The True Nature of God Part 5

Early in my ministry I had a desire to minister effectively, yet I was totally frustrated because I was doing all of these things I just described to get G.o.d to use me. I remember going to a Bible study one night when I was pastoring a church in Colorado. I had determined I was going to fast, pray, and study the Word all day long because I felt I needed to. It had been days since I spent much time studying the Word, because I was spending all my time ministering to other people. So I had set aside that day to fast, pray, and study the Word.

People who wanted prayer came by my house from morning till night. I prayed, but not in my personal relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d. It was totally geared toward other people all day. I didn't study the Word like I planned. I didn't have a single minute all day long to spend in the Word. I read the Word, but to other people.

A man I had been trying to lead to the Lord came by and wanted to take me out for lunch. I knew that was G.o.d's will, so I went out and ate twice as much as I normally did - even even though I had planned to fast - and I witnessed to this man. That day I broke every one of the promises I had made to G.o.d! though I had planned to fast - and I witnessed to this man. That day I broke every one of the promises I had made to G.o.d!

On the way to my Bible study (it was a 45-mile drive) I was feeling terrible. I said, "G.o.d, I broke every promise I made to You." Then Satan jumped right in and started reminding me of scriptures. Satan can quote scriptures to us just like he did to Jesus in the wilderness. He began to remind me of scriptures that say things like it's better not to make a vow than to make a vow and not pay it, and all liars will have their part in the lake of fire that burns with brimstone. (See Ecclesiastes 5:5 and Revelation 21:8.) I was having all of these thoughts and feeling so low that I said, "G.o.d, how could You ever use me?" See, I was thinking G.o.d was going to use me only to the degree I had performed. I said, "Oh G.o.d. Oh G.o.d." I was trying to overcome all my failures, so I finally started playing on His mercy by saying, "G.o.d, if You won't do it for me, do it for these people I'm going to minister to. What about these people? Don't let them miss out on Your anointing just because I was a dud all day."

After praying awhile, finally I said, "Oh G.o.d, just do it because of Who Jesus is."

As soon as I said that, the Lord spoke to me and said, "Who did you think I was going to do it because of?"

I honestly thought G.o.d was going to use me because of what I was planning to do that day. Suddenly, it dawned on me that G.o.d never used me because of what I had been doing. He used me in spite of my performance! G.o.d has never had anybody who was qualified to work for Him yet, other than Jesus. Anybody who gets anything from G.o.d gets it by His grace, and knowing that set me free.

Nowadays, if Satan comes to me and says, "Andrew, you're the sorriest thing on the face of the earth. What makes you think G.o.d will use you?" Instead of arguing with him and trying to justify myself, I just say, "Guilty! But praise G.o.d for Jesus. I tell the people about Who Jesus is, and if they need healing, I'll pray for them in the name of Jesus. They'll get healed through Who Jesus is!"

Do you know that I've seen more manifestation of the power of G.o.d since I changed my thinking than I ever saw when I was trying to earn it? Does that mean I go out and live a sloppy, sinful life? No, but I am not using my holiness as the basis of my relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d, being used by G.o.d, or receiving from G.o.d.

The Reason to Live Holy Reason to Live Holy .

The reason I live a holy life is because if I don't live holy, Satan is going to have inroads into my life and I cannot afford the "luxury" of Satan putting problems on me. I try to live holy as a defense against the devil and as a testimony to other people. I offer it to G.o.d because I know it's pleasing to Him when He sees me acting the way He wants me to, but I never use it as a basis of my relations.h.i.+p with Him. Because of that, Satan can't make me go up and down emotionally in proportion to my performance.

I found the place of peace in the Lord right at the point where I had blown it regarding performance. If someone needs prayer now, I don't look at whether I've lived good or bad that day. I know I can shoot my best shot for people in prayer and get them healed through who Jesus is and not through who Andrew Wommack is. Praise G.o.d!

I've seen some of the greatest miracles when I was at my lowest. As a matter of fact, I believe that's what Paul was saying in 2 Corinthians 12:10 when he said, When I am weak, then am I strong. When I am weak, then am I strong. Because Paul recognized his weakness and had this truth of grace and holiness in proper perspective, when he failed in his own performance he could trust in G.o.d that much more. Because Paul recognized his weakness and had this truth of grace and holiness in proper perspective, when he failed in his own performance he could trust in G.o.d that much more.

When I've been doing everything right I have a tendency to think, "G.o.d, You just get me introduced tonight and I promise You I can handle it from there because I've got it together." But when I've blown it in my preparation, I have a tendency to say, "G.o.d, it's got to be You!" And that's usually when I get used by Him the greatest, because I've put all of my attention on Him. G.o.d hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and G.o.d hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; G.o.d hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and G.o.d hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath G.o.d chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.1 Corinthians 1:27-29 G.o.d chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, the base things of the world to confound the mighty, and the things which are not to bring to nothing things that are. Do you know the primary reason G.o.d does that? It's because people who are foolish, base, or despised in the eyes of the world - who don't have natural talent or ability - are the people who trust in G.o.d the most. They haven't got anything else to trust!

The reason G.o.d doesn't often use the mighty is because they must quit trusting in themselves first. The reason uncivilized people in Africa get healed so easily is because they don't have anyone to rely on but Jesus. They don't have modern medicine and a drugstore on the corner. If they get a headache, Jesus is their only healer. G.o.d doesn't use us very much if we trust in our own abilities and power.

G.o.d often uses country hicks to preach the Gospel for that very reason. I guarantee you, when you're a hick from Texas like me, then you know it's got to be G.o.d on your behalf or you haven't got a chance. And there's freedom in that!

By trying to perform under the Law, we've done exactly the opposite of what G.o.d intended. We've thought, "Oh G.o.d, now I know what I need to do to see Your blessings in my ministry." No, that's not it. But after we fail miserably, then we know we can't do it and we tend to trust in Jesus instead of trusting ourselves.

The nature of G.o.d never was to give you a list of all of the things you have to do. The nature of G.o.d never was to stone you for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. Maybe you haven't been studying the Word at all, but G.o.d loves you whether you ever open the Bible another day in your life.

Please don't misunderstand! G.o.d's anointing is not based on your performance, but if you don't open the Word, you're stupid, because that's where the words of life are. That's where you get revelation of His true nature and get set free.

Go to church, but don't go to church so you can think, "G.o.d, I've been going to church. How come You aren't doing anything great in my life?" No, the reason you go to church isn't because G.o.d is keeping records and giving you brownie points or stars for every time you come to a meeting. You need to go to church to wors.h.i.+p and hear from G.o.d, to grow up through relations.h.i.+ps with other believers, and to find the place G.o.d wants you to minister. Go to church because it will transform your life. G.o.d still loves you if you stay home, but you simply won't know the love of G.o.d without fellows.h.i.+p and interaction in a church.

If you don't live a holy life G.o.d will love you just the same. But if you don't live a holy life, you're going to give Satan inroads into your life and you aren't going to prosper under circ.u.mstances like that.

Relations.h.i.+p Is Everything Is Everything .

Sometimes we let knowledge puff us up, which then makes us self-centered and more focused on what G.o.d could produce for us than on G.o.d Himself. Now, we don't have to choose one or the other. We don't have to go back to the place where all we do is just love G.o.d and have a devotion for Him, but don't know what G.o.d's will is for our life.

We don't have to live in bondage to sin and the Law all of our life. We don't have to think G.o.d doesn't want to prosper us. We don't have to think G.o.d has taken our loved ones. We don't have to go back to all that tradition of men, but we also don't have to go back to the place where all we do is just study the doctrinal knowledge about G.o.d.

We can know Him and and walk in an abundant life walk in an abundant life and and have faith produce in our life. I really believe G.o.d is trying to bring those things into harmony in the body of Christ. He is calling us into a relations.h.i.+p with Him where He is really the center of everything. I heard a song that says, "I would give my last breath to know Him in His death and resurrection." That's a powerful statement - and it's easier to sing it than it is to live it - but that is what G.o.d is calling us to. have faith produce in our life. I really believe G.o.d is trying to bring those things into harmony in the body of Christ. He is calling us into a relations.h.i.+p with Him where He is really the center of everything. I heard a song that says, "I would give my last breath to know Him in His death and resurrection." That's a powerful statement - and it's easier to sing it than it is to live it - but that is what G.o.d is calling us to.

I remember when I went through the Catacombs in Rome when I was only 18 years old. I read about the persecution and trials of the early Christians. They buried their dead in the walls along the Catacombs because the Romans would have desecrated their burial places. Believers would bring their dead to the Catacombs for burial because it was where they met for church, so they could protect the graves of their loved ones.

There were inscriptions all along the Catacombs, and I remember one of them read, "Here lie my wife and three-month-old daughter who proudly gave their lives for Jesus Christ in the Circus Maximus today." I felt overwhelmed by the commitment that permeated that place. It convicted me.

In America today, people don't like to think about dying for the Lord. We like to think about living for the Lord. We like to think about having the abundance of G.o.d and material things. Why are many of us frightened of or unwilling to give our last breath just to know G.o.d in His death and resurrection, to realign our priorities so that G.o.d is the center of our lives?

If I were to suddenly ask someone to get up right in the middle of one of my meetings and share some of the good things they had received from G.o.d, most of the time they would get tongue-tied and not be able to get it out. Why is this? Because the moment they get up, they are self-conscious. They no longer have their attention on what G.o.d did, but are wondering, "What are they going to think about me?"

The moment we get concerned with self, I promise you we aren't a good channel for G.o.d to use in ministry. I believe those early Christians had lost their sense of self in Jesus. He was their very life and breath, and that's the way we need to be. When we live like this, living for Him and not for ourselves, holiness just comes out. And when we minister to people, G.o.d can use us more effectively and powerfully.

Chapter 8.

G.o.d's New New Wine Wine .

We've been learning about the nature and the character of G.o.d and the reason for understanding His true nature. We have seen how G.o.d dealt with mankind from the time of Adam to the present. There had been and still is a lot of confusion on this, and that's why a lot of people don't understand the real nature of G.o.d. We know now why most people think G.o.d is kind of schizophrenic - He acts one way under the old covenant and another way under the new covenant - and many people try to combine the two, without much success.

We've also seen that the Old Testament complements the New Testament and points towards the new covenant. The Old Testament prepared the way for the New Testament. But if you try to live under the new covenant and the old covenant at the same time, it's like taking new wine and putting it into old wineskins - the old wineskins are going to burst and the wine will run out. It's like trying to sew a new patch on an old piece of clothing. When you wash and dry it, the new patch is going to shrink, but the old clothes don't have any more shrinkage left, so the garment will tear.

That's exactly what Jesus was speaking of when He taught these parables in Luke 5:36-39. The religious leaders were trying to get Him to operate under the Old Testament traditions and doctrines. When Jesus said you can't put new wine into old wineskins, He was talking about the new covenant and the old covenant.

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.Proverbs 16:6 This is powerful if you'll really think about it and a.n.a.lyze it. The first part says that by mercy and truth iniquity is purged. The only way you'll ever be transformed is from the inside out by mercy and truth, because it's the goodness of G.o.d that leads men to repentance.

The last part of this verse says that by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. By wrath, judgment, condemnation, and fear you can get people to depart from evil. So G.o.d gave the Old Testament Law, an administration of wrath and condemnation, to keep people out of sin. It dealt severely with people's sins, not because that was G.o.d's true att.i.tude or the way G.o.d really felt about us, but He instilled fear in us that kept us from going into sin.

The Law restrained the growth of sin in the earth and it made us depart from evil, but it couldn't do anything to change the inner man, to really change our desires and work the transformation on the inside of us G.o.d desires. The Law was completely impotent to do that.

The New Testament books of Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews show you that the Old Testament Law was weak and unprofitable, that it is ready to vanish away. Galatians 3:12 says that the Old Testament Law is not of faith. is not of faith. Romans 14:23 says, Romans 14:23 says, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. whatsoever is not of faith is sin. These are strong statements. These are strong statements.

For its purpose, the Old Testament Law was all right, but it was totally incapable of changing us on the inside. Mercy and truth do that. All the Law did was make us depart from evil for a time and reveal our need for a Savior. But when Jesus came into our lives with mercy and truth, sin was purged from our inner man.

New Testament Transformation Testament Transformation .

A good friend of mine, whom I'll call Jill, has a long testimony which I'll cut very short. She was orphaned when she was six years old. She had two other sisters. Her mother died and her dad couldn't cope with the situation. He became a drunk and put Jill in an orphanage. He told her, "I'll come back and visit you every Sat.u.r.day." He came back the first Sat.u.r.day, but after that he never came back again.

Every Sat.u.r.day she got ready, dressed up, made herself look the best she could, and waited on her dad to come. All of her friends would tell her, "He'll never come. He'll be just like all of the others." But she said, "Not my dad. My dad loves me. He'll be here." She waited year after year, but her dad never did show up again.

Jill began to feel this rejection. She began to be hungry for people to love her. Every Sat.u.r.day people came to the orphanage to pick out the kids they were going to adopt. Jill would always put on her best dress, fix her hair, and be on her best behavior. Even though her heart was breaking inside, she would put on a smile and be happy, because when people go to choose a child from the orphanage, they don't usually pick the one who needs it the most. They usually don't pick the one who cries and really needs somebody to love them. They usually pick the one who is going to bless them the most.

Most people are motivated to please self in everything they do. That's the way they choose their mate. They don't pick a person they can love and help to be all G.o.d wants them to be, but they choose somebody they think is going to make them what they want to be, somebody who is going to give them something. They're like a vacuum, always sucking everything towards them.

People coming to the orphanage were no different. They didn't select the child who needed them the most. Rather, they picked the one they needed the most. And Jill learned, without anybody really teaching her, that she had to perform to be accepted. So she performed. She was always on her best behavior.

Jill was never adopted, but she was able to overcome some of the natural setbacks. She was elected president of her senior cla.s.s and became homecoming queen. She was voted most popular and most beautiful. She won all of the awards, but inside it was always just a performance to her. She never let anybody see the real her. Her whole life was performing, trying to earn the favor of somebody else.

Finally, she met a man I'll call Ray. He was raised in a Christian home and he had quite a bit going for him. He loved her and they got married. When they got married, she couldn't cook, so she stayed up long hours studying, learning to cook, and trying to come up with meals. Although her cooking was still terrible, Ray would eat the meals and not say a thing about them.

Jill was always performing. She never let her husband see her in curlers or without make-up. She would get up early to make certain she was picture perfect before anyone saw her. She was trying to perform and keep this image of perfection going.

Finally, after a few months of marriage, Jill and Ray got into an argument. They got to talking about it and Jill started crying. She said later that when she cried, she just looked terrible. Her nose got red, her eyes were red, her mascara was running, and she ruined her artificial appearance. She believed she finally ruined her performance.

Right in the middle of the fight she began to say to Ray, "All right, leave me. I know you're going to divorce me. Just leave me and see if I care."

Ray looked at her and said, "Divorce you? Just because we disagree on something? Jill, I love you. It doesn't matter whether we agree on everything or not, I'm not going to divorce you."

The things he said totally broke her down. She couldn't believe somebody loved her even when her performance was not perfect. Despite her insecurity, her husband loved her unconditionally and let her know she didn't have to perform to earn his love. If she was at her very worst, he still loved her exactly the same.

Ray's love - which was the unconditional love of Jesus working in his heart - changed Jill's life. Today she is one of the most secure people I know because she doesn't have to perform anymore and she is secure in the love of G.o.d that she saw through her husband. It took a long period of time, but she's got one of the most powerful testimonies I've ever heard.

When Jill was telling her story, I identified with her. I wasn't really performing for other people, but I was performing for G.o.d. As I grew up, I performed spiritually all of my young life. I tried to do the very best I could - never saying a cuss word, never taking a drink of liquor, and never smoking a cigarette. I was as good as I could possibly be, and yet I probably felt more condemned and more unloved by G.o.d than the majority who were out in the world living in sin, drinking, partying, kicking up their heels, and doing everything else.

I have shared how I used to wake up in a cold sweat, having had a dream that I smoked a cigarette and was burning in h.e.l.l for it. I also would go into a restaurant and see all these dirty words scribbled on the bathroom walls, and just because I saw those words, I would go out of there feeling totally guilty, condemned, and defiled. It took me days and weeks sometimes to get over the exposure to that kind of stuff. People who weren't brought up in a strict religious environment, under condemnation, have trouble relating to that.

How Much Sin Is Too Much? Much Sin Is Too Much?

Sin is deadly even if you just rationalize it by saying, "Well, everybody lives this way." You may not feel as guilty as I did, but sin is still going to destroy you and send you to h.e.l.l unless you give your whole life to Jesus and have an intimate relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d.

Even though I seemed to be living a holy life by most people's standard, I was under such guilt and condemnation, I had no freedom to love G.o.d or enter into an intimate relations.h.i.+p with Him. I was at arm's length from Him, and He seemed very impersonal to me. I knew Jesus was my Savior and I knew I was born again, but I didn't have an intimate relations.h.i.+p with the Father. I couldn't as long as I was under that much guilt and condemnation. It was impossible.

I find this is where most Christians are today, and the reason for it is because of the Old Testament concept of G.o.d. People haven't renewed their minds, and they think G.o.d is out to get them. They believe the first time they sin G.o.d is not going to bless them or have anything to do with them.

If you are born again and Spirit-filled, you probably don't believe He's going to send you to h.e.l.l, but you probably believe He won't give you what you ask for. You probably feel He's going to let you "stew in your juices," because you feel you deserve it. Most of us believe we're going to get what we deserve from G.o.d - except for h.e.l.l. But that's not the nature of G.o.d.

When people are ignorant of this fact, they're continually trying to perform and make enough effort to say, "G.o.d, look what I've done. Isn't it enough?" It will never be enough. You will never do enough. If you could do enough to earn the blessings of G.o.d, Jesus would not have needed to come and die for you!

Now that does not mean you should live in sin and say, "Praise G.o.d, I just get my blessings through what Jesus has done. I think I'll just go live in sin since it doesn't matter." No! A lack of holiness will affect your relations.h.i.+p with the devil! Satan will dominate you if you live an unholy life, and that will ultimately affect your ability to fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.John 10:10 Don't give the devil place in your life. If you're living in sin, you're defiling your conscience and hardening your heart towards G.o.d. But G.o.d's love is still consistent towards you regardless of what you've done. Now that concept will cause a lot of people to say, "I just can't believe that, brother. I can't believe G.o.d loves a person with sin in his life."

Well, let me ask you this. What is sin? Sin is not only the things that you've done that are wrong, but James 4:17 says, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. If you use the same definition of sin that the Bible gives, then every last one of us are short of practicing the revelation G.o.d has given us. There's not a person who has prayed without ceasing, who has sought first the kingdom of G.o.d at all times, who has separated himself to serve G.o.d only in every moment, and who has loved other people as themselves. If you use the same definition of sin that the Bible gives, then every last one of us are short of practicing the revelation G.o.d has given us. There's not a person who has prayed without ceasing, who has sought first the kingdom of G.o.d at all times, who has separated himself to serve G.o.d only in every moment, and who has loved other people as themselves.

There's not a person who is walking perfectly in every area of their life. If you aren't walking perfectly, then you're living in sin! And if that's so, and if G.o.d can't fellows.h.i.+p with anyone who has sin in his life, then G.o.d doesn't have anybody to fellows.h.i.+p with! If G.o.d can't use anyone who is a dirty vessel, then G.o.d doesn't have anyone to use.

In my spirit I'm totally clean, but in my flesh, I'm still making mistakes. I am not perfect and neither are you. Some people say, "I just don't believe G.o.d could love you with sin in your life." Those people have started categorizing sin! They are really saying, "Now these sins are bad enough to get you in wrong standing with G.o.d. But these other sins are kind of on the borderline. And then some of these are little white sins that all of us do, but you can get by with those."

That's not G.o.d's system at all! James 2:10 says, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty guilty of all. of all. Folks, that's what the Bible says. That's the way G.o.d sees it! Folks, that's what the Bible says. That's the way G.o.d sees it!

I have never said a cuss word in all my life, but I'm guilty of blasphemy because G.o.d's Law is a perfect standard. The Law is like a big plate gla.s.s window running across the entire front of the auditorium. I could shoot a bb through it, push a piano through it, or drive a truck through it. The size of the object doesn't matter. If you break the window, it's broken! And to replace it, you've got to replace the whole thing.

G.o.d's standard is perfection. You either have to be perfect or else you need a Savior Who was perfect for you. So even though I have broken the Law of G.o.d in what may be a small way compared to some other people, I have totally broken the Law of G.o.d. G.o.d's Law is perfection.

There are hundreds of different commandments, but you have to keep them all to be perfect. If you have made any mistake at all, you're in trouble with G.o.d unless you have the Savior. And if you have the Savior, then you're going to get in through His mercy and through what Jesus did for you - not through what you did.

If that's so, then why should people even try to live a holy life? Because Satan will take advantage if you open the door to him even a crack. All Satan needs is 1 percent to get a toehold in your life, and that toehold can cut off your intimacy with G.o.d. When you sin and give place to the devil, that's exactly what happens - you give G.o.d's place in your life to the devil. So as soon as you realize it, just repent, restore your intimacy with G.o.d, and boot the devil out!

Submit yourselves therefore to G.o.d. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.Draw nigh to G.o.d, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.James 4:7,8 This is the new wine: submitting yourself to G.o.d, drawing near to Him, and then in His strength and the confidence of His unconditional love, then in His strength and the confidence of His unconditional love, your hands are cleansed and your heart is purified of sin. your hands are cleansed and your heart is purified of sin.

Did you notice James referred to believers as sinners? Many of us will admit to being double-minded from time to time, but don't you dare call us a sinner! And what is G.o.d's answer in His Word? Submit to Him. Draw near to Him. And then then you can be cleansed and purified - and get rid of the devil. you can be cleansed and purified - and get rid of the devil.

The Old Testament Law was to give you such a strict standard, that it finally dawned on your lightning-fast mind that you just couldn't do it - so you needed a Savior. This is true before you get saved and after you get saved. Jesus saved you from eternal death and h.e.l.l the day you were born again, but He saves you from sin, sickness, poverty, and all attacks of Satan every day of your life on earth.

Religion says, "If you'll do these things and keep the Law, then G.o.d will bless you." Religion wants you to quit trusting in G.o.d and look to yourself. Quit trusting in your own effort and performing to earn the blessings of G.o.d! Begin depending on and resting in what Jesus has done instead of what you've done.

When you do this, you are putting the new wine in a new new wineskin! wineskin!

Chapter 9

The Power Power and and Joy Joy in in G.o.d-Consciousness G.o.d-Consciousness In the Old Testament, we saw the wrath and judgment of G.o.d on people because of their disobedience. He was trying to show them that unless they were perfect they didn't deserve things from Him.

Of course, n.o.body could be perfect under the old covenant, because they did not have a transformation of their heart. So that is why G.o.d had them offer animal sacrifices and give material offerings. But the book of Hebrews outlines very clearly that we have a sacrifice that ended all sacrifices. Jesus made one sacrifice for sins for all time. He has cleansed us so that we no longer need to have any more consciousness of sin.

The Old Testament Law gave us knowledge of sin, which caused mankind's biggest problem after the Fall: self-centeredness. self-centeredness. People who are consumed with keeping the Law are obsessed with their sin, which means they are always focusing on themselves. Believers like that are always self-conscious. They are conscious of whether they have sinned or not sinned. They are very sensitive to how guilty they are and how far short they've fallen. People who are consumed with keeping the Law are obsessed with their sin, which means they are always focusing on themselves. Believers like that are always self-conscious. They are conscious of whether they have sinned or not sinned. They are very sensitive to how guilty they are and how far short they've fallen.

Self-centeredness will devastate a believer in their relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d.

I believe what hinders most of us from being the witness for Jesus we should be is that we are so conscious of how far away we are from perfection, we feel guilty trying to talk about the Lord with other people. We're self-conscious, constantly drinking, "What are these people going to think of me?"

The way to get bold is to get so G.o.d-conscious that you forget about yourself. You can lose self-consciousness in G.o.d. You can get to where you don't care about yourself and what other people think. You can be totally G.o.d-centered.

How to Be Self-Centered to Be Self-Centered .

The easiest way to become self-centered is just by saying, "All right, I'm going to forget myself." The moment you start focusing on yourself and start saying, "Self, get out of my way!" you've put your attention back on yourself!

In my religious background, I was taught to "die to myself." There's a truth in the Bible about dying to yourself, but my idea of how to do it will probably sound stupid. I was seeking G.o.d with all I had, and I heard a man say that to die to himself, he envisioned himself in an electric chair where they executed criminals.

Every morning I would get up, sit down, and imagine I was strapping myself in that electric chair. As I strapped myself in, I would name each one of my sorry characteristics until I had listed every rotten thing about me. I kept this up until I saw just how terrible I was. By doing that, I thought I was turning on the electricity and crucifying self. I was trying to die to self by recognizing how sorry "self was.

But it didn't work. I finally realized that, by trying to die to self that way, I actually spent more time thinking about myself and focusing my attention on my sin than I ever did before. I was more self-centered than ever!

I was so religious, people were patting me on the back and saying how humble I was because I was so beat down. Most people believe that pride is thinking, "I'm better than anybody else.

n.o.body's as good as I am." That is one form of pride, but saying, "Oh, I'm the sorriest thing that ever walked on the face of the earth!" is a higher form of pride.