Sunday Sermon by Pastor Rajesh Mathew, 12 January 2025

Jesus is a faithful God. He is a friend of the faithful.

Joshua 14:12- 12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said. 

• Our God is a promise keeper. Years may have passed after He sent you a Word but it will come to pass. He doesn’t go back on His Word. 40 years ago, God ad made this promise to Caleb and Caleb, years later, is asking for that mountain. 
• May the Holy Spirit remove all doubts and suspicions from your heart.

This is an Above only year. Tell your neighbor- Meet me at the top this year! 

Hebrews 4:2- For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it". 

• You need to receive the Word with faith and when you do that, you will experience wholeness and peace. 

Abraham, the father of faith

Genesis 24:1- 24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 

• When you grow old, may this become real in your life. In your children, relationships, health, wealth, influence, may you not grow weak or may your eyes not grow dim. May you walk in health and strength and be blessed in every way by the Lord.
• God is a Promise keeper in everything! Have you stepped out for GOD? Have you stepped out of Ur, then trust Him to keep HIS promises in your life.

This year, give me the mountain, Lord. 

Joshua 14:8- 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions/the word in my heart. 

• The Word is in my heart! Caleb had kept the Word from God in his heart for 40 years.! A guarded heart will give you a good life. 
• If your heart is keeping and holding the Promise that God gave you, you will walk in that promise no matter how many years it takes. Therefore, you need to guard your heart above all else.

The promises of God were lying alive in Caleb’s heart 

Provers 4:23- Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues of life.

• Everything you do flows from your heart. Your heart is the beginning point of your life. Your heart is the MAIN thing. If your heart is healthy, your life will be healthy.
• What is the sign that your heart is healthy? You will have hope, you will be certain that you have a good future. If your heart is not healthy, you can only see a dim future and be doubtful.

IF you want to possess your future, guard your heart. If you need a good family life, it’s not by fixing the husband or wife, it is by fixing your heart first. 

• If you heart is pure and good, there is life flowing there.

YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO PROTECT YOUR HEART FROM:

1. DISCOURAGEMENT- Why? Caleb had to wait for 40 years to see what God had spoken. He could have been discouraged but he held on to the promise in his heart for 40 years without growing tied or weary. 

• Know who has given you the Promise! Your relationship with your Jesus is most important! • You can’t make the promise greater than the Giver of the promise. That’s why you become discouraged when you don’t see things happen as per God’s Promise in your life.

Make the GIVER OF PROMISES MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PROMISE ITSELF 

• Discouragement is called the silent killer. It takes away your confidence. But if your God is bigger for you, then you will walk in a relationship with Jesus and as per the Old Testament, blessings will Overtake you.
• When you decide to walk with Jesus no matter what, your blessings will overtake you! 

2. BITTERNESS 

• Caleb could have complained that it was due to the unbelief of others that promise couldn’t be fulfilled in time. But he did not.
• When you feel that others are the reason for you not being blessed, anger and bitterness is natural. But Caleb was not harboring bitterness in his heart. If it were us, we would make sure that we would speak about the frustration of seeing our blessing stalled because of somebody else’s unbelief. But Caleb did not do that.

Write this down in your book- NO ONE CAN DO ANYTHING TO MY LIFE THAT CAN STOP GOD’S PROMISE FROM BEING FULFILLED IN MY LIFE. 

• Many of us are angry with our father and mother; we think “if only they had encouraged me to take up that job”, “if only pastor had given me a word”… and we are bitter towards them. GUARD YOUR HEART. 
• In a human lifetime, there will be at least 7 relationships where in you will be hurt. Specifically, chances are that you may get more hurt if you are a Pastor. However, if you keep your heart soft and gentle, God expects that from you. 

I (pastor) used to do three things daily: 

1) Forgive daily- I used to kneel down and keep blessing and forgiving people who have hurt me though thoughts used to come against them every now and then.

2) Obey the Lord daily- I can’t do without the help of the Lord. I don’t need anybody else’s help. I will obey Him every day. 

3) I won’t allow another person to write my life story- I will write my own story. My God will determine my life story, I will not allow neighbours, family members and their negative words to shape my life. 

I will surrender to the Lord. 

Psalms 45:1- My heart is stirred by a noble theme, as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skilful writer. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Surrender your tongue to the Lord. My life story will be determined by the Lord and my tongue.

3. DOUBT

• You may doubt the fact that you are called to be the head and not the tail. Everyone has doubts but remember what Caleb said- ‘Give me this mountain. Faith rises up inside you when you keep what God has spoken to you in your heart and not your own desires. 

Faith is keeping what GOD has said in your heart 

• God told me that we will go to 102 countries. I have kept it in my heart. God has been telling us about a new land for 15 years! But He did it nevertheless. What you are seeing in this church is only 25% of What God has spoken.

Put that doubt out and say GOD said it and I believe it! 

• May the Lord do what HE has spoken over your life.
• In Mathew 14, Jesus is walking over the waters and the disciples are in the boat. Peter said if you are Lord then call me. The Lord said, “COME!”. If it were you or me, we would have said, be careful, watch out, the waters are deep and then come! 
• You need to know that HE is faithful. Look at Him and step out! Peter looked at Jesus and walked over the waters. The Word says that while Peter was walking on the waters, he sawthe wind. I have never seen a person who has seenthe wind. If you take your eyes off the Lord, you will see wind. You will see things that are absolutely not real or not true for you. You will see fear sagar, you will see you wont life. You will start thinking the worst. You will start seeing the wind, you start doubting. 

Doubt will show you what does not exist but faith will make you see what God has said to you. 

• Listen to the voice of God and you step out. Don’t be upset, look unto His face, HE will bring you over and out. He will not leave you even when you take your eyes off him. Look back upon Him and the Holy Spirit will make you walk again in his HIS and purpose. 

You will walk again in unusual ways. 

In Acts 16 – Paul and Silas are worshipping Jesus in Prison. Immediately God’s presence descended there. The foundations of the prison were shaken and the doors flew open. The jailer asked what must we do to be saved. Paul and Silas did not give him the gospel or the good news, they gave him an experience of this breakthrough. 

In 2025, people will see the breakthroughs in your lives, and ask what should we do to be saved. How can an unbeliever come to God? Through unusual breakthroughs! 

• Be faithful to the God who called you. Paul said, I have to be witnessing in Rome because God had told him that. Until then, he knew he wasn’t going to die! He never prayed for freedom from the prison. He just looked unto Jesus and worshipped the Lord. When he did that doors opened and unusual breakthroughs happened.

It’s not in your cries but in your worships to the faithful God that will bring unusual breakthroughs in your life . Your neighbor will see your breakthrough. 

The same people who put you in prison, the same people who hate you, God will make them help you!

• God will bring you out from prisons, HE will keep you on top and not below. He will honour you in 2025
• Paul and Silas led the jailer to Jesus. Lead your friends first to Jesus. If they reject Jesus, it is only a matter of time that they reject you. 

In my breakthrough, I will first lift up Jesus. I will speak about Jesus to all around me. They did not pray to Him, they worshipped Him.

• This year you need a friend who will worship with you. Paul and Barnabbas were ministering together but Paul and Silas worshipped together. 
• Find at least one more person who can just sing with you and worship and praise God with you, this year and unusual breakthroughs will happen. You need somebody who will sing with you.

Husband and wife just sing worship unto God. Not pray but just worship. 

They worshipped at an unusual time it was midnight. In jails, that was the time the guards would come and check if all prisoners were there by calling out each of their names. At such a time like this, God did a miracle. Doors opened.

• Where does the Holy Spirit’s power manifest? Even in your physical world! Your skin disease and tumours disappear because the presence of God descended into the jail. Even this morning unusual healings will take place. Lift your voice and give a shout to Jesus. Hold on to the Promises and worship the Promise Giver 
• During the testing and trial times when you don’t see your promises, it is in such times that you hold on to your promise in your heart and worship the Lord, and you will be taken into the promised land, for sure. 

Who experiences the breakthrough?

Paul and Silas- the worshippers, the godly, the holy and the obedient. 

• God gave the mountain to Caleb, the one who walked closely with God. 
• Your heart, your life style, your attitude are all very important. It is not just in your praise and worship. But who are you? Have you been walking in your calling and have you been faithful to God? Then God is for you. 
• What comes to your mind when you hear Paul’s name? There is a picture associated with Paul. 

This year the negative image associated with your life will change. Not a trouble maker, a family breaker or a church breaker, but a Child of God. 

• Your life must be consecrated only unto God, set aside and separated unto the Lord. • There are plates and spoons in your house. The plate that you use for your dog is different from the plate you use for your child. Similarly, you ought to be separated into the Lord. Your tongue is consecrated, you cannot use it to harm and abuse others. 
• Some of you cannot receive the blessing because you are using your tongue to curse ten people and then you pray with the same tongue in the Name of Jesus. There is no consecration.
• If you tongue is holy? Then your mouth and praise that flows from your mouth will carry God’s power. Our tongue and our language must be consecrated. 

You say, ‘I love you’, to both your wife and God. What is the difference? There is a voice only for God. Is your love for God greater than your love for your wife? 

• Your normal language is not sufficient for God. There is no power without consecration. • When you stretch out your hand to shake hands with a person who carries demons, the demon flees, Why? Because your hand is consecrated.
• Your breakthrough and the authority to ask God is because you are consecrated and you walk closely with GOD. Caleb walked closely with God. Paul and Silas also had their eyes fixed on God. 
• One man of God would look at somebody and the demons will flee from that peson. Why? because his eyes were consecrated.

Consecrated eyes, hands and feet. My spiritual father would walk certain places and demons in that area would begin to manifest! 

• The promise is there and the One who gives the promise is also faithful but for you to experience it, you must guard your heart, guard your words/ tongue.

There is power in your praise only when the person praising is consecrated. 

Lift up your hands and surrender to Jesus! When a consecrated person worships and praises, even those who are not consecrated, their chains too will break! It is the same principle in the Bible. If you wife or husband is holy and consecrated, your unbelieving husband or wife is saved because you are faithful.

Surrender to God. All that you are. Your eyes, mouth, body, feet, legs! Guard your heart and be consecrated. Fix your eyes upon Jesus.