THE SECRETS. By M. Russell Thomas, PhD

Matthew 13:10   [Jesus] answered, “…it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them.  For anyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have plenty; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away.”   

A few years back there was a wildly popular movie and book called “The Secret”.  Many of you probably remember it and some probably viewed the movie or read the book. The Secret was a compilation of success gurus who informed us what it takes to be successful in this world.  Well today, I’ve got a little twist on The Secret and would like to offer that there is in fact, a secret that govern one’s success, wealth and prosperity in this world.  Based on Biblical wisdom, this secret runs a bit counterintuitive to most of our thinking.  The secret is found embedded in the 13^th chapter of Matthew.  It’s message is profound as it broadens the concept that success and wealth are confined only to a person’s bank account and possessions. 

The Secret?:  Anyone who has something will get more and anyone who has nothing will lose even what they have.  This truth is a foundational principle in the Kingdom of Heaven.  So what can we learn from this secret that instructs us on wealth, success and prosperity?  At least 3 important lessons flow out of this secret.
 

The Secret is ancient.  Hey, we humans are always looking for that next “one big thing” that sizzles and changes everything.  But God’s secret has been around for a while.   In fact, it has been “hidden since the creation of the universe” but is now revealed…those who have will get more and those who don’t lose what they have.  Now I can hear the critics saying that it ought not be that way and to that I will simply say that like gravity itself some things have been established and are timeless classics.   As hard as you may try to change it, reform it, scrap it altogether, or get mad about it, the truth remains.  God’s secret is one of those things.  

The Secret is not for everyone.  In Matthew 13, we find Jesus speaking to a diverse crowd.  Among the people are prominent businessmen, religious leaders and of course, Jesus’ handpick band of brothers otherwise known as disciples!  When Jesus began to speak of the secret, his intentions to hide it from some while reveal it to others is blatantly obvious. His words “it has been given to you to understand” cue us that the secret is not for everyone.  The opportunity is for everyone, but not the secret.   For whatever reason, there are those who will understand and those who will not.  One can spend a lot of time trying to get those who won’t hear to accept this…but they won’t!   They will cling to their ideas that the way to get ahead in this world is to hoard and accumulate their possessions, spend all your time trying to hold on tightly to what you have or even worse, try to pry out of the hands of those who do “get it” what is not rightfully theirs.  But the Kingdom doesn’t work that way.  No matter how much one wants to level the playing fields and redistribute the blessings, to those who have more shall be given and to those who have little it shall be taken away!  …All will not hear. 

The Secret is not fair.  The Kingdom of Heaven is not based on fairness!  Its not.  I can tell you that some of the roughest periods of my life have been when I assumed otherwise.  Those were the times that I demanded that God be fair…that is, according to my definition of fair!  But from a human logic perspective, the Kingdom is not fair and Jesus is telling us as much.  For anyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have plenty; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away.  

Again, I hear the masses crying out, “Hey, that’s not fair!  The wealth should be shared equally!  The wealth should be spread around!”  Then I hear the words of the late Jim Rohn echoing in my brain replying to the masses “well when you get your own planet you can set it up the way you want!  Until then, we’re just a guest on this one!”  Protest all you want but when the smoke clears you’ll find that you spent a lot of time and valuable emotional energy fuming about the deal!  But the bottom line is that the Kingdom of Heaven responds to those who are doing their jobs, maintaining faithful diligence and being good stewards of what God has placed in their care.  I don’t care whether we are talking about winning souls, managing money, raising kids or just trying to do your job, the principle is the same:  if you got something and you are faithful with it, expect more!  If you’re not, expect even less!   Every good businessman or woman worth his or her weight in salt knows you don’t put the slacker in charge…the bonus goes to the faithful worker. 

Think about it…until we talk again, may you prosper and be in good health!

Does God Want You Rich?

Find out the answer to this question when you get your copy of my recent book,  12 PiIIars and a Prayer Revisited, ABSOLUTELY FREE! This weekend only, we will give away the revised version of my bookabsolutely free on Amazon Kindle! In this book, I present 13 scriptures that will change your thinking about money, success and wealth.  With America's economy as unstable as it is, we decided to make this information available to our readers and their friends absolutely free!  Just click on the image to the right this Saturday, November 2nd or Sunday, November 3rd  to get your eBook Kindle copy absolutely free!: Just click this link to get your FREE copy of 12 Pillars and a Prayer Revisited this weekend only! Why do we need your help?  We have a goal of giving away 250 copies of 12 Pillars and a Prayer Revisited this weekend and we need your help.  Simply download the copy, read part or all of the book, and tell us what you think!  You do this by leaving a short review at the Amazon Kindle website or directly email us at askdrt@simplesolutions4.com.  This feedback is critical to our efforts to help others bring their finances under control.  So please help us that we might better serve you!

We would like to thank you in advance for helping us reach our goal of 250 copies of 12 Pillars and a Prayer given away absolutely free.  Please feel free to forward this email to all your friends and colleagues.  Your help is much appreciated as together, we can help others overcome their financial bondage and live their lives blessed beyond all imagination!  We hope that you find the book helpful to meeting your own goals of financial freedom.

Lessons from the Master Teacher

Today I read an interesting story found in the Bible in the book of John the 7th chapter.  Jesus is walking along with His brothers when a rather curious conversation breaks out.  His brothers extend the invitation to Jesus "Hey lets go up to Judea for the Feast of Tabernacles" as if they have had some kind of epiphany.   Because of threats on His life, Jesus respectfully declines the invite.  But then, what ensues is a bit curious.  Jesus sends His brothers on to Judea and then...He promptly goes, perhaps incognito.  

But why?

Obviously Jesus knew that He would go, so why did He tell His brothers to go on and observe the Feast of Tabernacles without Him.  I think there are 2 possible answers:  first, His brothers had not fully bought in.  Verse 5 says that “even His brothers did not believe”.  Perhaps their disbelief in some way would hamper Jesus' mission. 
The second possible explanation has to do with timing: Jesus' time had not yet come.  Twice in Chapter 7 He says "My time is not fully come".  Perhaps Jesus didn't want to show up to the Jewish Feast, which incidentally it seems that He was pretty determined to fulfill, with a band of brothers.  Doing so might draw attention to Himself.  And why would that have been such a bad thing?  What if in doing so He was killed in the mob, thus failing to fulfill His mission and purpose on earth?  The entire plan of God's restoration and salvation for man hung in the balance and would be thwarted.

But what does this have to do with finances you might ask?  The answer lies in the "timing" message.  If you have read my book 12 Pillars & a Prayer you might remember that God's plan and purpose is to make stewards out of each of us.  That means that prosperity and wealth and money are found within the context of being a steward, i.e., a conservator of God's provisions.  Such conservatorship is rarely bestowed upon the novice and when it is that novice is even more rarely up to the challenge.  No, stewardship carries with it the conation of a battle tested warrior who has learned the tactics of conquering an enemy.  In the case of finances, that enemy is usually from within.  I think that the hardest thing to tame in life is your spirit when you know that God has something for you, you see the need, but your time is not yet come.  Your job is to lay low and let time have its perfect appearance.

As business owners, entreprenuers and those who simply desire to be financially sound and prosperous, we often want it now.  We want the booming business, lots of cash flow and balanced bank statements...now!  And when we don't get it now the tendency is become discouraged and retreat into old habits.  Things like not making the extra call, bouncing a check, not writing on your book today and even worse, starting to doubt that God really desires to see His people do well in this world.
You see the real message of this story is this:  calling and purpose are great and necessary for us to succeed in this world, but they are not enough.  Timing is everything!  You may be on a real mission to build your business, but if you're out of time, I promise you, your desired results will be for another day.  

• Rush out there to open your restaurant without training your servers and chances are you'll be out of business real soon.  
• Talk to someone about purchasing your product and they just lost their job and your chances of closing the deal diminish greatly.  
• Tell somebody about this dynamite business opportunity and they just got burnt in their last one and chances are you're going home empty.
• 4,000 books were just released on How to grow your garden and you might rethink if this is the right time to hit the market with another one.

You get the point?  .  Just as the Master Teacher was not sucked into the moment you might need to go to the feast incognito for the time being.  His time had not yet come, He knew it and He was willing to pass on the moment in order to get to the maximum payoff.  Had Jesus acted solely on His calling it would have cost Him his life prematurely and the entire plan of salvation would have been derailed.  The lesson here is that calling is not enough.  You must also discern the time.

The point of the story can be expressed in a mathematical equation: 

Calling + timing = Tremendous payoff and harvest.

Our job is to know both our calling and the times.  In such is great prosperity of body, soul and spirit!  Until we talk again, may you prosper and be in good health!