TONY EVANS HOUSE
Tony Evans - Returning to God in the Spirit Part 1
Well, it sounds like the tenants at your rental property sure know how to throw a great party. You just wish they wouldn't throw so many parties, on Tuesdays, until 4am. And if they could pay the rent on time, that would be nice, too. Being a landlord can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be. Let renters warehouse handle the hard part of property management for you, like finding quality tenants you can trust. Renters warehouse manages thousands of single-family homes, and specializes in locating reliable tenants at the right price for your property, usually in a matter of days. And if your tenant defaults for any reason, they'll replace them for free up to 18 months under their tenant warranty program. From rent collection to maintenance coordination, their best-in-class property management professionals do it all. All for one flat, monthly fee. Get a free rental price analysis at renterswarehouse.com to find out how much your home can rent for. That's renterswarehouse.com. Or call 303-974-9444 to speak to a rent-to-state advisor today. This summer, saddle up with the only sportsbook where you can bet on horse racing, FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get a no-sweat first bet up to $500. Just download the app or go to fanduel.com/horses to score your no-sweat bet up to $500. 21+ and present in Colorado. Never valid on first real money wager of $5 or more, verified FD Racing account required. Bonus issued in non-withdrawable racing site credit that expires seven days after issuance. Max Refund $500. Restrictions apply. See terms at racing.fanduel.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800-Gambler. This battle between the spirit and the flesh is a battle for control. And Dr. Tony Evans says the winner is determined by what we decide and how we follow through. So if your concern is not what is God's will in this matter, you have given the flesh permission to win. This is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oakliffe Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the urban alternative. Human desires are normal, but they're not always healthy, especially if we turn them loose to control our lives. Today, Dr. Evans teaches us how to turn that job over to the Holy Spirit. Let's join him as he begins. We all remember the adage, plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is. That alpha-selfster commercial became a rhyme in our ears as the solution to our tummy problems was being advertised to be alpha-selfster. It was always intriguing for me as a youngster growing up to see those two tablets dropped in water and watch it fizz and bubble as the power of the tablets made itself manifest in the life of the water. The idea was being that once you drop the pills in the water and drank it, that there would be a resolution to the struggle you were having because of what you had just taken. It was advertised to be a transformational experience. All of us face issues in our life for which we need transformation. We need something to be introduced to our reality that will turn things around from what we are dealing with or experiencing in a definitive way. When we do not seem to find this solution that we're looking for, we satisfied or become satisfied with managing the problem. We feel like if we can just manage it, then it won't take over, it won't control me, it won't rule me. So like a trash masher, we manage it, we push it down, not knowing we've only created more room for more trash, but God wants to take us further than managing our mess. He wants to move us to a place of transformation where there has been a reversal, where the thing that owned us, we now own it and it no longer has dictatorial power over our existence. I am sure throughout this congregation and online, many of us are dealing with things that own us. We wish it away, we desire it, didn't have this clout in our existence, be it a person place or thing, some now that operates in ownership of our being. So the question on the floor is how do I get God to join me or even better than that to resolve for me this controlling factor that is owning my existence. So I would like to talk to us today as we seek to return to God about the specific provision God has given every believer to equip us to get back and sink with him. Unbeknownst to many, you have been given plot, plot, fist, fist, in order to provide your spiritual relief in whatever that is that has an illegitimate ownership of your well-being. In Galatians chapter 5, we read these words, verse 16 tells us that, "But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh for these are in opposition to one another. Every Christian has a civil war operating inside of them. This war is between the flesh and the Spirit and they are fighting inside of you." When it comes to renting out your property, the uncertainty of finding reliable tenants can feel like a real guessing game, responsible renter or perpetual party animal, enter renters warehouse, the pros who turn the uncertainty of finding great tenants into peace of mind. Renters warehouse offers top-notch leasing and tenant placement services, ensuring you get trustworthy renters without the hassles and headaches. With no upfront fees, renters warehouse works for you, not the other way around. From marketing and showing your property, to screening tenants and preparing the lease, their team of experts handles it all so you can sit back and watch the rent roll in. Renters warehouse even warranties their tenants for up to 18 months at no extra cost. And if you need ongoing management, they've got you covered too, all for a flat monthly fee. Visit renterswearhouse.com to request a free rental price analysis that's renterswearhouse.com or call 303-974-9444 to speak to a rent estate advisor today. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As a largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy in progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. This summer, saddle up with the only sports book where you can bet on horse racing, FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get a no-sweat first bet up to $500. Just download the app or go to fanduel.com/horses to score your no-sweat bet up to $500. 21+ in present in Colorado. Offer valid on first real money major of $5 or more. Bareified FD Racing account required. Bonus issued in non-withdrawable racing site credit that expires seven days after issuance. Max refund $500. Restrictions apply. See terms at racing.fanduel.com. If you don't solve the civil war with EU, you won't be able to control the circumstances without you because the civil war is inside. This battle between the spirit and the flesh is a battle for control. Both want to win and both want to rule, they want to control the agenda of your existence. The spirit's job is to take a believer to the place of pleasing God. The flesh's goal is to take the believer to the place of satisfying self-independently of God. The flesh can be defined as satisfying yourself independently of the will of God. One way, the flesh wants to do one thing, you want to do something else, and they don't agree. So the flesh wants you to skip, ignore, bypass what the spirit wants to satisfy what you want in order to break fellowship with God. Flesh is driven by desire. It is cultivated by passion. A desire is instituted in our being and the flesh wants that desire, even though it is not in the will of God to be satisfied. And so it drives desires in order to get cooperation with action based on the desire in order to keep us separated from God. The spirit works against that and keeps purporting within us the desire to please God. Now if there is no civil war inside of you, it's because you're not saved. If there is no civil war, if there is no battle, that means the flesh doesn't have any competition because it makes it clear that the spirit wars against the flesh. So if there is no spiritual resistance, it is because there is no spirit operating in the life. But the question on the floor is how do we win when we've got this arch enemy called the flesh that is seeking to make us lose. What I say, Galatians 516, walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Let me explain how the flesh works so that we can put it in the context of this walking in the spirit. When Adam's sin, that's called original sin, Adam's sin was original sin, it got passed down to his progeny, it got passed down and that passing down is called inherited sin. So original sin led to inherited sin and everyone is born with inherited sin. It's a sin nature. Parents pass on their sin nature to their children. That's why you don't have to teach people how to sin. You don't have to teach babies how to lie or be selfish. It's bred in to the inheritance. So your children, my children, they don't just get our good looks. They get our sin nature. The sin nature is a factory. It's like GM, GM is a car making factory. The sin nature is a sin making factory. It genders up sin. When GM is operating on an assembly line, it's producing cars. Those cars leave the factory and make their way on to the road. The old nature or the sin nature produces sin cars and they make their way on the road. They leave the factory. When it comes to renting out your property, the uncertainty of finding reliable tenants can feel like a real guessing game, responsible renter or perpetual party animal. Enter renter's warehouse. The pros who turn the uncertainty of finding great tenants into peace of mind. renter's warehouse offers top-notch leasing and tenant placement services, ensuring you get trustworthy renters without the hassles and headaches. With no upfront fees, renter's warehouse works for you, not the other way around. From marketing and showing your property to screening tenants and preparing the lease, their team of experts handles it all so you can sit back and watch the rent roll in. Renter's warehouse even warranties their tenants for up to 18 months at no extra cost. And if you need ongoing management, they've got you covered too. Call for a flat monthly fee, visit renter's warehouse dot com to request a free rental price analysis that's renter's warehouse dot com or call 303-974-9444 to speak to a rent estate advisor today. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy in progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. And enter into our souls. They find roads on the souls until they can hook up with highways in the body. When the sin factory produces the sin that leaves the factory, hits the road until it can get to the highway of the body so it can now express itself in full form. It continues this process of continually making cars or continually making sins and it makes them bigger and bigger until you've got 18 wheelers rolling down the highway because now the cars are getting bigger. And there are more of them. Now depending upon how much sin management you have will determine how expressive the cars are on the highway. So some people's sin management is so weak that they only have 18 wheelers in the soul and the bodies of their lives and they're doing the big sins. Then there are Volkswagen cars. These are the ones, they don't do the big stuff. They just do the little stuff, but maybe they keep stuff private and it's all kept in their soul or their mind and their spirit and they never express it. But it's still there within their being and they are not on major highways, they're on minor roads, but it is still expressing itself. Now when you accept Jesus Christ as your personal substitute, your Savior, your sin bearer, God closed the factory. The Bible says that we have been crucified with Christ. The Bible says in Romans that the old man, Romans 60, old man has died. So the factory has been closed. Like when GM closed those factories when we had the downturn in 2008 and all these factories were closed, that meant they were not producing new cars. So why if the sin factory is closed, do I still have a problem with sins? Because when the factory was opened, it produced cars that are still riding on our way. When GM closed, it didn't cancel the cars it produced, it just didn't produce new ones. When the sin factory is closed because you've accepted Jesus Christ, the cause that it produced due to the inherited sin that you have is still on the highway of your soul, wanting to express itself in your life and that highway is called the flesh. The flesh is that part of our soul expressed in our body that seeks to please self-independently of God. Dr. Evans will have God's direction for how to exit that highway of the flesh when he returns with more of our message in just a moment. First though, one of the things that says Christianity apart from all other faiths is that it doesn't begin with us seeking God, it begins with God seeking us. You can learn more about that miracle with the help of Tony's booklet, The Grace of God. It talks about the new nature the Lord is building within us. It explains how appreciating this unbelievable gift can help you finally break the failure cycle that keeps so many Christians trapped. And right now, for a limited time, we'll send it to you as a way of saying thanks when you help support our work here on the air and around the world by making a contribution to Tony's ministry. When you do, we'll send you the booklet along with CDs or digital downloads of all 13 full-length lessons in his brand new series about finding our way back to God called The Return. Just visit TonyEvans.org to get the details and make the arrangements before time runs out. Again, that's TonyEvans.org. Or call our 24-hour Resource Center at 1-800-832-22. I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two of today's message and this. "The Bible makes it clear that you know when God has cursed a land, when its fathers are nowhere to be found." Dr. Tony Evan says that what becomes of the next generation of men depends on what happens with this one. "Our kids need to see men in their midst who love God and who love them." When it comes to renting out your property, the uncertainty of finding reliable tenants can feel like a real guessing game, responsible renter or perpetual party animal. Enter renters warehouse. The pros who turn the uncertainty of finding great tenants into peace of mind. renters warehouse offers top-notch leasing and tenant placement services, ensuring you get trustworthy renters without the hassles and headaches. With no upfront fees, renters warehouse works for you, not the other way around, from marketing and showing your property, to screening tenants and preparing the lease, their team of experts handles it all so you can sit back and watch the rent roll in. Renters warehouse even warranties their tenants for up to 18 months at no extra cost. And if you need ongoing management, they've got you covered too, all for a flat monthly fee. Visit renterswearhouse.com to request a free rental price analysis that's renterswearhouse.com or call 303 974 9444 to speak to a rent estate advisor today. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand, and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen, tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs, and working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner, so everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. Hey there, it is Ryan Seacrest with you. You want to make this summer unforgettable? Join me at Chumba Casino. It's this summer's hottest online destination. They are rolling out the red carpet with an amazing welcome offer just for you. So don't wait. Dive in now and play hundreds of social casino games for free. Your chance to redeem real prizes is just a spin away. Can you join me? Please like, share, share, share, share, share, share, share, share and share. Thanks for watching. Walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desire of the flesh. He does not say stop doing the desire of the flesh so you can start walking in the spirit. He says just the opposite. Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. So the issue is not focusing on stopping the flesh. The issue is focusing on walking in the spirit. So most of your time, my time, our time should be spent on what does it mean to walk in the spirit? As he says, when you and I, when we walk in the spirit, notice this, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh. It did not say you won't have the desires of the flesh. The Bible calls the role or presence of the spirit in a believer's life, the anointing. First John chapter 2 verses 20 and 27. He calls that the anointing. The anointing is this divine presence. It is the engine in a car. It is the divine presence of Jesus Christ in the life of the believer by means of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is resident in every believer and he is the source for this overriding of the flesh and that is called the anointing. Years ago, we had rabbit ears and rabbit ears on our TVs. We continue to move them in order to make the picture clear. Once you come to Christ, you get direct TV. There is another system at work and it is a different system. What many people do is go to the flesh to get the flesh to make the flesh better. And that is not in the interest of the flesh to help you out. That is not in the interest. God has another system. You can walk around your house all day if you happen to have roaches show up and you can stomp on roaches, but roaches have a posse. All you stepped on was the one you saw. You didn't see all the ones that were still hidden. You could be doing that all day. It is better to call the orchid man who is dressing a system than simply stepping on roaches all day. This sin, that sin, step on this sin, step on that sin. You know, because our sins have posse. So what you need is a system. This system is called walking in the spirit, walking in this anointing, this movement with God. So don't feel guilty that you are flesh once what the flesh wants, because the flesh can only want what the flesh wants. The problem is when we are not walking in the spirit, so what the flesh wants, the flesh gets. The issue is an issue of override. He says the way you override the flesh, its desire to please self independently of God is by walking in the spirit. Walking in the Bible that's used throughout the New Testament by the Apostle Paul is talking about a course or direction, a movement. When you walk, you are moving, it is a movement. So he's talking about an orientation, a lifestyle, a perspective of movement, a life's orientation. You and I will never have victory if we just visit the spirit. We must walk in the spirit, okay, so let's talk about walking. First of all, if you are walking, you are going somewhere, now you may not know where you are going, but you are going somewhere because you are moving in some direction. Walking assumes a destination. To walk in the spirit means you are moving toward the will of God. You are spiritually minded, which means you are moving. Well, it sounds like the tenants at your rental property sure know how to throw a great party. You just wish they wouldn't throw so many parties, on Tuesdays, until 4 a.m. And if they could pay the rent on time, that would be nice too. Being a landlord can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be. Let renters warehouse handle the hard part of property management for you, like finding quality tenants you can trust. Renters warehouse manages thousands of single family homes and specializes in locating reliable tenants at the right price for your property, usually in a matter of days. Because if your tenant defaults for any reason, they will replace them for free up to 18 months under their tenant warranty program. From rent collection to maintenance coordination, their best-in-class property management professionals do it all. All for one flat monthly fee, get a free rental price analysis at renterswarehouse.com to find out how much your home can rent for. That's renterswarehouse.com or call 303-974-9444 to speak to a rent estate advisor today. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand, and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen, tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90 percent compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. Toward the will of God. If you are not moving toward the will of God, you are not walking in the Spirit. So the very first thing that walking in the Spirit demands is you knowing what God's will is. That means the Word of God must inform you of what the will of God is, and you are making a decision to move to that direction because you have to walk in concert with the Spirit. That is a spiritual way of thinking, which is God's way of thinking, which is the will of God. So if your concern is not what is God's will in this matter, you are not walking in the Spirit and you have given the flesh permission to win, because the Spirit only pursues that, which is consistent with the truth of God, the Word of God. That's why it's called the Spirit of truth and the will of God. So it has to do with a decision. The first thing is the decision about a direction. Secondly, walking is a continuous movement because I'm dedicated to get to where I said I wanted to go. I just said I want to go to the will of God. Many people say they want to go to the will of God and step but don't walk. Walking is a repetitive motion toward a destination, not a one step and say, well, I meant to go there. Walking is continuous and engine in a car gives you what is needed to go somewhere. It is the power source, it is the equipment, but you can have an engine in the car and the car not be moving. Just because the engine is there doesn't mean there's motion in the vehicle. The presence of the engine must be ignited by a key in an ignition. If the key is not put in the ignition, the engine lays dormant. Because then it's got the power to get you going but it will not move unless ignited because you took the action of putting the key in and turning on the ignition. When you decide I am moving to the will of God and I am now taking steps toward going to that will, you just put the key in the engine of your spirit so that now the Holy Spirit's work has been activated in your soul. If you do not put the key in through movement, not talking about movement, wishing about movement, but action steps toward that will, the Holy Spirit is laying dormant in your soul and you are not experiencing what he wants to, or if you say I want to go toward the will of God but you start moon walking and going the opposite way, then you are not getting to the destination you said you wanted to go to because you are going in the opposite direction of that destination so that keeps the Holy Spirit dormant in your soul. Because the Holy Spirit will only activate if you make a God like decision and if you take action steps to prove you are serious about the decision you make. Dr. Tony Evans, on the importance of making a deliberate effort to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our lives. Now today's message was called "Returning to God in the Spirit" and it's available as a part of Tony's two-volume, 13-lesson series "The Return." Well it sounds like the tenants hit your rental property sure know how to throw a great party. You just wish they wouldn't throw so many parties on Tuesdays until 4 a.m. And if they could pay the rent on time, that would be nice too. Being a landlord can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be. Renters' warehouse handle the hard part of property management for you, like finding quality tenants you can trust. Renters' warehouse manages thousands of single-family homes and specializes in locating reliable tenants at the right price for your property, usually in a matter of days. And if your tenant defaults for any reason, they'll replace them for free up to 18 months under their tenant warranty program. From rent collection to maintenance coordination, their best-in-class property management professionals do it all, all for one flat monthly fee. Get a free rental price analysis at renterswarehouse.com to find out how much your home can rent for. That's renterswarehouse.com or call 303-974-9444 to speak to a Rent Estate Advisor today. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand, and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen, tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's Energy in Progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. It's time for today's Lucky Land horoscope with Victoria Cash. Life's gotten mundane, so shake up the daily routine and be adventurous, with a trip to Lucky Land. You know what they say. Your chance to win starts with a spin. So go to luckylandslots.com to play over a hundred social casino-style games for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Get lucky today at luckylandslots.com. Available to players in the U.S. excluding Washington and Michigan, no purchase necessary, VGW group, void replicated by law, 18 plus, turns in condition supply. To contact us within the next few days and make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station, we'll send you the return audio collection on CD or digital download along with his booklet called The Grace of God. All is our way of saying thanks for your support of this ministry. The details are online at www.tonayevans.org or give us a call at 1-800-832-22. Our resource center never closes, so there's no need to wait. Again, that's www.tonayevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. Any pilot will tell you that successfully landing a plane requires choosing and following the correct approach to the desired runway. Well, likewise, Dr. Evans says we need to take a spiritual approach to our lives if we're going to safely arrive at the destination God's prepared for us. Be sure to join in for that tomorrow. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the urban alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you. When it comes to renting out your property, the uncertainty of finding reliable tenants can feel like a real guessing game, responsible renter or perpetual party animal, enter, renter's warehouse. The pros who turn the uncertainty of finding great tenants into peace of mind. Renter's warehouse offers top-notch leasing and tenant placement services, ensuring you get trustworthy renters without the hassles and headaches. With no upfront fees, Renter's warehouse works for you, not the other way around. From marketing and showing your property to screening tenants and preparing the lease, their team of experts handles it all so you can sit back and watch the rent roll in. Renter's warehouse even warranties their tenants for up to 18 months at no extra cost. And if you need ongoing management, they've got you covered too, all for a flat monthly fee. Visit renterswearhouse.com to request a free rental price analysis that's renterswearhouse.com or call 303-974-9444 to speak to a rent estate advisor today. And if you want to get a free rental price, you can find the link in the description.