Your life will be determined by how clear you are about who God is.Īnd you say, “That’s a little overstatement.” No. And if it is wrong, it will impact and influence every decision, every relationship, your identity, in every way. And you have all these different pieces that have built a collage in your mind, and, when you bow your head, or get on your knees, and you say, “Dear God,” or, “Lord Jesus,” you have a picture, or a mental concept, of who He is.Īnd if it is right, and if it is accurate, dynamic things will happen in your life. You have this collage, jigsaw puzzle, of what you've heard, what you've seen, a snippet at church, maybe you read a little of the Bible – I didn't read the Bible growing up. And what I had in my mind is what all of you have in your mind. For there is a secret law of the soul that we move toward our mental image of God.” And the most portentous fact about any man is not what he is at a given time, or what he may say or do, but what, in his heart, in the depth of his heart, he conceives God to be like. Now, listen carefully to his application: “For this reason, the gravest, the most important question before the Church is always God Himself. “The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.”

He writes, in the beginning, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Think of that. Tozer's Knowledge of the Holy is about God Himself. And so, Theresa gave me one a couple years ago.Ī.W. And I don't know what briefcases do, but it started to peel apart, and the pages were falling apart. The original copy I got from Hong Kong was a little bit smaller, and was in my briefcase for about twenty-seven years. And I can say this, because it's with warm affection: My wife gave me the updated copy. And what that was, was a book: one thin, very inexpensive, little book, by a man who's been dead for a while. And the very thing that he put in my hand, and God put in my heart, I put in my briefcase for about thirty years. That something that he put in my hand, God put in my heart. And something happened in that room, in 1978, that changed the course of my life. And I had asked a few questions and we were the team and sharing some time. And in this room he has a small library, but they're all paperback books. I find myself in a high rise, about twenty-two floors up or so, in a missionary's room.

Had about a three-week stint where I was going to join an Australian team, go throughout the Orient, play basketball, and share Christ. I’m a young guy who has ended up on an Australian basketball team.

Chip ingram books