Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): This is the Power Walk Ministries broadcast with author and pastor, Reverend Paul Cannings. Our current series is titled Living God's Way. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 12, God makes his expectations clear to the people of Israel with regard to idolatry right before they enter the Promised Land.

So what about idols that are in our lives today? Television, sports, money, stature, and so on. Dethroning these idols in our lives begins with a fundamental change in our attitude about how we approach God in worship. Pastor Cannings addresses this in today's message titled Attitude.

Dr. Paul Cannings: The older people get is the more they realize the value that has been placed into them by their parents. The parents that have raised them, that have created a good home environment for them. Parents that have invested into their lives so that they make sure that they grew up and be healthy and productive in their lives. Parents that would go to the furthest need to make sure that the kids were protected and cared for.

When they grow up and they see the value of the lessons that they were taught, the investments that were made, and they see their parents hurting, boom, they respond. They value that so highly they make sacrifices that would immediately be dumbfounding to people who would say, "Are you serious? You're going to move back? You're going to sell all of this and go take care of your mom and your dad?" Yes, I've seen people do that.

When we come to this whole issue of giving, some of it is just that we haven't grown up enough to see why this issue is so valuable to God. It's not about God and giving. If God ever stopped giving, we don't survive. Period. If God does not choose to die for us, we are in hell forever. We never earned heaven. I don't care how good we thought we were, our righteousness was as filthy rags in the face of his righteousness.

Nobody sought God. He sought us. I've seen people around the globe that they don't have much, but their family unit is so rich with love. I've seen a lot of things with people who didn't have much but taught their kids discipline, taught their kids to respect one another, taught their kids to respect their parents and to love God, only for those kids to grow up and become doctors and lawyers and pour that back.

So it doesn't take riches to experience riches. It takes an attitude of appreciation, an attitude of maturity to help us to see what needs to be done. An attitude that is not from an abusive experience that we now want to dump on somebody else.

The principles that God established so that you learn to forgive the person that hurt you and you learn to love the person that loves you. Many of us have come from situations where we allowed pastors to misuse us. We allowed it. The Bible tells us a pastor should not be a lover of money; it is right there in the Bible in 1 Timothy 3. That doesn't mean that we punish a pastor for that. The Bible says a church is responsible for taking care of a pastor in Galatians chapter 6:6, 2 Timothy chapter 2:7-8. The Bible is clear about what you do for a pastor.

But the Bible says the pastor's not supposed to preach for money. He's supposed to preach for the hearts of people to surrender their lives to come to Christ, to grow in Christ, to make disciples, all these different things. But the people in response, the Bible says, should not rob him from what is due him. The Bible is clear on those things.

The Bible is saying that when we come to this issue, it is about attitude. It is about how we function and how we operate. That's why he's talking to the nation of Israel prior to going into the Promised Land, because he says in chapter 8:11-18 of the book of Deuteronomy that if we don't learn how to have this right attitude towards God, when God chooses to bless us, they will forget about him. They will turn their backs on him.

And then he says, "I will punish you for that. I'm not going to let you get away with not respecting who I am, not having the right attitude towards me when I'm taking care of you every day." So that's why he talks about a person who gains money out of evil purposes; he says they will live miserable in the book of Proverbs. He talks about the person who gets money but chooses to hoard it, like the man in Luke chapter 12 who built more barns and then he died and could not enjoy all of it.

We could go on about how we're going to function, but we don't have any power to control the results. So even if we choose not to listen, we don't turn off nothing because the word of God is going to be the word of God. As Proverbs 13:13 says, we can ignore the word, but it'll be the thing that we will be accountable to. It's not changing anything whether we listen to it, respond to it, obey it, or not. It's still going to be there and he'll still hold us accountable as to how we operate in it.

And that's why when we come to Deuteronomy chapter 12, as he prepares them to get into the Promised Land, the first thing he's going to deal with is idols. He literally would say, "I don't agree with idols. I have an issue with idols. How could you worship something that does nothing for you and then have a problem worshipping me?" In Exodus chapter 34:14 he says, "And thou shalt worship no other God, for the Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God."

Anything, as we discussed yesterday, that we give our time to more time than God, our money to more than we would give to God, and that we would serve more than we would do to God, is an idol. Some people's idol is ourselves. Anytime God contradicts anything we feel or anything we think or anything he tells us to do, we're dropping God because our own feelings is our God. Who we are is our God. This is why he says in order to follow me, deny yourself and it is a cross you pick up. But my load is easier and my burden is lighter. But take it on you and walk with me. And I'm going to use that to mature you. James chapter 1:2-4.

The issue is our attitude and how we operate because if we choose to worship any other God, he's going to have an attitude towards us. Please note that. Some people's idols is their animals. I mean, the animal gets sick on Sunday, church is over; I'm going home. Some people are upset if they can't bring their animals to church. They would go to extremes to take care of their animals. But God? They can't find the time. Or when it comes to God, if they're talking about God and it affects their ability to take care of their animal or animals, God is gone. And they're upset if you talk about it. Why? It's their God.

Even though this may offend you and get you upset, yes, we need to adjust our attitude when it comes to something that is as fundamental to God, as you would see with Cain and Abel, as how we give to him. It is fundamental to God. This is what he says, Deuteronomy chapter 12, beginning in verse 4: "Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God."

That's where we're going to park for just a minute here. The Lord your God. The Lord, not a lord, compared to the gods. He's going to make sure he puts a definite article in front of "the Lord." The other gods are a god; this one is the Lord. And notice he didn't just say the God of Israel. He said the Lord. Why is he saying that? He's saying, "I am the one that has a covenant with you."

In other words, you weren't looking for me. I sought you. I went to Abraham and established a covenant with Abraham. And only because of that covenant with Abraham, you're out of Egypt, because I said after 400 years you will be released. I said you will be incubated here. And I said that when you're released, I'll give you a promised land. I have a place that is established by Abraham where he put a stake in the ground for the new temple that will be established in the Promised Land.

That all is because of my commitment to Abraham. So you are only experiencing the resulting blessings of God because of my covenant with Abraham. So I'm the Lord. I proved to you that I'm faithful to my covenant. I proved to you right on schedule, 400 years, you're out. I proved to you that you can walk around the walls of Jericho and they fall down because now you're ready to go into it. The giants are still giants and I'm going to show you how powerful I am. I'm going to show you that because of a covenant I walk with you.

The same thing with us. We have to be reflective of the fact that I could not have had salvation without the Lord. Because of his covenant through Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross, I have an opportunity to go to heaven. I have an opportunity to have the Holy Spirit in my life. I have an opportunity to have the illumination of the Holy Spirit to understand the mind of God. So by walking within the will of God, I experience the protection of angels around me, Hebrews chapter 4:14, as an hedge to protect me against the attacks of Satan.

Because of God who chooses to build my house, I am therefore blessed, Psalm 127. Because of God who chooses to bless, I can have a blessed family and long life, Psalm 128. Because of his commitment to me on Calvary's cross, I can now have a place prepared for me in heaven. It's because of him that I can now have Satan having to go to heaven and God telling him what he can do to me and what he cannot do to me. I thank God every day because he's Lord.

So since I can't do none of those things for myself, since there's no way I could have gone to the cross without him drawing me to it, then causing me to surrender my life to him—he says I must confess with my mouth and believe in my heart. I must believe and turn over my life to God. If I haven't committed to turn over my life to God, I'm not saved; I just said Lord, Lord, and many say Lord, Lord, and few will enter into the kingdom of heaven. I have to be willing to turn my life over.

Once I decide to do that, the Bible says the Holy Spirit comes in. I can't do nothing to make that happen but his goodness, his grace, his mercy, his kindness. That's what does that. If that's not enough for me to have an attitude that says, "Blessed your name, God," I don't know what else there is. And I understand he's saying, "The Lord your God," meaning I'm sovereign. I'm the creator. I am supreme over every other god. So there's no way you should have other idols that you worship because I am the Lord God. I'm supreme. And if you love me, you will follow my commands because you choose to trust me.

So since I've given you my covenant, my commitment to you, then I should be able to rule your life because I'm the one who's bought you back from slavery, given you a brand new life. I'm the one who sustains you. So why can't I, in this new life you have, not have authority to say what you do? See, folks, when we understand his headship, understand his grace, why do we have an attitude about giving? How could we have an attitude about giving?

Never forget sitting with a woman who was tired. She's tired of being there for her husband years. Her husband, dementia. And she said, "No, I'm physically tired, sometimes mentally tired. That's true. But he was a good man for many years. He was faithful, took care of his family, he's a godly man, he did for his home righteously. But God allowed him to go through this. I'm here for my husband." You see, the attitude led to the sacrifice. You see, folks, the issue about giving is not about the preacher, the church, money; it's about our attitude towards God. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Amen, Pastor Cannings. Knowing that scripture is our source for everything, let's express our gratitude to God through our respect and a heart attitude that pleases him. And friend, if you're wondering what a relationship with God looks like and the role that Jesus Christ has in that, then give us a call and let's talk about it at 281-260-7402. That's 281-260-7402. Or you can visit us online at powerwalkministries.org.

Power Walk Ministries is excited to have a partnership with Central Baptist Church and Mars Hill Network for a conference we are doing on September 19th at 8:30 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon. The conference cost is minimal; it's $25 that includes lunch. We would love for you to be there and be a part of what God is going to do through this partnership with Central Baptist Church and Mars Hill Network and Power Walk Ministries.

It will take place at Central Baptist Church. We would love for you to be there. We need for you to go to the Central Baptist Church website in the Syracuse area, or you can go to Power Walk Ministries website or Mars Hill's website and there will be a link over for you to learn more about the classes that are being offered. We look forward to seeing you. It's going to be an exciting one-day conference where we all learn together for God's glory. Join us September 19th at Central Baptist Church. See you then.

That's powerwalkministries.org. Pastor Cannings serves as senior pastor of Living Word Fellowship Church in Houston. So if you live in the Houston area or you're planning a visit, stop on by Living Word Fellowship Church. You can log on to lwfellowshipchurch.org for the church location and service times. And now as we leave you, let's remember to adjust our attitude, especially with regard to idolatry. Let's prioritize our love for God as we worship him and serve others in his name.