LivePrayerDaily Devotional for Wednesday February 27, 2013
What is The Secret
(Hebrews 11:1)
***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, who is right, football player Tim Tebow or the Pastor at First Baptist Dallas?
ANSWER: Sadly, Tebow and whoever his handlers are made a HUGE mistake. In these last days, now more than ever men of God need to take a stand. Homosexuality IS a sin. Islam IS a false religion. If he and his people are worried about being associated with a church that preaches Biblical Truth, what Truth will they stand for?? This is the type of compromise and lack of guts that has helped put this nation into the spritual abyss we find ourselves.
What is "The Secret?" If I needed a reminder of why we do what we do 24/7/365 here at Liveprayer, it is because of lies like "The Secret" that leads millions down a dark path far away from God and the Truth of His Word. Of course, any time you have something that is clearly born out of rebellion to God and His Word, you have an unbelieving world all too anxious to promote it to the masses. The secular media, merchants of false hope like Oprah, are quick to embrace these perverted New Age philosophies that purport to hold the answers man is looking for.
NEWS FLASH! THE ANSWERS MAN IS LOOKING FOR ARE FOUND IN A BOOK WRITTEN BY THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. IT IS CALLED THE BIBLE!!!
There is nothing new about "The Secret." It is simply recycled New Age philosophies with a slick marketing campaign behind it to entice millions of lost, Biblically illiterate souls into buying their books and tapes. The core is the old New Age philosophy "The Law of Attraction." The "Law of Attraction" theory states that our feelings and thoughts affect real events in the world, from the workings of the entire cosmos to interactions among individuals in their physical, emotional, and professional affairs. Again, this is NOTHING NEW, but simply a repackaged and slickly marketed New Age philosophy that has been around for thousands of years.
"The Secret" is that if you believe something long enough and hard enough that it will eventually materialize. You get what you think about, your thoughts determine your destiny. If you want $50 million, you can have it. All you have to do is focus on having $50 million. Envision that you have a bank account with $50 million in it and you will. It is the foundation of the motivational gurus like Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra, and others who promote this concept of success through a positive mental attitude. For years they have been selling this New Age belief that if you think only good things, only good things will happen to you. Again, all the New Age motivational gurus of our day like Robbins have done is sell people a perversion of true Biblical faith and a lie that you can have anything if you think about it enough.
I tell you all the time that satan is the great perverter. He creates nothing, only perverts the perfect creation of God. That is the case here as well. In essence, the New Age concept, "The Law of Attraction," is nothing but a perversion of true Biblical faith! That is why I warn you about things like this, since "The Secret" really isn't anything creative at all, it is simply a perversion of faith. The writer of Hebrews defines faith as follows, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." I have always said that true Biblical faith is believing God can and will do exactly what He has promised in the Bible.
Okay, I am going to step on some toes now so get ready. The New Age gurus of the day, the people selling this lie called "The Secret" are not the only ones who have perverted true Biblical faith. Sadly, so have many in the church. What is often called the hyper-faith crowd have for years preached a false doctrine commonly known as "name-it-and claim-it." This is why I urge you so often to read and study the Bible for yourself. That way when you hear faulty teaching you can spot it right away. One of the most dangerous games too many play is taking one verse or one passage out of context and basing their theology on that extracted verse or passage. IT IS CRITICAL TO TAKE THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD INTO CONSIDERATION!
Yes, we are to have faith that all things are possible with God. Yes, we can do all things through Christ. However, we can't forget to factor in God's plans and desires. Biblical faith is not God granting us our wishes like some Divine genie in the bottle. God has promised to meet our needs, not our wants. You want a Ferrari. You need a car. God will meet your need for a car. If at some point you are blessed to be able to buy a Ferrari, praise the Lord. But there is nothing in the Bible that equates our faith with personal prosperity. Again, this has been the perverted teachings of the hyper-faith, prosperity Gospel movement that has emerged over the past 30 years, which focuses on people's personal greed and desire for the "things of the flesh" and this temporal world.
These prosperity teachers are tapping into the same greed and desire for the things of this world that the motivational gurus focus on as well as the various New Age philosophies like "The Law of Attraction" which is the core teaching of "The Secret." As you mature in Christ, part of that maturation process is our wants and desires become God's wants and desires. We may want a Ferrari, but our priorities shift from what we want to what God wants. Having a Ferrari no longer becomes our driving passion. What motivates us as we mature in Christ are the things of God and what He wants from our lives.
*Those who pervert true Biblical faith make it about what we want, when true Biblical faith is about what God wants!
I love you and care about you so much. Please don't fall for the hype of "The Secret." There are no secrets to living this life. God gave us everything we would ever need in the pages of His Word. There are no secrets to having wealth. There is no amount of "mind control" you can use to get $50 million. THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED "THE SECRET" ARE GETTING RICH SELLING YOU THIS BOGUS PHILOSOPHY!!!
It is like the no-money-down real estate guys. They don't make money in real estate. They make money selling their resources to you! What has Tony Robbins ever done? NOTHING, EXCEPT SELL TONS OF BOOKS AND TAPES TO OTHER PEOPLE ON HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL!!! Here I go again. The prosperity teachers are prosperous because they have tricked you into giving them money. Their prosperity comes from you!
Why does God prosper some and not others? Why did God bless Abraham with so much, yet most who lived at the same time had nothing but what they needed to survive that day? Ever wonder why those who preach this false prosperity Gospel only preach it in the United States and not in India or Africa? Does that mean those who are poor and with nothing in China but love Jesus don't have as much faith as someone who lives in a trendy suburb of Dallas? YOUR FAITH IS NOT MEASURED BY YOUR BANK ACCOUNT BUT BY HOW YOU LIVE FOR THE LORD EACH DAY!
Only God knows why some are blessed to have more material possessions than others. I can tell you this. At the moment you take your last breath, all the homes, all the cars, all the stock portfolios, all the things of this temporal world mean NOTHING! At that moment the only thing that matters is if you know Jesus as your personal Savior by faith. A rich man may die in a nicer bed with nicer surroundings than a poor man, but the moment they both take their last breath, all they had or didn't have in this life is meaningless.
"The Secret" is nothing but a perversion of true Biblical faith and a lie from the pits of hell. Those who sell it and promote it, are selling and promoting a lie from satan designed to lead people down a dark path away from God and Biblical Truth. There are no secrets to living this life. God gave us everything we need in the pages of the Bible. While the lost masses chase the secret to having wealth in this life, those who know Jesus Christ possess the only true answers for true wealth in this life and for eternity. Don't waste your money on "The Secret" since all the answers you are looking for are in THE BIBLE!!!
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller