God Thinking LIX - The Number Of Man

"The last time we looked at the timeline of human life, we took a look at history, starting at the very beginning of creation and looking all the way forward to the end of the church age.

We are going to re-discover the truths about our history, but this time we are going to spend the majority of our study on this very era we are in, which is, the end of the church age.

This millennium, unlike all others, the sixth millennium, is the millennium of man, six being the number of man. 

In order for us to have prophetic insight into what God wants us doing at this time in history, we need to understand the significance of where we are in time.

Everything God has performed, He has spoken into existence, either by the Logos, (the written Word) or by His Rhema, (the spoken Word). 

Another way to look at it is, that everything God does, He tells forth.  Like in the book of Genesis, “God said”.

And God tells His people what is going to happen throughout the scriptures, almost always, in advance of doing it. 

Think about it:

• The forbidden fruit
• The way of Cain
• The flood                 
• The child of Abraham
• The outcome of wars 
• The birth of Jesus

And hundreds of other prophesies, all of which came true or is going to come true in our future.

 

There was a foreknowledge of the beginning by God, then God spoke the Word and there was the beginning.  Just the same, there is a foreknowledge of the end by God, then God will speak the Word and it will end."

God Thinking LIX - The Number Of Man by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/Ego 10

"Listen as I describe why it is so important to seek God as we have discussed in a new way, a deeper way, a way that reveals our true love, reverence, adoration and fear of God.

God is preparing a glorious mansion for you.

In that mansion, everything that God has prepared, (now catch this) on the other side, is already found in abundance on this side - and you miss it because of lack of faith, unbelief, adhering to watered-down religious denominational teaching, and self-imposed setbacks due to indiscretions.

Now, I want to talk about this kind of prayer where you go into God’s presence - not to get, but to get beyond your self/ego.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - God will show you how you have managed to grossly exaggerate the significance of the insignificant.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - Things that you once thought was paramount to your being fulfilled and happy, take on their true worth, inconsequential.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - You aren't after anything, but you get what is not available to the one-minute prayer warrior.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - You become speechless, vacant and need-less.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego

Your asking turns into awe

Your petitioning turns into reverence

Even your Praise becomes mute in the light of His presence.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - Your situations become opportunities.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - Your circumstances become an agreed place of testing.  You agree with God that going through your circumstances with His presence is better than being free from your circumstances outside of His presence.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - Your problems vanish like a vapor. God turns it all around and moments or hours later you don’t think the same as you did before.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - you come away ready to speak to your situation with boldness, knowing that while the Shekinah glory is glowing the words you speak have power and authority.

When you go to God to get beyond your self/ego - You walk away with faith made in the heavens, faith that walks above the circumstance or situation or problem - faith that puts things in God’s Light.  Faith that starts to trust God through it all. And faith that believes God for it all."

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

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"God thinking keeps you in balance, like the delicate balance between religious and righteous, prudish and holy.

The balance that comes through personal experience.

The balance that allows for God to have His way with you.

The balance that comes as you examine the attributes of God as He reveals them to you.

God thinking goes deep to build strong roots and yet allows you to be real and imperfect, without condemnation.

God thinking teaches you that on the canvas of life there are many layers.  Sometimes the picture doesn’t look at all like what you thought it would be, but God steps in and brushes a few strokes and changes it all.

God steps in and verifies you

and encourages you

and empowers you

and enlightens you

and satisfies you

All that God does, He does to bless you while you are her (earth) and prepare you for eternity.

When you pray - among all the other prayers you pray - I want you to consider to add to your prayers - prayer for preparation for eternity."

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

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"At times many of us, maybe all of us have taken a quantum leap from where we were spiritually to a new level of awareness of God’s Holy presence.

We grew (in the amount of power we are able to activate at any given moment,)

Maybe you had a miracle week, when God showed you favor and lifted you up and delivered you.

Maybe God built you up and gave you a confidence  to overcome things in your life, that you had not felt for years, or ever.

Maybe God revealed His directive for your life, either for the day or the week or the future.

Maybe Jesus revealed Himself sitting on His throne, looking at you with a smile and favor.

God is pleased that you gather together to praise Him and worship Him - to adore Him - to talk about Him and to talk to Him.

If you are not having these kind of experiences with God, maybe you need to take another look at why you are where you are and how you have come to have so little faith over such a long period of time.  

God Thinking works.  

You can grow rapidly in the faith.

You can sense God’s presence.

You can believe that life is not futile, but beautiful.

You can know your purpose, at any age. 

You can taste of the Holiness of God.

God is so ready to make something great happen through you.  This is a prophetic word for you.  Are you ready to believe God to do through you what you never could imagine?

Hear Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians.

 16.  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

 17.  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

 18.  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

 19.  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

 20.  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” Ephesians 3:16-20

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/Ego 7

"It is in God’s intervention into the events of life that you come to recognize how fragile you are and how utterly dependent you are on your heavenly Father.

Who wants to be sick?

Who has never been sick?

Does God allow sickness in His saints?

God does not bring sickness.  Sickness is from the fall, but God does allow sickness and through it, whatever it is, God is just as there and just as concerned and just as Holy and just as righteous and just as powerful and just as actively involved as when you are well.

God does allow sickness, but in that sickness God is there equipping you and strengthening you in your weakness, revealing an attribute of God, not easily recognized when all is well.

It’s time lost if you don’t see God in it.  But if you do see God in it...............

You don’t choose the fire.

You don’t choose to be sick.

You don’t choose trouble - But when they come, you must see God in it, so that you won’t have to go through it alone."

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

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"Faith goes deep. The more you trust in God, the more you understand God’s role in your life and your role in God’s plan. 

The more you trust in God - the better prepared you are for whatever comes your way and what comes your way is better.

Don’t fall for the rhetoric that says, “Christians don’t have financial problems; Christians don’t have problems that arise unexpectedly. Christians don’t get sick.

It is because these things happen to the faithful that it is so important for you to be in contact with God, (through prayer) and to be in agreement with God as to how to deal with (whatever comes up).

The reason why so many things seem like the aren’t going right is because false teaching, i. e., (that Christians who are serving God faithfully are free from the results of the (fall of man) has become easy for pastors and priests to sell.  It is not true.

At the same time, many of you have brought on to yourself much despair.  Many problems are self-inflicted and there are consequences to bad choices that follow us for a time.

Some of us are still actively cultivating an experience that will turn out to cause unnecessary trouble and heartache.

For those things that we bring on to ourselves, the only cure is to put an end to the vicious cycle by confessing the problem/sin/indiscretion and repenting of it, (turning your back on the problem, instead of turning your back on the people that are trying to help you out of your problem.)

But, many problems and troubles come your way, unsolicited and not due to any action or inaction on your part.  The fact that each and every person has free will, puts us all at risk for unexpected events in our life.

And because of the fall of man, sickness and rust and deterioration and death of the flesh will find its way into every household, saved or unsaved, sanctified or spirit filled.

It’s not in escaping the negative things that come your way, but in the managing of those things in agreement with and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that proves your faith."

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

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Note: WARNING! What you are about to read might go against the very fiber of your faith, the root of what you have come to accept about how God deals with His people, the heart of your religious experience. 

"God has allowed you and is going to continue to allow you to go through some things - things that you are not comfortable with.

Some of you are going to go through financial hardship

Some of you are going to go through sickness

Some of you are going to lose loved ones.

9.  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Even though God did not bring about the loss, the mistakes, the tragedy, the trouble, the problem or the sickness - rather than take you out of it (and God could) God, quite often decides to take you through it. 

When you get this truth about how God operates in you and through you settled in your spirit, you will look at those things that you go through, differently.

• Could it be that God utilizes this season of lack, or the loss of a loved one or the sickness you are going through to reveal more of Himself, to you?  
• Could it be that God allows these seasons to bring you to a place where you start to look to God and trust in God for your substance, life, your everything? 
• Could it be that God allows the death of His saints to show us the frailty of life and the short time we have to fulfill His will in our life?
• Could it be that through sickness God reveals an attribute of Himself that increases your faith?

Most of us have found out that God uses times like these to reveal another attribute of Himself to us, that we had not carefully considered prior to that experience.

It is not true, that if you have enough faith, you will never have problems, challenges, sickness, even death.  Faith is to carry you through, not keep you out of..."

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/Ego 5

"Don’t let the enemy steal your faith.  The scriptures say in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

What would you have me to do that I might have more of your presence? 

Because now I know that I can do it.

                                 

Where would you have me go, that Your will, will be fulfilled?

These are the kinds of prayers that God has placed in the hearts of men and women that are truly seeking God.  Don’t get nervous, it is likely that you are already headed in the right direction to fulfill God’s plan for your life.

But you must ask God the question and wait in His presence for the answer. 

Where would you have me go, that Your will, will be fulfilled?

Lord, are there souls at risk, that I could minister to, if I were to give up one night a week?

When Christians go to their prayer closet and ask God how they can expand their time in order to more perfectly provide for the saints of God and to bring more people to the foot of the cross - all of us will have more. 

One of the reasons for all the lack in the body of Christ is because they are not listening to God as to what they are to be involved in.  They pick and choose their ministry according to their existing schedule, when their existing schedule might be in direct opposition to the will of God for their life.

Lord, are there souls at risk, that I could minister to, if I were to give up one night a week?

Lord, do I need to go through something, that I might see you more clearly? 

Note: What you say, are you nuts?  Who would ask God to allow them to go through something unpleasant, on purpose, with the intent of being challenged, maybe changed, maybe ruined (in a way)?  Who would do that? 

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

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"You have got to learn to love God and reverence Him through it all, and until you get this one truth, you will be powerless and victory-less when things aren't just right, and there are many times when things aren't just right.

Note:  If your heart is rebelling against this kind of simple, straight forward teaching you probably have already decided to do things your own way.  If on the other-hand you sense in your spirit the truth behind this notion and you sense that you might very well be trying to do 'your religion' whether you are in alignment with the provisions of God or not; Well sometimes it is best to just cave and let God have His way in you and through you.  It certainly will bring real and measurable results that can only be found in true submission or yielding fully to God. I know it sounds silly doesn't it? Why make changes that negatively affect your already programmed lifestyle when you can do it your way and manage God through it all.

If in the seasons of bliss only you find solace and comfort in God, you have not yet found God.

"LORD, what would you have me experience, that I might see you more clearly?"

I want you to consider this prayer also.

"LORD, What would you have me to do that I might have more of your presence?" 

Religion without the very presence of Almighty God is vain and empty and powerless.  Anybody can revel when they’re on top of the world, but when laden with a heavy burden, only a man or woman with faith can overcome and transform their darkness into light.

If you ask, "What would you have me to do that I might have more of your presence?" - be prepared, because God is God and you are under His authority and if you are sincere, God will have you do, what is not getting done.  God will have you do what the body of Christ is short in.  God will place a hat on your head that you may have never worn.  

Be prepared to do the miraculous if you indeed mean business."

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/Ego 3

"Prayer with God was never meant to be something that you do in passing or out of duty, but worse yet is to treat prayer like a smorgasbord, and God is the server and you go to Him begging for this or that and even worse yet, demanding that God do this or that.

You can demand demons, but not God.

I am going to talk about a place that might be a bit unfamiliar

territory for some.  Please bear with me.

We are always praying for God to do this or do that or get us out of this or get us out of that. 

We pray for God to meet our needs.

We even plead with God on behalf of others for this or that.

We certainly pray when things go wrong or when we are in trouble or when we need something.

And I am not saying not to continue praying for what you need and for what you think others need.

But I am saying, in addition to the kinds of prayer that I have mentioned, that you should also pray like this: LORD, what would you have me experience, that I might see you more clearly?

We’re always praying for God to get us out of this or that, when we should be praying for God to take us through this or that, because it is in the (this and that’s) of life that God shows Himself to you and works through you.  It is in your weakness that God is often revealed.

1.  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.

 3.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

 4.  And patience, experience; and experience, hope: Romans 5:1-4

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/Ego 2

You go to God in prayer.  You ask forgiveness for your sins and indiscretions - you confess your sins - you repent of your sins - then:

You seek Him for your needs.

Now that you have settled in and had your needs met;

You pray for others.

Then,

You thank God for Who He is.

You praise Him for His magnificence.

Now where most of us stop praying, because, after all we have been praying for five minutes -

Where most people stop praying and start doing their housework or pick up the kids or make dinner or go back to work or go to bed.

For all the Martha’s out there and all the workaholics -

For all of those who forget what they prayed for before they even finish praying.

I want to talk to you about a place where your dialogue with God is:

Unencumbered by any remembrance of your sin.

Unencumbered by who you once were.

Unencumbered by where you’ve been or what you have done. 

See, to commune with God you have to get past that place where prayer is all about you.

A place where God speaks and you listen.

A place where dinner or your favorite TV show does not decide when you break off your communication with the Holy One."

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/Ego 1

"In prayer you have got to get beyond your self:

Beyond your needs

Until you do, we will not hear from God.

You will not get the answers to your questions.

You will not understand your purpose for being.

You will not understand God’s blueprint for your life.

You will not receive the plan and you will not receive the provision for fulfillment of that plan, until you get beyond your self.

I’m not saying that you should not ask God for things or to not ask God for your needs to be met.  The scriptures are clear - you are encouraged to ask for your needs to be met and for your desires to be fulfilled, but, hear what the writer of Psalm 42 says.

Psalms 42:1-2

1.  As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

 2.  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:

And the Apostle Paul says: 

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

9.  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

 10.  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

In prayer you have got to get beyond your self: And when you do, you come to the place where you commune with God.

Note: Sometimes a simple message like this doesn't get your full attention. It seems like a quip or quick answer to a bigger situation.  But from experience I will say that the biggest and most Godly things that most Christians miss are the simple and profound truths, unadulterated by denominational bent or religious bias. 

Excerpt from God Thinking LXVIII - Getting Beyond Your Self/ego by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014

God Thinking LVII - The In-between times 16

"ABUNDANT LIFE

E - End every day thanking God.

I don’t care what kind of prayer you pray - Now I lay me down to sleep or any version of prayer that you choose - but don’t let the sun go down without thanking God.

You think you have problems.  Thank God that you have yours and not someone else’s.  There’s not one thing your going through that God cannot take care of and as God is working it out for you, thank Him.

Thank Him for what you have and what you don’t have.

The bible says, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;  

 19.  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

 20.  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;    Ephesians 5:18-20

End your day giving God thanks.  We are so arrogant thinking that we know better than God what is good for us. 

The Bible says to give “God thanks for all things”

When is the last time you did that?

A - Ask.  Ask God to meet your needs and help you through it all.

B - Believe.  Believe what God says. 

U - Unlearn.  Unlearn everything that is keeping you from

God’s very best for your life.

N - Nigh or near.  Draw nigh to God.

D - Die to self.

A - “According to your faith be it unto you.”   

N - Never give up.

T - Turn things around.  Don’t wait until tomorrow.

L - Live for Jesus.

I - Intercede for others.

F - Faith is the key

E - End every day thanking God.

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII The In-between Times by Keith C.                                             Powell Copyright 2014

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"ABUNDANT LIFE

F - Faith is the key.  Jesus looks over the waters and simply says, “Peace be still” (Mark 4:39), and the seas is calmed.  He can speak to your situation too.  Jesus continued talking to the disciples as they were crossing the Sea of Galilee, now in perfect calm; “Why are ye so fearful?  How is it that ye have no faith?” Mark 4:40

This isn’t the first miracle that they have seen.  Over and over again, they witnessed God’s supernatural intervention in their lives and the lives of others, but their faith had not grown.

According to your faith.  “According to your faith be it unto you.”  Matthew 9:29

Please don’t forget the words of Jesus that can take you from anywhere you are and transform you:

From sick to well

From lost to found

From mean to kind

From spiteful to generous

From empty to full

From faithless to faithful

From powerless to powerful

From disheartened to encouraged

From stressed out to calm

From worried to assured

From doubt to conviction

According to your faith. 

All things are possible for you if you will build your faith.

There’s just no way I can tell you how important it is that you practice your faith. You do realize that to practice faith you have to believe for the impossible.  For if you do not believe for the impossible, you have not believed for anything that any man could do.         

Isn’t it the same with us?  Haven’t you seen enough proof that you can start putting your trust and your faith in God.  Faith is to be exercised.  The Bible says that, “...without faith it is impossible to please God...”  Hebrews 11:6

Why go through life mixed up and powerless, when faith can move mountains, convert men, subdue kingdoms.  Your problems are subject to your faith.  Why would you want to try and handle them any other way."

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII The In-between Times by Keith C.                                             Powell Copyright 2014

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"ABUNDANT LIFE

I - Intercede for others.

The fastest way to grow in Christ is to get on your knees and

plead the case of another.  If you really want to see God move on your behalf, just start praying and interceding for someone else. 

Note: And by the way you can also intercede on behalf of others without their knowing.  You can do a plethora of kindnesses without personal aggrandizement.  You can be feet on the ground where needed to bring about something that someone else needs.  

Jesus said at the sermon on the mount, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;                   Matthew 5:44

I know this isn’t a popular concept.  Jesus didn’t get many takers, but those who listened to what He had to say and do it, are blessed.

James says, “pray one for another”.  If not for the prayers of others for you and me, there would be no hope of success in our lives.  The fastest way to victory in your life is to pray for victory in someone else’s life."

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII The In-between Times by Keith C.                                             Powell Copyright 2014

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"ABUNDANT LIFE

L - Live for Jesus.  “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being;...”  Acts 17:28

To live for Jesus has significance.  Despite your financial status, despite your background, despite your political affiliation, everyone is called to live for Jesus.  Rich or poor or even poorer yet, you can live for Jesus.  When you live for Jesus, the focus of your circumstances and situations take on a new light, because Jesus has a plan for every body. 

No one is left out.  You don’t live for Jesus by following a certain set of prescribed rules.  You live for Jesus moment by moment, by faith. 

You lift it up to Him.

You hand it over. 

You seek His will. 

You believe He can. 

You know He can.

You’ve tried living for yourself.  I can say with certainty, that all of us have lived for ourselves entirely long enough.  It’s  time to let go and let God.  Live for Jesus and the abundant life will become the norm."

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII The In-between Times by Keith C.                                             Powell Copyright 2014

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"ABUNDANT LIFE

T - Turn things around. “For with God nothing is impossible.”

Luke 1:37

So many people are on a pity party when they really don’t have it that bad.  Besides that fact that most of your problems are self-imposed, most of what you call problems are due to your high standard of living. 

I know you’ve got problems and challenges.  Turn them around.  Turn them into something you can Master.  And the ones you can’t, give them to somebody who can, but don’t spend another day wallowing in self-pity about your situation. 

Call on God to come and take away the pain, or to take away the desire, or to take away the urge.  Whatever it is, it isn’t something that God is going to have trouble with.  Even the wind and the waves obey Jesus. 
Get on with it, Turn things around." 

 Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII The In-between Times by Keith C.                                             Powell Copyright 2014

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"ABUNDANT LIFE

N - Never give up.  Remember the woman at the well? “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: V14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”  John 4:13-14

Every time you get right there at the precipice of decision, and you want to make the right choice, hold firm with what you know is right.  Never give up.  Jesus doesn’t give us a “well of water springing up”, to give up.

Never give up just because it seems tough.  It is a ploy of the enemy to make you think that easy is better.

Never give up just because it seems like the grass is greener on the other side.  You don’t know what’s on the other side, but you do know what’s on this side.  Make it work.  Be a little more flexible.  Don’t be so sure that what you are dealing with isn’t exactly what you need right now.  It may be the better of two sides and you just can’t tell it.

When the pressure is on, and there’s not enough money to go around, and it looks like the sky is falling and you just can’t do without another (whatever) - Never give up.  Hold tough and God will honor your commitment, not once, but every time.

Quote the scripture and bring to pass the real truth in real time.  “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.  Phillipians 4:13

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII The In-between Times by Keith C.                                             Powell Copyright 2014