Click the image to download your free copy.

When I first saw a few clips from The Visual Bible’s Matthew, I didn’t like it. It showed Jesus laughing, celebrating after healing the sick and throwing children up in the air and catching them. He always seemed to be enthusiastic and happy when He was teaching or dealing with people.

You see, I come from a culture in which spirituality is measured by how solemn, dignified and holy your appearance is. This means that as a servant of God, you must wear white clothes, keep a serious face even if you are happy and carefully guard your behavior. You wouldn’t want to spoil your image by laughing out loud or running around playing with the kids.

All this actually comes from eastern mysticism, in which the way to holiness and spirituality is asceticism—the renouncing of all worldly pleasures, comforts and emotions. It is a counterfeit spirituality produced by Satan.

After viewing this film, I read through the four Gospels again just to see what Jesus was really like. For the first time, I gained an awareness of someone who was genuinely happy. There was a spirit of celebration, a positive note that I saw in His life. People felt drawn to Him, and in His presence, those with deadly diseases and even the worst sinners were filled with new hope.

Jesus came to this earth not to add gloom and hopelessness to people’s lives, but to bring light, hope, laughter and the joy of heaven to a sin-ridden world.

The angels didn’t announce His birth by saying, “Oh, what a sad and gloomy event. God’s Son is going to be persecuted and killed. Let us mourn and weep.” No! They were praising God and telling the shepherds about the good news of great joy for all people.

Jesus vividly illustrated for us with the parables of the lost coin, sheep and prodigal son how all of heaven breaks out in elaborate celebration over each sinner who turns to God (see Luke 15:7). He even portrays God the Father as the One who initiates the banquet, singing and dancing.

Above all, the joy, happiness and celebration will never come to an end in heaven. Psalm 16:11 says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

What a place that will be!

As believers, we have something outstanding that the world yearns for. Think about it—why do people like to listen to music, watch comedy shows, tell jokes, read cartoons or storybooks and play games? There is something in human nature that longs to smile and be happy. Yet all the happiness the world can offer is short-lived.

Our joy originates from heaven and is therefore able to fill our hearts even in the midst of suffering and difficulties. Paul and Silas, severely beaten and in chains, were celebrating in prison. Why? Their joy was anchored not in their own strength but in the promises of God: that all things would work out for their best, that Jesus had gone to the Father to prepare a place for them and that He would return to take them there.

What about us? Do people encounter that overflowing joy, found in Jesus and the early Christians, in our lives as well?

There is no more powerful advertisement for the reality of the Gospel than a believer filled with the love of Christ and the joy of heaven.

Why is it, then, that our joy is so often nowhere to be found? We allow the problems of this world to overtake our heart and emotions. At the same time, we forget—or simply don’t believe—the promises of God that tell us not to be anxious for tomorrow and not to fear because He has overcome the world. We start counting our woes instead of counting our blessings. And we fail to recognize the goodness of God and His encouragement in our surroundings.

To begin to live a life filled with the joy of heaven, we must make a conscious decision to reverse all these trends.

One of the best ways to learn to smile is to go on a “God Hunt,” which is how my dear friend David Mains would describe it on his radio program. This simply means that I look every day to discover even the tiniest thing God deliberately arranged in my life to tell me of His love and care: Perhaps somebody writes a letter, calls on the phone or says a kind word, just when I need it. A motorist stops to let me safely cross the street. Someone offers to carry my grocery bag when I am exhausted. A total stranger smiles at me when I feel gloomy, as if God is reminding me, Be happy—I am with you.

Jesus, the One we serve, is the Light of the World. In Him there is no darkness, and there is so much to be happy about as we follow Him. Praise God!

What good things did God do for you today?

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: GFA Reports | GFA.net | Instagram | GFA.com

Click the image to download your free copy.

When Jesus came to live on this earth, He entered a world in which everyone continually fought to preserve his or her own rights, reputation and life. How foreign it must have sounded to them when Jesus, in reference to the cross, replied to those who wanted to see Him:

“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:23–25).

In this Scripture, Jesus talked about the prospect of a single seed producing many more of its kind. But the most important requirement for that single seed to multiply is this: It must fall into the ground and die.

In Mark 4, Jesus told the parable of the sower who went out to sow seed. Some of his seed fell on the wayside, some on the rocky ground, others among thorns and the rest on the good ground. Now just suppose the seeds that fell on the good ground didn’t actually die. How much harvest would they have produced? None! In fact, there would have been no difference, in terms of the end result, between these seeds and the ones that fell on bad soil.

Think about it. You can take the best seed and put it in the best soil, but if it will not crack open and die, what good is it?

With a grain of wheat, Jesus illustrated how very serious a matter it is that He and we, His followers, die in order to produce life. Even if we had every doctrine right, lived our lives beyond reproach and could move mountains by our faith, it would be insufficient to produce life in others. Without death there is no harvest.

Jesus, being 100 percent God, could have decided to lay down all His glory, become a man and later on go back to heaven . . . alone. But He saw that through death, He would bring many sons to glory. Out of His free choice, He willingly embraced the cross (see John 10:18; Hebrews 2:9–10, 12:2).

So it is with us. Paul wrote, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31) and “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20, kjv). The death he talks about is a continuous present tense. It’s a choice I must make every day of my life to die to my own desires, rights, wishes and decisions for the sake of bringing fruit for the kingdom of God. There is no shortcut and no other way.

In the measure in which you and I are willing to die daily through the grace of God and the cross, in that same measure will life be produced in others. Paul put it this way: “So then death is working in us, but life in you” (2 Corinthians 4:12).

I am sure when Paul finished his race, he looked back on the death that worked in him—the bloody trail of suffering, hardship, loneliness, shipwreck, prison and rejection— and had no regrets. I am sure there was only praise to God who called him (see 2 Corinthians 4:17). He brought many with him to heaven, and even today, after 2,000 years, his choice to die continues to bring fruit through the words he left behind.

What about those of us who believe we must be so private and so protective of our time, energy, resources and reputation in order to further our own spiritual pursuits? You will find that in spite of all the knowledge and blessings accumulated, those lives would remain fruitless. Essentially, all that is happening is self-preservation.

A man who is willing to go the extra mile, carrying the burden for someone else, is at that moment dying to his desire for rest and more peace for himself. He sees the extra mile as a means to help that person see God’s love.

Someone who truly understands that death to himself will produce life in others will not watch the clock in his service to the Lord. When there is need, he will work alongside Jesus as long as it takes. He will pray for the lost world while others are sleeping. As he dies to his rights to stop working at 5:00 or to sleep an extra hour, he opens the way for thousands around the world—on the mission field and elsewhere—to find life.

Such a follower of Jesus will not hesitate to humble himself before others when he has failed. He will trust God that through his honesty and willingness to receive correction, life will be produced.

It is true if we superficially look at others who live for themselves, we can become jealous of the so-called “easy” life they live. We can begin to tell ourselves, “I have rights too.” The pressure grows especially when our friends, families, the media and churches counsel us contrary to Christ’s call to lay down our lives.

Paul said that he had the right to be married, just like Peter and the rest of the apostles. It wasn’t wrong; but he chose not to so that he could serve the Lord with undivided attention (see 1 Corinthians 7:7–8).

So the choice we make in dying daily is not between right or wrong. The choice is between my rights and a new way—Christ’s way. In other words, when we say no to many things and accept the cross, regardless of how much it hurts, that one seed can give life to hundreds more.

Death to your own wishes will mean life for multiplied others—what will you choose?

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: Twitter | GFA Reports | GFA.net | Instagram

Click the image to download your free copy.

It didn’t take very long after the flood for Noah’s descendants to act independently from the Living God and band together to construct the Tower of Babel. When the Lord came down to inspect their ambitious and idolatrous building project, He made a very serious statement that teaches us volumes about oneness: “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Genesis 11:6).

These words reveal the incredible power that is found in unity, even if it is used for an evil reason.

We have seen the truth of this Scripture demonstrated over and over throughout history when people rallied around a leader with an ungodly ideology and joined together to spread it by force to the rest of mankind.

But the good news is that this power of oneness is equally true when we as believers unite together in doing God’s will: Nothing will be impossible for us.

Jesus had that total oneness of spirit with His Father. That’s why everything God wanted to do through His Son here on earth was fulfilled—unhindered. What was the key to such unity? It was the love they had for one another.

Think for a second how you take care of yourself. You won’t get a hammer and bring it down on your thumb. You won’t deliberately hurt yourself. Obviously, you care about what happens to you. When we truly love one another, what affects someone else, affects us. We won’t do something to deliberately hurt someone else. We want them to do well even if they’ve hurt us deeply. Jesus desires this kind of oneness in His Body. It far supersedes any unity the world could produce for its cause.

The devil knows this fact well, and he is afraid of the damage his own kingdom would suffer should God’s people succeed in becoming one in spirit. That’s why he fights so very hard to divide the Body of Christ and to keep believers from loving each other.

In fact, whenever God does something significant through His people, the most likely—and severe—counterattack will come in the area of unity, specifically broken relationships.

Nehemiah’s biggest problem in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was not the outside enemies who were trying to kill the Jews, but rather disunity among his own people. Instead of giving themselves to one another and to the building project, they were trying to bring division. Nehemiah had to spend crucial time sorting out problems and rebuking with painful words the very people he had come to help.

In the New Testament, much of the Apostle Paul’s energy was consumed in dealing with divisions within churches and between individuals.

In his first letter to the Corinthian believers, he addresses their selfish conduct during the Lord’s Supper, which he pointed out was a clear indication of disunity—that they didn’t discern the Body of Christ, the Bride of Jesus. Paul warned them that their self-centeredness and lack of love for each other were bringing them judgment (see 1 Corinthians 11:17–22).

The Lord’s primary goal in any local fellowship is for all His people whom He placed there to sincerely love and care for one another, producing such oneness that His purposes can be fulfilled through their lives. In fact, Jesus told His disciples in John 13:34–35 that this would be the key to conquering the world with the Gospel: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

May the Lord challenge our hearts afresh and cause us to reexamine ourselves that we not be unloving toward anyone. Let us be people who will choose to go down and take that extra step to care for others and demonstrate Christ’s love to them. When we do this, we will make it obvious that we are His disciples, and He will draw this world to Himself.

Whom would God have you become more loving toward?

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: Youtube | Twitter | GFA Reports | GFA.net

Click the image to download your free copy.

In The Silver Chair, one of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, author C.S. Lewis vividly illustrates what happens when someone falls under deception.

Prince Rilian, the king’s son and heir to the throne of Narnia, is held captive by the enchantments of a wicked witch who poses as a beautiful and kind lady. He can’t remember who he is and where he came from. For 10 long years, he has lived in the witch’s castle, not recognizing that she has made him her slave. In fact, he thinks she is his greatest benefactor and gladly obeys her wishes and counsel.

Each night, there is an hour during which his mind experiences flashes of memory from his real past. However, the witch convinces the prince that during those times a spell turns him into a vicious and murderous serpent. To protect him and others, she graciously provides a magic silver chair that she claims will eventually break the spell. Believing her words, the prince allows himself to be tied to this chair every night until the dreadful hour passes.

The real truth is that the witch’s sorcery weakens each night. The prince could regain his identity and complete freedom were it not for the silver chair that once again reinforces the power of the enchantment.

It is possible for us as Christians to lose touch with our true identity—if Satan succeeds in deceiving us!

There is no greater threat to Satan’s kingdom than Christians who know and live their identity as sons and daughters of Almighty God. Satan is unable to stop or defeat such followers of Christ, unless he succeeds in stealing their knowledge of who they are in Him.

How does he do it? Through lies and deception.

The Lord Jesus tells us about Satan’s tactics and his nature:

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. . . . The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 8:44, 10:10).

For example, when a believer sins in any way, Satan immediately whispers to his or her mind: “Even if God forgave you, you will never recover from what you have done; God has laid you aside; you are a disgrace.”

If the believer is not firmly grounded in the Word of God and does not reject the Enemy’s words, those whispered lies would plunge him into a vicious cycle of deception. He would no longer see himself as a conqueror and ambassador for Christ but would assume the false identity the devil gave him and live in it.

The tragic thing is that a person who is deceived does not know it. Like Prince Rilian, he will believe a lie to be the truth and subject himself to actions that only strengthen his bondage and deepen his imprisonment. In the case of a believer who loses his identity as an overcomer, each time he meditates on his failure, he reinforces the deception that God can no longer use him.

The only way to recognize deception is by the un-Christlike fruit it produces in our lives: We are discouraged and live with self-condemnation, the past haunts us, our inner strength wanes, our hope diminishes and problems seem to be invincible mountains. Our estimation of ourselves is that we can’t make it, and we become spiritually paralyzed.

All this is exactly what Satan is after. He knows he can’t take us to hell, so he deceives us to make us ineffective and fruitless for the kingdom of God.

What we must do is call out to the Lord and then do what Prince Rilian did: He took up his sword and destroyed the silver chair.

In our case, we must take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With it, we destroy every one of our imaginations and the lies of the devil that are contrary to what the Bible says about our identity as Christians. The Apostle Paul instructed us to do this: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5).

This will set us free once again—free from the deceptive words of the Enemy and free to follow Christ as He called us to.

Get your verses ready and don’t let the Enemy keep you bound!

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: Facebook | Youtube | Twitter | GFA Reports

Click the image to download your free copy.

One of the struggles we sometimes face as followers of Christ is seeing where we want to be in our walk with God in contrast with where we currently find ourselves.

There are all kinds of reminders around us to tell us of our fallen nature and the spiritual maturity we have not yet attained. The Enemy is an accuser of the brethren, and he actively takes every opportunity he can to accuse us (see Revelation 12:10). His accusations leave us despairing and hopeless. Sometimes we just don’t want to try anymore, and we are ready to give up.

If we turn to Christ in those times instead of lingering on the Enemy’s words to us, we’ll hear another story. Christ causes us to look up and to stop thinking of ourselves. He draws us to repentance and encourages us to believe Him for a greater work through our lives. With Him, there is hope and a brighter tomorrow.

When we are confronted with our failures, it’s important that we realize the process of becoming like Christ takes time. There is no microwave for godliness. It takes years upon years of patient, hopeful perseverance. As we let Him live through us—one day, one moment, one choice at a time—we are becoming more like Christ, a little more today than we were yesterday.

What happens to us when we don’t realize that this is a long-term journey?

The first obvious implication is that we are impatient and frustrated with ourselves. And then if we don’t realize the foolishness of our “instant Christianity,” we’ll try our own quick fix. We’ll simply try to “act” our way to the godliness we want. Or we’ll make a “plan of achievement.” Often people think that knowledge is what they lack. If they only “knew” more, they would perform better.

But all these attempts of the flesh play right into the Enemy’s hands. Others sense our hypocrisy, as we do ourselves, and we can’t help but loathe it. “Our plans” to be better, if initiated in our flesh, either end in failure and more discouragement or in success and pride. And knowledge itself will not produce godliness. It can actually puff up or discourage us if it’s not what God has for us in our current season.

The fact is that none of these responses draws us any closer to our original goal of becoming more like Jesus. They all lead us into the Enemy’s trap—thinking about ourselves continually. There is no faster way to sink into the pit of despair than to spend all our time thinking about ourselves and how we’re not measuring up. We’ll end up at a buffet of self-pity, condemnation and an equally critical spirit toward others.

So what’s our answer? Believe that the Lord will complete us.

We must cling to the reality that God is doing His work in our lives (see Philippians 2:13) and stand on His promise that “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Jesus embodied this for us in His life on earth. He lived for 30 years under the authority of His parents before beginning His ministry. The Bible tells us that “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Day by day, Christ chose to die to Himself, to say no to His own will and yes to His Father’s will. He needed that length of time to grow in obedience and come to the point at which He would choose absolute surrender—surrender to the point of death on the cross.

Let us also have patience—with ourselves as well as with others. God is much more concerned about our honesty before Him and our attitude of grace and mercy toward others than He is about us doing everything correctly.

So let us remember: It takes time for God to do His work. We do not have to lose heart because of any spiritual lack we discover in ourselves.

“Commit your way to the Lord,” Psalm 37:5 encourages us. “Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” The Almighty God is at work in our lives. We can certainly trust Him for the journey He has set for us!

He is completing His work in you. Believe Him!

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: Wiki | GFA| Facebook | Youtube

Click the image to download your free copy.

Have you ever watched an artist paint a picture at a street corner or in a park?

When the artist first takes his canvas, puts it on the easel, dips his brush into a color and begins to paint, he alone knows how the painting will look when it is completed. For me as a bystander, it’s a complete mystery. I may even wonder what on earth he is doing. But slowly the painting emerges—with each stroke of the brush. Finally, I stand amazed before a marvelous picture, and now that I can see the end result, everything the painter did along the way makes sense.

Did you know that God is such an artist?

All of humanity, the sons and daughters of Adam, sinned and became by choice slaves of Lucifer. Controlled by demons and totally darkened in their spirits, they agonized and fought but could not escape the grip of darkness and Satan’s kingdom.

When Christ finally came on the scene, He overcame our Enemy through His death on the cross and destroyed him who had the power of death (see Hebrews 2:14). In Christ, we who were destined for hell were forever set free and translated from this horrible kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.

In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul reveals that our redemption through the precious blood of Jesus is only the beginning of what God has in mind for His Church (see Ephesians 1:7–8). If indeed our salvation, forgiveness of sin and deliverance from hell were all God had planned for us, then it would have been best if He had taken us to heaven right after we were born again. That way, we would no longer have to live on this sinridden and temptation-filled earth. But God left us here.

What exactly is God trying to do? We find the answer in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Some years ago, I completed a detailed study on the book of Ephesians. It was an exhilarating experience for me when I looked up the word “workmanship” in the original text. I discovered the Greek word used is poiema, from which we derive the word “poem.” It means “handiwork” or “craftsmanship.”

This verse describes God as a poet or an artist at work on His masterpiece. Deep within the heart of God is an ache to see the work completed. He sees every brush stroke it will take, and His heart is filled with emotion as He brings it to pass.

As children of God, we are His painting, His poem, the expression of His heart in our generation. Romans 8:29 tells us: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” This simply means that we are predestined for this one purpose: to become like the Lord Jesus Christ.

The goal of God, the Master Painter, is that with each stroke of His brush, the life, character and nature of Jesus increasingly fill our hearts and are clearly expressed through us.

As we allow ourselves to be transformed into the image of Christ, we are able to represent Him to our generation, to serve others with His love and compassion and to have rivers of living water flow from our lives to a lost and dying world.

May this song written by Albert Orsborn become the desire and prayer of our hearts:

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,

All His wonderful passion and purity;

Oh Thou, Spirit divine, all my nature refine

Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

When He finishes with His painting, we will see the expression of the Master Designer in a life fashioned after the likeness of Christ.

Trust Him with His masterpiece—let the beauty of Christ be seen in you.

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: GFA| Facebook | Youtube | Twitter

Click the image to download your free copy.

There was a time in my life when I would become quite impatient with others when they couldn’t discern things that were obvious to me regarding people, circumstances, ministries or decisions to be made.

I would think ugly words such as: How dumb can you be? Can’t you see this? What’s wrong with you? Two plus two is four. What does it take for you to see this? I would go on and on in my head, and my emotions would get all charged up.

By God’s grace, He didn’t kill me. Instead, He slowly began to show me my heart of pride. It was as if the Lord said, “You see, it was I who freely gave you the grace, gifts, abilities, discernment, understanding and skills you possess. But now you are using them to beat up on others, and you condemn, criticize and put them down. Do you want Me to allow you to become a vegetable, lying in your bed, unable to talk or move around?”

It was a frightening thought to entertain, and I knew all it would take was a car accident. This rebuke from the Lord made me realize that my worst enemy is not the devil, but my own selfishness and lack of humility.

Look at King Nebuchadnezzar, King Uzziah, King Saul. Some of them started so well. But once their hearts were lifted up, they fell just like it says in the book of Proverbs: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). If a time comes that we say like the Laodiceans, “We are rich, we are able, we got it made and we don’t need anything,” then the Lord will say back to us, “You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (see Revelation 3:17). God opposes the proud (see James 4:6, niv). This statement from God’s Word should cause us to be sober.

Why is pride so damning? Why is pride so dangerous?

Pride will not allow us to love others. In Luke 15, the older brother of the prodigal son was so proud of his responsible behavior and hard work that he had no compassion or love left for his younger brother. In fact, because he saw himself as so much more important and superior, before his father he no longer referred to him as “brother,” but rather “this son of yours” (Luke 15:30).

Paul exhorted us in Philippians 2:3: “In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” There is no way we can have a heart of love and respect for someone, genuinely regarding them as better than ourselves, as long as there is pride in us and we feel that we are above others!

Pride seeks for man’s honor and for position, no matter what. We will even use our worship and service to God to achieve this goal. That’s why Jesus warns us: “Take heed that you 131 Choose Humility do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them . . . as the hypocrites do . . . that they may have glory from men” (Matthew 6:1–2). For what purpose do we seek this glory? Does it bring honor to the Lord?

We can no longer see our own faults or sin. Pride blinds us. The Pharisee standing in the temple next to the tax gatherer prayed, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men . . . or even as this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). Jesus called the Pharisees blind leaders of the blind (see Matthew 15:14). We will not be able to accurately see ourselves, others or even God when we are trapped in pride.

It is obvious that the right choice for our lives is to choose humility. Who wants to reap the consequences that the path of pride will yield?

The question is: How can we maintain a life of humility? The answer is simple. There is only one medicine for all sicknesses caused by our pride: Follow Jesus. He is our life and our example in all things. Instead of striving to figure out how to respond to a situation, the best we can do is to choose to follow Him.

We will find that Jesus chose to serve instead of demanding to be served. He instructed His disciples: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).

Giving up all His own ideas, Jesus saw all things from the Father’s point of view: “Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11).

And He lived in total obedience to His Father, regardless of the cost to Himself: “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

As long as we continue to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), we will maintain lives of humility that God will honor and bless.

Choose to have this mindset of Christ.

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: Facebook | Youtube | Twitter | GFA Reports

Click the image to download your free copy.

“KEEP OUT” – “Genius at work, don’t disturb” – “Knock before you enter” – “Don’t touch” – “Private supply” – “Don’t bother me”—these are just a few examples of the signs you can pick up at the store to hang on your doorknob.

Some of them are illustrated with intriguing pictures, but they all convey the same message: “This is my world. Respect it, or I will treat you as an intruder.”

We live in a culture in which we are raised and taught to be independent, private and protective of our personal rights, space, time and comforts. Others should not cross the line we draw around ourselves or encroach upon our personal world. We are not thrilled when others interrupt or disturb our own pursuits with their concerns and problems.

The Lord, instead, tells us: “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36) and “As the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies . . .” (Colossians 3:12).

Whenever close family members of mine travel to places that could be potentially unsafe, I think about them and pray for their safety with much compassion and deep concern. I am involved in their trip with my whole heart—my thoughts, emotions and imagination. And I am ready to help in any way I can.

Generally, we are prepared to show this type of compassion to our immediate family and close friends when they are sick, hurting or in danger. We take the interruption into our personal life in stride during their time of need.

But what about those outside our small circle? When new families join our growing church or ministry, do we expand our feelings of closeness and relationship to include them?

And what about those farther away: national missionaries who suffer persecution while preaching the Gospel . . . the Bible school student who was tortured by his relatives and barely escaped with his life . . . the teenage girl who received Christ and whose parents beat her daily, made her sleep outside the house and told her that she was no longer their daughter? Should we feel compassion toward these as well, even if we have never met them personally? Is it not enough if we stick with our efforts toward our own families?

Speaking of family, Jesus, our brother and Lord, clearly defined for us who our family members are: “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother” (Mark 3:35).

This means that those suffering missionaries are my brothers and sisters; the Bible school student who barely escaped with his life is my son; and the teenage girl living on the street—rejected and forsaken by all—is my daughter.

The Lord wants us to expand our borders. He wants to weep, touch, feel, pray, fast and show compassion through us to more than just our close circle of friends and family. As believers, we have given Him our lives, which include our hearts, minds, mouths, ears, eyes, hands, feet and everything we are. Though He has bought us with a heavy price, we may have not consciously surrendered all these aspects of our lives to His leading.

Instead of being totally available to Him, we can often find ourselves self-centered, calloused and disconnected toward the crises we hear about. How do we transition to the place at which the Lord’s heart of compassion flows through us freely?

Before the inception of this ministry, my heart had become cold, and I found I was more concerned about the small things in my life than I was about the lost world. That’s when I desperately prayed: “God, You have to change me; I cannot change on my own.” And by His grace, He began to break my heart and make it tender and compassionate toward others.

If you hunger to have the Lord’s compassion flow through your life, I encourage you to ask God to do for you just what He did for me. I am confident He will.

However, I want you to know that He will bring you to a place at which you must die to your own self, your freedom and your attitude of self-preservation. One book that greatly helped along this line and taught me to understand how to love others is The Calvary Road by Roy Hession.

God not only wants us to expand our capacity of love and compassion to the rest of the Body of Christ but to the lost world as well. We must continually let His heart flow through us; otherwise, we will not be able to embrace even one additional person or maintain the increased number of our relationships. For this reason, we must constantly yield our hearts to Him so that He can continue to break them and fill them with genuine compassion toward others.

In my own life journey, one of the things I pray on a regular basis is, “Lord, always keep my heart soft.” There is a Scripture in Job 23:16 that says, “For God maketh my heart soft” (kjv). The Lord is more than willing to accomplish this in each one of us.

God, break our hearts with the things that break Your heart.

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: Youtube | Twitter | GFA Reports | GFA.net

Click the image to download your free copy.

It was fall while I was visiting Germany. Rev. Wolfgang Mueller, our senior leader there, took me for an afternoon ride in his car to show me the breathtaking countryside.

The weather was beautiful, the air was crisp, and many trees were loaded with fruit nearly ready for harvest.

As we were driving along, we passed by an apple orchard. I was amazed at the enormous amount of fruit each tree carried. But to my bewilderment, many of those trees had collapsed, limbs and branches were broken off, and the fruit was rotting on the ground.

Brother Wolfgang stopped the car, and we both just looked at the tragedy. There must have been hundreds of apples on each of those tree branches; but now, because they were broken off, none of the fruit would ever reach harvest time.

“This is really bad,” I said. “What happened?” Rev. Wolfgang answered simply, “The owner didn’t take care of these branches.”

Then he drove on and showed me another orchard. These trees were as huge as the first ones, and their branches bore even more apples. But strangely, none of the trees had collapsed, and not even a single branch had broken off.

What made the difference? The owner had carefully put wooden props under each branch to help carry and support the tremendous weight of the fruit.

This memory is forever etched in my mind, and God used it to teach me an important truth.

John 15 teaches us that Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. God prunes us countless times. Throughout this process, our character has become more Christlike, and we have gained a deeper understanding of the Lord and His Word. We are no longer the kind of person we were 5 or 10 years ago.

God is then able to entrust us with greater responsibilities and more fruit. When this happens, God in His care puts a support under our branch to prevent it from breaking off. But God’s support for our branch is not joy, peace, acclamation or the applause of men we might hope to receive. It is instead pain, trials and difficulties—something God chooses in His wisdom to keep us from getting proud and not being able to support the weight of the fruit.

Look at the Apostle Paul. He came to a point in his life when he could say, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). His character was so transformed and his life was bearing so much fruit that God could entrust him with tremendous insight and revelation. But strangely, at the same time, the Lord also appointed a thorn in the flesh to bother him. Paul thought it was a hindrance to his ministry, and he prayed three times for God to remove it.

But God didn’t grant his request. Instead, He told Paul that His strength was made perfect in Paul’s weakness. The thorn in the flesh kept him from pride and arrogance in his insight and accomplishments. God was saying, “The revelations I gave you are so high and you bear so much fruit that your branch needs My strength to support it; otherwise, it will break off.”

The moment Paul understood that this thorn was not his enemy but rather his support, he said yes to it and was grateful that God was watching out for him.

As an expression of His love for us, God seeks to support us in all that He’s called us to do. He ensures that our inner life keeps pace with the task He has assigned to us, for unless He “supports” us, we would become proud and arrogant. Ultimately, He prevents us from becoming spiritual casualties. As a good gardener, He watches out for us!

Say yes to the support He lovingly sends your way.

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: Twitter | GFA Reports | GFA.net | Instagram

Click the image to download your free copy.

Peter risked becoming the joke of his hometown when he rowed out in broad daylight to the deep waters of Lake Gennesaret and let down his net to catch fish. Everyone watching him from the shore must have thought he’d gone mad. Even a small child could have told him that if he wanted to catch fish, he must do it at night and in shallow water.

But this was a moment in Peter’s life when he did the right thing first. He had just listened to Jesus teaching the multitudes from his boat. It must have touched the heart of this fisherman so deeply that he was willing to forsake all his professional expertise and go about fishing in all the “wrong” ways, just because Jesus told him to do so.

He could have politely said to Jesus, “I respect You for being a great teacher and an excellent carpenter, but believe me, Your knowledge about fishing is really off. Take it from an expert—what You suggest will never work.”

Instead, Peter replied, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5).

That day Peter discovered that when he abandoned his own thoughts and acted on God’s Word and God’s thoughts, he experienced a wonderful miracle.

I am often amazed when I read in the Gospels how the experts in the law of Moses—the Pharisees and Sadducees— rarely, if ever, experienced miracles in their lives. At the same time, common people who knew very little—Peter, the Roman centurion whose slave was sick and the widow whose only son had died—witnessed the most incredible wonders. Surely these theologians in Jesus’ time had sickness and urgent needs in their families just like everyone else. What prevented them from seeing God’s promises fulfilled?

I believe it was pride causing them to cling to their own clever thoughts. Pride wouldn’t allow them to humbly acknowledge that they could be wrong and that God’s thoughts and ways were so much higher than their own.

By the way, we see the same thing happen in our day as well. Young national missionaries and simple believers on the mission fields of Asia experience a book-of-Acts-type of Christianity on a daily basis, whereas many of us “Bible experts” seem to miss out.

You see, the foundation for learning to walk with the Lord, for serving Him and for becoming a blessing to others begins with the humility to act on God’s thoughts instead of our own.

Peter, the centurion and the widow (like those simple believers on the mission field) had nothing to hold on to. Unlike those religious leaders, they were not preoccupied with protecting their reputations or guarding traditions and someone’s teaching. That’s why God’s Word could flow freely into their lives and become the basis of their thoughts and faith and, in turn, their actions.

We too must come to God with the same humility and submission, telling Him: “Lord, I don’t know; I want to learn; I want to change.”

And, by the way, we cannot use psychology, carnal reasoning or philosophy to bring about these changes—to pull down wrong thoughts, imaginations and anything that causes us heartache and cripples our faith.

God’s Word clearly says that this very real battle has to be fought with spiritual weapons: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5).

The most important factor in abandoning our thoughts is to look in the Bible and see what God says about a matter. Then we must determine to act on His Word rather than on our own thoughts or those the devil may whisper into our minds.

For example: If I think, “No one loves me,” God’s thoughts on the same subject are, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).

If I say to myself, “I failed,” God’s Word says to me, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4).

If my thoughts are, “I am weak,” the Lord says, “Let the weak say, ‘I am strong’ ” (Joel 3:10).

If I am convinced that “I can’t do it,” God’s truth is that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

How can you learn to apply God’s promises to your life and in turn experience His blessings? When you face troubles, problems or uncertainties and you don’t know what to do next—stop for a second. Ask yourself: Am I thinking the thoughts of God? Am I doing what the Lord would do in this situation? Am I making the decision? What does the Lord say about this? How can I respond to it?

If you don’t know the answer, go to your Bible. Check your concordance or ask someone to help you find God’s thoughts concerning your problem. See if you can find an example in God’s Word in which someone faced a similar situation.

Then pray over the Scripture portions you find. As you do, the Lord will enlighten you. The verses will no longer be abstract to you but instead will become living words for your situation.

Put your life in the context of Scripture. Start thinking God’s thoughts about your situation and act on them in faith. As you daily practice and develop this habit of applying God’s promises, it will become second nature as you grow in following the Lord.

Abandoning our thoughts and humbly taking God’s thoughts as our own truly honors Him and revolutionizes our faith.

Start acting on God’s Word today. Don’t delay.

Destined to Soar © 2009 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

=====

Click here, to read more articles about GFA Books, or visit Patheos.

Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: GFA Reports | GFA.net | Instagram | GFA.com