June 12, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Christ may be in your heart, but the question is
is he comfortable with the arrangement.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Doctor Tony Evans is, if you want spiritual power, it
may be time for a spiritual housecleaning.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
The more at home Jesus is, the cleaner your life
will be. So that means you've got to come clean
in developing an intimate walk with Christ.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. We often ask
God to give us strength, but truth be told, believers
already possess it. Today, doctor Evans takes a look at
the spiritual power that every believer has access to. Let's
join him in Ephesians chapter three as he explores what
(00:44):
it means to be strengthened through God's spirit.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
There are three main points to be found in verses
fourteen through twenty one. He's going to give the prayer
for spiritual power. Then he's going to give a perspective
for spiritual power. Then he's going to give the purpose
for spiritual power. And if you learn these principles, you
(01:08):
will have at another level spiritual power because he's going
to give in verses fourteen to twenty one, How to
access your spiritual power the prayer for spiritual Power. For
this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from
whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
(01:32):
Most prayers in the Bible, the person praying is standing.
Kneeling was when you were getting serious. Kneeling was when
you when you needed to humble yourself. So kneeling had
to do it. Going low. It was a position of
humility to reflect the heart. Now stuff really got bad.
(01:52):
You laid prostrate, You got as low as you could
possibly get, flat on your face before God. You are
super humbling yourself. So this is a very important principle.
He says, I bow my knee before the Father, before
the Father, humbling myself before the Father. So what you
(02:15):
want to do if you need spiritual power is humble
yourself before the Father. Now he then enters into a discussion,
and you're going to touch on four areas in this
prayer for spiritual power. Let's look at how he breaks
it down verse sixteen. Then he would grant you, according
(02:38):
to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
power through the spirit in the inner man. He now
first of all, wants you to have increased spiritual strength.
Increase spiritual strength. God strengthens us to come to Him,
to be able to receive what He has us. It
(03:01):
is the job of the Holy Spirit to renew and
empower us so that our capacity is enlarged. Look at
a couple of references. First of all is Second Corinthians,
Chapter four. Second Corinthians Chapter four, Verses sixteen and eighteen,
do not to eighteen. Therefore we do not lose heart.
(03:24):
We don't quit. Though our outer man is decaying, Yet
our inner man is being renewed, how regularly, day by day,
so your capacity can grow on a daily basis. For
momentary light. Affliction is producing for us an eternal weight
of glory, far beyond all comparison. While we look not
(03:46):
at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
So what should we be focusing on things that are
what not seen? Because remember, the things that are not
seen control the things that are are seen. Man says outward.
(04:06):
Man is decay, and I don't care how good you look.
You are decave. Keep looking in the mirror. There will
be more wrinkles the cover. They'll be more gray has
to hide as your physical person deteriorates. As you feel
walking slower, moving slower, getting grayer. Your inner man should
(04:27):
be getting younger as your outer man gets older and
gets how it gets older day by day, Day by day,
age takes its toll. You don't feel it every day,
but over time you see that it's taking its toll.
Your inner man should be getting younger and younger, or
getting renewed. He says. If that is not happening, then
(04:51):
your spiritual capacity is not growing with time, like your
physical aging is taking place with time. Look with me
at Colossians Chapter one. In this regard Verses nine three
eleven Colossians one. For this reason, also, since the day
(05:14):
we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray
for you and to ask that you may be filled
with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom
and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner
worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects,
bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God. You see, he is praying for their
spiritual growth because he knows as their capacity expands, some
(05:41):
will their experience of the power of God expands. You
will find that when your spiritual capacity expands and you
appropriate the power of God, that sin will decrease. Not
the flesh's desire to sin, but your inability to keep
(06:02):
the flesh from fulfilling its desire to sin. The flesh
will always want to sin, But what will decrease is
your saying yes to the flesh. What will increase is
your saying yes to the spirit. Because what sin does
is limit our capacity. See, when you hear the word
of God, it expands your capacity like a balloon. When
(06:25):
you sin, it becomes a needle in the balloon to
pop the capacity that was just expanded by exposure to
the Word of God and by being in the presence
of God through prayer. So many of us blow up
in church, and then we leave, and Satan sticks the pennance.
(06:46):
Our capacity shrinks. That's why you've got to have the
daily intake of the Word of God and the daily
presence before God, so that you keep this thing going
and going and going and going and going. And you'll
find yourself of having increased victory, increased victory, increased victory
in your life. Okay, So nearer to God means further
(07:08):
from sin, and therefore the way to have spiritual victory
is to spend more time in His presence, more time
on your needs, asking for expanded capacity in the area
of spiritual strength. Secondly, he wants us to pray for
increase spiritual intimacy. Increase spiritual intimacy verse seventeen, so that Christ,
(07:30):
and by the way in verse sixteen, will strengthened by
the Holy Spirit. Notice where in the inner man? So
it's in your human spirit that is at the center
of your soul that this increase occurs. Then you want
to increase intimacy verse seventeen, so that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith. Now the word dwell, you
(07:51):
may say, well, Christ already dwells in my heart. Well.
This word dwell is a very intimate word. The concept
of it is given in John chapter fourteen, verse twenty three.
Let me read John fourteen, verse twenty three, and you'll
get a better understanding of this concept of dwelve. He
(08:12):
says in verse twenty three, Jesus answered and said to him,
if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and
my father will love him, and we will come to
him and make our abode with him. That's the concept
of dwelling. Dwelling means to make yourself at home. So
(08:33):
let's look back at Ephesians now with that kind of understanding,
and I think that will help us understand the second
concept of our prayer for intimacy, so that Christ may
make himself at home in your heart. Christ may be
in your heart, but the question is is he comfortable
with the arrangements. What he wants to do is have
(08:55):
access to all of life so that he can be
totally at home. Because guess what. The more at home
Jesus is, the cleaner your life will be. So that
means you've got to come clean. In developing an intimate
walk with Christ, not only is there to be increased
spiritual strength and increased spiritual intimacy, that it be increased
(09:17):
spiritual depth. Notice the second half of verse seventeen, and
that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may comprehend
with all the saints. What is the breath and length
and height and depth? He says, being rooted and grounded
in love. He gives us two analogies that explains its concept.
(09:42):
Rooted and grounded. Rooted is an agricultural term. It refers
to roots that run deep under the ground, which keeps
the tree or the plant or whatever it is stabilized
regardless of external weather. So to be rooted means to
be sta from underneath. Agriculturally, ground it referred to the foundation.
(10:06):
If you want to build a high building, you've got
to take time and dig a deep foundation. The higher
the edifice, the deeper the drill for the foundation. What
he is saying is God wants us to go deep
in love. He says, rooted and ground it in love,
so that our capacity to love grows. Because remember the
(10:31):
definition of love. Now, it's not first talk about emotions
or affections. It's talking about acts of the will that
seeks that which is better for the other person. So
when we want to love God, we want to seek
his glory. We want to love people, We want a
minister to their hurts and needs. In accords with the
word of God, God wants us to go deep in love. Now,
(10:52):
why does he want us to grow deep in love?
Because love always expands your capacity. What does the scripture says, Hey,
love covers a multitude of what see, the more love
you have. The more capacity you have, okay, the more
capacity you have to receive the love of God. God
loves us, but many of us don't feel that love,
(11:15):
experience that love, or sense that love because our capacity
to receive love has been greatly damaged. Perhaps we were
abused or bruised, or something happened into our life, so
our love, our ability to love, is very small, he
says through prayer. If you go deep in your relationship
with God and in your depth of love, by seeking
(11:38):
to do that which pleases God, which will affirm that
which is your ability to relate to others, then you
expand your capacities.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
But deep roots don't grow by accident, and doctor Evans
will explain how God uses trials to test and strengthen
the foundation of our faith when he returns with the
second part of our message in just a moment with us.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I urge you to take this course.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Doctor Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves
as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training
Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Bible that.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Covers very important ground what they are and what they're not.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
One of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century.
The Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy
of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove
of historical and spiritual significance.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light
on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to
the New Testament.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and
beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins
better than you ever had before.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive
into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer, doctor
Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating biblical studies at
Tonyevanstraining dot org. Explore the Kingdom anytime, anywhere when.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Life feels too routine to be remarkable. The Book of
Ephesians reminds us that God does some of his most
powerful work in the everyday, and that's the important reminder
Tony gives us in his current sixteen part study in
the book of Ephesians called Ordinary Holy Finding God in
the Mundane. In this collection, he explores how our faith
(13:22):
can thrive in the middle of life's most commonplace moments.
When you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's
teaching on this station, we'll say thanks by sending you
this complete two volume series on either CD or USB
flash drive, as well as instantly downloadable MP threes, and
as an added bonus, we'll also include Tony's powerful book
(13:44):
Kingdom Living, full of practical insight on how to grow
stronger in your walk with God. Get the book and
the Ordinary Holy audio collection along with our thanks. Just
request them when you make your donation online at Tonyevans
dot org, or let one of our resource team members
help you by calling one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
(14:06):
two twenty two any time of the day or night.
That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two
of today's message, let's rejoin Doctor Evans and Ephesians Chapter three.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Now, God will always test how deep you are, and
that was a call Trials. Trials are God's way of
testing the depth of your root or the depth of
your foundation, and it is when you can love. That's
why God will put an enemy in your life to
see whether you're ready to love your enemies. But to remember,
he's not asking you to like your enemies. He's not
(14:44):
saying get butterflies in your stomach when your enemy shows up.
He is saying, act out the will of God toward them,
regardless of how you feel. Because guess what that will
do for you. Expand your capacity to receive me. Because
that's what I do. Even while you were yet sinners.
I loved you, even when you didn't have a thought
of me. I loved you. And he says, then he
(15:07):
wants you to increase your spiritual understanding verse eighteen. May
be able to understand with all the saints. What is
the breath? And length and height and depth? Understanding This
word means apprehension or laying hold of for yourself. You
(15:29):
need your own testimonies. Don't piggyback off of my walk
with God, and I can't piggyback off of your walk
with God. You need your own. He says in verse
eighteen that you may be able to understand with all
the saints. That's a very important phrase because you will
never get it all yourself. See, it's good for your
(15:51):
here testimony to see what God is doing somebody else's life.
But we need our own testimony so somebody else can
hear what's happening in our lives. And then when we
get that everybody's testimony together, we'll see how big God
really is because He did that for you, He did
something else for you, something else for you. And if
we have five hundred people in the audience and at
five hundreds of different testimonies, you know what that tells
(16:12):
us how great God is. He can be in each
one of us individually, in our individual problems, handle them individually,
and we all have reason to praise Him. So that
next year, when you run into a problem that you
didn't have this year, you'll remember God did something about
that in somebody else's life. So that's why you've got
to be part of the family of God, so that
(16:33):
you can get the size of God. Because nobody will
ever have all the experiences that God has to offer.
So He wants you to have an experience of an
understanding so that you will have notice what He says,
to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge. That
you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
(16:58):
He wants you to underst stand the fullness of God.
Now let me try to illustrate this. Let's say we're
at the Pacific Ocean and you have a thimble. A thimble,
you dip the thimbling in the Pacific Ocean. All the
component parts that make the water of the ocean what
(17:20):
it is is in your thimble. Okay, it's not much,
but it still is the ocean that is, you know,
if it's the Pacific Ocean. That is the Pacific Ocean
you now have in your thimble. Somebody else comes along
with a bucket. They dip their bucket. They have the
Pacific Ocean in their bucket. Somebody else comes along with
(17:45):
a barrel and they fill up the barrel with the
Pacific Ocean. They've got the Pacific Ocean in their barrel. Okay,
somebody else comes with a tanker and they fill the
tank with the Pacific Ocean. They've got the Pacific Ocean
in their tank. The fimble's got the Pacific Ocean. The
(18:07):
buckets got the Pacific Ocean. The barrel have the Pacific Ocean.
This tanker sized unit has the Pacific ocean. All four
have the Pacific Ocean, but all four do not have
the Pacific Ocean to the same degree. You with me.
They all have the same thing, but they don't have
(18:30):
the same amount of the same thing. You know why
they don't have the same amount of the same thing
because they didn't come to the Pacific Ocean with the
same capacity. See if you only come with a thimble.
If I try to pour in your thimble a tanker
full of Pacific Ocean, it's gonna be wasted because you
(18:52):
have no capacity to handle it in your thimble sized
Christian life. Ooh, many of us pray tanker prayers and say, God,
pour it into my thimble. Spiritual situation. Why wouldn't God
(19:13):
answer that prayer? Because that means once the fimble is full,
the blessing is wasted. If you come with a bucket,
same problem, God can only give you a bucket full.
So rather than asking God for more stuff, ask God
for more capacity, because He will always fill you to
(19:37):
your capacity. He wants you to have, knows what he
says in verse eight nineteen, the fullness of God. The
fullness of God. He wants you to comprehend with all
the other believers the fullness of God. That means you're
gonna have to have your tanker, and then you need
to be around other people with tankers so that we
all collected and we see how big and vast God
(20:01):
really is. If you have ever been on a Pacific Ocean,
been on a cruise you know, when those cruise ships
are docked and you first walk on a cruise ship,
massive you get out in the ocean, it's nothing as Titanic.
Nothing swallows it like nothing. But when it's sitting when
(20:24):
it's dock, that thing you stand up there, whoa floating hotel.
You know, when it gets into the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, it's a spec it's nothing. Ocean swallow it
up and it be meaningless like it never existed. You see,
it all depends on what you're measuring against. So what
(20:45):
you want is increased capacity so you can handle more,
because God will always fill you to your capacity. That's
why he says in verse eighteen, he wants you to
know the breath, the length, the height, the death. That's
just a nice way of saying he wants he wants
(21:05):
you to understand how big God really is. Let me
tell you how big God really is in eternity. When
you've been with God one hundred quadzillion years, which I
don't even know what that number means. But when you've
been with God one hundred quadzillion years, you would have
just been introduced to him. That would have been like
(21:26):
a three minute introduction to a message after one hundred
quadzillion years. Because the God of the Bible is inexhaustible,
he has no end. That is not for human consumption.
To try to understand God is the waste of your
natural time, all right, because the scope we're talking about,
the scope is too big. That's why we're gonna have
(21:47):
to have new bodies, because we're gonna have to have
new capacities for taking this stuff in which we do
not have in our current finiteeness. So what he wants
you to do is he wants you to realize the
Holy Spirit's power to rice intimate relationship with Christ and
through this love relationship with God, that He's got a
love so big it'll last forever, if that long. It's
(22:10):
so high it can reach take the center to the
highest heaven. It's so deep it can reach down to
the lowest center and pick him up He's talking about
the breadth of this great love of God which surpasses knowledge.
You couldn't write enough books to cover it. Can imagine
all the books have been written about God and Jesus Christ,
(22:31):
and then merely introductory volumes. The library is full of
them by the mega thousands. No books about any other
being in the universe like there are about God and
his son Jesus Christ. So he wants you to come
to understand through prayer your spiritual power by expanding your
(22:52):
spiritual capacity.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Doctor Tony Evans reminding us that prayer isn't you communication
with God, It's the key to unlocking the power He's
already placed within us well. As I mentioned earlier, today's
message is part of Tony's sixteen part series on Ephesians
called Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. It's available
(23:16):
as our gift to you when you make a donation
to help support the ministry of the Alternative. You can
receive it as an instant digital download, as well as
on CD or USB flash drive bundled along with an
added bonus, doctor Evans's powerful book Kingdom Living. Just visit
Tonyevans dot org to make your donation and request these resources,
(23:38):
or call us at one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
two twenty two. That's one eight hundred eight hundred three
two two two, or online at Tonyevans dot org. Just
a quick reminder, a brand new episode of Stories from
the Storyteller drops this weekend. In Big Little Things, Bunny's
(23:59):
bird birthday surprise feels too small until it becomes something
much bigger. It all leads to a bedtime story about
the mustard seed and God's power to grow great things
from little ones. Learn more about this faith building series
for kids at tonyevanstv dot com. That's tonyevanstv dot com.
(24:22):
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is
at work in us, but are we tapping into it.
On Monday, Doctor Evans unpacks more of Paul's powerful prayer
and shows how we can access that strength in our
own lives. Don't miss it.
Christ may be in your heart, but the question is
is he comfortable with the arrangement.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Doctor Tony Evans is, if you want spiritual power, it
may be time for a spiritual housecleaning.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
The more at home Jesus is, the cleaner your life
will be. So that means you've got to come clean
in developing an intimate walk with Christ.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. We often ask
God to give us strength, but truth be told, believers
already possess it. Today, doctor Evans takes a look at
the spiritual power that every believer has access to. Let's
join him in Ephesians chapter three as he explores what
(00:44):
it means to be strengthened through God's spirit.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
There are three main points to be found in verses
fourteen through twenty one. He's going to give the prayer
for spiritual power. Then he's going to give a perspective
for spiritual power. Then he's going to give the purpose
for spiritual power. And if you learn these principles, you
(01:08):
will have at another level spiritual power because he's going
to give in verses fourteen to twenty one, How to
access your spiritual power the prayer for spiritual Power. For
this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from
whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
(01:32):
Most prayers in the Bible, the person praying is standing.
Kneeling was when you were getting serious. Kneeling was when
you when you needed to humble yourself. So kneeling had
to do it. Going low. It was a position of
humility to reflect the heart. Now stuff really got bad.
(01:52):
You laid prostrate, You got as low as you could
possibly get, flat on your face before God. You are
super humbling yourself. So this is a very important principle.
He says, I bow my knee before the Father, before
the Father, humbling myself before the Father. So what you
(02:15):
want to do if you need spiritual power is humble
yourself before the Father. Now he then enters into a discussion,
and you're going to touch on four areas in this
prayer for spiritual power. Let's look at how he breaks
it down verse sixteen. Then he would grant you, according
(02:38):
to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
power through the spirit in the inner man. He now
first of all, wants you to have increased spiritual strength.
Increase spiritual strength. God strengthens us to come to Him,
to be able to receive what He has us. It
(03:01):
is the job of the Holy Spirit to renew and
empower us so that our capacity is enlarged. Look at
a couple of references. First of all is Second Corinthians,
Chapter four. Second Corinthians Chapter four, Verses sixteen and eighteen,
do not to eighteen. Therefore we do not lose heart.
(03:24):
We don't quit. Though our outer man is decaying, Yet
our inner man is being renewed, how regularly, day by day,
so your capacity can grow on a daily basis. For
momentary light. Affliction is producing for us an eternal weight
of glory, far beyond all comparison. While we look not
(03:46):
at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
So what should we be focusing on things that are
what not seen? Because remember, the things that are not
seen control the things that are are seen. Man says outward.
(04:06):
Man is decay, and I don't care how good you look.
You are decave. Keep looking in the mirror. There will
be more wrinkles the cover. They'll be more gray has
to hide as your physical person deteriorates. As you feel
walking slower, moving slower, getting grayer. Your inner man should
(04:27):
be getting younger as your outer man gets older and
gets how it gets older day by day, Day by day,
age takes its toll. You don't feel it every day,
but over time you see that it's taking its toll.
Your inner man should be getting younger and younger, or
getting renewed. He says. If that is not happening, then
(04:51):
your spiritual capacity is not growing with time, like your
physical aging is taking place with time. Look with me
at Colossians Chapter one. In this regard Verses nine three
eleven Colossians one. For this reason, also, since the day
(05:14):
we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray
for you and to ask that you may be filled
with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom
and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner
worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects,
bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God. You see, he is praying for their
spiritual growth because he knows as their capacity expands, some
(05:41):
will their experience of the power of God expands. You
will find that when your spiritual capacity expands and you
appropriate the power of God, that sin will decrease. Not
the flesh's desire to sin, but your inability to keep
(06:02):
the flesh from fulfilling its desire to sin. The flesh
will always want to sin, But what will decrease is
your saying yes to the flesh. What will increase is
your saying yes to the spirit. Because what sin does
is limit our capacity. See, when you hear the word
of God, it expands your capacity like a balloon. When
(06:25):
you sin, it becomes a needle in the balloon to
pop the capacity that was just expanded by exposure to
the Word of God and by being in the presence
of God through prayer. So many of us blow up
in church, and then we leave, and Satan sticks the pennance.
(06:46):
Our capacity shrinks. That's why you've got to have the
daily intake of the Word of God and the daily
presence before God, so that you keep this thing going
and going and going and going and going. And you'll
find yourself of having increased victory, increased victory, increased victory
in your life. Okay, So nearer to God means further
(07:08):
from sin, and therefore the way to have spiritual victory
is to spend more time in His presence, more time
on your needs, asking for expanded capacity in the area
of spiritual strength. Secondly, he wants us to pray for
increase spiritual intimacy. Increase spiritual intimacy verse seventeen, so that Christ,
(07:30):
and by the way in verse sixteen, will strengthened by
the Holy Spirit. Notice where in the inner man? So
it's in your human spirit that is at the center
of your soul that this increase occurs. Then you want
to increase intimacy verse seventeen, so that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith. Now the word dwell, you
(07:51):
may say, well, Christ already dwells in my heart. Well.
This word dwell is a very intimate word. The concept
of it is given in John chapter fourteen, verse twenty three.
Let me read John fourteen, verse twenty three, and you'll
get a better understanding of this concept of dwelve. He
(08:12):
says in verse twenty three, Jesus answered and said to him,
if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and
my father will love him, and we will come to
him and make our abode with him. That's the concept
of dwelling. Dwelling means to make yourself at home. So
(08:33):
let's look back at Ephesians now with that kind of understanding,
and I think that will help us understand the second
concept of our prayer for intimacy, so that Christ may
make himself at home in your heart. Christ may be
in your heart, but the question is is he comfortable
with the arrangements. What he wants to do is have
(08:55):
access to all of life so that he can be
totally at home. Because guess what. The more at home
Jesus is, the cleaner your life will be. So that
means you've got to come clean. In developing an intimate
walk with Christ, not only is there to be increased
spiritual strength and increased spiritual intimacy, that it be increased
(09:17):
spiritual depth. Notice the second half of verse seventeen, and
that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may comprehend
with all the saints. What is the breath and length
and height and depth? He says, being rooted and grounded
in love. He gives us two analogies that explains its concept.
(09:42):
Rooted and grounded. Rooted is an agricultural term. It refers
to roots that run deep under the ground, which keeps
the tree or the plant or whatever it is stabilized
regardless of external weather. So to be rooted means to
be sta from underneath. Agriculturally, ground it referred to the foundation.
(10:06):
If you want to build a high building, you've got
to take time and dig a deep foundation. The higher
the edifice, the deeper the drill for the foundation. What
he is saying is God wants us to go deep
in love. He says, rooted and ground it in love,
so that our capacity to love grows. Because remember the
(10:31):
definition of love. Now, it's not first talk about emotions
or affections. It's talking about acts of the will that
seeks that which is better for the other person. So
when we want to love God, we want to seek
his glory. We want to love people, We want a
minister to their hurts and needs. In accords with the
word of God, God wants us to go deep in love. Now,
(10:52):
why does he want us to grow deep in love?
Because love always expands your capacity. What does the scripture says, Hey,
love covers a multitude of what see, the more love
you have. The more capacity you have, okay, the more
capacity you have to receive the love of God. God
loves us, but many of us don't feel that love,
(11:15):
experience that love, or sense that love because our capacity
to receive love has been greatly damaged. Perhaps we were
abused or bruised, or something happened into our life, so
our love, our ability to love, is very small, he
says through prayer. If you go deep in your relationship
with God and in your depth of love, by seeking
(11:38):
to do that which pleases God, which will affirm that
which is your ability to relate to others, then you
expand your capacities.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
But deep roots don't grow by accident, and doctor Evans
will explain how God uses trials to test and strengthen
the foundation of our faith when he returns with the
second part of our message in just a moment with us.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I urge you to take this course.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Doctor Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves
as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training
Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Bible that.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Covers very important ground what they are and what they're not.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
One of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century.
The Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy
of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove
of historical and spiritual significance.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light
on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to
the New Testament.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and
beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins
better than you ever had before.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive
into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer, doctor
Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating biblical studies at
Tonyevanstraining dot org. Explore the Kingdom anytime, anywhere when.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Life feels too routine to be remarkable. The Book of
Ephesians reminds us that God does some of his most
powerful work in the everyday, and that's the important reminder
Tony gives us in his current sixteen part study in
the book of Ephesians called Ordinary Holy Finding God in
the Mundane. In this collection, he explores how our faith
(13:22):
can thrive in the middle of life's most commonplace moments.
When you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's
teaching on this station, we'll say thanks by sending you
this complete two volume series on either CD or USB
flash drive, as well as instantly downloadable MP threes, and
as an added bonus, we'll also include Tony's powerful book
(13:44):
Kingdom Living, full of practical insight on how to grow
stronger in your walk with God. Get the book and
the Ordinary Holy audio collection along with our thanks. Just
request them when you make your donation online at Tonyevans
dot org, or let one of our resource team members
help you by calling one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
(14:06):
two twenty two any time of the day or night.
That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two
of today's message, let's rejoin Doctor Evans and Ephesians Chapter three.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Now, God will always test how deep you are, and
that was a call Trials. Trials are God's way of
testing the depth of your root or the depth of
your foundation, and it is when you can love. That's
why God will put an enemy in your life to
see whether you're ready to love your enemies. But to remember,
he's not asking you to like your enemies. He's not
(14:44):
saying get butterflies in your stomach when your enemy shows up.
He is saying, act out the will of God toward them,
regardless of how you feel. Because guess what that will
do for you. Expand your capacity to receive me. Because
that's what I do. Even while you were yet sinners.
I loved you, even when you didn't have a thought
of me. I loved you. And he says, then he
(15:07):
wants you to increase your spiritual understanding verse eighteen. May
be able to understand with all the saints. What is
the breath? And length and height and depth? Understanding This
word means apprehension or laying hold of for yourself. You
(15:29):
need your own testimonies. Don't piggyback off of my walk
with God, and I can't piggyback off of your walk
with God. You need your own. He says in verse
eighteen that you may be able to understand with all
the saints. That's a very important phrase because you will
never get it all yourself. See, it's good for your
(15:51):
here testimony to see what God is doing somebody else's life.
But we need our own testimony so somebody else can
hear what's happening in our lives. And then when we
get that everybody's testimony together, we'll see how big God
really is because He did that for you, He did
something else for you, something else for you. And if
we have five hundred people in the audience and at
five hundreds of different testimonies, you know what that tells
(16:12):
us how great God is. He can be in each
one of us individually, in our individual problems, handle them individually,
and we all have reason to praise Him. So that
next year, when you run into a problem that you
didn't have this year, you'll remember God did something about
that in somebody else's life. So that's why you've got
to be part of the family of God, so that
(16:33):
you can get the size of God. Because nobody will
ever have all the experiences that God has to offer.
So He wants you to have an experience of an
understanding so that you will have notice what He says,
to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge. That
you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
(16:58):
He wants you to underst stand the fullness of God.
Now let me try to illustrate this. Let's say we're
at the Pacific Ocean and you have a thimble. A thimble,
you dip the thimbling in the Pacific Ocean. All the
component parts that make the water of the ocean what
(17:20):
it is is in your thimble. Okay, it's not much,
but it still is the ocean that is, you know,
if it's the Pacific Ocean. That is the Pacific Ocean
you now have in your thimble. Somebody else comes along
with a bucket. They dip their bucket. They have the
Pacific Ocean in their bucket. Somebody else comes along with
(17:45):
a barrel and they fill up the barrel with the
Pacific Ocean. They've got the Pacific Ocean in their barrel. Okay,
somebody else comes with a tanker and they fill the
tank with the Pacific Ocean. They've got the Pacific Ocean
in their tank. The fimble's got the Pacific Ocean. The
(18:07):
buckets got the Pacific Ocean. The barrel have the Pacific Ocean.
This tanker sized unit has the Pacific ocean. All four
have the Pacific Ocean, but all four do not have
the Pacific Ocean to the same degree. You with me.
They all have the same thing, but they don't have
(18:30):
the same amount of the same thing. You know why
they don't have the same amount of the same thing
because they didn't come to the Pacific Ocean with the
same capacity. See if you only come with a thimble.
If I try to pour in your thimble a tanker
full of Pacific Ocean, it's gonna be wasted because you
(18:52):
have no capacity to handle it in your thimble sized
Christian life. Ooh, many of us pray tanker prayers and say, God,
pour it into my thimble. Spiritual situation. Why wouldn't God
(19:13):
answer that prayer? Because that means once the fimble is full,
the blessing is wasted. If you come with a bucket,
same problem, God can only give you a bucket full.
So rather than asking God for more stuff, ask God
for more capacity, because He will always fill you to
(19:37):
your capacity. He wants you to have, knows what he
says in verse eight nineteen, the fullness of God. The
fullness of God. He wants you to comprehend with all
the other believers the fullness of God. That means you're
gonna have to have your tanker, and then you need
to be around other people with tankers so that we
all collected and we see how big and vast God
(20:01):
really is. If you have ever been on a Pacific Ocean,
been on a cruise you know, when those cruise ships
are docked and you first walk on a cruise ship,
massive you get out in the ocean, it's nothing as Titanic.
Nothing swallows it like nothing. But when it's sitting when
(20:24):
it's dock, that thing you stand up there, whoa floating hotel.
You know, when it gets into the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, it's a spec it's nothing. Ocean swallow it
up and it be meaningless like it never existed. You see,
it all depends on what you're measuring against. So what
(20:45):
you want is increased capacity so you can handle more,
because God will always fill you to your capacity. That's
why he says in verse eighteen, he wants you to
know the breath, the length, the height, the death. That's
just a nice way of saying he wants he wants
(21:05):
you to understand how big God really is. Let me
tell you how big God really is in eternity. When
you've been with God one hundred quadzillion years, which I
don't even know what that number means. But when you've
been with God one hundred quadzillion years, you would have
just been introduced to him. That would have been like
(21:26):
a three minute introduction to a message after one hundred
quadzillion years. Because the God of the Bible is inexhaustible,
he has no end. That is not for human consumption.
To try to understand God is the waste of your
natural time, all right, because the scope we're talking about,
the scope is too big. That's why we're gonna have
(21:47):
to have new bodies, because we're gonna have to have
new capacities for taking this stuff in which we do
not have in our current finiteeness. So what he wants
you to do is he wants you to realize the
Holy Spirit's power to rice intimate relationship with Christ and
through this love relationship with God, that He's got a
love so big it'll last forever, if that long. It's
(22:10):
so high it can reach take the center to the
highest heaven. It's so deep it can reach down to
the lowest center and pick him up He's talking about
the breadth of this great love of God which surpasses knowledge.
You couldn't write enough books to cover it. Can imagine
all the books have been written about God and Jesus Christ,
(22:31):
and then merely introductory volumes. The library is full of
them by the mega thousands. No books about any other
being in the universe like there are about God and
his son Jesus Christ. So he wants you to come
to understand through prayer your spiritual power by expanding your
(22:52):
spiritual capacity.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Doctor Tony Evans reminding us that prayer isn't you communication
with God, It's the key to unlocking the power He's
already placed within us well. As I mentioned earlier, today's
message is part of Tony's sixteen part series on Ephesians
called Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. It's available
(23:16):
as our gift to you when you make a donation
to help support the ministry of the Alternative. You can
receive it as an instant digital download, as well as
on CD or USB flash drive bundled along with an
added bonus, doctor Evans's powerful book Kingdom Living. Just visit
Tonyevans dot org to make your donation and request these resources,
(23:38):
or call us at one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
two twenty two. That's one eight hundred eight hundred three
two two two, or online at Tonyevans dot org. Just
a quick reminder, a brand new episode of Stories from
the Storyteller drops this weekend. In Big Little Things, Bunny's
(23:59):
bird birthday surprise feels too small until it becomes something
much bigger. It all leads to a bedtime story about
the mustard seed and God's power to grow great things
from little ones. Learn more about this faith building series
for kids at tonyevanstv dot com. That's tonyevanstv dot com.
(24:22):
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is
at work in us, but are we tapping into it.
On Monday, Doctor Evans unpacks more of Paul's powerful prayer
and shows how we can access that strength in our
own lives. Don't miss it.
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