Sunday sermon by Pastor Rajesh Mathew, 27 July 2021

1 Peter 1:5-5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

• We are people who are kept by the power of God. The power of the risen God will keep me and preserve me. Even last Sunday we heard about the overflow.
• In the last days, we won’t see the pandemic raging but we will see an overflow of God’s power The power of the gospel going through the nations and touching lives.
• Pray that God will help you walk in his power. May such people experience a mantle of the anointing of power come upon you today.
• In the last days, the devil won’t shine. God’s power will manifest forth. The church will grow and will manifest the power and blessing of God unto the nations. You and I are a part of this move. Many men of God have prophesied this.

Without power you are like a comedian. With God’s power you are a commander.

When God’s power comes upon you, you will command certain things over your life, over your business, over your children, over your finances, over your body.

Jeremiah 32:17- Oh Lord God thou had made the created the heavens and the earth by thy great power

God created this world by His great power. You need to create your world by God’s power. If you want your world to shape in the way that God wants it to be, you need God’s power. You need not just dream and pray but see a manifestation of God’s power in your world. You need to see God’s presence moving upon your realm and all those connected to you. God is great and He can work miracles in your life. God’s power is needed by all.

God’s power is God’s ability working in you. In your business and in the work of your hands. It is God’s capacity being revealed. It must manifest in your world. Declare that.

• You need power to stand straight. If you need to sit in God’s presence peacefully, you need His power. Most people sit in God’s presence anxious and worried like Martha.
• Jesus asked His disciples to first sit before he broke the bread and fed them. Before He multiplied the bread, He wanted them to be at peace. You can sit only by God’s power. And only if you sit, you can experience His miraculous power and His overflow. Surrender to Him and sit at His feet. Sit at His feet and listen to His Word.
• The TIME magazine used a term called FOMO, the Fear Of Missing Out, for today’s generation. So, everybody is trying to keep up with somebody else and so, they have overloaded themselves. So, they are stressed, anxious, worried. They can’t relax of rest. They are troubled by this thought, “will I miss out on opportunities. Will I be left out?” if that happens, then it leads to an inferiority complex.

It could lead to two things:

1. Shortage mindset-This kind of mindset says- “I will never have enough in my life or I will never have time. I will not have enough money, strength or happiness or energy”. You feel a little short in life. “I will always have a need or a lack”.

May that mindset be broken off from your mind. May you have the assurance that you will have surplus peace, strength, joy, finance, everything in surplus by the grace of God. People’s shortage mindset’s focus in upon themselves and not upon God. They look at what they have and everything is dependent upon that- ‘I have so much land, I have so many trees’ etc. and we understand that it is insufficient to realize your dreams and you start to cry out to God. This will overwhelm you and stress you.

• God will fill your cup and cause you to experience surplus in your life. Let thoughts that tell you that “you will always be behind” leave you.
• Sometimes we buy pizzas for our girls. If one of them gets a smaller piece, then she gets upset that the other sisters got a bigger piece. That is a shortage mindset. They feel bad that the others have something bigger and better. People feel bad that other’s daughters have been married off in “better families”. It makes them insecure. We think God has only one pizza in hand. Our Heavenly Father owns the pizza factory! Change your mindset. Let Him remove your shortage mindset. My God will supply ALL my needs according to His riches and glory. Insecurities, jealousies and anger flow from this mindset.

2. A surplus mindset- God has more than what I need and it will never run out! When Jesus came close to the Bethesda pool, the lame man had several complaints, such as there was nobody to put him into the pool, others went before him etc. But God said, do not look at who is there to take you to the waters, look at Me. I am the Living Waters. I am the Fountain of Life!

• All of you look to God. He will never run out! He was the one who made you born again. God refers to us as children adopted by God. Adopt as many as you want. There is enough for all. • Surplus mindset means PLENTY, ABOUNDING! When you are sitting at home, do you keep worrying that the others around you are breathing in all the oxygen without leaving any for you? No right! There is enough oxygen in the air for all. If you look to God, then there is overflow.

You have to focus on God’s unlimited resources. Then the result will be overflowing blessing and surplus

Psalm 23:5- (ICB version)- You prepare a meal for me in front of my enemies. You pour oil of blessing on my head. [a] You give me more than I can hold.

• One of the versions says that my life runneth over. Declare that love, peace, strength, blessing will run over in my life. This declaration is important especially in the times of the pandemic.

WHAT IS OVERFLOW?

1. Overflow means filled beyond capacity with an endless supply of God’s goodness.

Being filled beyond capacity, irrespective of which cup it is. There are different cups. There is the cup of salvation, the cup of joy, the cup of peace, the cup of hope and the cup of blessing. Place your hand over your head and declare that God’s blessings will overflow in my life.

Do you really believe that God is a good God? Why does God fill you with His goodness? Because HE IS GOOD. You need to trust that. Because God is good, everything that He does in my Iife is Good, whatever comes in my life will be turned around for my good because He is a Good God.

Isaiah 48:17-18 (contemporary English version)- People of Israel, I am the Holy Lord God, the One who rescues you. For your own good, I teach you, and I lead you along the right path. 18 How I

wish that you had obeyed my commands! Your success and good fortune would then have overflowed like a flooding river.

• If only you had obeyed me, if you had only believed that I called you for your good, it would have worked for your good. In your health, in your finances, sexual relationships between a husband and wife, if you had obeyed Me, there would have been an overflow in your life, in every area.
• You disobey because you doubt God’s goodness. You think you know better what is good for you. Which course to study, which country to work in etc, let God tell you what to do. Some of you are too smart for your own good! God wants to make you happy but you think God doesn’t care. The truth is you do not know what makes you happy. God knows what is good for you!
• Most of the stress and burden is because we do not have a basic fundamental belief that God is good and that He has called you to bless you. We try to do all things that we think will make us happy. But God says, “Hey child! I know what is good for you!”
• Some of you want to marry that girl because she is “oh so pretty!” but God knows that she is a demon! Some of you girls want to marry that guy because he looks cool and rides a cool bike, but God knows that he will borrow your dowry to pay off the EMI!

Overflow is GOD’s nature! Just obey Him. God is thinking of your good in His heart and mind! Listen to me and obey Me then your cup will overflow!

• The Holy Spirit is going to bring some of you back.

John 7:37-38- 37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! 38 Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.”

• Living waters will flow through you, when you trust Jesus, when you lean and depend on Him, living waters will flow through me.

There is a practical side to this: How do you experience this in a personal manner? Stay connected with Jesus on a daily basis!

• What if you have a fridge and it is disconnected from the power plug? Will it serve the purpose? What if your microwave is disconnected from the power plug? Will it serve your purpose? If you need to fulfil the purpose that which God has called you for, you need to have a connection with God.
• Every day you need to sit with God to pray. A man who doesn’t pray is not even a Christian. What if the husband and wife stay in different homes? There is no connection between them. They are not speaking, not sharing anything with each other, how can that relationship become strong? That is why God gave this lockdown. Love abounds when you stay connected.

John 15:5, 7-11- 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

• Be aware that He is the vine and I am the branches. You should be conscious that you can do nothing without Him. This will help you stay connected to HIM.

The new living translation (7-11)- 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I

obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

You will be filled with MY joy, Jesus said and thenyour joy too will overflow. Every depression and despair to leave in Jesus name. Let Joy overflow.

How do you connect?

1. Pray: Spend time in prayer as we heard earlier
2. Meditate on the Word- meditation according to the Bible is to think about the fact that God is good and that His Word is real. If there is anybody who worries easily, you will be good at meditation. Because worry is nothing but thinking over and over again about an issue. If you have that nature of worrying for most things, then you have one advantage, you will be able to meditate more and more upon God’s word.
3. Be grateful instead of complaining- certain chemicals are released in your body when you give thanks like Serotonin, Oxytocin and Endorphins

• These chemicals bring in a feel-food factor. When a child breastfeeds, these chemicals are released making the child and the mother feel good and connected and secure. When a husband and wife relate physically and sexually these same chemicals are released. When you play with and pat your dog, the same chemicals are released in the dog. Similarly, when you complain, stress hormones are released.
• Think about ten things that you can thank the Lord for everyday and just thank HIM,the first thing in the morning. Good hormones are released in your body. Immunity is increased. Just thinking about the things that you want to be thankful for itself will stir the release of these hormones. Not just when you thank God, but even when you choose to message people thanking them for something they have done for you, it brings a similar impact on your body. Be grateful.
• Pastor, thank you for the message! Gratitude lowers your stress. Start your day with Gratitude

Philippians 2:14 (NLT)- 14 Do everything without complaining and arguing,

4. Do not compare- Comparing is a waste of energy.

2 Corinthians 10:12- 12 Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!

• Stop comparing. Some people say, why are you not like your sister. You are not like your mother, she used to cook so well!
• Comparison will remove you from God’s overflow. People will compare your looks, your career, your children, spouses, even the lawn in your garden. The issue is when you compare with others who are doing better than you, then you become envious or if you compare yourself with someone who is not doing well enough then it makes you arrogant.
• With social media in the current times, it is so easy to compare with each other. What you eat for breakfast, what you wear, everything is compared. You want to show everyone that you got a perfect life. It is a pretend perfect life! That is what is social media. Some of you need to fast on your social media. It brings you under pressure. Many people get stressed just looking at some of these posts.
• Let the bondage be broken. Don’t show others what makes them envious. Don’t show people how perfect your life is.

5. Stop being stingy and be generous- not just in finance but in time, in compliments and energy. Stinginess is an evidence of shortage mentality. The more you give, the more you get.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8- 6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person

who gives cheerfully.”[a] 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

• If you feel pressure to give, don’t give. But if you understand something from the Word and understand that giving is the very nature of God, then you give! Plant what you have in your hand and you will harvest. Take it and let the overflow be released over your life.

OVERFLOWING POWER

Psalms 110:3- When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly. You are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.

• We are living in the days of power. The last days are the days of power. There is a day of power for the children of God. That started the day Jesus stepped on the earth. That started on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended.
• The glory of the latter day shall be greater than the glory of the former days. God has sent forth increasing power upon my life. I will stand strong for God in the day of trouble. Amen! • Jehu wasn’t the one who killed jezebel. He went like a mad man riding a chariot to Jezebel’s palace and told the people in the palace to cast her down and throw her out of window. The eunuchs were the ones who threw her down and she was killed. The Lord said this to me: the eunuch’s threw Jezebel down. Earlier days Eunuch’s would be placed to watch over the queens as that would ensure the safety of the women. People without the capacity to reproduce were placed with the queen. The Holy Spirit said, God cannot commit certain things to you until He has castrated you. He will deny you certain pleasures. He will do this so that you can stay in the power of God.
• The Samaritan woman had no more desire left in her for men. She found satisfaction in the Living Waters. She became an evangelist! The Lord is releasing that grace upon some of your lives. Making you evangelists. You will bring in souls into the kingdom of God. She became full. Lord, fill me! Let Him remove unnecessary pleasures. Too much TV. I want to grow and overflow in the power of God. Set aside few things. If you do, God will make you do wonderful things for Him.

The key to flowing in the Power is your relationship with the Holy Spirit.

In the Book of the Lord tells his disciples, tarry in Jerusalem till THE PROMISEcomes. The Holy Spirit is The promise.

• God may have promised you a good house, a great business, a great car and wonderful children, a good career. Those are promises. Those are not ‘The promise’. We are all waiting for the promises but not for THE PROMISE.

The promises will be fulfilled when you have intimacy with THE PROMISE.

Place your hand on your head and say, When I have THE promise, all other promises will be fulfilled. Surrender to God and pray in the gift of tongues for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:16- 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

• This is THAT! This is the promise that God is talking about. Before 2021 ends, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you should say this is that! Your job, your blessing, your restoration. When you grow in the power of the Holy Spirit, the promises will manifest in your life. This is THAT! Debt cancellation. This is that. The Lord’s doing. People will ask you, ‘how come?’ then you can tell them, “this is that!”. Why do we need God’s power?

Deuteronomy 8:18- It talks about the power to get wealth.

• Messi’s salary is 1224 crores. Kerala budget is less than that! There is power that will help you to have resources in the last days. I believe in this fully! My heart is not in it. I am a giver. • An anointed man of God once said, he would tell his associate pastors to count the tithe and offering and then he would give pastors what they need. One day, one of the associate pastors said, ‘I don’t want that money, I want to have what brings that money’. There is an anointing that brings that money. Today that associate pastor runs four universities. No stress, effortlessly! That is a result of the anointing. The blessing that overflows. There is no strike, no issues, no debt, no lack!
• Let that scarcity mentality be broken. May you be filled by the Holy Spirit. We have grown hearing that poverty brings chastity. The Bible doesn’t say that. Jesus had a treasurer. That means Jesus had the money.
• You have to get rid of smallness. You need to bless people, spread the gospel.

What is true wealth? It is not the money you spend but the money you send. The Holy Spirit is empowering you to have that attitude.

• Holy Spirit empower me! The Lord can provide. Open your mouth and I will fill it, God says. Get rid of smallness. Lord I receive your power. May that be so over your life. • The presence of the Holy Spirit must flow in your life. There is overflow of blessing and safety in that. There is protection in his power.

Consider the Lion! The remaining animals stand at least 70-80 feet away from the lion, even if the lion is sleeping. That is the lion’s mindset- “I am in charge”. A territorial charge. Roar. Worship, pray and release that power. The other animals will stay away from you. It sleeps well. It has no fear! It sleeps peacefully because it knows it is the king of the jungle. You need to know that you are the children of the King, children of the Lion of Judah. Get back to the connection with God and Blessings will come into your life.

Psalm 66:3- Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Your enemies cringe before your mighty power.

• The enemies will submit themselves in the days of power. Your level of power determines the degree of submission of the enemy. Something that the Lord has told me years ago: If you want to check what you carry, check your surroundings. May you increase in power.
• Every great person has an enemy. If nobody bothers you, you are a nobody. But in the midst of that if God’s power is upon you, then everything else will be subdued. Whether it is

in ministry or in business, if you are growing, there will be opposition. But in the midst of that God will strengthen you.

Moses was mighty in power and in eloquence. One version says in Acts 7, he had power. God said he had power, the rod of power. Moses was not born with the issue of stammering. He was afraid to face Pharoah, that’s all. Aaron was given that position because of the impediment of Moses.

Kathryn Kuhlman after a ministry one day said, “Holy Spirit I am so tired.” The Holy Spirit replied saying, yes, I know. This was supposed to be done by a man but he did not obey me.”

You can’t be arrogant when God picks you!