These are some thoughts I have gleaned from Bob Gass daily readings, Charles Capps teachings on faith and stuff of my own.
The Wright Brothers and their 1st plane called ‘Flyer One.’ Flown at ‘Kitty Hawk’ in 1903.
We all know about the Wright Brothers - two bicycle mechanics— who pioneered the first air plane flight. Yet Dr. Samuel P Langley, a brilliant scientist who'd written volumes on the subject, was expected to do it before them. However, when Langley tried to fly his first plane, it crashed and the press labelled it "a ridiculous fiasco.' But he ignored their criticism and stayed at it. Two months later when he tried again, the plane plunged upside-down into a river, and the pilot almost drowned. This time the New York Times labelled it "Langley's Folly," and said he should give up. Langley did! Unable to bounce back, he gave up his life's dream without ever seeing one of his planes in the air. Nine days later, Orville and Wilbur Wright, with no education and no funds, flew their plane, 'Flyer One', over the sands of Kittyhawk and into the history books. Sadly, while most of the world today has heard of the Wright Brothers, Langley is almost unknown.
Dr. Samuel P Langley
For centuries man had tried to fly like a bird in powered flight but they all ended up in failure. What made the Wright Brothers so special? It wasn't because they were scientists like Samuel Langley or because of their excellent schooling. Again we see those that seem foolish to the world being chosen for greatness. These young men for starters were tenacious, they didn't give up. They weren't intimidated by those who seemed more suited for the task. Being the sons of a preacher they were prayerful and always worked on the project together. Two are better than one and where there is unity there is power.
In Greek mythology Daedalus made wings with wax and feathers which melted when he flew too close to the sun.
One of the reasons why these 2 bicycle mechanics succeeded was their stumbling upon the laws of thrust and lift. The law of lift overcomes the law of gravity and this was the major ingredient for those who want to fly. There are lessons here for us all.
The problem all along was that of gravity. Everything that is heavier than air falls to the ground and usually stays there. To fly a plane there needed to be something that overcame the problem of gravity. You can't make gravity go away under normal circumstances but with the greater laws of thrust and lift you can fly like a bird. The answer was there all along waiting to be discovered.
In our lives there are obstacles that we've faced that seem impossible to overcome. We have tried all sorts of things from fasting to prayer, yet we are still sitting on the runway so to speak. Consider this, that the law of gravity is like the curse. The ever present curse is hindering us from success and holding us back. We can't seem to rise above so many obstacles yet we know we should. There is nothing we can do about the curse as long as Satan is in this world. For instance, you don't have to plant weeds in your garden they just appear without you even trying. There is a greater law however that can overcome the curse and that is the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. The Bible shows us that sickness, disease and poverty are in this world and are all part of the curse. They are a fact but the word of God can change these facts. Gravity is in the world, but lift and thrust can change this fact. The word says that we are redeemed from the curse of the law, but the curses are still here. So what can we do about it? We can overcome them with our faith.
“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." Galatians 3:13
Just like gravity can be overcome so can the curse be overcome. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death.
“Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2
“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4
Faith overcomes the world. Faith in what? Faith in God and His word, His promises. You may say that it doesn't work, as you read the bible but you're not flying like a bird? When you study the scriptures you will see that the word needs to abide in you if you want to overcome gravity/curse. It’s more than just a head knowledge that's needed.
How do we do that? We need to realise how important the word is to our faith. Everything has been created by words. All the promises of God are to no avail unless there is faith involved in believing them. Faith is also implanted in the word, and released as we speak them, therefore it's so important to watch what we believe and say. What we say is to do with what we believe.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
One of the best illustrations I know of how we can overcome the world is this one concerning the word and faith and aerodynamics. When the word really gets on the inside of you it creates the principle of lift. When you look at an air plane wing you see that its designed to produce lift. One of the laws of God is called the law of gravity. Everything that is heavier than air goes to the ground, but the Wright Brothers discovered that you can put some other laws into motion and overcome the law of gravity. The good word of God can overcome evil which we will liken to gravity and the curse.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21
How do we do that? It's out of the abundance of heart that the mouth speaks. What's abundant in your heart will get in your mouth and come out . You can't talk sickness and disease and live in health, it's an impossibility. Talk positive on the blessings of God and the promises of God.
“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things.” Matthew 12:35
The air plane wing is designed to produce lift. You can't see lift . When you look at a wing you can see nothing on it as there is no lift on that wing. We need to put a law in motion that you can't see, touch, taste or smell and this will overcome the law of gravity and that wing will fly like a bird. For this to happen you have to have faith, as air plane wings can weigh over 4 tons. We need to know about the laws of thrust and lift.
The wing is oval shaped on top and mostly flat underneath. When it is thrust through the air, the air on top rises up over the oval while the other air goes underneath The speed of the wing causes air to shoot up over the top surface. The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line, so that which goes underneath has less distance to travel to get to the trailing edge than that which goes over the top. When the air goes over the top it has to get to the trailing edge at the same time as the air that went underneath, and to do this it has to speed up. This is the law of aerodynamics. Because it travels a greater distance it creates a vacuum or low pressure above the wing. Underneath there is high pressure which then tries to fill the low pressure or, vacuum. The low sucks the air beneath up which tries to go through the wing but it can't and so creates lift. This is the principle of lift. It is created by thrusting the wing through the air at a certain speed.
You can have the right oval shaped wing but if you don't get it to a certain speed it will not fly and you'll run off the other end of the runway. Looking at this principle in our spiritual lives we see that this is why some things aren't working' for us. We haven't got the principles of lift and thrust operating in our lives. We don't have the thrust of faith. Confessing the word every day, and His promises is to your faith like the thrust is to the air plane wing. Pull back on the confession and you don't have enough speed to overcome the curses of life. You remain on the ground going down the runway with all the bugs/curses hitting your windscreen. You can say that flying doesn't work and give up like Langley did or increase your confession and from that faith and lift is generated.
Langley’s flight landed in the Potomac River, catapulted from this launch.
We need to understand that a certain speed will create the exact amount of lift to cause us to soar like a bird. Keep the power on the thing and it will eventually fly. Whether it's raining or sunshine there is a law involved that will make you fly. We can overcome the curses and fly above them. Sitting at the end of the runway and facing your problems saying a few promises won't overcome them. It takes a miracle to soar above the curse, and the word of God tells us how to do it. The thrust and faith comes when the word is in our mouth and heart abundantly. The wing creates the lift, the confession of the word of God creates the faith to cause you to receive the promises of God and it will work every time if it is done properly. If the word is not abundant in the heart you can't speak it forth. God’s word produces faith for the things God has given us. You need to know what He has said about the curse you are being held back by and get the word into your heart and confess them. It must be abundantly in your heart. You need to speak it out over and over and as you do this faith comes. The more you do it the more it becomes part of you. It abides in you When us oldies were at school we learnt the times table by saying it over and over again until we knew it by heart; it became part of us.
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7
There is a solution to your problem just as there was to flying. Man had a desire to fly that was put there by God yet he needed to discover how to overcome gravity. You have desires in your heart and they can be overcome by faith in God's word. Don't be halfhearted and coast down the runway all your life never taking off. Be tenacious and fill your heart and mouth with the word of God and you will overcome.