TonyScott.org

Power of Influence

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:30:06 -0500

Perhaps one of man’s greatest assets is the power, skill, ability to move someone to say “yes” to a request.

This is what influence, persuasion is all about. Everyone has influence over someone. When your life connects with someone, you are an influencer.

Emerson said,

Every man is a hero and an oracle to somebody, and to that person, whatever he says has an enhanced value.

For success in any endeavor, we must have some measure of influence.

Every person is created by God to influence and to be influenced. Influence is part and parcel of our make-up in the very core of our being.

Influence is a powerful and life-changing thing, especially when it is used in a good and positive sense.

Influence is defined as “a power affecting a person, a thing, or course of events.”

Relationship is the key to influence – to win the trust of another person on the strength or quality of our character.

Influence is born out of trust which is rooted in relationship.

The power, effect of your Kingdom influence is dependent upon three things:

The knowledge of God’s Word.
The wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
The intimacy of prayer.

Regardless of what you think of your level of influence in the world, you can make a difference.

Invite someone to church this weekend… see the effect of your Kingdom influence and let Jesus take care of the rest!

If you missed this weekend @ theChurch...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:22:20 -0500

Webster defines “friend” as a “favored companion.”

Aristotle said, “A friend is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

Having friends and being a friend are both essential elements in the health of our spirit, soul, and body.

The three great commands of scripture teach us the value of close, intimate relationships: Love God, Love your neighbor, Love one another.

Enduring, trusting, loving relationships are more important to us than success and achievement.

“A friend loves at all times.”

Friendships are very important and very necessary in our lives and have a great influence upon who we are and who we become.

Good friends strengthen us, nurture us, and help us grow. Good friendships affect the health of our spirit, soul and body.

Each of us has a deep “longing for belonging.” We want to be “wanted, accepted, affirmed, appreciated, enjoyed, loved and nurtured.”

A “friend of the heart” are those enduring kinds of friendships with those who sometimes know us better than we know ourselves and love us anyway.

God is continually pursuing a love relationship with each of us. His greatest desire is to call us His friends.

No one can ever live a real, genuine, authentic, purpose-filled life without experiencing a personal, intimate relationship and friendship with Jesus.

Only Jesus can ultimately satisfy our compulsion for completion.

The most powerful relational principle in God’s Word says –

We cannot love until we first experience love – God’s love.

Law of the Moment

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:00:05 -0500

Perhaps there is no greater tragedy than to miss our moment, which all of our life has prepared us for.

Browning wrote –

I shall arrive! What time, what circuit first, I ask not. In sometime, His good time, I shall arrive!

The only way to live the dream in your heart is to understand what time it is.

Life for all of us is filled with momentous possibilities. The real difference between people is not in their opportunities, but in their ability to recognize their opportunities.

Ephesians 5:16 tells us to make the most of every opportunity. Time, in God’s Word, contains at least four ingredients:

1) Appointment

2) Expectation

3) Patience

4) Fulfillment

Matthew 6:34 (MSG) – Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now.

The Law of the Moment demands 100% focus and participation. It demands a state of active, open, intentional attention on the present.

When you don’t live in your moment, you are not there to know that you are not there.

To live and practice the Law of the Moment, you must be fully conscious of and participate in it.

Are you fully here in this moment this morning? Have you totally focused your entire being on this living moment?

God's Unconditional Love

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:02:05 -0500

All of us are, to some degree, the sum total of our loves.

We grow into the image of what we love most. Love by its nature is a creative force – it shapes, molds, conforms, and changes. Our loves dictate our behavior and command our passion. We become like those we love most.

For God, love is not a feeling – it is a responsibility. When he met chaos in the beginning, He displayed confrontational and transformational love.

He so loved the world He brought order out of chaos.

Unconditional Love is pure – no hidden motives, no strings attached. It is full of grace and mercy. It is love that reaches, teaches, knows no limits, and has no restraints.

Unconditional Love is intentional – Jesus’ intent was and is to love us into becoming like Him.

It was not the nails that held Him on the cross – it was His Unconditional Love for all mankind.

Because God is love – it is His very nature – and He has placed a piece of Himself within each of us, all of us have a life-long need for love.

Unconditional Love is the deepest longing of our being.

His love for us is not based on who or what we are, but who He is. Our value comes not from our possessions, our position, nor our prominence – it comes from who possesses us.

His Unconditional Love, will never stop pursuing us, reaching for us, caring for us and patiently waiting for us to be loved unconditionally.

To be loved unconditionally, by a confronting and transformational God until we stand with Him in the likeness of His Son, is God’s supreme desire for each of us.

If you missed this weekend @ theChurch...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:46:52 -0500

“Love, With All Your Heart”

John 13:34-35 (AMP)

I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].

If you wanted to express the ultimate theme, message, law of the Kingdom in one word, that word would be “Love.”

Jesus came to show us, to give us a Kingdom, which is founded upon perfect love. More than 500 times, love, and its many derivatives are used in the Bible.

God is capable only of “perfect love.” He can never love more or less – His love cannot be enhanced or diminished.

Everything Jesus said and did was a demonstration of Kingdom love.

Every “Godly action” of our lives is the result of His Kingdom love within us.

The positive manifestation of the Kingdom attitude is God’s love within us.

Everything God intended for us is included in His love to us and through us.

The world’s greatest revelation is that God is love and God loves us.

Love is who God is – His very nature. Thus, He can never cease to love us since His very essence is love.

God has chosen to pursue a love relationship with us as He takes the initiative to bring us into that relationship.

To be loved by God and to love God is the highest relationship, the highest achievement and the highest position available to mankind.

Join us this upcoming weekend as we continue to talk more about “Love, With All Your Heart” and we celebrate “Friend Day” at theChurch, Feb 18^th & 19^th!

With Open Arms

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:30:05 -0500

No one can doubt that man was made a social creature and was meant to live inter-connected with others like himself.

Man was born with a longing for belonging. We have an innate need for meaningful interaction with others.

Every sane person wants to be wanted, accepted, enjoyed, and loved.

Only by living together in the community of faith can we experience a sense of wholeness, self-worth and a healthy self-concept.

Only in the context of connection with others is it possible for our deepest needs to be met.

God’s plan to redeem fallen humanity revolves around building a community of faith where genuine love, acceptance, forgiveness and affirmation are experienced.

In the last forty years, there has been a serious decline in community life in America.

People who volunteer in a political campaign is half what it was in the 1960’s.
Active membership in local clubs and organizations, like parent-teacher groups, has dropped by about half since the 1970’s.
People visit less and have friends over less frequently.

Although the level of connectedness between people in our society has dropped severely, their need for connectedness has not.

I Peter 4:8 – Above all, love each other deeply…

We must love each other enough to tell the truth to each other.

Let me give you a big word with an even bigger meaning – magnanimous.

To be “magnanimous” means that you have a “great heart,” “a generous spirit,” forgiving, too big to hold a grudge.

That is what community looks like – real, genuine love, brotherly affection, great-hearted, generous acceptance and affirmation.

We need open doors, open walls. We need to be out there meeting and loving people (not necessarily their behavior) where they are. Don’t just do community, but do it with all your might.

Giving it ALL to God

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:00:05 -0500

Sometimes in life when things go wrong, there is no one to blame. Sometimes there is no rhyme, no reason to why they happen, they just happen and sometimes it’s unfair. Life is just unfair.

But in the midst of that, here is what I want you to remember and see woven through your life story – Though there may be an unfairness in life, God is never without a plan for your life.

It doesn’t matter what the unfairness is. It doesn’t matter what happens, God says, “I have a plan for YOU.”

Mother Teresa said many years ago, while working in the slums, and picking up children and loving them and caring for them: “I know that God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He wouldn’t trust me with so much.”

I doubt there is someone out there today that hasn’t at some point in life felt like there has been an unfairness in life, that life is not fair. All of us come to that conclusion at some point.

God for sure constantly uses people, places, and things for the purpose of showing us the weaknesses of our lives and revealing the sins of our own lives.

He says, “Look, I want to show you who you are because I want to plunge you into My grace that you will receive My provision for your life. I am going to wean you away from depending so much on yourself, that you forget I am the God of grace and I have provision to fill your life.”

The unfairness of life sometimes shatters our hearts and sometimes they shatter our lives. However, God does miraculous things when our hearts are shattered and broken, provided that we will give Him all the pieces, not just a few.

God says – “My son, My daughter, give me your whole heart. Don’t hold anything back from me. Give it all to me.”

Sometimes we reserve little things and we say, “I can fix that. I can take care of that.”

God said, “No! Surrender that up to me. Give it all over to me and let me fix the wound, the pain of your life, let me fix the unfairness.”

Because once again, God says, “I have a plan for you.”

The only way for God to work His will and way in your life is for you to stay in touch with God. You can’t look at life, you can’t look at circumstance and you can’t look at the unfairness.

You must rise above the challenges of life and embrace the teachings of God’s Word.

He wants you to know that in spite of the unfairness of your life, He still has a plan for you. He plans to minister His provision.

Don’t get bitter. Don’t get angry. Don’t get down in the dumps. Don’t blame God. Don’t find fault with God. Don’t talk about being born on the wrong side of the tracks. Hang around until God writes the final chapter. Because in that final chapter, God is going to bless you.

If You Missed this Weekend at theChurch...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:53:53 -0500

The Upside Down Life: The Mystery of the Kingdom

Perhaps it is the most asked question ever presented to me –

What is God’s will for my life and how can I know it?

Here is my answer –

It is God’s will for you to intimately know Jesus Christ and to learn how His secret Kingdom functions in the earth.

The words “mystery” and “mysteries” occur some 27 times in the New Testament. As this word is used in the Bible, it refers to something which has been kept secret through times eternal, but is now revealed.

It also is a divine purpose, hidden in the heart of God for a long period of time until He unveils it with a new revelation.

The “mystery” of the Kingdom is unveiled by Jesus as He demonstrates the Upside Down Life. The secret of this unveiling is found in the dynamics of Jesus’ prayer life.

He listened to God’s heart and then spoke God’s will to those around Him.

God has entered into a partnership with every believer.

Prayer is the link between us and the unlimited purposes of God. Prayer is our “Kingdom connection” to the will of God in our lives. Prayer in its purest sense means to put our lives totally into God’s desires for us.

Literally, we determine His will and then make ourselves available to Him for His will to be done through us.

His desire for us is to live in His Kingdom, live by Kingdom laws, and carry out His directives, which we receive from His Word and by His Spirit.

SHINE!

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:02:05 -0500

How many of you have every said something and wished you had not said that? It just sort of slipped out.

My mother had the answer for that and she always said – If it wasn’t in there it wouldn’t come out.

That’s the truth of God’s word. Our character is revealed in our words.

The person that we really are comes out of us in our speech and our speech is very powerful.

There are a lot of people who live on the surface of life and they never, ever get into the depth of life.

They just stay on the surface. God wants us to learn to speak what He is saying and not what we are thinking.

God is interested in you picking up the God language. He’s interested in you picking up the positive language of His Word and of His life and of His energy. Get the feeling of God inside of you.

God didn’t make us to be defeated.
God didn’t make us to be poor.
God didn’t make us to be the all scouring of the world.
God didn’t make us to be living on the other side of the tracks.

God made us to shine in the glory of His Kingdom, to let the world know there is a God who cares and loves us and who made us His own.

Life on the Other Side

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:15:06 -0500

Life with a capital “L” was never designed to be lived in a stationary, status quo, mundane, lethargic, monotonous kind of state.

In reality, life with a capital “L” was designed to be motion-filled, ever-changing, challenging, energetic and exciting.

All too often we find ourselves absorbed with the routine, allowing others and circumstances to dictate the pace and quality of our living.

Perhaps that kind of life is best described by the old Greyhound slogan – “Just take the bus and leave the driving to us.”

Or the Yellow Pages slogan of – “Just let your fingers do the walking.”

God never intended for us to be passive observers in life, but He wanted us to become faith-filled, active, exploit achieving, daring men and women of accomplishments.

Adam was to tend the garden meaning to keep, cultivate, protect – all words demanding activity and achievement.
Noah was to build an ark meaning to design, construct, finish – words demanding intelligence, creativity, work – 120 years of it.

One thing is certain – there is no time for idleness, slothfulness, laziness, lethargy or inertia.

God is always moving in the earth, directing His people, speaking His plans, encouraging us to experience Him in His great endeavors.

Perhaps it is time for us to hear the words of Psalm 68:1 – Let God arise and His enemies be scattered.

Too many people love the security of sameness. God never changes, but His means and methods are ever changing.

Upside Down Life Message Opener Video by Jason Lauthers!

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:17:40 -0500

Upside Down Life Message Opener Video by Jason Lauthers!

If you missed this weekend at TheChurch on Strayer...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:59:06 -0500

Let us begin our study today with a profound truth -

As a believer, you now have the very life of heaven within you.

That means you and I are right now equipped by God with eternal life which we can live out on a day-by-day basis in the presence of this evil age.

In this world, we are soaked with secularity. It seems people have little regard for a loving, caring, interactive God.

Jesus prayed for us to live in victory and be fulfilled while being in the world but not of the world.

Full-time Kingdom living brings us into our created purpose as we live lives of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

John 17:14 - I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world…

The Holy Spirit is the C.O.O. ─Chief Operating Officer─ of God’s Kingdom on earth. He is also the C.E.O. ─Chief Executive Officer─ of God’s Kingdom on earth.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives daily helping us, comforting us, and counseling us by becoming our advocate (defense attorney), intercessor, strengthener, and standby is God’s guarantee of His promise of eternal life. (John 16:7)

You don’t have to win ─ God guarantees victory.
You don’t have to struggle, fight ─ trust and obey.

Live as subjects of His Kingdom; enjoy His protection, preservation, and provision. As Kingdom subjects, we are sealed by God. “Sealing” keeps out the polluted air. He keeps us in the midst of an evil age. Nothing shall, by any means, harm us.

Relying on God

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:02:06 -0500

One of the greatest life principles I have ever learned is:

Nothing can enter my life without first coming through His hands.

God’s hand is always on the control center of our lives provided we are fully surrendered to Him.

No individual in the Bible who ever fully followed Jesus was ever decreased, but was enlarged.

For each of us it important to understand God’s enlargement process in order to live the enlarged life. We should always remember that God has an “exact moment” for our season of enlargement.

Where is your lack today, your area of barrenness?
As you sing forth God’s praises and worship Him, increase and enlargement will come to you.
Get ready for God to enlarge our spheres of influence and usefulness.

As we move into the enlarged life, God strips off the chains, bondage and restraints; He equips us, arms us, makes us ready and strengthens our hand. He makes us loose, pliable, maneuverable and ready.

Psalm 18:20-24

²⁰GOD made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
he gave me a fresh start.
²¹Now I’m alert to GOD’s ways;
I don’t take God for granted.
²²Every day I review the ways he works;
I try not to miss a trick.
²³I feel put back together,
and I’m watching my step.
²⁴GOD rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

I’m ready for another weekend, as we learn more about His Kingdom and how to live it!

Are you ready?

Let Your Light Shine!

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:30:06 -0500

With your Bible, read Matthew 5:14-16.

In the study of life, one thing is most certain – without light there is no life. Light is necessary for photosynthesis to occur.

When Jesus commanded us to “Let our light shine” He was telling us what we are meant to be – light – and what we are meant to do – shine.

A changed life must become in turn a life-changer. Light is a symbol of radiance, openness, and joy.

Everything that is purely itself fulfills its purpose. It is the nature and purpose of light to shine.

The only answer to darkness is light. Light and darkness do not mix, for light is a positive energy while darkness is simply the absence of light.

While light can pierce the darkness, darkness cannot penetrate light since light always dominates. When light hits darkness, the darkness is pushed back at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.

The mission of Jesus is to conform Believers to His image and to empower them with His light so they can perform good works that will draw others to His light.

We empower Jesus in our lives as we do these good works.

There is a chemical element called selenium, which is normally a non-conductor of electricity. No electricity can pass through it.

However, when light falls on it immediately it becomes a conductor, electricity flows through it. And the amount of electricity that can flow through a selenium cell is exactly proportional to the amount of light that falls on it.

No light, no electricity.
A little light, a little electricity.
Great light, great electricity.

Thus we see how God’s light gets into the world.

An unsaved person is like selenium – a non-conductor. None of God’s wisdom, love, and might pass into the world. Let a ray of God’s light fall on a human heart and immediately the person becomes a conductor of God’s power to the world around him.

When our light shines God is magnified to those around us. So, Let Your Light Shine!

How can we, in our finite beings, understand and grasp something...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:03:49 -0500

How can we, in our finite beings, understand and grasp something so vast as the Kingdom of God?

By a process of renewal, God generously loves us and patiently leads us from our fleshly perspective into our true spiritual selves. God is available always to lead us into spiritual reality.

It is in our personhood – experiences, feelings, thoughts and will – where we come to know exactly what the spiritual is.

Our “spirit” is who we are and from which we cannot escape. It is our true nature and destiny.

Our “spirit” was created by God for Him to communicate His life and purpose into our daily life.

John 3:36 (MSG) - That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever!

He thus enables us to know His truth, to do His truth. This truth is partial and incomplete – I Corinthians 13:12 – Now I know in part. His truth empowers me to interact with Him in His Kingdom rule.

His truth equips us to live our purpose as we function in a conscious, personal relationship of interactive responsibility with Him.

Eternal life also means His Spirit dwells within us – we are “born of His Spirit” (John 3:5).

We are spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body.

God created every living thing to live within its natural habitat. What it is, dictates its world. Move it out of its special environment and it struggles and dies.

As human beings we are created to live spiritual lives deriving our life from His life. It is the way we are created to live.

Day by day we are to integrate our life into the spiritual world of His Kingdom rule.

Increasingly as we do this, our life is filled with His wisdom, knowledge, strength and power.

You and I are made for the spiritual environment of His Kingdom rule.

Perhaps that phrase – “Carpe Diem” – Seize the day or the moment...

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:32:05 -0500

Perhaps that phrase – “Carpe Diem” – Seize the day or the moment – best describes our now season at theChurch.

The only way to seize the day is to be present in the present.

Let me ask you a question – do the dimensions of your living equal the dimensions of His purpose for your life?

His purpose for you is pregnant with divine possibility but integrated with human responsibility.

We are to place each day in the balance and make it tip the scales in a way that will bring glory to God and blessing to the lives of others.

In order to seize the day, the moment, we must do three things:

1) Walk (live) purposefully.

2) Walk (live) as wise people.

3) Redeem the time.

The ultimate aim of God knowledge is control. His purpose for us is that we would “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

The most important principle for human growth and development is how you respond to your seasons.

You determine the value of you; you determine the value of your time; you determine the quality of your effort.

The Adventure of Becoming Who I Am!

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:00:05 -0500

You are never more a man (or woman) than when you embrace an adventure beyond your control, or when you walk into a battle you aren’t sure of winning.

We should see every adventure of our life as an opportunity for initiation. What are You teaching me, God? What are You asking me to do or to let go of? What in my heart are You speaking to?

Oswald Chambers said, “Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you.”

Originality and creativity are essential to identity and calling.

The adventure begins and our real strength is released when we no longer rely on formulas. God is an immensely creative person and He wants His children to live that way to.

God wants us to know that our battles are personal to Him and He will design personal and unique strategies for each battle.

The theme of our story is how we become human. What does it mean to become human, be a real man, a real woman? What must we deal with in order to become ourselves, to grow up?

We can’t be human without God. Human life is a great gift; every part of it is designed by God and therefore means something. Every part of it is blessed by God and therefore is to be enjoyed.

We can refuse to participate in God, act as if He isn’t our designer, provider and covenant presence. But when we refuse, we’re less; our essential humanity is less, our lives are diminished and impoverished.

God-thirst is the most powerful drive in us, stronger than all the drives of sex, power, security and fame put together.

To be God-chosen is to be God-anointed, God-assigned and God-defined. Once you know who you are, you acquire a God-dominated imagination. You practice the presence of God and His presence captivates your thinking about your responses to life.

The most personal, most significant, most human thing we ever do is to believe in and trust in God.

And I’ll leave you with this…your thumbprint is God’s way of reminding you of how unique and special you truly are!

If You Missed This Weekend at TheChurch on Strayer 1.16.12 In...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:28:15 -0500

If You Missed This Weekend at TheChurch on Strayer 1.16.12

In our world today, there exists a great hunger in the human heart for life. It is natural for man to love life and to cling to it.

Beyond our physical life, God’s Word offers a life on a higher level. It is the life given to us through the Kingdom of God.

We “enter the Kingdom” through repentance and surrender to God’s will in our lives. The Kingdom is the rule, the reign, the government of God in this age in the hearts and lives of those who yield their lives to Him.

For His Kingdom rule to come within you, your kingdom rule must go. This is The Upside Down Life. This produces a miraculous transformation.

The kingdom of darkness blinds men, while the Kingdom of light, illuminates them. Kingdom living frees us from fear, anxiety and worry – true upside down living.

Jesus invites us into His Kingdom to take a journey into the life and heart of God.

As we enter this Kingdom, Jesus speaks to, heals, and empowers us individually.

Only by living the Kingdom life, is it possible to understand our life.

We were created to count, to matter, to make a contribution.

Our desire for significance is a sign of who we are and why we are here.

We are already sons and daughters of God:
I John 3:2 - Beloved, we are [even here and] now God’s children…
We are being made in His image:
II Corinthians 3:18 (MSG) - And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him.

Only as we come to know and experience God and His Kingdom and live by its laws, rules, principles, do we become whole, well, and complete.

Perseverance in the Kingdom

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:30:05 -0500

It is a law of life – perseverance always outlasts persecution.

Perseverance is probably the single most common quality of high achievers. The longer you persevere in any endeavor, the greater the probability that something will happen in your favor.

Success in life comes through industry – dedication, commitment, patience, self-discipline, and hard work that brings positive results.

Every living thing on planet earth is designed to grow.

Humans and animals have within them an inborn need to grow and develop their full potential.

Paul said, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me… We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Jesus gave us the principle of success in perseverance when He said, ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.

Ask

Seek

Knock

The Father gives good things to those who keep asking Him.

Jesus created our humanity and knows its tendency to give up quickly, to become inconsistent and lackadaisical.

God rewards persistence! God slowly yields the good things of the kingdom and the world to those who struggle.

Abraham waited a hundred years before he received Isaac, the child of promise.
David was hunted as a criminal for 17 years before becoming king of Israel.
Joseph persevered through 13 years of struggles until he became second in command in Egypt.

God’s kingdom can only function in our lives to the extent we operate in faith.

Perseverance in the kingdom is dependent upon the degree to which we allow His life to dominate us.

God is my Cup of Tea!

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:00:05 -0500

Life is often made more interesting by the questions it prompts.

Questions like –

What is my purpose?
Why am I here?
What is my place?
Where do I belong?
What should I be doing?

Then there is the ultimate question of – Is there a God? And if there is, what does He expect of me?

Since we are created for a specific purpose, we cannot adopt an attitude of neutrality toward the God who made us without being morally irresponsible.

God is not optional – He is an imperative. Only by the Spirit of God acting on our human spirit can we ever be enabled to behave as God intended us to behave. Our behavior is intended by God to be a pure expression of His divine nature.

The moment you come to realize that only God can make a man whole, you are left with no option but to find God, to know God, and to let God be God in you and through you.

It takes God to be a man, and wholeness is the consequence of God’s capacity to reproduce Himself in you.

When you act in strict obedience to the “truth” of God’s Word, the “truth” behaves, and the end effect is wholeness.

The Christian life is not so much what we do to please God but the yielding of our lives to Him so that He can, through the indwelling Christ, do through us His will.

All of Him is in me – all of Him in me is available to me and through me to the world around me.

Think about this through the analogy of a cup of hot water and a tea bag. The water is not the tea and the tea is not the water. They are two separate items.

When the tea bag is placed in the water, a remarkable thing takes place – the water changes color and nature. It becomes indwelt by a new and dominant nature.

The nature of the tea saturates the water until it becomes tea – not water. For the water to exist now is for tea to exist.

The water could say – it is no longer I that exist, but tea that lives in me.

As a Christian, I am just a cup of water, which, when heated by the Holy Spirit and mixed with faith and indwelt by the Savior, becomes a new creation.