Sunday sermon by Pastor Rajesh Mathew, Cornerstone church, 2 Aug 2020

Psalm 119: 68- You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes.

God is good and He does good things. We serve a very very good God. Times might be bad, times may be unstable. Jesus is still good and He is still good to me! Only good will come to us.

Psalm 107:1-2- Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For is [a]mercy endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34- Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 145:8-9- The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. 9 The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.

Nahum 1:7- The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him

Oral Roberts said, “God is good and there is nothing bad in Him and the devil is bad and there is nothing good in him”.

The God that we serve is good and He will not allow anything that is bad and evil in your life. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good

The Lord is going to orchestrate something good in such a way that will cause you to taste His goodness.

In some ways, the Lord will deliberately remove things out of your way for you to be blessed! Like one would do in a game of chess.

3 POINTS TO REMEMBER

1. PSALM 5:12- For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Two words are used here---bless and favour

Psalms 31:19- Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!

God’s goodness is for those who worship and honour Him. God will manifest it in ways that people can see.

Proverbs 3:5- 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; IN all your ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct your paths

I release a prophetic decree upon your life, Let God’s goodness, God’s favour and His Blessing manifest forth in your life from this day on!

What is BLESSING?

1. Evidence of good fortune!

Somebody get ready because an evidence of good fortunes will be seen over your life to others.

2. To make happy

 Blessed is the man, happy is the man are used interchangeably.

Nothing wrong with being happy. Let every sadness leave you and your family. Let some joy take over your lives. God’s joy, peace will fill your homes.

Do not be like you are in a prison but in a palace where you are in the presence of the king. Where there is enthusiasm, joy, confidence, assurance and security.

The devil wants to depress people.

Anecdote: During a Sunday school, the topic was about the devil. Two boys on their way after the Sunday school were having a conversation. One kid asked the other walking with him, if the devil really existed? The other kid responded saying “May be not. May be he is like the Santa Claus who comes every December to visit us and go back. May be the devil is your dad!” Fathers, don’t be like the devil sitting grumpily in the house! Spread some joy and love in your homes. Let the wife of your youth rejoice with you. Let your children be like olive shoots all around your table.

There is a door of rejoicing opened over your home. May you be blessed

Favour means to have an advantage. Favour approves you. Favour means God is stirring up people to help you succeed and fulfil God’s purpose over your life.

BLESSING, FAVOUR and GOODNESS are like three cousins who love each other in one family!

They are very close relations. When you have a good relationship with God, these three are released over your life

Moses asks God to show him HIS Glory. Glory means the manifested presence and power of God. Similarly, God showed Moses, His manifested goodness too when He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you”. Not just presence and power but also His goodness can also be manifested. May you be carriers of God’s goodness.

Psalms 31:19- How great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!

God has STORED UP His Goodness.

Pastor’s anecdote: I picked up each of my three girls and declared that they are favoured of the Lord. I am their father and hence I have kept three bank accounts for them. Keeping aside little by little for them and their future. When my older comes and asks me for the money at the age of 5, I wouldn’t give it to her. If I do, she would only buy lollipops with it!! Only when she matures and come to age of 21, I would use that money to pay the engineering college fees, or buy a house or a car of her choice etc.

Similarly, the Lord has been laying up goodness for each of His children. Depending on your maturity, the Lord will open up and release these treasures. Some of you are not ready! When HE knows you are a good steward and when he knows you are faithful and that you will use it the right way, then HE will open it and give to you according to your maturity.

God is not laying up like we men do. He is a Good Father. The New Testament has a scripture, “even though you are evil and know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more would the Heavenly Father who is good and not evil, give His Holy Spirit to those who ask Him”

That is the seal! The Holy SPIRIT is saying you are an inheritance and this is the seal. You are co-heir with the Son

The HOLY SPIRIT is looking at someone and saying, God has laid up good things for you. If you become responsible, God will release it over your life

Proverbs 28:20- A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

God has laid up for you according to your faithfulness.

We came to the true faith according to his Word, during the charismatic movement. Those days there was a saying—are you a charismatic or a cruisematic? Are you simply cruising around?

You are not faithful anywhere. You just go around prayer meetings. This is a problem

Anecdote: ORAL ROBERTS went to preach at a service. An old woman there said to him that she had gone there only because Oral Roberts was there. She said to him that she moved between churches. When Oral Roberts asked why she did that? She responded that she likes to glean from different churches. To this, Oral Roberts replied that if that was true, then she ain’t good for any churches!

He who is rooted in the House of God shall be fruitful. Look at somebody and say it is not too late to be faithful!

Anecdote: Jesse Duplantis, was asked by someone if there has ever been times that he and wife felt like giving each other a divorce? He said, “Divorce? No, but murder? Yes! 40 years but I am faithful to my wife 

Last week was friendship Day. A faithful friend who can find? the Word says

Be faithful in your friendships, in your marriage, in the church, in the ministry, be faithful with God. If you are faithful, God will open up what he has laid for you!

(MSG BIBLE) Psalms 31:19- What a stack of blessing You have piled up for those who worship you!

STACK OF BLESSING! WOW!!

It is not wasteful for you to worship and praise Him.

Pastor’s anecdote: When I visited the Oral Roberts University in the US, there was a saying I read there “no little plans made here!” Long back there was a young anointed man who was involved in building a hospital in Kenya by Oral Roberts Ministry. The young man was waiting to meet the President in Kenya. Oral Roberts asks this young man if he could go with him for this meeting. The young man said there was no need but Oral Roberts still went along. They showed the officials the hospital plan and asked them to sanction the land for its construction. They told the Govt officials that they needed this land. Oral Roberts spoke to the vice president and said, “Nothing will happen if you give me that land. I need 10 times the size that these people have asked for. The Vice president said, yes definitely you can have ten times more!” Then Oral Roberts turned to the young man and said, “Don’t you ever think small in my presence” (please note that this anecdote has been cut short in the written version)

The Holy Spirit is changing the realm of your thinking. No small levels.

Lavish, abundant blessings for you! Your faith is increasing, your thinking is changing. Make this your declaration that the goodness of God is stored up for me.

I knelt down there reading all the Holy Spirit inspired scriptures and thoughts and I prayed in the Spirit asking the Lord to send forth an impartation upon my life to think BIG, to be a BIG blessing to the world around us. To make an impact on the earth!”

God is not blessing you to just stack up things and sit. But to be a blessing to somebody else. God is releasing an impartation over your life to be a blessing to somebody!

Psalm 27:13- I would have lost heart unless I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

So, first you need FAITH that you will see the goodness of God.

Depending upon the level of your faith, God will open the stores.

Faith is alike a cheque. You need to write the amount in that cheque. There are billions and billions in that account, you can write only Rs 10 and encash Rs 10, you can write Rs 10 crores and encash Rs 10 crores.

This isn’t just about money. I am only using an example of money.

If you think that you need just little love, little grace, little strength, faith just for tomorrow. You will get only that much! The goodness of God is lavish. I trust in you, Lord! Release it for me Lord

If you release that faith, God will open up in accordance to that. Ask the Lord to increase your faith!

Proverbs 3:5-6- Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall [a]direct your paths.

1. The best person you can be in life is who God wants you to be. It is not what the community or the society thinks you should become, not even what you think you should become. It is to become what GOD wants you to become!

2. The best place you can be in this world is where God wants you to be.

3. The best person you can marry in this life is the person who will fulfil God’s divine plan and purpose over your life. Someone who desires to fulfil God’s purpose and the one who will stand with you to fulfil God’s plan over your life.

Marriage is not between two people but it is a marriage of purpose. One can’t go in the right direction and the other to the left.

We only think what a pretty girl, what a moneyed boy! You looked at the container! But in reality, she turned out to be Jezebel’s sister!

We look to the container but God looks to the content.

Success in life is the success of God’s plan in your life.

Success in the wrong thing is a failure. God intends you to be an engineer but you became a very successful lawyer. That is not God’s plan.

Aaron was called to stand with Moses. That was His success. What if he planned to start his own church? That would not be God’s purpose.

The worst form of failure is not in not having a friend but in failing to be what God wants you to be!

God’s favour, blessing and goodness comes in line with God’s purpose and plan. Those three things come to fulfil the plans of God.

When you align yourself to God’s pathways for your destiny, which brings blessing into you lives.

Proverbs 3:5- FOUR THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

1. Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart

• You have to trust God not partially but FULLY!
• God is good, surrender your life to walk according to His plans over your life. You need to take refuge in Him.
• Something I understood recently—God can and will never minimise your life!
• You should be small in the sight of God, But God won’t make you small!
• People who trust don’t rust!
• Waiting on God is never wasting your life. Don’t take refuge in man, in wealth, in horses but take your refuge in the Lord!

2. Don’t depend upon your abilities or mentalities

You cannot fulfil your destiny by your wisdom.

Your resources cannot guarantee results for your life. It may be education, money, connections

You need the blessing the favour and goodness of God to bring in results for your life. So, don’t lean on your abilities. You will end up becoming a big zero.

Surrender your life to Him. Miraculous ways, and resources will be opened up for you

Some people rely on “common sense”. It is good to have sense. Better than not having any! But do not lean on it!

Your double PhD won’t cause your lung to pump air!

Proverbs 3:5- TLV---if you want favour with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgement and common sense, don’t ever trust yourself. This is the key to God’s favour.

3. In all ways acknowledge Him

• Involve Him in all the steps and ways for your life.
• Do not take a decision without asking God first. Whom to marry, where to build a house etc etc!
• Get a clearance from above. That is prayer
• Walk in ways of God, when you worship him in faithfulness, God will keep opening up what he has stored up for you.
• Listen to God’s voice (TLV version); Put God first (Living Bible)
• There is something worse than being single- that is to have the wrong person in your life.

Anecdote: During the time of COVID, there was a man walking the streets in Italy. No one was supposed to step out. The cops caught him and said that Corona will kill him... The man replies, something worse than Corona is sitting in my house!

4. He will direct your steps

• If your surrender to God and tell Him that you want Him to guide you, the Lord will get involved in your every step and guide you into doing all that God wants you.

Ruth 2:3- Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

• God will cause your feet to get into the places where God intends you to.
• Moses said yes to God and that was when Aaron was on his way to meet Moses. When you acknowledge God, He will send the people and the resources that you need. They will come searching out for you.

Genesis 40:23- 23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

• Nothing will make this butler to remember Joseph. Forgat him. Because otherwise they would have said that it was because of the butler that Joseph became who he was. It was a part of God’s plan that the butler forgot about Joseph! So God could do what HE wanted to do!
• Joseph was a man with favour!

Have some people have forgotten you? It is for your Good. It is God’s will. God wants to make something out of you. Only if some people forget you, that God can get hold of you to take you higher.