Principles of the Kingdom (God's Success Principles)

CHAPTER 16:THE PRINCIPLE OF EXCLUSION

“Let us lay aside every weight.…”

--Heb.12:1

In this chapter, I’d like to deal with the principle of exclusion. In other words, the fact that we need to get rid of what you don‘t want to make room for what you do want. I‘m sure all the women would agree with me that when the closet gets full, you must get rid of old clothes to make room for new clothes. By the same token, spiritually speaking, we need to get rid of old attitudes to make room for new attitudes. We have spoken in previous chapters about the value of positive thinking and the importance of setting goals. But if we have failed to deal properly with our old negative thinking patterns, they can catch us off guard and hinder us from any further progress. Thus we must declare war on negative thinking. We must decide to eliminate everything negative from our life. If Pontius Pilate, as I picture him in my novel, “of such is the kingdom,” could have forgotten about his past and what he considered his weaknesses, he could have been a stronger ruler. If Timotheus could have forgotten about his initial failures, perhaps he could have gotten further. But negative experiences tend to enforce negative attitudes. Negative people add to the mix. If it wasn't for Lucas always putting down Timotheus' ideas perhaps he would have found the truth sooner. We must beware of negative associates, and stay away from negative people. Don‘t spend time with people who complain all the time. Of course, if you have such a person as an associate or close friend, you could try to help bring them out. But don‘t allow them to wallow in their self-pity, and try to spend less and less time with them. Rather, seek out people who are excited about living and befriend them.

We must also watch what we read, watch and listen to. The material we read, watch, or listen to that we do not want is a negative energy drain. Thus, we should read only positive literature. We should watch and listen to only those things which are positive and uplifting. (see quote #8 in the quote section below). You have the control. The moment you see it‘s something you don‘t want, turn it off. Listen only to positive things which fortify a high self-image. Concentrate on your strengths and not your weaknesses.

Finally, once we get rid of the negative things which have accumulated over the years, we need to concentrate on putting in more positive things on purpose than the negative things which will still inevitably get in by accident.