The Alternative

[ 0m0s ] There is no greater plan for your life than the plan God has for it. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Dr. Tony Evans says it's easy to get wrapped up in the wrong agenda. If you spend all of your time letting this world define your calling, you'll never hear God's calling. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] This is the Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] How much satisfaction can you get from following your life's calling? Dr. Evans says that depends on who did the calling. Let's join him as he explains. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] It is unfortunate that far too many Christians live life wondering why they are here where they are going. What God's uniquely customized life purpose is for them. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] So that is the concept of our series. We defined it that a calling is a customized life purpose for which God has ordained and equipped you that will bring him the greatest glory and allow you to have your maximum impact. That is your calling. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] We stated why it's important. It is critical because it defines why you're here. What a tragedy to die, never having known why God saved you in the first place. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Turn your Bibles with me, please, to Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. These are two of the most well-known verses in all of the New Testament. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] I beseech you, therefore, brethren, or urge you, by the mercies of God, that you present your body, a spiritual sacrifice. And then he says, do not be conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So that you will prove what the will of God is. That which is good, acceptable, and perfect. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] When you are positioned right under God, you won't have to find your calling, your calling will find you. If you want your calling to find you, the first thing you need to know to get positioned is that God must own all of you. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Paul has spent the first 11 chapters before he gets here, talking about the mercies of God. He spends the first three chapters saying the whole world is condemned before holy God. The heathen are condemned because they've rejected God in nature and conscience. The Jews are condemned because they've rejected the oracles of God. The moralist are condemned because they condemn others for that which they themselves practice. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] And so he concludes in chapter 3 verse 10, there is none righteous, no not one. But then he comes in chapter 19 and he declares, but God has come up with a way by which unrighteous men are made righteous through a process called justification, where God credits to the account of the unrighteous, the righteousness of Christ. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] How do you get this righteousness? You get it for free. Chapter 4. It's by grace, the same way Abraham got it. Is that all? Chapter 5, you've only just begun. He says, because once you are endowed with grace, it affects all of life. Then my problems are solved. Not necessarily, chapter 6 and 7. It depends on whom you yield your body to that will determine whom you obey. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Well then what possible way can I have victory? Chapter 8, God has given you the Holy Spirit. And it's his job to take those whom God has saved and empower them to live out their salvation. Well, then if it's so great, how come the Jews don't have it? Chapters 9 through 11. They don't have it because they don't believe it and when you don't believe it, you don't get it. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Having summarized those 11 chapters, he comes to the conclusion that there have been great mercies bestowed on us. God doesn't want you to commit because somebody makes you commit. He wants you to commit because you've seen that he's been good. God must own all of you. Verse two, the world must own none of you. Be not conformed to this world. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] The word, the Greek word for conformed was what a potter did with clay. A potter takes clay and he squeezes it here, shapes it here, molds it here, so that the clay comes out looking like what the potter intends. So if the potter wants a cup, he squeezes it so it's shaped like a cup or a bowl or a saucer or a plate. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] He says, don't let the world squeeze you here, mold you there, so that you wind up looking like what it says you ought to be. You know one of the reasons many of us haven't found out our calling? Because we've been letting the world teach us what success is. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] And since we've been following what the world's definition is, we've been climbing to the top of the ladder discovering it's leaning against the wrong wall. We've discovered it has not answered our reason for being. It may give you money, it may give you a house, it may give you cars, it may give you clothes, but it doesn't give you a reason for being. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] And your calling is your divine reason for being. You have a reason to get up in the morning, because you have a calling to fulfill and a charge to keep. So don't let the world be a potter over your life. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] What do we mean by world? The Greek word for the word world is Cosmos. We get our English word cosmetic from that word. The Greek word Cosmos meant to arrange or to put in order. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] So when a lady goes before a mirror and says, let me put on a face, she's very biblical at that point. For some things need to be rearranged. Moving right along. The Cosmos can be more formally defined as that system headed by Satan that leads God out. To be worldly, you don't have to be a drunkard or a drug addict. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] All you have to do to be worldly is excuse God. College students often ask this question, but not limited to them, about the gray areas of life. Can we do this? Can we do that? Well, the easiest way to answer that is to remember, whatever you do, God is doing with you, is he having as much fun as you are? Or must you leave him outside? The Cosmos is a kingdom headed by Satan that opposes the program of God. You know it's worldly because it doesn't want God in it. That means it's the world. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Now, you have to live in the world. You cannot operate as a hermit somewhere. You must live in this world. But God does not want this world squeezing you and molding you so that its value system becomes your value system. Its goals becomes your goals. Its dreams becomes your dreams. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] And if you spend all of your time letting this world define your calling, you'll never hear God's calling. Because the kingdom that you are called to is in total antithesis to the kingdom that you are called from. And if you want to stop spinning your wheels, year after year after year, and I'm not talking about your job and your career. We're going to talk about that. How does your career relate to your calling? [--Dr. Tony Evans--] But I'm now talking about a sense of purposelessness, reason for being. You must clearly identify which kingdom you're hanging with. Many of us belong to heaven, but we regularly service hell. And we wonder why God won't bail us out of our circumstances. Why he won't bail us out of our situations. Why should he let you go free when he knows the secrets of his kingdom are going to be made available to the kingdom of another? [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Why should he call you to know that your service for him will be used to help the enemy overcome him if such were possible? He says, be not conformed to this world. Don't let this world control you. So all of you must belong to God, none of you must belong to the world. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] But we're relating this to calling because this is positioning you. He then gives a third thing in chapter 12, verse 2, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Renewing of your mind. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] The word transformed in the Greek text is passive. Passive means it's not something you do, it's something done upon you by another. If I say I went to the store, that's something I did. If I say I was taken to the store, that's passive. Somebody else took me. He says, be transformed. It's passive. In other words, when you say, God has all of me, when you say, the world has none of me, you have done the greatest single thing you can do. And that is clear up your confused mind. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] We are divided. James has a word for that. He calls it double-mindedness. We're trying to live in two worlds at the very same time. He says, but when you've cleared the static, when when you've arranged things properly, then there will be a process by which the Holy Spirit begins to work on your mind because you will discover your calling in your mind. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] That's where the will of God will be revealed to you. God will deal with your thinking. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Dr. Evans will return with more in a moment, including some specific ways God communicates his calling to us. First though, I'd like to tell you about a special resource package we put together as our way of saying thank you when you make a donation to keep this ministry going. It starts with our current two-volume 12 message audio collection, called For a Purpose. It also includes Tony's encouraging Called for a Purpose devotional book, specially written to compliment and build on the truths presented throughout this series. Together, these resources expand what we've been learning about your one-of-a-kind, God-given calling. God has something special he intends for you to do, and these resources will help you better understand his purpose and confidently pursue it day-by-day. There's no greater source of satisfaction than discovering and fulfilling the purpose God has for your life. We feel this message is so important that we'd like to send you the Called for a Purpose resource package as our thank you gift, when you make a donation to support the work of the alternative. But don't wait, this exclusive offer will only be available for a short while. Details are waiting for you at tonyevans.org, where you can also sign up for Tony's free weekly email devotional. Again, that's tonyevans.org, or call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222, and let one of our friendly team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. We'll continue with more of today's message right after this. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] The biblical roles of husbands and wives, the source of our authority as believers, understanding the concept of grace, winning spiritual battles. They're all important subjects but seem as different as night and day. Would it surprise you to know there's a common thread running through all four? You can discover what it is by taking the course on Ephesians in the Tony Evans Training Center. One by one, you'll dig into the powerful themes of this book and make new discoveries about what Jesus' death accomplished, how to maintain unity at home and at church, what spiritual armor is all about. The course includes custom content from Tony not available anywhere else. Work through it at your own pace, collaborate with other students. Get your specific questions answered through our online forum. Connect with the Tony Evans Training Center at tonyevans.org. It's like having a seminary on your smartphone or other device. Start today, tonyevans.org. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Do you know the main way that the Holy Spirit speaks to you today, beyond the word of God, that's the foundational way, but the main way he illuminates or or applies the word of God to you is in your thoughts. He wants to get access to your mind, because really, as a man thinks, that is what he is. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] He says, you need a transformed mind. So the Holy Spirit is free to give you his thoughts. That's a great, great promise in John 15. He says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, then you can ask me whatever you will and my father will do it. Now, that seems like a pretty open-ended deal, right? You abide in me, my word abides in you, and then ask me whatever you want and and it's going to be okay. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] How can he leave it so open? It's very simple. The Holy Spirit, because he's part of the Trinitarian Godhead, always and only thinks what Jesus thinks, because these two are one. Jesus only thinks what the father thinks, because the Jesus and the Father are one. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Whatever the Father is thinking, Jesus is thinking it, and at the same time the Holy Spirit is thinking it, because all three are one. They are one in essence. They operate simultaneously and always in agreement. So when the Father thinks something, the Holy Spirit thinks something, because Jesus is thinking the very same thing. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Now, when you get on your knees and pray, in order for it to come out of your mouth, it must first come from your brain. You must think it before you can speak it. So that whatever you pray for has to be thought first. Now, watch this. When the Holy Spirit transforms your mind, you begin to think his thoughts after him. You begin to think what he is thinking in you because he is recording over the old tape that you used to listen to. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] And his thoughts, Holy Ghost thoughts are now transforming the tape recorder of your mind, so that you are now thinking differently. But whatever you are thinking that the Holy Spirit is thinking in you, Jesus is thinking it at the same time, because Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one. But whatever Jesus is thinking, that the Holy Spirit is thinking, and that you are now thinking, the Father must think it too, because the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit all are thinking the same thing at the same time and that same thing is now being thought in your mind. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Therefore, when you get on your knees to pray for it, they've got to answer it because they made you think it in order to ask it in the first place. God wants to transform the thought. And then he says, and you will prove. That's a great word. It means you'll see worked out. A great lynched word, a great transitional word. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] You'll see unveiled, proven, demonstrated the will of God. In other words, you position yourself. If you'll take this faith move of all of you, no reservations. None of the world, no compromise. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] The Holy Spirit will then act on the mind to lead you, blow you into the plan of God for your life, your purpose, and you will discover, and this is why you can take the risk, it's number one, good. Whatever God's calling for you is, is good. Whatever his plan for you is, it's good. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] That means it's the best thing that can happen to you. There is no greater plan for your life than the plan God has for it. It is the best plan for you. Students go to counselors to help sort out what they want to major in, or to help get a life's direction. Nobody can come up with a better life map for you than God. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Because he knows stuff about you that will never show up on anybody's test. He knows your personality. He knows the talents he's given to you. Now, let me tell you something else God knows. Watch this. He knows your scars. One of the main things God will use to call you are your scars. The things that happened to you in life, maybe some caused by you, maybe some caused by others that he will use. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] When Joanie Ericsson dove into that water, God knew that rock was there. He could have blown her a little to the left or a little to the right or a little forward or a little back, and she would have never hidden her head, but when she hit her head, she was paralyzed from the waist down. Did God know that or was he caught by surprise? See, there's a doctrine out today, it's called open theism. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Open theism is a way to try to explain how stuff happens that is negative when there is a God, and they answer it by saying, well, evidently, God does not know the future. And since he does not know the future, he can't control what he doesn't know. So let rather than saying there is no God, let's just not blame him. Well, that doesn't solve anything. Any God that doesn't know the future can't write the book of Revelation. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] And if he can't write the book of Revelation, then I don't know that there's a heaven, and I don't have to be scared that there might be a hell. So, you know, it's anybody's guess. But what he is saying is this. When Joanie Erickson hit that rock, that one negative event, that was a negative event in terms of human life, there's no other way to explain that. But that became the basis of her ministry. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] And I heard her on the radio talking about, while I would prefer to be in another physical situation, I praise God that even in my pain, there is a purpose. Did you know God will use your scars for his purposes? It's good. Now, let me tell you something. It may not seem good. But it is working out for good. Okay? All things work together for good. When it's being put together, it doesn't look good. When it gets finished, it's good. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Two, it's acceptable. It's the best thing for you and you're going to want the result. I had a lady tell me one time, she's scared to give herself totally to God. Because she want to marry somebody tall, dark, and handsome. And she's scared that if she gives herself to God, he going to give her somebody short, bald, and fat. No, no. Let me tell you one of the things we're going to get into a little deeper. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] When God shows you your calling, it will match your passion. Your calling will match your passion. You won't get called to do what you despise. You will be called to do what you love. Now, that doesn't mean you will like everything about it, but it the thing itself, the essence of the thing itself, you will love. God's calling will be acceptable because it will relate to your passion. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Finally, it is perfect. Verse two says. You know what perfect means? It means complete, unstoppable. Nobody can have yours. It means it will reach its intended destination. What a wonderful thing that if I'm in the will of God, I can't die until my purpose is concluded. That's why Paul could die with such confidence. He says, I'm finished. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Jesus says, I've come to finish the work my father has for me to do. My time is now at hand, but all the other times he says, my time is not yet. Because he was in the perfect plan of God. It's perfect. I'm not supposed to be in Dallas. That wasn't the plan. I had my plans. My plans were all on paper. My plans were all set. My plans were when Nona Lake, Indiana, Grace Theological Seminary, all the plans were made, went up, been accepted, paid my fees, found housing. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Those were my plans. Then God showed up. And through one phrase that one man said one day in college, it totally diverted me in a whole different direction. See, in the human stand but I'd say I changed my mind. Romans 12:2 would say, the Holy Spirit transformed your thinking. You began to think differently. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] A little girl came to her father and said, Daddy, you promised to give me a nickel. Father had promised to give her a nickel. He reached into his pocket and he couldn't find a nickel. He said, well, you've been a good girl so I don't have any change so he reached into his pocket. He thought he'd give her a dollar bill. He only had a 20. He said, whoa. You know what? You've been so good. I'm going to give you a $20 bill. She said, but daddy, you promised me a nickel. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] No, you don't understand, baby. This is a bunch of nickels. Whole bunch of nickels. 20 nickels make a dollar, $20 make $20, it's a bunch of nickels. But she didn't understand. She said, as tears rolled down her face, Daddy, why won't you keep your promise? Daddy, you promised me a nickel and I don't have a nickel. He tried to explain her again, no, you don't understand. It's a $20 bill. She did a temper tantrum. I want that nickel right now. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] She went off on daddy because daddy wouldn't give her a nickel. That's what a lot of us do with our calling, settle for a nickel when God says, here's a $20 bill. This is what I want to do with my life. This is what I want to be. And God says, but here's a twenty and we screaming, but why won't you give me my nickel? God is wanting you to take the risk of saying, not my will. But thy will be done because I believe even if your will is a cross on Friday, there'll be a resurrection on Saturday. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] Dr. Tony Evans, encouraging you to put your personal agenda in God's hands. Part of his series, Called for a Purpose. This two-volume 12-message teaching series is designed to help you discover and faithfully pursue the unique purpose God has prepared for your life. As I mentioned earlier, we'd like to send you this complete audio collection along with Tony's inspiring Called for a Purpose devotional book, specially designed to reinforce the biblical principles we've been hearing throughout this series with practical daily encouragement. We're offering this special resource package for a limited time as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to support the ministry of Tony Evans and The Alternative. Be sure to visit tonyevans.org right away. That's tonyevans.org. Or call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222. And let one of our team members help with your request. That's 1-800-800-3222. [--Dr. Tony Evans--] The Bible tells us that every believer is spiritually gifted, but identifying those gifts and figuring out how to use them is another story. On Monday, Dr. Evans explains how what makes you special can make you effective. Don't miss it.