The Incredible Secret from a Biblical Perspective (Part 4)
By Tommy Franks
“For as (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he” (Pr.23:7). “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt.12:34).
Some adults have forgotten how to dream about what they want. Most do not believe that they can have the desires of their hearts. When you truly embrace the fact that you can literally have anything that you want by using the Law of Attraction, then you start to experience the emotion connected with having that thing. This is when you really start to attract the thing you want into your life. It is not enough to simply think about them. You need to feel the “feels”…see the “sights”…smell the “smells”…hear the “sounds”…and experience the positive emotion of having it in your mind. If you see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hands. Thoughts produce things.
Start the day with being thankful…having an attitude of gratitude. Laugh a lot. Laughter is an effective way to create positive thoughts. Laugh and smile often. Be happy! Focus on positive things in your life. The Law of Attraction works either way…positive or negative. If you focus on the negative, it will happen. If you focus on the positive, it will happen. You will receive what you think about either way…. whether you want it or not. So, if you focus on something positive…work, family, health, finances, etc., you are guaranteed to attract it to you.
Our "reality" today is nothing more than the result of our thoughts yesterday….Good, bad, or indifferent. You are the only person responsible for your life. The good news is…it does not matter where your life is right now because you can change it…literally overnight if you want to change it.
Focus on what you want in life. Act as if you already have it. Do whatever it takes to create a positive emotional state and experience to help you feel the emotion of actually having what you desire. Focus on what you want…not on what you don’t want. Never worry about “how” you are going to receive what you want. This is where a lot of people get side-tracked and disenchanted. They want to know how it’s going to happen…how it will be manifested. The “how” is left up to God Almighty. That is His responsibility. God will provide you with the things that you say, feel, see, desire, and expect. But if you worry about “how” it is going to happen, then doubt starts to come in. Your job is to express what you want and then leave the details of the “how” in God’s Hands.
Feel good about yourself and where you are going in life. Feel good even when you do not “feel” like feeling good. Smile. Listen to some good soothing music. Give thanks to God for all the things you have already. Be happy! Stay focused. I cannot emphasize this too much…Smile. Put together a list of things to think about that brings a smile to your face. Whenever you are feeling down or blue, look at your list. Do you like to dance? Do you like to sing? If you do, then dance, sing, laugh, have fun, enjoy life. Envision yourself having fun.
Regardless, if your goals are health, wealth, better relationships, or personal happiness, start pretending that you already have it. Visualize spending the money, living in your brand new home, driving your dream car, or walking around in a brand new body. Act as if you already have it.
If you feel that a situation is hopeless, it is. By feeling that way, you are guaranteeing that what you feel will attract the hopeless situation to you. Can you control your feelings? Yes. Can you control your reactions to various people in your life? Yes. If your feelings and reactions are angry, hostile, or hopeless, these feelings will manifest themselves openly in the physical realm. Do not blame others for your feelings. You and I are responsible for what we think, say, and feel.
Another characteristic of having the desires of your heart is forgiveness. “What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them” (Mk.11:24). In the very NEXT verse, Jesus says, “And when you stand praying, forgive…if you have anything against anyone” (Mk.11:25). Anyone in the world can do this…if he chooses. Forgiveness is a choice. If we continue to hold a grudge or to be upset with someone who has done us wrong, we are stopping the flow of God’s best in our lives. (Part 5 will follow.)
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6 comments:
Tommy, a blog is exactly what you have needed! Fantastic! So I'm sorry that my first comment is a negative one. The Secret and the Law of Attraction principles are at best new-age nonsense. At worst this philosophy is occult. We Christians are clearly warned away from personal efforts to control reality. Our thoughts do not create our world - unless we are all living in the illusory dream world of eastern thought. Clearly we are not. Christians hold that God created a real universe and the creatures in it. God is sovereign over His creation and not subject to our thought control. Now this is not to say that we shouldn't pray - God answers our prayers according to His good purposes and will. Nor do I object to the long proven practice of visualization like athletes employ to prepare for events. Certainly, an optimistic outlook will make for a brighter day than pessimism. But I must disagree with the idea that our thoughts create our reality. Certainly our minds are powerful - they effect our bodies and can alter our emotional state. But no matter how hard I think about being a bird, even if I believe it with my whole heart, even if I ask God to make it so - I will never learn to fly. If I have been too outspoken about my belief that I am a bird, I may be locked up - as a sadly deluded person, not bird.
All the info I could find on the so-called "Law" of Attraction was tied in to new age and magic. Flee!
Oh no! I meant to type our powerful minds can affect (not effect) our bodies . . .
I tried to think the correction into the post - didn't work. Curses on poor grammer.
Linda, I totally agree with you.
At the bottom of the Blog Archive you will find Part 1. I prefaced this series in "The Incredible Secret from a Biblical Perspective (Part 1)" with the following:
Many of you have read “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. It is a great book if you eat the chicken and spit out the bones. A lot of the content is “New Age” thinking; however, I appreciate her views on the topic of being positive and thinking positive thoughts. However, I want to write this article from the Biblical perspective because the “Bible” is the Standard for all Biblical principles, eternal values, and canonized doctrine.
“For as (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he” (Pr.23:7). Whatever you think upon, you become or attract to you. Some call this the “Law of Attraction”. If you think about something long enough while in full belief that it will happen, the laws of God will act on your behalf to bring it into your possession as you act on your thoughts, ideas, and dreams. Read on…
“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt.12:34). If your heart is full of good things…things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of a good report…As you think on these things, they will happen for you. If you think on negative things, negative things will happen in your life. The converse is true if you think positively.
“If you believe…you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Mt.21:22). These are words of the Master Teacher Jesus Christ. His Word is eternal and absolute. Conceive it. Believe it. Receive it. No, this is not magic stuff. God’s Word is inspired and works in conjunction with the laws of the universe. Tommy
“I tell you the truth, if anyone…does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore… whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mk.11:23-24). These are red letter words in the New Testament…the Words of Christ.
Wow, a quick response! Let me first explain that I do not believe that God grants our every request. Consider Paul’s efforts to be rid of his thorn in 2 Cor 12 7"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
I find the currently popular emphasis on a self serving faith very disturbing. We are not promised health, wealth, beauty and happiness. We are to pick up our cross and follow Jesus Christ. As you know, following Christ has resulted in painful persecution and martyrdom for untold thousands. Our relationship with our Lord is a joy because it completes and fulfills us – not because it makes us rich or successful. I do not mean that God never blesses His faithful, He does. But our purpose is to love and serve God and man – not to be personally happy. Strangely, when we lose our focus on self and instead work for the Kingdom, then we find ourselves most happy!
Proverbs 23:7 when considered in context is a warning about seeking the favor of an insincere ruler. "6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee." The newer translations make this clearer but 23:7 does not deal with our thoughts or the Law of Attraction.
Matt 12:34 in full reads: 34" O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Here Jesus is railing against the Pharisees - accusing them of speaking against the Holy Spirit. The basic point, I think, is that the fruit we produce through words or actions is a reflection of the condition of our hearts. Not so much about the power of positive thinking.
Matt 21:22 "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Well, this one does sound like we can have anything if we believe enough. But logically, we know that this verse cannot be plucked out alone but must be understood in light of the entire Bible. Christians realize that we must pray from within the will of God, not from within the will of man. The pericope in which this verse is found is about the power of the prayer of a faithful follower of Christ. Selfish requests are not evidence of being a new creature in Christ. Yet when we pray for the things of God, in the will of God, we can be confident of God’s answer. Mk 11:23-24 – Same story including the mountain moving metaphor. Point is that all things are possible with God. But moving a mountain, while a good illustration of the power of faith, would be a bad idea.
Paul received a “no” to his prayer request. For that matter so did Jesus in Gethsemane when He prayed that this cup be taken from Him. I don’t think either was guilty of a lack of faith. The example Paul and Jesus have set before us is to serve God even when it is darned unpleasant. His grace is sufficient and His will, not ours, be done.
But I know you know this and I am probably preaching to the choir. Our mutual friend and All Saints’ blogmaster would have cut this long post off by now. You can do the same if you want! Happy blogging!
Linda: Consider the following:
Paul had persecutions, afflictions, which happened to him at Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and just about everywhere he went. However, he did say, “And out of them all the Lord delivered me” (2 Tim.3). He says that he was delivered from all of his troubles and problems.
Paul went on to say, “Now thanks be to God who always causes (leads) us in triumph in Christ (2 Cor.2). What is the reason that we as Christians do not always triumph? Could it be us? We know it’s not God’s fault. We cannot always blame the devil for our shortcomings. We certainly cannot continue to blame our spouses or family members. When Tommy Franks does not triumph over a problem or issue, it is his fault alone...his responsibility. It took me over 40 years to learn this, but now I live easier in accepting the fact that when I do mess up (which is often), I realize that I have failed to act on “Now thanks be to God who always causes (leads) us in triumph in Christ (2 Cor.2).
The Psalmist said, “For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work…I will triumph in the works of Your hands” (Ps.92). Today is no different than 3000 years ago. We can triumph through the Hands of God on a consistent basis.
“And he (the godly one) shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper” (Ps.1:3). We have the Scriptures behind us to always prosper. Do we? No. Why? One: We are human. Two: We do not always act on the Scripture. Three: We sometimes allow wrong confessions to infiltrate our minds, hearts, souls, and tongues.
“Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers” (3Jn. 1:2) This has always been God's dream for us. He loves us so much. He wants His children (all of us) to have His very best. I want my four children to have the very best. That is my desire for them. Do they always make the best decisions? No. Do I? No. However, this does not change the Scripture. We can in fact have the desires of our heart and prosper every single day in every way. That decision is ours.
Thanks for considering the above.
Tommy
Linda says:
"Our mutual friend and All Saints’ blogmaster would have cut this long post off by now."
HEY! How come in the midst of this intelligent theological discussion while I am just standing there listening I am the one who gets SLAPPED!?
The Mutual Friend (trying to think positively about all this)
:)
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