What is “The Secret”?
How many of you have read the book, “The Secret”, or seen the movie or heard the CD or tape of this book? It is on Border’s popular seller’s list and Oprah has talked about “The Secret” on her show.

 “The Secret” is not really a secret, it is a philosophy that has been put into practice by others like Plato, Galileo, Newton, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Lincoln, Emerson, Edison, Einstein, and Carnegie. This book written by Rhonda Byrne is a compilation of testimonies from people who have put The Secret to practice in their lives, including Michael Bernard Beckwith, Jack Canfield, Dr. John Gray, Lisa Nichols, Bob Proctor, Marci Shimoff, Dr. Joe Vitale, Neale Donald Walsch, and others who are successful authors, lecturers, business people and CEOs, doctors, physicists, philosophers, and educators, etc.

 The primary premise of “The Secret” is the law of attraction and that like thoughts will attract like thoughts. Therefore, if you think positive thoughts, more positive thoughts will come to mind and these thoughts will result in positive actions. In light of this reasoning, you can literally think your dreams into reality.

 I have been experimenting with putting The Secret to practice, from little things like praying for the right parking space to having a “new car”, a Cadillac SRX (a 2005 and ‘Mom-financed’), but still a very smooth ride! And some of you know I’ve moved into my “Dream Home” yesterday, complete with Mizuya and Tatami room for Cha-no-yu, plus an ofuro and about 2700 sq. ft. of living space dedicated to God. Now, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be living with such extravagance, but God has blessed me above and beyond what I could have imagined. This is such a drastic change from the previous few years of my life feeling down-and-out with too many responsibilities and too much stress as a single mom, divorced in my mid-40’s with two young children. I feel such a sense of relief and peace with God; and I am utilizing The Secret to turn my life around.

 As Christians, we are called to live an abundant life in Christ. An abundant life! We are not told to walk around like woeful Christians, saying,  “Woe is me”. We should not be singing:  “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, think I’ll eat some worms…” (the children’s song that Grace Kwon used as an illustration during Children’s Moments a little while ago).  Who would want to be a Christian if they see our example with this demeanor looking like a black cloud was always following us. Instead, we should be rejoicing and praising God; thanking the Lord for blessing us and being grateful for God’s loving care!

 Philippians 4:4-9 says: “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers (and sisters), whatever is true, whatever is noble, what is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy---think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me---put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” This is the essence of The Secret for us as Christians, rejoice in the Lord and think on all good things given to us by God. The Bible is full of the keys to The Secret, we just need to fill our hearts and minds with His Word and we can use The Secret in our daily lives.

 In Psalm 138:1-3, David writes: “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the ‘gods’ I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and faithfulness, for your have exalted above all things your name and your word. When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.”

 King David knew and practiced “The Secret”. He really knew how to praise God! Psalm 138 is the first of (8) “Davidic” psalms (Ps. 138-145); he wrote a praise psalm, (6) prayer psalms, and then another praise psalm. We see David’s heart as he pours out praise for God’s faithful love and help against his foes.

 The Matthew Henry Commentary states that while we do not know what occasion prompted David to write this psalm, in it David looks back with thankfulness for God’s goodness and he looks forward with comfort and hope that others will praise God as he does and that God will continue to bless him. This Commentary goes on to say that David praises God with sincerity and zeal---“with all my heart”. David says, “I will bow down toward your holy temple” because in his time, only the priests went up into the temple and the people worshipped towards the temple from a distance.

 We can worship God freely through Jesus Christ. God is faithful and loves us so much that He sent His Son deliver us from our sins and so that we can have a relationship with Him. We just need to tap into the power of God through praise and prayer.!

 In Luke 11:1-4 and, with some slight differences in wording, in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches us how to pray and gives us the familiar Lord’s Prayer that we recite during worship: “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses (sins) as we forgive those who trespass (sin) against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” Amen.

 The emphasis here is that it is God’s power and God’s grace that gives us everything we need for daily life. We need to recommit our lives to God every day, waking up in the morning and saying, “Good morning God! This is the day that You have made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24). Praising God and praying to God are the keys of “The Secret”. Thinking positive thoughts from when your feet hit the floor in the morning will bring God’s blessings to you all day long!

 In the book, “The Secret” (pages 47-57), they enumerate three simple steps in the creative process, which are taken from the New Testament in the Bible and are an easy guideline to create what we want:

1)     Ask

2)     Believe

3)     Receive

 Luke 11:9-10 and Matthew 7:7-8 basically say the same thing: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

 Again, God wants us to live an abundant life! He wants us to be happy and fulfilled! Wow! And He even grants us everything we want over and above our basic needs, if we seek Him first and if we are in relationship with Him. Then, all we have to do is Ask, Believe, and Receive His blessings! The Secret is no secret, we can shout it from the mountaintops with zeal like David, with fervor like Paul.

 Paul wrote in Philippians 3:12-14: “Not  that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, But one thing I do: Forgetting what is  behind and straining toward what is ahead, I  press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Imagine, we can live a life of abundance on earth and then receive the ultimate prize of everlasting glory in heaven with Jesus! Double Wow!!

Again, one of my favorite verses that I claim in my life is Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future.” God speaks to the Israelites in exile to have hope and to let them know that they too have the keys to The Secret and an abundant life. As in Jeremiah 29:12-13, the Lord says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

 The Secret for each of us to be happy and fulfilled in life is to think these positive thoughts and more positive thoughts will follow: Rejoice and praise God! Pray seeking His Will! Ask, Believe, and Receive His Blessings!

 Let me conclude with a saying on a coffee cup at my friends’, the Kawate’s, home in Lawai on Kauai where I wrote this sermon:

 Each Day’s A Prayer

 Make your life a prayer to God,
make each day His to own,
Let Him be your guide and strength
your rock and cornerstone.
And let each day reflect anew
The wonder of His love for you!

Let us pray:

 Dear Heavenly Father:

We come before you and give our lives back to You, our Creator. Thank you for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price for our sins. We ask you to forgive us of our sins. Come into our lives and be our Lord and Savior. We are grateful for all the blessings that You bestow upon us. Help us to be in relationship with You and to Ask, Believe, and Receive all that You have for us. We rejoice and praise Your Holy Name!

 Amen!