0:00 Walking in light. Let's pray before I start. Dear heavenly father, we thank you so 0:18 much for your love and care because we are your children, not because of our merit as we heard in our songs and prayers, Lord, Father, 0:37 and the provision you have given to us, the word of God, The word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus, it's your sacrifice 0:54 coming down and showing how to walk in a way which is pleasing to God. Father, help us today as we meditate on your word. May this be a blessing to me as I share 1:14 and to our brothers and sisters as we are listening. Your word is a double-edged sword. It cuts the speaker and also the hearts of the listeners. We invite you Holy Spirit God commit this time into you. In Jesus name 1:36 we pray. Amen. As I said, uh I'm going to speak on walking in light today, especially about taking baby steps, 1:53 baby steps in our spiritual journey. Uh this is something that has personally helped me to grow in fellowship with our father and our lord Jesus Christ. I came to United States 2:15 as an immigrant in 2015 and that same year at the age 30 I joined a new covenant church. That year was significant for me in two ways. The elders and some knowledgeable 2:37 brothers in the church conducted a financial seminar that opened my eyes to see how finances works in America. We were taught how to avoid debt, 2:56 save, invest and work towards financial freedom. You have probably heard about the snowball effect, the snowball effect of 3:13 uh compound growth. Um in the subject of finances, the debt snowfall method, debt snowfall method teaches us to pay 3:29 off debts one by one. Moving from negative to positive, we learn to live frugally, save consistently and invest wisely. 3:47 Then what is the goal of all this financial independence? The freedom which we enjoy when we are not be enslaved 4:05 to any sort of debt or to any man. We do all these baby steps carefully so that we can enjoy and our family or children can enjoy the freedom. 4:22 The principle is small savings which bring big results. I want to show you an example here. I'm sorry. Consider this example. 4:46 If you invest just a dollar4 a day, the cost of a daily latte instead of spending it, that's $1,460 per year. in a conservative way. If you calculate 5:08 it with an 8% annual return, [snorts] in 10 years that becomes nearly $26,000. In 40 years, it's going to be over $440,000. That's the power of consistency and 5:30 compound growth. Now it may not be latis for others or for everyone. For some it's maybe eating out or entertainment, 5:50 maybe movies, subscriptions, vacations or any other excess spending. The principle remains same. Small consistent decisions 6:07 compounds over time. Before we move forward, I want to quickly turn to the book of Luke chapter 16. Keep that example in aside. Just we will go to the scripture a little bit 6:25 briefly. Luke chapter 16. we hear about money what our Lord Jesus Christ tells here um again uh I'm not a a professional speaker and that but I bring my experience my knowledge I tend 6:45 to do mistakes um I think last time when I was talking something about prayer instead of saying Matthew chapter 6 verse 5 I said Matthew chapter 5. That threw this brother off because he 7:03 went and looked his Bible. Hey bro, what you said is not there in Matthew chapter 5. Oh, I meant to say Matthew chapter 6. So please, when I say uh something, please look into your Bibles also. And if you notice something, if I say 7:19 something wrong, please come to me and tell me, brother, what you did is wrong. so that I can also learn from my mistakes. Uh Matthew I'm sorry Luke chapter 16 verse 10 [clears throat] 7:35 Jesus said he who is faithful in a very little things is faithful also in much. 7:51 And he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. In Jesus words, money in this world is a a very a very little thing. Verse 11. Therefore, if you have not 8:17 been faithful in use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches uh to you? Verse 12, and if you have not been 8:33 faithful in the use of that which is and others, who will give you that which is your own? Verse 13. No servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be 8:52 devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. But Jesus gave the principle here. Use it carefully. Money is needed but it is not the big 9:12 thing. The biggest thing in Jesus words is the true riches or he called it as are like fellowship. Fellowship with God and our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the major thing 9:29 we are called to be major on the majors. not minoring on the majors or majoring on the minors. That's the opposite. But the biggest thing in Jesus' eyes is the fellowship with God. The next revelation 9:47 about God's word. These are the true riches and continually being filled with the Holy Spirit as we heard. So reminded that the power of the Holy Spirit will enables us to say no 10:06 to sin. The nature which is in our hearts wants to do sin and we becoming more and more like Christ's nature. These are the true riches in Jesus words. 10:26 Be faithful in using money means practically to me I don't waste money unnecessarily as a seasonal leader looking back into his life King David said 10:44 about God's care a shepherd boy who came to palace and sought after to be murdered by the very same person who has been helped 11:03 without any personal agenda. David was trying to help Saul. This very same person was trying to kill him. Not just one attempt, multiple attempts. Not just in that security about this life, his finances. How God provided him 11:22 and his men. He shares Psalms chapter 37:2. I have been young and now I am old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken 11:41 or his descendants begging bread. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6:33, "Seek first, seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all things shall be added to you." Wonderful 12:00 promises in one psalms Samuel, 1 Samuel, we were reminded this on Wednesday also. 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 30 is a declaration from God to Eli the priest stating 12:18 those who honor me I will honor. God is not a liar. This financial principle which I tried to explain taught me something deeper and which are eternal. Consistency 12:37 matters. Baby steps matters for small daily choices which results into compound growth into a transformed lives. 12:55 Brothers and sisters, the same principle for spiritual life. Just as I was learning about financial baby steps that year, also learning about spiritual baby steps. The same principle of consistency and compound 13:15 growth applies to our walk with Christ daily. Walking in the light. Please turn with me to the book of 1 John, the epistle written by John 13:35 chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1 verse 7. The verse started with but so that means there is something he was 13:52 trying to say before. I would rather start with verse five. This is the explanation of a matured disciple who walked with the Lord who has seen him with his own eyes and what he heard with his own ears. 14:12 After walking 60 plus years in this narrow path, he is trying to write a letter. And as we read it, his heart here in these three verses, the conditions of fellowship again, 14:30 fellowship with God. Verse five, this is the message we have heard from him and announce to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 14:48 If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Now I come to verse seven. But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have 15:07 fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. What does it mean walking in the light? 15:30 John explains in verse 8, the recognition of indwelling sin, the nature of that old man, the flesh which we 15:47 received from our parents, [snorts] from Adam and Eve. Verse eight. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. And verse 9, if we confess our sins, he 16:09 is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We must recognize 16:25 that we still possess that nature, the old nature of wanting to sin. We are not done with that yet. And the second, we need you know ongoing 16:43 forgiveness for our sins. Verse 9 to 10 verse he read through the word of God and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit it tells us it gives us some light 17:00 about our old nature within us and the blood of Christ the divine provision for both our sin and to our nature to walk in the light simply simply means to live in fellowship with our God and 17:19 the Holy Spirit and his son Jesus Christ. Yes, as we read here, sin interrupts it interrupts the fellowship with our our father. We here we heard few weeks back about 17:39 Psalm chapter 6 verse 18. It reminds us if we cherish sin that means we're not saying that we don't commit sin but if we cherish sin in our hearts the Lord will not hear us 18:01 clear. However, while sin interrupts our fellowship, it cannot change our relationship. Our relationship with our God who calls 18:18 us as sons and daughters with faith. We accept that invitation as the sunship and the daughtership. That relationship will never be broken. But when we cherish sin that interrupts sin interrupts our communication he 18:37 can't hear us and then we can't hear him. That's why we emphasize in this church sin is the only serious thing. I have learned this through experience often 18:55 taught to me by my own professors of patients. My children, I am an imperfect father compared to our heavenly father. Yet even I understand that the connection, 19:11 my children's disobedience won't break our relationship. I am their father. They are my daughters. If I hold on to sin, communication is broken. Then what is the solution? 19:31 We read it. Confession. Confession is what restores that fellowship. And practicing this that immediate confirmation uh 19:45 confession is is the one helps me to that fellowship unbroken. Sin separates our fellowship with our father. His provision of indwelling holy spirit 20:05 the power helps us to overcome sin. Psalms 119 105 declares about the power of God's word. 20:25 The word of God is a lamp to our feet. It is a light to our path. Just like small savings that compound over time. 20:42 Reading God's word daily and meditating on it, thinking about it independently and follow it means obey what the Lord is speaking to our hearts in that relationship. 21:00 He tells sometimes louder, sometimes he will whisper, sometimes he will talk to us through the trials what we are going through and the situations he put us this week 21:18 helped me in reading this verse. Psalms chapter 66 from the daily devotion. Please turn with me. Psalm chapter 66 verse 10. Psalms chapter 66 verse 10. Start with 21:43 verse 10. For you have tried us, oh God. You have refined us as the silver is refined. You brought us into the net. You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins. You made men ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water. 22:02 Yet you brought us out of into a place of abundance. The abundance is like living in the presence of God. The richness of dad is talking to us. Hey, it is not that person oppressing you. This is not the situation the health or 22:20 a visa situation or a financial difficulty. I kept you in that net. I made you this man ride over you. It is me and the whole perspective will change. [clears throat] This is how light 22:42 expands in our lives. John was a disciple who personally followed Jesus. He wrote what he saw with his own eyes 23:02 and heard with his own ears. He wrote what helped him and the early church. how the church grew these stages in Christian growth like how we have seen 23:28 yeah in spiritually the wealth the spiritual wealth just as money grows in stages from get to saving and going to the next step of generosity. We give generously. 23:47 So does our spirit. So how does this spiritual snowball work in real life? 1 John chapter 2 vers 12-4 1 John chapter 2 24:12 vers 12 to 14. I am writing to you little children because your sins have been forgiven for his name's sake. I'm writing to you fathers because you know him who has 24:32 been from the beginning. I'm writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you children beha because you know the father. Verse 14. I have written to you fathers because you know him who has 24:47 been from the beginning. I have written to you young men because you are strong. The word of God abideth in you and you have overcome the evil one. John describes here three stages of spiritual maturity in our individual 25:07 lives. Just like the financial growth stages like getting out of the debt, live frugally within our means, building savings and investing. Our spiritual life has stages too. 25:25 Stage number one, spiritual babes. Just like a young person starting out of college, maybe he or she may have a college debt or some other debts. First thing, getting out of the debt. 25:45 Spiritual babies need to know two things. The debt for sin is forgiven. And they have a father who provides for them. This is the foundation. If we don't know our debt is paid, our spiritual debt is 26:04 paid, we can't build anything. And the stage number two, the spiritual enh. The next level of maturity comes when we learn to have God's word abiding 26:21 permanently in our hearts. This is like a a saving and investing stage. You are strong because the word of God abide with you. You are not just asking for things anymore. 26:38 You are fighting battles. You are overcoming the enemy because you have deposited God's word in your heart. When his word lives in us, we become 26:56 strong and can overcome Satan with his power with the power of the Holy Spirit. As we read the third stage, next level we're going to the spiritual fatherhood and the motherhood. The wonderful stage. 27:15 From there you know the mature believers know God intimately not just as father they also understand his values his principles they can guide other believers. 27:38 This is like reaching financial independence where you can also help others with their finances. The kind of spiritual maturity is the greatest need right now. I see it in our 27:56 churches in our society missing that fatherhood uh kind of exemplary lives live and to teach. That's what we emphasize in this church. We walk as disciples and make disciples. Again starts with life and then we 28:15 teach. So how do you move from a baby to a father? You didn't win a lottery. 28:31 Indeed through your daily steps. Throughout this his writings, John the disciple of Lord Jesus Christ emphasizes one theme that is love. Love means obedience. If we observe carefully, 28:54 John's understanding of love is not merely emotion or not a sentiment and not a even a fuzzy feeling. Love demonstrated it's manifested 29:13 through obedience. in John's own words like you know before I go to John's words let's go to the gospel in his one in go in his gospel John's gospel he wrote what Jesus 29:31 told him told them to the disciples about love what is love brothers and sisters please meditate on these words if you have not done yet I'll try to share my Right? I'm not perfect but I'm 29:50 trying to share my lot. Ask the Lord independently. You meditate on it what these words meant. I'm sure he will reveal that to you what he meant right here. John 14 15 to uh 26. I'm not reading all in interest of time. I'll 30:09 quote here and there but you read it. John 14:15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Period. How do you do that? He's also giving a help. Next verse, I will ask the father and then he will give you another helper 30:28 that he may be with you forever. You are not doing this. You are not doing this obedience by your own strength. I am asking the father and then he is sending you the helper and then he will help you to do that. Isn't it amazing? 30:46 He names to the Holy Spirit a different name here. That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive it. But for you the disciples, he abides with 31:02 you and he will be in you. That's the differentiation. He will be in you. Verse 21. He who has my commandments and keeps 31:22 them is the one who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and will disclose myself to him. Then we read a couple of times from Jude while singing and brother Josh mentioned 31:40 too um brother Michael read few verses from Jude. This disciple not Judas is created. He comes and asked Lord what then has happened that you are going to disclose the yourself to us not to the world. 31:58 Lovingly Jesus says that again verse 23 if anyone loves me brothers this is not just for those uh imperson attendees at the time he's telling to us also anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will 32:17 love him and we will come to him and make our abboard with him finally verse 26 Verse 25. These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 32:35 But the helper, the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Holy Spirit will remember us 32:54 to obey what our Lord Jesus Christ has said. As we heard Friday closing statement from brother Zach that do are we willing? The question is are we willing Every time we choose to obey God, 33:23 walking in the spirit instead of flesh. When you forgive others instead of holding grudges are telling the truth instead of telling a white lie 33:41 are these are all small small deposits deposits we are doing we are making small deposits eventually they're going to be a compound growth love for him. 33:58 Chapter 15. John 15:10. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. 34:15 The helper will enable us to do that. And here is a beautiful part. I want to read it again. Jesus just didn't command us to obey. He gave us the Holy Spirit as our helper. Jesus promises that the Father will send 34:33 the Spirit to dwell in us, teach us all things, remind us all these things, and he will bring us into our remembrance. Obeying his commandments is how we show we love him. and the Holy Spirit will help us to 34:52 obey. Now we to John's emphasis or was Jesus emphasis John wrote in his gospel. Now if you go to one John chapter 2 we see disciple John's emphasis in this lines 35:09 after living that 60 years. John chapter 2 verse 3. John chapter 2:3. By this we know that we have come to 35:29 know him if we keep his commandments. The one who says I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. Verse five, but whoever keeps his word in him the 35:47 love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. Chapter 5 verse two and three. 36:05 By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and observe his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments 36:22 are not burdensome. 2 John verse 6. This is love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment just as you have 36:39 heard from the beginning that you should walk in it. Do you see the pattern? John who walked with Jesus and learned from him personally consistently emphasized that the genuine love what we 36:56 show to God and God's children is by obeying God's commandments. That's how we show that we love our brothers and sisters is by obeying God's word. John 10 27-30. Please read it when you 37:17 get a chance. Um, this is our security. We hear his voice. We follow him. And no one I wish I have time to read it. Please read it. And no one, brothers, he repeats it two times in 37:37 in these just three four verses. No one and nothing can snatch us from his hand. Nothing can snatch us from our father's hand. But all we need to do one thing as 37:53 we his sheep we listen to him and follow him. What does it mean? Following means we obey him with the resources with the provision he has given to us. I want to share a few baby steps 38:09 what I followed from the last 10 years. It's a baby step one. In my slide the order is a little bit messed. I'm sorry for that. Um baby step one starting my day right. Every morning 38:28 immediately after I wake up I communicate with my dad before checking my phone. Before anything else I talk to him. Dad fill me with your Holy Spirit. Fill me with your spirit so that I may never feel anxious or worry about 38:44 anything today. Help me to have your victory over sin like small irritations in my home and a pride, lying, lust, 39:01 all these sins will trip me, trip me up and breaks my fellowship with my father. Father, please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I turn my cares into my prayers. 39:17 Philippians 4 4-6. Read that. RPT. We rejoice always. We pray in everything. We thank him for everything. I thank God for his answers. He already given. 39:34 I want to remind here once uh what David when everything fell apart and people wanted to stone him. David strengthen himself in the Lord. He's God. That's what starting each day with what God 39:53 does. He strengthens us. My baby step number two. Remember who is watching. God is going to judge me finally and only his opinion matters. So I must keep my conscience 40:10 clear always in front of him. This is not about fear brothers and sisters. This is about love and respect. I don't want to disappoint my father. And like we learned about finances, 40:30 consistency. Choosing to keep consistency. Baby step number three. End my day clean before I go to bed. I make sure my conscience is completely clear. I confess every sin no matter how small 40:48 they are. The only sin I cannot be forgiven is the one which I not confessed. The only sin which I do not have a victory is the one which I did not ask the Holy Spirit's help. That means I'm not going to bed with an 41:04 unforgiven sin. I'm sure he is faithful whether it is anything which cares for me I cast upon him. It could be about my job concerns, visa issues, children's future, health, 41:23 ministry, and I say everything. Zero anxiety. Does that mean I never sin? No, brothers. I'm being honest. But immediate confession keeps my fellowship with my father. 41:41 It prevents small cracks from becoming large fractures. The daily practice of confession and casting cares is compound into a life life of rest and peace. 41:59 Brothers and sisters, finally just as we started dollar four dollar four a day becomes about 440,000 in 40 years. small daily choices with God compounded 42:17 to transform lives. Financial freedom through consistency and spiritual freedom through consistency. Both requires walking in the light. Being honest about who we are, where we are in front of God's face, 42:40 following the path marked out and trusting the compound effort in these baby steps. Wherever you are, my brother and sister, take your next step, your next baby step. reading a word, meditate on it, 42:57 follow it, confess quickly, keep your conscience clear, start each day with him, end each day clean. Finally, I want to end with one encouragement of our hope. I want to confess our hope. 1 John chapter 3 43:15 verse 2 and 3. Beloved, we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be but we know that when he appears we will be like him because we will see him face to face. Verse three 1 John 3:3 and 43:35 everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself as he is pure. This is our hope. We will be like him. And this hope motivates us to purify oursel daily to take these baby 43:52 steps to walk consistently in the light. Not in our own strength again, but filled with Holy Spirit. Secure. We are secure and our future and our children's future. We're secure in our God's hands. I believe the Lord will help us. Amen. 44:32 Thank you, brother David, for the [sighs] wonderful um picture of the financial journey. and comparing it to our spiritual journey which is the real truth, the 44:48 real treasure. Uh I love that picture. Um I do remember that from that putting that slides together back in the days. Uh free from the debt saving and investing. We saw the compounding effect 45:05 which brother mentioned as snow effect and then how he compared it to from the baby steps a spiritual life confessing sin to youth [snorts] um and to the father being a shepherd um yes money is very little thing compared to the eternal treasures 45:24 absolutely the true riches is the fellowship with God and if you want that snowball effect of getting our return investment we have to be in start saving investing walking in the light um as one of the things couple things I took away 45:42 this morning and I'm sure you took away many things too that [snorts] sin interrupts fellowship that is why Jesus has to be on the cross and put his life and sacrifice us because that restores the fellowship between me and the father 46:01 god And by confessing our sins to him restores the fellowship. In the same way, I also was thinking there could be a fellowship broken between you and me. If you sin against me or I sin against you, if I offended you or something, we 46:20 need to reconcile reconciliation by confessing our sins to one another. if it was in the circle that we committed against. That's how we restore our fellowship in the church. Um and he went on to today this morning I also 46:39 um that love means obedience to his commandments and he gives us holy spirit as helpers and that no one can snatch me. Uh, one of the things that I, you know, in the financial journey, you could be, one of the struggles that people can have is 46:58 that you work, you work, you work, you slave, save, save, save. But you know what? You probably never be as rich as the um Jeff Bezos son or Elama's son or who has inheritance, right? Who gets out windfall, we call that a windfall term. 47:17 But in a spiritual world, I don't know if you realize it, but we also have a windfall inheritance from the Lord. We can be instantly rich if we claim, if we accept the conditions of God, um the spiritual riches. And in John 10, uh this is the verse 47:37 that we learn this morning, John 10 27-28, the sheep hear my voice and I know them. I focus on the sheep. I'm the sheep. I hear his voice. But here's the here's a bigger part. The second part of 47:56 that verse is that I know them. Is it more important that I that I recognize God's voice or is it more important that God knows me? Is it more important that I know him or that he knows me? Which one's bigger? that God knows me. Us is far more 48:19 important. I know about Elon Musk. He doesn't know me. But if he knows me, I can brag about that sometimes. Um, but how much bigger is God knows me? That's the reason he cannot snatch us. That's inheritance. 1 Peter 13:1 If you 48:37 search the word inheritance, if you want a windfall, spiritual windfall in Christ, look up the word inheritance in Bible, many, many verses. 1 Peter 1:35 is um inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, reserved in heaven. 48:55 And note, and the beliefs we're born again to be a living hope. We're living hope. It's something that won't fade away. Unlike um all the the money that we talk about, the stocks go up and down and gold and silver goes up and down, 49:09 but Bitcoin goes up and down, but inheritance from does not go up and down and it's reserved. In Colossians 3:4, knowing from the Lord, you'll receive the reward of inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Ephesians 49:26 1:11, "And we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to his purpose, who works all things." So many things. It talks about this richness of spiritual. Let us let us accept it. Let us go for it. Let 49:43 us not lose out. And we definitely need baby steps. We want to grow from babies to youth, old men and to the to become fathers so we can um enjoy this this new covenant life that he has promised us this morning. Let's close in prayer. Our 50:02 father, we thank you Lord for revealing the more important things, most important things, the eternal truth Lord this morning. We want to not lose um hold of it Lord and 50:19 we want to accept it with faith Lord with the help of your Holy Spirit. Help us Lord to learn that path. Um thank you Lord. Pray in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for joining us this today.
