Understanding and Application of The Law of Cause and Effect

Understanding and application of the Law of Cause and Effect

I wrote a book “Understanding the law of cause and effect”. In the book I made efforts to prove that we are the sum total of all our thoughts, actions and behaviours. I also stated that everything that is taking place in your life are the effects or as a result of the seeds that you have planted or allow someone to plant into your life. You are just reaping the fruit of the seed sown. There are no accidents in life. You will reap what you sow. What you sow determines what you reap. If you plant a mango tree, you are definitely going to harvest mango fruits from the mango tree. It will be ridiculous to see orange fruits on the mango tree when it has not been in-graft on it.

The Lord Jesus said the same thing:

Luk 6:44 KJV For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

Mat 7:16 KJV Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Even though the Lord was talking about the Pharisees with their external adherence to the laws yet the general sense of the statement is obvious—Every tree bears its own fruit. Whatever is happening now in your life, you either directly caused it by your decisions, actions and behaviours or created an avenue through which they were brought into your life and that is the truth. You may be saying, “Are you saying that I am responsible for these things happening in my life? Yes, that is what I am saying and it is the bitter truth. If you don’t like what you are seeing, then change it. The good news is that you can change the effect by changing the cause.

The universal law of cause and effect states that for every effect there is a definite cause, likewise for every cause, there is a definite effect.

What are the ingredients of “causes”

ACTIONS

Action is Something done so as to accomplish a purpose. It is what you do on a regular basis; every morning, in the day time, how you spend your waking hours, your recreational activities, religious observations, social life, your modus operandi in general. Your action and inaction generates the effects that are taking place in your life now. If you are an active worker in a place of work; your boss will admire and like you and that will result in promotion and reaping other benefits of a serious committed worker.

Pro 10:4 KJV He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Pro 12:24 KJV The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

Pro 22:29 KJV Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

A man that is quick, prompt, skilled and ready in his business will stand before kings and not before mean men. He will be productive in life. Success rewards diligence (Pro 10:4; Pro 21:5. Every diligent, active man, shall be at once independent and respectable.”

The actions you put forth today will determine the reactions you get in life. If you are not being patronized, probably you are not diligent enough.

DECISIONS

Decision is the act of deciding or a choice or judgement. Firmness of conviction. Life is about choices and your ability to make the right choice will go in a long way in determining what becomes of you. As a matter of fact, you are presently the product of your past decisions. You decide to go to that primary school, marry the spouse you are with now, engage in that job you are doing now and whatever and wherever you are now is a product of your choice. Whether it is good or not is another thing entirely. You might have been influenced by the environment, parents, peer group, circumstances of life and any other thing but the ultimate decision was yours.

Deu 30:15 KJV See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

Moses in his valedictory message to the people he had led for forty years presented to them the consequences of their choice. He said it is a matter of life and death. If they follow the Lord that brought them from Egypt, it will be life and if they choose to follow idols then it will be death unto them. He said the choice was theirs. And perhaps they were confused in what to decide on, Moses gave them the answer right there. He said choose life. What does he mean by “life”? The next verse tells us:

Deu 30:20 KJV That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

If they cleave to the Lord, then they will dwell in the promised land. 

Joshua, the next leader after Moses, gave them a similar injunction when he was about to die. He had taken them into the promised land and shared their portions.

Jos 24:15 KJV And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

The people initially made a loud promise that they will follow God that brought them from the house of bondage into the land that flows with milk and honey. They even swore to that effect.

Jos 24:24 KJV And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

A good student of the Bible will find out that children of Israel did not make good choices because they followed Baal and other idols in the promised land. This eventually led them into bondage.

When they were oppressed by their enemy and they cried unto God, He told them that they were only receiving the effects of their choices.

Jdg 2:2-3 KJV 2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

This means that everything that we currently have in our lives is an effect that is a result of a specific cause.

SUCCESS

Success in any field of endeavor is a direct result of specific causes and actions. It can also be stated that success in any field of endeavor is an indirect result of specific causes and actions.

Success is predictable. If you make the right choices and take the right actions, there is no doubt that you will get the right results, which is success in that endeavour. 

God delights in our success in life and wants us to be successful. He gave Joshua the tools for success:

Jos 1:8 KJV This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Joshua just took over the enormous task of leading the children of Israel into the promised land. How will Joshua who was a young man at that time be able to put his feet in the leadership shoes of his predecessors? Besides the people of Israel were stubborn and stiff-necked people as Moses used to call them. How will he lead such people? God told him what he must do in order to have good success. This means that if Joshua follows the steps highlighted by God, the outcome is predictable. He will prosper and deal rightly in the affairs of life.

Meditating in the law of God day and night coupled with the fact that he should not let the word depart from his mouth will guarantee him the desired success.

The psalmist toed the same path in psalm 1. He said if a man meditates in the laws of God day and night, he will be productive.

Psa 1:2-3 KJV 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

What is in the law that produces success?

The five books of Moses were actually referred to as the book of the law. The idea is that anyone who delights to follow not only the letters of the law but the spirit of it will definitely enjoy success. The Psalmist likened him to a tree planted by the side of the river. It can never run dry but will always produce all year round.

As a consequence, the law of cause and effect brings to light the idea that success can be modeled once we are aware of what we want. All we must do is find out what successful people do, and we will be able to do what they do to achieve the success that they have attained in their own lives.

It will be profitable for anyone who wants to be successful to follow the path and pattern of those that have gone ahead, achieve the same thing you desire and are successful in it. Reading biographies and autographs of successful people will do a lot for you. It will teach you their lifestyle, behavioral pattern, values, passion, tenacity, character, mental disposition, attitude to work, what they do on a daily basis, the area of strength and weakness, their mistakes and failures and what drives them.

We don’t need to start learning from the basics or scratch any longer. WE can learn from the mistakes and failures of those who have gone ahead and improved on their success.

Paul said with confidence that people or his followers should emulate him and do what they have seen him do.

1Cor 4:16 KJV Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

The Greek word used for followers in that place means an imitator. Paul was successful in his life as a Christian and as a minister. We can follow his footsteps.

1Cor 11:1 KJV Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

1Th 1:6 KJV And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

The ultimate person we should follow and who should be our role model in life is Jesus.

1Pet 2:21 KJV For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Joh 13:15 KJV For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

When we follow Jesus and do those things we saw him do, what will happen?

Joh 14:12 KJV Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

We will do the work that Jesus did and we will do greater work. That to me is the definition of success that is modelled after a success. If I do what He says and do what He did, one thing is certain, I will be successful. 

The Apostles followed the steps of Jesus so much that the Sanhedrin took notice of tem and concluded that they had been with Jesus and little wonder the twelve shook the world.

Act 4:13 KJV Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

You must see yourself successful then it will materialize. In short, the law states that there are no accidents in this world and that the effects we create in our lives are a direct result of causes that come from within ourselves.

THOUGHTS

The law of cause and effect also discusses the power of our thoughts: Your thoughts create causes.

Your thoughts give meaning to circumstances.

Your thoughts are creatively manifesting your reality.

Your life experience is a reflection of thought manifestations.

Within the seed of individual thoughts, lie the origins of the causes we create in our reality. These causes create effects which we experience in our lives as manifested life circumstances. In fact, our thoughts do more than just that. They actually give meaning to our experience of reality, which is why each of us holds a different perspective of the world around us.

Solomon in his book tells us that a man is the sum total of his thoughts.

Pro 23:7 KJV For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

You won’t rise or sink lower than your thought. It defines you. You become your thoughts and your life will go the way of your dominant thought.

We are experiencing life as we know it because of the learned and conditioned psychological patterns we have pre-programmed into our minds over a lifetime of free choice. Moreover, this psychological programming is filtering our experience of reality in a very biased yet very predictable manner — effectively creating and interpreting our existence in front of our eyes.

The way we behave, our emotions and feelings are the results of our thoughts. The negative emotions that we have sometimes result from what we have engaged our mind on. The lifestyle we are living is the byproduct of our thinking. If you are depressed it is because you have been thinking about depressing things. It is true that you may have hormonal imbalance and you can also take capsules to correct the chemical balance in your body so that you can change your mood. But I tell you the reason why you are depressed is because your thoughts are depressing. Change your thoughts and see how vibrant your life will be.

 If you don’t like the way your life is then it is very simple, just change your thought pattern and your life will be redirected. You can control your thoughts through what you allow and focus on in your mind. If you renew your mind, your thought pattern will change and then your life will change.. This is the way Apostle Paul puts it:

Rom 12:2 KJV And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

And if you don’t really know what you should be thinking on, he had another advice for you:

Phi 4:8 KJV Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

In order to enjoy life to the fullest we may need to relearn some of the things our mind has been programmed to do by the “Old Man” who used to dominate our thinking before now. If we do that, we will learn new habits, skills, and new cultures.

One thing that God still reserves for us is our free will. Humans are free moral agents capable of choices. As I said earlier, the choice we make today determines how we will live tomorrow and in the years to come. As a matter of fact the life you are living now is a result of cumulative choices you had made. The good news is that you can make choices now and that re-sharpened your life and future.

CHOICE

If you chose Jesus as your Lord and saviour, you have made the right choice that will profit you now and in the life to come. Eternal life is the gift of God premised on you accepting the gift of salvation. It is the greatest choice to be ever made by any human living or dead.

Ref:

Adam Sicinski: https://blog.iqmatrix.com/law-of-cause-effect

★    Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

★    Clarke Adams Commentary

★    Chuck Smith Commentary

★    Darby Translation Notes

★    Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary

★    John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

★    Robertson Word Picture in the New Testament

★    Scofield reference Notes 1917 Edition

★    Vincent Word Studies in the New Testament

★    BDB Hebrew Thayer Greek Lexicon

★    Thayer’s Greek Lexicon

★    Strong’s Exhaustive Dictionary

★    English Dictionary

★    King James Version of the Bible