Power Of Thinking Again

Key Scripture: "Now to Him, who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think..."  Ephesians 3:20

"God can do anything you know-far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams˜ The Message

Power Point:

     Have you ever thought how powerful you really are? No really, little old YOU!  Did you know that Jesus has given you gifts and the wisdom and understanding of His words to rule and reign in your life?  Were you aware of the fact that those words will be tested in you so that they will become deeply planted? 

     If you think about it, we can understand that Satan has no real hope. and the truth is that he knows it, in fact he knows it better than we do!   He is increasing every nasty bit of pressure that he can to steal the promises of God from us, to kill our hope and destroy our dreams.  Ah, but here is the Truth. God will also test us to make sure the Word He has given us will go deeper in the soil of our hearts.  IF we walk in Truth, we can know that Satan is under our feet. We TREAD on ALL the power of the enemy.  Between us and the lies of the enemy there has to be a firm foundation of  Truth.  We not only walk IN truth, we walk On it. Because everything is under the feet of Jesus, and we bear the name and position of Jesus, everything is under our feet as well.         Does that sound impossible?  It is-in the natural.  But in Jesus, we don't live in the natural do we?  At the name of Jesus, spoken from our mouths, the power of God is released, according to our faith, into and around us.  The space around us is filled with the fruit of our words.  Our words are the fruit of our thoughts.  Our thoughts are either under the power of faith or under the power of the enemy. 

  If you do not do anything else this week, draw near to Your Heavenly Father and ask Him to show you MORE!  Do you need more faith? Then you need more understanding of Who He is and Who He wants to be for YOU!  If you need encouragement, there's no one better to offer it to you, to come along beside you, to put an arm around your shoulder and let you know you are not alone. In other words, He will always tell you the Truth.  And it will bring you the freedom to speak God's promises and tread on all the power of the enemy,  ALL of it!

    Were you thinking that your situation is impossible?  Were you thinking that the rut you are stuck in has no way out?  Think again. Think about what God has promised and WHO the One who promises says that He is.

He describes Himself as  "I AM".  That means that whatever you need for Him to be He is.  Do you need healing?  He says, "I AM your healer.  Do you need financial provision (ps. 31:19)of any sort?  He says, "I AM your provider." Do you find yourself limping along and stumbling through life?  He says, "I AM going to carry you through this."

Whatever you need, God IS for you.

Whatever your dreams, God delights to see them come to pass.  He IS working them out right now.

Whatever blessing you need in your life, He promises, "I AM the blesser!""

    Beloved, the WORD of God will always be tested in your life.  Let me repeat that. The Word of God will always be tested in your life.  Satan will try to steal it and Jesus will secure it. Gird yourself with Him, with what HE says, and the faithfulness of what HE does, and Who He is.

When doubts and insecurity arise, think again.

When the way seems impossible, think again!

God will always make a way where there is no way; because He can and because He wants to. And because He's planned to do that all along.

His ways are higher than your ways.  

His THOUGHTS are higher than your thoughts.

Allow yourself to think again.

Power Thought:

His Words, which are the product of His thoughts never return void.  Never. Ever.  Think again. ALL the power of the enemy is under your feet, when you are standing and walking ON the Word. So think again!

Power Of Circumstances

Key Scripture:  "In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade."  2 Corinthians 2:14  The Message

Power Point:

           DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND MY CONTROL...

Have you ever heard that phrase?  Usually what people mean when they say that is that they can't help what is about to happen next; that they are going to renege on what they have promised, the bottom is just about to fall out and you just have to deal with it!

The interesting thing about Abraham and Sarah is that even though the circumstances in their lives were obviously beyond their control, they were not beyond God's control. There was so much "dead" in their lives when you really examine them; so many "impossibles" that there was no way their dreams of a family was going to come to pass. But God.

God didn't look at their circumstances and say, "Gosh, I wish I could help! But due to circumstances beyond my control, I can't" He didn't say, "Well it looks as though your dreams of having children are d-e-a-d and buried!" Or "Just be happy with what you've got!  This is the best I can do."

NO!  Beloved, there are no circumstances beyond God's control, or beyond His loving kindness. He helps. He heals. He comforts. He is all powerful. He is working, right now, in this moment, to bring your dreams to pass. In Romans 4:17, He says, "(I am), the God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they were." That means that circumstances are never so dead that they can't be resurrected.  He's actually quite good at that.  It means that, according to Colossians 1:17, "...all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe-people and things, animals and atoms-get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of Jesus."  (adapted from the Message).

Remember WHO your God is, and the dreams He has for you. "The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope." 

In other words, "Circumstances may be out of your control, they may be out of their control but they are never out of His control." 

Now that's a GOOD Word!

Power Thought:

 Every single thing in your life is a "good"  thing on the way! Don't give up!  Don't give out! And don't give in! He's got it under control.

Power Of The Cut Off Point

Power Of The Cut Off Point

Key Scripture:  "My thoughts are higher!"  Isaiah 55

"They are good thoughts to give you a future and a hope!"  Jeremiah 29:11  

Power Point:

     When our Hannah was a baby, she would eat and eat and eat.  She just really loved her food. One day, I was sitting with her and feeding her and my daughter-in-law Kim said, "You just have to stop.  She really has no "cut off" point. What she was saying was that she no internal gauge that told her when enough was enough. I've been there. How about you?

     I have friends who love to send me those "forwarded" emails.  The problem is they have no cut off point. I love my friends and its easy for me to push "delete", but I think that there needs to be a preset number which sets a healthy boundary on how many they will send on a given day. Some people have no cut off point when they shop. Others they may not be able to cut off anger, or a critical spirit.

     Fear needs to have a cut off point doesn't it?  Depression needs to have a cut off point.  Don't you think self-pity and unbelief need to be cut off at the knees?   Have you ever found yourself entertaining negative ideas that rob you of faith and hope?  You may find your brain full of those "faith stealers" one day and realize that they started with just a few thoughts and now you are in the middle of an avalanche of hopelessness.

Jesus gave us some really good advice.  He said, "Don't!"

Don't be afraid.

Don't worry.

Don't live in strife.

Don't doubt.

Don't give up!

     If He told us NOT to do something, that must mean we have a choice, right?  In other words, we can choose to have a cut off point for all of those things! We can set boundaries on whatever we think or do. The very first moment that we realize that those thoughts or actions have gained a foothold, is the time we must take them captive and send them running. We have the power to know the difference, Beloved.  We have the power to loose that way of thinking and acting from ourselves and we have the power to bind ourselves to the power of God to help us to "Don't GO there"!

     Maybe you've found yourself in the middle of a muddle, submerged in hopelessness. Is it time to cut that off?  You opened the door a  

crack and Satan has come running in full force to steal God's promises, kill your faith, and destroy your dreams. Cut him off. How?

Paul tells us exactly how in chapter 4 of Philippians.  He says, "Summing it all

up friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst, the beautiful not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse."

    If we cut off the faith stealers before they start, "before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down."

     "It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

When your mind is centered on what God has promised you, the outcome that He has for you in this place, and most importantly, His absolutely faithful goodness, then you can keep focused on His goal for you, and everything He has for you. What if you concentrated on things like, multiplied grace and peace, good plans to give you a future and a hope, and the promise of a reward for your faith?

     In Philippians 3 Paul says, "So, let's keep focused on the goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you has something less in mind, something less that total commitment, God will clear our blurred vision-you'll see it yet!"

DON'T allow worry and fear to knock you out of the race. Make sure they have a "cut off point". DO think on those things that Jesus thinks about all the time. 

Power Thought:

Faith should never have a cut off point but hopelessness and unbelief certainly should! You get to choose!

Power Of Asking

Key Scripture: " So I say to you, Ask and KEEP on asking, and it shall be give you; see and KEEP ON seeking and you shall find;  Knock and KEEP ON knocking and the door shall be opened ot you.  For EVERYONE who asks and keeps on asking receives, and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds, and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking the door shall be opened.

...If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, gifts that are to advantage, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him, and continue to ask Him." Luke 11:9-13 Amplified

Power Point:

I know that we all have prayers that we've prayed for a long time and yet we don't seem to be getting any closer to the answer. If you look at this parable closely you will see that the supply is not defined or limited by the Giver, it is defined by the ASKER- and the key seems to be to keep on asking. insistently and persistently.  (Or I guess you could say confidently and boldly.)  When you know that God's will is always good, acceptable and perfect, you can know that if you have determined that what you are asking is God's will for you, you can keep on with confidence and boldness. Do you remember the prophet Daniel who had prayed to God yet his answer did not appear immediately?  When the angel finally appeared with the answer, he told Daniel that his prayer had been answered when he first prayed it but the enemy was trying desperately to be sure that the answers to his prayers would not reach him.  I like the word "desperate", don't you?  We tend to forget that the enemy knows that his time is short and his strength is limited when it comes to one of God's children. He is trying everything he can to be sure that we don't get what we ask for. He comes quickly to steal the seed of our faith so that we'll quit asking.  Don't let him do that, Beloved.

You carry the name of Jesus.  It is the name that is above ALL power and authority anywhere.

You are part of God's army.  You are not alone.  God is standing with you.  He has allowed the battle to teach you to FIGHT ON! He is teaching you who you are in Christ and how to use the divine arsenal of weapons at your disposal.

You are an overcomer, a victor, and a believer who lives believing that if you keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking at God's door, the answer is only one prayer away.

Don't give up one prayer short of a miracle.  Daniel didn't.  We shouldn't either.

    This scripture, on asking,seeking, knocking, and receiving, follows Jesus teaching the disciples to pray.  They've watched Jesus for three years receive incredible answers to prayer. They ask for His advice and He teaches them by praying "The Lord's Prayer". Then He says, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him and ask for bread at midnight?" What?  He's saying that when you have a need, you can go to your Friend and He will help you.  He may not answer on the first knock but when he knows that you are determined and insistent, He will answer.  He's your Friend, after all.  In other words, when He sees that its his friend on the other side, He will answer.  He will open it wide and give you what you have asked for.

So Beloved, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking and begin receiving.  
     I know that you remember that Jesus defines Himself as our Friend. I think that's the point He's trying to make here. You have a friend in Jesus, and He's already promised to provide what you need even if your timing is a little inconvenient.
You never have to worry that the door of the kingdom will be shut against you.
After all, your Friend is on the other side. 
Power Thought:

He will call.  I will answer. Psalm 91:15