God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back 8

"What does Your worship affect? 

Everything. 

Everything about who you are.

Everything about why you are here.

Everything about why you have past through so much.

Everything about where you are going.

• Your worship affects your perspective.
• Your worship affects your mind-set
• Your worship affects your opportunity.
• Your worship affects your disposition.
• Your worship affects your character.
• Your worship affects your temperament.
• Your worship affects your relationship with your God - your spouse - your children - your parents - your relatives your friends.
• Your worship affects your ability to love - your hope - your joy - your peace.
• Your worship affects your health - your emotional stability - your bodies ability to heal - your mental health - your jobs - your direction - your everything.

There is nothing that completes a man or a woman more than praise and worship, with understanding.

Nothing compares to a moment in the presence of God where God receives Your sacrifice of praise and increases Your faith. 

The Word of God says in Hebrews 13:15, "By him, (i.e. Christ), therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of Your lips giving thanks to his name."

God uses Your sacrifice of praise and worship to increase your faith so that your new increased faith will positively affect:

• Your understanding
• Your knowledge
• Your wisdom
• Your authority
• Your inspiration
• Your enlightenment
• Your ability to ascertain opportunity
• Your ability to rightly discern         
• Your ability to positively affect those around you

In God’s self disclosure to man, God did not reveal every attribute and every truth in an instant.  God designed you to receive from Him a portion of truth precept upon precept, truth upon truth, faith upon faith, glory upon glory.
   Excerpt from God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

 

 

God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back 7

"Of the many things that your worship affects - the one thing that your worship affects more than anything is:  Being in a right relationship with God.

 

Nothing can bring you into a right relationship with God more than effectual praise and worship.  

 

Everything to do with growing in Christ starts with recognition of God’s holy and unequaled attributes.  You start by giving God a little praise and you worship Him a little, and God does mighty wonders on your behalf. 

Then you loosen up a little and start to praise Him when things aren’t going as well as you would like and you worship Him at times that aren’t convenient and God reveals more of Himself to you.

You open up a little more and praise Him when things go distinctly awry and you worship Him when you are angry at God or disappointed with God’s Sovereign hand - and God hesitates not to pour out His Spirit on you.
 

We begin to praise Him in the morning, before you even get fully awake, or you worship Him at noonday or at lunch - God reveals more of Himself and more and more and as God reveals His Holiness you begin to see how intricately involved God is in the everyday affairs of your life. 
 

You begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together and you start to understand more of the reasons why - and at the same time the importance of having every answer fades in the presence of God.  God becomes the reason why.  God becomes the answer. 

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back 6

"The Word says in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

When that is all it takes to be in a right relationship with God, why let another minute go by without receiving from God His perfect provision - GRACE.
 

When someone is in rebellion and if you really care about seeing them come back to God:

You must be careful not to crush them with the "I’m holier than thou spiel"

You mustn’t give them some long dissertation about how bad they are 

You shouldn’t  condemn them and speak words that you will forever regret, or worse, words that are ungodly.

How about - You just tell them of God’s grace 

And for yourself:

The next time you are in rebellion or you’ve decided to take a short cut around God’s perfect will for your life:

Don’t give up and throw in the towel

Don’t beat up on yourself and wallow in the mire of self pity for the terrible things you’ve done.

Don’t condemn yourself to a lifetime of losing the battle.

Remember God’s Grace. 

Come to God knowing that His forgiveness is bigger than your sin and your praise and worship will blossom like a Zinnia.

Come to God knowing that there’s only one way to get things right with God and that’s for God to get things right for you.

 

God’s provision for your waywardness is Grace.

There’s only one way to have peace with God and to be able to worship Him in spirit and truth and it’s found in Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

 2.  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 

The truly spiritual man or woman will tell you - “If not for the grace of God.................”

Of the many things that affect your worship - the one thing that affects your worship more than anything is:  Being out of a right relationship with God.

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back 5

"Before We Go Our Way

The wise person is the one

who knows that they are weak

and knows that they may fall, and when they do

they know as well - The One who takes it all

If it were that we would have to pay

the price for all our sin

Then I could understand the man

who doesn’t let God in

But, when each of us should surely pay

the price for our disgrace

And God calls us back to worship Him

And partake of His grace.

Then we should find a way to praise and worship God today

Before the hour passes by and we go our way

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014



God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back 4

"I want to investigate what affects our worship and what our  worship affects.

Of the many things that affect our worship, the one that we are going to deal with today is:

1     Being out of a right relationship with God.

If you are out of fellowship with God, it is revealed in your worship.

1 Samuel 15:24-25, "And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

 25.  Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord."

Let’s face it:

• When you are in rebellion
• When you know in your heart that the way you live is not pleasing to God
• When you are in the middle of the vicious cycle of trying to be in the world, of the world and not of the world at the same time, you do not want to worship God.
• When you are at odds with God because you want something that you believe God has withheld from you, you do not want to worship God.
• When you desire something that you know does not meet with God’s seal of approval you have a difficult time worshiping God. 
• Anything that is part of your everyday existence that you know lends a hand to the enemy, puts you in a state of mind where you do not want to worship God.

Your worship is affected by your relationship with God, not your wife, not your pastor, not your father or mother, not your kids.  You must be careful to mind the things that God has endorsed so that your worship can be full and satisfying.

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back 3

"There are many things that affect our worship:  

ü   Our surroundings, everything we allow to enter into our mind, enter into our body, everything we allow to enter into our household.

ü   Everything we do / how we live our lives.

ü   What we allow to become part of who we are by the

places we visit, the friends we keep, the situations and circumstances we let ourselves get into. 

But most of all - the one thing that affects our worship more than anything is:

ü   Being out of a right relationship with God 

There are many things that our worship affects:

ü   Our ability to produce a healthy and wholesome surrounding for ourselves, our family, friends and acquaintances.

ü   Our ability to live positively and with purpose in a world that is not conducive to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

ü   Our ability to ascertain/discern situations i.e., find and be at the right place at the right time so that we become

what God ordained us to be.

ü   The outcome of something we are praying for and working towards.

But most of all - the one thing that our worship affects more than anything else, is:

ü   Being in a right relationship with God.

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back 2

"God knows if your worship accurately represents your whole being, because God knows and responds to who you are as a whole person. 

The way you talk to your spouse

The way you discipline your children

The way you treat those you work with

The way you operate at your workplace or work-station

The way you act in public

What you do behind closed doors

What you do that you try to cover up with either lies or deceit

The way you treat the temple of God, (your body)

The words you speak

Your level of integrity

Your interior thought life

How you respond under pressure

 

God knows if your worship accurately represents your whole being, i.e., or if it only represents the way you want to be perceived by others:

 

There are more people worried more about what someone else thinks about the way they worship than what God thinks, because if you cared about what God thinks about the way you worship, you wouldn’t care at all about what others think.

 

Why does God care about your worship anyway?

 

When you really catch the revelation of why God wants you to worship, you will desire to perfect your worship.

We are going to look at the things that affect your worship and then we are going to look at the things that your worship affects."

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVIII Turning Back by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

 

God Thinking XLVIII - Turning back 1

"God thinking teaches you to praise and worship God.  God wants you to praise Him and worship Him for two reasons - One to affect what comes into your mind and your heart and Two, to affect what comes out of your minds and your heart.   

This flow of what comes in to you and the flow that goes out from you is determined by your worship.
 

Your worship will only reach a level consistent with the rest of your way of living. 

Note: I know I have already lost many well meaning Christians when I discuss their level of worship with their level of personal commitment to God.  Many people today are taught that their is no connection, i. e., do what you want during the week and act religious on Sunday and all is worked out.  That's a pretty shallow view.  The true connection to God has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with relationship.  If you can't get past that it's not likely you are going to want to draw nearer to God every day. 
 

In other words, despite the feelings and emotion expressed at the moment of worship, the actual height or ascent of our worship is regulated by the degree of submission that you adhere to in the everyday actions of your life. 
 

Even though you might be more sensitive to the Holy spirit as you come together and praise and worship God corporately, your worship can only reflect who you are as a ‘whole person’.

You can turn on and off who you are at different times of the day, concerning your relationship with God, but the on and off time mixed together is who you really are. 
 

Please consider this point carefully:
 

God sees the end from the beginning. He also knows if you are going to be faithful in the future.  
 

God does not reveal all of His attributes to you, in you, through you until you are committed past the place where you turn back - And God knows when that is.

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVIII - Turning Back by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

God Thinking XLVII - Unlearning 8

"If the content fits the biblical description of what you should listen to found in Philippians 4:8 and elsewhere, then you should listen carefully.  

But just as important in taking heed what you hear is to identify what you are not going to listen to attentively and carefully, because just as important as what we give your undivided attention to, is what you cut off from giving your attention to.

Just as important as what you learn is what you do not let yourself learn. 

Just as important as what allow yourself to learn is what you consciously unlearn. 

“Take heed what ye hear” must be understood in the context of itself, “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you:” “In what measure ye mete”, really means; in what measure - equal to what time - or to what degree you give your attention - “it shall be measured to you”; it shall be given back to you in equal proportion.  
 

In this text it is important to see that God is clearly telling us that what we hear should be measured by first evaluating whether we should even hear it or not and then evaluate it to whatever degree of intensity or attention we are going to give it. 
 

If you decided to listen and you listen attentively and seek out the truth from the depths of your heart, you will receive the fullness of the message.  And the Word says in the later part of verse 24, “and unto you that hear shall more be given.”
 

I’ll tell you what.  If you hear what God has to say to you and eat it up, and enjoy it, and let it dress you up, or let it dress you down - if you hear it and measure out that you are going to receive every bit of it that is available:  God says, “and unto you that hear (shall more be given).”

The only way that you can grow (in God's will) is to receive what God has to say, and if you do, God promises to give you more.  When it comes to God, more is better.

God Thinking empowers you by putting you in a position to receive impartations from God.  These impartations are the direct result of the combination of:

ü   Revelation from the Word of God (derived from self-study and sitting under a ministry, i.e., anointed preaching)

with

ü   Inspired knowledge received while under the influence of the Holy Spirit (derived from preaching or self-study)

with

ü   God’s response to worship and praise that is pleasing to God) - God inhabits the praises of His people by .

with

ü   Faith spurts (with every leap of faith, we experience what it is like to be drawn closer to God that ever before.  With each faith to faith experience, God imparts more of Himself to us, because with each faith spurt we are better equipped for God to operate in us and through us.   

with - Lastly, these impartations are the direct result of:
           A receptive heart and mind.

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII - Unlearning by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

 

 

God Thinking XLVII - Unlearning 7

"In the foundation of your mind, for God thinking to be effective, so that you can receive the impartations from God that are rightfully yours, what is to be archived as God thoughts must pass the test of God:

It must be from the spoken Word of God or from the written Word of God and confirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

•  It is not enough that you heard it once and it sounded good.
• it is not enough that someone with authority said it.
• It is not enough that it is part of a denominational polity, tenet of faith or church resolution.
• It is not enough that brother so and so or sister so and so believes it.
• It is not enough that you heard it 25 years ago and you still believe it, but you have never had it substantiated by the Word of God.
• It is not enough that it’s on TBN.
• It’s not enough that the unsaved think it’s true.
• It’s not enough that you blindly believe anything concerning God and build a foundation on it. 

The worst kind of confusion comes from the philosophy that everything is relative; If you believe it, it’s true.  In other words they rely on experience as their sole confirmation - when God makes it clear He wants you to get your confirmation from Him.

 

Romans 16:25-26, “Now unto him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was

kept secret since the world began,V26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:” 

Mark 4:24-25, “And He said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
V25 For He that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”

There is more to this verse than can be ascertained in a lifetime, but the essence of it is simple and profound: 

“Take heed what ye hear” Take heed literally means cautiously consider.  Cautiously consider what you hear.  First of all for content; Cautiously consider what you are going to hear so that you can make a decision whether you are going to listen carefully or not. 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII - Unlearning by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

 

God Thinking XLVII - Unlearning 6

"Hear what Jesus says that transcends every other teaching that was or has ever been taught. 

Matthew 11:30

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

V29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am lowly  in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

V30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” 

Don’t think for one minute that this kind of teaching was acceptable or easily assimilated. 

The Jews were first under the task master of Egypt, then after they were freed from bondage of a foreign nation, they fell into bondage again under the heavy arm of the their own leaders, the Sanhedrin.   

It’s true, the Sanhedrin had taken the simple law of God and written 100 laws for every law that God had given them; expanding, dividing, diluting, confusing, elaborating, augmenting, partitioning, subdivide, confounding, distorting, twisting, perverting, misstating and misrepresenting the Word of God.  

In order for Christ to reach anyone during His ministry Jesus had to teach the people to unlearn before He could them to Learn anything.

And in order for you to reach anyone during your ministry you have to teach the people to unlearn before you can teach  them to Learn anything.

But it isn’t easy to disassemble a foundation, once a tower has been built on it, and not many people are interested in allowing that kind of restoration/rehabilitation, a kind of spiritual surgery.

It’s no small thing - the foundation of world religions, world theologies, world philosophies, Ideologies, belief systems and even social structures are often built upon erroneous and unsubstantiated information/truth/facts."

 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII - Unlearning by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

 

God Thinking XLVII - Unlearning 5

"God designed the perfect plan so that you could have confirmation and assurance in what you believe, i.e., what you already believe to be true and what you hear whether it is true.

God set in order life as we know it and God has set in order certain inalienable rights and certain immutable/unchangeable truths, and these rights and these truths are for His people.  

What you have been taught and believe and what you are taught and will come to believe must pass the test of God if you are to keep it as worthy of possession in your mind.

It must be verified from the spoken Word of God or from the written Word of God and confirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit - inside your inner man.

That’s what God thinking is all about, you “put on” those things that God ordains/proclaims - you literally put on the mind of Christ.   

But one element of God thinking that we have not dealt with extensively: is unlearning what we have learned that is not linking God thoughts with God thoughts.

Unlearning the thoughts that are erroneous is just as important in putting on the mind of Christ as learning new thoughts. 

Unlike learning, unlearning thoughts requires discipline and a lot of it."
 

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII - Unlearning by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014