We’ve heard a lot about the law of attraction. It’s been popularized by books and films, especially The Secret.
And I must say, something about the law of attraction is very attractive!
The core belief is pretty empowering: we can attract desirable things to our lives … we will experience what we think and speak about the most.
If you focus on positive thoughts, you will attract positive results. If you focus on negative thoughts, you will bring about negative results.
It’s the basic idea that “like attracts like.”
Is the Law of Attraction Real?
There has been some controversy about the law of attraction. And some critique which we should consider, especially when you dig into it a little. Yet, there are probably some elements of the so-called law of attraction which have been coded into creation. Probably more than we know.
So some may experience “results” in a partial way, though without a deep-seated sense of purpose, significance and fulfillment.
But certainly, for the Christ-follower, it does not rise to the level of authentically living and working within God’s realm – the Kingdom of God. (And yet, some of the concepts in the law of attraction could provoke us to really discover the superior Kingdom dynamics they mirror.)
Is There an Ultimate Law of Attraction?
I’m a firm believer in clarity and transparency. So I confess boldly that I’m a follower of Jesus Christ. If you’re not a Christian, I’m grateful you have visited this site and want you to feel welcome. I write on a number of themes that I hope bring value.
Most believe in a Higher Power: the Universe, Creator, Higher Intelligence, Universal Mind, God, the Supreme Soul, Buddha, the Great Spirit, Jehovah, Divine Mind, the Almighty, and dozens of other understandings of the Higher Power are held by many.
My conviction is that God is uniquely understood and experienced in His Son, Jesus Christ as revealed in the Gospels and throughout the New Testament. Whatever your belief, though, I hope you’ll continue reading …
For me, the Ultimate Law of Attraction is we can attract the Creator’s manifest presence in our lives – and all of the goodness that His presence brings.
I’m coming from this premise:
I am designed to enjoy God’s manifest presence in my life and personal world and to see His presence impact my sphere of influence.
So I’m not referring here to what theologians term the omnipresence of God – He is everywhere at once. As David said, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7 NASB).
Nor am I focusing on the aspect in which Christ’s presence dwells within the believer’s heart in a unique way: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Paul in Col. 1.27 NASB; also see Eph. 3.14-21 NASB).
I’m grateful for both God’s omnipresence and certainly His indwelling presence in believers …
The Manifest Presence
What I am keying in on is God’s manifest presence in me … through me … and filling my personal world. And it’s even more than this. David wrote of his cup running over (Psalm 23.5-6 NKJV) – God flows through our personal world into the world-at-large around us.
We all have a sphere of influence we are called to fill up with God-influence along with our unique make-up. And as we do, I believe God has designs on expanding that sphere of influence.
There is a vital key to attracting (and consistently carrying) a much greater measure of God’s manifest presence in our lives. What is it?
The Dynamic of Sacrifice
If we knew more of what is in God’s mind, and if we began to engage the dynamic of sacrifice in our lives, we would start to draw to us many fruitful and profitable things. Things we may currently desire or need as well as things we may not be in touch with.
This is the Ultimate Law of Attraction.
He will satisfy our desires. Even more, He will put us in touch with new desires that will remove the lid off our lives.
Let’s be clear about something first. Christ Himself is the sacrifice for our sins. So we’re not speaking of something that we could possibly do (think legalism) to put ourselves in right-standing with God. Christ is mankind’s all-sufficient atoning sacrifice.
So in what way does sacrifice apply to us?
You may say, “Wait a minute! Isn’t sacrifice an Old Testament concept? Aren’t we under grace now in the New Covenant?”
Let’s remember that the Old Covenant serves as the basis of the New Covenant … the NC builds upon the OC.
We reach back into the Old Testament for precedent and see it completely fulfilled in the New Covenant. In fact, we can better understand all that Christ has provided in the New Covenant by seeing the full scope of Old Covenant precedents and promises coming to a place of fulfillment.
One of these precedents is sacrifice. It is a dynamic which will position and accelerate us into the real Story of our lives.
We Are a Living Sacrifice
This is new. A living sacrifice. We are called to present ourselves as a sacrifice to God, and this is how we really find our lives. Hear the urging of Paul:
And so, dear Christian friends, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you is this too much to ask (Romans 12.1 NLT).
There it is in the New Testament – the language of sacrifice. Something that God will find acceptable and pleasing.
Could there be anything more personal than presenting our very bodies to God as a living sacrifice? In verse 2 Paul says we’re not to be shaped by the world around us. Instead we’re to be transformed from within.
Sacrifice is a presentation of the good, the best. It is also an avoidance of what is corrupt.
We can experience an alternative lifestyle and workstyle to everything around us. As God finds the sacrifice acceptable and pleasing, (and this is key) He falls upon it with His presence and blessing in a special way.
About a 1000 words here – pretty long for a post … in the next part of this mini-series, we’ll look at the 3 elements of sacrifice: the sacrifice itself, fire, and the aroma which God find’s attractive.
We’ll also focus on how we practically sacrifice to the Creator: how we think and speak, sacrifices of obedience, thanksgiving, the sacrifice of praise, ordering our time, and extending ourselves to serve and benefit others.
See the next post in this mini-series: Attracting God to Our Personal World – Can We Do That?
You may also enjoy Do You Feel Powerful? and Will the Creator Show You Secrets?
