The Subtle Drift – Staying Anchored in God’s Will

Hallelujah. It’s such an awesome presence of God. we are all enjoying today. So, it’s so glad and I’m really privileged to stand before you the dear people of God. Thank you for having us

00:39:45 here and um I’m really honored to be here and thank you Pastor Pat, Pastor Selene and Pastor Shirley and all the church members. Thank you for your love, your support and your uh praying um um voice for India. Thank you so much for having us. May God bless all of you. Yeah. I also want to thank each and every one of you. I want to thank pastor pastor Pat, pastor Seline, pastor Shali, pastor Jonathan for giving this opportunity. And um yeah uh I I want I want to really thank God for this relationship we have we were able to

00:40:35 have uh with you all and with this church and I think it’s it’s divine 100% and u and uh we were we are really blessed and um whenever I come here um you know I I see so much love poured upon us you know when I come and meet uh you know when come and meet Gloria and Mike when they when I enter their house they say oh welcome my prodical son yeah and u yeah we really feel that we belong here and um I thank I thank God for this wonderful relationship and uh and also uh really this church church is like a uh for me it’s like a moral

00:41:24 church for you know you can see the presence of God and um uh above all that I’m able to see that um every one of you you have something to contribute you know uh I’ve been watching you all and you know and there are so many preachers here amazing preachers and um yeah and u this time when pastor Pat and pastor Bob came and uh to India it was really a encouraging thing for us. Um and all our pastors were blessed by the ministry and um and myself and Susan we were blessed personally and um thank you for sending

00:42:07 them. Yeah. And uh also uh this time when I saw Sham coming and preaching I thought oh if you give micro to phone to everyone in this church everyone is going to preach. Yeah, it’s really amazing church and uh I really thank God for this connection and um yeah um I want to share something uh from my heart. Um I want to share something from the life of Abraham uh Genesis chapter 13 you know. Oh, one of um what I do mostly in India is is not only you know um preaching the gospel and uh uh um bringing the

00:43:05 bringing no new souls to the kingdom of God like converting the Hindus to become Christians. But recently uh you know God God is using me in the in the five six years like converting the Christians. Converting the Christians to become the disciple of Jesus Christ. The word I always used to say this the word discip Christian comes in the Bible three times. Do you know how many time the word disciple comes? 297 time almost 300 times. Jesus never asked anyone to become a Christian. But he always wanted everyone

00:43:52 to be a disciple. He say you be a disciple and make others disciple. He didn’t say make others to become a Christian. But we think first we have to become a Christian and in in in few installments we’ll become disciples. But but Jesus wants us to be disciples right from the day one. And uh my definition about a Christian and a disciple is a Christian is someone who focuses more on what I can expect from God. I want more blessing. I want this and that. And this is his focus. But a disciple his focus will be what

00:44:34 God expects from me. And you know um back in India when I’m um when I’m seeing some of the believers um uh you know recently in in some of our churches uh uh some of the young believers um who are really uh doing great things for the Lord and suddenly you know they uh what I say they left the faith or you know uh there was one girl she saw saw a Muslim boy and she fell in love with him and she married him and became a Muslim and um few things like this happened and really I was shaken and um you know I don’t want that to be a model

00:45:25 for others so I’m preaching in this direction and uh and uh I I sometimes feel um did I am I doing a right job why people are leaving or you know uh are we bringing the real gospel to them or is there a real transformation taking place in their life and how can a world attract them and take them away from um the truth and all these things were going on in my mind and uh and I was also examining my life am I a disciple of Jesus Christ or just you know just because I’m a preacher or a pastor I’m doing this and you know this

00:46:06 uh doubt is always in my mind like my grandfather is the one who got saved from Hinduism and um he was adopted by a Christian missionary and uh uh he came to know the Lord and then he was filled with the Holy Spirit in when he went to a Pentecostal church and then uh God filled him with the Holy Spirit and then God started using him and um he became the superending pastor of that church for 10 years And during his time in the 60s he planted more than 300 churches. Uh there was the name of the church is Medas Pentecostal Assembly and

00:46:45 uh he he was part of it and he planted so many churches. And then after that uh after he passed away somebody became a pastor of that church. So my father came out and uh he doesn’t know what to do. And then uh because he had his uh um education he applied for a job normal job and like a um to become a teacher in a college and he was uh he got a job as a professor in a a college in um in the outskirts of Chennai. And uh uh then God called him you know that he should do ministry and then he came back and uh uh

00:47:24 you know and and then started this ministry saving Jesus Christ mission and and God gave him a burden for planting churches in villages and he he’s doing and he was doing that and then his as his son I wanted to become a pastor. I went to a Bible school, came back and I continue helping my father and now my children I want them to serve the Lord and Philip is going to the Bible school and I was just thinking as generation we are doing this we are doing this because we don’t we don’t know any other any other thing that’s why we are

00:48:01 ministering this doubt came in my mind or doing ministry is it our uh family All these doubts came in my mind and you know and um and um this word when I was analy reading and analyzing the life of Abra Abraham I was able to understand uh get some um answers for my questions and um which I want to share with you and um uh yeah as believer Because we believe a lot of things but I believe just by believing it’s not going to do us any good. Just imagine you you you are sick and you go to a doctor and the doctor

00:48:56 gives you a bottle of medicine and he says drink this medicine 3 days and you will be all right. So you bring the medicine, keep it next to your bed and you say, “I believe this medicine is going to heal me.” And then you go to bed and the next day you wake up and you say, “I believe this medicine is going to heal me.” And you are doing that every day. Will it work? We have to take that medicine and drink it. You have to experience what you believe. then it brings something good out of it. I want to talk about a person

00:49:37 in the Bible. His name was Lot. He believed everything Abraham believed but nothing brought any good thing out of his life. You know, he knew most of what Abraham knew, but they did not do him any good. When you read Genesis 12:4, I want to read three verses where it’s written about Lot. It says, “Abraham left as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.” Genesis 13:1, it says, Abraham went up from Egypt to Negave with his wife and everything he had and Lot went with him. In Genesis 13:5 it says Lot was moving about with

00:50:37 Abraham. What it is written here about Lot is am I pronouncing right Lot or Lot? Okay. Uh Lot was just following Abraham when God called Abraham when he was in Calaldans you know the land of Calaldans and you know that is the modern day Iraq. Abraham obeyed God and he came out of that land and Lot followed him. I think uh I think uh Lot is uh uh Lot is his nephew, Abraham’s brother’s son and Abraham brother died Haron early so maybe Abraham adopted him I don’t know and he was like a son and you know and

00:51:31 Abra Lot was just following Abraham and then when they got settled in Haran that is the present day Turkey Lot went with him he also got settled And when when God called Abraham out of Haron, Lot also followed Abraham. And when Abraham came came to Canaan, you know, Lot also followed him. Abraham was the one who was doing business with God. And Lot was just doing business with Abraham. Abraham was the one who was receiving directions from God and Lot was just following Abraham. Sometimes as as Christians, you know, we

00:52:22 belong to a community, we belong to a church and we are surrounded by Christians. And uh I seen even though we are Christians, our relationship with God is not that much. We like to have relationship with Christians and we are satisfied. It is easy to get detached from God and get attached to Christians and you know our personal relationship with God we don’t have much time you know we come on Sundays you know two weeks ago uh two three weeks ago I was in Ventura and u I I I went uh from I was staying with

00:53:11 pastor Dennis in his house and Um uh we wanted to go to the church and we left the house and on the way he went to a uh car wash place and um um we went and he washed the car and he went to the other side. There were 20 cars already washed and they were vacuuming it, cleaning it and everything. And pastor Dennis he told me u David all these 20 cars now they are all going to church. And I was thinking okay they came for a car wash before going to the church and suddenly this thought came you know they

00:53:49 came here to wash their car and now they are going to wash their souls. So going to Sunday service it’s became a routine for Christians. But what about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday? We are enjoying the presence of God. And how about Monday to Saturday? We love the fellowship of being around Christians and being in church. But what is our relationship on Monday morning? Are we spending time in the presence of God? Are we seeking? Sometimes uh you know we are also like Lot you know

00:54:37 um we do not have this daily relationship with God but we like to you know follow some Christians and hang around with Christians and um and um you know this was the problem of Lot when God called Abraham Abraham had a good relationship with God and that’s why even Though God not God did not tell him where he where he’s calling or what is the destination you know when you read uh Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8 it says by faith Abraham when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance obeyed and

00:55:23 went even though he did not know where he was moving. I want to I want to compare Abraham as a disciple and Lot as a Christian. Is it okay? You know, Abraham had this intimate relationship with God and for him it does not matter where we are going. What it matters for him is with whom he’s going. A person a person who is having you know direct connection with God who is communicating with God directly he’s not worried about details if somebody would have called me to go somewhere I would have asked what is the name of the place how

00:56:13 to go and I want all the details before going there I think many of us will do that but I was just wondering Abraham he had He had such a relationship with God. He was not worried about details. He had this relationship with God. Relationship of love, relationship of obedience, relationship of dependency. And he was ready to do wherever God asked him to go. And you know later on when he entered Canaan, God said, “Look at the sky. your your your generations is they are going to be like that. And he promised gives all the

00:56:56 promise and you know God God does not draw us to do a task or a function in the first place. God draws us to himself. God drew Abraham to himself and the out of this relationship he wants to give him a purpose and a plan and the purpose the ultimate purpose for which God called Abraham is through you I’m going to bless the world and we know how g through Jesus Christ the whole world is blessed that is the ultimate purpose of God and you know Abraham have for him. It doesn’t matter. God, you have called

00:57:42 me. I’m ready to do and you are going to do everything and I’m just going to be obedient to you. That is his commitment. And I think but for Lot, he need details. He wanted to look places how it’s beautiful then he wants to make decision. You know when we read further we can see that uh um you know we know in our story uh there was a problem between Abraham’s herd man herdsman and Lord’s herdsman because God God uh God blessed Abraham and he had a lot of cattle and people and at the same time Lot also had all this

00:58:34 cattle and people and there was a clash between both of them and then we see Abraham is telling so uh verse 8 so Abraham said to Lot let not have let’s not have any quarreling between you and me or between your herders and mine for we are close relatives not the whole land before you Let’s part company. If you are going to the left, I go to the right. If you are going to the right, I go to the left. One thing I I I it was interesting for me is Abraham he’s giving the option to select the place to Lot.

00:59:25 I think if I am in this place, I would have uh you know I would have taken the u um I want to take the decision where I want to go and then I would have asked Lord to go to the other place. But Abraham you know because of his relationship with God it doesn’t matter for him. He let Lot take decision. And what what Lot is doing, we see Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of Jordan towards Zor was wellwatered like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorra.

01:00:12 And verse 11 it says, “So Lot chose for himself the whole plane of the Jordan and set out towards the east. The two men parted company.” I underlined the word himself. When it comes to decision making for Lot, the only criteria is self-interest. You know many times as believers uh we also take many decisions in our life and I believe if we are the disciple of Jesus Christ you know our decisions in our life will be based upon the plan of God and the purpose of God. And if our decisions in our life

01:01:10 are based upon self-interest. Oh, it looks nice. It’s beautiful. You know, for a lot this land was looking so beautiful. The river Jordan is flowing there. Then the river Jordan has made the land fertile. it looks green and everything and and he’s not bothered about he never prayed there or he never asked God can I go there or those things are irrelevant for Lot I see that’s good let me go over there let me possess that place so here the difference between a disciple and a Christian I sorry I’m

01:01:52 using the word Christian because of this [Laughter] message. You know even Christians you know we take so many diff decisions like when it comes to marriage or taking up a career or studying something or you know so many decisions we are making and are we sitting at the feet of God and asking Lord can I go further in this decision what do you say about it you talk to me I I don’t want to take decision of my own you know uh pastor Pat was sharing how he he he he he bought the lodge and the Christmas tree in and something like

01:02:46 and you know it was he was telling it as a story and he’s a very good storyteller and you know and I really the thing I got from that what he was telling is you know you know he was seeking the lord and he was saying lot of uh uh lord if it’s from you this and this and this and this should happen then I’ll go and do this you know and uh you know a person who walks with the lord he he won’t take decision of his own back in India we also make a lot of decisions and you know um we won’t get into any anything even

01:03:31 though if it’s a ministry or a village or something you know it’s very ne very much necessary that we have to sit at the feet of god and pray you know even if you want to plant a ch church in a particular place or something because once we know it’s the will of god then it doesn’t matter how much challenges it comes we know god is on our side and you know so as believer believers as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have to develop this idea, develop this thing of seeking the Lord when we make decisions. And Lot you

01:04:15 know right from the beginning we can see because he’s not having a relationship proper relationship with this with God everything he does is contrary to the will of God. I think in our relationship with God we can’t say I’m we can’t be in a static position. Either we are going towards God or either we are going away from God. And Abraham’s life we are seeing he was obeying and depend being depending upon God and he was going towards God and Lot was going away from God. And later on we see Lot was

01:05:01 interested in two cities there. Sodom and Gomorrah you know um we know what kind of cities there in verse uh verse 13 it is written now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. Here they have given just a introduction a brief description of Sodom and Gobra. But when you read chapter 19 of detailed description about all the sins and everything will be there. And here this land was they the the people of Sodom and Gomor Gomorra were wicked and they were sinning against the Lord

01:05:47 and Sodo and and Lot maybe he was having a little bit interest in this land and that’s why you know when we read the next word the previous verse Abraham lived in the land of Canaan while Lot lived among the cities of the plane and pitched his tent near Sodom. He was little bit curious what’s going on in the other side. And so what he did is he pitched his tent near Sodom. Can you see how it progresses when you are not having a right relationship with God? You make decisions based on self-interest and

01:06:42 what is pleasing to you and what what makes you happy and then you finally come and pitch your tent near Sodom. This is a very very dangerous place to pitch our tent near Sodom. As Christians, we do not like to sin. Am I right? But we like watching other people sin. We like enjoying others sin. And that’s why we also sometimes like to pitch our tent near, not in near. When when you look at the Hollywood m movies, we all like movies. We don’t want to sin, but we like to enjoy other people’s sin. You know, in in selecting the

01:07:48 movies, we have to be very very careful. The enti entertainment industry initially they won’t invite us to sin but they will allow us to pitch our tent near. In every area of life we can see you know sin is in the very next door. Even in sports, you know, I was watching the um inauguration of Olympics and it was so horrible in France, you know, and they were making so much mockery of God and you know, you know, we like to watch it, But in every area if you take if you read a newspaper normal newspaper or a

01:08:54 magazine or if you watch TV everywhere you can see how those people are promoting sin everywhere if you see a movie there are violence there are hatred there are fights and blood and murder and sex affairs everything. We don’t want to do that, but we like to enjoy it in India. I like to watch cricket matches. uh you know uh we have this um we call it IPL um Indian Premier League they call it and it’s becoming very very popular and people like to watch and I like to watch it and you know uh previously they uh in

01:09:58 between uh you know I don’t know in baseball you call it pitch pitching or in cricket they call it bowling so a bowler has to fan and come and bowl and then he has to go back to his place and come and bowl and something like that. And uh so normally what they do those days is they will put a replay of the every action they did you know when a bowler bowls uh when a batsman bats and they will put the replay again and again and again and right now in the last couple of years they say I they are not putting replay

01:10:34 they are bringing few girls to dance and that’s they are showing you know because they think they want to make the sports more entertainment month so that they can draw more um people to watch so that they can get more advertisements they can earn more money and they are just analyzing people what people like to watch sports is good but if you include some more girls there it’ll be much more good so you know why I’m telling this is you know in every area the enemy is trying to target and trying to lead us

01:11:18 away. As people of God, we have to be very watchful. And a true disciple of God, God will give the discernment what to watch, what not to watch. And when we read the story of Lot chapter 14, we see four kings aligned together and they wanted to capture Sodom and Gomorrah because and take away their wealth. And uh verse 11 and 12, the four kings ceased all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their foods. Then they went away. They also carried off Abraham, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his possessions since he was

01:12:17 living in Sodom. Previously we read he pitched his tent near Sodom and here we can see he’s living in Sodom. It won’t take much time from growing one place to another place and we can’t do it with our own strength but because of our relationship with God if we are a person who’s connected with God on a daily basis you know God knows our heart and God gives us our the strength so that we won’t go near or be there. Lot he was connected with Abraham. He was not connected with God. And that is the problem.

01:13:17 As long as he was in the vicinity of Abraham, he was able to behave in a certain way and as and immediately after he he lost the connection with Abraham, this is what happens. Why I’m telling is when we are detaching ourselves from God and happy about attaching ourselves with Christians, Christians cannot monitor us always. But if we are connected with God, God monitors us. And when we when when we are out of sight of Christians, automatically we do everything what the world does. So that is why it’s very very very

01:14:13 important our relationship with God. Are we having this intimate relationship with God? And later on in chapter 19 we see uh you know he was not only living in Sodom when the angel of God came there they saw Lot in the gates of the city. Do you know who will be in the gates of the city? The leaders will be in the gates of the city. He became a person of influence in that in that world. I just remember an example of um I know a church in in Germany. They are they are not Pentecostal church. They evangelical

01:15:02 church and u uh uh one of my friend is a elder in that church. And um um they had a um in that church most of the people will be uh I think about ab about 50 60 70 years old. you can’t find any youth. And so the the elders wanted to have a pastor who’s young. And so they appointed a young pastor. He was he they they were a couple. They just finished from the seminary and they they were 23 24 or something. They appointed them uh as pastors in the church. Um their plan is if you have a young pastor, you can

01:15:42 attract a lot of young people to the church. So uh he was appointed as a pastor and um um and my friend was telling about them and u I saw them in the Facebook and so I uh I I gave a friend request and those people they became my friends and u and um and uh and that and the pastor’s wife she was posting something in the Facebook and I was seeing she was very much interested in um kind of video games and she was making some kind of commentary about video games and she was putting clips about it and um I saw those commentaries

01:16:18 and I was uh and the video games she was playing uh it was really demonic. demons used to come in that video games and she used to make commentary about it and her name also there is a kind of demonic name and uh I was a little bit worried and uh so once I had opportunity to talk to my friend through phone and I told him uh I saw this video did you also see you know and he just said oh David they are doing a wonderful youth ministry you know we have a lot of computers in our youth room and lot of young people are coming

01:16:59 and everything is going on well and I thought oh maybe I misunderstood and so I just left that matter after one year I just asked how are they and uh and suddenly he said no they left the church and they left they went left the church and they went away or something they went to another church or something like that and I was wasn’t wondering what happened and but he was not ready to reveal everything to me but from some other sources I found out that in one of the meetings demon starts to manifest in

01:17:32 her and it was so embarrassing for them. And uh so they they they left the church and later on they went to a neighboring church and they were leading the church there and later on they found out they she had a a kind of lesbian relationship and the marriage broke and everything went away. I really don’t know the full story what really happened. Some say to me she was addicted to video games and slowly, you know, she opened the door for the demon and everything went away. But others say, you know, we had a wonderful youth

01:18:12 ministry and the devil doesn’t like it and that’s why it destroyed. So they have different versions. uh you know anyway I I believe you know when we are not having this solid relationship with God our relationship with the world will start to increase and there’s a possibility we can go away from God you know I also want to share uh a testimony in my life also there was a period I I pitched my tent away from the will of God. I was doing my thing. You know, I went to a Bible school in Germany. Uh and uh and God really told

01:18:57 me, specifically told me to go back to India and it was a very hard time. I really loved everything there. I it was hard for me to come back. But I came back to India and um God also you know um confirmed my my calling in India through many signs and wonders. many people got healed and everything but still my heart was a little bit towards Europe and uh you know to towards Germany and uh there and um uh back in India there was no warm welcome for me you know uh even my brothers thought that I am taking their place and they

01:19:39 were becoming against me and you know um there was no red carpet carpet velvet for me in India uh which I was expecting you know and um so um at the time my mother passed away and so um everything was empty in my life and I really don’t know what’s going on in my life. I’m doing ministry but I’m not happy. I know it’s the will of God but it was not sounding interesting for me. So what I wrote is uh what I did is I wrote to one of my friend in Austria. He always want me to come and be a pastor in his church or something. I wrote him

01:20:23 a letter. This is the situation. I want to come back and he was so happy. This happened in 98. I came back to India and in the beginning of 99 he said come back. So I went to Austria and he made me the pastor. I was I was so happy there because I like that place. Um there’s a big lake called Boren Sea and um next to Boren Sea is this place on the west east side is Austria and the north is Germany and south. So half an hour drive you can go to Switzerland. Half an hour drive you can go to Germany. And it’s a really beautiful

01:21:05 place and I like the people and the people also liked me very much. Above all I like the food and you know and uh so so whenever I was with people and everything it sounds good. I was so happy. But when I’m alone there was some emptiness in my heart. I know I’m running away from God’s plan and you know I was so this was going on for many days and uh after 90 days uh my visa um you know I just went with the business visa visitors visa so I have to renew my visa so you can’t renew in the same country you have to go out of the

01:21:47 country so just 1 hour drive you can go to Zurich and you can renew your visa so my friend and his wife came and we went Zurich we renewed a visa for another 90 days and then my friend asked the visa officer he’s going to be the pastor here and you know he’s going to be here permanently what is the process what we have to do and he said oh that’s no problem we all need the these papers from your church and this and that and you know if you produce everything we can give him a permanent like a resident

01:22:19 or something like that and he can work and everything and after this conversation when we are coming back in the car, I really lost my peace. I was not happy and you know I know I’m doing something wrong and uh the Holy Spirit was convicting me and I came home and I and the next day morning I wanted to go and tell I wanted to go back to India and you know but I didn’t have the courage because they are all so happy and they are doing everything for me and it went by few weeks every day I wanted to tell

01:22:54 them but I didn’t tell them and one day I was reading the book of Jonah and really you know I was really frightened and immediately went there and I told them you know uh I want to go back you know one of the problem I had when I went back to India is uh the language problem my mother tongue is Tamil but in the churches they speak a different Tamil which I was not familiar with and you know and uh so when I preached there people used to make lot of fun and you know uh they used to criticize me oh you’re Tamil you can’t

01:23:39 be a preacher you can’t preach or something like that but those are the days I was seeking the Lord more and you know God really was equipping me and you know I went back um in the end of 1999 9 and uh my father thought this fellow if he leave like that he will again again again go and so he wanted to plan my marriage he thought if I get married I won’t leave so so he arranged my marriage and you know at that time I was not even ready to get married because uh because you know uh I really don’t

01:24:23 know what I’m doing where I’m going to be a lot of questions in my mind and you know and when our marriage was fixed and everything I wanted to come I I want to stop the marriage I tried many ways to do that like you know I told Susan’s father I’m not a healthy person um and I told I don’t have any income and all these things I made lot of lame excuses but but at the same time I was praying Lord if it’s your will let it happen if it’s not your will I don’t want to do it. So, so when my marriage thing everything

01:25:04 was fixed and you know till the date of my marriage this was my prayer Lord if it’s not your will you have to stop it because you know when you’re seeking the Lord doing the will of God is the number one priority and so I prayed and uh now I can say it’s 100% God’s will God gave me a wonderful wife and uh this year we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and um uh last in February we celebrated it and uh um and not only that in the last 25 years I can see how God is using me in India. Sometimes we think when

01:25:51 when if it’s a will of God then everything will be a bed of roses. Not like that. You know, a a Lot he he he selected a beautiful land. But Abraham was left with this dry, barren, rocky land. But for Abraham to do the will of God is more important to be in a fertile land. And you know so that was my example my life also you know I prefer to be in the will of God even if it’s not so attractive and the greatest thing I am experiencing in my life is the peace of God and the assurance that you are doing

01:26:42 the will of God I think nothing can match to this feeling and I’m really grateful for God for for for the plan of God for my life and and and you know God is also blessing me in India. I have a house. I have a good family. I have a ministry and also God is opening me to come to us to come and meet you all. And you know God has not forsaken me. I can see the hand of God upon my life. You know, but even when we are doing the will of God, it doesn’t matter how dangerous, how rocky, how dry, how barren it is, God will give us

01:27:25 the strength. In Philippians chapter 4, Paul writes, you know, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Do you know from where he’s writing this? He’s in prison and he’s telling I can do all these things through Christ who strengthens me. And the previous verse he says I learn to be content even if it’s plentiful or even it’s in need. Even if it’s in hunger or full I learn to be content. I can say this is not automatic. We have to learn and right now I can say I’m learning to be you know to accept

01:28:15 everything God has for me and to be content and enjoy the peace and joy God gives us you know and uh uh so sometimes I think you know when our relationship with God is passive all our life Maybe the next generation they will be a people of choosing everything by their own heart desire and the following generation they will pitch their tent near Sodom and the following generation will be lost in sodom. So our relationship with God, our active relationship with God is going to have an impact on the coming

01:29:01 generations. So it’s not only my life is concerned it’s also about the next generations and our children are watching us you know are we having this active relationship God Abraham had a good relationship with God but but Lot’s relationship was secondhand relationship you know I also want to tell a testimony uh about Philillip. Sorry. You know, he he was in the Bible school for 3 years and you know the and um we had to pay the fees and somehow God helped and you know uh people of God from word of life helped and everything

01:29:49 and uh you know in the last semester when he came and uh before the Christmas holidays he he said oh we have to pay the semester’s fees then only we are allowed to stay inside the room or else we had to vacate. And he just told me and suddenly you know God started to speak to me you know okay you have faith but is your son having faith in God and so I said Phillip we have to pray to God you pray and spend time with God and you know um and God will do a miracle and he says oh I’m praying I’m praying but the day came and they are um

01:30:24 he’s supposed to pay or else he had to vacate the room and finally he has to vacate the room and so he took all these things put it in a car and stayed in his friend’s house and uh uh friend’s room and uh he was really upset with me and um but I was I was determined you know getting knowing lot of things about God is important but experiencing him is more important. So I thought that he should learn and so I left him like that and you know he was so upset with me and then finally his friends vacated so he

01:31:04 has to leave and then my sister-in-law she said okay you can come to New Jersey she gave a sent a ticket and she he was there in New Jersey and he was calling me oh the school is going to start I have to pay the fees I I said fast and pray you have to experience God I’m not going to ask anyone I’m not going to do anything for you and really He started to pray and fast and miracles start to happen from unknown places, unknown sources. And after the school started he was able to pay and he then flew back and

01:31:41 attended his continued his fifth seme sixth semester and he finished it and um and then I and he was telling I wanted to do my masters in divinity and the first question is who is going to pay that was the question I asked and you know the answer he gave me really encouraged to me he said God will If he would have said, “Oh, we can ask someone or you have to pay or something.” I would have said, “Let’s go to let’s go back to India.” You know, it’s very important that we have to see our next generation

01:32:25 being connected directly with God. They should not have secondhand relationship with God. They should be dependent upon God. obey God, be depend on God and you know that’s how as parents we can be relieved as well as you know their future is in a stable place. Paul writes in uh uh 2 Thessalonians chapter 1:12, he says, “I know who I believe.” He’s not telling, “I know what I believe.” What we believe is important. I’m not discounting it. But you can know everything about God, but if you are not

01:33:10 experiencing him, it’s of no use. Paul writes in this verse, I know whom I will believe. And he says, I am ready to and what all I entrust into his hands. He is able to guard it till the end. When you know God personally, you can entrust your life. You can entrust your future in his hand. Before that he says I’m going through all these troubles and struggles rocky mountains and everything you know but I’m not have ashamed I’m not having fear. Why he’s not having fear? Because he know who he believed. Abraham knew who he believed

01:33:59 and that that’s what that’s why he was able to take bold steps. Lot was not aware who he believed and that’s why he was using his human mind, his intelligence, his talent, his ability to decide and his life ended up in different way. He almost lost his life. He lost his wife lost his life. So as believers everything is starts from our relationship with God. When we concentrate and focus on God, the relationship with him and the purpose he has for our life, I think God will be on our side and he will lead us and he will

01:34:45 guide us. Abraham also did a mistake in his life. God called him. He gave him the land. But when there are there was famine in that land, what he did is he all of a sudden I don’t know why he forgot the promises of God and he went back to Egypt and he told he asked his wife tell everyone that you are my sister you are so beautiful and he started to manipulate other people but was God was gracious to him it reveal his weakness and then God he came back to the land where God promised him. I don’t know what condition you are

01:35:33 here, but the good news is you can come back to God. Lot thought he made a good decision in his life. I was just imagining the day he departed from Abraham, he thought, “I made a good deal. Look at the land. And it’s so beautiful. I think as believers, our strength is not in our decision making compa capacity. Our strength is not in our talent. Our strength is not in our circumstances. Our strength is not in our possessions. Our strength is not at all external. Our strength is internal. our relationship with

01:36:22 God. I don’t know how to finish. You know, maybe some of you, you once upon a time had this relationship with God, but you know, you still have the form, but but maybe the substance has evaporated. If you feel like that today is the time we can make a decision Lord I want to come back. You know when you read chapter 13 when Abraham comes back to come comes back to Canaan in verse 34 it says he went to the same altar where in the beginning he made a covenant with God when God said I’m going to make you

01:37:09 a big I want to bless your generation. I want to bless the world through you and everything God promises and God it says Abraham built an altar and when he built that altar I I believe he just say Lord it’s your command and your purpose I am available for you when he built the altar all he all he did was he accepted the offer God made and he said okay Lord do whatever you want I’m available for you but when he took a decision of going to Egypt It’s really interesting. He’s coming back to the same altar and he said,

01:37:47 “Lord, I made a mistake in my life. Forgive me. I’m back. I’m back. Continue to do the work you want to do in my life.” He’s making he’s building this building this altar and confessing, Lord, I’m I made a mistake. Forgive me. Now I’m available for you. When we come back to God, God will not despise us. He will say, “I’m waiting for you, my son, my daughter. I have a plan and purpose for your life.” I want to take this moment, you know, if you feel that if you want to come over here and build an altar before

01:38:35 God and say, “Lord, my life I hand it over to you. Let your will be done. Let your purpose will be established in my life. I think I want pastor Shelly to come and then know we want to just give some space. Go ahead and start Dr. Just give a little bit of space to respond. And and also we want to honor Pastor David and Susan. And if if you have something to give, we have some baskets here up front. And they’re I think on the back. There’s supposed to be one in the back. Hopefully we’ll get one in the

01:39:24 back. Um we want to be able to bless them.