Do you ever feel like you and God have drifted apart and that the love and joy you once experienced with Him has faded? If you do, you’re not alone. Most Christians feel like the experiences they have with God diminish over time and that they need another touch. But that is not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible says God will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). If that is true - and it is - who moved? As born-again believers, we are all capable of living in the fullness of God every day of our lives. God is continually pouring out His love, joy, peace, revelation knowledge, and every other blessing. But we can get to a point where we’re not receiving and feel like He has drifted away.
Romans 1:21 says,
This scripture contains four separate elements, or keys, that can lead us into and keep us operating in the fullness of God. Expressed positively, they are:
• Glorify God
The Bible says God will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). If that is true - and it is - who moved? As born-again believers, we are all capable of living in the fullness of God every day of our lives. God is continually pouring out His love, joy, peace, revelation knowledge, and every other blessing. But we can get to a point where we’re not receiving and feel like He has drifted away.
Romans 1:21 says,
"When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."
This scripture contains four separate elements, or keys, that can lead us into and keep us operating in the fullness of God. Expressed positively, they are:
• Glorify God
• Be thankful
• Recognise the power of imagination
• Have a good heart
We have the power to control each of these in our lives.
The first key - to glorify God - has a lot to do with how we perceive Him. In many places throughout the Bible, the word magnify is the same word that is translated as glorify. Therefore, magnify and glorify can be used interchangeably. And magnify means to make bigger. Technically speaking, God is who He is, regardless of what you think, but in terms of your perception, He can be big or small. You have the power to make Him one or the other in your life.
Most of us have become masters at enlarging the problem and minimising God and His Word. I remember a lady who thought she was pregnant but found out she had cancer instead. The doctors said she needed a hysterectomy immediately. They said she only had a 50 percent chance of living, and she wouldn’t live more than two weeks without surgery.
She came to me, crying, “Andrew, have you heard what they said?” Now, I don’t always respond this way, but I believe God led me to say what I did. I started laughing and declared, “Cancer’s no problem with God. The lights in heaven won’t dim from the power drain if the Lord heals you! It’s not any harder to be healed of cancer than it is to be healed of a cold.”
I started magnifying and glorifying God. I made the Lord bigger and the cancer smaller. The only thing that made the cancer insurmountable was the value she was placing on what the doctors said. They even called her a fool for refusing treatment and made her sign paperwork to absolve them of liability “when” she died. But she decided to stand her ground and believe God. It’s now been almost twenty years since she refused that operation, and she has a whole slew of children.
What do you value? What’s big to you? You can magnify the Lord and make Him and His Word bigger than any problem. Do it by glorifying, praising, and thanking Him. Find someone in the Word who overcame a situation similar to yours. Meditate on the Word and make it more real to you than the problem. You need to get to a place where God’s Word is true to you and where He is greater than any situation. Remember, Mark 9:23 tells us,
I don’t have the space here to get into all the other keys, but I want to touch on them. The second key to staying full of God is a thankful heart. Paul listed unthankfulness as one of the signs of the end times and put it in the same verse as covetousness, pride, blasphemy, and unholiness (2 Tim. 3:1-2). Glorifying, magnifying, and thanking Him are all interrelated, but to glorify God, you must be thankful. As you are thanking Him, you’re reminding yourself of what He has said and done, which magnifies Him.
Every time you are tempted to gripe and complain about a problem, don’t. Instead, enter into God’s presence and spend ten minutes thanking Him for His goodness. If you do, you’ll find that the natural desire to complain will cease, and the problem will shrink as you begin to see it in the proper perspective.
The third key is imagination. Imagination is much more important than most of us realise. Those of us with vain imaginations are pessimists, imagining failure instead of success. We need to use our imaginations to agree with God’s Word and see ourselves the way God sees us: happy, healthy, and prosperous.
The fourth key is to have a good heart. The Scripture makes it very clear that the attitude of your heart is far more important than your actions. Our hearts control what we say, and they also control what we do. Love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23) are products of what our hearts believe. The reason the heart responds in a negative way is because we allow it to be dominated by external or physical things instead of by the Word of God.
If you will put these four keys into practice in your life, you will never be the same. It will change the way you think about everyone and everything around you. I’ve only discussed the tip of the iceberg on these four keys, so I hope you’ll get the full teaching. This month, we’re offering a special package that includes the Discover the Keys to Staying Full of God book, study guide, and your choice of either the CD or DVD series. To order, you can go to awme.net/discover or call our UK Helpline at +44(0)1922 473300, or simply complete and return the enclosed form.
We love you,
The first key - to glorify God - has a lot to do with how we perceive Him. In many places throughout the Bible, the word magnify is the same word that is translated as glorify. Therefore, magnify and glorify can be used interchangeably. And magnify means to make bigger. Technically speaking, God is who He is, regardless of what you think, but in terms of your perception, He can be big or small. You have the power to make Him one or the other in your life.
Most of us have become masters at enlarging the problem and minimising God and His Word. I remember a lady who thought she was pregnant but found out she had cancer instead. The doctors said she needed a hysterectomy immediately. They said she only had a 50 percent chance of living, and she wouldn’t live more than two weeks without surgery.
She came to me, crying, “Andrew, have you heard what they said?” Now, I don’t always respond this way, but I believe God led me to say what I did. I started laughing and declared, “Cancer’s no problem with God. The lights in heaven won’t dim from the power drain if the Lord heals you! It’s not any harder to be healed of cancer than it is to be healed of a cold.”
I started magnifying and glorifying God. I made the Lord bigger and the cancer smaller. The only thing that made the cancer insurmountable was the value she was placing on what the doctors said. They even called her a fool for refusing treatment and made her sign paperwork to absolve them of liability “when” she died. But she decided to stand her ground and believe God. It’s now been almost twenty years since she refused that operation, and she has a whole slew of children.
What do you value? What’s big to you? You can magnify the Lord and make Him and His Word bigger than any problem. Do it by glorifying, praising, and thanking Him. Find someone in the Word who overcame a situation similar to yours. Meditate on the Word and make it more real to you than the problem. You need to get to a place where God’s Word is true to you and where He is greater than any situation. Remember, Mark 9:23 tells us,
“All things are possible to him that believeth.”
I don’t have the space here to get into all the other keys, but I want to touch on them. The second key to staying full of God is a thankful heart. Paul listed unthankfulness as one of the signs of the end times and put it in the same verse as covetousness, pride, blasphemy, and unholiness (2 Tim. 3:1-2). Glorifying, magnifying, and thanking Him are all interrelated, but to glorify God, you must be thankful. As you are thanking Him, you’re reminding yourself of what He has said and done, which magnifies Him.
Every time you are tempted to gripe and complain about a problem, don’t. Instead, enter into God’s presence and spend ten minutes thanking Him for His goodness. If you do, you’ll find that the natural desire to complain will cease, and the problem will shrink as you begin to see it in the proper perspective.
The third key is imagination. Imagination is much more important than most of us realise. Those of us with vain imaginations are pessimists, imagining failure instead of success. We need to use our imaginations to agree with God’s Word and see ourselves the way God sees us: happy, healthy, and prosperous.
The fourth key is to have a good heart. The Scripture makes it very clear that the attitude of your heart is far more important than your actions. Our hearts control what we say, and they also control what we do. Love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23) are products of what our hearts believe. The reason the heart responds in a negative way is because we allow it to be dominated by external or physical things instead of by the Word of God.
If you will put these four keys into practice in your life, you will never be the same. It will change the way you think about everyone and everything around you. I’ve only discussed the tip of the iceberg on these four keys, so I hope you’ll get the full teaching. This month, we’re offering a special package that includes the Discover the Keys to Staying Full of God book, study guide, and your choice of either the CD or DVD series. To order, you can go to awme.net/discover or call our UK Helpline at +44(0)1922 473300, or simply complete and return the enclosed form.
We love you,
Andrew and Jamie
Discover The Keys To Staying Full Of God
Many Christians vacation in God’s love, but they don’t live there. Andrew will show you the four keys to staying full of God and the truth of what God’s unconditional love and grace have already provided.
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