Early in the year 2007, I was working in a dead-end job which paid me below $128 every month. Some times we waited for up to four (4) months before part of the wages were paid. I had little hope for a better future.
Being a firm believer in the love of God through Jesus, I kept on praying trusting Him for a miracle Job. In my home country, getting highly paid jobs required connections of which I seemed to have none; I was frustrated and at my wits end.
I am not sure how, but some how I came across a free copy of a little e-book called The Science of getting rich by Wallace Wattles on the internet. I downloaded a copy and saved it on my old Celeron desktop for study. Reading chapter 11 Acting in the certain Way, I came across a sentence that I felt addressed my situation: “Hold the vision of yourself in the job you want, while you ACT with faith and purpose on the job you have, and you will certainly get the job you want. “
There was a research institute that earlier on in the year I had visited and submitted my resumes and because I had no one to stand for me, I kept missing opportunities. My visits there showed me how things were done: the lawn was well mowed, a rare sight in any government establishment; the workers each had a name tag hanging on their necks as dog-tags or clipped to their dresses; they came to work early; they were excited about the job; and they were highly paid compared to my dead-end job.
So I went into action. I continued to cry out to God, who was able to save me from my situation; I studied the words of Jesus in Mark 11:24, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."; then I got a my ID card and hung it round my neck like a dog-tag; I kept on visualizing myself walking around a neat environment with all the lawns constantly mowed and tended; I started coming to work early and took the small tasks I was given seriously; I started making personal financial budgets that reflected someone that earns a higher monthly wage.
My colleagues thought I was silly to have hung my ID card like that. No one was proud of the job. It was no job since people preferred to come late and close early and were hardly on seat to work. As an engineer, I was actually redundant since there was no engineering related work for me to actually do.
In the month of august, I discovered that I had missed a test for a job I had applied with our country’s Central Bank. It was distressing but I consoled myself with a verse of scripture that said, God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. To me missed opportunities, poverty and lack are the same with darkness; but God dwells in me.
That same month, God performed a miracle as far as I am concerned – I got the job with the research institute. I presently wear my ID card like they do, I walk in between the lawns etc just as I envisioned. I couldn’t believe my eyes when my first pay check came my way.
This is a true story and I am still working there now as I type this post. I sowed a seed and through right action and thought, this seed germinated and produced the fruit called "...a better job". I have also manifested a laptop and some other stuff I can't write about now. I still think a Christian can experience the so-called law of attraction, but should do so with caution and never assume the position of God. satan tried it once and was casted down out of heaven. The principle of sowing and reaping as presented in the Bible appeals to me more. I still have some stuff i need to see manifest but yet to or might never come to past. Its a fact in life. No amount of huna or Nevillizing would help me. They might even get me in trouble. Only my relationship with the Lord would put me through it all.
Ricky Macharm has a great free resource blog, http://law-of-attraction-for-christians.blogspot.com/containing different articles. Visit today.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Jesus Versus The Secret: A Christian’s Guide to the Law of Attraction
At the time of this writing, The Secret is the #8 best-selling book on Amazon. A book with a title like The Secret makes you want to discover what’s inside.
The secret within The Secret is the Law of Attraction, described in the book as follows:
Everything that’s coming into your life you are attracting into your life, and it’s attracted to you by virtue of the images you’re holding in your mind.
The most obvious explanation for the power of positive thinking involves motivation. In other words, positive thinking encourages positive action, and positive action causes positive results.
However, another explanation can be found in The Secret, which casts positive thought as metaphysical power:
You are a human transmission tower, and you are more powerful than any television tower created on earth. You are the most powerful transmission tower in the Universe. Your transmission creates your life and it creates the world. The frequency you transmit reaches beyond cities, beyond countries, beyond the world. It reverberates throughout the entire Universe. And you are transmitting that frequency with your thoughts!
Notice the capitalization (and deification) of the word “universe” in the previous excerpt. Despite all its talk of quantum physics and new science, The Secret is a spiritual book with underpinnings in theology and religion, where Universe and God mean the same thing.
Because of The Secret’s metaphysical nature, people may want to know if the Law of Attraction violates their religion. In fact, the book claims to parallel several world religions.
A Christian friend of mine recently said, “John, do you think the Law of Attraction is just a bunch of new-age mumbo jumbo?”
What she really wanted to know was whether a Christian could practice the Law of Attraction in good conscience, or if Christianity and The Secret were diametrically opposed. As it turns out, the answer lies inbetween these extremes.
Before we go any further, I want to share my religious background, so you know where I’m coming from. I do not claim to be an expert on Christianity, but I know something about it. My mother and father-in-law are preachers, and I was raised in the Church. I have practiced many Christian denominations: Baptist, Non-Denominational, Pentacostal — the list goes on. I have read every word of the New Testament six times, and I believe the Gospels contain some of life’s most valuable lessons, whether you’re Christian or not.
So when I was asked to share my opinion about Christiantiy and the Law of Attraction, I discovered I had quite a bit to say.
But I want to be clear: This article is not about what I believe. You are smart enough to make decisions about your spirituality on your own. This article is an analysis of how the Law of Attraction meshes with basic Christian principles – no more, no less.
The Power of Faith
One of the core principals of the Law of Attraction, as described in The Secret, is the ability of faith to affect physical change in the universe:
You must believe that you have received. You must know that what you want is yours the moment you ask. You must have complete and utter faith.
In the moment you ask and believe and know you already have it in the unseen, the entire Universe shifts to bring it into the seen. You must act, speak, and think as if you are receiving it now. Why? The universe is a mirror, and the law of attraction is mirroring back to you your dominant thoughts.
On the importance of faith, the Law of Attraction and the New Testament agree. Christianity recognizes the power of faith to bring about positive change, not merely as an internal motivator, but also as an external creative energy.
If you doubt the Bible’s position on faith, just look at these scriptures:
Luke 17:6 –If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.
Matthew 7:7 — Ask and ye shall receive.
Mark 11:23 – For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
The scripture in Mark is one of the most powerful in the Bible. It says you can have anything you want if you have faith. So are The Secret and the Bible in complete agreement? Well, not so fast.
The Christian God is not Your Genie
In The Secret, the Universe is portrayed as a cosmic genie, waiting to grant your every wish. But the Christian God is not your Genie. The Christian God is sovereign, not merely an extension of your hopes and wishes.
So what’s the implication of God’s sovereign nature upon the “power of faith” scriptures I quoted earlier? Simple: You can have all the faith in the world, but the Christian God isn’t granting your wish unless it’s His will.
This does not completely undermine the principles of faith advocated by LoA, but does apply limits to them.
Plus, the Bible has a Code of Conduct
Although the Law of Attraction and the Bible agree in principle on the power of positive thinking and the importance faith, the Bible (being a religious book) suggests a code of conduct related to what you should attract, whereas The Secret (a secular book) does not.
The Secret says you can obtain a new BMW by manifesting it. The Bible, on the other hand, suggests the futility of living a consumer lifestyle. If you want to know my opinion about the hopelessness of modern consumption, read my American Zombie article. If you want to know what the Bible says about it, read these verses:
Matthew 6:19 — Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 13:22 — The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
Both verses hint at the temporary and unsatisfying nature of living for the material treasures of this life.
There’s more to the Bible than the Law of Attraction
The NIV Study Bible that I used as a reference while writing this article contains almost 2,000 pages, and only a small percentage involve desire manifestation. In other words, there’s more to the Bible than the Law of Attraction.
This brings us to our final point, the real impact statement of this article: If a person wants to follow the tenets of Christianity and simultaneously use the Law of Attraction, he must recognize the Law of Attraction as one small component in a larger body of Christian teachings.
A complete reconciliation of LoA with the Bible would take a book, not an article. And it’s doubtful even a book could tackle it, since reconcilation is a personal journey. Hopefully this article has given you a place to start and something to think about.
Article written by John Place. check out some of his posts at johnplaceonline.com
Ricky Macharm has a great free resource blog, http://law-of-attraction-for-christians.blogspot.com/containing different articles. Visit today.
The secret within The Secret is the Law of Attraction, described in the book as follows:
Everything that’s coming into your life you are attracting into your life, and it’s attracted to you by virtue of the images you’re holding in your mind.
The most obvious explanation for the power of positive thinking involves motivation. In other words, positive thinking encourages positive action, and positive action causes positive results.
However, another explanation can be found in The Secret, which casts positive thought as metaphysical power:
You are a human transmission tower, and you are more powerful than any television tower created on earth. You are the most powerful transmission tower in the Universe. Your transmission creates your life and it creates the world. The frequency you transmit reaches beyond cities, beyond countries, beyond the world. It reverberates throughout the entire Universe. And you are transmitting that frequency with your thoughts!
Notice the capitalization (and deification) of the word “universe” in the previous excerpt. Despite all its talk of quantum physics and new science, The Secret is a spiritual book with underpinnings in theology and religion, where Universe and God mean the same thing.
Because of The Secret’s metaphysical nature, people may want to know if the Law of Attraction violates their religion. In fact, the book claims to parallel several world religions.
A Christian friend of mine recently said, “John, do you think the Law of Attraction is just a bunch of new-age mumbo jumbo?”
What she really wanted to know was whether a Christian could practice the Law of Attraction in good conscience, or if Christianity and The Secret were diametrically opposed. As it turns out, the answer lies inbetween these extremes.
Before we go any further, I want to share my religious background, so you know where I’m coming from. I do not claim to be an expert on Christianity, but I know something about it. My mother and father-in-law are preachers, and I was raised in the Church. I have practiced many Christian denominations: Baptist, Non-Denominational, Pentacostal — the list goes on. I have read every word of the New Testament six times, and I believe the Gospels contain some of life’s most valuable lessons, whether you’re Christian or not.
So when I was asked to share my opinion about Christiantiy and the Law of Attraction, I discovered I had quite a bit to say.
But I want to be clear: This article is not about what I believe. You are smart enough to make decisions about your spirituality on your own. This article is an analysis of how the Law of Attraction meshes with basic Christian principles – no more, no less.
The Power of Faith
One of the core principals of the Law of Attraction, as described in The Secret, is the ability of faith to affect physical change in the universe:
You must believe that you have received. You must know that what you want is yours the moment you ask. You must have complete and utter faith.
In the moment you ask and believe and know you already have it in the unseen, the entire Universe shifts to bring it into the seen. You must act, speak, and think as if you are receiving it now. Why? The universe is a mirror, and the law of attraction is mirroring back to you your dominant thoughts.
On the importance of faith, the Law of Attraction and the New Testament agree. Christianity recognizes the power of faith to bring about positive change, not merely as an internal motivator, but also as an external creative energy.
If you doubt the Bible’s position on faith, just look at these scriptures:
Luke 17:6 –If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.
Matthew 7:7 — Ask and ye shall receive.
Mark 11:23 – For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
The scripture in Mark is one of the most powerful in the Bible. It says you can have anything you want if you have faith. So are The Secret and the Bible in complete agreement? Well, not so fast.
The Christian God is not Your Genie
In The Secret, the Universe is portrayed as a cosmic genie, waiting to grant your every wish. But the Christian God is not your Genie. The Christian God is sovereign, not merely an extension of your hopes and wishes.
So what’s the implication of God’s sovereign nature upon the “power of faith” scriptures I quoted earlier? Simple: You can have all the faith in the world, but the Christian God isn’t granting your wish unless it’s His will.
This does not completely undermine the principles of faith advocated by LoA, but does apply limits to them.
Plus, the Bible has a Code of Conduct
Although the Law of Attraction and the Bible agree in principle on the power of positive thinking and the importance faith, the Bible (being a religious book) suggests a code of conduct related to what you should attract, whereas The Secret (a secular book) does not.
The Secret says you can obtain a new BMW by manifesting it. The Bible, on the other hand, suggests the futility of living a consumer lifestyle. If you want to know my opinion about the hopelessness of modern consumption, read my American Zombie article. If you want to know what the Bible says about it, read these verses:
Matthew 6:19 — Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 13:22 — The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
Both verses hint at the temporary and unsatisfying nature of living for the material treasures of this life.
There’s more to the Bible than the Law of Attraction
The NIV Study Bible that I used as a reference while writing this article contains almost 2,000 pages, and only a small percentage involve desire manifestation. In other words, there’s more to the Bible than the Law of Attraction.
This brings us to our final point, the real impact statement of this article: If a person wants to follow the tenets of Christianity and simultaneously use the Law of Attraction, he must recognize the Law of Attraction as one small component in a larger body of Christian teachings.
A complete reconciliation of LoA with the Bible would take a book, not an article. And it’s doubtful even a book could tackle it, since reconcilation is a personal journey. Hopefully this article has given you a place to start and something to think about.
Article written by John Place. check out some of his posts at johnplaceonline.com
Ricky Macharm has a great free resource blog, http://law-of-attraction-for-christians.blogspot.com/containing different articles. Visit today.
Changing Seasons
If you live in temperate zones, you must have experienced changing seasons: Winter, Spring, Fall (Autumn) and Summer. Most people love summer I am sure. You hear talks on summer holidays and all that. Man has found a way of enduring winter - through sports. For non-sports lovers, winter is a period that is dreaded. Some people, including birds, move down to warmer regions in the southern hemisphere when it is winter in the northern hemisphere. Some other animals are known to hibernate during these coldperiods.
What has this all got to do with the law of attraction? During winter, the fields are normally left unattended by farmers. No one sows during these periods. It does not mean that there are no seeds in the soil, but these seeds do not grow or show any activity or evidence of growth. Spring time is that period where grass begin to sprout and also flowers. In life, we have seasons too. There are times we just are unable to really manifest anything tangible.
The teachers of the secret will not tell you this. Instead, they make you believe that if you are not manifesting what you want, then you might be doing something wrong or you might need to get their complete package which would normally include some kind of subliminals or practices they claim some ancient cultures have been using and all those gimmicks used in luring you o part with your money. At the end, you would be involved in practices not normal among civilised groups. In short you would be involved in stuff close to voodoo or hawaian huna that never really liberated the ancient people roups that practiced them. The Bible would call some of these practices witchcraft.
Nothing works more than being in a meditative state of prayer. I can't here give you how-tos of getting into the meditative state of prayer, but I assure that everybody has different situation that truly puts you into that state. That is the point where you truly connect with your spiritual state. Becareful with following some ancient practices that was never liberating for the ancient adherents of its codes. You need to get close to your spiritual source through prayer and meditation on scriptures. I have got to a state before where merely thinking of a hing brings it to past in my life. I am not saying that it happens always (like the so-called teachers would make you believe), but it happens all the same. I still have winter moments.
I sometimes begin to see seeds I never planted or probably planted unconsciously growing in my life. Yes, some seeds you never planted could begin to manifest in your life. Happens all the time. This to me is the reason innocent children get killed through wars and famines. I am sure the teachers never told you this, but it is true. We need to find a way of uprooting these seeds. If we can't then we'd have to live with them. Sometimes we are predestined by God to experience the fruits of unwanted seeds planted by others. If we had a good relationship with Him, we'd know those needed in our lives to develop us and those that we can uproot. Sometimes the process of uprooting them could be a period of development for us.
I will keep you posted on more posts on this topic. Feel free to post your comments and I will surely answer them.
Ricky Macharm has a great free resource blog, http://law-of-attraction-for-christians.blogspot.com/containing different articles. Visit today.
What has this all got to do with the law of attraction? During winter, the fields are normally left unattended by farmers. No one sows during these periods. It does not mean that there are no seeds in the soil, but these seeds do not grow or show any activity or evidence of growth. Spring time is that period where grass begin to sprout and also flowers. In life, we have seasons too. There are times we just are unable to really manifest anything tangible.
The teachers of the secret will not tell you this. Instead, they make you believe that if you are not manifesting what you want, then you might be doing something wrong or you might need to get their complete package which would normally include some kind of subliminals or practices they claim some ancient cultures have been using and all those gimmicks used in luring you o part with your money. At the end, you would be involved in practices not normal among civilised groups. In short you would be involved in stuff close to voodoo or hawaian huna that never really liberated the ancient people roups that practiced them. The Bible would call some of these practices witchcraft.
Nothing works more than being in a meditative state of prayer. I can't here give you how-tos of getting into the meditative state of prayer, but I assure that everybody has different situation that truly puts you into that state. That is the point where you truly connect with your spiritual state. Becareful with following some ancient practices that was never liberating for the ancient adherents of its codes. You need to get close to your spiritual source through prayer and meditation on scriptures. I have got to a state before where merely thinking of a hing brings it to past in my life. I am not saying that it happens always (like the so-called teachers would make you believe), but it happens all the same. I still have winter moments.
I sometimes begin to see seeds I never planted or probably planted unconsciously growing in my life. Yes, some seeds you never planted could begin to manifest in your life. Happens all the time. This to me is the reason innocent children get killed through wars and famines. I am sure the teachers never told you this, but it is true. We need to find a way of uprooting these seeds. If we can't then we'd have to live with them. Sometimes we are predestined by God to experience the fruits of unwanted seeds planted by others. If we had a good relationship with Him, we'd know those needed in our lives to develop us and those that we can uproot. Sometimes the process of uprooting them could be a period of development for us.
I will keep you posted on more posts on this topic. Feel free to post your comments and I will surely answer them.
Ricky Macharm has a great free resource blog, http://law-of-attraction-for-christians.blogspot.com/containing different articles. Visit today.
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