In the previous chapters we have been building up to a way of living and experiencing all that God has for us. I'm now going to be recouping, revising and reminding you very quickly of what we have covered.

I am going to try and bring all the pieces together in this section and give you a final plan of action. And not only a plan of action, but actual action, because I have shared about plans of action. I wonder if you have made those plans yet?

In this teaching we will move beyond just talking. We will look at how to get from where you are to where you want to be. That is really what you want to know isn't it? So I am going to give you the shorter route.

To start I have three Scriptures to share with you, so let's go through them quickly. Let's start with Mark 11:23 and 24. These Scriptures may sound a bit different to what you have ever heard because they are in the GBM Version, but they are accurate.

Let me tell you something, Any person who says to this mountain, Be removed, and be thrown into the sea; and does not waver in doubt in his heart, but is fully persuaded that those things that he is saying are happening for him; he will have whatever he says.
Because of this I am telling you, No matter what you are asking for yourself, while you are praying, commit yourself to taking it, and it will happen.

The next one is from Matthew 18:18 which says,

Truly I say to you, Whatever you will bind on earth will be considered as being already bound in heaven: and whatever you will loose on earth will be considered as being already loosed in heaven.

The last Scripture is from Luke 10:19. It says,

I am giving to you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and also [authority] over all the [dynamic] ability of the enemy: and nothing will ever hurt you.

Summary of Previous Chapters

I started this book by asking you this question in Chapter 1. Are you happy, and what will it take to make you happy right now? The purpose of that question was to try to help you identify what your true inner core desires really are.

Next we looked at how you could make plans for experiencing those three things that lie at the core of all your desires. They are health, wealth and good relationships. These things are at the heart of what life is all about.

We then looked at how you could take those plans and start to put action to them. And in the last section we looked at how to develop grace to create good relationships.

I think it is time now to create. You have been learning how to do this, but now it is time you start doing it.

Pre-Action Checklist

Before you start, you need to go through a final checklist and make sure you have everything you need. You don't want to go off halfcocked and miss the target. You want to make sure that when you begin this action you will follow through and succeed.

The first thing you need to consider is, do you want to change? Most of us want to change our circumstances. However, we want to be the same old person in new circumstances.

You might say, "I would like to have more money, just as long as I can carry on working the way I am doing it right now. The money must just come in and fall on me."

Or you might say, "I would like to have better health, but I am not going to deal with how I handle my body. I just want to carry on eating what I eat and doing the zero amount of exercise that I do.

I am a couch potato and sit in front of the computer all day. But somehow miraculously God is now going to create health in me."

Be Prepared for Change

Every one of these things will cost you. You might also say,

"I would like some new relationships. So, I will just stay at home until someone knocks at the door and says, Hi."

It will take a lot of faith for that let me tell you. You might want someone to say,

"I was just walking by and I heard a voice saying, there is a beautiful woman in that home. Go and knock on the door and meet her."

If only it was so easy! But you will have to get out of your complacency and your rut. You have what you have right now because you are what you are right now. And if you want things to change, you will have to change.

So, before you open your big mouth and say, "I'm going to get these things," are you prepared to change? Are you prepared to shake out of your complacency and say,

"Okay, so I am old. Does that mean I need to act like a pensioner now?"

I was shocked recently when I saw some faces of men that I knew who are close to my age. I hadn't seen them for many years.

One guy preached all hunched over and barely holding onto the pulpit and he is a big name. He was one of the fittest, healthiest men. He was a body builder, but he is a decrepit old man now.

Don't ever think that you are too old to embrace all that the Lord has for you. Caleb was 40 when they first went into the Promised Land. He waited another 40, then at the age of 80 they finally went into conquer the land.

Even after they had conquered, it was all over and he was very old he said,

"Just give me that land! I'm going to go and take it. I'm just as ready now as I was at 40, 50 or 80 years old!"

Perhaps you say, "I am too young. Everybody will look down on me. I want to make a great big impact on this world, and I am only 22 years old."

Jesus was only 30 and He conquered everything.

You must change your thinking. And sometimes before you even start you will need some divine discontentment. You will have to get fed up with the way things are and say,

"I am sick of the way things are! I'm sick of the way it has been for the last 20 or 30 years. I've had enough!"

The Answer Comes with Pressure

If you haven't got to that place yet I must warn you about something. The moment you begin to exercise some of these principles that I have been teaching you, God will bring them to you. But then you might say,

"I put out my faith and began to trust the Lord and my whole world fell apart."

That is the first sign that your prayers got answered. Or you might say,

"I prayed for more money and things got worse. I prayed for healing and I got sicker."

Hallelujah, what a good sign. You need divine discontentment; something to shake you up and say,

"I'm going to do something about this now. I'm tired of waiting and just talking. It's time for action."

You need a fresh hope. Maybe many years ago you tried, and you failed. You need a fresh hope before you get going again.

You also need determination. You need to make up your mind and say,

"I am going to push through, no matter what comes against me."

You need motivation. You can get motivated by listening to someone who can preach. I hope I am motivating you through this teaching. But your motivation must come from a deeper source. It must come from deep within.

I have a book entitled Keys to Self-Motivation. If you need motivation, go and get it. It will motivate you. You must draw from your own resources, so don't rely on somebody else.

So, get out of your complacency. Get out of our rut and get discontented enough to say,

"I'm out of here now. I've had enough of this!"

Know Your Authority

Then before you open your big mouth and get going, you had better know who you are. You had also better know the authority that you have in Christ.

Because you see if you don't know this, the first step you take, Satan is just going to come and blow you away and you will be gone. You will fall at the first attack.

Authority Over Satan

You need to know your authority firstly over the realm of darkness. Luke 10:19 that we shared at the beginning, talked about giving you authority. Jesus said,

"I am giving you power to tread on serpents and scorpions. I'm giving you authority over all the dynamic power and ability that the enemy has."

You might say to me,

"Satan seems so strong. He has really attacked me."

Yes, he is quite powerful. And if you want to try and fight him in your own strength, I have bad news for you. You will lose. So, you don't fight him with your power. You fight him with your authority. God says,

"I have given you greater authority than his power."

What is authority? Authority is the right to command. When you are in authority, you don't have to get in there and do all the work. You tell somebody else to do it. You give orders, and those orders must be obeyed.

There are many powers and abilities available to us that are far greater than Satan. You don't need to use your own. You just need to use the authority that you have and release those powers against the enemy.

You will overcome. You must just trample on that serpent instead of running in fear. You will crush the head. You'll crush that scorpion, instead of being terrified of it attacking you and hurting you.

Authority Over Other Areas

You have authority over the creation. Jesus said,

"Do you see that mountain? If you believe and you have faith, you can speak to that mountain and say, be removed and be cast into the sea. And that is exactly what will happen."

When is the last time you even moved a little pebble? That is authority and all it requires is faith. You see that is where the power comes from.

You can speak to your circumstances and they can change. You can speak to the world round about you. You can speak to the weather and if you believe, it will change.

I have seen it happen many times. But if you don't practice it, you will stand there with all the authority in the world and nothing will happen. We will look at that shortly.

Authority Over Your Body

You have authority over your own life and over your body. When is the last time you talked to your body? Do you know what we usually say to our bodies?

We say, "You useless, ugly thing. I wish I had another one! I wish I had a good body like that other person. I'm so fed up with this body of mine. I'm so sick of being in this body. I hate my body."

Without your body you wouldn't be here. Do you know that your body is the greatest gift that God has given you?

That body that you are living in gives you the right to be in this world. It gives you an ability to see and to touch, to smell and to taste.

It gives you the ability to do things. Without that body you would be hopeless. You would be useless and no good to man or beast.

When was the last time you showed some appreciation for your body, instead of looking in the mirror and saying?

"Oh, what an ugly body. I hate it!"

When was the last time you talked to your body and said?

"Thanks for the good job you are doing. Thanks eyes. I know I have had to give you a bit of help, but you are still doing a good job. Without you what would I do?

What would I do without the ability to hear? And if I didn't have taste, I couldn't enjoy those lovely meals."

Instead you sit down and think,

"I need to diet. I need to stop eating or my body is just going to get fat."

Bless your body and say,

"Thank you, body, for what you do for me. Thank you that I don't even need to think about what you will do with this food, because you know what to do with it.

You will take it and digest it. You will convert it to energy, and you will give me ability to do things in this world."

It is time you start to bless your body and to thank the Lord for it. I am not saying you should just accept it the way it is. If you accepted your body the way it was, you would be walking around naked the way you were born.

But you don't do that. You add things to it. You make it look better by dressing it up. Some people need to use different colors to make them look better. Sometimes makeup does the world of good. It is amazing what it can do.

God has given you ladies lovely hair as a beauty, so use it.

Yes, I know sometimes it doesn't grow so well and you need wigs but that doesn't matter. Do something about it.

Say, "Thank you Lord for this body. I am going to do the best that I can."

Talk soothing, comforting words to your body. Complement it and say,

"Hey body you did a pretty good job there. Thank you; I appreciate that."

When last did you talk nicely to your body? Your body is the most valuable thing you have. Don't ever look down on it, because when you lose it you are gone.

There are people out there who have lost some of their senses. They can't see, they can't hear, or they can't speak. We take these things for granted, but don't do that.

Speak to your body. Yes, you can command your body, but none of us like being told what to do, do we? You might command someone and say,

"Do this now!"

"I don't feel like it. And especially if you tell me to do it I don't want to do it."

Sometimes your body is that way isn't it? It is quite stubborn. So, speak gently to your body. Encourage it and thank it. Say,

"Hey body, you are doing such a great job. I know you can get rid of this fat. I don't know how to do it, but I am trusting you because you know how to do it.

I know you will do a good job and I am relying on you. Body I have faith in you. You will do this, because that is what you were designed to do. You were designed to keep me healthy."

That kind of changes your whole perspective of it doesn't it? When you speak to your body in faith, hope and love you release the power of God into it and you create something new. We will be looking more at that shortly.

Authority Over Your Soul

You have authority over your own soul. When is the last time you talked to yourself and encouraged yourself? David did that. The next time you feel down, go and stand in front of the mirror, look at yourself and say,

"Hey, you, you are blessed. You know what? I have the greatest of confidence in you. You will do great. You will arise and succeed in this world. You will do awesome things, because you were created to rule and reign."

Keep doing it until you believe it, instead of listening to all the other words out there that are putting you down. Motivate yourself and develop confidence in yourself.

I can't bear preachers who are always speaking about pride. Most of them are the most prideful people you can have. They preach on pride and make everyone in the congregation feel like worms, so that they can get away with it.

Most of us really don't have a problem with pride. We have a problem with being too self-oriented at times. And yes, we want to call it pride. But while you are majoring on the pride and all the negatives, you never amount to anything.

In the early years when God called me and I really wanted to work for Him, I so felt I needed to be right with Him. I felt I wasn't humble enough and spiritual enough, and who was I to think that God could use me?

That was just pride. I was saying,

"Why exalt yourself?"

There is a big difference between self-confidence and pride. You see God has made you to be the highest creation in this world. When you stand up and acknowledge that and give Him the glory for it, you can be as bold as a lion.

You can be confident in yourself, because God made you without having to be caught up in pride. Most people who have a problem with pride are people who don't have a good view of themselves. They see themselves as too small, too weak and too useless.

These are the people who suffer the most from pride. It's because they are so busy thinking about themselves all the time and trying to bring themselves out of their insecurity and inferiority. But they are totally self-oriented.