PICTURE GOD AS YOU

PREFACE

The Story of the Baby Elephant is the inspired idea behind this book, Build Confidence and Self-Esteem in GOD. It’s an old story that says if you take a chain and tie it to the ankle of a baby elephant, the baby elephant will only go as far as the chain allows. The elephant will understand there is a boundary and he will accept it and stop trying. Once you take the chain away, it won’t make any difference to him: he won’t venture out. He grows into adulthood, big and strong enough to break the chain, but continues limiting himself inside of a mental prison.

What’s really striking in this story is the elephant doesn’t believe. What the elephant thinks and what he believes about himself means everything! Something hit me like a brick after I recognized myself doing the same thing, only going “so far” before stopping. I settled comfortably in life with a beautiful loft, furnishings, and sports convertible. I followed the patterns of what everybody said and expected, quieting my voice and not making waves. The problem is that I saw more to the world and myself within it, and I saw the hugest gap between where I was and where I saw myself in my dreams. Either I was going to step up and play a bigger game, or I won’t because of self-limited thinking and beliefs.

How many of you can see it? That what we believe about ourselves has everything to do with the boundaries we set? Too many of us do not believe we can go farther. We do not truly believe we have what it takes. And we have lost belief in any greatness within ourselves. Every time we play small, we’re only bottling up our limitless potential—the flow of GOD through us—and we’re ripping off ourselves!

When I first understood this, it made me angry but I had to drop it because I only did what I was taught and learned as a kid. What I thought about myself was formed by what others thought of themselves. Think for a moment about how messed up that is? It begins as kids in watching, observing, and listening to grown-ups: what they said and did, and what they didn’t do every time they didn’t step up. So like the baby elephant, I grew up with a false perception of who I am and what I could achieve. What about you? What kind of self-perceptions did you have while growing up? The differences between us and the elephant are that we hope, see a future, and dream. We get a taste of what is possible every time we ponder the question, “what if?” And we allow the flow of creativity to pass through our gifts, releasing the best of our positive qualities as we venture wherever our hearts lead us.

I remember the day I stopped burying my head in the sand, buying false truths and definitions of others that were killing a slow death inside of me. I walked away from it all knowing there was a truth I would find to make sense of everything and restore order. And there was GOD, directing me on a path to begin the awesome discovery of myself, and a destiny where my biggest dreams await. My entire perspective of the world changed together with my perspective of myself within it. I saw thousands and thousands of other people just like me, and you, similar to the baby elephant with self-limited thinking and beliefs that are holding us back. And I saw all of us set free because GOD restored us and made us whole again. He took away our “chains”—all of our mental strongholds, limited beliefs, and emotional woes.

I’m inspired to share my experiences and stories after a realization of so much I have in common with other people. By writing and speaking on self-esteem and confidence, I hope that you will find the truth of your destiny too. I sense inspired words on these pages connecting with so many of you as you read with an open mind. GOD created you to be confident and believe in yourself. He is seeding your special mission into your heart and soul and is showing you the amazing life He created you to live. Open your heart to look honestly at what you think and believe about yourself, and test whether your conclusions are true or untrue. GOD will show you the way to sow the truth about who you are by replacing limiting thoughts and beliefs with His truth.

Start where you are and push through to the end, if for no other reason than for you to see yourself in the same glory that GOD sees you. This is truly your moment to step up and become the person of your dreams. I promise: you will see the world differently from a GOD perspective and through His greatness in you.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

INTRODUCTION

Many of you are reading this book because you are looking to build confidence and self-esteem, which means that you think or see yourself falling short or insufficient in some way or another. Great. You’re at the perfect place to finally stop looking to other people and things. This section details the basis of truth or standard, a very real one, to redefine yourself; a truth of who you are and what you can do as inspired by GOD. It also introduces the clear role you play which the enormity of this book focuses on: being your thoughts and how you renew them.

The #1 question some of you may be asking is, “Is this a religious book?” No. It’s a book written about what we think about ourselves and how much of what we think is formed by other people. It helps us see the ways many of our thoughts about ourselves are not true; truth defined as the body of real things and facts and actuality. It shows us the perfect places to hit “reset”, and yes, we are capable of resetting our thoughts and self-perception about who we are and the role we play in this world. This means you can establish a rock-solid foundation for yourself that eliminates self-limiting beliefs and never crashes.

Billions of people around the world understand and experience “truth” as something bigger, as GOD. When I saw the “truth” of who I am revealed through my vision and dreams, GOD made that person and I loved her, and finally, I loved myself. In her, I saw the role GOD plays by way of “divine healing”; she was healed and restored to fullness.

What is divine healing?

So what exactly is meant by divine healing or GOD healing us? How does it really work? And if you're not religious, will divine healing still work for you? ... (more)

How does it work?

Believe it or not, the Spirit of GOD reaches out to us first... (more)

What is the clear role we play?

I clearly understood there is a role that I play because GOD plays a role that I will support or work against. The role we all play is in our minds and thoughts: we renew them... (more)

Self-Study Exercises

Use the guided exercises throughout this book to write your responses to questions raised to gain clarity on thoughts and ideas you have which will be true or untrue. Use an open heart to look honestly and put your beliefs on the table... (more)