God-thinking X - Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To Change 4

"Go with me to Matthew 20:30-34 We are going to read it through, then we are going to look at each verse for deep truths. 

Matthew 20:30-34

“And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

V31 And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

V32 And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do for you?

V33 They say unto Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

V34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

Again let’s read verse 30

“And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

First: Don’t ever think that you are not needed for the spreading of the gospel.  The great commission is not the great suggestion.

Had not someone told these two blind men about Jesus, Jesus could have passed by without their even knowing it.  Jesus is here, among us and we must tell the blind, (the blind in sight and the blind in spirit) that Jesus is here. 

Somebody, has told everybody, who has come to the Lord, that the Lord was passing by (near) and aren’t you glad for that somebody that told you Jesus was (near).

Second: When you recognize your total inadequacy (blindness) and you recognize God’s All-Sufficiency you cry out. 

You cry out for mercy to the All-Merciful God when you see that God has what you need or desire.

In your blindness you too should cry out.  But I am not sure that you are that hungry for what God has that you do not have.

Healing a person’s blindness is not a difficult task for God.  Healing your blindness is not a difficult task for God. 

But if Jesus were coming to town (in the flesh) to hold a healing seminar, would you be there?  Would you push forward and cry out for a touch from God?

Matthew 20:31a

“And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace:”

Note: What I’ve seen is, that when the hungry, the empty, the desperate man or woman sees God in their midst, they want to cry out, but the crowd says "be quiet," "it's not posh to do that anymore," "someone might see us and embarrass me." If you are with someone who might embarrass you if you meet Jesus, don't take them with you. This world already has enough embarrassed Christians flitting about, doing what feels good, snuggling up to the world while playing church. Those who say "hold your peace," well they have just never been desperate. 

If cry out to Jesus as He passes by, it will be because of a real void inside that you know only God can fill.  If you know that your blindness cannot be healed apart from a touch from God, you should be ready and willing to cry out when Jesus passes by."

   Excerpt from God Thinking X - Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To                            Change by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

God-thinking X - Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To Change 3

"How would you like to be doing what God is blessing? - To be totally in line with what God planned for this century, this millennium, this day, this hour.

God thinking puts you in the right place at the right time, because God thinking teaches you to walk in faith.  Faith trust’s that God knows what He is doing, and listens carefully to the voice of God and then moves on it without hesitation.

I am convinced that had you responded in faith early on, things would be different today, but even so, tomorrow is prepared to provide what faith believes for today.

Your tomorrow’s are filled with the substance of things hoped for today.  What is your faith building?

God thinking never has to look elsewhere to be fulfilled.  With God thinking you are fulfilled by your constant communion with Christ.

God thinking has a high and lofty view of God.

God thinking takes advantage of the moment and everyone benefits.

God thinking demands that you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and that you allow God to move you, despite the unbelief that is ever present around you.

Note: A lot of people today are turned off by the word demand. People don't mind watching what is available on TV, which is what the station provider demands of you.  They don't mind purchasing what is available at the supermarket, which is what is demanded of you.  They don't mind stopping at red lights, paying car insurance and on and on; but when it comes to God, modern man wants autonomy, freedom from, no demands, no attachments, no rules, no laws, no expectations. The truth is that this kind of rebellion is rebellion against Jesus. They don't mind believing that Jesus was real, but following Him is silly and of no consequence. That's what happens when we open ourselves up to :all paths lead to God" or "Islam is a sister religion to Christianity" or "religion is the opiate of the masses" or other anti-responsibility doctrines. God only demands from you what is perfect for you. Nobody else does that. Why the fuss? Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To change.

   Excerpt from God Thinking X - Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To                            Change by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

God-thinking X - Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To Change 2

"God thinking accepts your anointing.

Here’s a new precept of God thinking. 

God thinking doesn’t stop thinking God.

Despite the negative.

Despite the barriers.

Despite the naysayers.

Despite the dead ends.

Despite the doubt.

Despite the impatience.

Despite the trials and tribulations.

Despite the hypocrites.

Despite your friends and family who shake their heads at you.

Despite your sickness.

Despite the impossible.

You will praise & worship and thank God, because faith doesn’t give up. 

God thinking perseveres in faith until your dream, goal or task at hand is fulfilled.

Faith doesn’t quit, ever.

Faith doesn’t stop believing God when things get tough.

Faith doesn’t stop following God when mankind lets you down.

Faith sets its eyes on God.

Faith doesn’t look around to see who is looking, when God is present. 

Faith doesn’t need to see the answer to know who holds the answer.

Faith trusts God to work in it and through it until it is accomplished.

Faith is the fuel that keeps God thinking aflame.

God thinking is looking to see what God is doing, right now,  right here, where you are at, today, and starts to do what God is blessing.  

Note: Oh That's Right You Don't Want To change.  No matter what your church affiliation, there is more. Denominations done much to advance the kingdom but also much to stiffle personal spiritual growth. If you practice God-thinking you will find yourself a little lonely at times, because God has so much more to offer than a regular, pre-programmed, perfectly ordered, denominationally-driven experience. I'm not saying that you should not be fully involved in your church and supportive in every way, but it is not OK to just go along for the ride.  God ,might want more from you than that. Oh That's Right You Don't Want To change.

   Excerpt from God Thinking X - Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To                            Change by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

God-thinking X - Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To Change 1

God thinking is the renewing of our mind to think like Christ.

God thinking is to be filled with the knowledge of His will to increase in the knowledge of God.

God thinking puts the things of God “on top” and pushes the things of the world, (doubt, negative thinking, worry, stress), down and down and down until they disappear altogether.

God thinking believes what God says.

The foundation of God thinking is threefold.

1.  Choosing a goal that can be sanctioned by God

2.  Acknowledging what we are able to do towards our goals, dreams or desires and acknowledging what is impossible for us to do and will require the hand of God.

3.  Talking and listening to God along the way.

God thinking seeks God early in everything.

God thinking demands that you believe until you receive.

God thinking changes you.  You see things differently and because you see things differently, you deal with them differently.  And because you deal with things differently, the little things that used to drive you, lose their efficacy and they are slowly replaced with the thoughts of God.

Note: "you deal with things differently." Habits and behaviors are hard to break. It is just as hard to unlearn a bad behavior as it is to learn a good behavior, but most of us need to change the way we deal with some things. It would be better for everybody. Maybe you speak before you think or maybe you snap at your spouse or kids all the time. Life and results can be better than what you are currently experiencing. It will take purposeful thought to make any real changes. That's what God thinking is at its core; purposeful thought that allows God to have input into your decisions.

Excerpt from God Thinking X - Oh That's Right, You Don't Want To Change by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man 7

"Religion has through the centuries and throughout the world, even today, created doctrines of men, that have painstakingly reduced God.  It was and is a tragic mistake to see God as anything other than Himself.

But this one thing I know, when you do see God as He is, in Christ, by faith and revelation of the Holy spirit, God thinking becomes even more important. 

You will revel in your relationship with God like never before. 

You cannot help but bow to Him in humble adoration.

You cannot help but worship Him and Praise Him.

You cannot help but love His Church.

You cannot help but want to be like Christ.

You cannot help but believe His Word.

You must purge or push down any and all thoughts of God that you learned from man - and put “on top” revealed God.

I cannot explain God, nor can I teach you what God wants to teach You of Himself.

God designed the Church to be the one place where you could be moved by His Supernatural presence, without being embarrassed or ill thought of.  But over time, our leaders have led us to believe that we all need to worship God the same way, and so man decided how we should look and act when God is present; that's religion. 

Can I tell you that I do not believe I can tell you how to act when God is present.  When the Almighty visits you and speaks to you, please let go and let God have His way.  God desires such to worship Him. 

For too long, we have allowed the faithless, the unbelieving, and the lukewarm to set the bar by which we reveal our love for Christ.  You can start in the privacy of your home or some very special place to let God have His way with you.  Let go and let God reveal Himself to you.  Ask God to reveal Himself to you and He will, but be ready to fall (out of some of your old ways) like the prophets of old."

Excerpt from God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015

God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man 6

"Why would God want you to know Him through Jesus the Christ? 

The answer to this question is answered solely by your view of God.  If God were the god that this world’s religions have created, he would be unfair and unjust.  He would be unpredictable and uncertain.  He would coerce and manipulate.  There would be no grace. 

Man’s perception of God through this world’s religions is not and cannot be correct, because, man cannot describe God without the indwelling Spirit of God and the indwelling Spirit of God does not indwell the unbeliever of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

God can only be known through Christ and Christ can only be known through faith.  And faith can only be known through revelation of the Holy Spirit.

God designed you to know Him through the man Christ Jesus, so that you would not get a false view of who God is.

God can only be known through Christ and Christ can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit.   The only way to see God clearly is by revelation, in your spirit, by the Holy Spirit.

Just as your view of God must be a high and lofty view, so too your view of Jesus must also be a high and lofty view, and so too your view of the Holy Spirit must be a high and lofty view.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit can only be known and understood by faith.  Apart from the revelation of God of Himself, there is no revelation, because man cannot reveal Holy God.  Just the same, when God reveals Himself to man, He reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Your relationship with God is to be solely based on His revelation of Himself to you."

Excerpt from God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015  

God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man 5

"It is not unusual for man to have an image of God.  But the image of God that man makes can be quite unusual.

Why is it so important for you to have a proper image of God?

God says so.  God decided that you should know Him.  God decided how you should get to know Him.  God decided, that only through the Son, by faith, shall He be revealed.  This world’s religions want God without Christ.  There is no God without Christ.

Yet even when Jesus walked the earth, there were many that brushed against Him and sat with Him, and yet did not recognize the creator.  It takes faith to see God.  And God decided that Jesus would provide for you the image of God.  The true image of God is best revealed through Christ.

Colossians 1:15 & 2:9

“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”

Colossians 2:9

“For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

Christ made Himself familiar to you, not that through knowing Him you would continue on the path of waywardness, but that through knowing Him you would choose to follow Him.

God allowed Himself to become familiar to you through Christ, knowing that you could not understand the infinite.  But God reveals Himself to you in Christ so that ypou could know Him."

Excerpt from God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015  

God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man 4

Nothing is like our God and nothing to be compared.  That is why the scriptures say to us in 1 Corinthians 2:9-13

⁹But 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. ¹⁰But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ¹¹For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 

God was not made in our image and likeness, we were made in His image and likeness.  If we are going to have a right view of God, it will have to be a faith view. 

Hebrews 11:1 tells us about this view.

Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

If faith is the evidence, then faith alone can provide a right view of God.  Every religion in the world has tried to explain God and bring God into subjection to their thinking.  It cannot be done.  The true test of faith, is your view of God based on God having revealed Himself to you, not once, but often.  You need more revelation of God, from God.

When you try to imagine what God is like, you must of necessity rely on that which is not God to do so, therefore whatever you visualize God to be, He is not.  You have constructed out of creation that which made creation. 

It’s like this: If you drew a picture of yourself and then looked at it, would that picture look like you?  Yes, if you were a good artist.  Now let’s let the picture have a crack at it, what would it look like?

Our intellect falls short of being able to create a true and

proper image of God.  But by faith, you can receive from God a true and proper image of God."

Excerpt from God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015  

God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man 3

"God thinking demands a high and lofty view of God.  Truly, the way we see God ultimately determines the results of our faith. 

For we receive God by faith. 

To know God we must receive Him by faith.

We receive who God is by His Spirit.

And it is by the indwelling Holy Spirit that we know God at all.

Apart from the Holy Spirit, we know not God, nor can we, because God is, and He can only be rightly known of Himself.

There is much controversy about who God is, but most, if not all controversy comes from an ignoble (low) view of God. 

As we get closer to God the vastness of the great chasm between God and man becomes even greater still.  As truth is unveiled and our knowledge of God increases, we see more and more the great disparity between the finite (us) and the infinite (God).

I questioned the thinking of the many saints of old who speak about this indescribable greatness of God. 

The truth is:

The vastness of God is not apprehended by our intellect, nor is it understood by much study, nor is it brought into subjection by worship.  Grand thinking, study and worship are good, but they alone do not and cannot reveal infinite God.  The deliberate creation of countless religions prove it beyond any doubt.

God can only be recognized and understood by faith.  Simple faith. 

In worship and praise, through prayer and supplication, the question of “whom are we worshiping?”, must arise.  Questions like “who is this God?” and “What does God look like?” must arise out of the desire to know our creator.

Our intellect has created an image of God in our mind and it is this image that reigns over all else.  A poor image of God, a false image of God, an undesirable image of God, any image made by mankind apart from the revelation of God Himself, by faith, by the indwelling Spirit - is untrue of God. 

None of us can accurately described Holy God, only God Himself, and we receive understanding by faith.  And when God reveals Himself to us by faith, we, like the prophets, fall to our knees is reverence of God's Unicity."

Excerpt from God Thinking IX "Oh You Vain And Little Man" by Keith C.                                           Powell Copyright 2015

God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man 2

What I learned from my experiences with God is that even God thinking cannot accurately describe who God is.  God cannot be described by human reasoning.  Not even the spirit-filled believer can put into words an adequate, all-encompassing description/representation/depiction or portraiture of God.  God cannot be uncovered and revealed like a man or a woman or a created thing.

How would the finite mind describe the infinite God anyway?

In finite terms.  In every attempt, even the prophets of God were tongue-tied when trying to describe just a single experience with God, much less the All-ness of God.  Listen to these descriptions:

  

Exodus 33:13 & 20 - 23 & 34:5,6a, 8

V13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

V20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. ²¹And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: ²²And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with

my hand while I pass by: ²³And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Exodus 34:5, 6a, 8

^“5And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. ⁶And the LORD passed by before him,...

V8 ^“And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.”

Isaiah 6:1-6a

¹In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. ²Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. ³And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. ⁴And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone;

Ezekiel 1:26-28

²⁶And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. ²⁷And I saw as  the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about  within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and

from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. ²⁸As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Revelation 1:10, 4:1-3, 22:8

¹⁰I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

Revelation 4:1-3

^“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. ²And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. ³And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”

Revelation 22:8

⁸And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things.

Everyone who has come into contact with God, has voluntarily bowed down to worship God.  Our God cannot be explained away as a theological concept.  God cannot be reduced to what mankind can explain.  God is far above any description that we could create, because the finite cannot describe the infinite."

Excerpt from God Thinking IX "Oh You Vain And Little Man" by Keith C.                                           Powell Copyright 2015

God Thinking IX - Oh You Vain And Little Man 1

I hope you are on a path to learn all you can about God.  Allow God to teach you by His Spirit.  But you have got to want it.  Learning from mistakes, learning from trial and error and learning while paying the consequences of your actions are important also, but allowing God to teach you while things are running smoothly is the better way. 

Not long ago I was thinking about God, trying to prod God to speak to me.   

I wanted to enter into the realm of the supernatural.  I wanted to be caught up like John was (Rev. 4:1).  I wanted to narrow the distance of what I saw as a vast chasm between God and myself.  I wanted to see His back like Moses (Ex. 33:22), or take a chariot ride like Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). 

I looked into the skies and I said, “Father, why does it all seem so futile.  It seems that at every turn there is something of a lesser sort that makes itself easily available.  I want to make wise choices and please you.  I want to be the God man of this century.  How Lord can I overcome who I am?”

In my moments of heightened spiritual ascent, I realized that I was really doing this for me.  I was on a sort of spiritual throne trying to figure out God and bring Him down to think like me.  After all, wasn’t God made in my image? 

You know, God doesn’t always say to you what you want to hear.  God did speak to me, and He said at the moment of my highest aspirations,”Oh foolish and little man.  How vain are your thoughts.”

God thinking paints a dynamic word picture of how God wants us to think, so that we can become like Christ; And we become like Christ by being renewed, day by day, by the Holy Spirit."

Excerpt from God Thinking IX "Oh You Vain And Little Man" by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2015