Tag: The Secret

We often fall into a trap with pray and using other methods
that we can change people. Guess what, we can’t! No matter how much we pray, no
matter how much we imagine that person being perfect, no matter what we say,
that person will not change unless they desire to. This is debatable, but the
first commandment is FREEDOM (not love thy God) and with it freewill. If we
believe we can pray someone into not drinking we are fooling ourselves, unless
that person uses freewill to stop.

Now what we can do is pray for help for ourselves!

I noticed in The Secret they kind of addressed this by
saying the incidences where you did not like seemed to avoid you. They did not
say the co-workers changed but rather left. They did not say the husband was
not mad, but you were not around when he was pissed. In a way they said the
same thing, we cannot control people around us.

The key with scripture and The Secret is we change, not
others. We can pray God will help change a person but without their willing
participation that will never happen. The one thing we can pray for is our
understanding and proper response to a situation. Grace is easy when things are
calm, but not so easy when all hell is breaking lose.

When you are staring at someone doing injury and harm to
another you love, grace goes out the window and what you learned in
self-defense classes kicks in. I have a lot to learn in controlling my temper,
but at the same time there is only so much one can take. So what changes here?
What can I do? Do I change the person making me mad or myself?

No matter how much I want change it’s not going to happen
outside of me. In writing this I blew up this morning. I watched a child paying
with a stick purposefully damage something, I lost my temper. Right now I am on
edge and no matter how much I yell at this party or that the only person I can
control is me!!

In its essence The Secret is Pantheism or belief that the
universe and nature is the same as divinity. If you watch The Secret closely,
they will address God as being nature and use scripture to make you think it is
ok. They tend to tie God and Jesus into nature saying they are the universe. This
is the danger removing our focus from God and pointing it towards stuff or new
idols.

Once things tend to flow your direction then the
non-spiritual aspects of the Law of Attraction takes control. We forget that
God is NOT nature or the universe but rather above nature. God created these
natural laws and they are here for doing good. One could argue that natures
laws have always been in place and this may be a true statement, like God
gravity just is, like the Law of Attraction.

We as created beings in God’s image can tap into this law,
like gravity. As they point out in The Secret, you may not believe in The Law
of Gravity, but you jump off a building and splat. The same goes with
attraction, we tend to attract what we focus on. I look at the period between
2001 and 2008, my focus was on debt and I got debt. Once I changed my focus to
abundance, it didn’t change over night, but things started to change.

We no longer looked a giving from what was left, but giving
became first. We still we conscious of debt but removed it and made a plan to
pay it off and stuck to it. Seven years later we are living the life we wanted
and this is good. The key is remaining in focus with God and keeping my nose in
the Bible.

When science challenges God, like The Secret does in a
way remember in both cases what is going on. Science is the study of nature,
God being supernatural is above nature and therefore has evidence in nature but
cannot be proven by the study of nature. At the same The Secret makes God equal
to the universe and not the creator of the universe. It’s a subtle difference,
but is critical in following God. As I noted before to get the full “secret”
you need to explore more and see how giving is just as important as receiving!
This is where The Secret fails and where the Bible fills in the holes.

1 Timothy 6:10 is the most often quoted against wealth:

 For the
love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they
have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

People twist this to say “money is the root of all evil” and
tend to leave off the “love of” part. Money is just money, nothing more. It
cannot rise up and kill people, it cannot lie to people, it cannot commit
adultery. Money just is and therefore cannot be the “root” of anything, but the
love of something other than God can be.

I have blogged about this a bunch but in context of my
recent study of “The Secret” I wanted to look at “love of money” a bit in that
context. With God, Jesus and The Secret the highest power emotion is love and
we can go throughout all to find examples, the key difference between love in
the Bible and in The Secret is the focus. The Bible is clear to love God first
then others, nothing more. The Secret on the other hand is love what you desire
and make that the focus.

This is why “the love of money is the root of all evil”
because it focuses on self-gratification and not God or others. When we focus
on money or any other idol outside God we tend to forget God and this is why
The Secret is so dangerous. Two commandments it violates is loving God and
coveting when the focus is away from God.

While the Law of Attraction may be in effect no matter what,
we need to understand it is to be used to glorify God and not self. If we do
attract wealth and power, it is to be used to love God and others else we could
get swept up in a misguided adventure.

Guess what I am trying to process is the fine line between
loving money and wanting money to glorify God. Both can be had with The Secret
and using the Law of Attraction, the difference is YOUR focus. I know this is
difficult to process since we can see the schism in the church with prosperity
preaching. The focus becomes things and not God. So when exploring the Law of
Attraction keep rooted in scripture because the dangers are real with the enemy
and temptations. Don’t get lazy! Awake oh sleeper!!

Matthew 16:26 is a warning from Jesus about focusing on
money which is the core to The Secret’s teachings:

For what is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul?

The biggest problem with learning the Law of Attraction is
one becomes very materialistic. They twist Jesus’ teachings to show He teaches
the Law of Attraction to better one’s self to make it seem like materialism is
ok. The problem is as you become well off, we all tend to drift from God. This
is why Jesus spends so much time pointing to rich and talking about money.

If you focus becomes all about the GOLD and not about helping
others, the Law of Attraction will continue to work, but we will become
separated from God. You look at the Ten Commandments and they tend to focus on
more mental things that separate us from God. In a way all tend to point to the
last commandment of “thou shalt not covet”. Most other commandments start with
that and then proceed to the act.

So if you explore and try to control your thoughts to create
your existence, make sure you remain focused on God first and HIS will, that
way you will understand more how The Secret works. You will understand why some
things happen quickly and others take time, sometimes a very long time. You
will see how God works in our lives and how we need to remain in His will.

The most important thing to remember is not to get lost in
manifesting wealth and treasures. One can easily do that and lose all focus on
life, I think of 2007/8 when the economy took a dump. 12 Stone was growing and
doing things that most churches would think was nuts. I remember one service
they gave everyone $100 to use in the community. They did not take note of
everyone grabbing the money, they literally put it all on the altar and you
would come and grab it.

They did this in faith and huge things happened in the
church, they grew in an economic slowdown. They used the “Law of Attraction”
that Jesus taught, not what has been perverted by the occult. 12 Stone’s focus
was not to teach people to get money from the church but rather to use that
money in the community for GOOD. They taught us that once you remove the focus
on just money, but rather doing God’s will with the money you attract more.

That was one part that was hidden in the law, those who give
on faith always seem to have enough. They always seem to have more than enough
to give. Personally that is when our largest growth in wealth happened, when we
stopped focusing on saving for the crash, but giving for the kingdom. I can honestly
say giving someone randomly $100 is FUN!! It’s worth every penny to see the joy
on their face, we just need to ensure they understand that joy is noted as
spreading of God’s love.

I will be focusing on The Secret a bit longer, not sure if
it’s because of danger or the possibilities it presents. I have lived a life
that in some ways has become a manifestation of exactly what we wanted, for the
most part. To think it was all me is very short sighted, and that is the danger
of The Secret.

Today I want to focus on time and how both teach us to
manage it. With God Mark 1:35 tells us how we need to start our day:

And in the morning, rising up a
great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and
there prayed.

I read this and immediately think of the “prayer closet”
since that has become the solitary place in most homes. Much of my praying has
become slowed since although we have a large home, it’s a very open plan with
no real solitary place. So often times I need to go into the mountains to
commune with God in nature. This is a component of every healthy relationship
with God, spending time with Him.

I use to read a section and dive into what that meant to me
at the time, but recently I have been using Google to find scripture support on
what I am thinking about these days. I talk about this because God and The
Secret have been known to operate on their own time. Both require time with
God, although one calls God “the universe” and more getting in touch with one’s
feelings.

I think the key that I have learned is to give everything
time. In The Secret one of the interviewees’ talks about his “dream board”
where he puts his dreams on the board and focuses on them each morning. When moving
his son asked about the box they were in and as he is showing him and
explaining he sees the home he dreamed about 5 years earlier is the home he
moved into, not like the home but the exact one.

So the key here is time as with God, often we need to wait
before our prayers our answered as difficult as that may seem in the “now”. We
live in a time where if we want something it usually arrives fast, we can go on
line and get it next day for 0 percent for 6 months. We can get a fair dinner
on the way home, almost instantly. We can get information on anything, almost
anywhere on our phones. The world and life are on a different time than when
Jesus walked the earth.

Think about this really, from the woods in southern Oregon I
can travel to Israel and walk where Jesus walked in less than day (24 hours).
So the speed of life is expected to keep pace. Guess what God has His time as
The Secret has its own. The problem with both today is we expect a McDonald’s
result from God or the universe and that is not the way things work. Sometimes
things do, while other times they do not. Many times your prayers are answered
quickly and many times it takes time, like years or decades.

The key is both require focus on God and never to give up.
We find often our prayers or desires change over time and become focuses on something
more in line with what we really want and need. Praying for an elephant as a
child is not realistic since based on the amount of poo a horse produces I can’t
imagine maintaining an elephant. So don’t think God is ignoring you or The
Secret doesn’t work, often we give up on God before things really start to
happen. A big lesson we can learn from The Secret is giving God time, so we can
understand why. Often we need training before we can set the world on fire
(figuratively of course) and that takes time.

The Secret kinda got things right with their focus on love.
If you notice their diagram of feelings, love was at the top of the list. They
did not mention Matthew 22:37 – 40 which Jesus talks about love:

³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This
is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is
like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰ On
these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The Secret tries to do what Satan tried in the garden and
try to make us think we are God or at least have the power of God. When The
Secret references God they are referencing “the universe” and how some people
call that God, but do not acknowledge a conscious energy that is above all. It
explains God as a force you can manipulate with your mind and nothing more.

Now through the video they quote scripture and reference
that Jesus was teaching “The Secret”. In the “directors comments” feature on
the DVD you get some insight into the “feeling” diagram and they mention that
number 1 is love because it is the most powerful and attractive feeling in the
universe. The do not mention the referenced scripture exactly but imply it.

I believe the reason they imply the scripture and not
actually use it is that loving God comes first and for them to say that would
acknowledge that the “universe” was controlled by something other than energy.
Loving God would imply that you would love the “universe” to get more “universe”.

Honestly, the Law of Attraction works here as well, if we
love God with all our hearts God will be with us. We will attract God and
nothing wrong with that!!

Now was this what the tree of knowledge opened the eyes of
Adam and Eve? Occult and Satanists will say so and that God trapped Adam and
Eve in the garden before their eyes were open and they were released. In their
mind Satan gave them freedom. In reality we know this to be false since
everything Satan may at first seem ok, but ends up turning out awful.

James Ray, one of the people who spoke and helped write The
Secret in 2009 had many people die in one of his “sweat huts” in Sedona, AZ. I
point to this since he was one of the main people in the DVD to make the
connection between energy and God, how a scientist would describe energy the
same way a theologian would describe God. My point here is not to debunk the
secret but to show its roots are not without flaw, unlike God.

Test the secret and you will eventually see it works, but
without acknowledging God and love being the key to everything one drifts and
may be happy for some time, but never find true peace. That is why the rich
will keep attracting more wealth as they love money, but will miss out on the
salvation through Jesus!

I have touched on John 14:12 before but let’s look at it in
the “light” of The Secret:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works
than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

This is one of those verses that often gets people’s faith
since Jesus walked on water, healed the sick, made the lame walk and raised the
dead. In the movie, The Secret, they told the story of The Miracle Man who was
in a plane accident as was not expected to live much less walk ever again. He
was lost in his thoughts and decided he would walk out of the hospital by
Christmas. His only way to communicate was blinking and “declared” this to the
staff. He defied everyone and walked out on Christmas.

Now this was put into the light of one’s self willing their
body using the “universe” to help them. I am also considered a Miracle Man
because on May 17, 2014 I dropped dead. My heart stopped and I hit the floor.
It took 5 minutes before CPR was started and then another 45 minutes before
they got a pulse back. I was put into a coma to allow my “organs” to recover
but was told “if” I came to I would be a vegetable. I could do nothing with my
brain during this time since I was out, yet I was covered in prayer and when
Amiee and Patty were fervently praying together in my room I started to come
to. Well the nurse told them to stop praying and started to fill me up with
more drugs to keep me in a coma. Didn’t matter, and hour later I was alert,
alive and as normal as I could be.

Was it those ladies using the power of prayer or was it them
twisting the universe? This is where the lines of reality get fuzzy, but I can
say that I was prayed over and defied the odds shortly thereafter. I would say
THEY did these and “greater works” on me.

Now I feel much of what has happened to the miracle and
healing ministries today is they have either focused on the show for money or
are considered wack-a-do by the science community. How many times do we pray
for the doctors hand in healing vs a miraculous healing that only could be of
God? Honestly, we can do greater things we just need to believe and that is “The
Secret”!

Those who pray without results or try to follow the Law of
Attraction from The Secret may be close to a breakthrough before they give up. You
quickly lose faith on anything working just before something big comes along. The
saying from The Secret is “your wish is my command” and when you turn negative,
that wins.

I think the big difference between the two is the focus. One
focuses on self while the other focuses on God. We can change OUR surroundings but
cannot heal others without that special sauce call God. I think the idea we are
energy that is directly in contact with the universe is true, but there is a
higher level energy that IS God. That Is the key we can only effect little
things which may seem large, but God is in control of all and that is missing
from The Secret totally.

The video acknowledges God in a way, but ties it into “the
universe” and makes God seem to be more a genie that one can control by their
feelings. They do not mention any other attributes about God. As much as it’s
fun to see how things line up when you believe they will. One needs to
acknowledge the source and being God and not YOU. I remember one of the
teachers was in the news a few years ago, having had people die doing one of
his exercises. That shows how we cannot control everything, if you do it don’t
forget God and give thanks to him. Also, do it like Amiee and Patty for others
more than self!!

John 10:10 *** is often misused by PGPs (Prosperity Gospel Preachers):

The thief cometh not, but for to
steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and
that they might have it more abundantly.

The problem is they define abundant life as wealth and power
which is far from what Jesus was talking about here. The abundant life is MORE
than just things and comfort, it is LOVE.

Also, somehow the “abundant life” is equated with hitting
the “easy button” where everything is perfect. No we live in a flawed world, things
happen unexpected that are not what anyone would consider perfect. The “abundant
life” that Jesus talked about knows this, but knows we don’t need to focus on
the negative but rather remain grounded in Jesus.

Case in point, for a while you could see in my blog a heavy
New World Order slant. I was hot on the globalists and the Illuminati. That
just got me depressed and focused away from the “abundant life” Jesus had in
mind. Are we still spiraling down the commode? Maybe, but if we are, try to focus on
the New Jerusalem and not the tribulation we must pass through.

On a side note we are NOT going to be “raptured” up avoiding
the rough times ahead. We have explored this before and will do so later, but I
would love scriptural support if you believe it.

Anyway, the “abundant life” can be lived in a Ferrari or a
Yugo, the key is what else you are doing. Are you focused on the money and the
car, either one? In both cases you missed the mark, since rich or poor if your
idol is money

and your
focus is on money or the lack of money then you missed all Jesus said about money.

NOTE – money is not evil, but rather the love of money.

My point is the PGP’s in this world tend to remove our focus
from God and place it on their idol, money. We need to focus on more than
things, but rather love and compassion. As with giving, the focus should not be
what the PGPs want you to expect more if you give more, but rather focus on
giving what you can, if God is pleased and your attitude is solid then they
will align and you will have more.

See abundance comes from an attitude of abundance, but in
everything and not just money!!

*** BibleGate way is down … so using BibleHub until it’s back up and operational.

We have look at how Prosperity Gospel preachers have focused
on certain verses that imply God will gives us anything we desire. They link
that to things and twist it around to prey on the needy to get donations. The
point they miss is we are not just praying for wealth but joy and love. The “abundant”
life will follow but we need to focus on the “abundance” and not the problems.
Ever wonder why some seem to do well during down times, when you talk to them
they seem clueless on the problems in the world.

The Law of Attraction states you attract what you focus on.
So if you focus on your debt, you get more debt. If you focus on getting out of
debt, you still are focused on debt and get more debt. Those who seem to always
do well do so because they do not focus on the worlds ills, but the worlds
goods.

For me it started with financing the shop on credit cards, I
focused on paying them off each month and only seemed to get enough to pay off
the debt. Once I started focusing on debt and not the solution, it snowballed.
During the end of 2008 I started to shift my focus from debt to abundance.
December, 2008 I started the slow change, I got a job and Dave Ramsey’s Money
Makeover. Five years later I paid off the cards and lost my job, but remained
focused on abundance and not loss.

We sold our holdings in Georgia and started a new debt free
life in the west with family. Still no job, but we seem to keep working things
out each month. The focus remains positive. Now we are not spending wildly on
credit to maintain life thinking it’s going to get better soon, but rather
spend what we have coming in.

The key that God taught me is focus on what you want and be
receptive to those prompts he gives you. Also, do not focus on the bad! Since
we moved we no longer have any access to consistent news and this is awesome! It
keeps our focus on the abundance and not on the lack. We just need to follow
the path God lays out in front of us.

Now with this said, one thing I know is to focus on things is
not wealth, but love and God first. That is why Jesus said the two most
important commandments were love God and love your neighbors as yourself. Don’t
stop fighting to know God and reading his Word. You will see learn the HOLES in
The Secret and have a truly abundant life!

Often missing from Prosperity Gospel’s (PG) and other “get
rich quick” new age things like The Secret is giving. Unfortunately when it is
used, Matthew 13:8 is cited and is twisted into giving to their ministry is how
to get back a “hundredfold”:

 But other
fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some
sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

So give to my charity and get 100 fold back!! That is the
qualifier for many in the world of PG preachers. They always “qualify” that 100
fold with it may not be money, but blessings.

The Secret does mention this concept of giving in the DVD,
but you have to hunt in the bonus features to find it mentioned. It did not
make the final cut or the book, but is important either way. I like Pastor
Robert Morris’ approach to giving and God. In his books he tells stories that  he has given his home, car and estate away to
have nothing, only to get it back more.

I am not saying to give it all away, but I am saying you
need to give to receive. It’s an odd concept, but giving is so much a part of
the equation. The Secret DVD does explain this in the “Director Comments”
section that if you give the universe will align itself so you can give more.

Now I tend to believe it’s deeper than this since many give
from poverty, like the widow who gave here last mite while the rich gives from
his excess. In Luke 21:1 – 4 Jesus talks about this and uses it as an example,
unfortunately it’s often used as a way to guilt you into giving and that is
wrong also. I hear of old people giving their fortunes away because of this
verse.

What is missing is not the amounts or percentages, but the
attitude. Those who give without real expectations to get anything back in
return are the ones who “get it” and seem to always have enough. It’s not about
giving everything away to get more, but giving whenever you can. We are here to
be the light, not just the salt, and often it’s shined on other by our generosity.

I also know those who live with plenty who are still tight
with their wealth. They have more than most, yet they keep a tight grip on the
funds and still play the lottery for that big win. That is an attitude of lack
and shows little trust in God. Fagin from Oliver Twist had a saying many in
this position has, “charity’s fine, subscribe to mine!” I can think of one well
of buddy who use to try to have me give him my property, and this was constant
so it went beyond a joke stage. He thought I was nuts helping out people who needed
help and just assumed I would “help” him out also.

The new age mantra is if you don’t have enough to give, your
focus is on lack and the universe will make sure you never have enough.

So the PG preachers do have it right, I just say give on
your own. Find someone who needs a buck and give them a hundred. Find someone
who needs a jump start and give them a battery. Find someone who needs a cup of
coffee and give them a decent breakfast. And find someone who needs nothing and
give them your all. It’s not only about giving to the church so it will
prosper, but to those in need.

One still needs to tithe, since the church cannot survive
without the support of its members, but at the same time we need to do extra on
our own, if not for the community but for the fun!! It’s awesome to see the
face on someone who just gets a “buck” and finds a hundred wrapped inside!

John 14:13 is another popular verse with the Prosperity
Gospel preachers:

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my
name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If it were that simple!!

I think people don’t really understand why this is so hit
and miss for many of us when we pray. Often we use the cliché “it’s God’s will”
which often hurts after a death. How can death and illness be God’s will? We
often dismiss unanswered prayer to “God’s time. But when is “God’s time” and
why does it never seem to align with our own?

In my personal journey from debt to an abundant life was
long and difficult. But throughout it I see God’s fingerprints all over the
trip. We would be traveling along the way and hit roadblocks that seemed
insurmountable or derail our progress, when they only “nudged” us back to God’s
desired path for us. See if I had won the lottery or sold our property in 2007,
we would have sunk a ton of money in a business that was going to close anyway
and not have anything left. I can go on from jobs that were below my pay grade
yet were enough to chip away at the credit card debt and allow us to survive.

Through this we learned the hard lesson of the evils of
debt!

As the property kept getting delayed, what seemed to be a “curse”
ended up being a blessing. We always seemed to find the perfect spot only to
have it fall through because our deal in Georgia was delayed. The one thing we
discovered is that delay helped us find EXACTLY what we wanted!! God is awesome
when you step back and see the big picture.

Now what has prompted this revisit of exploring the Prosperity
Gospel is we recently watched “The Secret” again. While I dig the concept they
tend to focus too much on the stuff and not enough on the other side of the
abundant life. Also, they miss the idea we are made in the “image” of God and
therefore have those same qualities to a lesser extent. The movie focuses on
our interaction with the “universe” and “energy” while suggesting that all God
is.

If you watch it be aware of the “mystery religion” or
cultish parts of this. They try to remove God from the equation and since we
have that same “spirit” often they dismiss a higher power. This removes God
from the equation which is wrong!

At the other end of the spectrum, the “Prosperity Gospel”
preachers tie into this same abundant energy we call can tap into and forget to
close the loop with God. They make God seem more like the genie in The Secret
and forget “the rest of the story”.

In our prayer life we need to focus on abundant life,
praying for everything and not just the goodies and connect with God! Also, understand
it IS that simple, pray for things in Jesus’ name and they will be given to
you. You need to receive and understand it may not look like how you prayed.
Your desire to be rich and debt free may not include the lottery, but rather a
more difficult road. You just need to believe and wait, never give up and
remain focused on the positive.