After almost two years, and much soul searching, I have decided to come back to writing on this site. While I was "away" I was reading a lot of books, and doing research in a lot of areas. I can honestly say I am no expert in these areas, but I have learned some valuable lessons, that I feel compelled to share.
In June of 2013 I saw a movie, titled "The Secret", which talks about a process called the law of attraction. The law of attraction talks about the nature of energy, and the power of the mind to attract the life you desire. For some, this is thought of as a joke. For others, this has become the starting place of their journey to success. For even more people, they feel this is taking God out of our lives. This is what I wanted to talk about with today's blog.
I know that the premise of the law of attraction sounds a little too much like eastern religion, or in Star Wars the force, but the truth is, that the law of attraction transcends anything religious. Like gravity, the law of attraction is just a law of nature. There is no turning it off, or on. It is always there, whether you believe in it or not, and it's always working. It is a perfect system that allows us to create our lives.
So if this is not taking God out of the equation, how does it fit into the Christian life style? The Bible verse I have come to adopt as a mantra for life is Mark 11:24. It says, "Whatever you desire, when you pray, believe you have received it, and it shall be yours." This is the essence of creating your life, and the law of attraction. Does this take God out of the picture? Of course not!
Here is one of the conclusions I came up with during my research. God created the law of attraction to help us live life to our fullest potential. As I described it, the law of attraction is a PERFECT SYSTEM. It is to perfect to have happened by chance; there is obviously an intelligence behind it. Very few people have taken full advantage of this system, but they have learned to use it for success, and so can we.
So why is it important for us, as Christians, to learn such a system? It has to do with working with the full potential God has created in us to be examples for the world of what God can do for everyone. At the end of the first chapter, of the book The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles says, "You can render to God and humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself." If we don't strive to reach our full potential, we might as well tell God, "Sorry, but you made a mistake."
There is no way I could use this blog to give you everything about reaching your full potential, and how the law of attraction could help you to do so, but I would be honored if you would use this as a starting point in your search, just as I used The Secret as mine. I would also recommend you get a copy of the book "The Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace Wattles to help with learning. It's worth it.
Allen
I hope to do at least one to two blogs per week, and Sundays are one of them. Have a wonderful day.
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Friday, May 15, 2009
Prioritize love, and trust God
Matthew 6:24-33
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, What you will eat of drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?”, or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
There’s no doubt about it, God places the highest priority on our love for him. In day two of the book he goes into the priority of our relationships. Verse 33 of Matthew 6 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we give God the priority in our lives, we will have what we need.
In this world, with the economy in an uproar, and unemployment at very high level, it’s very easy to place a high importance on getting a job so you can make money for food, clothes, and shelter. This is important, but God knows what we need and, if we make him our priority, we will have what we need. That doesn’t mean we go to sleep, and wake up with our daily needs waiting at our feet. By placing him first, he will send us opportunities that will give us the money we need. We just have to listen to him.
We need to think in the long term. When we worry about money, food, clothes, and shelter, that worry can turn into panic, and that panic can change our priority from God to money. The saying, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a meal; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Is very true. By worrying, people are looking for the fastest way to get something. They expect the government to give them handouts, but they don’t think that they are tapping into a limited resource. They will never accept the responsibility for their own future, and when the government stops giving them what they want, they will end up with nothing.
What God offers is long term. All we have to do is love him first and trust that he will supply us with what we need. He will show us job opportunities that may not be fortune 500, but they will give us what we need.
Tom Holladay mentioned a quote, “God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.” What you do in your life is not important. What is important is that you love God first, and trust him to know what’s best for your life.
Your definition of success will determine your life’s priorities. There are three priorities, and depending on where each one falls will give you how much success you will have. The three priorities are God, man, myself.
I will go into these later. For now, I want to leave you with this thought. “Your definition of success will determine your life’s priorities.”
Challenge: Write down the quote that Tom Holladay mentioned, “God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.” Put it in a highly visible place.
Enjoy,
Allen
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, What you will eat of drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?”, or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
There’s no doubt about it, God places the highest priority on our love for him. In day two of the book he goes into the priority of our relationships. Verse 33 of Matthew 6 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we give God the priority in our lives, we will have what we need.
In this world, with the economy in an uproar, and unemployment at very high level, it’s very easy to place a high importance on getting a job so you can make money for food, clothes, and shelter. This is important, but God knows what we need and, if we make him our priority, we will have what we need. That doesn’t mean we go to sleep, and wake up with our daily needs waiting at our feet. By placing him first, he will send us opportunities that will give us the money we need. We just have to listen to him.
We need to think in the long term. When we worry about money, food, clothes, and shelter, that worry can turn into panic, and that panic can change our priority from God to money. The saying, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a meal; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Is very true. By worrying, people are looking for the fastest way to get something. They expect the government to give them handouts, but they don’t think that they are tapping into a limited resource. They will never accept the responsibility for their own future, and when the government stops giving them what they want, they will end up with nothing.
What God offers is long term. All we have to do is love him first and trust that he will supply us with what we need. He will show us job opportunities that may not be fortune 500, but they will give us what we need.
Tom Holladay mentioned a quote, “God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.” What you do in your life is not important. What is important is that you love God first, and trust him to know what’s best for your life.
Your definition of success will determine your life’s priorities. There are three priorities, and depending on where each one falls will give you how much success you will have. The three priorities are God, man, myself.
I will go into these later. For now, I want to leave you with this thought. “Your definition of success will determine your life’s priorities.”
Challenge: Write down the quote that Tom Holladay mentioned, “God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.” Put it in a highly visible place.
Enjoy,
Allen
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