We welcome you to the VI Zion Sermon Podcast.
We are a church based out of Chennai, India.
We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will
be refreshed, revived and energized by what you hear.
Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of
purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.
The year 2025 is 1 where we will be positioned by God to possess
our promise. We start a new sermon series
called Rekindled where we look closer at our own lives and ask
the Holy Spirit to revive and restore things that have gone
dormant in the dry seasons of our souls.
We pray that this series will help you dive deeper into
yourself and see where you need more of God.
We start a brand new series, it's called Rekindle.
How many of you enjoyed last week's sermon?
Amen. It's one thing to realise
Pentecost Sunday. We celebrate Pentecost Sunday or
we celebrate days and we tend to move on to the next.
How many of you do that? You know, we, most of us, we
have especially I think because you're so oriented towards
celebration of a day is equal to holiday is equal to weekend mode
that we sometimes tend to forget we need to live in what we've
celebrated. And so the series that we're
stepping into is called Rekindle because I believe the Holy
Spirit has to fan into flame what he's deposited in you.
I believe the season that you're going to step into is going to
be an assurance of the position that you have to take.
To possess that promise. That's the word that we saw from
the starting of the year. But as we step into the middle
of the year, our positions can be different.
How many of you feel, especially in today's world, it's easy to
get polarized. It's easy to get you open the
news. You don't.
You'll end up having arguments even with your spouse over
politics. You'll end up having arguments
with Co workers because of what's happening across the
world 'cause they might not see it in your light.
Even the way I prayed. I know I can't talk like that
outside because they won't understand what sovereignty
means. And so today, even as we are
stepping into God's Word, I just want us to come to a place to
realize that God's positioned us here in this earth for a time
such as this so that we'll be able to.
Live out his calling on our lives.
And maybe not have a doubt in that.
In fact I just flew from Dhaka to Delhi and then from Delhi to
Chennai and had to fly Air India.
And so as I was coming in, I was talking to the air Hostess and I
asked how are you all feeling as a staff?
And she didn't even skip a beat and she said it's very heavy for
US1 We are scared. Lot of their Co workers have
called in sick and so a lot of them are actually doubling up
their duty. And she said one another thing,
our parents and our family are scared.
And So what happens as an incident trickles down the
entirety. And so and surprisingly, she
also said you're you're an Indian who's coming.
Many of them actually cancelled their flights.
They didn't even choose to come and Air India.
So fear can set in in many number of ways.
And then I said, but this can happen to anyone, anytime,
anywhere. It's not, it's not necessarily
only if you fly this aircraft or this, it can happen to anyone.
You can be walking on the road. Just the day when this happened,
we saw that a metro bridge, this fell down in our own city.
But today I want to ask you, when we're living out this life
that you're called, are we living intentionally or we are
we living with the fact that, you know, someday I might do
God's work because this rekindling that happens is a
revival fire that it is that has to revive us now and that we
carry that forward into every space that God's called us to
do. God's called us to step into.
Even last week when we when Jeremy spoke, he gave this clear
indication that we're living for a different Kingdom.
We're not living for the Kingdom here on this earth.
So he's and and with that I want to come that when you're living
for the for the Kingdom of God, we need to live with our hearts
and our spirit man being rekindled rekindled to do his
work. How many of you feel you've
taken a step back from what God's called you to do?
Let's be honest, we've because circumstances change, situations
change, scenarios change and it causes you know what?
Now why should I be doing this? I can just like take a step
back. Kids are growing up.
I just, if I listen and obey God, things might become
uncertain and those are the one thing leads to another and
eventually we take a step back. But God's like, can I rekindle
that flame so that you can live it out?
Whatever age you are, He wants you to live it out to its
fullest so that you'll be able to see His will and His plan.
A renewed spirit leads us to rebuild life with purpose to
serve the Lord, and a rekindled heart causes every believer to
be motivated by love, to attempt great things for God's glory.
Our spirit is renewed and our hearts are rekindled.
Why? Because we return back to our
first love and on returning back.
To our first love, what do you do?
You do what the first love requires, that is fulfilling his
plan over our lives. How many of you can confidently
say that you're living out God's will and plan for your life?
I want you to raise your hands if you have doubts.
Also, it's OK. A lot of us are in that, in that
seesaw. If things are going good, oh,
OK, I think this is God's will for my life.
If things are going bad, oh, I don't think this is God's will
for my life. But I pray that as we have
rekindled. Hearts we will be sure where God
is calling us to step into one of the passages that we've
chosen is from one Peter and I want to read 1 Peter chapter 6
chapter 1 was a six to seven. I'm sorry if I start blabbering
in between excuse me I didn't get to sleep.
It was a red eye flight, but this paused me there.
And they say you're reading wrong.
One Peter, one was a six to seven.
It says in all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trial.
Can we read that again? All of us together.
You can look at the screen from the NIV.
It says in all. This you greatly.
Rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer
grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the
proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth and gold, which
perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise,
glory and honor When. Jesus Christ is revealed.
One of the things I love the Holy Spirit is he confirms and
reconfirms the word that has to be spoken.
In fact, in our youth service, Abhinandan spoke and he said
we're not condemned, but we are chosen.
And so when we are chosen, what happens?
We fall in alignment with what God's happened.
And when we even the songs that we sang open the eyes of my
heart that I might see you. When we say I speak Jesus into
every situation, what are we saying?
God? There are I'm, it feels like I'm
having grief in all kinds of trials.
We all will go through different kinds of trials in 20s, we'll go
through different kind of trials, 30s different, 40s
different, 50s, sixties, 70s different.
But God saying in everything there are two things that have
to be proven. One, your genuineness has to be
proven and the faith element. And so I just wanted to
concentrate on that because sometimes we are genuine.
We are genuine, but we sometimes can even tell ourselves that we
are genuine when we are actually not being genuine.
And when I was just studying the word, the Greek word is
document, which means proof of genuineness.
Everything that we think we're genuine of our faith will be
seen in the way we live out, will be seen in the way we
respond, will be seen in the way we are called to do what God's
called us to do. So which means Geshom's
genuineness will be tested and true.
Which means when there will be a season, there might be a
situation where they might rough me up a bit.
And when my temper comes up, what is coming out?
Is it the genuineness of my faith or is it the dark areas of
my heart, those dark things that I I internally have allowed the
spirit not to permeate or in in seasons of sickness and in
seasons of hardship? Am I just taking a step back and
thinking everyone else is having it good?
I'm not having it right. Suddenly the spirit of jealousy
and selfishness sets in. We can see.
And even when I have to give up these old patterns and habits,
my is my genuineness in the forefront or is it back?
Because the Spirit of God is wanting to know if we will be
ready to move into this place of genuineness Because this is
where approval will happen. And it comes through testing
documents. Approval through testing.
And how many of you are saying, if you've decided to follow
Jesus, which means you will have to go through tests, We will
have to go through tests. The second thing is proven
genuineness of your faith and I was just I I spent some time on
faith because many a times we faith is what a hope, our trust
in Jesus. It's the unseen thing and we
think about that. But as I was the word here, the
Greek word is pistis, which means persuasion.
And when I was reading on that, there was an interesting
explanation that was given. It said in the.
Scripture faith. Is God's warranty certifying
that the revelation he in birthed will come to pass?
What he's in birthed? It's not what I want.
Oh, I have faith that God will give me a raise.
No, it's what he's in birthed in you.
What are some of the things that he's in birthed?
In fact, last week when he ended his sermon, he said original
design. Geshom, what were you created to
do? Jackson, what were you created
to do? Because that's where faith will
be seen and that and that's the revelation that comes when we
allow rekindling of our heart. What happens?
God's not going to deal with the surface.
What is rekindling? It's literally taking it from
down under. He deals with the deep desires
of our heart. He says, is this what ministry
looks to you? Is this what service to me looks
like you? Because when he's poking, where
is he poking? He's poking on my pride.
He's poking on my ego. And you suddenly see the faith
that we have most of the times is to serve us.
But God's asking the faith that I'm rekindling is to fulfill the
plan and purpose I have for you. And why does Peter write this?
Peter writes this because he's living in a time and age when
they're being persecuted because they're followers of Jesus.
And today we are, Let's not kid ourselves, we, we might be a
minority in our country, but as followers of Jesus, it's so easy
to fall off the way because we are bombarded day in and day
out. How many of you struggle with
work, with work colleagues because they keep pushing your
boundaries with regard to what you believe in it.
It happens in every sphere, every sphere in your societies.
It will happen for those of you staying in apartments, you will
notice you'll have to demarcate what you really believe in and
what you don't believe in. If you have kids, your friends
and kids, your the, the, your kids, friends and their parents
will automatically demarcate you.
Oh, these people are different. And so today it starts like
that. But when it comes, there will be
times when God is really asking us, will you stand for who I am
today? And today I want to ask you, who
is Jesus to you? Because if you're not careful,
when we go through grief and all kinds of trials, so many things
get eroded, corroded. If this is get shown, if my
heart is here, if sickness comes, a little bit of digging
happens and then the heart carries.
It's not 100% full, it carries only 90%.
And then when then financial hardship comes that gets dug and
then only 70% is there. And suddenly my heart when I
look at it, going through all the trials and the suffering
that you're called to do will look different.
It'll start corroding one time, one step at a time, one day at a
time. And so today I want to ask you
the question is, is our faith being corroded by every trial
that we go through or is it being constructed because every
trial has to construct our faith and not corrode our faith.
A rekindle heart will always look at it like that.
God, why is this happening? God, why is this happening?
God is, is pride really setting in?
Is my dependency solely on myself?
And when that happens, we will allow God to come through.
When you look at a typical definition of what a corroding
agent or corrosion happens, it because there's a substance that
are agents and there are there's a.
Person who's causing it to and when I was just thinking about
this I realized the substance most more or less for us when
corrosions is the after effects of people and their reactions.
Those lever, those corrode our hearts, corrode our minds,
corrode our spirit. Like if someone has bullied you,
you have a corroded spirit and your mind automatically is.
And so automatically you go into that.
The minute someone says like that, your spirit is, you back
off that relationship. You put it on a different shelf,
bullying shelf. And then the same thing.
You have different agents, situational agents, which
corrode your faith. Oh God, if I come to church,
you'll convict me. And so this one.
So maybe it's better if I'm not coming to church.
In fact, one of the Christian influencers shared a reel of how
the sheep gathered together when they when a tornado comes.
And as I was watching this, a tornado comes and they just all
go to a corner together. And she said, I think we all
need to find our own church. Don't be alone.
Don't think you do this Christian life alone because you
need. And why is Christian life good
when it when it when it's done together is because when someone
is got something good happening, you're rejoicing with them.
When someone is going through a hardship, you're interceding and
praying with them. And that can be seen only in
light of a church and nowhere else.
You can't see it in your apartment gatherings.
You can't see it in your office. If it's if it's something to
celebrate, it's corporate lunch BBQ nation.
But if it's hardship, it's just you quietly crying in your
cubicle. That is the world.
But church is where you will see.
And so today, maybe rekindle each other's hearts to pursue
what God's original plan and will is for us today that he's
called us so that when we construct, we would construct it
holy to see his Kingdom, his plan come today I want to ask
you, are we giving up on what he's called us to do today?
Are we fabricating love? For others, 'cause we don't want
to be misunderstood. All these are after effects of
repeated corrosion that keeps happening.
But when we allow God to construct all of the deepest
trials of our lives, trials where we've taken a stand for
God, where we've told no to the enemy, where we've not given
into the clutches of sin, where we've stepped away from the
power of darkness and invited his light, we see God
strengthening our faith. And so today I want us to, we'll
look through the lives of Shadrack, Nishak and Abedneko
from the life of also Daniel, of how they live this rekindled
faith when they were actually taken as captives into exile.
Because how many of you believe some of, I mean, a lot of you, I
don't know whether you term it like that, but do you feel like
you're in an exile land? Is it like Tina giving her book
and then as people are reading it, they said I didn't have
language to it. I am in a wilderness season.
That's what she's been getting a lot of feedback or people are
getting back to a this is my wilderness season.
It explains a lot after reading your book many a times, do we
think we are in an exile land? Yes.
No. Lot of us, sometimes we, we
think God, is this the right place for me?
Is this the right place? Yeah.
You can have home, you can have family, but you might feel
there's still something unsettling in this place.
And even as we're looking through their lives, one thing
is very sure what God's asking a response to be God will move us.
God definitely according to his plan and purpose in your life,
He might move you or he might keep you here.
You know, for 110 years back, I thought Mumbai is going to be
our place where we stay long term until unless God said no,
go back to Chennai. It felt like God calling us back
into a land of exile because we didn't know what to do.
We didn't know what to do. And so it's in these seasons
that I ask God, what is it? What is your plan and purpose
for my life? What is your will for my life?
Because I need to have faith for that.
It's easy for me to have faith for my children's future.
It's easy to have faith for certain provisions to come.
It's easy to have faith or to believe and think, OK, God,
you'll come through in this. I'll, I'll still hold on to you.
But Lord in, in, in the plan that you want me to step into.
That's why marriage with the right person is very important.
I was talking to someone, OK, they're not here.
I was talking to someone the youth service and they were
asking how do you do certain things?
I said marry the right person because when that person
understands God's will for their life and when you understand
your will for your life, when you join together, you start
accomplishing what God has destined for both of you to
accomplish. And I pray that each of us will
find that's the first thing I want to take from Daniel and his
friends. Life is allowing God to birth
faith when our surrounding changes, when our surrounding
changes. How many of you love when you're
surrounding changes? How many?
Why? Is it because the bed is not in
the same place? Is it because the toilet is
different? Is it because your mother's not
cooking your? Food.
God will keep changing your surroundings.
God will do that. But when he does that, I pray
that Rod will rekindle your faith again so that you'll be
able to stand strong in Him. One of the biggest fears that we
have is what will happen. Sometimes we fail to be grateful
to God for what he's doing because what if God takes me off
from here? How many of you have that
syndrome? Oh God, the house is
comfortable. Owner's good.
I won't say anything. I won't even give this as a
testimony point because if I give this as a testimony
tomorrow, the owner will say he's coming from US and then
I'll have to give up the house. Lot of us are so careful of what
our prayer points and Thanksgiving points are, but is
our faith rested on our physical aspects?
Is it rested on our job? Is it rested on our sometimes
even our family and our spouse, sometimes even in the very
surroundings that we have? If you're a single person who's
in a paying guest, you don't want to move out from here
because all the food joints are close by.
Or probably it's that. Everything that's become
comfortable for you, but I'm asking you today, maybe move,
take a step. A lot of times we have positions
that lead up to where God's like son, daughter, I want you to
move here. He takes us up and puts us in a
place and he says, now I want you to.
Grow. I want your faith to be planted.
I want you to see you grow. He waits for us to make these
decisions. And sometimes the decisions are
made. In this case, when you look at
Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
the entire country was not doing what was right.
And so they're bearing the consequences of the country.
They're not bearing the consequences of what they've
done. The country didn't follow God.
The nation, the king gave up on God.
And So what happens? Nebuchadnezzar comes.
He lays siege and then he takes and what happens?
These are when you re, when you check the timeline, they're
probably in their late, late teens.
They're probably 17801920, very formative years.
And so it says that that. In the third year, Daniel
chapter 1 verses one to four, it says in the third year of the
reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
And the Lord and the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of
Judah into the hand along with some of the articles from the
temple of God. It's, it's interesting if you
can just circle that. And the Lord delivered
Jehoiakim. Sometimes when God wants us to
grow, he will deliver us into certain spaces so that we grow
intentionally. And what happens then?
He carried off to the temple of his God in Babylon and put in
the treasure House of God. Then the king ordered Ashpen
asked chief of his court officials to bring into the king
service some of the Israelites from the royal family and
nobility, young men without any physical defect, handsome,
showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed,
quick to understand and qualified to serve in the King's
palace. He was to teach them the
language and the literature of the.
Babylonians and this feels like God.
I was born into a certain place. I had a certain pathway.
Suddenly God's picking us up and he's putting us in a place where
he's saying now this is where you need to be.
What happens in this situation? The spirits would be broken.
One thing it is you're, you're, you're chained.
You're not, you're not in freedom anymore.
You're moving into a place where you have to.
How many of us are tray in certain situations like this
where we have to do certain things for, for those of you who
are into freelance, we don't have that option because
whatever comes, you have to take it because that only pays the
bill. It's not like your office where
you can go to and one day you're like, OK, today I'll just chill.
You know, I'll, I'll give some reason to the boss or, you know,
I can act like I'm working. But in freelance you can't
because if the product doesn't or the project doesn't get over,
they're not releasing the payment and you don't get paid.
And so many, many, at times we feel our hands are tied.
Probably today you're in a relationship like that where you
feel probably your marriage is also tied.
The very life is gone out of that.
And I want to ask you, God, would you rekindle the spirit so
that we'll be able to see your plan and will?
What are some of the areas that is?
And on the other side we see Jeremiah, who's also telling
this is what the land of Israel is going to go through, and he's
prophesying, but he also prophesied something very
interesting, telling all those who are going into exile how
they need to live. It's interesting that we need to
be aware of what God is telling us in the season as we have
moved into certain spaces, which are God.
I don't like this space, but I don't know why you've kept me
here. Read his word because that will
sustain you. Because when you read in
Jeremiah it says interestingly. Jeremiah 29 verses 3 to 14.
He says he entrusted the letter to El Saha son of Shafan, and to
Gemaraya son of Heikaya, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to
Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon and said This is what the Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carry into
exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses, settle down, plant
gardens and eat what they produce.
Marry and have sons and daughters.
Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage
so that they too may have sons and daughters.
Increase in number there, do not decrease also was 7.
Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have called
you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because
if it prospers, you too will. Yes, this is what the Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, says.
Do not let the prophets and the diviners among you deceive you.
Big circle that. Do not listen to the dreams you
increase them to have. They are prophesying lies to you
in my name. I have not sent them, declares
the Lord, because there'll be many people in.
This situation who can even take you astray?
So be careful. If you're not planted in God's
Word, you'll be listening to something else.
Even today with all the world events that are happening, you
know the quick thing they can say Jesus is coming back.
Yes, he's coming back, but most of the world doesn't even know
him. So be rest assured that you need
to live your life out well. You need to live your life out
well. Was we will hear was.
I mean, if you go out in with a Christian bandwagon, they will.
They might have put all the numbers right down.
They would have calculated who 666 is.
They would have done their permutation combination for
everything, but the call is for us to live where God has called
us to live. Seek the peace and prosperity of
the land. If you read Daniel and his three
friends, this is what they did. They went there not without
faith, but with faith. This imagine three guys, four of
them. They could have lived however
they want because they were royalty to a certain extent.
They were chosen for certain things.
But there they decided to stand strong because they knew whose
they were. And so today, it's very
important that even in exile, we don't just give in to what the
land has to offer for us. These are men who was killed.
They were taken into captivity. And so today, I don't know what
season or place you're in. Probably you feel your job is
not the right one for you, your marriage.
I don't know why I'm stuck. Or probably some of you are in
the country and you're thinking, I shouldn't be in this country.
But if you're not doing anything in this country, God can't take
you to any other country. If you're not living out what
Jeremiah has said, how will he take you to another country?
If you don't seek the seek the prosperity of this city, how
will you seek the prosperity of another city?
I'm sorry, I'm saying this, but that's the truth because that's
what God, God had to tell me. When I'm taking you to Chennai,
what are you? What are you fulfilling?
What you want to do? Are you going to do what I'm
going to do? And it took two years, 2 1/2
years to be responded to that. And then we saw God put things
in place. Are you seeing certain things
not moving? Go back and ask God, my spirit
has not been right. Rekindle my spirit so that I'll
have faith in the season that you've placed me in today.
What are some of the things they would have felt?
They moved from comfort overnight, everything for them
changed. They were not free anymore.
They were other slaves and they were forced to work under a
king. They lost all their rights.
They had to report to a person. They were governed under tight
regulations. This feels more or less like our
situation today. And I pray that we will move to
a place where we'll we won't, we won't give in to what's
happening externally. Internally, if you're free, we
are free. How many of you are living
internally free if you're a child of God, if you've accepted
Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior, you're no
longer a slave to sin. You are free indeed.
And many a times you're giving in to the external things.
And I it's not like I'm not against it's just that we
suddenly use a lot of words even on news articles.
Now you read be careful. This might trigger you and the
word triggered now is taken so much place that we've given so
much importance to trigger nowadays it's not even
triggering. We just lost complete love.
We've caused lost. We're like whatever, but God
saying bringing, I want to come bring you back to a place where
you'll have faith. Because what we learned from
these three, I mean, Daniel and his three friends is they knew
whose they were. So when they went into the land,
they were able to live their life to its fullest because
internally they knew the faith that we talk about is what keeps
us afloat and allows us to take that step every day.
And Jeremiah when he talks, that is it's very important.
It says verse 4, when I read that same verse in Jeremiah
chapter 29, verse 4 says, I carried you into exile.
What seems like an exile is God carrying us so that he can grow
us more in our faith. He can grow us more in our
faith. And the reason why I wanted to
highlight that is it's it's painful.
It's painful. And we all had the savior
complex. We all have this.
And I remember at a time when I think 2 years into Tina's
treatment, I think I've shared this sometime back in sermon, is
I for a certain extent thought the doctor was the one who was
actually doing all the right things for her.
I failed to understand that God sovereignty was above
everything. I, I placed the doctor at the
higher pedestal. So at one point I was telling
her, hey, it's six months, we need to go for a check up.
And I forced her. We went there and I knew the
minute I was sitting there, she was sitting.
He said hey, the doctor said beyond this, I don't know what
to do. You're perfectly fine to me.
And then my fear spilt out. I started asking questions that
were deeply ingrained in my heart as fear, and that's when
God reminded me is because you're looking to him as the
source and not me. If I've allowed you both to walk
through this is because there's something that I want to see
accomplished in her life and in our life.
But you need to trust me. And so today, I don't know what
part of this that the exile has become so bad, but I would say,
would you take it back to God and say God, I'm here.
Would you have your way the second?
Thing you see in verse 7, seek the peace and prosperity of the
city to which I've carried you into exile.
We just don't go and live grudgingly, but we learn to
serve well under the leader, God's place in the city,
whatever it looks like. Probably you're an office job
right now. It's a switch.
When you're rekindling of your spirit happens, your outlook of
your job also changes. You suddenly are like, God has
placed me here. I work like I'm working on to
God, as Paul says and as Peter says, and suddenly everything
changes. Whose mind shift changes in this
whole thing. Not your boss, not your company,
not the city. You change, you know.
One of the things I've been this 2025 marks 10 years of me
working with for you version and they've been.
Regular intervals in which I've had seasons of discomfort, you
know, things aren't moving the way I have to move.
And Tina will be like, you just need to pray more.
And I start praying about the situation.
The job doesn't change, but I change.
I start seeing things differently.
I start seeing things how God wants me to see it.
And so I want to encourage you today, this rekindling of the
Spirit is more of us being changed internally to see how
God wants us to see it. And worst Dennis, the promising
was it says I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to
bring you back to this place. God who's carried us so far will
carry us through to completion. When he's saying he's bringing
them back to their promised land to back to this country is the
fact that he will see us through a promise.
So don't. Give up, don't give up.
This gives us confidence. So today as I conclude this
first one, will I will we acknowledge God to be in a
season of exile? Today will we acknowledge.
Will we seek? The prosperity of our, of our
marriage, of our, of our family, of our work, of our city,
irrespective of what was happening, because Jesus
overseas everything. God is the God of heaven and
earth. The second thing we see from
Daniel and his three friends is because they knew what their
faith was, they were easy. They found it easy to verbalize
it. So second thing is verbalizing
what we believe shows who we honor and establishes us in
front of others. Verbalizing what we believe
shows who we. Honor and establishes us in the
midst of others. Daniel 1 verses 8 to 10.
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal
food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission
not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official
to show favour and compassion to Daniel.
If you can just underline verse 9.
Now God had caused the official to show favour and compassion to
Daniel. The beautiful thing about free
will is when we respond in free will to what God has.
Deposited in US. Favour comes.
When we verbally tell God, this is what God's causing you to
take a stand in favour comes. So if you've been lacking favour
in your life, have you been verbalizing what God's been
asking you to stand for? Your wife is not your mind
reader. Your boss is not your mind
reader. People around you are not mind
readers. You need to tell them what you
believe. It's only when you verbalize
will God's favor come into fruit.
No one in the Bible does it say Moses thought and God's favor
came. It'd be very easy.
No, that's a problem with a lot of those things, especially now.
In this way, I can just stand still and worship God.
You can't. You can't when it says lift holy
hands. You need to lift your hands in
acknowledging because faith causes us to respond in the
physical also. So today I would ask you.
Verse 10 But the official told Daniel, I am afraid of my Lord
the king who was assigned your food and drink.
Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men
your age? Then the king would then have my
head because of you. And this is where he said test
us and see. Look at how he put faith into
action faith into action rekindle faith is ready to be
put into action and I pray because when you're reading the
timeline in your late teens and early 20s, if you have access to
buffet every day, what will you choose vegetables or will you
choose buffet. The foodies in our church are
smiling. You would choose royal food, but
because they came from the household of the God of Israel,
they knew what was permitted and what was not allowed.
Today, in the cities that we are placed and in the workspaces
that we are placed in, God will require us to take a stand.
Culture will be like a buffet in front of us.
It'll say, you know, you do this, it's OK.
No one cares. You do this, no one cares this
but God's saying no. Verbalize your faith.
No, I can't stand for this. Yes.
Will I be? Will they paint me as a
different person? It's OK.
Let me be known as that because I value being honored by God far
more than being honored by men. They had access to the King's
table. They had every option possible,
but they showed restraint. They showed restraint even as I
was spending time this week with Ken, who's 85 years old,
sometimes I forget that he's 85 years old.
He's sitting there and his daughter-in-law was asking him a
question and asked at 85, what makes you sit in Bangladesh and
take language course for two years to sit here so that you
can be here? He said.
There's a deep level of contentment I have in know in
knowing who God's created me to be and it's interesting his wife
died 4 years back but he didn't lose purpose for what God's
created him to be. Do you see what faith here is
important? Faith is not because of the
person around, it's because the plan that God deposited in him
saying Ken in 85, you should be here to do this.
When? Why will it happen?
Because he's in tune with what God's called him to do.
So today I want to ask you, at your age, are you comfortable
knowing God? This is where I'm supposed to be
because there'll be a time when people around may not be there,
but will you still live in the purposes of God?
It's it's a real question that we need to ask and what better
way to put into practice now. So it's been 40 years later.
It's just this life is this life.
You're not you're you suddenly see people differently.
You see everyone needs to hear the gospel.
That's all that you see. And so today what is it that
God's asking us to do in one Timothy 6 verse 6 it says that
but godliness actually is a source in the amplified of great
game when accomplished by contentment, the contentment
which comes from a sense of inner confidence based on the
sufficiency of God. Tina was asking me yesterday in
the call when you're talking what is God spoken to you in
this season when I went for this week and.
The definite thing was contentment.
Am I content with what God's will for me is today, right
here, right now, in what I'm doing?
Because if I'm not content, my heart is set on something else.
And So what will happen is I'll grudgingly be in the land that
God's asked me to stay. I'll grudgingly be in the
marriage God's asked me to stay. I'll grudgingly be in the
responsibility of a father what God's called me to be.
So today I want to ask you, are we having contentment?
Because there is definitely a sense of contentment for Dave,
for Daniel, Shadrack, Nisha, and Abednego.
Even though they had access to everything, there was a deep
sense of contentment in what they wanted and what they
thought will benefit their body. This Greek word for the
godliness that is it says is It's used to be, which means
godly heart response, Godly heart response.
And I pray that we will have this godly heart response
because if I'm scheming my way, if I'm calculative, if I'm
measured, that's how God will also treat me.
That's how God will treat me. God who's brought me so far will
lead me. He gives favour.
I don't have to Curry favour up. I don't know.
It's not like 20% of people pleasing 1010% of showing up.
No, I stand for God. I do what God's asked me to do.
I serve him well. In turn, I serve the place that
He's given me. Also favour comes.
It's interesting what how chapter 1 concludes in Daniel
1:15 to 20. At the end of the 10 days, they
look healthier and better nourished than any of the young
men who eat the royal food. So the guard took away the
choice food and wine they were to drink and gave them
vegetables instead. The people that you're
witnessing to and you're telling your faith about will test you
out, is what you're saying? Are you really living it out?
It's only when that happens does the.
Chief takes away the royal food from them.
So if so, that's why it's very important that when we witness
about what we believe, we are living out what we are
witnessing. Verse 17 it says to these four
young men God gave knowledge, understanding of all kinds of
literature and learning, and Daniel could understand visions
and dreams of all kinds. At the end of the time said by
the king to bring them into his service, the chief official
presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel,
Hananiah, Michelle, and Azaria. So they entered the king
service. In every matter of wisdom and
understanding about which the king questioned them, he found
them 10 times better than all the magicians and the enchanters
in his whole Kingdom. Isn't that a powerful testimony?
All because they testified, they stood for what they asked, and
they saw God's favour come upon them.
And I pray that we will move in that sphere because if today, if
we have to live in the age of AI, if you have to live in an
age of ML, if you have to live in the age of predictive
behaviour being analyzed and built, things being built around
that, we will suddenly be in that zone.
God saying, hey, no, I needed to you do what I'm calling you do
favor will come. All these things are all
predictive. They can change.
And so don't don't get so caught up in everything, especially
today. The world is running in such
speed that if you don't know something, you feel like you're
missed out entirely. And probably that's what the
world is painting the picture. Are you trusting the world?
Are you trusting God today Because God created everything?
He will give you the wisdom, He'll give you the understanding
when he when we are truly committed to what He's calling
us to do because of their choice personally, which they took, and
saying it verbally, God honours them.
When we open our mouth, we're declaring what we believe.
When we're telling those around us, we also tell.
Who our trust is in who our trust is in.
There's a verse which says that your people will serve before
kings and not before obscure men.
That's only because when we know God, when we know God, and when
we do. What he says.
So if I have to ask you, where should I openly and boldly tell
no today? What am I allowing in my life so
that I can enjoy a seat at the table?
What am I allowing because the enemy is always looking at that
foothold? What did the enemy do when he
was tempting Jesus? It was always show and tell.
He showed something, he told something, but the response
Jesus gave was contradictory, was always the word of God.
So today the world will also show you and tell you something.
But are we going to sit at their table?
Are we going to say no, this is not for me.
It the the word of God says in the last days they'll only be a
remnant. Let's not get dissuaded.
God's asking us to make bold decisions today that as you step
out, it'll come. He'll enable us to take that.
Daniel and his friends knew that the seat was given by God, so
they chose to honor God and what happens in return?
God honored them in front of everyone who came across their
path. Daniel and his friends knew that
the seat was given by God. By God.
A lot of them asked me especially when I'm when I'm
traveling for you version and all that, they'll ask how do we
land a job with you version. I say I didn't, I didn't pursue
it. You know, Tina can be here as a
witness for that. It was out of big heaviness.
You're packed everything here. We are going to so much of
uncertainty in Mumbai and I remember that Aggarwal
container, we've packed entirely the first time you're packing
and kids are small and Tina's Tina, I remember asking are we
making the right decision? That was our conversation every
time because we knew we're going to a land where we're not
getting enough to sustain enough.
So there was so many questions, but we just knew that God had
told us to go to Mumbai. We packed the day the container
went, I think 2 days before the next two days ago.
You're flying, you're flying. We land there, we land in the
house. They've come and put everything
in the house in boxes. I open my laptop and I get an
e-mail saying Yashum, a friend of ours recommended your name.
We would like to set up a call with you and would love for you
to join you urgent part time because you're seeing a lot of
traffic in India. I didn't pursue it and 10 years
now that has been the one that's literally been the source of
income for us to as a family. It's not what I've conceived.
I couldn't carry up anything one obedient act of doing because
before that I learned severely if I don't obey God, God will
remove whatever is underneath me.
And out of that today, and so today when I'm speaking this, in
fact, you're just conversing between each other of who should
do this. I in fact told her I'm
travelling. I gave her a big excuse, I'm
travelling, I can't prepare, so you should speak.
She said, no, you, you have to speak.
And then I think God's moving into a season where you travel
and you speak, you know, And so, so as I was preparing this, I
felt God, thank you. You gave me the courage to take
that step of faith. In my physical eyes, that season
of Mumbai seem like a wasteful season.
But according to God's will and plan, that was the most
necessary season. Because if that didn't happen,
none of the things that we are trying to run out of have ever
happened. And so that's why we need our
faith in those situations where we close our physical eyes to
what the world has to often. Move to a spirit full saying
God, if this is your will for me, I step into it as yes,
because so let's not. So let's not work towards God.
Honor me in front of her. This it'll happen at the right
time. It'll happen at the right time.
The third thing, and if you see all these are building blocks.
The 1st is when our faith, when we internalize the faith when in
our seasons of exile, it's a building block.
On top of that, we verbalize it. And the third is we need to take
a stand no matter what the outcome is.
We need to take a stand no matter what the outcome is and
declare that Jesus is Lord. Church, we're going to come into
a season where maybe in our country they will ask us who we
really believe. We have to say that Jesus is the
Lord. He's not just God.
He is the Lord and the only true God.
In fact, I was listening to a testimony of a person as he was
sharing he his first generation came into faith from the Muslim
background and he as he was sharing, I was asking him, what
do you think is your biggest because there's no career map or
career pathway for them. They they are, they are
literally Evans. They're going into the market.
They talk to people, anyone who's having that open door of
opportunity because what they praise God, you're going to read
into the market, you're going to witness for you.
They go into the market and someone is dead.
They witnessed, they invite them home.
Six months later, the entire families come to faith.
And he said the more this is happening, we know we'll be
targeted next. But this brings us to assurance
that Jesus is the only true and living God.
There's no other God. And so today, each of us will be
positioned in that place. Will.
We take that stand. Some of you have already walked
that hard journey with your families.
You might be disinherited, you might be left alone, but will
you take that stand asking, saying that Jesus is Lord?
And I just want to take specifically from the life of
Shahrukh, Meshak and Abdineko. They were administrators, they
were stationed. And then we see suddenly what
happens. Nebuchadnezzar, even though he's
got the dream from Daniel in Daniel chapter 2 in you, you see
time and again, because of his accomplishments, there was no
room for God. And So what he does, he builds
his huge statue and he says everyone bow before man.
If you look at the interesting thing about kings and Empress
building statues, it's a way of telling the people their
conquest. This region belongs to me.
I may not be physically there, but my avatar is there.
My statue is there. And it's also to show this land
is. My territory and So what he's
asking here them to do is go and bow down and at that most
important situation his eyes are blinded Nebuchadnezzar's eyes
are blinded even though he's he's conversing with Daniel and
all of them so often. Daniel chapter 3 verses one to
three. King Nebuchadnezzar made an
image of gold 60 cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up
on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Then he summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors,
treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial
officials to come to the dedication of the image he had
set up. Many a times the people who are
jealous of us will be the ones who tell that this person is not
willing to bow down before you. It's the people around who will
actually cause the problem because they've seen favour.
So don't be surprised when people let you down.
Don't be surprised when people let you down.
The mirror story of this is when we read an Esther when her own
uncle. Was had to bow down to Harman.
He refused to do that and so that he said I only bowed on to
God And those, those those moments when God will ask us to
take those stands and when we take it, God honours it.
In fact, this is it. Seems very extreme.
When you read in Daniel chapter 3 verse 8 to 12, at that same at
this some astrologist came forward and denounced the Jews.
They said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, may the king
live forever. Your Majesty has issued A decree
that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zytha,
lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music must fall down and
worship the image of God, and that whoever does not fall down
and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace.
And we see here that they literally made sure that the
burning flame was made even hotter.
It says that the people who went close to it felt the heat and
they itself got burnt and they died.
I pray that when our worship is questioned, we will stand our
ground and say we worship only Jesus alone.
We will worship. Jesus alone, it will be tested,
and that's what Peter writes. We all will be tested.
It says, in fact, he's giving a reference that to gold.
Gold is put at the hottest part of that fire and it's melted,
and so many times it will feel like a blazing furnace.
I pray that we have a response like what Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego had. Daniel 3, verses 16 to 18.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had replied to him.
King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before
you in this matter. If you are thrown into the
blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from
it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty's hands.
But even if he does not, we want you to know, your Majesty, that
we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold.
You have set up and so today the image of gold today can look
very different for each and everyone of us.
What are some of the images that we are bowing to that we've
we're struggling to say God, you have to have you are the front
and cent. I can't bow before This.
Is Money such a image of gold that you're unable to bring God
before it? Is certain relationships like an
image of gold that you're only able to bring God in front of
it? Is certain scenarios in your
life that you've that that's that's in front of you that
you're saying this is too good, I can't disturb this, so I'll
just go with the flow and you're not bringing God into it.
When we don't take a stand where we say Jesus is Lord and when we
silence, we in fact are silencing God, we discredit him.
What we see happening in all three of their lives is they
were established like a tree. I pray we are established like a
tree. You know when we put a seed in
and when it grows and becomes a tree?
The tree doesn't say, oh, I can't handle the heat, oh, I
can't handle rain, oh, I can't handle winds.
It's just standing there whether it likes it or not.
It has to withstand everything. And I pray we will be like that,
that we won't dry up, we won't be quenched.
We won't. We will flourish in season and
out of season. Jesus is God and Lord for every
Christian. This very statement should
become a firm foundation, should become a firm foundation.
John Wesley says this. When what one generation
tolerates, the next generation will embrace.
And I pray that we won't tolerate Jesus, but we will say
He's everything to us so that they will know that He's
everything to them the next generation they need.
To know. That we won't just tolerate it.
I was reading a story and it was about this person, a Bishop.
In fact, in 8070, Polycarp was a Bishop during a time of bitter
attack against the Christians. At the age of 86, he was
arrested for no other crime than being a Christian.
All he had to do was to avoid torture and death was to
proclaim Caesar's Lord. Polycarp responded. 86 years I
have served Christ and he never did me any wrong.
How can I blasphemy my King who saved me?
For Polycarp, the fact that Jesus is Lord meant that he
could not say Caesar is Lord. Steadfast in a stand for Christ,
Polycarp refused to compromise his beliefs and was burnt alive
with the stake on 22nd February 8156.
This very phrase, Jesus is Lord should be our should be etched
on our hearts and in our mouths that at any situation we say
Jesus is Lord. When we read in my personal
reflection especially, I was going through Job, the book of
Job and it's parallel in the New Testament.
It was in the early chapters of New Testament and it's a there's
a clear demarcation when we see of the response that Job has.
And the response that even Stephen has, it feels like God,
Stephen was so promising of a character that in the next
chapter and a half he's dead God.
But God had destined him for that for for witnessing so
clearly the entire gospel message.
And I pray that many a times we think or some people have lived
short. Now I think God's God knows in
his sovereignty. He knows what.
He's created them to be and when they have identified their,
their God's plan for their life and they've fulfilled it, he's
like son, daughter, I'm taking you home.
And so when you look at Job's life also the, the, the
struggles that he's going through seems enormous.
And then he comes to a place where God tells him to actually
intercede on behalf of his friends.
He tells his three friends to get bulls and sacrifice it and
Job will intercede for you. And when we read that, it's
interesting that it says that and Job had prayed for his
friends in Job chapter 42, verses 8, it says, and Job had
prayed to his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave
him twice as much as he had before.
But there's many times that. We have to just take a stand for
God. We don't have to be liked, known
by our friends. It's OK, they will turn around
because God will come through. So today, whatever your circles
are looking like as we. I know this is probably not the
sermon you wanted to hear after Pentecost, but I pray that as He
rekindles our hearts, what He'll also.
Do is He'll change certain aspects of our hearts that are
very set in its ways. I pray that we will live out
this rekindle life so well with the help of the Holy Spirit that
when He births, faith will come into US irrespective of our
surroundings. We'll be able to verbalize what
we believe, and we'll be able to honor God in the midst of
others. And when times come, we'll be
able to take a stand like how they said, even if we are.
Thrown in, we won't bow down more.
The guy told that to Esther. Just because you're seated
there, don't think we for a time such as this God's place to you
that you need to respond. And I believe for a time such
that this God's placed us here. And what is our response today?
Are we going to allow God to rekindle our spirits so that we
can live out this call? Francis of Assisi says this.
It's no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our
preaching. And so I pray that we will be so
assured of what God's called us to do, what God's called us to
do. It's those beautiful things that
God reveals to us. That's why when we worship him,
he restores to us those those things that he wants us to take
those responses that he's wanting us to take that step of
faith and that we'll take it boldly, saying, God, reveal your
plan and purpose for my life. That in the season of exile, if
you can close our eyes and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to
us, this is going to take a moment because I believe He
wants to stir in our hearts. For some of us, it could have
become a way of life. It might be 1015 years, but
today would you say, Holy Spirit, you can have your way.
Rekindle Lord Jesus, my spirit. All this while, I just think
I've been doing it. It's become a pattern.
But I ask you, rekindle my spirit so that I'll know the
exact plan and purpose for my life, Lord Jesus.
So that as I. Wait on you.
I'll also know exactly what you're calling me to do.
Your will for my life will be clear.
Your plan for my life will be clear.
And I'll exhibit faith in that, Lord Jesus.
Not in faith, not faith in what I want for myself, but faith in
what you've created me to do. Lord Jesus, your original design
as your child, I'll be able to do that.
Lord Jesus, we thank you. 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 Zion
and to connect with us, go to Via Zion dot in.
Remember, whoever finds Jesus finds life.