Catch 22: The Book That Will Change The Way You See Life

By Kevin Thomas

Does your life feel unfulfilled? Do you hunger for a better, more serene life? Are you still searching for your real purpose in life?

This book looks at 22 long-standing principles you may have forgotten amidst the clutter and confusion of today's busy pace. In it, you'll find the key to fulfillment, p

• Language: English
• Publisher: Living Life Society
• Release date: Jan 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9780975969106

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Here are 22 specific laws of success that can help you turn your life around. But they’re just a great beginning, not the end. There are many other things you can do, such as being playful (don’t be so serious) and living in the moment (like a child) to make your life a success. In the grand scheme of things, life is meant to be enjoyed.

But nowadays no one seems to enjoy anything. As a people we’ve lost the purpose of life. America and the world are lost causes when it comes to the well being of self. Our minds, bodies and souls have been corrupted. We’re a sick and diseased people.

I’m not talking about physical sickness such as a cold—I mean a mental sickness and disease. As a nation we’re like the three monkeys of Asia that couldn’t see, speak or hear evil. As individuals, we can no longer see well, speak well or hear well. In addition, I think we need one more monkey—one holding his body—because we also can’t feel well.

God made all of us incomplete, and our life’s purpose is to find what we’re missing (which is God). Once we’re complete (as one with God), we have to submit our will to do his for the rest of our lives.

It sounds hard, mainly because we’re a nation of selfish people. We’re stubborn and we want to go after our heart’s desires instead of doing what’s right. In Proverbs 28:26, it says: He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

As a nation we’re foolish people; but God is a wise God. He will let us go after our heart’s desire even though it’s a path that won’t profit or deliver us. He’s so masterful that he’ll let us think we’re getting away with something, when we’re only fooling ourselves (and will pay for our transgressions).

In ancient times there were many prophets, wise men, sages and shepherds to guide the sheep. Nowadays this type of person is rare. The sheep wander aimlessly into the slaughterhouse. You’re that aimless sheep, and you can no longer wait on a shepherd to save you. You have to stop the madness and save yourself.

At birth, God gives each of us the faculties to be a success. But these days, it seems no one uses his God-given gifts to pull out of the gravity of this world into the mind set of heaven. We don’t use our gifts to get ahead—we use them to lie, steal and deceive. The man with the gift of thinking fast becomes a con artist. The woman with the gift of beauty seduces men (and now women) to fornicate. The gangster with the ability to guide leads young men astray.

Why doesn’t the fast thinker help build a nation? Why doesn’t the beauty set a perfect example of God’s creation? Why won’t the gangster turn his life around, and guide other men to do the same?

We have to turn our lives around. We must stop this train wreck in the making.

God is not mean. He was with you in the beginning when you were in your mother’s womb. He saw then what you needed to fulfill your destiny. Don’t wait for some major sign that you’re chosen. When your mother was in travail during your birth, that was the sign that you’d been chosen.

In the book of Matthew 20:16 it says, For many be called, but few chosen. The Lord calls many from the womb, but only a few decide to do God’s work. The rest decide on their own, or are deceived, to do the work of this world (the devil’s work).

In our western society everyone is measured on external attributes. Your worth is based on such things as what kind of car you drive, where your house is located or what school you graduated from. Or maybe what kind of job you do, how many women you have or how much jewelry you own. Even what church you attend, which political party you belong to or the type of clothes you wear.

The problem with this measurement of status is that God looks inside out, not outside in. He’s not concerned in the least about your car, your school, your clothes or your jewelry. You may worry about name brands and fashion, and believe it or not, God also is interested in these things. He wants to know if you wear his name and if you’re fashioned like him on the inside.

I believe that if you earnestly follow these 22 steps to success (and inner peace), God will consider you worthy of another chance. Because he’s merciful and is always willing to forgive. But first you have to see who you are and forgive yourself. Once you do that, you can change.

The 22 steps to success are like eyes to a blind man. You’ve lived a life of a lie, blind to the truth. Wake up to the simple truth of God. As it says in the book of Corinthians 14:33, For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.

The world is complex and confusing. We’re the authors of this chaotic and unfulfilled life we live. Follow these 22 steps to get back on the path to finally find peace and most of all, to find God. Begin your journey to life!

ONE

Find God and hold fast to him, no matter what the temptation

As a people in America today, we’ve lost our way. We’re confused about what’s important. Bugs Bunny is more a part of our lives than God is. We foolishly believe our lives are based on material status— the more we own, the better we are.

If you’re a lawyer with a $300,000 house, two Mercedes, a centerfold wife and a $100,000 a year salary, you think you’ve got it made. What exactly do you have, other than a life of being a slave to debt? Everything from the house to the high maintenance wife is going to cost you. You may have the world, but you had to sell your soul to get it. Was it truly worth it?

We foolishly believe in the life we have, but there’s a deceiver in our midst. The rich and powerful fool us into thinking material wealth signifies success. What if they told the truth—we need peace and happiness on the inside more than the trappings of wealth on the outside? What if they told you the peace you so desperately want comes from God? Not from the BMW, jewelry, etc. that they want to sell you.

Obviously if they told the truth, you wouldn’t buy their products, so they would no longer be rich and powerful. It’s in their self-interest to fool you.

Don’t get me wrong. Having wealth is okay. But having health is better and having peace of mind is best.

We make ourselves sick trying to find happiness. We look for it in drugs. We look for it in sex. We try to find it in shopping and we long for it in vanity. At best, these are all temporary fixes. It’s only in the search for God that we’ll find everlasting peace. Why fall in love with a creation, when you can have the creator?

At birth, God gives you everything you need to be a highly successful person. You may ask, If that’s true, why aren’t more people successful? Why is 85 percent of the wealth held by 15 percent of the people?

It’s simple, really. The gifts God gave you must be turned on. It’s like your parents giving you a car as a gift. The car is new and shiny, but you have to get the keys from your parents before you can take it for a spin. It’s the same with your gifts and abilities. They won’t work until you go to God to get the keys to ignite the engine of your mind.

God made us incomplete by design. He gave us everything we need except the keys. He did that because he made us like him— we’re the best of all his creations. And like him, we have the right to choose.

The sun can’t decide not to shine. The earth can’t decide not to rotate, and the moon can’t change its orbit. All of them obey God’s law perfectly—and they need nothing. God gave them everything they needed at creation.

On the other hand, man can decide. You can decide. You can choose between following the law of God or not. That’s why you’re made incomplete. God is not going to give you the keys (to heaven) until you choose him. Once you’ve chosen him and forsaken all others, he’ll unlock your mind and your gifts.

Therefore, it’s imperative that you search out God so you can become whole. And once you’ve found God, hold onto him.

The world will tempt you into thinking its way is better than God’s way. But God, and God alone, created men and women. Don’t you think the inventor would best know how his invention works?

You’ve been tempted by the world, and many of you have chosen it over God. You’ve chosen what the world has to offer; you’ve chosen it to be your god. In the Bible (Matthew 6:24) it says, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the