Many are the Plans in a Man’s Heart

The Impressionable Nature of the Subconscious Mind

The subconscious mind is what controls the majority of our thoughts, feelings and actions. The subconscious mind gains impressions from the world around us, via our five senses. It has been said that the subconscious mind cannot reason – that is the function of the conscious mind, to reason and to guard the subconscious mind (heart) from wrong impressions. (See Proverbs 4:23).

The subconscious mind does not say, “Don’t impress me with that – it’s negative”. The subconscious mind accepts what it dwells upon consistently. That is why it is so damaging for a child to be told that it is no good and will not amount to anything. The words of others can hurt our self-esteem, especially when it appears that we have nothing of ourselves in terms of ability or possessions in order to refute those accusations.

According to popular belief, the first six years of our lives are the most important in terms of the development of our beliefs and character. It is for this reason that children need to be raised properly, taught the truth and given as much unconditional love as possible.

The Plans in a Man’s Heart

I just thought it was Christians versus the world and that we had to show that we were better than people in the world – those who did not believe in Christ. It was about the Davids defeating the Goliaths who dared to mock the children of the most high God.

But now I’ve come to see that it’s not about that at all. I can see now that I used Word of Faith teaching like a Christian version of The Secret or The Law of Attraction. For those who do not know, The Secret and The Law of Attraction are popular, modern self-help methods for getting what you want through the use of positive thinking and affirmations.

I thought that I could come-up with any plan of my own, which would see me victorious and would be a testimony of God’s power working in me – then I could bring this plan to God and He would anoint it and bring it to pass.

But I have learned that the subconscious mind can come-up with all sorts of plans and hare-brained ideas. If the subconscious mind becomes convinced that a person is overweight – that person can make it their main focus in life to lose that weight, even if it means following risky and dangerous dieting methods. This is the way in which people become anorexic.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Typically, people will become focused on one or several things at a time as being the thing that will bring them freedom and happiness. When people have this solitary focus, they often lose sight of the opportunities, beauty and blessings that surround them.

The Psychologist Abraham Maslow devised a diagram to support his theory of what he saw as being a hierarchy of needs. People tend to focus their attention on getting those needs met which are appropriate to their position in life.

You can find out more about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs at the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Progression with the Grace Message

Isn't it amazing that as we expose ourselves to a greater revelation of grace, as we listen to a stronger, purer grace message - the shackles fall off and we are freer to discern the truth for ourselves?

I suppose it's like when kids are learning to read: they progress through different levels until they reach the highest level in that range. If someone is at level 3, they are going to struggle with level 4, although they will be able to work through some of it. But level 6 will be difficult for them.

Many Christians are brainwashed into accepting a mixture without questioning it. They simply accept the inconsistencies and adjust their thinking according to how it is preached by the pastor they trust.

When we expose ourselves to a purer grace message, we are able to look back on what we once thought was tremendous and see that it was a misleading mixture of law and grace. I think that's what's happened to me with Joyce Meyer.

I will admit - when I was deeply into WOF, I would have choked on Bertie Brits' grace teaching: if I would hear him preach on not needing to tithe anymore - I would have resisted it. I think it's only now that after I tithed for about ten years, even paid a double-tithe at one point, and found it did not work - that I begin to start questioning things. What caused me to defend WOF so much was the fantastic testimonies, the signs and wonders and such like. I just got caught up with my own fantasies and outlandish, selfish ambition.

Now that I think about it: I believe that God was enlightening me to some really radical grace teaching, even when I did not hear anyone else preach on it. But I suppose I was still caught-up in WOF and mixture at the time and I just ran them in parallel. What I find is that Christian "principles" can be so compelling.

Recently, as I've been sorting through some of my Christian books with a view to selling them: I found that as I flicked through some of them, I felt drawn towards the teaching like a magnet. It seemed good and it seemed true. Romans 7:12 says, "Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good."

So you see, God allows the wheat and the tares to grow together (Matt. 13). I don't know if this parable relates to grace/law in this context - but it seems relevant to illustrate this point. God allows different Bible teaches with different "flavours" to the Gospel message. This allows the Holy Spirit to gently guide us into a greater degree of the truth. This takes time with teaching and personal experience - some of it is painful and difficult it seems.

The Distraction of Word of Faith

My wrong focus with Word of Faith teaching sent me off on a tangent. I felt like I was wondering around in a maze: convinced that the way through was immediately ahead of me, only to find that I had reached a dead-end and would have to re-trace my steps again.

Opportunities would seem to arise, which I would respond to excitedly, only to find that there was nothing in it. I would yearn for those things in the past which I had lost, things which I took for granted at the time, but now saw that they were indeed a blessing from God.

I think my experiences could be likened to Elijah when he ran for his life, because Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him.

¹¹ Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. ¹³ So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

1 Kings 19:11-13 nkjv

Elijah was so frightened that he ran for his life and hid underneath a juniper tree. Then, when he had eaten and calmed down somewhat, God spoke to Him. Elijah was not distracted by the supernatural phenomena of the fire, earthquake and strong wind. Elijah ignored what was happening around him and waited for the still, small voice of God to give him his next instruction.

We miss out on God’s instructions for our lives when we get carried away with the things around us which we assume must be from God, but aren’t. I believe that even signs and wonders (likened to the fire, earthquake and strong wind) can also become a distraction to us if we are seeking after supernatural experiences more than we are seeking after a relationship with God. Signs and wonders have their place in the Body of Christ – especially when it comes to evangelising areas that are steeped in idol worship. But we really have to be careful that we do not get carried away with signs and wonders so that they distract us from our relationship with God through Christ.

Breaking Down Barns

Two people can hear the same message preached and get different meanings and focus out of it. Kenneth E. Hagin was teaching on how Christians could live prosperous and healthy lives, for their own benefit and so that they could be a blessing to others and to prove that Christian faith works.

But what I saw was an opportunity to control God; to make Him prove to me that I was more special than the rest; to seize an opportunity to heap-up material possessions and money so that I no longer had to rely on a God that I felt had consistently let me down in the past. This concept is conveyed, to some extent, in the parable of the man who wanted to break down his barns and build bigger ones in Luke 12.

¹⁵ And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." ¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' ¹⁸ So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." ' ²⁰ But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' ²¹ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Luke 12:15-21 nkjv

The Greek word for “life” in Luke 12:15, is actually the word zoe (G2111) which is the life-giving presence of God. Both E.W. Kenyon and Kenneth E. Hagin believe zoe (G2111) to be the nature of God indwelling man. I believe that it is this experience of the life of God within the soul of man, which produces the experience we know as joy.

John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes includes the following about Luke 12:15.

Luk 12:15 - A man's life - That is, the comfort or happiness of it.

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible includes the following regarding Luke 12:15.

Covetousness - An unlawful desire of the property of another; also a desire of gain or riches beyond what is necessary for our wants. It is a violation of the tenth commandment Exo. 20:17, and is expressly called idolatry Col. 3:5. Compare, also, Eph. 5:3, and Heb. 13:5.

A man’s life - The word “life” is sometimes taken in the sense of happiness or felicity, and some have supposed this to be the meaning here, and that Jesus meant to say that a man’s comfort does not depend on affluence - that is, on more than is necessary for his daily wants; but this meaning does not suit the parable following, which is designed to show that property will not lengthen out a man’s life, and therefore is not too ardently to be sought, and is of little value. The word “life,” therefore, is to be taken “literally.”

Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible includes the following regarding Luke 12:15.

Inordinate desires. Πλεονεξιας, from πλειον, more, and εχειν, to have; the desire to have more and more, let a person possess whatever he may. Such a disposition of mind is never satisfied; for, as soon as one object is gained, the heart goes out after another.

I suppose the reason for believing God for ability and possessions, was so that if I found that I could no longer control God with my own faith - at least I had my own “nest egg”, which I could rely on later. I decided that I would rely on God so that I could become self-sufficient and I would no longer have to rely on Him anymore.

I suppose this desire for self-sufficiency was born out of a sense of believing that God was mysterious: He would be kind, peaceful, loving and generous the one moment – but as soon as a person did not pray right or they stepped out of line and made a mistake – that was it for them! This misjudgement of God’s character came out of a life of mistakes and disappointments, as well as teaching which mixed law and grace.

Can a Man Control God?

For years, believers have been spoon-fed from the pulpit – without anything they say being questioned by the congregation. Christian, self-help and spiritual authors have raked-in the cash from struggling, frustrated people who are desperate for answers to the issues which beset them.

Unfortunately, when people are confused and desperate – they will accept anything that is put before them. When a person cannot discern the truth for themselves, they tend to latch-on to anything that seems to give them a glimmer of hope.

It is for this reason that any method which promises wealth and the ability to control ones life, becomes extremely popular. What seems to happen is that people read these books which give all sorts of exciting testimonies – then they get carried away with their own imagination, thinking about how they could apply something similar to their own lives. It is little wonder that such books are so popular and so compelling. People read these books, resonate with the teaching and get all excited. They then post stellar reviews on Amazon.com saying how amazing the method is and how it has changed their life already – and they’ve only been reading it a couple of weeks!

This is what happened to me: I would read in a Kenneth E. Hagin book of how God blessed him, or “used” him, in some spectacular way – then I would begin to ponder how I could do something similar. I suppose my own desire to prove myself and seek the approval of God and other people – just got caught-up with the message of faith that I was reading.

My Own Attempt to “Use” Daniel 1:17

I read in a Kenneth E. Hagin book that Hagin would confess Daniel 1:17 each morning on the way to school. As a result of this, God gave him a photographic memory and made him more intelligent than all the other pupils in his class, so that he got straight-As for all his tests.

I decided that I would confess Daniel 1:17 so that I could be brilliant at my job. But the divine ability never came. I believe the reason for this was that I was feeling insecure, as if I could not trust in God. I saw Daniel 1:17 as a “divine lottery ticket” which just might work to give me the sense of security that I was looking for. I wanted to prove that I was better than everyone else, so that I could feel good about myself and look down on “all those ungodly heathens”, which didn’t deserve the blessing and favour of God like I did.

I am still working on this area of my life and I believe it has a lot to do with being able to trust God, whether you are rich or poor, talented or untalented, educated or uneducated; knowing that God will meet your needs, regardless of whether you “deserve” it or not. Like many other people, the cannot of effort-and-reward has become hard-wired into my belief system. The concept of God blessing me and meeting my needs without having to work for it, without having to merit that blessing – is still something I struggle with to this day.

How Word of Faith Works

Kenneth E. Hagin would always say that whatever need you had in life, whether it is healing, finances or whatever – just find those verses of scripture which say you can have it, meditate on them and confess them.

Hagin’s teaching and testimonies would almost exclusively focus on faith for healing and finances. Hagin would also say that the same principle applies to any other legitimate need. But this does not mitigate the deluded, selfish fantasies that frustrated Christians bring before God. An overactive imagination does not help God, but hinders Him. The flesh nature and the divine nature are at odds with one another (see Galatians 5:17).

I just assumed that it was my role to read the best Christian teaching available and to discern the principles and formulas from the teaching and to somehow apply it to my own life. This is where my own imagination and selfish ambition came into play. But I realised after many years that this is not a practical or comfortable way to live the Christian life.

This way of life put a great deal of emphasis on me reading lots of books (the right books) understanding them properly, being able to remember what I had read and then to be able to somehow apply those principles and formulas to my own life. One of the wrong assumptions that can arise out of this process is that you can assume that just because God blessed or “used” another Christian in some way, then God will do the very same, or something similar, thing in your own life. But this is simply not true because we all have different callings, gifts and talents.

Word of Faith operates by finding verses of scripture which often pertain to specific circumstances of a person’s life, then twisting it so that it applies to your own life. It is true that we can apply broad-based Christian concepts to our own life, such as our righteousness in Christ, but just because God gave Abraham, Isaac and Jacob beautiful wives, for example, does not mean that you can use certain verses of scripture to lay hold on the promise of a beautiful wife. Just God gave Bezalel the abilities of a craftsman (see Exodus 31:2-5) – it does not mean that God will give you the same kind of abilities (unless, of course, that is your calling in life.)