The Secret


Act 8:18  When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands conferred the 

	Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, 

Act 8:19  and said, "Sell me your secret! Show me how you did that! How much do you 

	want? Name your price!" 


	In any performance related discipline there is a method by which one can 

acquire an unbelievable and magical skill. There is a way, given the proper insight, 

training and practice, for one to master certain abilities and find that in the 

presentation of those abilities there is a promise of great notoriety, accolades and 

recognition. While the performance may be incredible and beyond others ability to 

understand or figure out, there is always a method of acquiring that ability to which 

the performer has committed diligently. There may be a very special gift of ability 

that has been given to the individual, but they usually also have an incredible passion 

for perfecting that gift which has driven them to consistent development of and 

devotion to the method by which they might acquire that perfection.  

	In watching and listening to a virtuoso musician it is impossible to 

comprehend the magic that is taking place. Each finger works independently, air is 

compressed and forces controlled vibrations, and hands strike objects with rhythmic 

precision all producing sounds that may inspire a complete spectrum of emotional 

response. The master of his instrument makes this magic look easy and almost 

effortless, but there surely is a process that, in its careful following, has brought his 

skill to this level of ease. 

	I recently saw a street magician on television that approaches expect people 

on the street and performs these completely unbelievable magic tricks for them. As 

he approaches them you can tell they are quite skeptical and suspicious, but as be 

begins to work his magic, there is an admiration given to him for his display and he is 

praised for his special ability. Watching him you would really think that he is doing 

something beyond the natural realm and probing the supernatural, (which may be 

partially true) but upon hearing him speak about it, his ability seemed to come from 

a passion he possessed from childhood for magic which drove him to learn all he 

could from magicians that had gone before him.  By the way he spoke, the ability to 

perform each magical trick came by a great deal of practice and discipline. For him, 

in adhering to and developing the methods of each trick, there is the way of 

accomplishing these incredible feats of magic.

	For anyone who has given themselves to a discipline of method, (and for 

anyone that knows what it takes to acquire those performance abilities) there is a 

potential road block in acquiring and operating in things of the spirit. They know 

that it is possible to accomplish all these other things by diligence and 

understanding, and, for them, it is all a matter of just finding out the "secret" of how 

it is done. The first thing that is usually spoken by an observer is, "How did he/she 

do that?". The mind always begins to reason as to what is actually going on to 

produce these results. There is an impression that there is some kind of natural 

exchange that can always bring about the acquisition of that supernatural ability. 

Much time and resources can be given to learning the "hows" and the "whys", and in 

the process of pursuing spiritual results, even with a heart, it is possible to achieve 

similar outward evidence, but never understand the method by which the true and 

authentic are really coming to pass. 

	Simon was a much perfected and celebrated magician who had a highly 

developed understanding of natural methods of performing unbelievable things. For 

his mind, there had to be some method for this "speaking in tongues" trick that he 

should be able to acquire somehow and he was willing to pay for it. While he was 

born again, there was still this resident passion for the evidence itself and a desire to 

do whatever he could to get it. Somehow his perception was that this was about the 

ones through whom the evidence was being seen rather than the One that was really 

performing the work through them. He saw the honor that was being given to them 

as similar to the honor that had brought him financial gain and it was hard to make 

this separation of the working of this "trick" from its potential rewards. He did find 

out from Peter, though, that there was no way that these things could be acquired 

through natural means. Only a life of holy worship would bring about the evidence of 

His presence as its purpose became fixed on bringing glory to God. 

	There will always be evidence of His presence that in itself can become 

something of great desire as there is apparent recognition given to the one through 

whom the work is done. In giving oneself to natural methods and means of exchange 

there can be an attempt to acquire this spiritual ability. The method for experiencing 

these things of the spirit will never truly be found by any natural means, however, 

but only through a life given totally to an honoring awareness of the presence of the 

One who will do the work and accomplish things beyond what we have yet seen or 

imagined. Confined to the vision of what we may have seen accomplished in others, 

there may be a complete missing out of what the Spirit is really wanting to 

accomplish through us. A passion for knowing Him, though, and diligently seeking 

His kingdom will not be without evidence as His Spirit is given passage through 

which it can flow. May the true purpose for any evidence of His presence be 

accomplished by the revelation of His glory in changing power and might as our 

hearts delight alone in the vision of His face. 



3/23/04