Welcome to the In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, May 6th.

Serving God is extremely important, but doing things for him should never replace our relationship with him.

Let's continue listening to the series pointing you to some practical helps to holiness.

What I want us to do in the next few moments is to examine our hearts in this matter

of our relationship to him. And let's just get this etched in your mind to ask yourself,

whatever you're doing, wherever it may be, am I doing this on the basis of my human resources,

or am I doing this on the basis of a heavenly relationship?

Now, I do not mean simply what you do at church.

I mean in your home life, in your social life, in your business, whatever your business may be.

Are you operating that on the basis of an intimate relationship you have with God, or are you operating that on the basis of your human resources,

what you can come up with, what you can do, what you can manipulate, what you can manage, what you can finagle,

upon which of these two bases are we living, our life, and laboring every day?

Now, let's look at two or three things.

Look in John's chapter 17 for a moment. I want you to notice he prayed this prayer about his apostles.

Then he comes to verse 21, and he begins to talk about unity and oneness and harmony of believers. His prayer was that we might

build a relationship with each other and relationship with him. Verse 21, that they may all be one.

As thou, Father, art in me and I in thee. That they also may be one in us, that the world may believe

that thou hast sent me. Now, listen, what does he say? He's praying for on oneness. He's praying that we

might have a relationship, watch this now, a horizontal relationship with each other.

Now, I want you notice what he said.

A horizontal relationship with each other, a vertical relationship with him.

And if you'll notice what he said, he said that the world may believe that thou has sent me.

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