“The victorious Christian life is nothing less than the life of Christ expressed through the child of God. Any behavior which is not dependent of Him living His life through us comes from the flesh. That suggests that it is even possible to be busy doing things FOR God while our actions still stem from the energy of the flesh. THE EXCHANGED LIFE MEANS WE DEPEND ON HIS RESOURCES, NOT OUR OWN. FLESH LIFE MEANS DEPENDING ON WHAT I CAN DO.

Major Ian Thomas says . . . ‘There is nothing quite so nauseating or pathetic as flesh trying to be holy! The flesh has a perverted bent for righteousness — but such righteousness as it may achieve is always self-righteousness; and self-righteousness is always self-conscious righteousness; and self-conscious righteousness is always full of self-praise. This produces the extrovert, who must always be noticed, recognized, consulted, and applauded. On the other hand, when the flesh is in pursuit of self-righteousness fails, instead of being filled with
self-praise, it is filled with self-pity, and this produces the introvert. A professional “case” for professional counselors.’

Trying to do something FOR God is a flesh trip. It is possible to be sincere in trying to do something Him, yet be sincerely wrong. Religious flesh is often a hard pattern for a person to recognize because it is usually applauded by other Christians. Religious service may cause you
to be pleased with yourself. Or it may leave you feeling spiritually or emotionally drained. If you find yourself in either place, God may be trying to show you the problem. Many Christians today are exhausted because they understand the Christian life to be primarily a life of
service for God. But that isn’t true. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS PRIMARILY A LIFE OF INTIMACY WITH GOD.”

from Steve McVey’s book . . . GRACE WALK . . . What You’ve Always Wanted in the Christian Life

“Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God. God has certain holy and righteous demands which He places upon me: that is law. Now if law means that God requires something of me for their fulfillment, then deliverance from law means that He no longer requires that from me, but HIMSELF provides it. Law implies that God requires me to do something for Him; deliverance from law implies that He exempts me from doing it, and that in grace He does it Himself. I NEED DO NOTHING FOR GOD; that is deliverance from the law.” — Watchman Nee

Bible Teacher, Steve McVey reminds us “what a relief to discover that God isn’t interested in WHAT we can do for Him. He can do anything that He needs done! He doesn’t want what we can do — He just wants us! When Christ is allowed to express His life through us, it will be a ministry of supernatural life, not religious routine which leaves us frustrated and unfulfilled. The core of the Christian life doesn’t revolve around DOING, but is grounded in BEING. The Christian life is the life of Christ. Our focus is a person, not a performance of religious activities.

Satan knows the best way to defeat Christians is to make them believe that obeying the law is the pathway to victory. It is impossible for YOU to fulfill the law. If you really want to live a godly lifestyle, the focus of your life must be HIM. Not church, not religious activity, not
a moral lifestyle, not obeying His commands. JUST HIM! The only one who can live the Christ-life is Christ.”

from GRACE WALK … WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Good words to ponder on this President’s Day — 2005