January 20, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jesus Christ is not promising that you won't have periods
of loneliness, but he is promising you never have to
be alone.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Doctor Tony Evans is God has extended to each of
us an extraordinary gift.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
He offers us intimacy, a dynamic closeness with the creator
of the universe.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Hearing stories of
what God has done for others can be incredibly inspiring,
But let me ask you what has He done for
you lately? If you need more than a second or
two to come up with an answer, then you'll want
(00:40):
to listen in today. As doctor Evans presents a powerful
message on intimacy with God, Let's join him as he begins.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
The mythical story is told of Tantalus. Tantalus was a
king who had been found guilty of giving the secrets
of the Greek.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Gods to mortal men.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
His punishment was to be placed in the river called Hades.
The water came up to his chin, and hanging above
him were branches of voluptuous fruit dangling.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Over his head. The punishment, however, was this.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Every time Tantalus got thirsty and lowered his chin to
drink water, the water would recede, and every time Tantalus
reached out to grab a piece of fruit, it would rise.
So the refreshment for his thirst was right there at
(01:49):
chin level. Food for his stomach was right above his head.
But the harder he tried, the less he got. The
punishment for his crime was to be in the vicinity
of a blessing and not be able to get it.
(02:10):
The point is simply, if you reach out for fulfillment
in the things of this life, you'll discover it's just
out of your reach. For nothing in life was designed
to give you the fulfillment of life, that is, accept God.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Everything else is but a cheap imitation.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
The thing you and I cling to most to give
us meeting zip purpose we final. We have to keep
hoarding it in because it so quickly eludes us. And
that's why one of the great needs of the Christian
life is the need for intimacy closeness with God. God
(03:00):
is not way out there and some ethereal concept that
we know about, but He has been personally expressing himself
in here where we know him and not just his name.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Four things I don't want to share with you today.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
The first is from Matthew, chapter nine, verse fifteen, The
problem of intimacy? Why does it exist? Why is it
that often God seems so far away? This was a
concern of the disciples when Jesus was leaving, and Jesus
(03:39):
had to say, let not your hearts be troubled. You
believe in God. Believe also and me, I go to
my father's house to prepare a place for you. And
if I go, I will return again to receive you
under myself.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
The question was, how are we.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Gonna make it with you not here? We've been used
to you being here for three years. We've walked with you,
talk with you, hung out with you, and now you're
gonna disappear on us. How are we gonna make it
with you not here? Matthew nine point fifteen states the
problem another way. Jesus said to them, the attendants of
(04:14):
the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is
with them, can they? But the days will come when
the bridegroom is taken away from them.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And they will fast.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
In other words, when Jesus Christ left his disciples. That
meant that there was going to be a gap physically
because he wouldn't be here.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
They didn't need to.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Fast when he was here because intimacy was based on proximity.
He was there in their midst, But when he left,
he said, you will need to fast in order to
bridge this invisible chasm of my absence. You can't be
with me right now physically, but I will make a
(05:07):
way for you to be with me spiritually. When the
bridegroom is taken away. You were fast. That is fast.
Thing was the way by which God would provide ongoing
connectedness to the disconnectedness that we experience trying to operate
in the spiritual realm. Oftentimes, this connectedness we know as
(05:34):
a loneness. Now everybody gets lonely. There's a difference between
being lonely and being alone. Loneliness is a temporary feeling
of being by yourself.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
It comes, it goes.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
A loneness, on the other hand, is a permanent feeling
of being by yourself. A single person can be lonely,
but they don't have to be alone. One is temporary,
one is long standing. Jesus Christ is not promising that
you won't have periods of loneliness. But he is promising
(06:12):
you never have to be alone. He offers us intimacy,
a dynamic closeness with the creator of the universe. Now,
I know we've got a lot of people fasting for breakthroughs.
We got people fasting that God will bring about a
deliverance in some area of your life, and you should
do that. But this goes beyond that, because now you're
(06:33):
not fasting for a breakthrough. You're fasting for the breakthrough word.
In other words, you're after God, not just what he
can do for you. You want to know who he is.
You're like Moses, who said, God, show me your glory.
You like Paulo said that I might know him and
(06:54):
the power that raised him from the dead. You're after
a person. You've heard about God, but you want to
know who he is. How do you know when this
is what you need to fast for? How do you
know when it's time to give up food in order
to get God, or to give up some other craving
in order to get gone. How do you know that
(07:14):
it's time in my life for a fast, to give
up food for a day, or a meal one day
a week, or whatever the arrangement is how do I
know when that time has come?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Look at Revelation three, verse fifteen.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Jesus says, I know your deeds, that you are neither
hot nor cold, and.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I would that you were cold or hot.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth. Jesus here
says I want you to be hot or cold. I
don't like lukewarm on a hot day. You want a
cold glass of water, a cold of cold, a cold
(08:02):
glass of tea.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Ice team.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
When is the last time you got up walk up
in the morning and ask for a lukewarm cup of coffee.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Or a lukewarm cup of tea?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
You know why you don't ask for lukewarm because it
doesn't refresh. It's wet, but it is not addressing the problem.
If it's hot, you want cold. If it's called, you
want hot, because it addresses the problem. You know you
need an intimacy fast when you are so so.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Neither hot neither cold, you're just there.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
You're just going through the motions. When it's cold on
the outside, you're not burning on the inside. And when
it's hot on the outside, and the fire of trials
are burning you. You don't have a sense that God
is cooling you down on the inside.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
You just there.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
There's not a Christian who doesn't experience just being there.
If you live in this world, there are times when
you just bare, when you're not hot, you're not cold,
you're there. The fire of God has been diminished to
less than a flicker, and it's just there.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
In fact, there is no fire, it's just smoke.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
That means there's a need for intimacy and look with
Jesus offers in verse twenty, Behold, I stand at the
door knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Dine with him, and he with me. He talking about
a meal dying.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
He says, I am knocking on the door of your life.
How do you know I'm knocking because you've gotten lukewarm,
no fire, no coal, You're just there. Well, you're just there.
I'm knocking and letting you know something is missing, something
is missing.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
How do I know.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Jesus is knocking because you're hearing what he's saying on
the other side of the door. Something is missing, something
is missing, Something is missing, something is missing. No, you
don't need drugs. You don't need a girlfriend. No, you
don't need a party. You need to open the door,
he says. We hear somebody say something is missing, and
we go to the back door. Jesus is knocking on
(10:19):
the front door, and he is saying, let me in,
and I will come in and dine with you. Now,
Jesus told his disciples and John for he says, I
have food to eat that you know not of. Jesus
has got stuff to serve you that you've never eaten before.
He is appealing to intimacy. Open the door, avail yourself.
(10:42):
How do I.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Open the door? We've been told when.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
The bridegroom goes fasting, Fasting is opened the door by
pushing the physical in the background, pushing the spiritual to
the front, giving up on the desires of the body
in order that i'm I gain an intimacy of the spirit.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Doctor Evans will share more about building an intimate relationship
with the Lord when he returns shortly with the next
part of this message from his sermon series Fasting The
Key to Spiritual Victory. Biblical fasting involves a spiritual focus,
and Tony's been examining how that focus draws us closer
to God as we seek his forgiveness, guidance and protection.
(11:27):
The series is available to you on CD or digital
download and includes fourteen full length messages with extra material
we haven't had time to present on the broadcast. We'll
send the entire collection to you as a thank you
gift when you make a financial contribution to support this ministry,
and as an added way of saying thanks. Will also
(11:48):
include the Cultivating a Year of Kindness perpetual flip calendar
with daily prompts, prayers, scriptures, and words from doctor Evans.
To take advantage of this limited time offer, visit Tonyevans
dot org or call one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
two twenty two for help from our resource team. I'll
(12:08):
share our contact information with you again after part two
of today's lesson and this.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
It's beyond a Sunday sermon. A chance to really dig
into the Bible and the Kingdom in a new way,
anytime and anywhere, because it's all online. The Tony Evans
Training Center in depth courses on all kinds of topics,
cultural transformation, intro to expository preaching, Jude John, Hebrews Old Testament,
(12:34):
New Testament and so much more. These aren't sermons, they're
teaching courses to help you engage understand scripture and not
just to hear about, but to explore the Kingdom of
God on your own. Find out more at Tonyevans Training
dot org Tonyevans Training dot org.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
All of us have interviewed for jobs, or if you're
a supervisor, you've interviewed others for jobs, and.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
You know you always start with the resume, right.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
You want to see who the person is, their name,
their background, educationally, their work performance. Then you call up
for references. You find out what other folks think about them, right,
(13:23):
But usually that's never enough. Usually, in addition to the resume,
and in addition to the references, you want a personal interview,
because there's nothing like seeing the person sitting in front
of you expressing themselves, how they look, how they articulate themselves.
(13:44):
You want that personal contact to confirm that this is
the person for the job I want to submit today.
That God has a rather exhaustive resume. He's got sixty
book's worth of experience, and he's been on this job
(14:04):
an awful long time. And it's a resume that anybody
can get any time they want to, because it's been
publicly displayed. Not only does he have a good resume,
but he's got good references. If you ask Adam, he'll
tell you what kind of God he can be when
he creates an Eden. If you ask Moses, he'll tell
(14:28):
you the kind of God he is when you're caught
between the Red Sea and Pharaoh.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
If you go ask.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Samuel, he'll tell you what God can do. If you
call up Joshua, he'll give him a good word. If
you ask David, he'll tell you how God can show
up when golia is in your faith. If you ask Peter,
he'll tell you how he enables you to walk on water.
If you ask the New Testament says you'll get good references.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
But that's not enough. I want a personal interview.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I want to know what it is when he sits
right and me and I see him for myself. I
don't just want to hear how the folk testify that
he's a bridge over trouble water. I want him to
be my bridge over trouble water. I don't just want
to hear how the folk testify about the power of
the glory, the greatness of God. I want to watch
it for myself. Some of us are living the Christian
(15:22):
life by secondhand Christian testimony. What he did for somebody else,
he says, and fastening prayer you can find out what
I can do for you. So what is the process
for cultivating this intimacy? I like WHATSNG forty six '
ten says the King James version, I think says be
(15:47):
still and know that I am God. The New American
standard says, cease striving and know that I am God.
The Tony Evans translation says, chill and know that I
am God. Shut out the world around you, and simply
(16:11):
be alone with Him in his presence, which is what
fasting and prayer offers. It offers time alone with God
instead of the clamor of the noise, instead of the
noise of the restaurant.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
I give up my meal. I go to my quiet place,
and I chill with God.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
And in those quiet moments, like David, we say in
Psalm one thirty nine, verses twenty three and twenty four,
search me, O God, and know my heart. See if
there be any wicked way in me, cleanse me. It
is being in His presence, freeing the Holy Spirit up
(16:56):
to begin speaking to your inner man and letting you,
maybe for the first time in years, I love you.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
You know why you're hearing me right now.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
You're hearing me because we got a loud speaking But
this chord that I have on, this mic I have
on isn't plug in anything. But you see it's functioning
as cordless. Because in the air there are waves, sound waves,
and they're invisible.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Can anybody point me to a wave, show me a
sound wave. You can't show me a sound wave. But
you know it's working.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You know why you know the sound wave is working
because I have a tool. We have a receiver that
can pick up.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
On the wave.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
We've got an instrument that can hook us up with
the invisible, so the invisible becomes visible, so that what
you couldn't hear without the instrument you can hear.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
But the wave are there all the time.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
God is invisible, and if you start looking for him,
you're not gonna see him. But if you have the
right instrument, you'll pick up on the wave. You'll pick
up on the wave. And he offers us an instrument.
When he offers us fasting and prayer. Finally, Anna and
a man named Simeon have been looking.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
For the Christ Child at his first coming.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
All the prophets have prophesied that the Messiah was going
to come.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Simeon gets the word.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Messiah is here and blesses Mary and said to marry
his mother. Verse thirty four, Behold, a child is appointed
for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and
for a sign to be opposed. He gives a prophecy
concerning the child. And then we're introduced to a lady
in the temple named Anna. There was a prophetess Anna,
(19:03):
the daughter of Video from the tribe of Asher.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Seven years after her marriage and then as a widow
to the age of eighty four. And she never left
the temple, serving day and night with fasting and prayer.
Now we're introduced the fasting by this lady called Anna.
Now don't read this too fast.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
That's something in this widow.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
So she's by herself, she's not married anymore because her
husband has died. She's a widow, lives in the temple
where she didn't physically live in the temple because the
temple didn't have rooms to live in, but it meant
She was at the temple daily. It was a part
of her ritual. She was always there. Why was she
there fasting than praying? What was she fasting and praying for?
(19:55):
We know because of what verse thirty eight says. And
at that very moment she came up and began giving
thanks to God and continue to speak of him to
those who are looking for the redemption of Israel?
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Was that me?
Speaker 3 (20:15):
She was saying, Lord, I want to see this redemption.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
You promised way back in Genesis three point fifteen that
there was gonna be a Messiah who was gonna be born,
you promising the prophet Isaiah it would be born of
a virgin. You didn't give the exact date of the birds.
But I just want to pray in fast to let
my eyes see it. She was asking for a needle
(20:43):
in a haystack. She was saying, let me be one
of the ones who get to see Messiah with my
own eyes. And here she, in this occasion, and look too,
gets to see Jesus Christ, the baby that had been
born in the major. Now why is that important? Because
(21:04):
she got to see what other folks never saw. You see,
when you're close to God, he'll let you in on
stuff other fe folks can't see. He'll let you in
on private conversations. In fact, one of the rewards and
revelation too, is that people who are close to God,
he calls the overcomers, you shall get access to the
paradise of God where we have private conversations. When you're intimate. See,
(21:28):
when you close to feed people, they tell you secrets. Right,
Why don't the folk tell you secrets when you're close
to them because they know they can trust you with
the information, because they know you out for their good.
When you're intimate, God will tell you things. The reason
why God won't tell many of us things is we
don't know him well enough.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yet.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
You ever have people get in your business and be
asking your personal stuff and you have to say, I
don't know you.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Who are you? You are always in my business?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Well, the reason why many of us don't in from
God is God that I don't know you. You are a stranger. Yeah,
I see you once a week at church, but I
don't know you. I don't know you. We are not intimate.
But let me tell you another thing.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
That's here.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
He goes into details, telling you and I how long
this lady was there and watch this now. She's been
there for years, and some of you been waiting on
God for years. Let me tell you what fasting and
prayer did for this lady. It not only let her
see it, even though it was later in her life,
it gave her the strength to keep coming doing the wait.
(22:34):
The beauty of fasting and being intimate with God is
even when you don't know how long it's gonna take
Him to give you your breakthrough, He'll make it so
that you can wait.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Tell us time.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Intimacy will give you the power of patience. It'll let
you keep waiting to tell your change come.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
What will it take for you to build a clone,
more intimate connection with Christ, Well, if part of the
answer is spending more time in God's word, a good
place to start is by visiting our website Tonyevans dot org.
It's packed with Bible study resources on just about any
topic you can imagine, books, booklets, CDs, videos, and more,
(23:20):
including a huge selection of downloadable resources and a link
to the Tonyevans Training Center. Tonyevans dot Org is also
the place to go to take advantage of that special
offer I mentioned earlier. Remember, if you contact us and
make a donation right away. We'll send you the entire
fourteen message series Tony's about to wrap up, called Fasting
(23:41):
the Key to Spiritual Victory. It's packed with additional content
we haven't had time to present on the broadcast, and
as an added bonus, we're including doctor Evans cultivating a
year of kindness perpetual flip calendar with each fasting series
we send out. But this special offer ends in a
couple of days, so don't wait. Make the arrangements right
(24:02):
away at Tonyevans dot org or call us at one
eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two, where the
friendly people in our resource center will be happy to
help you. That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two
two two. Most people think of fasting in terms of
what we don't do eat, but the Bible describes a
(24:24):
very active side to fasting, a list of things that
prove our act of sacrifice is more than just an act.
Be sure to join us again tomorrow as doctor Evans
presents a message called Fasting for Justice
Jesus Christ is not promising that you won't have periods
of loneliness, but he is promising you never have to
be alone.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Doctor Tony Evans is God has extended to each of
us an extraordinary gift.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
He offers us intimacy, a dynamic closeness with the creator
of the universe.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Hearing stories of
what God has done for others can be incredibly inspiring,
But let me ask you what has He done for
you lately? If you need more than a second or
two to come up with an answer, then you'll want
(00:40):
to listen in today. As doctor Evans presents a powerful
message on intimacy with God, Let's join him as he begins.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
The mythical story is told of Tantalus. Tantalus was a
king who had been found guilty of giving the secrets
of the Greek.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Gods to mortal men.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
His punishment was to be placed in the river called Hades.
The water came up to his chin, and hanging above
him were branches of voluptuous fruit dangling.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Over his head. The punishment, however, was this.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Every time Tantalus got thirsty and lowered his chin to
drink water, the water would recede, and every time Tantalus
reached out to grab a piece of fruit, it would rise.
So the refreshment for his thirst was right there at
(01:49):
chin level. Food for his stomach was right above his head.
But the harder he tried, the less he got. The
punishment for his crime was to be in the vicinity
of a blessing and not be able to get it.
(02:10):
The point is simply, if you reach out for fulfillment
in the things of this life, you'll discover it's just
out of your reach. For nothing in life was designed
to give you the fulfillment of life, that is, accept God.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Everything else is but a cheap imitation.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
The thing you and I cling to most to give
us meeting zip purpose we final. We have to keep
hoarding it in because it so quickly eludes us. And
that's why one of the great needs of the Christian
life is the need for intimacy closeness with God. God
(03:00):
is not way out there and some ethereal concept that
we know about, but He has been personally expressing himself
in here where we know him and not just his name.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Four things I don't want to share with you today.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
The first is from Matthew, chapter nine, verse fifteen, The
problem of intimacy? Why does it exist? Why is it
that often God seems so far away? This was a
concern of the disciples when Jesus was leaving, and Jesus
(03:39):
had to say, let not your hearts be troubled. You
believe in God. Believe also and me, I go to
my father's house to prepare a place for you. And
if I go, I will return again to receive you
under myself.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
The question was, how are we.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Gonna make it with you not here? We've been used
to you being here for three years. We've walked with you,
talk with you, hung out with you, and now you're
gonna disappear on us. How are we gonna make it
with you not here? Matthew nine point fifteen states the
problem another way. Jesus said to them, the attendants of
(04:14):
the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is
with them, can they? But the days will come when
the bridegroom is taken away from them.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And they will fast.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
In other words, when Jesus Christ left his disciples. That
meant that there was going to be a gap physically
because he wouldn't be here.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
They didn't need to.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Fast when he was here because intimacy was based on proximity.
He was there in their midst, But when he left,
he said, you will need to fast in order to
bridge this invisible chasm of my absence. You can't be
with me right now physically, but I will make a
(05:07):
way for you to be with me spiritually. When the
bridegroom is taken away. You were fast. That is fast.
Thing was the way by which God would provide ongoing
connectedness to the disconnectedness that we experience trying to operate
in the spiritual realm. Oftentimes, this connectedness we know as
(05:34):
a loneness. Now everybody gets lonely. There's a difference between
being lonely and being alone. Loneliness is a temporary feeling
of being by yourself.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
It comes, it goes.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
A loneness, on the other hand, is a permanent feeling
of being by yourself. A single person can be lonely,
but they don't have to be alone. One is temporary,
one is long standing. Jesus Christ is not promising that
you won't have periods of loneliness. But he is promising
(06:12):
you never have to be alone. He offers us intimacy,
a dynamic closeness with the creator of the universe. Now,
I know we've got a lot of people fasting for breakthroughs.
We got people fasting that God will bring about a
deliverance in some area of your life, and you should
do that. But this goes beyond that, because now you're
(06:33):
not fasting for a breakthrough. You're fasting for the breakthrough word.
In other words, you're after God, not just what he
can do for you. You want to know who he is.
You're like Moses, who said, God, show me your glory.
You like Paulo said that I might know him and
(06:54):
the power that raised him from the dead. You're after
a person. You've heard about God, but you want to
know who he is. How do you know when this
is what you need to fast for? How do you
know when it's time to give up food in order
to get God, or to give up some other craving
in order to get gone. How do you know that
(07:14):
it's time in my life for a fast, to give
up food for a day, or a meal one day
a week, or whatever the arrangement is how do I
know when that time has come?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Look at Revelation three, verse fifteen.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Jesus says, I know your deeds, that you are neither
hot nor cold, and.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I would that you were cold or hot.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth. Jesus here
says I want you to be hot or cold. I
don't like lukewarm on a hot day. You want a
cold glass of water, a cold of cold, a cold
(08:02):
glass of tea.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Ice team.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
When is the last time you got up walk up
in the morning and ask for a lukewarm cup of coffee.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Or a lukewarm cup of tea?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
You know why you don't ask for lukewarm because it
doesn't refresh. It's wet, but it is not addressing the problem.
If it's hot, you want cold. If it's called, you
want hot, because it addresses the problem. You know you
need an intimacy fast when you are so so.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Neither hot neither cold, you're just there.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
You're just going through the motions. When it's cold on
the outside, you're not burning on the inside. And when
it's hot on the outside, and the fire of trials
are burning you. You don't have a sense that God
is cooling you down on the inside.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
You just there.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
There's not a Christian who doesn't experience just being there.
If you live in this world, there are times when
you just bare, when you're not hot, you're not cold,
you're there. The fire of God has been diminished to
less than a flicker, and it's just there.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
In fact, there is no fire, it's just smoke.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
That means there's a need for intimacy and look with
Jesus offers in verse twenty, Behold, I stand at the
door knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Dine with him, and he with me. He talking about
a meal dying.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
He says, I am knocking on the door of your life.
How do you know I'm knocking because you've gotten lukewarm,
no fire, no coal, You're just there. Well, you're just there.
I'm knocking and letting you know something is missing, something
is missing.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
How do I know.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Jesus is knocking because you're hearing what he's saying on
the other side of the door. Something is missing, something
is missing, Something is missing, something is missing. No, you
don't need drugs. You don't need a girlfriend. No, you
don't need a party. You need to open the door,
he says. We hear somebody say something is missing, and
we go to the back door. Jesus is knocking on
(10:19):
the front door, and he is saying, let me in,
and I will come in and dine with you. Now,
Jesus told his disciples and John for he says, I
have food to eat that you know not of. Jesus
has got stuff to serve you that you've never eaten before.
He is appealing to intimacy. Open the door, avail yourself.
(10:42):
How do I.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Open the door? We've been told when.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
The bridegroom goes fasting, Fasting is opened the door by
pushing the physical in the background, pushing the spiritual to
the front, giving up on the desires of the body
in order that i'm I gain an intimacy of the spirit.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Doctor Evans will share more about building an intimate relationship
with the Lord when he returns shortly with the next
part of this message from his sermon series Fasting The
Key to Spiritual Victory. Biblical fasting involves a spiritual focus,
and Tony's been examining how that focus draws us closer
to God as we seek his forgiveness, guidance and protection.
(11:27):
The series is available to you on CD or digital
download and includes fourteen full length messages with extra material
we haven't had time to present on the broadcast. We'll
send the entire collection to you as a thank you
gift when you make a financial contribution to support this ministry,
and as an added way of saying thanks. Will also
(11:48):
include the Cultivating a Year of Kindness perpetual flip calendar
with daily prompts, prayers, scriptures, and words from doctor Evans.
To take advantage of this limited time offer, visit Tonyevans
dot org or call one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
two twenty two for help from our resource team. I'll
(12:08):
share our contact information with you again after part two
of today's lesson and this.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
It's beyond a Sunday sermon. A chance to really dig
into the Bible and the Kingdom in a new way,
anytime and anywhere, because it's all online. The Tony Evans
Training Center in depth courses on all kinds of topics,
cultural transformation, intro to expository preaching, Jude John, Hebrews Old Testament,
(12:34):
New Testament and so much more. These aren't sermons, they're
teaching courses to help you engage understand scripture and not
just to hear about, but to explore the Kingdom of
God on your own. Find out more at Tonyevans Training
dot org Tonyevans Training dot org.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
All of us have interviewed for jobs, or if you're
a supervisor, you've interviewed others for jobs, and.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
You know you always start with the resume, right.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
You want to see who the person is, their name,
their background, educationally, their work performance. Then you call up
for references. You find out what other folks think about them, right,
(13:23):
But usually that's never enough. Usually, in addition to the resume,
and in addition to the references, you want a personal interview,
because there's nothing like seeing the person sitting in front
of you expressing themselves, how they look, how they articulate themselves.
(13:44):
You want that personal contact to confirm that this is
the person for the job I want to submit today.
That God has a rather exhaustive resume. He's got sixty
book's worth of experience, and he's been on this job
(14:04):
an awful long time. And it's a resume that anybody
can get any time they want to, because it's been
publicly displayed. Not only does he have a good resume,
but he's got good references. If you ask Adam, he'll
tell you what kind of God he can be when
he creates an Eden. If you ask Moses, he'll tell
(14:28):
you the kind of God he is when you're caught
between the Red Sea and Pharaoh.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
If you go ask.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Samuel, he'll tell you what God can do. If you
call up Joshua, he'll give him a good word. If
you ask David, he'll tell you how God can show
up when golia is in your faith. If you ask Peter,
he'll tell you how he enables you to walk on water.
If you ask the New Testament says you'll get good references.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
But that's not enough. I want a personal interview.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I want to know what it is when he sits
right and me and I see him for myself. I
don't just want to hear how the folk testify that
he's a bridge over trouble water. I want him to
be my bridge over trouble water. I don't just want
to hear how the folk testify about the power of
the glory, the greatness of God. I want to watch
it for myself. Some of us are living the Christian
(15:22):
life by secondhand Christian testimony. What he did for somebody else,
he says, and fastening prayer you can find out what
I can do for you. So what is the process
for cultivating this intimacy? I like WHATSNG forty six '
ten says the King James version, I think says be
(15:47):
still and know that I am God. The New American
standard says, cease striving and know that I am God.
The Tony Evans translation says, chill and know that I
am God. Shut out the world around you, and simply
(16:11):
be alone with Him in his presence, which is what
fasting and prayer offers. It offers time alone with God
instead of the clamor of the noise, instead of the
noise of the restaurant.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
I give up my meal. I go to my quiet place,
and I chill with God.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
And in those quiet moments, like David, we say in
Psalm one thirty nine, verses twenty three and twenty four,
search me, O God, and know my heart. See if
there be any wicked way in me, cleanse me. It
is being in His presence, freeing the Holy Spirit up
(16:56):
to begin speaking to your inner man and letting you,
maybe for the first time in years, I love you.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
You know why you're hearing me right now.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
You're hearing me because we got a loud speaking But
this chord that I have on, this mic I have
on isn't plug in anything. But you see it's functioning
as cordless. Because in the air there are waves, sound waves,
and they're invisible.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Can anybody point me to a wave, show me a
sound wave. You can't show me a sound wave. But
you know it's working.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You know why you know the sound wave is working
because I have a tool. We have a receiver that
can pick up.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
On the wave.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
We've got an instrument that can hook us up with
the invisible, so the invisible becomes visible, so that what
you couldn't hear without the instrument you can hear.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
But the wave are there all the time.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
God is invisible, and if you start looking for him,
you're not gonna see him. But if you have the
right instrument, you'll pick up on the wave. You'll pick
up on the wave. And he offers us an instrument.
When he offers us fasting and prayer. Finally, Anna and
a man named Simeon have been looking.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
For the Christ Child at his first coming.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
All the prophets have prophesied that the Messiah was going
to come.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Simeon gets the word.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Messiah is here and blesses Mary and said to marry
his mother. Verse thirty four, Behold, a child is appointed
for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and
for a sign to be opposed. He gives a prophecy
concerning the child. And then we're introduced to a lady
in the temple named Anna. There was a prophetess Anna,
(19:03):
the daughter of Video from the tribe of Asher.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Seven years after her marriage and then as a widow
to the age of eighty four. And she never left
the temple, serving day and night with fasting and prayer.
Now we're introduced the fasting by this lady called Anna.
Now don't read this too fast.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
That's something in this widow.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
So she's by herself, she's not married anymore because her
husband has died. She's a widow, lives in the temple
where she didn't physically live in the temple because the
temple didn't have rooms to live in, but it meant
She was at the temple daily. It was a part
of her ritual. She was always there. Why was she
there fasting than praying? What was she fasting and praying for?
(19:55):
We know because of what verse thirty eight says. And
at that very moment she came up and began giving
thanks to God and continue to speak of him to
those who are looking for the redemption of Israel?
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Was that me?
Speaker 3 (20:15):
She was saying, Lord, I want to see this redemption.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
You promised way back in Genesis three point fifteen that
there was gonna be a Messiah who was gonna be born,
you promising the prophet Isaiah it would be born of
a virgin. You didn't give the exact date of the birds.
But I just want to pray in fast to let
my eyes see it. She was asking for a needle
(20:43):
in a haystack. She was saying, let me be one
of the ones who get to see Messiah with my
own eyes. And here she, in this occasion, and look too,
gets to see Jesus Christ, the baby that had been
born in the major. Now why is that important? Because
(21:04):
she got to see what other folks never saw. You see,
when you're close to God, he'll let you in on
stuff other fe folks can't see. He'll let you in
on private conversations. In fact, one of the rewards and
revelation too, is that people who are close to God,
he calls the overcomers, you shall get access to the
paradise of God where we have private conversations. When you're intimate. See,
(21:28):
when you close to feed people, they tell you secrets. Right,
Why don't the folk tell you secrets when you're close
to them because they know they can trust you with
the information, because they know you out for their good.
When you're intimate, God will tell you things. The reason
why God won't tell many of us things is we
don't know him well enough.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yet.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
You ever have people get in your business and be
asking your personal stuff and you have to say, I
don't know you.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Who are you? You are always in my business?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Well, the reason why many of us don't in from
God is God that I don't know you. You are a stranger. Yeah,
I see you once a week at church, but I
don't know you. I don't know you. We are not intimate.
But let me tell you another thing.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
That's here.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
He goes into details, telling you and I how long
this lady was there and watch this now. She's been
there for years, and some of you been waiting on
God for years. Let me tell you what fasting and
prayer did for this lady. It not only let her
see it, even though it was later in her life,
it gave her the strength to keep coming doing the wait.
(22:34):
The beauty of fasting and being intimate with God is
even when you don't know how long it's gonna take
Him to give you your breakthrough, He'll make it so
that you can wait.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Tell us time.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Intimacy will give you the power of patience. It'll let
you keep waiting to tell your change come.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
What will it take for you to build a clone,
more intimate connection with Christ, Well, if part of the
answer is spending more time in God's word, a good
place to start is by visiting our website Tonyevans dot org.
It's packed with Bible study resources on just about any
topic you can imagine, books, booklets, CDs, videos, and more,
(23:20):
including a huge selection of downloadable resources and a link
to the Tonyevans Training Center. Tonyevans dot Org is also
the place to go to take advantage of that special
offer I mentioned earlier. Remember, if you contact us and
make a donation right away. We'll send you the entire
fourteen message series Tony's about to wrap up, called Fasting
(23:41):
the Key to Spiritual Victory. It's packed with additional content
we haven't had time to present on the broadcast, and
as an added bonus, we're including doctor Evans cultivating a
year of kindness perpetual flip calendar with each fasting series
we send out. But this special offer ends in a
couple of days, so don't wait. Make the arrangements right
(24:02):
away at Tonyevans dot org or call us at one
eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two, where the
friendly people in our resource center will be happy to
help you. That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two
two two. Most people think of fasting in terms of
what we don't do eat, but the Bible describes a
(24:24):
very active side to fasting, a list of things that
prove our act of sacrifice is more than just an act.
Be sure to join us again tomorrow as doctor Evans
presents a message called Fasting for Justice
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