Enthusiasm
“Most of us don't know that
Enthusiasm is the God Power
that comes from the God within.”
The next step on the Ladder to Heaven is Enthusiasm. We all know what enthusiasm means. It is an emotion that makes a person joyous and happy. Enthusiasm appears in a person as excitement that flows in all their deeds. While we all like to be enthusiastic, do we know what enthusiasm truly means?
Enthusiasm comes from the Greek word 'Entheos' which literally means 'En' – in and 'theos' – God. Therefore, 'Entheos' means having faith in God, hope in God, and trust in God. Those who are enthusiastic, fill their life with God's Divine presence. Peace and joy fill their life as they accept the Divine will and surrender to whatever happens in life.
When we climb to the 6th step on the Ladder called Enthusiasm, we experience God's Divine presence in everything that happens. We know that God has not only created this universe but also manages it moment by moment. Nothing happens in this world without God permitting it to happen. God controls this universe with his Divine laws. For instance, there is the Law of Cycles. This ensures that everything in this world happens in a cyclic manner like the cycle of the seasons and the cycle of day and night. Then there is the Law of Action and Reaction which ensures that our present actions will determine our future, just as our past actions determine our present circumstances. Similarly, there is the Law of Gravity. Because things that are thrown up, get drawn down to the earth, we infer that the Law of Gravity exists. People with enthusiasm believe in God's Divine Laws and accept the will of God with zeal.
Enthusiasm is a source of optimism, just as it makes a person's life bloom with joy, peace, and love. Those who have climbed this 6th step have already crossed the first five steps of belief, prayer, faith, hope, and trust. Along with enthusiasm, they have laid a strong foundation on which their life is built. Nothing can shake them, nothing can cause them to fall apart. Even the biggest tragedy seems to go by without really affecting them because they are true believers in God.
What are the attributes of a person who has reached the 6th step on the Ladder? They live powerful lives because they live 'prayerful' lives. They smile and they laugh, in both good times as well as tough times. They live with the philosophy – “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” They know that “God's delays are never God's denials.” They know that God has the last word in every matter and that it will be good. They live with faith just as they eliminate doubt from their lives and trust God.
Those who come up to the 6th step, accept the Divine will. They live moment by moment considering each moment as a gift from the Divine. They don't swing to a past that is gone and then, to a future not yet born. Whatever has happened is over. They don't nurse it, curse it or rehearse it. They use their enthusiasm to reverse it. Instead of living in the future with fear, they live moment by moment with faith. They know that FEAR is False Expectations Appearing Real and that their faith, is stronger than their fear. Their fears are not their real dangers and if ever a danger arrives, they trust that God will give them courage to face it. Such is the life of those who have climbed the six steps to God.
My life, from the day I can remember, has been filled with enthusiasm. I have always lived with faith in God, trust, and hope and this fills my life with an ocean of enthusiasm. Of course, I have had tough times in life. But my faith has given me the energy and the courage to defeat every problem. I have always told myself, “If God is for us, then who can be against us.” My enthusiasm was contagious and it flowed to all those who surrounded me. As I lived a life of complete surrender and acceptance, God filled my life with success and happiness. Whatever I touched seemed to turn to gold.
Enthusiasm created power in my life that made it seem that I was invincible. Not only did my enthusiasm give me the power to make all dreams come true, it also propelled me from peak to peak. It was enthusiasm that was creating all the magic.
I was fearless because I believed, “Nothing can happen tomorrow that God and I can't handle together.” I used to dream big dreams and God made every dream come true. I used to try with faith and toil and my Lord used to convert every 'try' into a 'triumph'. I knew all along that I was doing nothing, my Lord was doing it through me. My enthusiasm led me to live a devout life and I shared my success and wealth with God, serving humanity that was suffering on the streets. I used to reach out to the poorest of the poor and serve them knowing that each of them was an image of God. To serve them was to worship God. My life evolved and I grew climbing both the Ladder of success and the Ladder of faith. I knew that with God, all things are possible!
Where did my enthusiasm take me? What did my faith, hope, and trust lead to? They created a Divine connection with God as I climbed the next step on the Ladder.
Enthusiasm
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