You Don’t Need a Good Idea, You Need a Divine Idea

Introduction to Biblical Frameworks

You are about to find out where I get all these ideas from. Today, I want to talk to you about the framework in the Bible that I got the outline for my TEDx talk from. When you begin to understand that the Bible is not just stories, not about religion, but a guidebook, it changes everything. When you read the Bible, you’re looking for frameworks, instructions, patterns, principles, promises, and precepts. You’re looking for how to do this thing called life, and it’s all in there.

It’s interesting because one person heard me give this presentation from my TEDx talk and said, “Oh, that’s cognitive behavioral psychology.” You might call it that, but it was in the Bible before any cognitive behavioral psychologist ever thought it up. So, I’m going to share with you where I got that from.

Faith and Understanding

In Hebrews chapter 11, it says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtained a good report.” But what does it say next? “By faith, we understand.” I want you to breathe that in for a minute. It did not say, “By understanding, we have faith.” A lot of people think, “I will believe as soon as I understand.” Well, I got news for you: you don’t get to understand until you believe. That’s why the scripture says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” and “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It starts with an awareness, starts with faith in the one who is faithful.

The Framing of Worlds

It says, “By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” A frame is not the foundation, but it’s the structural edifice that you put all the other stuff on. It says, “By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed.” What worlds? “Things which are seen,” that’s one world, “were not made of things which do appear.” That’s the other world. So, we have the physical world and the invisible world. It says that the things which are seen are not made of things which do appear, which means the foundational framework of everything is invisible, it’s spiritual. Spirituality is reality; physicality is the manifestation of reality.

Applying Biblical Concepts

So, it says, “By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” This means the better we understand the things that are not seen, the better we can understand the things we’re seeing. Are you all tracking? Start looking for biblical foundational frameworks to understand life better, and then you will do life better.

For those of you who have seen my TEDx talk, I’m not going to do the whole thing as I did then, but basically, I’m going to draw the whole picture on the board, then I’ll give you the Bible verse it came from, and then I’m going to show you how I activate this concept in my life on a daily basis, and how you can activate it in your life on a daily basis. The name of my TEDx talk is “The Master Key to Influence: How to Overcome Procrastination in Yourself and Others.”

Understanding Influence

Now, why did I name it “The Master Key to Influence”? What is influence? Influence is your ability to develop in someone the desire to follow you, to trust you, or to listen to you. That’s what influence is. You’re developing in somebody, whether that somebody is somebody else or whether that somebody is yourself, a desire to follow you, listen to you, trust you. Are you all tracking? Wave at me if you’re tracking.

The Concept of Influence in Action

So, when I say “The Master Key to Influence,” now you know I’m talking about influencing me, whether I’m influencing me to not procrastinate or whether I’m influencing you not to procrastinate. See, parents, when they’re dealing with their children, they want their children to do something; they don’t want that child to procrastinate. When I’ve got something that has to get done, I don’t want me to procrastinate. A business person who’s closing a deal doesn’t want the person on the other side of that deal to procrastinate. So, when I talk about the master key to influence, that’s why I’m talking about it as the master key to influence and not as cognitive behavioral psychology. I didn’t even know that’s what it was until somebody told me that. And that’s why I’m not talking about it as just a Bible verse to memorize so we can know it, but as something we can take action on every day. If you’re tracking, let me hear, “I’m tracking.” Okay, cool.

Facts, Frames, and Feelings

So, this is you or me, right? And this is the facts. Now, here’s what’s interesting about facts: every fact, the fact is that every fact has a positive side and a negative side. That’s a fact. So, when the facts have a negative side and a positive side, what happens is you or me, we observe the fact, and when we observe the fact, the first thing we do is we put a frame around that fact. We put a frame around the fact. That frame determines how we feel about it. I’m going to tell you something: if you get this, it’ll change your life for the rest of your life. If you get this one thing I’m about to say, it’ll change your life for the rest of your life. And that is, if your attitude is right, facts don’t matter.

The Power of Attitude Over Facts

Now, you say, “Well, come on, man, that can’t be.” Okay, if your attitude is right, the facts don’t matter. Why? Because the frame that you put around the fact has more to do with how you feel about the fact than the fact itself does. Did you hear what I just said? The frame you put around the fact has more to do with how the fact affects you, then just how you feel about the fact. Like, you’re going to look at the fact, you’re either going to focus on the positive aspect of the fact, which is going to make you happy, or you’re going to focus on the negative aspect of the fact, and it’s going to make you sad. Are you all tracking with me so far?

Focus, Belief, Faith, and Doubt

Okay, so if I’m focused on the fact, focus is not the fact. The focus is in my head. So, I have a focus in my head about the fact. That focus in my head, it manufactures something, causes my mind to manufacture a belief. Now, belief is a two-sided coin. It also has a positive aspect and a negative aspect. If I’m focused on the negative aspect of the fact, it’s going to cause me to have a positive belief. That positive belief is commonly known as faith. If I’m focused on the negative aspect of the fact, it’s going to cause me to have a negative belief, and that negative belief is called doubt. Here’s the part people don’t get: Faith and doubt are both belief. Most people erroneously think that faith is belief and doubt is the absence of belief. But faith is not belief and doubt the absence of belief. Faith is belief in the outcome I desire; doubt is belief in the outcome I don’t desire. How many of you all are tracking? Wave at me, my peeps.

The Dynamics of Focus and Belief

In order for anything to exist, it has to have two sides. When I’m focused on the positive aspect of a fact, it causes me to manufacture a belief called faith. This belief called faith empowers me by creating a feeling in my heart. If I’m focused on the positive aspect of the fact, the feeling is going to be anticipation. Anticipation is one of your greatest assets.

The Power of Anticipation

I think one of the biggest mistakes people make when communicating is they say words and then define the word. But if I can show you a picture of the word, that’s better. Do you remember on Christmas Eve, the excitement of waking up the next day to open the thing you knew you were getting? My parents would always make us go to bed early on Christmas Eve. We went to bed, but the only thing we couldn’t do was sleep. Why? Because our anticipation of the outcome of the next day’s events energized us. Anticipation of a favorable outcome produces energy to complete any task. Authors say they’ve got writer’s block, but it’s not writer’s block; it’s a lack of anticipation. If you knew you were going to sell a million copies next week, you’d get the book done today.

Anxiety vs. Anticipation

But if I’m focused on a negative aspect of the fact, I’m going to manufacture a belief called doubt. The belief of doubt is going to cause me to have a totally different feeling in my heart, that feeling is called anxiety. Anxiety is the thief of your dreams. We are commanded by Christ never to have anxiety. He said, “Take no thought for tomorrow,” which literally means don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t waste today’s energy worrying about tomorrow’s problems because now you’ve wasted today and made yourself behind tomorrow.

Biblical References to Anxiety

In Philippians chapter 4, it says, “And be careful for nothing.” That word “be careful” is the word don’t have anxiety, don’t worry. It’s the exact same Greek word that was used in Matthew where Jesus said, “Take no thought for tomorrow.” So, we see that Jesus said it, the Apostle Paul said it.

Overcoming Anxiety with Faith

“Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep or guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” This is a call to not worry about anything. Anxiety is the thief of your dreams.

The Deception of Anxiety

Anxiety deceives people because it looks like fear, sounds like fear, and causes the same physical reactions in your body as fear. So, you think you have fear when you actually have anxiety. It’s not possible to have a fear of failure; it’s not a real thing. Fear is caution over a real and present danger. If there’s no real and present danger, there can be no fear. Most people think they have a fear of something when actually what they have is anxiety over something. Anxiety is caution over a future imagined danger.

The Waste of Worry

Worry is waste. The greater the worry, the greater the waste. Stop wasting your life worrying about anything. Worry is not something to know; it’s something to do away with. This is how we live this out every day, not just shout about it on Sunday and then start worrying again on Monday.

The Power of Positive Focus

When my attitude is right, the facts don’t matter. My attitude is to focus on the positive aspect of the fact so I can manufacture a belief called faith and shut down the manufacturing plant in my mind that manufactures doubt. One of the problems is that you have way more practice visualizing unfavorable outcomes than favorable ones. You are better at expecting unfavorable outcomes than favorable ones because you know what the unfavorable outcomes look like and feel like, as you’ve experienced them before. Some of the favorable outcomes you desire, you’ve never experienced, so you don’t know how to visualize them.

Trusting in God’s Plan

Who knows more, you or God? Whose word should you take in a particular situation, yours or His? God has already been in every day of your future since before you got here, and He isn’t worried about it, so quit tripping. Don’t worry about the economy or anything else. God owns everything. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the hills under those cattle. The silver and gold are His. If He’s got plenty, you’ve got plenty. In Christ, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

The Concept of Being More Than Conquerors

Imagine someone going to the Olympics and saying, “I got a better than gold medal.” Or a boxer claiming to be beyond the world champion. Nobody talks like that, except God. We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. We’re not just going to win in this game called life; we have already won. Even in death, we win because we have eternal life.

Eternal Life and Belief

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” The problem isn’t God’s ability to perform; it’s our ability to believe. Belief requires discipline and intention, especially in something you’ve never seen before. The saying “I’ll believe it when I see it” is one way to go about it, but a better way is to believe it so you can see it. David said, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Believing will cause you to see, and then seeing will cause you to believe more, creating momentum.

The Cycle of Focus, Feeling, and Function

The focus in your head creates a feeling in your heart, which produces a function in your hands. If you’re focused on the positive aspect of a fact, it manufactures faith, leading to a feeling of anticipation in your heart, which gives you the power to act. However, if you’re focused on the negative aspect, it leads to doubt, causing anxiety and a feeling of powerlessness. The questions you ask yourself can rob you of your ability to take action. Asking better questions leads to better answers, actions, and outcomes.

Creating Your Own Experience in Reality

You’re not creating your own reality or speaking things into existence; only God can do that. What you create is your own experience in reality. The words you say affect the experience you have while experiencing reality. Learning to talk better helps you walk better. When the focus in your head manufactures faith, the feeling in your heart is anticipation, and the function of your hand is power. But focusing on the negative aspect manufactures doubt, leading to anxiety and powerlessness. To win in life, you have to act as if the only thing that’s impossible for you is that something would be impossible for you. This is not just motivational speech; it’s biblical doctrine.

The Origin of the Framework

The framework I’ve been discussing comes from Romans chapter 6, verse 17, which says, “You were in sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” This verse encapsulates the entire concept: obeying from the heart is the power in your hand, the function; the feeling of anticipation that was delivered to you is the focus, the form of doctrine, the doctrine being the focus in your head. If people knew better, they could do better. The practical application of scripture in our lives has been overshadowed by the anticipation of something good happening in the future, while something good could be happening right now based on the word.

The Bible as a Guide for Action

The Bible is filled with conditional promises, like “if-then-go-to” statements. Most people never fulfill the “if,” so they never get to experience the “go to.” It’s about taking action based on the word of God.

The Kingdom of God and Purpose

The kingdom of God is about yielding your life to God as the Sovereign King and then ruling over your assignment with sovereign authority, using that assignment to serve every human being you come in contact with. We are not here for ourselves but to fulfill a unique purpose.

Living Life with Purpose and Passion

If you stop driving the vehicle of your life with one foot on the gas and one on the brakes and learn to accelerate into the curves, your life would be magnificent. You were created for a purpose that no one else in the history of the world could fulfill. It’s not a secret; it’s just the work that most people are unwilling to do.

Changing Your Focus and Actions

Frames create focus. By putting a frame within the frame of every fact, you can change the actions you take, how you feel about a situation, and how you function in that situation, ultimately changing the game.

Effective Sales Techniques

In sales, most people talk about their product, their process, and themselves, but what really matters is focusing on the customer. When selling, it’s not about talking about yourself but about focusing on the customer and showing them how they can achieve what they already want.

Effective Sales and Influence Techniques

In sales, it’s not about scripts; it’s about having a framework that always works. The key is to get the people you’re selling to focus on the outcome they already desire and then show them how what you have helps them achieve that. It’s about making the sale a natural conclusion, not a high-pressure situation. I believe in selling in a way that respects the intelligence of the buyer, letting them decide if it’s in their best interest. My approach is straightforward: buy it if it makes sense, don’t buy it if it doesn’t. There’s no pressure because it’s not about convincing; it’s about informing and guiding.

Choosing the Right Program or Product

When someone is unsure about choosing between my program and someone else’s, I always say, “Buy theirs.” If there’s confusion, it means they’re not ready for what I offer. It’s about being ready to embrace what I teach and apply it. The goal is to learn how to frame facts in a way that focuses on the positive aspects, empowering action and decision-making.

Biblical Reference and Application

This concept is also found in the Bible, in John 13:17. Jesus said, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.” It’s about the focus in your head, the feeling in your heart, and the function in your hands. This pattern can be applied to any situation, whether it’s writing a book, creating a sales page, or starting a YouTube channel. The key is to focus on the positive aspect to empower yourself to take action.

Overcoming Procrastination

The master key to influence is about overcoming procrastination, both in yourself and in others. It’s about getting more done and making life better, whether in business, parenting, or personal goals. It’s about making decisions quickly and effectively, leading to more productivity. Most people waste time visualizing negative scenarios, which leads to procrastination. By applying this master key, you can get more done in a day than you used to in a week.

Overcoming Mental Barriers

Most of the things that stop us are in our minds, not in the external world. For example, my brother was hesitant to go to the golf course because of his fear of alligators. However, the real issue is not the alligators on the course but the alligators in his mind. The pictures we see in our mind cause the most problems. We often don’t realize how powerful the computer in our mind is.

The Power of the Mind

This concept extends to even small preferences, like not wanting onions in a salad or ketchup with a meal. It’s not about the physical presence of these items but the mental aversion to them. This illustrates how most of our obstacles are mental, not physical. We need to start focusing on the positive aspects of facts to manufacture a belief called faith.

Faith, Anticipation, and Action

This belief called faith will then manufacture a feeling in our heart called anticipation. This anticipation will produce a function in our hands called power. By focusing on the positive, we can get things done and improve our lives. This approach works in various aspects of life, whether it’s getting in shape, becoming wealthy, losing weight, or improving relationships.

Application in Daily Life

This framework is about working on ourselves and applying these principles in daily life. It’s a universal approach that can be applied in various contexts to achieve different goals.

Conclusion and Invitation

I hope this discussion has been enlightening. For more details, you can watch my TEDx talk, where I delve into these concepts further. The talk is available on my YouTube channel. I encourage you to watch it, share it, and engage with it. Remember, it’s about focusing on the positive and taking action to make your life better.