I would like to preach and teach about three things that can transform your life. Number one, believe that you can! Second, conceive that you can! Third, acheive what you can. Or another way of saying the same thing in a different tone is to say it like this: conceive it with your mind, believe it in your heart, then you can acheive it in your life.
I remember growing up in Houston, Texas, I use to believe that I could fly. I was so bold that I would climb garages and jump with my hands spread, because I thought that I was Superman. I believed that I could fly!
If you know anything about the writer of the song from the Space Jams movie, R. Kelly then you know that his life was filled with dope rather than hope; filled with violence and nonsense. But something happened to R. Kelly; he came out of the world, gave his life to Christ, and he thought for a moment, how will I make a living singing Gospel music. But God being the kind of God God is, opened a door, very much like the Lord opens tombs. The Lord opened a door and brother Kelly took this song into motion after crossing over from death into life, he says, you know, "I believe I can fly."
Two thousand years ago, when Jesus over came hell, death, and the grave, Jesus made it possible for whosoever believes in Him, to have the same power, to realize their potential and pursue their purpose, to rise above their limitations and their liabilities. Courage is about rising above your circumstances. Courage means to rise above your situations, getting up from what is holding you down and what is getting over on you. Courage means to rise above the pettiness and to begin to soar. Courage is about flying. Courage is about getting a life. The Resurrection life! "I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and day."
Your mind first has to conceive it, then your heart has to believe, then you can achieve it. That is what the resurrection means to me, since Jesus rose on the third day, I can rise! I can make it! I can take it! I can shake it! Death can not defeat me, heartaches can not hold me!
I can go above my problems, above my situations, and above my circumstances. Do you know why? "I think about it every night and day, spread my wings...I believe I can fly." That is why people who believe it have the right attitude because it is in their mind.
It is not an attitude of arrogance, it is an attitude of confidence and of courage.
And so the world gets mad at you because they do not like your attitude. But the world does not understand it because you think about it every night and day.
One day the disciples came to Jesus about a boy who had been possessed with a demon. Jesus said to them, "give me the boy." The disciples could not cast the demon out and Jesus said, "bring me the boy." Instantaneously, Jesus laid hands on him and the demon came out. The disciples said, "why couldn’t we, cast him out." Jesus said, "It was because of your faith."
Why can’t we cast out the demons? The demons of poverty! The demons of stress! The demons of racism! the demons of insecurity! The demons of low self esteem! The demons of sexism! The demons of discouragement! Why is it that we can not cast them out? Jesus said, "It is because your faith, is not where it ought to be."
Now when I speak of faith, I am not talking about the greatness of faith because we do not teach faith in faith. It is not faith that will deliver you, it is the God of faith who will deliver you.
And one of the reasons that we miss our blessings is because we do not give God the glory nor the praise. A part from Christ you can do nothing.
A lot of folk can conceive something, and can believe something but that is about as far as they can go because they do not have the power to do what it is they have on their minds. You are getting ready to fly and somebody says, "You can’t, you won’t, you shouldn’t, you’ll fail, you’ll fall." And then you give up on your dreams.
Negative air traffic controlers will stop you from reaching your destiny.
There is a story about a vaccum salesman down in Tennesee. He was out in rural Tennesee. He had his vaccum cleaner and all of his tools and everything, and he went out there and he told a lady, "I’ve got the most exciting vaccum cleaner you have ever seen.
It will clean your house from top to bottom...you only have to pay so much down." And the lady said, "It sounds real good." He said, "You see that big pile of dirt right there on the floor with all those fur balls and bugs and things." He said, "My vaccum cleaner will just pick up all those things up just like that and if they don’t, I’ll eat it." She said, "well you might as well get your knife and fork, because we do not have any electricity out here!"
You will be sucking up dirt the rest of your life if you do not have the power. If you do not have the electricity, if you do not have what it takes to get where you need to go. It is a leap of faith! It is a terrible thing when you do not have any power!
I believe I can fly but you have to have the courage and faith to trust that God knows how to take care of you.
When I was in grade school, I use to make a lot of paper airplanes. I use to sit in my class and I was suppose to be paying attention to what the teacher was trying to teach, but often I would be making my little airplane. This was a high tech super sonic jet. Even as a boy I use to make airplanes because I believed I could fly! I believed I can touch the sky! Do you believe!
