SERMON ON THE SECRET
On a crisp spring morning the Godhead was playing golf on what was surely the most heavenly of all courses. This is a point I have long disagreed with my wife about. I say it is a spiritual game created in paradise itself but my wife says it’s a silly game played by poorly dressed men avoiding their respective honey-do lists.
Regardless, they were coming up to the 18th hole when a hole-in-one would secure a victory for the first to tee-off. The ball was placed and driven 356 yards of the 413 yard par four; an excellent drive in anyone’s eyes. Just as the second person was teeing his ball a snake came out and attacked the first person’s ball. Just as the snake bit the ball, an eagle swooped down and caught the snake. After lifting the snake and the ball high up into the air the eagle proceeded back to her nest to feed her chicks the mornings catch.
Just as she flew over the green, a bolt of lightening cracked and singed the tail feathers of the eagle causing her to drop the snake. The snake fell only to land on the green and cough up the ball which rolled towards the hole, hit the stick then fell into the cup. Jesus stood up before he drove his shot and said, “Nice shot dad.” To which God responded, “You just have to believe, son. You just have to believe.”
We say it comically but truer words have never been spoken; “You just have to believe.”
Have you ever wanted to have more money than you or your family could ever spend or give away? Have you ever wished you truly enjoyed your job, or had a better house to live in? Have you ever wished the kids would just listen to you for one minute rather than tune you out as soon as you start talking to them? Have you ever wondered what if?
I am here today to tell you that if you are looking for something, regardless of what it is, all you have to do is ask.
Every few years a secular book is written that hits the best seller list that challenges us to review our faith because it calls into question the very things we believe in. In a book written by Rhonda Byrne called ‘The Secret’, this issue of believing is visited but it is not to call the Christian faith into question but has us turn to the bible for an explanation of undefined events that present themselves in the book. In her book she has commentary from several successful personnel from different walks of life all giving their own definition of what the Secret is and how to use it but as I will show this morning, all of the information we need to truly understand the principles identified in the book are found in the bible.
The Secret is defined as the Law of Attraction and exists in the universe with other natural laws such as the Law of Gravity. No one questions the law of gravity they just know that it exists and regardless of a person’s position in life, gravity will act on everyone in a like fashion. The Law of Attraction is no different. The Law of Attraction will continue to operate methodically, and flawlessly, regardless of your awareness of it or ignorance to it. It will continue to operate exactly as it was created, regardless of your belief or unbelief in it. It is like a magnet that will attract anything that is a like material.
Here is an example of the law of attraction, ever wonder why 1% of the population earns over 95% of the money? Why some people always seem to have good things happen to them and you never appear to catch a break? As I put it, why do some people who constantly fall into a pile of manure always come up cornering the market on fertilizer? The reason is the Law of Attraction. These people are controlling what they think about and are therefore controlling the outcome of the situation they find themselves in.
In The Secret, it is reported that the universe feeds off of what people think about. What you think about you will bring about. People who are happy and positive continually attract situations that are happy and positive but people who are unhappy and negative will attract unhappy and negative situations.
See the reality that is being reported in the book does not differentiate between good and bad it only focuses on the topic not the tense. If you focus on wanting to get out of debt, the focus in on debt and you will get more of it. If you focus on filling the empty pews in the back of the church more pews will empty as a result of your concentrating on the issue. If you wish you had a job you did not hate you will find you hate your job more and more because that is what you are focusing on.
Now before I loose everybody you are probably asking why I am talking about a book in a church sermon. The reason is the phenomenon has been identified in the book but the true reasoning is found in the bible.
Matthew 7:7-11
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
This is found in the bible as Ask, Seek, Knock and Receive. Ask and it will be given to you, if you are looking for it you will find it, any door will be opened if you knock, and if you ask, you will receive. But, you have to believe.
In her book, Rhonda Byrne reports it as the three steps:
Step #1- Ask
Step #2- Believe
Step #3- Receive
These steps are part of the great secret that has been purported as the basis for success by all who understand and put it into practice. Why does it take reading a book on the best seller’s list before we take the words written in the bible to reflect how the world really is?
Step #1 Ask! Make the request to God by stating what it is that you want. Don’t be wishy washy regarding the issue, make the statement. Step #2 then believe! When you place an order with a catalogue store do you question whether or not it will be delivered; No. Then don’t question this.
Mark 11:22-23
22"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ’Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
It is not for you to know how it will be delivered to you, or what resources will be made available to you; you only need to believe that it will be delivered to you. You will find that most of the successful people in the world, or throughout history, had no idea on how they were going to accomplish something, only that they were going to do it.
Jack Canfield was only making $8k a year when he put this concept into practice. He manifested a request for a $100k income then let God go to work. Jack Canfield had a book written and visualized people buying his book and realized an income close to the $100k that first year it was in publication. His wife then asked if the concept worked for $100k would it work for $1 million. He found out that it did with the first royalty check for the book ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’. He said it was the first $1million check his publisher had ever written so he put a happy face beside his signature.
Another example would be Thomas Edison. It took Edison over 1-1/2 years to develop the electric light bulb and at each juncture he stated that he had not failed that in fact he simple had found another way that would not work. Some people would argue that this was the same thing but it is not. One way is to stay positive and not admit defeat, the other is not positive; it all depends on your focus.
This brings us to another issue that needs to be understood; you need to continue to feel good throughout the entire process. Step 3 is to Receive but before you receive it you have to believe, truly believe, that you already have it.
People are going to say that I have to truly believe it before it will happen. What happens if I question or have non-positive thoughts. People have on average over 60,000 thoughts every day and not all thoughts can be controlled. There are two facts that need to be brought to everyone’s attention; first, don’t worry, good thoughts are proven to be several hundred times stronger than non-positive thoughts. If you have a bad thought, or are negative, work on controlling that thought and turning it back into the positive. Second, there is a time delay between thinking about something and the thought being manifested into delivering what you are thinking about. This will let you think about flying pink elephants without worrying how to get them down and back into the cage.
When you ask God I stated it is not up to you to question where it is going to come from. President Kennedy stated in 1962 that there would be a man on the moon before the end of the decade. Did he know how that was going to be accomplished? He didn’t have a clue but once it was put out there, he let the people who became inspired to develop the methodology. If you have an inspired thought you have to trust it and act on it. Ever hear the statement you need to pray like everything depends on God and work like everything depends on you? People who are working in a positive direction will find that the harder they work the luckier they get and more and more of their requests will be answered. Why? Because they believe when they ask.
Next, because you believe, you have to work on faith.
Mark 11:24
24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
As you are working on the project, you have to have faith that it will come to you. In the book the scenario is given of a person driving at night in a car, they are only able to see 200’ in front of them. As they continue to drive, more and more of the road will be revealed to them in 200’ increments as long as they continue to move forward. If they have enough faith they can drive from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean by only seeing 200’ of road at a time. Martin Luther King said it best.
Take the first step in faith. You do not need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
People, you do not need to see the whole route to get from ocean to ocean. You only need to see 200’ of road at a time so there is no need for you to understand all of the steps in acquiring what you have asked for, you just need to work in faith.
If you get an inspired action but second guess yourself then it is probably not right. For the path to be correct the feeling must almost be euphoric for you to proceed but you must believe.
Ok, you are having problems controlling you thoughts. Develop an attitude of gratitude. If you are having a problem with different areas in you life, i.e. you wish you loved your job, you hoped the kids would listen more, you prayed your spouse would be more open minded to your ideas, then write down something you are grateful about.
If it is your job, write down what about your job you are grateful for. About your kids, write down what you are grateful for and the same for your spouse. Write down what ever it is that you are grateful for regarding the issue at hand then close your eyes and pray regarding what is on your list. The issues will start to take care of themselves.
Matthew 21:22
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Lee Brower, a teacher in the book the Secret, described how he got a rock to help him with his thoughts. His idea was that regardless of how his day was going, every time he touched the rock that was in his pocket, he was to think of something he was grateful for. At the very least he would touch the rock twice every day, once in the morning putting it into his pocket and once at night when he took it out, and this would contribute to him keeping an attitude of gratitude throughout the day. He then found that the positive attitude generated by the touching of the rock in his pocket carried on into other areas of his day.
Let’s go back to Mark 11:24 and the statement believe that you have received it. You need to visualize having received what you are asking God for. Dr. Denis Waitley, a psychologist and trainer in the field of mind potential, refers to this as DMR (Digital Motor Rehearsal). DMR is visualizing yourself doing what ever it is that you are looking for. If you are looking to make more money then visualize yourself living in a lifestyle that more money will provide. If you are asking to be able to contribute more to the church then visualize Rob getting nervous walking around with your check.
Dr. Waitley discovered while doing tests with astronauts during the Apollo program that the body did not differentiate between doing the exercise or the mind thinking that the body was doing the exercise. The results showed that the same brain activity fired the nerves for the muscles regardless if the body moved or not.
Another experiment by an independent lab carried this concept one step further. Three separate teams were made of people to throw 10 free throws on a basketball court. The first team practiced by actually throwing basketballs at the hoop. The second team divided up their practice time between throwing basketballs at the hoop and meditating and practicing in their mind that they were throwing basketballs. The third group only practiced by meditating that they were throwing basketballs at the hoop. After a sufficient practice time, a test was run where everyone in the groups threw 10 actual free throws and the score was tallied. The group that practice by meditation only came in first, the team that split their time between meditation and actual practice came in second, and the team that practiced actually throwing the basketball came in last. The results of this test showed the control the mind had on bringing events to reality simply by believing what you are doing.
As we realize the effect believing has on the outcome of different events we become aware that we can start to control our own destiny. One such person who realized this was lady in the book The Secret whose name was Cathy Goodman. Ms. Goodman was a very spiritual lady having a strong Christian faith and was diagnosed with breast cancer. As a result of her faith, every day she would state over and over ‘thank you for my health’, and ‘thank you for my healing’. She would do this through the entire day. She also made a point of bringing laughter into her life. Her and her husband would watch old comedies day after day in an attempt to remove all stress from her life and have only joy and peace every day. After three months she was examined by the doctor and found to be cancer free without the use of radiation treatments or chemotherapy.
I in no way want to lessen the requirement of treatments in the dealing with cancer as they have proven themselves to be effective in the elimination of the cancer cells, I am just pointing out the benefits of both a strong spiritual base and a firm resolution in beating the illness.
Another occurrence highlighted was the discussion of a man named Morris E. Goodman. The same last name was purely coincidental. Morris was flying his plane one day when he crashed. When he woke up in the hospital he was informed that he had crushed his spinal cord, is diaphragm was destroyed, he had lost his swallowing reflex, he was paralyzed from the nose down and all he could do was blink his eyes. The doctors were quick to point out that he was lucky to be alive but all he would ever be able to do is blink his eyes. Through a series of blinks, he was able to inform the doctors that he would walk out of the hospital by Christmas that was only 8 months away.
John 15:7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
As the time wore on, Morris weaned himself from the ventilator, willed his arms and feet to work and true to his word, walked out of the hospital under his own power 8 months later. Morris later stated, “Man becomes what he thinks about.”
People might not believe any of the health issues that I have just detailed but there is continued research into what is called the Placebo Effect and how known sugar pills at times get the same, if not better, results as prescribed medication. Remember, a healthy attitude is first and foremost in the attainment of a healthy body.
Mother Teresa understood the power of the mind and being careful to nurture what you thought about. She once stated that she would never attend an anti-war rally but to call here if you ever held a peace rally. She knew the importance of not focusing on war and the benefit of concentrating on peace. The realization is that energy flows where attention goes and when ever your inner voice becomes louder than the world around you, you are close to understanding how to live.
Some of you are still going to say I’m not rich enough, or I’m not smart enough, or I’m not young enough, or I’m not old enough, or she won’t let me, or he won’t help me, or I’m not this, or I’m not that, I’m not, I’m not, I’m not, … People you have to believe!
Did you know that psychologists have determined that over 85% of all families are dysfunctional that all of this I’m not, or you don’t understand but I can’t because… is called SO WHAT!
Henry Ford stated, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, either way you are right.”
Everybody hold out your hands. See what you have in your hands. What you hold in your hands in not who you are. What you see is a result of who you were. The thoughts and actions of yesterday made up who you were but they do not control who you can be tomorrow.
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”
We are made in the image and likeness of God and as the kids say, God Don’t Make Junk! Where you are today has no effect on where you can be tomorrow. You are in control of what you think about and pray about. Dr. John F. Demartini, a doctor, philosopher, author, and international speaker states, ‘What ever you think about and thank about you will bring about.”
You have the ability to control your actions by controlling your thoughts. With practice you will be able to spend an entire day working on nothing but positive actions with positive results. Still concerned that you do not have the control to determine where you need to be.
James 1:5-6
5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
Because God has made you in his image and will give wisdom generously to all who ask, and will provide anything that one asks for providing they believe, then, what is stopping anyone here from being happy.
Again, we all have issues that we need to deal with but if we want tomorrow to be different than today we do not need to do today what we did yesterday; that just doesn’t make sense. What we need to do is identify what we are looking to accomplish, focus on the positive side of what it is we are asking for, picture that we have already received it and move on to the next issue until such time as we actually receive it.
With this knowledge you will start to realize no one can make you happy. Only you have the control to make you happy. The nice part of this is no one can make you unhappy because you are in control. What a great realization to know that no one can ever make you mad or angry again if you do not want it to happen.
God has not put out a billboard to define what he wants you to do with your life so do not stress out that you might not be doing what he wants you to do. For this matter Sharon has always said that she did not want a billboard but a post-it note would be nice; or a small card, but something. You are in control and you were born to add something to this world so be the best that you can be.
Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Ask. Believe. Receive. Nothing is impossible. The only limitations are what you place on yourself. The book The Secret is a nice book that can be used to highlight the benefits of positive thinking but the one book where there is no secret is the bible from which all the origins are founded.
Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible
The benefit of a book like the Secret is that it once again has us go back into scripture to find the benefits that God has given us and to understand how God wants us to live where nothing is held back and all is provided if we ask and believe. The sad part is we deal daily with issues that the devil bombards at us in an effort to bring us down and to stop us from looking forward. It is time to step up and live the life that God has provided for us. Ask, Believe, and you will Receive.
If you have not been living the most positive life you could and wish the prayers of the congregation to assist you with the opening of doors in the new direction you have decided to take your life, we ask that you come forward at this time.
If you have not yet taken the path to baptism for the remission of your sins and want start a life with Jesus we also ask that you come forward at this time so we can wash away your sins for you to start a life fresh as the driven snow. We ask that you now come forward as we stand and as we sing.
