Disciple of Jesus Christ

When Lord Jesus was doing miracles, large crowd followed Him.
Mark 5: 21-24

In John 6:53 - Flesh and Blood of Jesus. Only Jesus. Feeding on Him alone. because that is what gives Life.

John 6:66 - When people heart the teaching of how to live on Christ Alone. then disciples started leaving one by one.

What an amazing thing to note:
even now a vast majority of people want miracles, a few or that is remnant wants the way of Life.

After this statement, Jesus asked do you also want to leave?
Such a hard question it is?
and we see disciples leaving one by one. only 12 left, and in that one is devil.

And you see all those people and disciples who experienced the miracles were no where mentioned.
but these few who were left with Jesus even after this hard teaching, did mighty things for God.
and today if the Church has grown so much it is these disciples who realized that not the miracles that gives life, but it is Jesus alone that gives Life.

Dear Brother or Sister, today do you want to follow Lord Jesus for a miracle or do you really want the Life, the Abundant Life that is in Lord Jesus.

So how can we be true disciple of Lord Jesus. The central verse of today's Word is Matthew 16:24

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

To be a true disciple of Lord Jesus, not the ones who left on hearing His words like we saw in John 6:66,
Lord Jesus says- you want to be My disciple

Luke 13:22-23,
Lord are only few people going to be saved?
Lord Jesus said forget about others, but you enter through narrow way. Only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13,14  broad is the way many enter through it. Small is the gate and Narrow is the road that leads to life..

Christian Life is like a person crossing the Niagara falls on the rope.
But biggest help is Grace for us.

Deny yourself and take up the cross. and follow me.
Luke 9:23 puts it that take up the cross daily.

Carrying the Cross: 
During the early Church times, in Roman government, if people see some one is carrying the cross that means he is carrying his own death instrument. It is like saying you are dying.
The ultimate Worship to God happens, when you go to heaven.  but God has given us the privilige to Worship Him, even while we are on earth by one means, Deny completely and Carrying the Cross, is saying Lord You Alone and nothing else.


Deny yourself:
Lord Jesus on the night in Gethsemane garden prayed Not My Will But Yours be Done.
It is one thing to pray, but it is another thing to live this prayer.

The Path of discipleship is " Not My Will But Yours be done."
But most of the times we live like  " Not Your Will Lord, my will be done."

Basically we think many of things as our Right.
When some one hurts us, the automatic reaction it is My Right to get back to them.
My Right to look for what I desire. My Right to come whatever prayer meeting i like.
My Right I will dress up the way I want.

Romans 6: 16-18

All these rights that we talk about were when we were under sin. But when we believe Lord Jesus, we become slaves of righteousness.
Slaves have no right but to obey what the Master says.

Righteousness as a master leads the slaves to be righteous.
   Matthew 1:19 , Imagine the hurt that Joseph has when he knew that Mary was pregnant. but the bible says because Joseph was righteous, he wanted to let her go secretly. A slave of righteousness , even when he is hurt, will always show kindness to other person.
 This is a part of Denying Self and become slaves of righteousness.


Hurt
      When some hurts us, what is our natural reaction? to lash back at them.
         or give back strongly. I liked the word that Ashok shared about Stephen.

      Hebrews 12:24, blood of Jesus speaks forgiveness , blood of Abel speaks vengeance.

       Story of missionary who said that she knows who is scaring her.


     When Pastor speaks Word that is about you. some people will say Is that Word for me or for that         brother.  Infact,
      Ephesians 6: 18 says pray for the preacher they will speak the Word without fear.

     Do you get hurt when you are not considered for any position in Church?
     Imagine Aaron and Miriam getting upset for not being considered for the position in the Church.
     Numbers 12:2
    Think when you are upset that you are not considered for something or not given some privilege,
    You might not show your hurt outside, but doesn't He who see the hearts know this and call you         out of tent.

Church, way of Life is way of Cross, self denial.

Ambitions
   
 selfish ambitions:
    In our childhood people used to ask what is your ambition in life. I  used to say i want to become an IAS officer or doctor.
but for a Christian, what is the ambition.
 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others

2 Corinthians 5:9
So we make it our goal to please him,whether we are at home in the body or away from it

Name,our Fame.

    Even in ministry,
          the smallest things that we do, if we are worried about own name and fame, then actually we are not denying ourselves. I realized in my own life in psalm reading that I do, initially i always think whether how I did the psalm reading today. I was more concerned about How I did that How people got encouraged or how God is glorified.

  Moses
    Exodus 32: 7-9
    When God said He will make Moses into great nation. Instead of His own name and fame,
Remember Moses led 2 million people out of Egypt. but Lord not my name, not my family, but Lord Your Name will mocked, so please don't do it.
Church, the way of Life is the Way of Cross, Denying self and Taking up cross daily.

Name and Fame is all about making ourselves big.
Matthew 19:24    Camel is so big that it is tough to enter. if we make our image bigger, its tough to enter. Be Humble and enter.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Laziness:  Self denial most of the times in regular Christians does not happen beacause they want to but they are lazy.
Most Christians attend meetings and get excited about the Word. and then afterwards it becomes cool.
like Pastor Vinod preached on the mind and how enemy tries to attack on mind. I am sure most of us are excited how many of us started working on that part.
For me that evening itself, it started. i got a phone call which started disturbing me, then I remembered the Word and applied it, and it was peaceful afterwards.

Proverbs 24: 30- 34

I walked by the field of a lazy person,
    the vineyard of one with no common sense.
31 I saw that it was overgrown with nettles.
    It was covered with weeds,
    and its walls were broken down.
32 Then, as I looked and thought about it,
    I learned this lesson:
33 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;
    scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

a lazy person has the field? Yes like you and me have the christian life. But the person was lazy and slowly weeds, thorns started growing up. The life that God has given us is so precious. and just being lazy we are giving a chance of weeds and thorns. only to find that suddenly poverty robbed you of all the life that God has given.

Sin:
     Is there a secret sin in our lives.
     Luke 16:30, Rich man when went to hell cried out for brothers to repent.
     Repent for every secret sin in life.
    Church, today if the man of God is rebuking you for the sin in your life, accept the correction and you will have eternal life. not the messages that tickles your ears.

Psalm 16:11
You have make known to me the path of life.

How Can we have this life of Self denial and carrying the cross.


Joy: we do anything that is Joyful to us.
        A mother who has small child endures the pain to be awake in the night and feed the baby and take care of the diaper inspite of getting sleep because she has joy in the baby.

     Hebrews 12:2 says 
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.[a]Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne

Image being seated along with Lord Jesus Christ on that day. What a joy it is.
I always think, we long for Him all the time,giving up things that everyone else enjoys and on that day just to see Him.
I shared this before. Fanny Crosby said the first person i will ever see is the Face of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Carrying the cross daily:
although being seated along with Lord Jesus is a joy, carrying the cross daily is not easy. putting up with people who irritate us to the core is tough. but it is to work hard for the day we need the food, and we eat breakfast, and we eat lunch. and for us to deny self and carry cross what we need is

a) Grace of God.
b) To be filled with Holy Spirit.
c) To be flooded with light of the Word  (Ephesians 1:18)

before we step out to deny self and carry cross. Let us spend time  in Worshipping God, meditating on Word.
Imagine going out for work with having your breakfast or lunch, and its very hard to work.

Bring every thought captive to obedience of Christ.
  When our thoughts are wandering against the will of God. take the stick and or take the whip, and bring every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

Eyes Set on Eternity

How can we deny ourselves everyday? With our eyes set on eternity. Why people left when Jesus was preaching the way of Life, because all the time the eyes were set on just the temporary.
But look at Peter, whose had realization that all that matters in the end is eternity. that is why he says in verse 60  Lord where can we go. Anywhere else we go it is world. Any other direction other than direction of Jesus is world,filth and death.
Only You, only the direction of Jesus, only Jesus has the Life, the Eternal Life.
No where else Lord. This is true worship to the Lord.

Church..today world is going through crisis times, people put knives and gun and say do you deny Christ or die?

and people chose to die for Christ.

how about us for things like angry,jealous,slander,selfish ambition, name ,fame.

doesn't it sound silly when compared to people dying for Christ.

It is time to wake up, let us be true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Money

Money:

Matthew 6: V19- V24

Treasures in Heaven

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money

There are some scriptures in the bible which will make most of the Christians uncomfortable while reading them. Verse 24 is one of those.

why is it uncomfortable:
1) we want to serve God, 2) we want to serve money also
So this is the main problem for the christians.

Whenever bible talks about money it is crystal clear, it does not hide, it is radical.
lots of verses in bible:
keep yourselves from the love of money
love of money is the root of all evils.
verse 24 says you love God and hate money or love money and hate God.
when you are loving God, you are saying money i hate you
when you are loving money, you are saying God i hate you.
so it is very clear to your heart what you love and what you hate.

so how do we know that we try to serve both God and money.

some symptoms to know where your treasure is

a) Compromising

Balaam wants to serve God and also wants money.
Numbers 22:4-6
verse 9 , God said "dont go with them"
verse 16,17 - "trap of money comes consistently"
verse 19 - some where there is desire that God might change the plan
Revelation 2: 14 
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality

Whenever you compromise on Godliness for a worldly gain, then it is a clear symptom of serving both.
When you love money , it says you hate God.

b) Uneasiness in giving money is one good symptom of loving money
Ananis and sappira
Acts 5:2  - not a cheerful giver is one symptom.
you may give money, but is it cheerfully. or you are trying to just act.

1 timothy 6:10 says - Paul says, love of money is the root of all evils.

c) cheating people.

Proverbs 20:14 -  Have you ever tried to bargain by saying this is not worth not worth, but after going out you say i get a big deal..

Man tries to cheat in lot of ways, .. income tax, medical bills.

Getting away from love of money

1) Sharing - getting rid of Sense of possessing.
Deutronoomy 15:7
If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfistedtoward them.

Sense of posessing:  By 2015 i must buy this car, 
                                   i must by this house.
                                   i must buy this gold.
But the sense of possesing is dangerous
      Acts 4:32-25 - time and again people sold off what they have and brought it to peter.
                           - today just to give building fund, it is so difficult. how about giving everything.
       Acts 2:44,45 looking for people who are in need.
     
2) Contentment
         Hebrews 13:5
         Philipians 4:11-13 says Paul was content man.

3) Investment
Many people invest in stocks, share market, real estate.
suppose you buy a land in india, say for 5 lakhs, by 20 years it might become 2 cr or 3 crs.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.


4) Using money where you cannot be benifited
Luke 14:12-14
Luke 14:12-14 (NIV) "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous

Many times we think its impossible to get away from love of money.
but with God its possible ( Mark 10:31)
Mark 10: 21-27
Many times we think we are doing good in our godly lives , but is the heart dwelling on money.
What bible teaches ways to get away from love of money.

Finally
Ecc 5:10-15 (NIV) Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, or wealth lost through some misfortune... Naked a man comes from his mothers womb, and as he comes, so he departs...

Leaving a Godly legacy

2 Peter 1: 12 - 16 

12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

Before these verses, Peter was talking about goodness, self control,godliness and love.
If you go to a believer who is already well established and say have self control, have godliness, you know you get bored of hearing the same thing again and again.

In this context he is saying these words which we read.
Lord Jesus revealed to Peter that his death is nearer. And Peter knowing that his death is nearer, started telling the Church - not about mysterious things, but about simple teachings again and again.
He desires to make sure that they follow this teaching even after he leaves.
He is making every effort to make sure they remember these things.
He wants to pass on a legacy.

Passing on legacy.

we all pass on legacy, whether we agree or not.
some pass on their legacy to their children, some to strangers, some to generaitons.
you may be thinking oh i am not that significant to talk about big words like legacy.
it doesn't matter how significant you are,how unknown or how famous you are, you will pass on legacy.
some way or other, somethings related to you will be talked about in next generation after you passon.
In this world, there are many who left legacies and people still talk about them.
whenever you talk about dance, people think about michael jackson.
whenever these is a discussion about freedom struggle - gandhi, mandela.
these people have left legacies in their own fields on the earthly matters.

Some one said "The life that you live is the legacy that you leave"

Jonathan Edwards
       Loved the Lord
       Made sure his children went to church even when they did not want to go
       1877 - 929 desc
       430 - ministers
       86- profes
       13 - univ presodent
       75- authors
         5- congree
         2- state
         2- state govers
      1 became vice president
       tremondous contribution to society
      not liable to government

Max Dukes
       Didnot believe in the Lord Jesus
      Did not allow his children to goto church even when they wanted to attend
     1877 - 1026 desc
     300 - prison avg 13 years
    190 - public prostitues
    680 - admiitted alcoholics
    27 - murderers
    by 1877 - 1.25 million dollars cost to government
none made contribution to society


So we are all responsible on what we pass on.In a relay race, we pass on the stick to the next runner.
Almost all of the people sitting here are quiet established in Word. But what are we passing on to others make big influence and leaves a legacy.

Greatest legacy is of our Lord
Romans 10:9 - 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved

The work that Lord Jesus did on the earth, left a great a legacy.
you know whoever confesses and believes in him will be saved for eternity.
He endured a humiliation through out his life time.
Jesus was humiliated throughout his lifetime, starting from his own family,leaders,teachers,romans, and his own friends. His situations were difficult. He has to go through death. But His obedience to the calling of His Father left a legacy for generations.
Many people left great legacy in the world, but there is none like our Lord. Any person in this world can leave legacy for only present and future generations, but what Lord Jesus done had left legacy for not only present  and future, but also past generations.
There is none like Him. Even after 2 thousand years if a person comes and accepts the Lord , that person is saved for eternity.

Hezekiah's legacy. 2 kings 20- 12-21

Hezekiah was given extra 15 years of life. and at the end he says what is it for me.

Instead of being thankful, he did not care about his future generations.

Hezekiah's inheritance is from David. But he forgot about what his ancestors passed on and he did not care for future generations.
look in the 15 years that God had given him, he produced Mannessah.

Remember how many servants of God sacrificed their lives for our lives.

William Carey and many other missionaries.
Are we like Hezekiah saying its not happening to me, i am saved, not concerning about others.
Have concern about everyone whom you come in contact with.
My friend wherever he goes, and whomever he gets in contact with , he will share the gospel.

Noah's legacy

Genesis 6:5-8
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Do you think you are so insignificant that you can not have legacy.
After Jesus, if there is one man who had biggest legacies, it is Noah.
Just because of him, the whole world, humans, all creatures are living.


How to leave a good legacy.

1) Revealing the Father
                                 John 17:6 - Jesus revealed who the Father is .
The world is in need of people who reflect who the real God is.
Jesus did it in His time, Apostles have done it in their times. Many servants of God did in their time.
But Now it is our turn to show the world who the Father in Heaven is, who the real God is.
Reveal the Father to who the Father has given you.

     
The key for this is Listening to God.


2) Genuine concern for others 
           1 kings 2:1
                         even on death bed, passed on Gods legacy.
                         be strong and keep the word.
                        even unbeliever can say be strong.only godly man can say...follow God.
            Philippians 2:20 - genuine concern for others
            2 Timothy 1:3 - pray for each other
                                    Jesus is example - day and night interceeding for us.

3) Focused life.  Matthew 24:44
Jesus always focused on the hour that is coming. he mentioned many times.
he kept teaching his disciples that an hour is coming. He had focus about that hour always.

         As a christian, we need to have a focussed life on God and his Kingdom.
         For some believers, Christianity is a routine stuff.
         come to church on sunday, sing 4 or 5 songs, say hi to everyone, and go.

        but they lose focus as soon as they go out into the world.

 Sussane wesley had focus on teaching their kids  godly lives. Her husband was a pastor and was busy, but it was Sussane who revlead who God is to their children and see how John and Charles Wesley have become.

        Deuteronomy 6:6-9
         Speak to your children about God all times.

          The greatest legacy parents can pass to children is to love God than all ministries.
            your obedience to faith impacts others to live for God.
             It is not our glory , but the Glory of God reflected through us.

For one mans disobedience, curse came upon generations
For one man obedience, life came to millions.

Hebrews 11: V32 says
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword;whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

For all these saints, The world is not worthy for the people of God. they are longing for eternal life with God.
and God is not ashamed to be called as thier God because they did not live for world.

May the Spirit of God help us to live a life that leaves a legacy for future generations, a legacy not for people to talk about us, but a legacy for the Glory of God.
Amen.

Pastor Jones.

Joshua 24:15

15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.” - Dallin

Western union story

God has given us freewill to make choices.
We don't have a choice when we are palace born, where to be born, to whose parents we should be born.and 

even as a kid, we don't have much choice. its the parents who feed the baby what to eat and what not to eat. But as we grow, we get this freedom to make choices.
But the choices we make have a great impact on our lives.

Turn to Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2). 

Do not be conformed to this world-  
       There is a model/pattern in the world  where what majority people will do , the rest will follow that.
       For example: The worlds pattern is that it goes with majority. After i finished my 10th standard. i used to have a desire to become an IAS officer, because they allot a big bungalow to IAS officers, but since all my friends are going for computer science engineering, i also studied computer science engineering.

The Word says don't blindly follow the worlds pattern of living. But let there be renewal of mind.
When there is renewal of mind , and when we are always faced with options, we can make godly choices.

This world offers a lot in every aspect.

choosing a career - engineer or medicine or you want to go for ministry or missionary.
if you are looking for a job - job 1 or job 2
choosing a life partner for marriage - you will get many matches with rich, attractive,poor.
you want to buy a car - you have 25K car, 30kcar, 40k car, 50k car.

The world offer you lots of choices.
Everyday , in one way or other you will be facing to choose between options to make decision of your life.
but are you making godly choices?

Jacob and Easu:
Genesis 25:29 - 34

In a Hebrew family, a first born is very significant, especially in the old testament times.
First born significance:
                        1)opener of the mothers womb
                        2)the one who starts the paternal lineage and maternal lineage.
                        3) double portion inheritance.
                        4) Successor head of the family ( royal family then successor king)

A first born clearly knows what his blessing are.
Esau was very hungry and was almost fainting when he came home he saw this red hot soup. 
you show biryani to Indian when he is hungry , you know all the feelings and how you respond to it. you will put aside all the spoons and you will start eating happily with hand.

Esau here came with so much of hunger and Jacob is saying this
"First sell me your birthright" 
I was thinking how did Jacob got this idea of asking for birth right.
He was cooking his stew. How come i missed Gods double portion of blessings just by being born after my brother. Oh, how to get these blessings. Even though he is cooking, his mind is deeply set on things of God. 
"Church, Whatever you do , constantly set your mind of things of God"
I dont know how many sisters here think of Gods blessings,Gods inheritance while cooking.
Here is Jacob constantly thinking of God , and when brother asked for stew, he asked for blessings.
See the reply of Esau."What use this birthright is when iam so much in hungry "

Esau is faced with 2 options:

either stay hungry until your mother gives food and have the birthright
or
sell birth right or have your stomach full.

Sadly, Esau chose to sell birthright, he thought what is the use of birthright when iam so hungry.
he chose for a temporary satisfaction and lost eternal blessings.
Turn to Genesis 27:30-34, v38
Hebrews 12:16,17
Esau wept aloud.
The choice you make for temporary things would rob of eternal blessings.
A person who cannot make God as priority is being called godless.
Sometimes, we are faced with lots of temptations for temporary enjoyment.
   for some it might be drinking, 
   for some it may be making fun of others. 
   for some it is pornography 
all these give temporary pleasure, and they cause long term effects.
Eskimos Trap
Church, When you are faced with temptation of temporary satisfaction, do you give in like Esau or make a Godly choice.

Noah and sonsGenesis 9:20
Noah drank wine and has no clothes.
Ham the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his brothers outside.
Noah is inside his tent, so when Ham might accidentally stepped in and saw his fathers state,
now Ham has two choices
a) cover his father
b) go and tell it outside.

But he chose to go and tell to his brother.  
A private matter of a person became public news.
Many of us have this tendency to talk about the private matters of others or gossiping about others private matters. 
If  a brother or sister has weakness in some area, and you go tell to other people, you are just like Ham , exposing the spiritual nakedness of that person to public world.

Shem and Japheth did, the turned backwards and covered their father.
What a character is not to look at or point out at the weakness of the other person, but to just cover the persons weakness with love.
Love covers multitude of sins.
When Jesus did not accuse a woman who was caught in the very act of adultery who are we to accuse others. 
When we have little bit of knowledge from bible, we start judging other people. But the knowledge of God should always makes us humble and relate to other people.
Story of person in Alaska and son and faithful dog

Jesus went to tax collecters house, he spoke to Samaritan woman who was divorced five times,
i really thank Jesus Christ because he is not like us, He humbles himself so much that he sits with people of different weaknesses and shares the Love of God and forgives them.

You come across lots of people with various weaknesses, 
and  you face these options of choosing 
whether to point out their weakness/spiritual nakedness 
or 
Like Shem - Dont look at the weakness of the other persons, But share the love of Christ, that Love that is shown on the cross removes every stain.

Abraham and Lot
Genesis 13: 8-13
Choice of Lot.
Abraham asked Lot to make a choice of where he wants to live.
So, what options does Lot have? Abraham clearly told him if he wants to go right he will go left and vice-versa.
a) Sodom
b) Hebron where Abraham later went
c) He could have pleaded Abraham to live with him only.( Ruth had pleaded Naomi )

So in verse 11, Lot chose for Himself Jordan. which is like Land of Egypt,garden of the Lord.
Can you imagine whats going on in Lots mind when he has to make a crucial decision of his life.
He was thinking where he can be without any problem. He saw the plain was well watered.
A well watered plain shows that there will crops all the time throughout the year. No fear of famines.
no fear of lack of food.
Lot related happiness is related to where there is more wealthy and full of food.
you know why there is so much sin in Sodom . 
Turn to Ezekiel 16:49 - abundant food was one of the sins of Sodom.They neglected God in so much abundance.
And lot choose to go there.
You know before you decide to go to a place, you will enquire about that place , how it will be, how are the people there. like that.
if you have to goto Las vegas , you know that it is full Casinos and the world gathers there for gambling.
But Lot pitched his tent near Sodom. 
Lot when making his choice he did not think of godly things. but he thought about his comfort.
He did not realize that if God is with him, even if he lives in a famine land, God would have provided food for him. He was Abraham for some years and he has clearly seen the providence of God to Abraham.
I always wonder, if Lot could have said, Dear Abraham uncle, i dont want any posessions, but let me be like a servant in your household. that would be great for me. because God is with you.
When Naomi asked her DILs, Ruth pleaded with her that she would not leave her. you know what the result is Ruth came into the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Lot chose an option and went nearest to the sin city. and you know what hapenned later.
many times we all make decisions like Lot just looking at worldly things about her jobs, our place of living , our friendships and ends up in disasters.

you know there are plenty of examples in bible who made best choices and worst choices.

you can say, brother all this is fine, but how to make a godly choice. there are somethings that I will share with you which helped me i think will help you also.  Trust me, i made lot of bad choices in the past and i confessed it, but over the years God taught me so patiently by disciplining me.

     1) All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.
         1 Corinthians 10:23 

this is one verse that has encouraged me whenever i am in confusion to take a decision.
All the choices that are presented before you might look legal. but question yourself, whether the choice you are making is  it profitable to your soul.
lot of people have these questions whether i can do this or dont do this.
ask yourself- whether its profitable for my soul.

         2) Stewardship
Check if you are good steward of the choice you are making. what that means are you good caretaker of the choice you are making.
Sometimes you ask God for something and God blesses you in that and you are lazy in taking care of that blessing. be it children or be it your job. some people are lazy and sluggish in taking care of what God has blessed with. if you are one of those who is lazy to take care, be careful with choices you make.

  3) Spending quality time with God.
          exploring scriptures, quality prayer time. 
          there is no shortcut for godly lives.
          Invest quality time in Word, and prayer. 
         The Holy Spirit God looks at genuinely seeking people and guides them.
         if you are not interested in seeking HolySpirit help whats the use then. 
         Deligently seek Holy Spirits guidance and you will see making wonderful choices in life                   which moulds you into Image of Christ.

Story of a boy who asked God:
              what is  million years for you - Just a sec
              what is million dollars for you - just a penny
              Can I have a penny -  just a sec

God is looking for people who will standup to the world and say, I wont be conformed to the pattern of the world.
He is looking for people to build His kingdom. 
He is looking for people who make Godly choices like Daniel who gave up kings food.
When the world offers so many temptations in the form of TV,laptops and gadgets.
When the rest of the world tries to accuse and point out others weakness like Ham did ,God is looking for people like Shem who will cover others sins with the love of Christ. 
even when the world says this is okay to do, you get up and say like Joseph, 
Iam King's Son , Iam Kings daughter, I will live like prince.



Thank you Jesus