linkletter wanted to help kids on drugs. Today, at the age of 90, he has traveled 100,000 miles, speaking 70 times already this year! Art Linkletter radiates joy even though another child, his 20-year-old son was killed in an auto accident a few years after his daughter died. With his dynamic and positive faith, Art Linkletter is in the business of sharing good news! Check your value system! Get in touch with God, and I promise that a joy, a peace, contentment and satisfaction will come to you in life. Say: "Good news is coming my way. Something good is going to happen to me today. Something good is going to happen to me tomorrow. Good news is coming my way." The power of one positive affirmation. Why do I believe it so strongly? Because I believe in the Bible and the Bible is full of true stories of a God who blesses people who go through trouble. And there is the story of Jesus Christ and His life on earth, which ended on a cross, but He arose on Easter. And I believe Jesus Christ turns all bad news into blessings. "Wait on the Lord." That's why the cross is such a powerful symbol. The cross is very simple, very plain. But the message of the cross tells us: "Something good is going to happen to me tomorrow. Good news is on the way." People are praying for me and I'm going to benefit from those prayers today. Prayers never die. They're being answered now so I choose to believe in good news. Some of the seeds I planted are going to bear fruit. I thought they were dead, but they're alive and growing. That's good news. There will be a time when I will have the biggest and best news. It's that day when I step into eternity. Good news is coming to me! Hallelujah! In closing, if today all you want to do is cry, then affirm, right now, that something good is going to happen to me today. Something blessed is coming my way. God knows about my tears and He is doing something about it! The Power of One Positive Affirmation. Prayer: Thank you,
God, for the Bible, for our faith, for Jesus Christ, for His life
and death, for His resurrection, for Christ coming back to us
through the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts to give us positive
thinking. And thank you, God, that the cross is the symbol of
a promise to us. It promises that something good is going to happen
and that's the good news! Amen.
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