Hi and welcome to the Via Zion Sermon podcast.
We are a local church based here in Chennai, India.
We are so glad you are with us and hope that this will
encourage, inspire and instill fresh faith in you.
We have started a series called The Kingdom Life based on the
life and teachings of Jesus from the Gospel according to Mark.
We look at how we must live our lives on this earth as followers
of Jesus in a way that is countercultural yet powerfully
impactful. As you listen in, our hope is
that you will be motivated to live, love, lead and serve just
like Jesus. Hi Church, what a joy it is to
bring God's word to you. Today.
We are completing our series on the Kingdom Life today, and
today we are talking about the greatest in the Kingdom.
We hear a lot about the goat, the greatest of all time.
There was a movie that just came out.
We have athletes who are called the greatest of all time.
They call the goats. But God is calling us to
understand who the real MVPS are in the Kingdom, and that's what
we're going to be looking at today.
The disciples, much like I, seem to have had a debate on who the
greatest in the Kingdom was. They were probably arguing about
it. In one gospel, it says they were
arguing about it and God knew what was in their hearts and
then taught them about servanthood.
And in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 18 specifically,
they asked Jesus. They came to him and asked who
is the greatest. And Jesus had a very interesting
answer for them. And as we close the series out,
I believe God is calling us into a renewed ideas of our self.
You know that we come to a place of knowing really who we are and
what our privileges are. And I believe that when we
understand that each of us will be considered the greatest in
the Kingdom. So Matthew chapter 18 verses one
to five. This is what it says.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked who then is
the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?
He called a little child to him and placed the child among them.
And he said, truly, I tell you, unless you change and become
like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of
heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the
lowly position of this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of
heaven, and whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes
me. Luke chapter 18 verses 15 to 17
says his people were also bringing babies to Jesus for him
to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this,
they rebuked them, but Jesus called the children to him and
said, let the little children come to me and do not hinder
them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of
God like a little child will never enter it.
God Jesus is using a simile. He's using the simile of a
child. He's saying unless you are like
a child, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.
And it's very interesting because we assumed that in in
believing in Jesus, we've got access into the Kingdom.
But I wonder if many of us, because of the lack of childlike
faith, childlike wonder, childlike patience, childlike
humility, maybe we're still not really experienced the Kingdom
of God. And it says over here very
clearly, unless you become like a child, you will never enter
the Kingdom of God. What if what we are experiencing
right now in terms of, you know, the, the, the life, the new life
in Christ, what if we are experiencing it just outside the
realm of the Kingdom of God? What if we haven't entered into
the depths of it? What if we haven't entered into
the magnificence of it purely because we are missing this one
element? And so I want to just ask us
today if we would come to this place of saying, I want to be
childlike. Let's not get mistaken.
He's not calling us into childish behaviour because like
the apostle writes, Apostle Paul writes, I once thought like a
child, acted like a child, spoke like a child.
But now I'm being matured. And God is calling us into
maturity, yes, but he's calling us into a place of childlike
humility, childlike obedience. And when I think about it, it's
funny because I'd realise it has to be a simile because when you
look at children, children tend to be self willed, children tend
to be stubborn, children tend to be disobedient.
They tend to do, you know, things that are not so upright.
And it says that we were conceived in sin.
So there is folly wrapped up in the heart of a child.
It's true. So Jesus was not asking us to be
childish. Instead he's saying there is
something about a little child, the pure innocence, the the
absolute dependency on their parents.
And he's calling us to that kind of dependency on him.
He's calling us into being true children.
And it's it cannot be an accident that when we accept
Jesus, it says we become children of God.
But I wonder in that, you know, that phrase of children of God,
how many of us are actually completely embrace the fact that
I'm a child of God? Because that will change the way
we look at many things. When we look at the Gospels,
there is a steady transition of how we look at God, how we view
this relationship. As you know, this is not a
religion, this is a relationship.
I have a relationship with the living God.
And there are many times in the Gospels where it is eluded to
the fact that we are calling Jesus our master.
He is the king, He is the ruler and I am his servant.
And it talks about how we know you have to do the tasks laid
out and he would say well done, good and faithful servant.
Luke 17 verse 10 says so you also, when you have done
everything you were told to do, should say we are unworthy
servants. We have only done our duties.
So there is this element where we are servants serving the
pleasure of our master and it it talks about this obedience that
is required, this submission, right?
But it really speaks to our purpose in serving God.
When we know God, we love him, we tend to serve him.
But then God calls us into a deeper relationship from a
servant master relationship. He's calling us to a friendship
because in John 1515, he says I no longer call you servants
because a servant does not know his master's business.
Instead, I have called you friends for everything that I
learned from my father, I have made known to you.
God is calling us now into a friendship, a friendship much
like Abraham and God where he could.
He knew what God was planning for Sodom and Gomorrah.
He was made Privy to it. He could intercede accordingly.
And God is calling us into a friendship, so we are no longer
just servants who who go about serving him.
Yes, we do that, but He's calling us into a friendship
where we know what's on his heart, we know his plans.
But then it goes one step further where he actually adopts
us as sons. It's called sonship.
And that is a beautiful place of very deep intimacy.
John chapter one verse 12 says yet to all who did receive him,
to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God. And so it moves us from a place
of just serving out of submission.
It moves us out of a place of knowing his heart of having a
knowledge of God to a deeper place of privilege.
Because when you get adopted, you, you become the legal heir
and you have all the privileges that are made available to a
son. And the beautiful thing about
this is, you know, this relationship is, is one with the
perfect father. So I want you before we go any
further to 1st put aside your picture of your family, to put
aside your picture of your relationship with your parents.
I want you to put aside whatever preconceived notions you have of
a father because the Heavenly Father is perfect in every way.
He's the giver of every good gift.
It says whatever we have as this, you know, mould of a
father, of an earthly father. Maybe you didn't have one, maybe
you did have one. Maybe it was a less than perfect
relationship, maybe it was a very good relationship.
But even that has to be put aside for us to understand what
it looks like to be adopted into the family of God, to have God
the Father as our Father. It changes everything.
This adoption is incredible. It changes our life.
And so I want us to look today at what this actually does for
us. We know that a child, when you
look at a child, a little infant, we know about its
innocence, we know about its humility.
But God is calling us deeper. He's saying if you are a child
of God, you would behave differently.
If you are a child of God, you would you would come to me
differently. You would depend on me
differently. And that's what we're going to
be looking at today. So no longer does he call you
servants, He calls you friends. But more than that, he calls you
a child of God. And two big themes I want to
leave with you today. The first thing is that a child
of God has a fresh identity. Whatever your identity has been
thus far, God is erasing it to say you are now a child of God.
Whatever your name is, you can say I am Christine.
I'm a child of God. No longer am I Christine,
daughter of Victor and Sunithi. No longer am I Christine, a
content writer. All of that is legitimate.
But when I accepted Jesus, my primary identity changed.
I'm no longer Christine Jayakaran.
I am Christine, child of God, and that is so important because
in this fresh identity everything begins to change.
A lot of our problems in humanity today, a lot of our
problems world over are because our identities are completely
skewed. We have the largest identity
crisis today. People say I identify as this
and they use a pronoun. What if you identified as a
child of God? It changes everything. 1 John
chapter 3 verses one to two says this.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God, and that is what we are.
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know
Him. Dear friends, now we are
children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made
known, but we know that when Christ appears we shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Fundamental sentence there. We should be called children of
God and that is what we are. That is our new label, that is
our new identity. I was recently at a conference
in Goa and they gave us these ID cards.
Right now, this ID card is what people look at and they know who
I am. So my name is printed on it,
right? And it talks about the place I'm
from. Now if you go to other
conferences, many times they would write what your
designation is below it. So when people look at you, they
know this is so and so and this is what they do and this is
where they come from, right? When you and I accept Jesus as
our personal saviour, we get a brand new identity.
Like I said, Christine, child of God.
But interestingly, just like on this ID card indicates where I'm
from and what I do, my identity in Christ helps me to be
identified by the way I live. Many times we discount that.
You know, I, I say this often, I don't have much of an escape.
My name has Christ in it. The minute I walk into a room, I
introduce myself. They know I'm a believer.
They know I'm a Christian, but I know that my life has to
demonstrate that I'm a believer and follower of Jesus.
I don't have an option. But I wonder for you as a
follower of Christ, can people identify that you follow Christ
by how you live, by the things you do and the things you don't
do, by the things you stand for, the things you don't stand for,
that your convictions, your mentality, the way you speak.
Does your identity come through because of how you live?
1 John chapter 3 verses 9 to 10 says no one who is born of God
will continue to sin because God's seed remains in them.
They cannot go on sinning because they have been born of
God. This is how we know who the
children of God are and who the children of the devil are.
Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is
anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
The first part of this identity is that we are identified by
what we do. We are identified by what we
don't do. We are identified by the things
we stand for. What are you standing for in
your office, in your community? Do you stand up for justice?
Do you stand up for truth? Do you stand up to be a voice
for the vulnerable, for a voice for the voiceless?
How do you live the way we live, the way we speak, the way we
refrain, All of it speaks volumes.
And that is how we know. That is how people know who you
belong to on your own. You may have a regular name.
You may not have a name that gives you away, like me, But
what if your life gives you away?
And that's what happens when I have a fresh identity in Christ.
When I have this identity in Christ, people look at me and
they say there's something different, There's something new
about this person. We are identified by what we do
and what we don't do. I have a friend who had a
lifestyle of a same sex attraction for a long time, but
he told me that when he met Jesus it radically changed
overnight. He said I no longer fit into
those old groups because of the way I lived now.
I had this overpowering hunger and passion for Jesus and no one
else. And he said people began to know
me just by how I lived, just by what I stood for justice because
of the love I had for God, which was just exuding.
Coming out of Maine, people knew that I was different.
People knew my lifestyle had changed.
Could I ask you, when people look at you, do they know that
you have a fresh identity in Christ?
Or do you come across as this person whose identity is solely
in what you do, what you bring to the table, your family, your
heritage, your networks? But what if it comes down to
this is what I am in Christ? I stand for the right in Christ.
I fight for justice in Christ. I will value the things God has
entrusted to me. We are identified by what we do
and what we don't do. The second way of people
identifying is with this new identity, with this identity of
child of God. The second thing I believe is
that people will identify us by God's hand on us.
When I turned 40 last year, this was my prayer.
God, I want to feel your mighty hand on me.
And through this year I've had a series of things that happened.
When I look back in hindsight, if it wasn't for God's hand on
me, I wouldn't have made it through.
And I want to explain to you this a little bit more.
What does it look like to have God's mighty hand on you?
Hebrews chapter 12 verses 7:00 to 11:00.
It says end your hardship as discipline.
God is treating you as His children for what?
Children are not disciplined by their father.
If you are not disciplined and everyone undergoes discipline,
then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and
we respected them for it. How much more should we submit
to the Father of spirits and live?
They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best, but
God disciplines us for our good in order that we may share in
His Holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at
the time, but painful later on. However, it produces a harvest
of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by
it. Last week we looked at suffering
and suffering well, making suffering work for us when when
we see that suffering actually does good, that God redeems all
of our suffering. But today when we look at this,
we have to identify, understand that as a child, Christine, a
child of God is a legitimate daughter when she allows God's
hand to discipline her. And I would encourage you to
identify the same thing. Some of the struggles in your
life may have been God correcting.
You may have been God in loving care, disciplining.
And that is how we identify God's hand on someone.
So often we judge someone, we look at someone and say, oh,
they're going through this hardship.
They're probably really far away from God.
It's interesting because it is possible that in deep communion,
God is working on them. God is taking them to the next
level of their anointing. God is taking them to the next
level of conquest. The evidence of whose mighty
hand you're under will be very obvious.
The way you live, the way you speak, the things that you say
to one another will determine if you're under the mighty hand of
God or under the mighty hand of something else.
If you're under the hand of of mammon, the spirit that causes
greed and and needs more of accumulation, the way you live
will be different. The way you view the world will
be different. But when you're under the mighty
hand of God in every situation, you will feel His comfort even
in the midst of disciplining. You will know He means good.
He's going to bring something tremendously good out of it.
Whose hand you are under matters, and it'll be displayed
for all to see. Even when you're going through
hardship, they will know. This person is still thanking
God. This person is still praising
God. They are submitted to a higher
power which is beyond our understanding.
On this ID card, the name of the organizers, the name of the
committee which which actually had this this symposium is
mentioned on top. My name is below the When I am
under the mighty hand of God, it is very clear what the hierarchy
looks like. I am underneath Him.
He is the authority. He is the reigning ruling
supreme authority. I am under his care.
So when that happens, my identity gets so shift so many
times. We look at some of some of the
verses in the Bible and we say, oh, we are little gods, so I'm
on par with God. We are not.
We are under his mighty hand. We are under his rule and reign.
I do not get to equate myself to God.
I get to come before him and submit it or in reverence and
say, Lord, do with me as you will.
The hardest prayer that I've prayed this year has been let
your will be done. You do with me as you will.
You do with the situation as you will.
You know what is best, God. It's so easy to want to control
the narrative, but God says let me be God.
And that's what it looks like when someone sees us with this
new identity. I'm a child of God.
They identify me by my life, the things I stand for, the things I
don't stand for. They also identify me by whose
mighty hand I'm under. Who is your ruling authority?
Who is the one that you submit to?
Who is the one that you come under them and say, you know
what, you've got me, you've got me covered.
I love that imagery which comes in the Psalms where he says he
covers us with his feathers. Picture a mother hen holding her
wings out so that her little chicks come under it.
That is the kind of protection we have.
That is the kind of care that he provides us.
And that's the kind of position we have in this new identity.
We are under him. He protects, he Shields, even in
the midst of disciplining. He's holding us close and that's
amazing. So the first thing is a fresh
identity. Maybe your identity thus far has
been in the things that have been told you about you.
They said you will be called a divorcee because you've divorced
your spouse. You will be called a single
parent because that is what you are.
Your identity is probably that you went through trauma.
Your identity was probably you were victimized.
Those were your old identities. God is calling you into a fresh
identity where he says all of that is erased.
I know the pain it's caused you. I'm not forgotten.
But now I called you a child of God.
And when he calls you that, it should change the way you live.
The apostle Paul many times talks about putting on this new
self in Christ, which is humility and meekness and love
and compassion. And he's saying, put that on
because that is what people see. That is what people encounter.
And remember that you are identified by God's hand on you.
Sometimes it will feel heavy. The hand of God can feel heavy.
But most often it's a hand that gently nudges us, leads us,
protects us, and people will see us in this new identity for
whose name we come under. The second thing, the second
overarching theme, I believe when we know our fresh identity,
we receive something called access.
Now this, this ID card didn't have any kind of barcode or it's
just a basic ID card. But when you have your office ID
cards, there will be some sort of a code.
And when you enter the office, you're supposed to put it in the
scanner right? When you put it in the scanners,
when your door opens, ideally, what does that do?
It limits those who can enter the office and those who cannot.
You don't have this. You can't enter the office.
You have it. You enter and your timestamp is
entered and you know they have a tracking of everything.
But the point is this, this identity is what gets us access.
When you and I embrace this new identity completely, God, I'm a
child of God. I can be dependent on you.
I can be completely relaxed and the fact that you're caring for
me, your mighty hand is on me. The way I live will draw people
to you. I know it.
When you rest in that identity as a child of God, you now have
infinite access. Concerts have something called
as an all access pass. You can go to the green room,
You can go to the stage. You can go anywhere but here.
This is infinite access. You can go multiple hundreds of
times before the Father. You can go anytime to the throne
room. You don't need the right words.
You don't need the right outfit. All you need to do is just
access Him and that is the privilege of a child of God.
John chapter 16 verses 25 to 28. I'm reading it from the message
version. It says I've used figures of
speech in telling you these things.
Soon I'll drop the figures and tell you about the Father and
plain language. Then you can make your request
directly to Him in relation to this life I've revealed to you.
I won't continue making requests of the Father on your behalf.
I won't need to because you've gone out on a limb, committed
yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly
from the Father. The Father loves you directly.
First I left the Father and arrived in the world.
Now I leave the world and travel to the Father.
I love this line that says I won't need to make requests of
the Father on your behalf, believing you believe that I
came directly from the Father. The Father loves you directly.
No longer do I need to go to an intermediate person, a mediator
and say, can you pray for me? It is amazing to have community
to rally prayer around you because there are many times in
our lives we can't pray. We don't have the words.
And that's when the community holds us up.
But for those of us who are able in in a good place where we we
need a breakthrough, but we're hesitating to go to God directly
because we somehow feel unworthy.
Or maybe you feel God hears my mother's prayer better.
Or maybe you feel God hears my wife's prayer better.
Or maybe you feel only if your pastor prays will that
breakthrough come? I want to negate that today.
You and I have infinite access. You have infinite access.
God is calling us to access the King himself.
Remember this. You have access to the King.
When we moved into our parents house 2025 years back, we moved
into this place where my parents now even today still live.
And it was one of the, it was the days before my gate and apna
complex and all of that. So you just had to come.
And we had a car. We showed it and they would let
us pass. So my brother and I, even though
we were the children of the owner, would be very different.
When we enter, we'd always pause and slow down.
They'll actually make us, you know, lower our window and we'll
say, no, we're, we're the son or the daughter.
And they would let us in. Fast forward to when both of us
got married and our spouses would drive in and they would
just confidently cross the security.
They would go and they would just wave at them.
They would wave back and they would go in.
And it was so funny for us because, you know, the ones who
were the children, the alleged children were so diffident and,
and hesitant to go through right royally.
But the two people who married us knew their position so well
and they would just breeze through.
And it got me thinking that so many times I have thought that I
didn't have access to the King. I thought I should ask my
parents, or I should ask my husband, or I should ask someone
else, a friend or an intercessor.
But God has been reminding me that you have access.
You have complete access, infinite access.
Same thing. You want to ask me 20 * 30 times
in a day, go for it. You don't have any kind of
hindrances to reach me. There is no obstacles to
reaching him. I have complete access to the
King. Why am I diffident in
approaching him? Why am I hesitant, thinking, oh,
you know what, I can't keep asking.
He loves persistent prayers. He loves travailing prayers.
He loves those prayers which are more of groans than words.
He understands. He loves it when you just bring
tears before him. You have access to the King.
Too many times when we come to him, we have the servant
mentality. Oh, I need to, you know, grovel
and bend and beg. He's saying, come to me as a
child. A child says daddy, I need this,
dad, I'm struggling. Dad, I don't have money.
What am I going to do this month?
What is it you have been needing and who have you been having
access to instead of the king? So often we have been accessing
the things and the people that have no solutions for us.
Instead of going straight to the king who owns the Kingdom, have
you been needing rest? He says come to me all who are
tired and heavy laden, I will give you rest.
He doesn't say go to my leaders, go to my the little junior
shepherds. He said come to me.
Have you been needing company? Are you feeling so isolated?
He says I will never leave you nor forsake you, don't be
afraid. Have you been needing provision?
He says I will grant you all that you need according to my
riches. Jehovah Jaira.
Have you been needing Peace of Mind?
He says My peace, which breaks down every wall I give you, This
is our God. This is the king that we have
access to. Why have we been settling for
anything less than him? I want to encourage the men who
are watching right now. Maybe you have a wife or a
sister or a friend who you've been leaning on to intercede for
you. He's calling you into the inner
place today. He says the throne room is open.
Thanks to Jesus, the whalest stone, you have access.
Come to me. Bring your worries to me
directly. Maybe you're a young woman and
you have older women that you go and present your request to come
to him directly. Have your people around you.
I'm not saying not to. Please have those people who
pray for you, who intercede for you, surround you like a
backbone and pray you through and give.
Pray for courage, pray for encouragement.
We need them. But don't give up on accessing
the King directly. Have you been living like an air
of the Kingdom? That's what I want to ask you
today. I love this verse from Romans
chapter 8 verses 14 to 17. It says for those who are led by
the Spirit of God are the children of God.
The spirit you receive does not make you slaves so that you live
in fear again. Rather the Spirit you received
brought about your adoption to sonship.
And by him we cry, ABBA. Father, the Spirit himself
testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs of God and Co heirs
with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that
we may also share in his glory. So often we forget that we are
heirs of God and Co heirs in Christ.
We're living like paupers. Oh, I don't have anything.
Oh, nothing is going on. Everything I touch goes down to
ashes. We have this mentality which is
I have nothing, but God is calling us into a place of
saying you are a son of a king. You are a daughter of a king.
Act like it, pray like it, hold yourself up like it.
You have access to God himself. Let the Holy Spirit lead you
into the throne room. Have you been burdened about
something? Stop going to people first.
Go to God. He will direct you who to go to.
A lot of times without wisdom we lean on the wrong person and
they let us down. Go to God, Go to the king first.
The king will depute. He will alert you as to who you
should lean on. But first go to the king.
Have you been struggling with sickness?
Go to the king. Have you been struggling with
with a relationship? Take it to the king.
I can tell you this, in almost 30 years of reading the Word, of
seeking God in the in the quiet places, I have found that His
Word has answers for everything. Everything.
There has not been one situation in my life where His Word has
not answered my problem. Why have we been going to other
sources instead of going to the King?
It's time that you and I accessed the King, the second
part of our access. We have infinite access.
Yes, we have infinite access to the king.
We have infinite access to our inheritance.
You know, in today's world, the word inheritance is so messed
up. We see these inheritance laws
that have been placed, sometimes quite unjust.
We see how families break up and completely disintegrate because
of an inheritance that went awry.
You know, sometimes we're settling for earthly
inheritances, which tend to spoil, fade and justice perish
and we forget that we have something called as an eternal
inheritance, a spiritual inheritance.
Because you know what? This is what God tells us, that
we have every spiritual blessing thanks to Christ Jesus, every
spiritual blessing. And oftentimes I've thought,
what is the use of that? God, we need land now, we need
health now, we need influence now We need these.
These are the tangible things of of earth.
But I'm finding that when he says you need the you have
access to the inheritance. That is what we actually need.
Let me explain that you Matthew 25 verse 34 says the king will
say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my
Father, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world. God is offering to you and me
the inheritance which is the entire Kingdom irrespective of
our gender. In India we have certain laws
and abroad there are certain laws with certain groups cannot
in make and take an inheritance. We find women may not get an
inheritance. It feels so unjust.
But here the Father, the father has given us each the entire
Kingdom. I remember the story someone was
saying they've gone for this huge buffet lunch, like 5 star
level buffet lunch. The person sees everything in
the buffet and then ask the waiter, would you have sambar
rice? Sambar and rice.
There was everything under the sun except the sambar rice.
And he was asking him for that. So many times you and I look at
the Kingdom like that. We're walking by this tiny
little place on the Kingdom. We're satisfied with what God
has blessed us with. Ohio.
You know what, I can pray. I hear God, I'm sorted.
He's given me peace. He's given me a little joy.
I'm good with this. But God is saying the Kingdom is
yours. The inheritance is all around
you. Will you have you have access?
Will you take hold of it? What does it look like to have a
spiritual in inheritance? It's so important to understand
it is not like an earthly inheritance.
It is not like a piece of land that your family gives you.
It is not like a house that is being waited on by you.
It is not like a sum of money that has to be returned to you.
This is way bigger and it is way more powerful to receive than an
earthly inheritance. Colossians chapter 1 verses 1213
says giving joyful thanks to the Father who has qualified us to
share in the inheritance of his holy people in the Kingdom of
light. For he rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of Son He
loves. So the first point of the
inheritance is that God has qualified us in Christ Jesus.
The minute you said yes to Jesus, you got this badge which
said qualified, you get the inheritance.
Then we come and come to try and unpack what is this inheritance?
And I believe the inheritance is the Holy Spirit.
In Ephesians chapter 1, verses 13 to 14, it says he is the
deposit, the first deposit or the seal of what is to come.
And sometimes we underestimate the inheritance of the Holy
Spirit. We think, you know what, yeah,
he's with us, He's in US is fine, but we miss what he
actually brings to the table. Let me read Colossians chapter 1
verses 9:00 to 11:00. It says this.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not
stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill
you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and
understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a
life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way.
Bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge
of God, being strengthened with all power according to His
glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and
patience. What am I trying to say here?
Without the Spirit of God, without His leading, without His
infilling, I will not experience the tangible blessings that I'm
looking for on earth. You want your business to
thrive. Have you been doing it in your
own strength? Lean on the Holy Spirit because
you have access to the inheritance that is in the Holy
Spirit. It says that you will bear fruit
in every good work. Whatever you put your hands to
will bear fruit. If the Holy Spirit is the one
breathing life, it says that He will give fill you with the
knowledge of His will through all wisdom and understanding.
Have you been struggling in an area of your health?
He will give you wisdom and understanding.
Have you been struggling with your studies?
He will give you wisdom and understanding.
You understand what this is doing.
The Holy Spirit is the one who opens up the inheritance.
So often we're striving God. What is this inheritance?
I want it. Is it a treasure box that I need
to open? The Holy Spirit is the one who
opens it up to you, situation on situation, day by day, minute by
minute. He is the One who leads us into
all truth. He helps us understand what this
Kingdom is about. He helps us to understand the
inheritance I have. You could be sitting in a
hospital room with complete peace.
And that my friend, is actually the inheritance that is yours to
have peace that passes all understanding.
Maybe you've been wondering, am I living a life that pleases
God? But the people around you know
that you have. That is because you have tapped
into the inheritance, living a life worthy of the Lord and
pleasing Him in every way. Maybe you've been starting to
understand a little bit more about God, growing in the
knowledge of the Lord. That is your inheritance that
the Spirit of God is making available.
Maybe you've been strengthened in your inner man.
In spite of all the buffeting and the suffering or the
punches, you've been feeling stronger than ever before.
That is your inheritance because the Spirit is making it
available to you. So I want to remind you of this.
When you have this access, all access pass, you are now a child
of God. You have access to the King.
You have access to the inheritance.
Why are we living like we have nothing?
Why are we acting like, you know this Christian life is so hard.
We should be the most joyous people on earth.
We should be the most content people on earth.
We should be the most humble people on earth because we just
know how undeserving we are and yet how graced we are for what
we need to do. God is calling us into a place
of saying, will you come to me as a child completely dependent,
completely filled with wonder at him, running into his arms and
saying, Lord, I know you will take care of me.
I will not worry. I will trust you because I have
access. I can come to you multiple times
in a day. I can come to you no matter how
pathetically I'm put together. I can come as I am to you.
When I have that, I realise that my identity is really sealed in
you, God, no matter what anyone says.
Maybe it's a parent who has been speaking death over you.
You don't have to worry because you know who you are.
You are a child of God. You're being made into the image
of Jesus. You are no longer what they have
labeled you as. You are a child of God.
Nothing defines you anymore on earth.
Who you are eternally matters more than anything else.
So remember this. As a child of God, you have a
fresh identity. Live it out to the maximum.
As a child of God, you have
unlimited access. Unlimited.
Don't let anyone limit their access.
Don't let anyone define God for you.
You know God for yourself. Get to know Him more as we
close. I want to read Matthew chapter
18 verses one to five again. Go back to that one passage
which actually started this whole thing.
It says he called a little child to heaven, placed the child
among them, and he said, truly, I tell you, unless you change
and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom
of heaven. How many of us thought we were
in the Kingdom of heaven, thought we were actually
experiencing it, but barely have made one step inside?
We haven't experienced it because we haven't changed and
become like a child. Will you be that child who keeps
running to the Father for every little thing?
Will you be that child whose life is so different it'll mark
you? Will you be that child who knows
their inheritance and lives like it, no longer lives with a
poverty mindset? Oh, I don't have anything.
I don't know this, I have nothing.
I have everything in Christ Jesus what I have, what I need
for the season I have. It's been life changing for me
in the past one month or so to come to this place or saying
God. Everything I have ever needed
you've already given me on that cross.
Everything was done. I will live with that joy and
thankfulness. It has changed my life and I
want to bring that to you as well.
Knowing that I can be delightfully helpless with him
has been amazing, has been life changing.
Knowing that I can bring myself as I am to Him.
I don't need an intermediate anymore.
I don't need people who need to know everything about me and
come to Him as I am, burden him with everything that burdens me
and walk away completely unfettered.
That has been a release for me and I want to bring you into
that place. I want to bring you into that
place that you can trust your father no matter what your
earthly father has been like. He may have been absent, he may
have been present, may have been abusive, may have been really
good. We have really tried hard.
No matter what, this father is different.
He's a perfect father, perfect in every way, perfect in every
way. He is endlessly patient, loving,
without conditions, no strings attached, always ready, always
waiting, enthralled by you, imperfections and all.
He loves us as we are and that should change everything.
That should mark you for life. One Peter chapter 5 was five to
seven pretty much sums up what a child of God looks like.
We in the in the earliest verses it talks about how you should be
like a lowly child. What does that look for?
What does that look like? But all of you, leaders and
followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other.
For God has had it with the proud, but takes delight in just
plain people. So be content with who you are
and don't put on as God's strong hand is on you.
He'll promote you at the right time.
Live carefree before God. He is most careful with you.
This is how we must live as children.
Children of God. Completely humble Lord, I will
not put on airs. This is who I am.
Trusting that His hand is on us as it disciplines, as it loves,
as it soothes. He will promote us.
But I especially love this. Live carefree before God.
Have you seen little children run in play in a playground?
Absolutely carefree. Littlest ones, The ones who have
not yet been touched by life's struggles, carefree, Keep
running to their mother or father for a hug.
Keep checking whether they are around the corner.
Live carefree before Him. He is most careful with you.
That is your identity. That is the basis for your
access. Can I pray for you, Father?
I just thank you that each one of us here who have said yes to
Jesus are a son and daughter of the Most High.
God, I thank you for adopting us into your family.
I thank you that you have made us heirs of God and coers with
Christ. I thank you that Lord I have
access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
And God, I pray that towards your people you will multiply
grace and peace, that your love will envelope people and embrace
them and hold them up. We just pray that your strength
would be a portion, that your hand would be upon us, that
people will know us because of whose hand is upon us.
People will know us because of how we live.
God, I pray that we will live with this knowledge that we have
direct access to You. For anyone who has been going to
an intermediate that they will stop today and they will just
cry out to you directly. God, Holy Spirit, I pray you
would interpret the groans and the moans that we sometimes have
and make it audible to the Father.
We thank you Father God, for what you have meant to us.
We thank You that You are perfect in every way, we thank
you that you are good and you do good.
We thank you that you're the giver of every good gift and we
thank you that you are shaping us and moulding us into the
image of your Son. We love you, we glorify you, we
honour you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Amen. God bless you.
I pray that you will live every day carefully like a child in
the presence of your God. God bless you.
Music. Thanks for listening to this
message. We hope you were blessed to hear
more messages like this. Make sure to subscribe and check
out our podcast channel for past episodes.
If you like what you are hearing, consider rating us,
subscribing and even sharing it with friends.
That would really help us. For more content from Via Zayan
and to connect with us, go to Via Zayan dot in.
Remember, whoever finds Jesus finds life.