God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ 10

"Freedom in Christ is to see with your minds eye how Jesus came to earth and took on the sins of the world on your behalf so that you wouldn’t have to live under the burden of a powerless existence. 

Freedom in Christ is to understand your role in God’s economy - how God has freed you from sin and its toll.

Freedom in Christ is to get with understanding how very possible it is to live a godly life in Christ.

Freedom in Christ is about being freed up from the baggage of the past and the burdens of a heavy load.

Freedom in Christ is not just for the sake of some future event, but in the now. 

You were forgiven for your sins:

• Not so that you could go back into them, but to be freed from them.
• Not so that you would continue in them, but so that you would walk away from them.
• Not so that you could see your children go through the same things you went through, but to divert them into a better way.

A way where God directs the path.

A way where God becomes important.

A way where the things of God look good.

A way where Jesus becomes a household name.

A way where less of the world is better.

A way where God is in charge

Isn’t it ironic that talking about the call to righteousness is looked at in a negative light, even in the Church?"

 

Excerpt from God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012

 

God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ 9

"Heaven is all about the holy life, and if living a life consecrated to God, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, under the power of a living Christ, is not for you, you will not be invited to heaven, because nobody is going to heaven that doesn’t like the things of God.

God saved you so that you could become a living spirit, made in the image and likeness of God;

• a spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit;
• a spirit hungry for the things of God;
• a spirit ready to receive as God reveals and imparts Himself to you."

Excerpt from God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012

God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ 8

"When you are saved - you are not saved for the sake of forgiving your sins only - you are saved from the power that sin has over you, so that as you seek the mind of Christ, you can by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit overcome the propensity (the desire) to choose the lesser way, not one time, but every time.

You are not saved just so that God can give you a tickets to heaven. 

You are saved so that your spirit can be quickened, (made alive) in order to reunite you in a personal relationship with God.

And that relationship is sacred.

Getting saved is being born-again and re-created into a new creature:

t    Not one that is easily led astray, but one that is easily led to God.

t    Not one that seeks the right of self-fulfillment, but one

who seeks the right to represent Christ as Ambassador and Priest.

t    Not one looking for ways to go against God, but one looking for ways to be like Christ.

t    Not one who seeks fulfillment in sin and indiscretion, but one who seeks fulfillment in living a holy life.

Instead of thinking about all the ways that you can get personal satisfaction apart from the teachings of Christ, you should be thinking about all the ways that you can knock, seek and find personal satisfaction in Christ.

I have said it before and I say it again; If you don’t like the things of God and the everyday process that comes with living a holy life in Christ, you aren’t going to like heaven either."

 

Excerpt from God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012

God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ 7

"If you have made up a religious philosophy that suits your lifestyle:

Ø   Without consulting the Word of God

Ø   Without sacrifice

Ø   Without service to God and man

Ø   Without a deep love for the holy

Ø   Without believing that “He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”,

Ø   Without faith that God can keep you from whatever is keeping you from Freedom in Christ

Ø   Without choosing righteousness

Ø   Without seeking fulfillment in the things of God  

Ø   Without Christ as the center of your being

If you have made up a religious philosophy that suits your lifestyle:  You haven’t been saved, you’ve been duped."

 

Excerpt from God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012

God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ 6

"Instead of thinking of all the ways that you can live outside of the will of God and still be in the graces of God, you should be thinking of all the ways you can be in the will of God and still manage in the world.

 

It’s all about the way you think.  God thinking demands that you think about how you can serve God in purity.

 

You cannot have it both ways. You cannot be saved and partakers of the indwelling Holy Spirit and continue to go about living outside of the will of God.

 

Listen to the scriptures concerning this matter: (From the Children's Bible)

1 John 3:4-9

“When a person sins, he breaks God’s law.  Yes, sinning is the same as living against God’s law.

V5 You know that Christ came to take away sins.  There is no sin in Christ.

V6 So the person who lives in Christ does not go on sinning.  If he goes on sinning, he has never really understood Christ and has never known Him.
V7 Dear children, do not let any person lead you the wrong way.  Christ is righteous.  To be like Christ, a person must do what is right.
V8 The devil has been sinning since the beginning.  Anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil.  The Son of God came for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s work.
V9 When God makes someone His child, that person does not go on sinning.  The new life God gave that person stays in him.  So he is not able to go on sinning, because he has become a child of God.”       New Century Version

 

Excerpt from God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012

God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ 5

" Now, hear the truth about these things:

• There is no freedom when you are bound by an addiction.                             
• There is no freedom when you can’t even sit in the sanctuary for an hour without craving a cigarette.
• There is no freedom in living in a relationship that God is standing against.
• There is no freedom in listening to music that glorifies evil.  That’s bondage, not freedom.

The Bible says in Romans 8:16

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Can you see the hypocrisy in thinking we can do, whatever we want to do, under the pretense that, God is OK with it?

God is not OK with it.  And Christ did not die so that you could go on about your life and live as if you have never met Him.

You need to hear this message at least one time. 

God hates sin and no sin will be justified. 

God will not and has never blessed sinful behavior.
It is not OK for those who are born-again to be involved in all kinds of ungodly practices.

Doesn’t anyone fear God anymore?

 

Excerpt from God Thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012

 

God thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ 4

"This is a Word from the LORD:

Quit giving your kids permission to do what you don’t believe is good for them, just to win their favor. 

It’s time for you to let your children see you living out your relationship with Christ.

Attention to and the practice of the holy is conspicuously missing in the modern home today. 

We hear entirely too much music that glorifies the acts of satan.  Garbage in, garbage out, whether you are a Christian or not.

ü   Video games that glorify death and destruction.

ü   Movies that send the message that bondage to sin is the good way of  life.

ü   Books that are disgusting.

ü   Drugs that rob the soul and the mind of sensible thinking.

ü   People are drinking alcohol under the pretense that Jesus approves of getting high on alcohol and making a fool of yourself.

ü   People smoke all kinds of things, especially cigarettes, under the pretense of freedom in Christ.

 

These things ought not to be."

 

Excerpt from God Thinking 64 - True Freedom In Christ by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012