God Thinking XVIII - The Way You Think 4

"Some people think they can do according to God’s will without having their thoughts in line with God’s thoughts.  In  other words they do not need to hear from God, nor do they need to read the Word of God to know God. 

It is impossible to do God’s will by default. 

God gives His wisdom to those who diligently seek Him.  God requires your undivided attention.  God thinking is about giving God your undivided attention.  God thinking says that to experience your dreams and/or goals, not only in the way of success, but also in the way of glorifying God, you need to take the time you have ahead of you and learn to think like Christ."

        God Thinking XVIII - The Way You Think by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

  

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• "Who has been telling you differently?
• Who taught you that it is OK to make up your own rules about how to live?
• Who has been exploiting you to believe that Christianity has nothing to do with Christlikeness? 
• Who has been telling you that “All paths lead to God?”
• Who has been selling you that you are a better class of person if you own more things?
• Who has been teaching you that it is better to expose your children to the world early so they can get use to it?  You had better hope and pray they never get use to it.
• Who has been feeding you the lie that a little leaven doesn’t leaven the whole lump?

God is not pleased when we take His Word as just another philosophy or as a suggestion.  God says to us in 2 Corinthians 10:5, We are to be “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”   Your thoughts matter to the extent that they determine whether you are listening to God and moving according to His will or you are not listening to God and moving according to your own will.

God Thinking XVIII - The Way You Think by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

   

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"The goal of God thinking is to learn to think the way God wants you to think.

God thinking is the kind of thinking that thinks forward to create what God has already ordained to be.  Most of your life you want, desire, chase after, strive for, long for, get stressed out over, worry about, fret about, what God has already placed in your path aforetime.  You work like a dog to make happen what God has already transformed from thought into reality for you.  Most of the time, if you had just waited a moment longer, you could have seen how God orchestrated it all.  As you are running around in circles trying to make something happen, God in His infinite wisdom has already prepared the path.  And when you get there, you pat yourself on the back for a job well done.  You need to learn to see God in what you are doing, right from the start.

• Every dollar we make
• Every relationship we have
• Every business we venture into
• Every goal - every desire - every dream
• Every breath
• Every thought

Must be to the glory of God

God Thinking XVIII - The Way You Think by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"It is important to remember and practice what you learn, not just learn it and hear it.  God
thinking is like that.  If you practice the principles you learn, you are empowered by these principles.  If you practice the principles you learn, you please God through faith.  Here are some principles that you have learned or will learn.  They are the kind of truths that change the way you think.
·     The way you think about God.
·     The way you think about what God has said about Himself.
·     The way you think about what God has said about yourself.
·     The way you think.
The goal of God thinking is to learn to think the way God wants you to think.

God Thinking XVIII - The Way You Think by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

 

God Thinking XVII - All Paths Do Not Lead To God 9

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”  James 1:17

 

The Word is true.  God says “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”  It’s true. 

With Christ comes:

An exciting and adventurous life

Extreme challenges

Personal confidence about who you are

Health for our bodies

Vision for your future

Satisfaction in the now

With Jesus, the past is buried, forgotten and forgiven.

 

It’s not that if you turn to Christ to follow Him, that you will never have a problem.  But with Jesus there will never be a problem you cannot overcome.

 

It’s not that you won’t want things that you might not be able to afford.  But, with Jesus you will enjoy and appreciate what you have right now.

  

It’s not that you won’t have trials and tribulations, turmoil and trouble.  But, with Jesus you will never be abandoned, mistreated or misused.

 

The whole world has lied about Jesus.  They have lied about who He is, what He has done for us and what He expects from us.  The world talks to us about Jesus like they are the experts.  They talk negatively about someone they have never even met.

 

The unbelieving world is quick to cut down the Christian faith.  They are quick to make fun and condemn us and they are far more intolerant of Christians than we are of those who are not.

 

Some are innocent and simply led astray, the blind leading the blind.  Others are not so innocent and they choose darkness more than the light.   Either way, they are on the broad path. 

 

We need to take what Jesus says seriously.  Jesus says follow me.  He is on the narrow path that leads to life and He is calling each one of us to turn around and start going HIS way.

 

The world doesn’t have anything on us. Our Father in heaven has provided us with the very best. Those outside of the will of God cannot say that.

 

We are strengthened by His presence in our life. Those who love the world are on their own.

We are satisfied with the portion that God has dealt us. The world, those who have not been born again - they are never satisfied, they never get enough.

We are empowered to overcome our real enemy, satan. The world is powerless to overcome anything without Christ.

We are free from our sins. The world is in bondage to their sins.

There are two paths. Get it right. 

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"You need to quit wasting your time trying to merge the narrow path that leads to eternal life with the wide path that leads to destruction.  They cannot merge.  They never did merge.  They never will merge.

When you are born, you are very close to the heart of God.  As we grow older, some of us rebel against the call to holiness.  Some of us get on the broad path and enjoy it.  The broad path becomes familiar. 

Even if we are plagued with drug addiction or uncontrolled anger, even if the bottom is dropping out, even if everything is messed up, even if life has no real meaning, people will stay with the familiar.  

• The broad path offers answers to these predicaments:
• The broad path has plenty of drugs to keep us going. 
• The broad path enables uncontrolled anger. 
• When the bottom is dropping out, the broad path will be there to keep pushing us down a little further.
• If everything is messed up, the broad path will generate more of the same.
• If life has no meaning, the broad path will support that kind of thinking.

Whatever holds us back from having a pure and beautiful existence; it can be found readily available on the broad path.  If we are looking for someone to agree with us when we are living a life without meaning, we can count on those on the broad path.  But, not one day goes by, that God doesn’t call out to everyone on the broad path, to turn around and go the other way.  Jesus entreats each one of us to come and follow Him and enjoy the blessings of the good life. 

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"Let me tell you a true, modern day story about the times we live in.

 

An acquaintance of mine just came back from North Vietnam.  He was on a hiking expedition through the northernmost mountains of North Vietnam.  He was with a group of men and women that hiked about 400 miles.  Then they kayaked another 100 miles to end up in Hanoi.

 

North Vietnam is a communist country.  But in their own way they are trying to bridge the gap with foreigners.  They (the North Vietnamese government and military) treated the hikers with respect and they left the hikers alone to travel without supervision.

 

As the hikers traveled throughout the mountains and then down to the coastline, they met many native people who allowed them to stay in their houses and eat their food, which was scarce.  Most of the children speak English, but no one there knows why they speak English or where the language came from.  The natives don’t know the word America.  They know nothing about America or its people.

 

The North Vietnamese government is adamantly against religious expression of any kind, however they do allow some religious influences in their country.  There is a Buddhist Pagoda and a small Catholic sect in Hanoi, which is the most modern city in the Northern side of Vietnam.

 

As my friend was going through indoctrination, the North Vietnamese government officials explained the rules,  regulations and boundaries set up for the hiking adventure.  They discussed every aspect of the hike.  Generally speaking there rules were no different than they would be anywhere, even here in our country - except one rule:

 

During their hike, they cannot speak the name of Jesus.  If the hikers were to break this rule, their Visa would be revoked and they would be sentenced to an indefinite stay in state prison.

 

Here is a real life example of one of those stations along the broad path that stop those who turn or have turned toward Christ.  This was in 2005.

 

There are two paths: The broad path that leads to destruction and the narrow path that leads to life everlasting."

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"Jesus was talking to Paul, who had been persecuting the Church.  Acts 26:16-18

“But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; V17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, V18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.”

 

Paul was on the broad path.  He had stopped at one of the stations called “RELIGIOUS PIETY”.  Then he met Jesus in the road and turned the other way and he was told to turn  others from darkness to light, from satan unto God, (from the broad path to the narrow path, from one direction to another.)

You must get it right.  The path that leads to eternal life with God is in the opposite direction of the path that leads to destruction.

God designed it this way - to assure the believer that they would know when they were on the right path.  It would be narrow - few will find it - and it goes in the opposite direction of the world."

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

 

 

 

 

God Thinking XVII - All Paths Do Not Lead To God 5

"God calls us all from the broad path, to turn around and start heading the other way.

 

Jesus says in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

 

When Jesus says “repent ye”, He is literally saying turn around and head in the opposite direction of the path you are on. 

 

God knows that at the end of the broad path is empty promises from the wicked one.  Those on the broad path cannot see the end. They only see the path and all its trappings. 

 

Jesus says again in Mark 1:17, “...Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.”

Many, many times Jesus says, “follow Me.”  Jesus leads us on the narrow path to the straight gate.  And while those on the broad path are hurling accusations and putting obstacles in our way; while they are offering us everything possible to keep us from staying on the narrow path, Jesus is walking the path with us.  There is no way to stay in the right direction without Jesus leading the way.

Even when Jesus visited the home of the unbelieving, the prostitutes, houses of ill repute, (one of the stations on the broad path), He was always headed in the other direction of those on the broad path.  He only stopped in to tell those inside that they were headed in the wrong direction."

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"There is a teaching - a philosophy of sorts going around that goes like this.  “All paths lead to God”.  Don’t buy it.  Don’t agree with your neighbor and friends when they speak about this broad, all encompassing path.  This path doesn’t lead to God.  It leads to a dead end; a huge pit called “the second death”

There’s only one path that leads to life, and that is, the narrow path.  Don’t be confused by the rhetoric of those on this broad path. 

They are not the experts of God’s creation. 

 

Most people who argue against God the Father, the only begotten Son of God and the Holy Spirit have never met God the Father, Jesus the Son or the Holy Spirit. 

• We don’t blame those who have not met the Master. 
• We don’t hammer them with truths that they cannot comprehend.
• We don’t treat them with malice.
• We don’t judge them.
• We love them and reveal Christ to them by loving them in a way they have not known.
• We carefully minister the truth to them.
• We pray for them.
• We go to God in supplication and get answers.
• We intercede for every person on the broad path. 

But we don’t follow them.  We cannot.  We are not on the same path, nor are we in the same direction."

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"There was total unity among the vendor stations, except one small station at the very beginning of the path.  There is a tiny little entranceway and a narrow little path right in the middle of the wide road to get there. 

 

Every now and then, the vendors would see someone going the opposite way of the broad, wide road.  That’s what’s different about this one little station, it’s at the opposite end of the broad path.

 

When a vendor would see someone walking down this narrow path, they would jeer at them and mock them, they would hurl things at them. They would holler at them and call them names, like: intolerant, narrow-minded, hypocritical, judgmental and homo-phobic. 

 

They would try to trip those on the narrow path and they would throw their trash into the narrow path as the traveler passed by.  They would set up barricades and obstacles in front of every station. 

 

At some stations they placed guards to shoot anyone they found heading in the direction of the narrow path. 

 

At some stations they blocked the path and if a person continued in that direction they would be arrested or killed.

 

Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus says, “Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: V14 Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"The stations all offer a great many lessons.  Each lesson is designed to keep you on this path.  In some stations like Islam, they promise a special future for those who will agree to die in battle.  (It is promised to each and everyone who will voluntarily die before they get to the end of the path, (Seven virgins and great wealth).  And of course they will be permitted to continue on this path when they come back, to finish the ascent to the precipice.

 

On this path everything is sold.  You can get anything you want.  It’s a no holds barred, have it your own way, and do it your own way, path. 

 

This path is broad, because there are a lot of people on this path.  It is so wide, you can’t even see from one side to the other.  It is packed with people all headed in the same direction.

 

Each station on this path has a special set of rules that apply to all those who stop at each station on the way.

 

But faithful one to the other, they all point the traveler in the same direction. 

 

All the vendors on this path have agreed, that since all the stations lead the same direction there should be agreement among them as to the name for the path.

 

One by one, they all join a one direction organization.  They decided that this one direction organization should have a name.  It took thousands of years to come to agreement, but at the end of six thousand years they unanimously voted that the official name of the organization for the broad path would be:  “ALL PATHS LEAD TO GOD.”

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"There is wisdom in God thinking.  One of the truths that God thinking purports is a very important truth about the path of life. 

The whole world is beating a path in the same direction.  This direction ends abruptly at a precipice. 

Along the way there are stations that help those on this path to reach their goal, I. e., the goal is to get to the end of the path.  These stations have names, like: Self-actualization, humanism, Spiritism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Scientology, Mormonism and hundreds of others.

Each station on this path is to help the climber to get to the top or the end of the path.  They call the top names like: acquired knowledge, the celestial city, the Pagoda, Nirvana and clear.

This path leads most to an understanding of life as a circle.  When they die on this path, they are told they will start over again and come back to the path and stop at another station.

They have a name for this circle of life; it is called reincarnation.  Reincarnation becomes the hope of many.  It works like an anesthesia to assist those on this path, because those on this path do not believe in personal responsibility for the life they have."

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVII- All Paths Do Not Lead To God by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

God Thinking XVI - Making Wise Decisions 11

"If you want the very best that God has for you, you will have to be just like Him.  You will have to give Him your very best.

The Holy Spirit of God invites you to allow Him to work in you and through you, and because you were made in the image and likeness of Him, you will have to invite Him to work in you and through you.

“If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” Luke 11:13

No one comes to God without invitation and God comes to no one without invitation.  It’s how God made you. 

Don't buy into modern rhetoric that sends a message that whatever your vision of God is, is correct.  Everyone can just have God their way, like a smorgasbord.  If your vision of God is not from a personal relationship with God, through Jesus, you are believing in a man made god; one that has no efficacy at all.

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVI - Making Wise Decisions by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

 

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"You who have been born again are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  

God, the Holy Spirit resides in your temple. 

The Holy Spirit did not barge in as an unwanted guest.

The Holy Spirit indwells you by invitation or not at all.

The Holy Spirit must be invited in.

When the Holy Spirit is invited in, He comes to make His abode with you.  When God created mankind, He created you a living soul;

 

He made: Now watch this closely:

The Word says, “...no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6b There was an invitation from the Father to you and I or you and I could not have come to Jesus.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16 Again there was an invitation to every man, woman and child to come to Jesus.
 

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28  Again, by invitation Jesus calls us unto Himself.
 

Let this sink deep down into your soul.
 

If you have a relationship with God, it was by invitation - And because you were made in the image and likeness of God, if God is to have a relationship with you, it will have to be by invitation."

Excerpt from God Thinking XVI - Making Wise Decisions by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"God Thinking is for those who want a better life than one of hit and miss.  For those who want:

• God’s wisdom
• God’s knowledge
• God’s understanding
• God’s faith
• God’s experience
• God’s mind

At the center of your being is a thought of God.  This thought is a compilation of your view of God.  

 

You were created from the essence of God. 

From the essence of God, you were created. 
 

Psalm 139:17-18, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them. “V18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”

 

When you are awake, God is thinking of you.

When you are asleep, God is thinking of you.
 

God thinking is about understanding what God is thinking of you.

Even when you are asleep, God is keeping your dreams, your hopes, your desires, your purpose, your calling alive.  You cannot do it alone.  You never could.  Those who think they can accomplish anything without Christ at the center of their being have been blinded by the enemy.

Jesus said, ...”for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5"

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XVI - Making Wise Decisions by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013