Discover the 8 Steps to a Mountain-moving Faith

by Fernando Soave

"If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will
say to this mountain: 'Move and it will move!' And nothing will be
impossible to you."
- Matthew 17:20

Submitter's Note: This article has been adapted from a most inspiring
article by Fernando Soave, as well as adding a bit of personal input
from my own experiences). I could closely relate to Fernando's 8 Steps
on my 'journey of faith', as when I look back it all seemed an
'impossible dream' to me, when I started out. This well-written
article was so inspiring to me and the points so simply made, that I
wanted to share Fernando's words of wisdom "with the world" via the
www. When first published (in 2003) this article greatly encouraged me
as I travelled down my "untrodden path". In addition, whilst studying
the workings of the human mind, working on this 'version' and sharing
the contents on the 'net' has greatly clarified my thinking regarding
the concept of faith and how it fits in on the 'spiritual journey of
life'.

"We are all spiritual beings having a human experience."
- Teilhard De Chardin

Thank you sincerely for sharing these eternal principles of wisdom,
which I'm passing on in the form of this article, Fernando.
To all you readers I sincerely hope that this article encourages you
to step out in faith in whatever endeavour you may choose... and may
all your wildest dreams one day
come true. Just "go for it"!

- Craig Lock ("Incorrigible Encourager/People-Builder, Information and
Inspiration Distributer")
http://www.craiglockbooks.com
http://www.craiglock.com
*
You can transform your business, your future and your life, WHEN you
discover and then FOCUS the power of mountain
moving faith to your life situation, no matter how impossible things may seem.

You can accomplish what seems at first 'impossible', if
you will take the following eight steps of mountain moving
faith.

There are many people (not only 'religiously-minded"), who claim to
live by faith; yet remain 'low achievers'. We all know individuals who
claim to exercise 'real faith', yet they appear to accomplish
little of value in life. Why is this so?

I believe that frequently failure is the result of a too shallow
faith, as well as a mindset of too low expectation. So RAISE your
level of thinking and watch what happens!.

A mountain moving faith is not merely touching your toes
in the water. Mountain moving faith is a faith that
dares to step into deep water out in the middle of the great Pacific
ocean (that's a metaphor, btw!)..

Let's look now at the eight steps on how to get any person to a
mountain moving faith.

Step 1: DREAMING (big!).

Mountain moving faith begins with a vision, a dream of what you can
BECOME. Success has been defined as
"the progressive realization of a world wide dream!" (tinged with
balance in life).
Unquestionably the greatest power in the world is the
power of a creative idea (mixed with great faith), ie. ENERGY, PASSION
+ BELIEF. All success begins in the human mind with desire, which
grows into a vision, a
dream of what can one day BE (ie. don't see things as they are; but
what they can become). G. W. F. Hegel said, "Nothing great in the
world has ever been
accomplished without passion." Problems (that seem insurmountable),
pressures and circumstances shift over time. You can measure the size
of a man or woman by
the size of his or her dreams.

Faith begins with an act of imagining. Visualise the ideal situation
in your life happening for you.
SEE it first,
then you'll BELIEVE it.

Because,
If you don't have a dream,
then how can dreams come true?

God is a God of Creation. So begin now by using the "God power", the
amazing and unlimited powers of the creative imagination within
yourself -
to paint a picture (in detail) of what you would like to accomplish in
your life. Everything!
Reject all impossibility (negative) thoughts and all "disadvantage
complexes". Imagine yourself as a friend of the Mighty,
a partner of the Wealthy and a co-worker with the
Almighty. (I see God through Jesus Christ as my partner, an "Invisible
Guide and Mentor" down my 'journey of life'. He is the FOCUS of my
faith, a 'channel').

So your faith begins (and is manifested) with a dream; but it must
move to deeper
levels before success will be fully realized.

My faith gets stronger each day, as I test the principles involved...
and they DO work.

Step 2: DESIRING (strongly).

Faith in deeper water is wanting something so badly
that someday, somewhere, somehow, you know
you shall have what you so earnestly desire. More faith is shattered by lack of
desire than by real doubt.

No man or woman will ever believe that he or she can move a mountain,
unless he (or she) really wants that mountain to move. Almost
anything can be accomplished by the person who really
WANTS to succeed - with all their heart and soul. The old adage is so
true: "Where there's
a will, there IS a way." It's a matter of CHOICE on what we pursue in
life and a DECISION of WILL. We believe what we WANT to
believe. Believing is wanting something passionately and it all stems
from a deep desire for what you want.

Apply this definition of faith to your personal goals, aspirations and
dreams. To
begin with, you must know precisely what you want, as you clarify all
your desires. Doing this imprints them in the subconscious mind, like
an engraving (that's a simile, btw). "Etch it" in your consciousness.
Visualize in
detail what you want to achieve in your life. Then FOCUS (it could be
on your goal, yourself, God, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and so on). With
a confused and
muddled picture of what you are going after, do not be
surprised if you fail. (As the saying goes: "If you fail to plan,
you'll be planning to fail").

Therefore, an early step in mountain moving faith is
forming A DETAILED MENTAL PICTURE OF YOUR DREAM.

"And he had understanding of the vision" (so he had great insight and wisdom).
- Daniel

If you want your dream badly enough, you WILL plan,
organize, re-organize and work until you get what you
want. See what is working for you and reassess strategies from time to
time (the key to success). With self discipline, lots of hard work,
then "heaps" of patience. A strong faith
is wanting something with all your heart, then fully TRUSTING the
Universe, a Higher Power that it WILL one day happen for you. Great
desire marshals great determination, which leads to great action...
which leads to great achievement

After you know what you want, you must "censor" these
desires. The moral questions must be asked at this
point: "Is this right? Would God (the Ground of all Being, the
Ultimate Source) want this for me? Will this dream be "good" for me
and my family? Will it help others and serve a human need? Aid
humanity in some way? In a little way, make some contribution to a
better planet? Can I, will I perhaps
ask God, a Higher Power to be my partner in this dream venture?"
Make your dreams big enough for God to fit in? Doing that is the
supreme test of faith. Practice your faith, exercise it frequently.
A strong faith builds very strong muscles, when it get a "Yes" to all
these vitally important questions.

Step 3 : DARING

Doubt frequently stems from a lack of courage. Fear of
embarrassment (not wanting to stand out from the crowd) along with
fear of involvement, or perhaps fear of
personal self-sacrifice is enough to keep you from
wanting to make a commitment of faith to an idea, a project or a worthy cause, a
dream. However, with God on your side you
will be filled with courage and dare to take some risks. It involves a
'shift of consciousness'.

A "mountain moving" faith is not merely desiring something earnestly
and dreaming. It is daring to risk failure (greatly). For faith is
making that big DECISION with absolutely no guarantee of success; but
that's when Infinite Intelligence, the Grand Designer, Infinite Spirit
of the Universe "steps in" to help you achieve the impossible dream.
If
success is certain, then a venture is no longer an act
of faith; because faith without risk is a contradiction. Faith
is taking a chance on something, before you can be sure
how everything will finally work out. It is trusting an Unseen Force
(like gravity), the Invisible, Goodness of Life for your wishes to
materialise.

Remember this: "Every time you make a choice, you take
a chance." The saddest words of tongue or pen are
these: "It might have been... and if only I'd given it a go with all I had."

Faith is daring to risk disappointment. If you never
try, you will never lose (the only failures are those who don't try").
Faith is daring to be a
chance-taker. Here is how success will work for YOU...
Chance taking generates excitement. And excitement generates
enthusiasm... and enthusiasm generates energy... which leads to
ACTION. See, you have a success cycle going.

Step 4 : BEGINNING

You have a dream, you have ruled fear out of your
thinking, now get going...

It is not enough to dream, desire and dare. Mountain
moving faith now begins to ACT as if nothing is going
to stop your dream from succeeding. Act "as if" you are already
successful with a positive outlook, that things will somehow work out
for you...in due course.

Faith must move from the level of imagination, then into the level of
concrete organization. A good PLAN mixed with action and faith - the
secret ingredients of success in any undertaking you may choose.

Get started. Do something! "Beginning is half done!"

Take that first small step in faith...
and the next will follow naturally.

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step."
- ancient Chinese proverb

Step 5 : EXPECTING

Hope is also a great power that can move you to success.
Why? Because when a man or woman EXPECTS to win in the v'game of
life', they do not hold anything back; but give his or
her project all that they've got.

When you expect success, then you hold nothing back,
but stick your last dime, expend your last reserves of
energy and gamble your priceless reputation, confident
that you'll make it... someday, somewhere, somehow! Such extreme
dedication (without being obsessive) almost
always leads to success. When people know that you
have given your wonderful idea, project or vision all that you've got,
these good helpers (who may possess skills and talents that you may
lack) will march to your side and help move you on to
victory and ultimate success.

EXPECT a miracle and you may surprise yourself!

Step 6 : AFFIRMING

Faith is affirming success BEFORE it comes. Faith is
making claims to victory before it is achieved (without being
"big-headed", please). This
is very difficult to do, but most important in the process.

"Mountain moving achievers" are people who boldly predict success.
They know that they have to convey an image of winning, success,
or they will never gain the following they need to
achieve their goal(s).

Affirming something with passion (even just to oneself) is
enthusiasm-generating faith. Say to yourself: "I know it WILL happen
one day." Great
affirmations heighten the sense of expectancy and
generate great enthusiasm in your heart. Affirm success and you
will visualize yourself winning.
BELIEVE IT first...
THEN YOU'LL SEE IT

Step 7 : WAITING

Almost every venture goes through a period of time
when problems seem to be overwhelming and you seem to be "standing
still, merely spinning your wheels". This is the time to
remind yourself that mountain moving faith is a faith
with "hold the line" power. Faith involves having patience (great)
through this 'germination period'. Men or
women who succeed greatly are people who know
that every project goes through phases, when after the hard work has
been put in, there is
nothing to do but wait. But only after you've done all that you can
possibly do to move your vision ahead.
("God, please give me more patience, but please hurry, as I want it NOW!")

This is especially true when we have experienced what
may appear to be a failure or a costly setback.
Successful people are men and women who refuse to
believe in defeat. Their infinite patience generates
fantastic 'bounce-back' ability and 'stickability'.
Where the average individual quits far too soon, the positive thinker
bounces back, confident that somehow, some way,
sometime a new opportunity will come along to pull him
or her up and on to the success roundabout (or 'ladder of success').
PERSISTENCE is the key here.

The 'sands of time' have a way of proving that what looks like a
setback is really good fortune wearing a false mask.
Hold on. Remain optimistic. Trust that God has an answer
and a breakthrough for you. And most importantly, don't quickly label
yourself a bad person, a failure or a loser when you feel "stuck". We
all go through
seasons in our life, but the reasons aren't always obvious or
revealed. So always keep a positive attitude...and you may even turn a
personal tragedy into ultimate triumph.

DON'T QUIT

"When things go wrong as they sometimes will.
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill.
When funds are low and the debts are high.
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit.
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about.
When he might have won had he stuck it out:
Don't give up though the pace seems slow –
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far:
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit –
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit."

- Author unknown

and finally,

Step 8 : ACCEPTING

We all face situations when our mountain does not move
in spite of all we do.

Then, the only thing we can do is offer that profound
prayer of faith offered by Jesus Christ:

"My Father, all things are possible unto Thee.
Nevertheless, not my will, but THINE be done."

"Thy will be done" towers above all human utterances
as the supreme statement of faith on the deepest
level of human consciousness. Once you've done all you can, mountain
moving faith is surrendering, letting
go and letting God fully take over.
LET GO, LET GOD, LET GOOD.

How can you surrender your dreams or your problems to
God? Only God, the Creator of the Universe knows what's good and
what's bad for us. (I see this submission an active decision of will
and definitely not mild, passive weakness).

So, if your mountain will not move, surrender (fully submit) it to God
in prayer, which is thought energy at work. It's the most powerful
force on earth, communicating with a Higher Power (at a deeper, yet
the highest level of human consciousness).
Then God, the God of Creation, the Designer of the Universe will
either move that "mountain in your life" for you... or show you how
you can turn it
unto a gold-mine or a monument to your unique life, a great legacy to
your precious time on this planet.

Fernando Soave
Editor and Publisher
CUTTING EDGE MLM
http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk
Free Cutting Edge MLM
Newsletter.
mailto:subscribecemlm@freeautobot.com

The Possibility Thinker's Creed

"When faced with a mountain, I WILL NOT QUIT!.
I will keep on striving until I climb over,
find a pass through, tunnel underneath,
or simply stay and turn the mountain
into a gold mine,
with God's help."
- Robert H. Schuller

Fernando Soave is the author of "Cutting Edge MLM
News." He has been in marketing for 20 years and is
helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to
find out how you can get free reports.
http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk or Subscribe to the Free
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