GodTthinking XIX - Growing In Grace 8

"How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

6     You pray.

 

Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” 

Prayer and supplication is how you really get things done.

There are times when prayer is the only way you can accomplish the task at hand.  Prayer is where you talk to God and where you hear from God. 

You pray because you recognize that there are some things that are beyond you.

Some things must be accomplished by prayer.

• Prayer is cool.
• Prayer is where you are empowered.
• Prayer is where you are changed.
• Prayer is where you are renewed.
• Prayer is where you meet God.

When you are growing in grace, you are growing in your prayer life.  You used to spend two minutes praying, now you spend five minutes praying and next month you might spend ten minutes praying.  Mother Theresa prayed five hours a day.  John Knox prayed five hours a day.  Praying is such a joy.  Your heavenly Father is pleased when you pray in faith, believing. 

How can you tell if you are growing in grace?   You pray. 

Excerpt from God Thinking XIX Growing In Grace by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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" How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

5     You love the things of God.

 

Collosians 3:1 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”

God does not water down His truth so that people will buy it.  God is not going to let each one of us devise our own way to seek Him, find Him and know Him.

God says, if ye are risen with Christ then you are to seek those things which are above. 

So often people want to know:

How do I know if I am saved?

How do I know if I am filled with the Spirit?

How do I know if I am in the will of God?

Are you seeking the things that are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God?

That’s how you know if you are growing in Christ.

Does it please you to make changes in your TV viewing, so that you can take charge of purifying what enters into your mind?

Does it thrill you to help others?

Do you enjoy giving? 

These are the things of God. 

Cultural and traditional Christianity are being replaced by Christlikeness, because God’s people are starting to believe God’s Word.  They are starting to trust that God knows best.

How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

You love the things of God.

Excerpt from God Thinking XIX Growing In Grace by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

4     You increase in knowledge and understanding of the things of God.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; V2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. V3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; V4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 

It is time to get understanding.

It is time to seek the wisdom of God.

It is time to be more than a couch potato.

If you are here, you are here to be challenged to reach up higher and to find your place in God’s economy, because that’s what this ministry is all about. 

• You do not mince words.
• You preach Christ crucified.
• You do not preach works. - You preach stewardship .
• You do not preach the law. - You preach grace.
• You preach the virgin birth of the very Son of God.
• You preach that God is alive and well, in charge, in authority, the very Sovereign of the universe.
• You preach the Godhead; Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
• You preach that there is one name above all names by which we must be saved, the name of Jesus.

No one comes to this place in your life because they think they are going to have their ears tickled. 

They know that God might meet them while they are singing or while the Word is being preached or during the fellowship and they will increase in understanding and knowledge.

How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

You increase in knowledge and understanding of the things of God.

Excerpt from God Thinking XIX Growing In Grace by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

3     You become usable for service in the body of Christ to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? V20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

You become usable for service, because God is in you, (the Holy Spirit) leads you to glorify God.  The thought that God can be in you and you have no desire to be of any use to God is foolishness and far from the truth.

When you are growing in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, you become usable for service in the body of Christ to the glory of God. 

You see how important it is to build up and support your local church, to help make ministries successful, to help do the work God called you to.  The body of Christ is doing a great work in a wicked world.  You should do everything possible to support your church and offer yourself for service. 

How can you know if you are growing in grace? 
You become usable for service in the body of Christ to the glory of God.

Excerpt from God Thinking XIX Growing In Grace by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

2     Your fellowship with believers is not broken.

Hebrews 10:25-26, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: V26 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

It is rebellion against God to go off onto an island unto yourself.  The body of Christ is fitly joined together, not loosely attached.  Jesus draws you to union and accountability, not separation and irresponsibility.  It is always a sure sign of rebellion when you think you know better than God what is good for you.  

You seek times to worship together. 

You seek fellowship with others.
You seek to unite in purpose with others.

How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

Your fellowship with believers is not broken.

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XIX Growing In Grace by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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"I want to speak to those who are diligently seeking Him or those who are considering a deeper and more meaningful relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  For your soul and mine is seeking to grow in grace and in the  knowledge of Christ.

We are going to discuss the 7 perfect ways of how you can tell if you are growing in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

How can you tell if we are growing in grace?

1     You continue to be in the Word of God and you love the Word of God.

John 8:31-32 “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My Word, then are ye my disciples indeed; V32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

• You continue to be in the Word of God.  If days, weeks, months or years go by and you are not in the Word, you are not growing in grace.  And as God reveals more and more of Himself to those around us who are in the Word, those who are not get further and further away, because the two are headed in different directions.
• You continue in the Word because you love the Word. 
• If God  has saved you, you love the Word of God. 
• You enjoy hearing it, reading it and speaking it. 
• The Word intrigues you, enlightens you and empowers you. 
• The Word of God comes alive, because the Holy Spirit makes it alive in your life.

There are plenty of people that say that they are born again but have no interest in reading the Word of God. 

• They are the same people that say that they cannot understand the Word of God. 
• They are the same people who don’t live by the Word of God. 
• They are the same people who don’t believe the Word of God.
• They are the same people that are experts about how God works.
• They are in rebellion against God.  

How can you tell if you are growing in grace?

You continue to be in the Word of God and you love the Word of God.

Excerpt from God Thinking XIX - Growing In Grace by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013

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• "Grace is the unmerited favor that God gives to each and every person that comes to Him when He calls. 
• Grace is when we answer the call of God to be born again and God accepts us into His fold as a child of God in our current condition.
• Grace is the continuing gift from God that does not stop working on our behalf when we stop working on God’s behalf.
• Grace cannot be earned or achieved. 
• Grace is the simplest and yet the most profound and powerful truth ever created

If you want to speak to others about the most important subject to heart of God, talk about grace.  Grace is the one truth that all other truths hinge upon.  All theology - all philosophy - all religion, if not founded on grace is just a mental assent to an undetermined destination.

What does it mean to grow in grace?

It is vital to our faith that we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord. 

To grow as used here in the scriptures comes from the Greek word auxano, (aux-an-o) which means to enlarge or increase.  To grow in grace is to enlarge and increase in grace. 

Grace is the result of a finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and grace is also a continuing work in our lives.

It is this continuing work of the Lord in our lives that I want to talk about. 

If we are of the persuasion that we already possess all the promises of God, that we have already received all that God has to give, that we are already a finished product and that there is no more room to grow in grace, we will not benefit from this message.

But if on the other hand we recognize that as we grow in grace the many promises of God come alive according to God’s pleasure, that we are receiving from God everyday, that we are not a finished work but a work in progress and that there is room to grow and mature in the grace of Jesus Christ, we will benefit greatly from this message.

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XIX - Growing in Grace by Keith C. Powell copyright 2013

 

God thinking XIX - Growing In Grace 1

"God thinking is about Growing in grace.  We are going to get right down to business and take a look at what scripture has to say about growing in grace.

 

Peter had been with the Lord for about three years.  After that, Peter goes about teaching and healing and preaching.  He wrote two books of the new testament. 

 

Having spent three years with Jesus and now another 33 years since Jesus ascended into heaven, he has become quite the expert in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

I think Peter has become quite familiar with the life of the Christian.  After all, he was the one who denied that he even knew Jesus and he was also one of those who went to the mount of transfiguration.  At this point in his life, Peter is defending the faith with his very life.  From denying the Lord  to dying for the Lord, Peter speaks with authority.

 

Peter has something to say that we would do well to hear and believe.  Peter knows about growing in grace.  He sums up His experience with God in this way.

 

II Peter 3:17-18, “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.

V18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and forever.  Amen.”

‘Grow in grace’ is not some last minute thought that Peter had. 

• It is not some unknown principle to be considered if we feel like it. 
• It is not an afterthought that God allowed to be inserted into scripture, because He needed to fill up space. 
• It is the very truth from God, about what happens to people once they meet the Master.  To grow in grace is the path that God leads us on. 

Excerpt from God Thinking XIX - Growing in Grace by Keith C. Powell copyright 2013

Thinking XVIII - The Way You Think 19

"God thinking demands a high and lofty view of God.  Truly, the way you see God ultimately determines the results of your faith, for you receive God by faith.  To know God you must receive God by faith.  You receive who God is by His Spirit.  And it is by the indwelling Holy Spirit that you know God at all.  Apart from the Holy Spirit, you know not God, nor can you, because God can only be rightly known of Himself.

God has opened up His truth to you. 

·     You are the one who are called out in this generation to do God’s will. 

·     You are the one who are called to give testimony of His greatness. 

·     You are the one who reveal Christ to this generation. 

·     You are the one given the challenge to evangelize the world with the good news of salvation by faith in Jesus.

·     You are the one that reveal the intimate relationship between God and man.

·     You have the truth about the Messiah.

What are you doing with all this knowledge that you are receiving from God?

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

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"God thinking is going to require you to take a close look at your habits.

 

First - You must determine what habits are assisting you to reach your goals, dreams and desires and make sure that you maintain them and pursue them with regularity.

 

Second - You must determine what habits are consuming your time, energy and resources and are keeping you from your goals, dreams and desires and eliminate them.

                                                          

God thinking keeps “on top” the things that God blesses.  God thinking believes God.
 

But God thinking takes you to a dimension that not only believes the impossible, which it does, but to be sound in your understanding also.  God thinking has expectations about God that only God can fill, and rightly so, but God thinking does not move with the trend or the wind.  It is dependent on sound truths, truths that can be understood through your experience, by faith.

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

                                                         

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"The way you think determines what is possible and what is impossible for you. 

All of God

is always available

     to all the people
          Who place their faith
               In God
 God is emanating or sending forth:

• His Word - His creative power - His healing power
• His protection - His Mind - His thoughts
• His Spirit - Always - 24 hours a day

God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, grace and truth are going forth from God, Always.  God thinking allows what is going forth from God to be received and utilized by you.  You receive what is going forth from God according to your faith to receive it.

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

                                                      

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"God thinking believes what God says.  God thinking removes the barriers that unbelief has built, so that you can receive what your faith can perceive.  

When unbelief is removed, faith can do what was impossible to get done by unbelief.  God thinking will change your life for the good, because the unbelief and the doubt and the past, all find themselves being replaced with belief and faith and newness. 

The strongholds that the enemy might have in your life right now can be overcome and replaced with treasure from above, simply by changing the way you think.  Those strongholds that the enemy once had can be turned around and made into something good, because we start using your mind and your body in the pursuit of excellence with God instead of the pursuit of the empty promises of this world.

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

 

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" If you haven’t found out already, you will find out in due time, what you need to know.  You need to seek God early in your thinking process - early in your business, in your friendships, early in your plans, early in your everything.  Psalm 63:1 “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”

                                                 

If you haven't learned already you will learn to get God’s endorsement on your mission before you take off.  You must be careful not to wait until you are half way through the process or toward the end when you check for God’s approval.  No, you must get God’s blessing early in everything you do.

                                                       

God thinking demands that you believe what God says, despite the current circumstances.

Set your affections on the things above, things that God can bless and multiply, ordain and sanctify.  The things of this world grow strangely dim as you begin to visualize what you are seeking, in Christ.  Colossians 3:1-2  “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  2.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

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

 

 

                                                          

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"There are three principles that must be applied if you are to reach your goals, desires or dreams under the banner of God’s blessing:

First and foremost - You must choose a goal that can be sanctioned by God.

Second - Purposefully setting out to fully understand your role and God’s role in getting to your desired end.  In other words, acknowledging what you are able to do toward creating your goal and acknowledging what is impossible for you to do, that will require the hand of God.

Third - Talking and listening to God while on the journey.

You cannot master all things or have all things, do or be all things.  God thinking evaluates what is important and what is just consuming you and carefully determines what is useful and beneficial to your whole being and diligently seeks to possess it. 

God thinking also carefully determines what is consuming your time, energy and resources that is not useful to your whole being and diligently seeks to remove it.

 

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

 

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"The world system wants you to believe that your net worth is based on what tangible things you have accumulated, because then it can use what you don’t have as a lure to increase its own agenda.  The truth is, you are already rich.  The world says you have not achieved success unless you agree with its precepts.  The truth is, whatever you have, with God, is worth more than the whole world and everything in it, without God."  

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

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"God thinking puts the things of God, the power of God, the authority of God, the Spirit of God, the Word of God, God Himself “On top” in your mind.  “On top” refers to: taking the most prevailing thoughts that you have and making them thoughts of the things of God and putting them “on top” in your mind.  It also means redistributing the lesser thoughts and pushing them down and then out until they have no place at all.  The things of God need to be “on top” if you are to be available to do the will of God in your life.

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

 

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"If you are like me, you want to get on with the part of God thinking that helps us find success and fulfill your goals, answer your prayers and bring your dreams into fruition.  

You start by redefining the way you think. God is not just teaching you, He is imparting to you more of Himself.  You are apprehending the mind of God as God reveals Himself to you.

You are becoming wiser.  Your life is becoming more manageable, and you are becoming more like Christ.  God thinking will train your mind to see beyond your current circumstance and teach you how to place yourself in the right place at the right time." 

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