REAL POWER: MAXING OUT ON GOD'S LOVE
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THINKING AS GOD THINKS
In Matthew 16:23 Jesus said, “You are a stumbling block to me. You think as men think, not as God thinks.
Jesus said that when we think like men, we stumble. How we think and what we think is important. Wrong thinking trips us up. We need a new way of thinking; we need to think as God thinks.
When you get in agreement with God, then you are thinking the way that God thinks. You need to understand how God thinks so that you can get in agreement with him.
God is the God of the possible. Impossible is not found in his vocabulary, and impossibility doesn’t exist in his universe. Everything is possible when you think the way God thinks.
God is the source of all good things. All that you are or have comes directly or indirectly from him. There are no shortages in God’s kingdom of love. Everything that you need to live an abundant life is already present and available for those who think as God thinks.
How does God think?
God thinks abundance. Jesus said that he had come so that you might have life and have it more abundantly. God created the world and everything in it. What you need is no big deal to God. Supplying your needs won’t break his back or bankrupt his kingdom. God enjoys giving you good things. His plan is to fill your cup with blessings until it runs over.
God thinks possibility. All things are possible when you think the way God thinks. God is the God of possibility, and there is no limit to how good your life can become when you think the way God thinks.
God thinks positive. The most positive force in the universe is God’s love. It changes the way you think and feel making you into a positive person.
God thinks positive expectations. When you get into agreement with God, your expectations change. Impossible becomes possible, and scarcity becomes abundance. God has a powerful positive plan for your life. God expects good things to happen in your life when you think the way that He thinks.
God thinks forgiveness. God forgives you for the wrong things that you have done. He not only wipes the slate clean, He also throws the slate away.
God thinks freedom for the captives. Jesus came to set the prisoners free. The chains of lack and limitation fall off when you think the way God thinks.
God thinks release from oppression. Jesus came to liberate you from all forms of oppression. Economic, spiritual, chemical, and psychological dependencies disappear when you think the way God thinks.
God thinks recovery of what has been lost. The blind receive their sight. What the world destroys and takes away, God recovers and restores.
God thinks favor. He bestows his blessings on all who get in agreement with him. He opens the windows of heaven, and blessings fall all around.
God thinks good news. God has no dark side. He is on our side, and is in it with us for the long haul. All of God’s thoughts are good news. When you become silent and listen for God’s voice, you hear his positive message of love.
You can trust God. If you do your part, God will do his. When you get in agreement with him, when you think the way that He thinks, then God starts working miracles in your life.
God already knows what you need even before you ask. God wants to give you good things even more than you want to receive them. But first you must ask.
Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive.” Asking simply recognizes that God is the source of all good things, and that He can be trusted to provide. Outsourcing doesn’t exist in God’s kingdom of love. All of us need to be reminded that God is our source. God will give you what you need unless you block him. There are no shortages in God’s kingdom; there is only lack of faith, lack of trust, and lack of positive expectations. God is a God of abundance, and when you get in agreement with him, when you trust him to supply your needs, when you have positive expectations, then the windows of heaven open, and blessings fall all around.
REAL POWER: MAXING OUT ON GOD'S LOVE
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WHAT DOES A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD DO FOR YOU? WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?
Having a personal relationship with God is more than a celestial insurance policy that guarantees safe passage to paradise when you die. It has more to do with the here and now. If you get the here and now right, you don’t need to worry about what will happen when you die. The Father who took care of you during your stay on planet earth is trustworthy, and when it’s time for your promotion, He will take care of you on the other side of eternity. You can count on that!
God focuses his love on you right where you are with all your problems and addictions, and He does it now. The Father is a here and now God.
Nothing is too hard for God. After all, He created the universe and everything in it. When it comes to dealing with your problems and turning your life around, He’s in it with you for the long haul, and He is ready to move mountains of difficulty out of your life. God will do more than point you in the right direction. He will also give you the power to make the trip.
So what can you expect from your personal relationship with God?
When Jesus started his mission on planet earth, he stated exactly what you should expect. He said that he came, “To announce good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” That is his master plan for the here and now.
There is Good News in the here and now, and you are supposed to take it personally.
There is Freedom in the here and now, and you are supposed to take it personally.
There is Recovery from what has been lost in the here and now, and you are supposed to take it personally.
There is Release from oppression in the here and now, and you are supposed to take it personally.
There is God’s special favor in the here and now, and you are supposed to take it personally.
God has a dream for your life that has all of these components in it. His master plan is good news from start to finish. Old things will pass away, and God will make all things new. You will discover the truth that sets you free. You will recover what has been lost. You will be released from all forms of oppression, and your addictions will become a thing of the past. Finally, God will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings into your life. That sounds like a plan that I can live with.
That’s what Jesus came to do in the here and now, and it’s high time that you take it personally.
A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
What does it mean to have a personal relationship with God?
When Jesus talked about God, he called him Father. Jesus referred to God more than 150 times using the word Father. This isn’t an accident. Jesus wanted us to understand that when we open our heart and mind to the Father’s love, we are born spiritually. God makes our spirit come alive, and that’s why we audaciously dare to call him Father. The Father is also the source of all good things in our life. All of our talents and abilities are gifts that come directly from him. We are not the source. He is the Source and provides whatever we need. The Source is always with us.
Jesus said, “He who has seen me, has seen the Father,” and then he added, ‘I and the Father are one.” Jesus always spelled things out in simple terms that even children can understand. He said that if you want to know what God is like, look at me.
At the most basic level, you have a personal relationship with God when you open your heart and mind to his love, and you dare to call him Father. You then learn what your relationship with the Father is like by looking at Jesus and seeing how he interacted with ordinary people who have problems just like you and me.
Jesus said that unless you become as a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Having a personal relationship with God is so simple that even a child can do it.
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS?
Jesus came to planet earth to change our expectations about what is possible. Until Jesus came, the blind, the poor, the prisoners, and the oppressed lived without hope. Low expectations and negative expectations controlled their lives. Blind beggars lived in the Land of No Hope.
When Jesus walked on the road to Jericho, a sightless beggar shouted out, “Jesus, have mercy on me,” but the crowd surrounding Jesus rebuked him and told him to be quiet. Everyone knew that blind beggars were beyond hope, everyone except Jesus and the blind beggar. The crowd tried to extinguish the voice of hope, but the blind man would not be silent, and he cried out once again, “Have mercy on me.”
It wasn’t the blind man who was blind; it was the crowd that could not see and could not sense hope. They knew there was no hope, and they would silence anyone who disagreed. Extinguishing hope was their specialty.
Jesus had a sixth sense that the crowds didn’t have. He could sense hope and positive expectations even in blind beggars. The crowd could not shout Jesus down or keep him from his mission. Jesus came to fan the flames of hope inside the human heart until it became a burning fire that could not be quenched.
Jesus stopped in his tracks and ordered that the blind man be brought before him. A gasp went up from the crowd. What was Jesus doing? Didn’t he know that there wasn’t any hope?
Jesus probed the heart and mind of the blind beggar and discovered hope that no one else could see. He asked a simple question. “What do you want me to do for you?” What are your expectations? After all, it doesn’t matter what all these people think and expect. It’s your expectations that count.
The man said, “Lord, I want to see.”
Jesus said, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you,” and instantly the man received his sight.
Jesus didn’t say, “My faith has healed you.” He made it clear that it was the beggar’s faith, his positive expectations that made the miracle come to pass.
In the past two-thousand years some things remain unchanged. The crowd still tries to shout us down and shut us up, telling us that there is no hope. Jesus still asks the same question. “What do you want me to do for you? What are your expectations?”
Jesus answer is still the same. It’s your faith that will heal you. It all comes down to your expectations. Faith still works miracles in your heart and mind. God makes miracles happen when positive expectations rule your heart and mind.
Jesus came to light the fire of hope in your heart. He came to fill your heart and mind with positive expectations. When you get in agreement with God, positive things happen. Your old life passes away, and all things become new.
What do you want God to do for you? What are your expectations?
THE FOUNDATION FOR A POSITIVE AND ABUNDANT LIFE
Seven scriptures form the foundation for my life. These rock solid principles stand the test of time and always sustain me in the storms of life. I put my full weight down on these scriptures.
I selected these passages because of their importance in my own life. These particular passages keep me on task and on target when I momentarily lose focus or direction. Your list of sustaining scriptures is probably different than mine, because you are a different person with different life experiences.
I selected these passages because of their importance in my own life. These particular passages keep me on task and on target when I momentarily lose focus or direction. Your list of sustaining scriptures is probably different than mine, because you are a different person with different life experiences.
As a physician, I take a practical approach to spirituality. I am most interested in what works, and what heals the hurts in the human heart and mind. I'm not interested in compressing myself or anyone else into a spiritual mold. I'm more interested in healing than conformity, and my goal is that you would have a healthy heart and mind full of God's love and positive expectations. It doesn't matter to me whether you agree with me or say things the same way that I say them.
If you take these seven scriptures seriously and apply them, your life will never be the same. You will become a positive person, and positive expectations will rule your life. Don't memorize and take these scriptures personally unless you want to have a new life.
1. Don't be afraid; just believe.If you take these seven scriptures seriously and apply them, your life will never be the same. You will become a positive person, and positive expectations will rule your life. Don't memorize and take these scriptures personally unless you want to have a new life.
2. Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, "Go throw yourself into the sea", and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
3. As you believe, so it will be done unto you.
4. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct your path.
5. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may know the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
6. Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, admirable, and worthy of praise, think on these things.
7. Set your mind on God's kingdom and his justice before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as well.
When these seven scriptures get inside your heart and mind, they will rock your world.
DON'T BE AFRAID. JUST BELIEVE.
More than 2000 years ago, a man named Jairus came to Jesus with an urgent request. He said, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”
While Jesus was on the way to the house of Jairus, some men came and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher any more?”
Overhearing and ignoring their message, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
When Jesus arrived at the house, Jesus saw a commotion with mourners crying and wailing loudly. Jesus said, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” The mourners laughed at him.
Jesus entered the child’s room, took her by the hand, and healed her.
Jesus gave us the pattern for dealing with the challenges that we face.
While Jesus was on the way to the house of Jairus, some men came and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher any more?”
Overhearing and ignoring their message, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
When Jesus arrived at the house, Jesus saw a commotion with mourners crying and wailing loudly. Jesus said, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” The mourners laughed at him.
Jesus entered the child’s room, took her by the hand, and healed her.
Jesus gave us the pattern for dealing with the challenges that we face.
First, when we overhear naysayers and negative thinkers reciting their litany of limitations, we are to ignore their message. Don’t listen to people shackled by disbelief who want to drag you down to their level. Nothing good comes from listening to negative thinking.
Second, no matter what happens, we are not to give in to fear. Faith and fear are mutually exclusive. You must choose one or the other. Which will it be? Faith or fear? Jesus said that all things are possible to him who believes. Are you going to listen to the voice of fear, or to what Jesus says? All things are possible when you ignore fear’s limiting voice.
Third, we are to believe and place our faith in God who is the source of our life. It’s never over until God says it’s over. Leave the punctuation of your life up to God. Until God puts a period on your adventure with him, faith must rule your days. Impossible is not in God’s vocabulary, and it shouldn’t be in yours.
Fourth, don’t let the laughter and mocking of disbelievers discourage you or stop you in your tracks. If you do that, you will be listening to the wrong thing. Instead, listen to God’s voice of possibility and love. God has a purpose and plan for your life that is better than anything you can imagine. There is no limit to how good your life can become when you open your heart and mind to the power of his love. Your destiny is to have the last laugh, and that laugh will last for eternity.
Fifth, get in agreement with God and let him work things out. God loves to work miracles in the lives of his children. Ask for a miracle every minute of every day. Jesus said, “Ask, and you will receive. Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
MOVING MOUNTAINS
What you talk about matters a great deal because it expands into your life.
When your talk is positive, good things start to happen..
When your talk is positive, good things start to happen..
When your talk is negative, misery and limitations become your unwanted guests.
Jesus taught that you are to talk to your problems and not about them.
When you talk about your problems with everyone you meet, you magnify those challenges until they become a stronghold in your mind. They occupy the high ground and rooting them out is difficult. Every time you talk about your problems, you increase their power. When you focus on them, they become stronger, and you become weaker.
Jesus said that if you have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, you can tell a mountain to move into the sea, and it will happen. Jesus wanted you to be a mountain mover
Jesus taught that you are to talk to your problems and not about them.
When you talk about your problems with everyone you meet, you magnify those challenges until they become a stronghold in your mind. They occupy the high ground and rooting them out is difficult. Every time you talk about your problems, you increase their power. When you focus on them, they become stronger, and you become weaker.
Jesus said that if you have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, you can tell a mountain to move into the sea, and it will happen. Jesus wanted you to be a mountain mover
Jesus used his mountain story to make an important point. You have to talk to the mountains in your life before they will move. All of your problems - your mountains - are waiting to hear from you, and if you start speaking words of faith, your mountains will move.
No matter what your problem, you must talk to it.
If you are depressed, you must talk to your depression and start pushing back. Tell your depression that God's love is the most positive and most powerful force in the universe, and His love is filling your heart and mind. Tell your depression that you are made in the image of God, and that God loves you and accepts you the way that you are. Tell your depression that God's love changes the way you think and feel. You are a new person with a new life.
The wheel of change always turns in the direction of what you put into your mind, and you must start filling your mind with positive things. If you want to move a mountain of depression out of your life, you'll have to start talking to your depression rather than talking about it.
If your life is full of problems, don't make matters worse by commiserating over your problems with everyone you meet. Instead, start talking to your mountains and cast them into the sea.
Jesus once asked a sick man if he wanted to be healed. This was not an academic question. It addressed the heart and soul of what it takes to get well. The first step in getting well, is wanting to get better.
When you want to get better, and you expect to get better, you will no longer talk about your problems. You will start talking to your problems and mountains will start moving in your life.
If you want to be free from depression, nobody can stop you.
AS YOU BELIEVE, SO IT SHALL BE DONE UNTO YOU.
Jesus said that faith is essential to making your life into what you want it to be. He said, "As you believe, so it shall be done unto you." What is it about faith that makes it so important?
1. Faith changes your vision. When you have faith, you see possibilities that other people cannot appreciate. While others stumble around in spiritual darkness, you see where you are going, and you have clarity of purpose.
2. Faith changes your focus. You radically shift your focus in a new direction, and that focus expands. Instead of your limited and short-sighted dreams, you have the privilege of experiencing God's dream for your life.
3. Faith takes the handcuffs off God. God doesn't push and shove his way into your life. He enters your heart and mind by invitation only. You must ask him to come in and change the way you think and feel. Once you ask him into your heart and mind, the handcuffs come off God, and He starts working miracles.
4. Faith gives you positive expectations. Your old way of thinking and feeling is gone. You believe that there is no limit to how good your life can become when you get in agreement with God's plan. When you say yes to God, his purpose and plan take you places that you never dreamed were possible.
6. Faith makes you congruent. Your head, heart, and will now want the same thing and move in the same direction. You get in agreement with God, and become a part of his unstoppable plan.
7. Faith gives you courage when you place your trust in God. God is your Defender, the Captain of your fate, and the Master of your soul. He is your Guide and will show you where to take the next step. He knows your life from start to finish, and it won't be over until He says it's over. You have nothing to fear.
YOUR MENTAL FOCUS
Jesus said," Set your mind on God's Kingdom and his justice before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as well." Jesus knew that the focus of your mind will make or break you. The right mental focus transforms your life into an awesome adventure. The wrong focus puts you on a treadmill that wears you down and out. You end up in Nowhere Land, and you miss out on God's dream for your life.
Since your mental focus expands, you need to check the focus of your mind. If the only thing you focus on is stuff, dollars, houses, yachts, and youth, you will get stuff and nothing more. You will grow old carrying a backpack of stuff through life, and eventually it will become an unbearable burden. You will get everything that you want except for peace and happiness.
Don't be like Esau and trade your birthright for a bowl of porridge. Don't let your mental focus steal God's dream for your life. Don't accept second or third best.
Go with God who is the source of all good things. If you want to have it all, focus on God's Kingdom of Love.
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