Your Bible – The Book of Possibilities
By Pastor Jim May
Last night I sat for a little while to watch a movie called “Last Holiday”. I was struck by the dreams of the star of the picture that had lived her entire life, as she described it, “in a box”. All of her life had been spent much like you and I, just getting by, making a living the best way she could. She was somewhat successful in her job. She had many friends, and of course, a few people who weren’t so friendly. But the one thing that stays in my mind was the book where she kept all of her innermost desires and dreams, with pictures and cards and all sorts of mementos placed inside. It was as though she always lived for tomorrow and did the best she could for today. That book, she called it her Book of Possibilities, was her hope for the future and her dreams that she hoped would become a reality.
As I thought about it, I began to realize that all of us have dreams, ambitions, goals, plans and things that we would want to do and accomplish in this life. We also have big dreams for that eternal life that will come when this life is over. We too, have a Book of Possibilities and it’s called the Holy Bible, the very Word of God.
In this book you can find every dream your heart desires. You can find an answer to every question in life and you can find whatever you need.
In Matthew 19:26, "… Jesus … said … with God all things are possible." What prompted Jesus to say such a thing? The answer is that He wanted to show us all that what we think can’t be done, is no challenge at all to God for God can do anything and He will make a way where there is no way.
This message of hope came forth after the Rich Young Ruler had come to Jesus seeking the way to eternal life. Eternal life was that man’s greatest hope, but he just didn’t want to pay the price to have it. His worldly wealth was more important than the world to come and he turned away sorrowful. His salvation had become impossible only because he chose to abandon his dream.
In Matthew 19:24-25, just before Jesus had said that all things are possible with God, this is what he had said to His disciples, "… It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?"
Do you want salvation? It’s impossible with men, but with God – it’s possible! Do you want to see your children saved, or a friend come to know Christ? It may seem impossible right now – but with God all things are possible!
There is one day in my life that I shall never forget as long as I live. That date was June 13, 1968. That was the day that I stepped onto a bus in Donaldsonville and stepped off of the bus at Fort Polk, Louisiana, at the new recruit reception station to begin serving my obligation to Uncle Sam in the U. S. Army. It was not the happiest day of my life. In fact, it will stand out as long as I live, as one of the worst days that I have ever known. I was not a gung ho patriot who went down to the recruiter’s office and joined voluntarily. No sir, they had to draft me and then drag me away kicking and screaming with nail prints in the asphalt. I surely didn’t want to be in this place.
On that first night, when I began to think of my beautiful wife that I had to leave behind, and of the uncertainty and mortal dangers that could lie ahead, and of the fact that I could do nothing about it but endure it to the end, I began to pray to God to help me make it through somehow. My dreams weren’t in Fort Polk, or in Vietnam. My dreams were in Baton Rouge and that’s where I wanted to be.
When the lights were out, after our heads had been shaved and uniforms issued, you could hear the quiet sniffles of a number of people who lay on army cots all around the barracks. There were 45 of us in that open room and I dare say that every one of us had dreams in other places. I doubt that even one of us looked forward to the days ahead with joy.
I managed to catch a beam of light on my cot and under my pillow was the little Bible that my Pastor had given me before I left home. I was a Christian and I knew that God’s Word would somehow help me through, so I prayed for help and opened that Bible, asking God for deliverance, for freedom to go home and for the strength to go the distance.
The very first scripture that I read is found in Matthew 21:22, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
On that scripture I hung all of my hope. I tried to muster all of the faith I could find. I did all I could do to lean on Jesus right then and there. All of my hopes; all of my dreams; my whole future; and my life was hanging by a thread on that one little scripture. When I read that, somehow I knew that everything would be all right and a great peace came over me. In the middle of uncertainty; in the midst of fear; in the midst of doubts and discouragement; in the midst of what seemed a hopeless situation; it was as though Jesus spoke to me and said, “With God all things are possible”!
Two years later, the dream came true and I walked off of the plane in New Orleans to meet my wife and my family. I have never known a harder time that those two years and they taught me an appreciation even for the simplest of things in life. I learned the hard way that being happy means being around those you love and living life the best way you can while you follow your dream.
Just like all of you, we have had some really wild swings in life. There have been some very rocky roads, and we are still hitting a lot of potholes in life. But none have had the impact upon me like those two years. No matter what I have had to face, or what disappointments have come my way; and no matter how hard the road may get at times, nothing can compare to those days in 1968 and 1969.
Through it all, God’s Word has held true. Jesus has brought me through and somehow I’m still living for Him. Somehow, he has made a way where there seemed to be no way. Somehow, He has made many of my dreams come true. Not all of the things I asked for have come to pass. Thank God that many have not.
One dream I had was to be a Mechanical Engineer. That never came to pass and I am persuaded that God knew best and that if I had obtained that dream then my whole life would have taken a different course and perhaps I wouldn’t be serving Him right now. Another dream was to be financially free, wealthy enough to never have to worry about paying the bills again. I chased that dream for over 10 years and really thought I was going to make it, but God had other plans. Perhaps He saw down the road that I would be like that Rich Young Ruler who would prefer the riches of this world than eternal life.
However He did it, God fulfilled His promise that I have trusted Him for, ever since I read that scripture on my first night in the army. And I know that His Word will not fail me now as we continue to run the course before us.
Many of you have similar stories that you could tell. If I were to give each of you an opportunity to stand and testify of where you came from and what God has brought you through, I know that you would have to say with me that Jesus’ words are true, “…with God all things are possible.”
But not everyone will see their dreams come true. If you were to go with me down to the local cemetery and walk among the tombs and look upon the names that are written there and think to yourself, “What dreams did that person have that were never fulfilled? What did they want to accomplish? What epitaph did they leave behind? Was their life full and joyful or did they leave this world with many regrets?”
There are a lot of people who simply can’t see the forest for the trees. They want to do great things for God but life gets in the way. They can’t see past the obstacle to see how they could possibly do what they want to do. Doubts, fears, discouragement, frustration, and unbelief stand in their way.
I wish I could say that I have never experienced any of those obstacles, but I can’t. I’ve been accused of being a negative person and I didn’t want to admit it. I just thought of myself as a realist. But the truth is that I can be pretty pessimistic. I try to see the silver lining but the dark cloud often gets in the way. The only way that I have found to try to overcome those attitudes is to go back to the Word of God and read it again and again. I have to find those scripture like:
John 14:13-14, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
John 15:7, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."
I have to go back, time and again, to my “Book of Possibilities”!
Every time discouragement sets in, go back to the Book.
Every time doubts fill your heart, go back to the Book.
Every time it just seems so impossible, go back to the Book.
Every time you get frustrated, and can’t understand how it will come to pass, go back to the Book.
I once read a book where the author made this statement: “If you think you can, you can; if you think you can’t you can’t.” There’s a lot of truth in that statement. In fact, it is nothing more than a common interpretation of Proverbs 23:7, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…”
Where is your heart? Not your physical muscle that pumps blood through your body, but your real heart – that part of you that makes up the real you, the eternal part of you that thinks, plans and desires? Your heart is in your mind.
1 Corinthians 2:9-11 says, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."
What part of your being processes what your eyes see? What processes what you hear? What processes every thing that your senses pick up? What part of you can understand the things of God that the Spirit reveals to you? It is the mind, operating right now in that little pea-picking brain that we don’t use much of! But even when this body is laid to rest, and this brain ceases to function, the mind will live on. That part of you that thinks will live forever in a brand new body. I know that diseases can often cloud the mind for a time, as we grow old. I know that sometimes we can’t even seem to control our thoughts, but the day will come when your mind will be perfect.
1 Corinthians 13:9-10, "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."
1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
Now because your heart is linked and rooted in your mind and how you think and process information, you can begin to understand why Proverbs says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Your thoughts control your actions and your actions determine who you are and the dreams you will accomplish. If your thinking is messed up, then your heart is not where it should be, and the things you want to accomplish will be limited by your own thinking.
Now the question arises, “Can you really trust your own heart and what you are thinking?” Let me tell you the answer to that question by reading a scripture to you from Jeremiah 17:9-10, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."
So, if your heart is in your mind, and your heart is so deceitful and wicked, what can you use for the foundation to see your dreams come to pass? How can you rely on your own thinking when it’s so flawed? The answer is that you can’t! The answer isn’t in you. The answer isn’t in your reasoning. The answer is in the Word of God that can’t fail and that is always perfect.
That’s why we have to keep going back to God’s Word and placing our faith and trust in what it has to say. If God’s Word says it, it can’t fail, and it will come to pass.
So what are you desiring of the Lord this morning? What is it that is upon your heart and mind this morning? What is it that you are asking God for today?
Are you asking God to help you have a better relationship with your family?
Are you asking God to help you lead someone to Jesus and build the church?
Are you asking God for a better job?
Are you asking God for the ability to love people more?
Are you asking God for healing or miracles?
Are you asking God for peace or joy?
Every bump in the road of life will bring more negative thoughts to your heart, and unless we overcome those negative thoughts, we will never be able to live in faith. Negativity is nothing more than doubts and fears that have become a part of us to limit what we can do and make things seem so impossible.
Let me give you a formula for overcoming negativity, doubts and fear:
GOD’S PROMISES + FAITH +PRAYER + HARD WORK = POSSIBILITY THINKING AND VICTORY! If we could just grab hold of that and never let it go, what a difference it could make in all of us.
We can either live in the negativity of a faithless heart and be stopped dead in our tracks, never accomplishing anything for God, or we can step out by faith, trusting in God’s promises, and do mighty things for God – that choice must come from your heart and put into action through your mind.
In Luke 19:13, when Jesus told the parable of the nobleman who left his servants in charge while he went away to receive his kingdom, he said these words, "… Occupy till I come." That was Jesus’ way of telling all of us that we have work to do. We can’t sit still. We have to keep moving on and accomplishing great things for the kingdom of God.
Therefore, we can’t live in negativity. We have to develop “Possibility Thinking”! I know that we don’t want to get off into the “Name and Claim It” way of thinking, or into the “Hyper-Faith Doctrine”, but I wonder if we have thrown out the baby with the bath water? Have we ceased to trust God’s Word and believe God for great things because we are afraid of being branded as one of these?
Don’t worry about the past. What has happened is over and done with. You can’t go back and change it now. But what you can do is just keep moving forward in faith.
Go back to the Book again and see all the promises of God. God desires for us all to do great things for Him. He wants you to be successful in all you do. Let’s read what David had to say and you will understand just how successful God wants you to be.
Psalms 1:1-3, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
So what if life hasn’t been what you expected! So what if you have faltered or even failed at times! Keep on trusting in God’s Word and believing Him for great things!
Here’s a one-liner that you easily remember: IT’S NOT HOW YOU START – BUT HOW YOU FINISH THAT MATTERS!
Don’t ever forget the words that Jesus said to the father whose son was possessed by a devil in Mark 9:23 when, "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
Don’t ever forget that Your Bible is your Book of Possibilities. Rely on it and meditate upon it. That’s how you keep your thinking right and your heart right.
