Daily Devotional - God Thinking Preempt 8

"Thirdly, you are on a journey with God, not trying to find God but to find what God wants you to be - to be doing.

Fourthly, No one goes to be with God on the other side that is not already with God on this side. 

Our pastors and our teachers are most to blame for our ignorance of God's way for our life.

you can get closer, much closer to God simply by unlearning some things, without having to learn or do anything new.

If we were to unlearn enough, you could walk with God in the cool of the day.

Go with me on a tangent for just a moment.  Haven't you (since you were born again) always known that God is in you and that you have been separated, in some cases by no action of your own.  Praise God.

If you are born again - in your inner man is the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Your inner man is in constant communication with the Holy Spirit.

But even in those who are not born again - the inner man is encoded with the mark of the Maker on the inner man.  Even  the unsaved, senses God's divine intent for their life.

Before we speak of spiritual things, I want to speak to those who aren't sure about their salvation.  Without this step - without this quickening of the inner man by entrance of the living God in the person of the Holy Spirit, you cannot receive spiritual truths.

1 Corinthians 2:14

 14.  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

  

As you unlearn what has been keeping you back - what is not ordained by God - and make room for the things of God, you are practicing what is called "God Thinking"."

  Excerpt from God thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell copyright 2015

Daily Devotional - God Thinking Preempt 7

"The inner man is not easily moved.  The inner man is where the Holy Spirit of God resides in you.  Your inner man will not lie to you nor agree with you on anything that is destructive, selfish, damaging or divisive.

The inner man never goes along with folly, pretense, indiscretion, prejudice or sin. 

The inner man always holds fast to its divine intent.  You can trust the inner man.

If you want to grow and mature in mind and body, spirit and soul, you will have to learn new ways of life and unlearn some old ways.

Ouch!  For those of us who don't care much for change, our flesh is going to rebel at this kind of teaching.

'Let your conscience be your guide' is but a line in a fairy tale.  You can override your conscience.  But, 'let your inner man be your guide' and you will see profound and positive results in every area of your life.

There's one more issue I want to deal with before we press in and open our hearts and in-fill our mind and heart with  God's Word.

You have got to change the way you think.  It is not just what you think that can derail you, but the way you think.

Because of past teaching, many people have come to believe that they are on a journey to find God in this life, in hopes of getting to God on the other side, in that life.

These precepts are false.

First of all, God is not, nor has God been lost that He would need to be found. 

Secondly, there is no finding God or knowing God apart from God drawing you near to Him and calling you. Religion has created a species of arrogant folk that are only satisfied if they can acknowledge the existence of God, but respond to/with God with their own private selection of rules.

John 6:44

 44.  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

  

John 14:6

 6.  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

  Excerpt from God Thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

Daily Devotional - God Thinking Preempt 6

"You wonder why you keep getting into the same old circumstances:

the same old financial trouble

the same old sickness

the same old problems

the same old situations

These are vicious cycles and quite often it takes a calamity to get you out.  Sometimes you think the calamity is the problem, when it is the calamity that moves you from that stagnant place of not having control over your situation to a place where you have to deal with it.

For most of us we can't seem to break away on our own because we are practically gorging on unfit input, so we don't break away until some great external force slays our problem.

We don't stop cheating until we're caught.

We don't stop eating trash until we get a heart attack.

We don't stop smoking until we get cancer.

We don't stop avoiding our children until there messed up.

We don't stop spending until we are deep in debt.

You can't stop anything until you unlearn the behavior that is manifesting itself as the problem.

And to stop is not enough.  It won't be long and you will find yourself right back in the same mess.

         

The only way to succeed at unlearning is to eradicate the link that started the whole process in the first place.

The link that took a simple thought and turned it into an experience.  That link must be removed. 

If you are thinking you can get serious, long term results over the continuing problems in your life, without unlearning some things... well you decide.  Does your inner man agree?

I'm not talking about your conscience when I say inner man.  You know if you want something bad enough you can sear your conscience - convince your conscience.

You can rationalize anything where the drive is greater than the discipline to tame it."

  Excerpt from God Thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

Daily Devotional - God Thinking Preempt 5

"Unlearning is not as easy as it sounds.  You feel safe with your current barriers.  You hold pretty tight to what you have already accumulated, even if what you have accumulated is of little or no value

even if what you have accumulated was gathered by false pretense

even if what you have accumulated is not good for your family

even if what you have accumulated has not been good for you

even if what you have accumulated is killing you. 

If what you have learned - what you have accumulated is not working for you, it is time to let it go. 

I know it is a lot easier to blame shift than to recognize your own indiscretions and take responsibility for them. 

It's not easy to undo, because it might require becoming undone.  (Read twice)

This is what happened to Isaiah.  Isaiah 6:5

 5.  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

What I am about to present to you cannot be received until (what is holding you back - what is not of God) is removed.   You must unlearn or 

remove altogether those things that are keeping you from the center of God's will.  In order to receive new light -  before you can receive what God freely gives - an equivalent of what is about to come in, must first be removed from its current pedestal and removed.

 

Think of it this way: If you had a glass of water and someone put one drop of poison in the glass, how much clear, pure water would you have to pour into the glass until you were sure you could drink from the glass? 

Would you were feel comfortable drinking from that glass if all you did to clean it was to pour clean water in it?

No.  But if you poured it out and cleaned the glass before you put clear, clean water in it...

It is the same with much that you have learned and ingested into your inner man over the years.  You think that by pouring new knowledge or new truth or new concepts (in your inner man) that what you believe will be purified.  But it is not true.  Unless you remove the poison and clean the glass, your container will never be pure enough to drink from. 

Remember the scriptures: Matthew 9:16, 1716.  No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

17.  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Can you see why I used the term unlearn, and undo.  It's not enough to keep piling new on the old and somehow have it come out OK."

  Excerpt from God thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell copyright 2015 

Daily Devotional - God Thinking Preempt 11

"Isaiah 26:3

3.  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Most people have never experienced this kind of peace.

And it's not because it isn't available

Nor is it necessarily because you and I do not want it

Nor is it because in the general scheme of things you don't deserve it

You don't experience the peace of God because you are still trying to work your way into God's good grace.

You are still trying to pay for or make up for our lack of devotion to God.

You are still trying to cover up for lost time and commitment to your heavenly Father

You are still trying to pay for your indiscretion and sin.

You are still trying to make it right

And yet there is nothing you could ever do that will change God's mind toward you.

There's nothing you can do to make yourself worthy

There's no amount of penance

No amount of retribution

No acts of mercy

No gift big enough

There's nothing you can offer God of equal value to His Son.

Christians are frustrated because they don't feel worthy.  This is a lie of the enemy.

You should expect the Jew and the Hindu, the Muslim and the Taoist to work hard to find peace with God, but the Christian?

There is no peace to be found apart from what God gives freely through Christ.  You either believe it and receive it or you cannot have it.

How many times do you need to read a scripture before you believe it?"

  Excerpt from God Thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

Daily Devotional - God thinking Preempt 4

The truth that I am about to expose demands that you make a place in your mind and in your inner man for the Mind of Christ; God demands that you give up something old for something new. 

God demands that you make room for Him, that you create (a cleaned out) space, not cluttered or full of junk before God pours in His anything. 

You will have to throw out some trash, some junk and some unused things.  In your inner man you will have to throw out some bad information:

you will have to throw out - unsubstantiated beliefs

you will have to throw out  - unsubstantiated fears

you will have to throw out - skewed views

you will have to throw out - false precepts

you will have to throw out  - all doubt

you will have to throw out  - all uncertainty

you will have to throw out - anything that takes up space that was designed for God

And make room for something far better.

Now listen carefully. There's only one way to remove from your mind and your inner man thoughts that might be starving you from receiving God's truth.  Keep in mind that if you continue to learn new, but you don't do something to eradicate the old, the new becomes skewed. 

To overcome this syndrome, you must unlearn what is erroneous.  It is just as important to unlearn what doesn't work as it is to learn what does work:

unlearn what does not have power

unlearn whatever causes doubt

unlearn whatever distracts you

unlearn everything that is not sanctioned by God for use in your inner man to create in you the ability to operate with the mind of Christ."

  Excerpt from God Thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

  

Daily Devotional - God Thinking Preempt 3

'In a way, for you to make improvement in your life and get beyond your current circumstance, it will be important that you make room in your mind for new light, new inspiration.

The Bible tells us to go into our closet to pray. 

 Matthew 6:6, But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

  

For many of us, to go into the closet with God we will have to clean out that closet.  Just try to get into a closet when it is full of stuff.  Do you have a closet that is full of stuff?

It is the same with your prayer closet in the inner man.  You can't get into the prayer closet with your inner man if it is full of stuff.  I want you to get a sense of approval from God on this issue - It's OK to dump some of that stuff:

Some of the unused

and in some cases, unfit stuff

to make room for pure Christ.

You wouldn't throw a treasure from God into your junk drawer or cluttered closet would you?  But we do.  We take the very breath of God and mix it with so many lesser things.

What happens to you when you have been taught things that are not from God? 

What happens when you pass that information on to others?

One of our country's great maladies is to recycle bad information.  It comes to us warped and we hold onto it like it is truth.  In many cases we don't even verify it before we act upon it. 

What do you think has happened to the body of Christ, over the centuries, if those who have not confirmed, taught what was not been confirmed as if it were the very Word of God?  

Let me ask you, what happens when you mix some truth with some falsity?  The good information is skewed, lessened, reduced from its intended efficacy."

Excerpt from God Thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

Daily Devotional - God Thinking Preempt 2

"How would you like to have the power to overcome the circumstances and see your goals and dreams come to pass?

For those of you who are of age you have been pulled back so many times that you feel like a rubber band and you are more than ready to give it up for something better. 

For our youth and those about 20, they haven't experienced  the teeter totter syndrome yet - for them, (with just a right Word from God) they will be able to bypass the back and forth motion of indecision and indiscretion - make decisions and stick to them - turn from the unnecessary without loss of territory and find fulfilling opportunities early.

The secret of life is about bringing God into your situation early.

Psalms 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;”

  

The call of God to be invited in early was not meant just to be early in the morning, like so many think, although it can be early in the morning. 

It is also early in our relationships.

It is also early in the planning stages of your new business.

It is also early in your ministry.

It is also early in your decision making process.

early in your job

early in your spending

My God if you were to seek God early, how many problems and situations that you had to go through could you have avoided? 

Don't be too proud of your many experiences.  God prefers you learn to avoid satan and his ploys 'early'.   Can you sense in your spirit that God has always been there.  Oh had we  invited God in early?

Can we pray.

Father God, wonderful Savior, Holy Spirit  - Forgive us our sins and indiscretions.  Forgive us for not bringing you in on our deal early.  Forgive us for lost territory. Open our hearts and our minds to receive from you new hope.  Open our eyes to your ways and help us to see clearly."

Excerpt from God Thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

Daily Devotional - God Thinking Preempt 1

Isaiah 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Do you have an unwanted debt?

Do you have any troubles?

And for some maybe troubles on more sides than one?

Have people said or done some things that hurt you?

For some of us to be burdened by something or someone has been going on for so long we have began to believe that this is the way it is supposed to be.  We start to think that it just can't get better, that we will forever be assigned to this station of gloom and troubles and peril.

Along the way in life we have had many teachers.  We have been taught what to do and what not to do.  We have been taught basic math, science and english and even some Bible.  Some of us received formal training in a specialized field of endeavor, like health care, masonry, carpentry,  mechanics or management.  Some of us have a high school diploma, some college , others a masters degree or a PhD.

We have learned a great many things, some to our credit and some to our shame. 

One look around and we can see how busy we are as a people.  For some of us our day, our week, our entire year or longer is mapped out with little or no room for change or diversion.

Some of us have spent more time thinking about what we cannot do, haven/t done or won't ever have the chance to

do - more than thinking about what we can do.  

Some of us have dreams or goals that take us beyond our current circumstances.  Do you fit this category?  Some of us have tried to break away from whatever it is holding us back only to find an invisible elastic band attached to it drawing us back again and again. 

How would you like to have the power to overcome the circumstances and see your goals and dreams come to pass?

  Excerpt from God Thinking Preempt by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

God Thinking XVI - By Invitation Only 10

"Be encouraged!!! 

God has not hid Himself.

God has revealed Himself.  

God did not create some impossible path to find Him.

He called you by name and draws you to Himself to reveal Himself personally.

God did not make it impossible for you to find God. 

He sent His own Son to reveal Him.

God did not keep you in bondage to your sin.

He sent His Son to die for you and to set you free.

God has not let you live in spiritual poverty.

He has filled you with His Spirit.

God has invited you to be an Ambassador, a heir to His kingdom and joint heir with Christ. 

He has invited you to be His friend, His child. 

He has invited you to ask for whatever you will. 

He has invited you into His presence. 

He has invited you to receive every promise, every Word of faith, every blessing.

God has freely given you every opportunity to receive every blessing He has ever created.

Have you reciprocated?

Have you invited God to be God in your life?

Have you invited God to be your Ambassador, to go before you and make a way for you?

Have you made God an heir to your kingdom, your money, your goods, your family, your children, your friends?

Have you invited God to be your friend?

Have you invited God to be your Father?

Have you invited God to ask you to go or do whatever He wills?

Have you invited God into your presence?

Have you invited God to receive your promise, the words you speak in faith, your blessings?

  

God thinking invites God into everything that has to do with  everything.

Are you ready to invite God into your life, to reside, to commune, to live?

If you already know the Lord, are you ready to invite God into your everything?

If you are, take a moment and pray and let God have His way with you today, right now.  Don’t wait.  You are being invited."

Excerpt from God thinking XCVI - By Invitation Only by Keith C. Powell                                                 Copyright 2015

God Thinking XVI - By Invitation Only 9

"God invited you to eat a healthy diet; a diet created for you that provides the very best for your body.  Have you invited the Holy Spirit to assist you in making wise choices about your diet?

God has invited you and I to live a holy life.  Have you invited the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how to live a life of holiness?

God thinking is about changing the way you think, to think life Christ.  This will not happen unconsciously. 

It will require a conscious decision to invite God to participate in everything you do.  God will not participate without invitation. 

The Word says,”Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God” Philippians 4:6

God participates in the affairs of your life by invitation."

Excerpt from God thinking XCVI - By Invitation Only by Keith C. Powell                                                 Copyright 2015

God Thinking XVI - By Invitation Only 8

"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.

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."

Excerpt from God thinking XCVI - By Invitation Only by Keith C. Powell                                                 Copyright 2015

God Thinking XVI - By Invitation Only 7

"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/toward 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

  

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 us 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 or you 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 you unto Himself."

Excerpt from God thinking XCVI - By Invitation Only by Keith C. Powell                                                 Copyright 2015

God Thinking XVI - By Invitation Only 6

"God thinking believes - God is God, Savior, Master, King, Sovereign, Lord of everything.

If you are looking for a relationship with God:

Where you can manipulate Him to give you only what you want.

Where you can do as you please, even if it is in direct conflict with God’s will.

Where no commitment is needed.

Where you are in control.

Where you say “not thy will, but my will be done”.

You are not going to like God thinking.

God thinking is for those who have come to the place where they can say without a doubt that they have been doing it their way long enough - And found it most inadequate, ineffectual, powerless, impotent, unsuccessful, fruitless and un-fulfilling.

God Thinking is for those who want a better life than that.  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 our 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.”

Excerpt from God thinking XCVI - By Invitation Only by Keith C. Powell                                                 Copyright 2015