Lookahead: For some reason, a young couple decided to bless everyone at the gate.  They let their utterly adorable toddler walk around and talk to people.  She really didn’t have advanced speech skills, but she smiled and laughed and used toddler babble, and basically stole our hearts corporately as she went from person to person.

As a reminder,  I am referencing the scriptures which either cite the wrecking behavior itself, or represent God’s truth which helped me to recognize a Kingdom wrecking lie (e.g., “there is therefore now no condemnation” prompted—”we deserve to be punished.”)  

Lie #12: The negative things that we say (about situations, ourselves, others) are not important. (Romans Chapter 4:17b, Romans 12:2)

We can psych ourselves up, or out, by the words that are coming out of our mouths.  Everyone’s heard the glass full/glass empty symbology, which represents optimists/pessimists.  I wondered where this expression came from: There is no consensus regarding the first usage of this expression although the first recorded citation comes in the form of a quote in The New York Times by Ronald Reagan. This quote reads “you can say it’s like the glass half full or half empty” from the year 1985.¹

“However, it seems the Peace Corps already used (the expression) in an advertisement campaign in the 1960s… (The referenced website then provides an advertising photo of a glass filled with water to 50% level.) Delving a bit deeper, it seems the expression is even older: here is a version with a half full/empty bottle from 1933…

“Two men were looking at a bottle of milk. Said one with a groan,

“‘The bottle is half empty.’ Said the other with a grin, ‘The bottle is half full.’

“The first belonged to the courters of disasters, forever bemoaning their losses;

“the second to the invincibles who win by counting their blessings.”²

Wherever the expression originated, it’s one handy method of summarizing a person’s take on life.  It is my belief that habitually negative people, knowingly or unknowingly, can be speaking self-fulfilling prophecies. 

As an example, I’m sure we’ve all encountered hypochondriacs.  These unfortunate people can literally talk themselves into being sick, by becoming obsessed with every off-nominal condition of their body.   My friend had a relative who became a pharmaceutical drug addict—when there was nothing wrong with her. ☹  The more pills she took, the more side effects.  Eventually her sickness was real. 

We even have to watch ourselves about self-deprecating behavior.  We might rationalize that we shouldn’t take ourselves seriously.  But if we are constantly rehearsing an error-prone image of ourselves, eventually we will own it.  Rather than making fun of ourselves, it might be more value-added to figure out why we have this behavior.  Finally, if we walk around repeating the other Wrecker Lies to ourselves and others, eventually we will begin to own those as well, and Kingdom Occupier (KO) status will elude us. So how do we stop the negativity? 

Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2  A person can be a believer—and heaven-bound.  But every new believer has a secular (worldly) mind that requires some transformation.  This is accomplished by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us, as we surrender and serve Him.  But is it a problem if we decide not to do this?  If the person does not yield to the Holy Spirit, they won’t be fruitful from a spiritual perspective.  Does this mean that God loves them any less? Definitely not!  Does this mean that they love God less?  Probably, but it also means that they don’t trust God.  As a result, they won’t be KO material. 

So what is this transformation process?  Some would say it sounds like brainwashing.  But I believe that it actually is a response to conversations with God.  We begin to change when we see ourselves through His eyes.  The more we learn about how much He loves us, the more we change—because love changes things.  I wrote a tract a few years ago about being in an airport waiting for a connecting flight.  For some reason, a young couple decided to bless everyone at the gate.  They let their utterly adorable toddler walk around and talk to people.  She really didn’t have advanced speech skills, but she smiled and laughed and used toddler babble, and basically stole our hearts corporately as she went from person to person. 😊  I watched people utterly transformed by the indiscriminate love that overflowed from her onto every person—irrespective of gender, race, age, social status, etc.  Busy, bored, hurting, tired, sad, frustrated or defeated faces suddenly erupted into wide smiles as they attempted to converse with her.  Then we all began to chat among ourselves about how cute she was—talk about an ice breaker!!  As I said, love changes things. 

(Side Note:  Maybe someday I will post something on “conversing with God.”  There are plenty of books on the subject.  Basically, it’s just getting quiet enough to hear Him speaking through various means—everything from emblazoned personal-words in the Bible…to that “still small voice”…to a pastor you never met giving you a targeted download from God—from the pulpit…to dreams and visions, etc., etc.) 

As I mentioned before, I never know where the youtube side panel will take me, but this time it was a Facebook advertisement that basically demonstrated the endgame spiritual fruit of our words (e.g., righteousness, peace, and joy).  I saw a humorous quote on a tee shirt that read, I’m pretty confident my last words will be, “Well ***, that didn’t work!”  Curious about famous peoples’ last words upon departing earth, I later found a website called Final Words Project. 😊

“Numerous are accounts, including one from Raymond Moody about his own father’s final words, that report not only of unseen beings, loved ones or angels, but also of a beautiful place, a place of well-being and contentment. Thomas Edison’s final words “It’s beautiful over there,” have been uttered by others before him and since.  Could it be that  Steve Jobs may have witnessed the same beauty that Edison described when he uttered these final words, “Wow! Wow! Wow!”?

“Comedian Sam Kinison who died in a head-on collision in 1992 said to no one in particular: ‘I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.’ But then there was a pause as if Kinison were listening to someone. Then he asked, ‘But why?’ and after another pause ‘Okay, Okay, Okay.’ A friend who was with him said, ‘Whatever voice was talking to him gave him the right answer and he just relaxed with it…’ (And here are some other purported famous last words:  )

Addison, Joseph (1672-1719) “See in what peace a Christian can die.”

Mussolini, Benito (1883-1945) “But, but, mister Colonel…” (Before being executed.)

Narvaez, Ramon Maria (1800-1868) “I do not have to forgive my enemies, I have had them all shot.” (Said on his deathbed, when asked by a priest if he forgave his enemies.)

Thomas, Dylan (1914-1953) “I have just had eighteen whiskeys in a row. I do believe that is a record.”

Wilde, Oscar (1854-1900) “Either this wallpaper goes, or I do!”

Adams, John (1735-1826) “Thomas Jefferson–still survives…” (4 July 1826. Jefferson died on the same day.)

Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886) “… the fog is rising.”

Washington, George (1732-1799) “It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.”

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) “Beautiful.” (When asked by her husband how she felt.)

Jones, George (1931-2013) “I’ve been looking for you…My name’s George Jones…” “He closed his eyes, and that was the end of it,” Nancy Jones explains. “So, in my heart, I know he was talking to God.” ³



It seems to me that some of these people were KO’s on this side of glory.

To be continued (4 more lies to go)…..

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¹Dicoz.co Website:  /what-are-the-origins-of-the-english-expression-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/

²English.Stackexchange Website:  /questions/419132/origin-of-the-expression-glass-half-full-or-half-empty

³Finalswordsproject Website:  /a-few-final-words.html