How Does The Laws of Attraction Apply to Christians?

These days we hear a lot about ‘The Law of Attraction.’ I have read and re-read tons of informational websites, blog posts and testimonials for this ‘Wealth’ system. I agree with the majority of these principles, BUT, they have left out the PRIME ingredient. The essence of this Law of Attraction is attributed to ‘The Universe’. The only problem that I have with this is that, when ascribing to this principle, we are looking to a creation and not to the Creator.

At Jack Canfield’s website, it is stated “The Law of Attraction reveals The Secret to Everything you’ve ever wanted… Ever since the world found out about the Law of Attraction through the phenomenon of the movie, people from every corner of the globe have been asking Bob Proctor for more.” Unfortunately, this is not exactly accurate. Jesus Christ told us and Paul reiterated the basis for this principle many times.

He (Canfield) also has a quote from Vivekananda (1863 - 1902) “All the Powers of the Universe are Already Ours, It is We Who Have Put Our Hands Before Our Eyes and Cry that it is Dark!” This is such a very true statement. Even those who believe that they have been enlightened are still in the dark. They only imagine the light or simply ‘deny’ there state of darkness.

The Universe, in and of itself, only has the power that comes from the presence of the Creator of the Universe. The Creator, Jehovah God, created the Universe, applied the Law of Attraction and then gave the key that unlocks the power to those who love Him.

Christians have been taught to be subjective and to be victims of the enemy of mankind. Inadvertently, well meaning Christians in their attempt at piety, have crippled Christians and denied them the true source of the Law, any and all Law.

Through Christ we have been given dominion over all that is. We have been given, by Christs love and sacrificial offering, the power to literally ‘move mountains.’

2000 years ago Jesus stated (as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6) that we should not worry about what we have to eat, what we have to wear or where we have to live. He told us to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and then all of these will be added. He was telling us the true ’secret’ to the real Law of attraction. We need first to seek God and to learn everything that we can about Him. He even gave us a manual to do this, the Holy Bible.

When we seek Him first, we increase our faith in His desire to prosper us. His love and the wisdom that we seek will ‘attract’ His blessings. As far as I can discern, the Law of attraction churns into effect when we seek Him. When we become diligent students of His(the Creator of the Universe) Holy Wisdom, we will begin to attract His blessings and He will make us stewarde of His possessions (everything that exists.)

If you want to attract wealth, health and happiness, concentrate on the Creator and NOT the creation. You will win!

Into The Dark Room

Imagine walking into a room and suddenly having the feeling that you were in a place that you could not recognize. Everything seems as though it should be familiar but there is a nagging feeling that something is not quite the way it should be. It is the same feeling that you get when you are dreaming.

There are people in the room who are familiar. They are looking at you in a strange fashion, almost puzzled. A deep rooted panic begins to rise up inside of you, almost overwhelming your emotions. You suddenly feel that you must leave. Nothing else will do. You absolutely must leave. Your greatest desire is simply to go home. You know that you will be safe when you get there.

The others who are in the room with you try to convince you that you are home, nut you know better. You know that you must leave and your greatest desire is to be at home. The more that these people try to talk you into staying, the greater the desire to go home grows. You think to yourself, “why are they treating me like this?”

This is how I imagine my mother feels when she suddenly sinks into the grip of an Alzheimer’s ‘episode.’ I try to put myself in her position, but I cannot truly imagine the panic and disbelief that she feels. I want to understand and be reassuring, give her as much comfort and understanding as possible. This is an unwinnable situation. Her mental state and attitude will not allow this.

There is a cruel syndrome called ’sundowner’s’ that affects almost every Alzheimer’s Disease patient. Like clockwork, when the sun begins to go down, panic floods in and the confusion begins. It reminds me of a roller coaster ride. No matter how much you want it to stop, it will not. All I can do is watch and pray that daybreak comes soon.

The pain, heartache, that an Alzheimer’s patient’s caregiver feels is excruciating. The most difficult combination of emotions to overcome are anger, fear, and the heartbreak of watching someone you love sink into that dark pit of confusion brought on by this relentless disease.

So often I have prayed for God to step in and make things right again. I find myself asking for help, crying for help, agonizing. It is at these times that I can feel the beautiful and reassuring whisper of God in my spirit. I can feel his strength come into my body and my mind. I can feel His embrace. I know that He is telling me to love her, my mother, with the same unending love that He has for me and for her.

I know that this is not a punishment that God is put on me. I know that He has her spirit in His hand and that he will not let her suffer. I know that it is the enemy of all men who is pouring out the illusion of hopelessness to ensnare me. It is the enemy’s plan to do everything to steal my hope, kill my will and destroy my faith. Jesus told us this when He said that the enemy come to steal, kill and destroy.

When I surrender to the peace that God places in my heart, I see the situation in a different light. When I open my heart to His love, He fills me. It is when I allow His light, His love, to shine through me that I can see an amazing manifestation. When I look at my mother, taking her hand in mine and gently speaking to her, letting God’s love move through me, I see a remarkable change. I can see her relax.

Often, within minutes, the symptom will return. I know this is simply another attack of the enemy. I simply take her hand in mine and again project the love that God has placed in me. Even when the attacks persist, with the strength of Christ, I persist. Often it takes hours but the result is always the same. She will calm down and not remember what happened.

I know that I must stay strong and prayed up so that I can be her for her and give her the best. So often I think about those who are in the same position that I occupy, a caregiver. I wonder how it is possible for anyone to survive this without having the strength that come from Christ to fill him or her.

The simply fact is that without the strength that Christ gives me, I would not be able to take the day to day heartbreak of this monstrous disease.

What does success Really Mean?

To each person success means something different. For some, success is not having to worry about the mortgage, to others, keeping your children safe is a major breakthrough. Success is in the eye of the beholder.

I personally consider success to be a close personal relationship with Christ on the highest level of faith attainable. You may wonder what I’m talking about so here we go.

Some people consider amassing wealth, wearing a gold ROLEX, living in a fine home, driving a luxury car, etc, signs of success. To a lesser degree, this may be true. Christ, in The 6th Chapter of Matthew, told us not to worry about these thing. He told us that the FIRST thing we need to concern ourselves with is to seek the Kingdom of Heaven, then all of these things would be added to us. To me, this means that these things are not bad, there secondary.

We are to study to show ourselves approved in the eyes of God. The more that we learn about Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, the greater level of faith we will attain and the greater level of success. God created all of this magnificent world, with all of its resources, for those who love Him. We need to concentrate on learning as much as we can about Christ, deepening our understanding and our level of faith in Him. This will bring success in every area of life.

We are going to suffer trials and tribulations in this life. These are not signs of ‘lack of success.’ These are signs of success. The greater the trial, the greater the victory. Each trial that confronts us is an opportunity to deepen our faith and win!

In an article about Jesus’ Parable about the 3 Servants, I attempt to explain this.

I have dedicated a great portion of my life to the study of God’s Wisdom (the Holy Bible). I feel that the answer to every question is there. All of the promises of God to His people and the directions to the fulfillment of these promises is there, if you take the time to study diligently (not just read).

I highly recommend that everyone study at the Christian Success Institute. There you will study God’s Holy Word (a Success Training Bible Study), the Wisdom of Solomon as it applies to every area of daily life (the practical applications) and a dynamite in depth marketing course that is designed to produce results.

God wants each believer to be successful in daily life, in personal relationships, in business and financial matters. He wants us to be the conduits through which the blessings of others will flow. How can a bunch of poor Christians feed the hungry, cloth the naked, house the homeless and educate the world about the Good News of Christ’s Saving Grace?

Think about it. Pray about it. Join me at The Christian Success Institute TODAY!

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Wise Counsel - Dealing With Fiery Trials

Often, as a Pastor, I am called upon to counsel others who are experiencing trials of life. This is often a very difficult thing to do. I find that the only way that I can truly advise others is by leaning heavily on God's Word and the strength that I know to be Christ.

This post is not about giving advice. It seems as though everyone has advice (good and/or bad) at the ready to solve everyones problems and dilemmas.This post deals with a more profound area of endeavor. This post is about taking advice.

Recently both my mother and my brother were critically ill and in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) of a regional hospital. I was bouncing from bed three to bed nine, trying to keep one from knowing that the other was in critical condition. I was in a much different but critical situation. The stress was beginning to take it tole on me. My brother's wife and children were looking to me for guidance and comfort. My sister and aunt were looking to me for guidance and comfort and I was being drained of every ounce of energy, physical and spiritual, that I could muster.

I remember so many times having to counsel others in similar situations but there was no other human being who was there to counsel me in my stress and frustration. I took my own advice that I had given so many times to others. I turned to prayer and to God's Holy Word.

I turned to 1 Peter 1:5-7 which says, " who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,"

God's Magnificent Spirit spoke to my spirit, reminding me that every trial and temptation that I would encounter in this physical world was nothing more than a 'fiery trial' of my faith. The enemy will come in during these trying and stressful times and try to kill my faith. He will whisper,"Where is God now when you need Him most? Why doesn't He answer your prayers and do for you what He has done for all of those for whom you have prayed? Why does He leave you to suffer? Aren't you a 'good' Christian?"

All of these things were there to weaken my faith, to challenge me and dishearten me. God's Spirit spoke to my spirit. " the genuineness of your faith, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." How is my fretting and worrying about the condition of my loved ones honoring and praising and bringing glory to Christ?

I began to rejoice in the opportunity to win this challenge. I began to praise God and thank Him for His strength and guidance. I began to rely on Him and to 'TRUST' His love and compassion. His plan is the ultimate and perfect plan. Whatever He was going to do would be perfect. I could literally feel the stress leave me. I could sense the enemy's frustration. I began to understand that God was most definitely in control and all I needed to do was praise Him and trust Him and not myself.

My brother passed away. He was very sick, and had been for a long time. He was a born again Christian - I led him in the prayer of salvation only a few months earlier. God's Holy Spirit guided me to realize that Carl had won the victory. He was were I want to be - in the presence of God. He was no longer suffering. He had definitely won the battle. My heart rejoiced for my brother's victory.

My mother began to recover from her 'critical' status. Several days later I was able to bring her home. I do not understand why God took my 50 year old brother and spared my eighty two year old mother who has Alzheimer's disease. I know, though, that His plan is perfect in every way. I love Him even more deeply now. He allowed me to win a victory in my faith. He made me a stronger individual because I chose to praise Him and give Him the glory for His work.

When you are faced with these fiery trials in life (and you will), trust that God knows what is best. Know that this is nothing more than a test of your faith. You will win the victory.

A Journey into Alzheimer's - A Journey of Love

Each of us has our ‘cross’ to bear. There are in this life a seemingly endless procession of trials and tribulations. Jesus told us that we would suffer these trials and tribulations and the Apostle Paul told us to consider them as joy.

I have always, in my Christian walk, took each trial and each instance of tribulation as an opportunity to win a victory. This has been a sustaining attribute of my Christian beliefs. I have found comfort in Christ and have won many battles because of my deep abiding love for Christ.

When I discovered that my dear sweet mother was entering the gates of a dimly lite and foggy world known as Alzheimer’s, everything that I knew was about to be tested. The fact of my mother’s condition weighed heavily on me. How could this be?

It may help to give a little info about my mother. She is, at this writing, 82 years old. In the 57 years that I have known her, she has been a source of happiness, strength and love in my life. She worked hard all of her life to make sure that her children and all of her family had the very best that she could offer. She has always been kind and loving and has always sacrificed her wishes and desires for the good of her family.

The onset of her dementia was rather sudden, not a slow progression as I had seen in others. It was as though her short term memory simply disappeared. She began to ask the same questions over and over, not remembering that 10 minutes earlier I had answered her.

At the beginning of every month she would take out her ‘bill’ journal and make out all of her accounting. She got to the point that she would just sit and stare at the accounting materials before her, not having the first clue as to what needed to be done. I took that burden over for her.

Days and months passed with the dementia taking a stronger hold. We visited her doctor, went to specialist and the conclusion was ‘Alzheimer’s Disease.’ We began treatment with Arasept, a medication designed for dementia patients. This seemed to slow the progression of the disease but there was no indication of her getting any better.

Years before, my mother had asked me to promise that I would never put her in a nursing home. I agreed dismissing the thought as absurd. A promise, however, is a promise. I chose to keep my mother at home and give her the best treatment that I could. I intend to keep my promise.

This has caused many changes and restrictions in my life. I have to be with her at all times. I cannot leave her alone because she gets confused and frightened when I am not there. Many of my friends and relatives think that I am foolish for giving up my wants and desires to take care of my mother. I admit that it is a very restrictive lifestyle but the things that I have learned are proving to be more valuable that I imagined.

Every day I thank God that He has given me the opportunity to give my mother the care that she deserves. I realized that she had worked and sacrificed to give me the things that I needed as I was growing up. This was her choice to do so. She could have given us up for adoption or abandoned us or simply ignored our needs but she did not. She care for and nurture us. Now it was my turn.

I realized that God was giving me an opportunity to take care of my mother. He was giving me the opportunity to learn about her and about myself. He was giving me the opportunity to be a blessing.

God, in His moral Law, commanded (not suggested) us to honor our mothers and fathers that our years would be longer. Even though I know that God did not cause my mothers affliction with this dreaded disease, He was using it to give me one of the most valuable lessons that I would ever learn. He was giving me to move from one level of faith to a much higher level. I could have felt sorry for myself and thrown a big ole pity party. I chose to take the challenge, give my mother the love and care that she so richly deserves and win another victory.

I realize that her condition will only worsen. I know that there will come a day when she will not recognize me. I know that it may even progress to the state that she will forget how to swallow and suffer all of the indignations that this horrific disease has to offer. I know this and I do not look forward to those times. However, I praise God for giving me the opportunity to care for her and for me to grow in the process. It would take volumes for me to explain the things about myself that I have already learned. The one most important thing that I have already learned is that I have learned to understand the love that God has given me. I know that the days and months ahead will bring great trials but I have also learned that the strength that abides in me can overcome every trial, every bad moment that is coming my way.

God has truly blessed me with the opportunity to grow and learn as I give my love and care to a woman, my mother, who has done nothing but love me. Without Christ in my life, this would really be almost unbearable.

I know that there are others out there who are faced with the same tragedy and even worse. These are opportunities for us to grow in Christ’s love. These are opportunities to take something that seems to be horrible and make them a beautiful testimony of love.

Pastor Bobby's Blog

I have found it to be easier to use one blog to consolidate time. Please visit me at Pastor Bobby's Official Blog Site

At my Official Weblog you will be able to see a greater number of post that deal with the Christian Success Institute and all of the exciting things that are happening there!

I look forward to seeing you there!

in Christ's Love
Pastor Bobby