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#64 I Am! I Can! I Will! I Believe!" - Part 2(16/02/03) The Message By: Dr. Robert A. Schuller My father and I are into the series of messages I Am! I Can! I Will! I Believe! ... and last week I began with the first affirmation, "I Am!" Today I'm continuing with the second affirmation "I Can!" These four affirmations are the four themes in a little book that my father has written entitled, "If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It." It's a small book, but holds tremendous power for you. It's available only here at this ministry on our website www.hourofpower.org . If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It! Please know that if you can dream it, then it must be possible because God would not give us dreams unless they are realistic. The possibility is there to make your dream happen ... somehow ...someway. To believe that your dream can happen, begins with the understanding of who you are. That is why we begin with the very first affirmation, "I Am." You can find the message of this first affirmation on our website and get caught up so you're not left behind. Because you need that foundation of knowing who you are as a person. Until you understand that you are a child of God, empowered and strengthened in Jesus Christ to be able to do His will, you'll still be limited in the thought process of your own physical power instead of God's limitless power of spiritual reality. The "I Am" determines the "I Can." Now, I've written an acronym for "I Can" ... and it's easy to remember. C-hoose
David Breashears is a possibility thinker. He is a mountaineer and a filmmaker who in 1985 become the second American in history to ever ascend Mt. Everest. On that ascent, as a filmmaker, he carried with him a camera for a live ABC sports broadcast from the top of Mt. Everest and for that incredible achievement he received an Emmy Award. In 1998 I met David Breashears and heard him speak. He said, "Only two years ago the film department of IMAX came to me and asked me to take an IMAX camera to the top of Mt. Everest. That is 29,029 feet high. I looked at that camera and said, 'It's impossible.' You have to realize that when we made our last descent we cut out all the labels in our clothing to lessen the weight. When I weighed that pile of labels, they only weighed a half a pound. And here the IMAX people came to me with an 80 pound camera to take to the summit. I said, without question, 'It's impossible!' Ninety seconds worth of film weighs five pounds" ... and the list goes on and on and on as to why it was impossible. But as the great philosopher, Whitehead said, "The great dreams of great dreamers are never fulfilled, they are always transcended." When David Breashears began to think how maybe it might be possible ... maybe somehow ... someway ... I can get that camera to the summit ... that started to change everything. When we begin to think possibilities and dare to face the impossible, "maybe we could do this ... or maybe we could do that." suddenly the impossible becomes possible! It took two years for David Breashears and his team to be able to reduce that 80 pound camera to 35 pounds. They were then able to figure out ways to outfit the camera so it could function at sub temperatures. It gets 30-40 degrees below zero on the summit and the camera cannot freeze or it will not be able to function. Next question ... how do you operate a camera with thick gloves? Answer ... large knobs were made so thick gloves could turn and adjust the lens of the camera. It was an amazing accomplishment. In 1996 this possibility team of mountain climbers began their ascent up that incredible mountain. You have to realize that Mt. Everest, at the height of 29,029 feet is 3,000 feet above the "death zone." The reason they call it the "death zone" is that at 26,000 feet the air is so thin it is impossible for the human being to get enough oxygen out of the air to live. So as soon as you cross that 26,000 foot elevation point, your body starts to die. In spite of that, David Breashears' team continued to climb as they carried that camera to the summit. If you've never seen the IMAX film "Mt. Everest" I want to highly encourage you to go and to see that film. It is a fabulous film. I CAN. Choose the positive Attitude Now. That's what David Breashears did. He chose to make a decision not based on what was easy and simple. No, he decided to choose how to create the possible out of the impossible. I CAN - Choose your Attitude Now "If you think
you're beaten, you are. Problems will come, especially if you're thinking big thoughts and big dreams. Yes, problems will come. In fact, if you don't have any problems, that's your problem! Problems will come and as they come, choose the attitude that you have the ability to face the challenges and to say "I am!" ... "I can!" ... and "I will!" It was Henry Ford who said, "If you think you can do a thing, or if you thank you can't do a thing, you're right! I Can! Choose the positive Attitude Now. If you can dream it, you can do it. But there are times when you say, "I'm just not making the progress I need to make" ... "I'm just not moving fast enough" ... "It's not going to happen." It is then we need to be reminded to never ... never ... never give up ... but keep on going even though it seems slow. Remember the snail. When the snail gets a ride on the turtle's back, what does he say? "Wheeeeeee!" Somehow, someway you're going to get through the challenges and the struggles. You will succeed. You can succeed. I'm thinking of a young lady who was given a tee-shirt when she was a young 8th grade student. The tee-shirt read: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And that tee-shirt became her favorite. She was a gymnast. She had as her goal to become a world-class gymnast so she trained and worked hard. She did everything she could to succeed as a gymnast. But by the time she was 15 it became pretty apparent that she was going to be too tall, so she wouldn't have the right moves to be a gymnast. It looked like her dreams were never going to materialize. Then someone suggested maybe she should try diving. She tried diving and she excelled. She did really well. By the time she got to college, guess what? She became a National Champion. Then she had a big new dream to try out for the Olympics, the 2000 Sydney games. But three months before the Olympic game try-outs, she broke her foot. She was doing some simple warm ups and she broke her foot in three places. So for two out of three months all she could do was visualize. She could only practice in her mind doing the summersaults, the back flips and taking her jumps off the 10 meter board. That is all she could do those months while her foot was healing. She would visualize her diving techniques and she would visualize how she was going to succeed! Now that's what I call "slow." But "I can" means "Choose the positive Attitude Now." Do whatever you can do. Even if it's only in your mind, thinking positive thoughts and imagining and realizing that ... "Yes, I can see myself winning." ... "I can see myself as a success." She tried out for the Olympics and she made the team. Her foot was very sore because she need surgery to correct the bones in her foot, but if she had the surgery there was no way she could compete in the Olympics. Instead she made the choice to have a special shoe made so she could climb the ladder for her dives. The 10 meters platform, which is the height of a three story building, (diving is an extremely dangerous sport) was very painful for her to climb, but she did very well. Then she found herself in the final competition in Sydney, Australia in 8th place. She had a long way to go before she could succeed, but she spent two months picturing in her mind exactly what she was going to do in the Olympics. She practiced the only way she could practice. When it came time for her to dive, her dive was flawless. And she moved up from 8th to 7th to 5th to 3rd place. No one even had placed her in the running because of her injury. On September 24th, 2000 in Sydney, Australia, Laura Wilkinson took the gold medal for the United States. The first statement she made after she won the gold as she ran up to grab her coach was ... "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" And Laura Wilkinson took the gold! That's Philippians 4:13 ... write it down ... keep it in your mind ... buy a tee-shirt for your 8th grader ... "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." "I CAN!" Choose your Attitude Now and you will. It was May 23rd, 1996 when David Breashears reached the summit of Mt. Everest and radioed the camp, saying, "I cannot go any further. From where we are now, it is down hill in all directions! We can't go any further now!" The day will come where there is no more sunset and no dawning, when we stand before our Maker, Jesus Christ, and we'll be able to stand on the incredible mountain peak of life and we can say then and only then, "I cannot go any further!" Amen. Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for
the exciting ideas You are waiting to send into my thinking mind.
I would explode with enthusiasm if I could think of all the positive
thoughts waiting to come out of my God-inspired brain. Amen
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