0:18 There's a story that I heard about George Müller, which has challenged me, and most of you probably have heard of George Müller. He's a tremendously godly man who so uh had a um 0:37 lot of faith. You the faith that God gave him he used to be a blessing to many, and he ran an orphanage. And I believe many in that orphanage who would not have otherwise come to know Christ came to know Christ. 0:56 And uh it's very challenging life that he lived. But more than all the other things that we know about him, the great feats that he that God was able to do through him, this story perhaps has blessed me the most over the 1:13 last number of years. George Müller died when he was I think 93 or something like that. And a few months before he died, he must have been about 92 years old, somebody asked him, "Mr. Müller, you've lived such a godly life, 1:33 and you've blessed so many people. What is the secret of your success? Why is it that God was able to do so much through you?" And it's a challenge for me because the secret is not 1:52 what we do. And the great people in eternity, I believe more and more that the greatest people in the kingdom of heaven will not necessarily be the ones who did the most amount of outward work. 2:11 It could be, but that's not going to be the defining factor. It's very easy for many of you even sitting in the church and thinking, "What do I do? Uh I never get up and preach. I never lead the singing. I 2:31 Uh God hasn't called me to any of those things. We're not all called to do outward ministry in the church necessarily." Does that mean that somebody whom God hasn't called to have a visible ministry will cannot 2:48 get a great reward in heaven? Then, let's all go into ministry. Let's all seek to be preachers. And yet, the Bible says, "Don't be many teachers." The greatest thing in the kingdom of heaven will be 3:05 did you do the will of the Father? Whatever God's will was for your life, did you do that faithfully? And it's so easy for us to get discouraged into thinking, "Oh Lord, you haven't called me. 3:24 I'll never have a ministry like Brother Zach had." And does that mean that I will sort of uh you know, I'm here in the crowd in on earth and will be there in the crowd in heaven? Is that how it's going to be? Just sort of a 3:43 insignificant attendance, insignificant presence? And I thought I would encourage you, dear brothers, that every one of you, God wants to give you the richest reward in heaven. And that's not determined by what you do outwardly. 4:03 Not even by your job. Cuz not all of us are intelligent enough or gifted enough to have high-profile jobs. And not all of us may be gifted with with speaking or music or anything like that. And 4:23 I want to encourage you that every one of you has a prize to win. That you must run as if you're the one that's going to win the prize. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9 4:41 verse 24. 1 Corinthians 9:24, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win." Now, what do you think? Was Paul running 5:01 in such a way that he would win? Yes. And is he telling you, the church in Corinth first of all, "Run in such a way that you may win"? And is that now in your Bible so that the Holy Spirit is telling you by name, "Santosh, you run in such a way that you 5:18 may win"? That means that there is a prize for each of us. And then he goes on to say, um verse 26, "Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim, not just spinning my wheels, coming to the 5:37 meeting every Sunday and continuing, 'Yeah, I'm a part of CFC.' Even if you serve in some way, without aim. Dear brothers, are you a part of this church with an aim? Are you running in your Christian life with an aim? Most people in the world 5:56 when when person is born again, young person is born again, the their mentors will tell them, "Go to seminary. Start a ministry. Go do some evangelism. That's your aim." And you know that we don't say that in CFC, but do you have an aim? 6:15 Let's say you're one of those brothers, which is probably 90% of you, that never gets up here on stage, not even once. Maybe 95, 99% of you never once get up on here. Do you have an aim? Is Do you come in every Sunday meeting 6:32 with an aim? Lord, I You have a purpose for my life. There's a purpose with which you placed me in CFC. And I want to come to the meeting today with that aim. Run in such a way with aim, brothers. Let's run with aim. I box in such a way 6:49 I'm not just beating the air. What good is it if I'm I say I'm boxing, but I'm just beating the air? Even boxers who are training, they're beating something. They have these uh Forget what they're called, the boxing um What's it? Is it bags? Yes, punching 7:07 bags. Um and then it's it's something There's a There's an aim. And when they get into the ring, they're they're aiming. They have a target. I box in such a way as not beating the air. Look back on 2025. Dear brothers, have you just been 7:26 beating the air? You can say, "Well, I'm moving my arms. I'm reading my Bible. I'm praying. I'm coming to the meetings. I'm part of a home uh midweek group, but was there an aim? Did you know what you were trying to hit. 7:44 I And so in order to do that, in order to have that aim that specific target, I discipline my body and make it my slave. So that after I preach to others, I myself would not be disqualified. Paul recognized that 8:03 it's possible that even he, clearly it's not preaching. Cuz he was saying, I could preach to others and that could have been boxing in the air and running without aim. I think sadly, I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, but sadly it could 8:22 very well be the case that there are many preachers who preach God's word and evangelized all kinds of people, but they will be disqualified. Can you imagine the mighty Apostle Paul saying, "After preaching to many, I would be 8:38 disqualified." Why? Because you were not running with an aim. You were not boxing with aim. And that is disciplining your body. So dear brothers, the essence of my encouragement to you here is when you discipline your body, when you 8:56 deny yourself and you you discipline your body as the Living Bible says, you make it do what it should do, not what it wants to do. In your relationship with your wife, if you're married, with your children, if you have children, or as a single 9:10 brother, when you're disciplined with your eyes and you're tempted to look at pornography on the phone or on the computer and you you discipline and say, "The body wants to do that? No." Or you want to eat a lot of food, good 9:24 food. You have a love to go out to eat. No, discipline your body. Disciplined with your money. Don't just spend on everything that looks good. Disciplined with your time. Don't just let time go by by watching YouTube videos and Instagram and all these 9:41 things. Let time just float by. Look at 2025 and see was there an aim in 2025 that you actually know God accomplished something. And let me say it again. It has nothing to do with outward ministry. Cuz you could do all kinds of ministry 10:00 and still be disqualified. Let's turn to Psalm Psalm 90. Oh, it's going to Well, we're turning there. I'll tell you the story about George Müller. I sometimes get so sidetracked with what I'm saying. I forget what I started. 10:20 George Müller's story. At the age of 92, somebody asked him, "What was the secret of your ministry? How did were you living such a successful life?" And he said this. I'm going to quote it. I've written down here. There was a day when George Müller died. 10:36 He's still alive. He's 92 years old. And he's saying, "You want to know how the Lord was able to give me a useful life? It has nothing to do with the orphanage." He didn't say, "Oh, yeah, I had faith." You know, it's George Müller is the one who 10:51 they would sit down and uh all the orphans would be there sitting at the table and the plates would be there and he'd say, "Let's give thanks for the food." And the children would look around and say, "What food? I don't see the food." He said, "The Lord 11:02 will provide." And they would pray. And seconds later the doorbell would ring and some bread van broke down in front of his house. And he says, "This bread will go to waste. Here. You want it?" The Lord provided. Another time it was a milk van for milk. 11:18 The Lord did many other things like that. You read the story of George Müller. And you think, "Well, is that what he's going to say? The secret of my success was my faith to do great things." He says, "No. Let me tell you the secret. 11:31 Once upon a time, I died. And because I died, God was able to do something for me. That's why my life had aim, had purpose. Let me finish the quote. There was a day when George Müller died. Utterly died. 11:50 Died to himself, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will. Died to the world. It's approval. Approval means the world says, "Oh, what a good man." 12:08 Or censure. Censure means criticism. "Oh, George Müller, bad man." Good or bad, he died to the world's opinion. Died to the approval or blame even of my brethren. Other brothers and sisters in Christ, 12:27 their approval and blame also. Died to that. And friends. And since then, I only show myself approved to God. I read this quote about 7 years ago at a time when I was going through a very difficult 12:46 situation in the church there. Some of you know about it, and it transformed our church life. And I made it personal. How I actually have it written here was there was a day when Santosh died. And I said I said, "Lord, make this a 13:02 reality. I'm already born again. I'm already following you as a disciple, but I when I think about it deep down, I realize I haven't really died." Died means you could go to a cemetery 13:19 and rail at one of those people buried under there and say, "What you you're such an ugly person and you're good-for-nothing you. And you see no response at all. That's what death is. Then you stand there another person oh 13:36 man, you were amazing. What a handsome man you are and you were so good and kind and all that. No response. And as I examined my life, I realized why what I was going through was so such a turmoil inside 13:53 was because I hadn't really died. If a storm can shake you, dear brothers, it means that you haven't died. If what people say about you, criticism or praise, can affect you even a little bit, 14:10 then you haven't really died. The like those heart monitors, right? In the in the hospitals, they have heart monitors that say it's going up and down up and down means a heartbeat is there. And it goes up and down like that. Even 14:25 it goes steady line, that means there's no heartbeat. Now you say, "Ugly fellow you are." Steady. No change in the heart rate. That's the mark that you died. And I that 14:44 that quote, not just the quote, it was good for George Miller was saying it and I said, "Lord, let it not just be or George Miller said it. Lord, he had a life and you were able to use him." He doesn't say when that was, 14:57 but there was such a time and from that time his life was useful to the Lord. And dear brothers, God wants us to experience this. That we have come to a death and um now I believe it's a constant journey. We die daily. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:15 15, "I die daily." And yes, but there is I believe these moments where we hit a crisis and we reach the the that that point and it was that for me. I've had a few of those. And 2018 was one of them and it became a reality and 15:34 I think of it like this, the way I understand rockets, they have um there's a a process, I think it's called staging, where parts of the rocket fall off so that it can propel it release some extra weight. That weight is needed to send shoot it up initially, 15:51 but once it's trying to get into the stratosphere, it wants all that stuff to be left behind. And there may be things that you've had in your life that God now wants you to strip off. Friends, old relatives, old connections, attachments you've had. 16:08 Um ways of doing things that God is saying it's time to let go of that. I want to do something different. Ways in which the opinions of people in the church mattered so much to you. Time to let go of it. I want I want you 16:21 to die to that. And oh that we can be such a church. Psalm 90. We read in verse four, A thousand years in your sight are like 16:39 yesterday when it passes by or as a watch in the night. You have swept them away like a flood. They fall asleep. In the morning, they are like grass which sprouts anew. In the morning, it flourishes and sprouts anew. Toward evening, it fades 16:57 and withers away. What the psalmist, this is Moses, saying is that our life, even though I feel like it's even if you were to live a thousand years, we get to live I mean, nowadays, I was uh heard about a funeral of some an 17:17 acquaintance of mine who would have been in their early 50s, about my age. People younger than me have died. Um, if you live into your 70s and and you hear that somebody was in their 70s and they died, you think, "Yeah, he lived a 17:31 pretty good life. Not that much of a shock." 80s and they die, "Oh, wow. Okay, he lived a good life." 90s, definitely a full life. Rarely somebody makes it to a hundred. The number of people that in the modern last hundred years who have lived past a 17:48 hundred is very few. Even if you were to live a thousand, that would be like a day in God's eyes. Up in the morning and gone in the evening. So, what Moses is expressing here that he recognizes how short our life is. And in this short life, 18:07 God says, "I want you to run with aim. Have a purpose." Verse seven. Or actually, let's skip down to verse nine. For all our days have declined in your fury, we have finished our years like a sigh. Verse nine. Like a sigh. Like a 18:26 The little word there is actually a whisper. You know, in that What is a sigh? Moses is saying, "That's The your whole life was like like that." As for the days of our life, they contain 70 years. Or if due to strength, 80 years. He 18:45 doesn't even say 90 as a possibility. Yet, their pride is but labor and sorrow, for soon it is gone and we fly away. Soon it is gone and we fly away. Verse 12. So, what's the point of all of this? Teach us to number our days 19:03 that we may present to you a heart of wisdom. That was verse 12. Let the favor Verse 17. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us. And this is the phrase I wanted you to see. You confirm for us the work of our hands. 19:22 Yes, he repeats it. You confirm the work of our hands. You make it last. You make you the literal word that confirm means give permanence to. This is the word on my heart this morning. Lord, everything that I do 19:41 to me it just seems like just the hamster wheel they call it. You know, sometimes they you see these hamsters uh there's like a little rat, little mouse. It runs on a wheel and it just keeps running, running, running, running 19:54 and it's the same wheel going around. It doesn't I don't know if the hamster realizes that. But it thinks it's running because it's more you know, steps there, but it's just a wheel going around. Wheel going around, wheel going around and 20:09 Does it feel like that when you go to work on Monday? Hamster wheel, back to work on Monday. Here's another Monday. I know what's happening, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. You have midweek group, Friday maybe, 20:20 Saturday, Sunday, back to CFC. Is that it? And the cry in Moses' heart was Lord, teach me to number my days. Teach me to have an attitude so that you will give permanence to what I do. You get permanence. God will can give 20:41 permanence to what you do and it doesn't have to be preaching and singing, leading the singing or some work in the ministry of the church. Otherwise, God would ordain for us to just be here 24/7. And just spend all our life here. Why is 20:56 it that we go to work? And in the midst of our work, dear brothers, as we work hard, whether you're working or retired now or whatever you do and challenge your the children also, your children, your whether they're married, your 21:09 grandchildren if you have any. Say, "Lord, let the work of our hands have permanence." Which means in eternity I ought to be able to look back on December 21st, 2025 and recognize I did something then and 21:28 it's still there. It's It's It's a short time. Breath. In that short time the You know, what is breath? The moment it leaves your mouth. Have you ever been out in the cold uh sometime and you you see your breath, right? You can see your the breath 21:45 droplets. How far does that go? Maybe up to here. And that's your breath. Right? Another place, I think here he says it's like a hand breath. Short. So, you and I are from here to here. That's it. That's our life. Even if you live 80 years or 90 years. I 22:05 don't think anybody here has passed 90. Even if you live That's That's it. That's the entire life. But And yet God says in this short time you can do something that will last for all eternity. By going to work, by 22:24 loving your wife at home, by raising your children, by exemplifying Christ wherever you go. This is a life that's possible, brothers, and it's captivated my heart that everything I do You know, I I work a full-time job and 22:39 and I tell you I recognize that I spend I don't know what the actual percentage is is. I spend 8, 9 hours, sometimes 10 hours a day at work doing work Monday through Friday. Sometimes I have to work a little extra Saturday and Sunday to get ready for 22:55 Monday. And definitely more than 50%. Probably 70%. I don't know what the number is of my time is spent on things that I don't even know if after a year they might say hey we don't have a job for you anymore. They might I mean everybody people get 23:14 laid off all the time. So you get laid off and you find another job and then you do it there or they you work on something and then the the boss says actually no we didn't like it we've got a new vision now we're focusing on AI. So all that stuff you 23:29 did before is good for nothing. Now AI everything. You think all that stuff I did the last 5 years? This is the world we live in it's constantly making and discarding making and throwing away. Something new is coming. And in the midst of that God says don't 23:47 get caught up with the rat race. I've placed you in that job. I'm the one that put you there but in the midst of that I want you to let your work have permanence. You make the work of our hands permanent. Remember that dear brothers if you 24:06 haven't seen that verse and meditated on it. Psalm 90 verse 17. God wants to make the work of our hands permanent. And he wants to do that in your everyday life. When you come home and you spend time with your children playing a game 24:20 with them. As you sit down with them Lord we're about to play this game with my children or you're playing a football game even or whatever it might be you're just eating a meal. Lord this thing we're about to do let it have 24:31 permanence. I believe we can come to the place where everything we do has that eternal eternity breathed into it. What is it that gives something permanence? Is it oh you know you you did such a good job and it that it lasts. Like they talk 24:49 about the iPhone was a groundbreaking phone that Steve Jobs invented and that some technology like electricity, is groundbreaking. We keep, you know, the steam engine and cars and aero flying, the Wright brothers. All these 25:05 inventions that seem to have lasted for a long time, e- every one of those will pass away. In heaven, we won't be talking about how great the Wright brothers were in inventing flying because we'll all be flying. We won't talk about how great 25:20 electricity was because Jesus will be the light. So, all of these things are just passing away, even if they last a thousand years. What is it that will So, you could come up with the most fantastic invention, and everybody's talking on this earth about 25:36 that man, you know, in Bangalore, he came up with this invention, and we're all using it. Even that is not permanent. The only thing that can give permanence to our work here on this earth is if God breathes his eternal life into it. 25:53 I want to tell you, brothers, that my constant prayer is, "Lord, this thing that I'm doing, often it's when I sit at the table with my children and my wife to have a meal. I say, 'Lord, instead of just praying, 'Lord, thank 26:04 you for this food. Please bless it our bodies, health and strength. Okay, let's eat.'" When I pray, I say, "Lord, what we're about to do is not just sitting and eating food. I want you to come and breathe your eternity, your eternal life, into this 26:21 meal we're about to have together. It seems ordinary. We've got to eat to stay healthy, but Lord, will you come and make this moment eternal? Because you are the eternal God. Wherever God is, is eternity. It lasts forever. 26:37 And that's what God wants to give us, a life where every moment all of a sudden has etern- eternal value. Maybe just going for a walk with your wife, and you know, you you you'd have conversations, but as you do everything, 26:53 it's a it's a it's a mentality, it's an attitude. And I sit and pray, "Lord, come and be here. Let your presence be here. And breathe eternity into this moment so that it will be uh of permanence." 27:11 The contrast you read in 1 John chapter 2. 1 John 2 verse 17. First he says in verse 15, "Do not love the world." John 1 John 2 verse 15. And here's a very serious word. 27:30 "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." It's a good verse to meditate on sometime. And I've meditated on this sometimes and checked my heart. But you say, "But I said the prayer. I asked Jesus into my heart. I'm born 27:49 again." And yet God's word is true. "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." If you actually love the world, the reality is you don't have the love of the Father in you. It's not my words, it's God's. 28:04 And then he says, "The world is passing away. Everything in the world is passing away." That person whom you think, "Oh, what a good life he has. He's the CEO. He's got job security. Nobody's going to fire him. He's the best person in the 28:18 company. My job maybe at risk, but him, he's definitely fine." And that's passing away. That job security that that person seems to have is passing away. You think, "Okay, I'm fine. I've got enough retirement saved up. I'll be good uh for 28:33 a certain number of years." That's passing away. "Do not store up treasures here on this earth where rust destroys and moths will eat it. And the stock market can collapse and what you thought was safety is not. But store up treasures in heaven. How 28:50 are you going to store up treasures in heaven? By saying, "Lord, this moment, what I'm going to do, I'm about to go to work now, and I've got a long commute. And as you, you know, one of the good things about uh traffic is that you have a lot of time 29:04 to think while you're driving. And it may be frustrating, and you're running late, but while you're driving and stuck in traffic, say, "Lord, I'm about to go to work now in the midst of this traffic, give my work permanence. Make it of 29:17 eternal value." But the one who does the will of God lives forever. So, as you go into this new year, dear brothers, as we go into 2026, even if it hasn't been like that in 2025, let's seek for ways in which 29:36 constantly have that. And I want to leave with you two things that you can always seek to have with you that will give your every moment of your life. I hope you have faith, brothers, for this that I I'm not just speaking some idea. I'm 29:52 trying to show you God's word so that your faith will rest in God's word, not in something I've said, but this is the way I really want to go, increasingly. Lord, everything I do, it's pointless otherwise. If it's just Lord for me to 30:06 make it somehow, survive till you come and take me home, what's the point? Am I, you know, this in swimming, they talk about treading water. Treading water is you're just staying in the same place, um not moving anywhere, you're just 30:20 staying afloat. You're treading water. You're not going anywhere, you're just staying afloat. And let's say you you're on a ship and you fall overboard, they say, "Okay, tread water till somebody can come and rescue you." 30:35 Does the Christian life feel like you're treading water? Just waiting, Lord, I'm hanging on. Just come and help me, Lord, please. Please come today. Then I don't have to face tomorrow. Come today, Lord. I'm treading water, 30:46 treading water, but waiting. This this pointless life I'm living here, just running in circles. That's not the life God called us to live. Run with aim. Dear brothers, most of us still have jobs, still have responsibilities 31:03 that you have beginning tomorrow. Let Let's change our perspective. Let the Holy Spirit change our perspective and say, "Lord, instead of this complaining about the job I have and how I wish they would pay me more money or 31:13 why do I still have to work? Lord, give me purpose. Let me see that in the midst of this job that you've given me, as insecure as it is, you come and breathe eternity into it. And maybe you'll still suffer. Maybe you'll still 31:30 have uh difficulties. Your boss will still yell at you, and children will still be sick. But in the midst of that, you know there's a faith you have that this experience I'm going through is going to matter in eternity." 31:45 It has brought such comfort now to my life. And I don't do it perfectly, please understand. I still feel so inadequate in many ways, but since the Lord gripped my heart with this, now whenever I go through anything, yes, 32:00 sometimes there's tears. Yes, there's pain. Yes, sometimes I ask the Lord to answer a prayer and he delays his answer or says no or wait. Not always yes. In fact, more often it's no or wait than yes. But I know that even in the answers that 32:17 are no and the answers that are wait, God is there. And so, these two things I want to leave with you. And the first is keep the presence of the Lord always with you. Let's turn to Exodus chapter 33. Keep the presence of the Lord always 32:34 with you. If the presence of the Lord is there in a real way, not saying, "Oh Lord, let your presence be here." and sing it. You say, "Lord, meaningfully I Like I was saying, when I sit down at the dinner table and I say, 'Lord, let 32:45 your presence be here.'" and I picture Jesus coming and actually sitting there with us. In a real way, let your presence be with us. You read in Exodus 33, that God told Moses, "Listen, I'll bless you." The people of Israel had sinned so much 33:04 and God told Moses, "I will bless you." Exodus 33:1, "Depart, go up from her, you and the people whom you've brought up from the land of Egypt." And he says, verse two, "Listen, I can't go with you. But I'll send an angel with you." 33:21 And I will that angel will drive out the Canaanites and the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Imagine, dear brothers, if the Lord was to say, "Listen, I can't go with you. But I'll send an angel with you." 33:36 And listen, that angel, any problem you have, he'll solve. You need a a little extra money, angel will take care of it. You need some medicine, you need healing for your children, yeah, angel will do it for you. This is an angel of the Lord with 33:49 all his power. But the Lord's saying, "I'm not going to go with you." Because if I go with you, you may have some problems along the way. And I'll need you to lean on me. You will have to lean on me and trust me that I'm going to take care of it. But 34:03 you have that or the angel that goes in front of you. So, um And then what does Moses do? We'll skip down uh to verse 11. 34:21 So, the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. And when Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. I was mentioning that this morning. 34:36 Then Moses said to the Lord, "Lord, you're giving me an option. You're saying either you come with me or the you send the angel with me uh with us." And he said, "See, you say to me, 'Bring up this people.' But you yourself have not let me know 34:48 whom you will send with me. Lord, are you really saying just the angel, not you? Is that what you're really saying?" He's not clear. Moreover, you have said, "I have known you by name and you have also found favor in my sight." Lord, you tell me 35:00 that I found favor in your sight. Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, he doesn't say, "Bless me. If I have found favor in your sight, give me a good job, or heal me, or take care of my finances, take care of my 35:15 problems." No, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways. Don't leave, Lord. Stay with me. Let me know you. That I may know you so that I may find favor in your sight. And then the Lord said, um 35:37 uh Moses said, uh verse 14. He said, "My presence shall go with you, and he will and I will give you rest." And then Moses said to him, "If your presence does not go with us, just leave us here." Do you have that attitude? Lord, I'm 35:53 about to go to work tomorrow and a new week is going to start. If your presence doesn't go with me, Lord, I don't want blessing. I don't want your angel who will take care of all my problems for me. I don't want just that. I think most Christians would 36:06 be happy with that. An angel of the Lord is coming with you and any problem, anybody tries to do any harm, I I'll take care of it. The angel of the Lord. The Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, the 36:17 Jebusite, all your enemies, your boss, your the person on the road, or that uh whatever it might be. The angel will deal with all of those problems. Or do you want the presence of the Lord? And he says, "Lord, if your presence 36:30 doesn't go with me, then just leave me here." And the presence of the Lord goes with him. So, you know, the this it says about Moses, if you turn with me to Psalm 103, Moses had this attitude. The people of Israel, they were happy with the angel 36:49 of the Lord. Yeah, just send the angel of the Lord. I don't really need to know you. As long as you make sure I have enough water, make sure I have enough food, give me some meat. I like I'm non-veg. So, give me some meat. That's all. 37:02 Give give me all of that. But, um your presence, Lord? Yeah. So, Moses was different. He says, "Lord, I I don't need quail. I don't need manna. I don't need water, the bitter water, or anything like that. Your presence. 37:17 Give me your presence, Lord, then even if it's a wilderness and there's nothing to drink or eat, your presence is here. That's enough for me." And maybe what you're headed into this week or next year is is even more uncertainty. I think 37:29 there's more uncertainty job-wise, especially in the tech field, than there was 2000 in the beginning of 2025. You're going into 2026. I I face that, too. I don't know what the future holds, what 2026 will look like job-wise. 37:44 Definitely less secure than 2025 was. And do you think God is not in control? Do you think it's just the AI pioneers who are determining whether there's stability or not? No, God is in control. He said the world is passing away. So, 37:59 you should expect increasing instability in the world. It's dying. Passing away means this world is on its last breath. It's gasping for air and about to die, everything in this world. So, it shouldn't shock us that there is more 38:16 instability, that the heartbeat in the world is getting weaker and weaker because the world is passing away. The world is dying. And the people of Israel were content to just see the blessings of the Lord. That's what it says, Psalm 103 38:34 verse 7. Because Moses had this passion, "Lord, I I don't care about the blessing and all of that. You'll take care of that, I know, but I want your presence. I want to know your ways." And God said, "Yes, Moses, you can know my ways." 38:50 He made known his ways to Moses. What a wonderful promise. Moses cried out, "Dear brothers, is that the cry of your heart? Lord, I want to know your ways." And if he did it for Moses in the Old Testament, how much more for us in the 39:02 new covenant? Make that the cry of our heart, "Lord, I want to know your ways." And let it be said, "He made known to Santos his ways." What a wonderful promise to go into 2026. Lord, I don't need to know what you will do, whether I'll have a job or 39:17 or anything like that. I want to know you. I want to know your ways. And God says, "Okay, done." I'll show you my ways. But to the people of Israel, his acts. So, the people of Israel could say, "Oh, children, no. See, God, that time we 39:33 didn't have water, and the tree went into the they put the tree in, and the water was sweet. Oh, that other time we didn't have food, and this manna came from heaven." They're telling their children all this. That other time then 39:45 these birds came and said, "Here, catch me and cook me." This is a miracle from the Lord. These are the stories the people of Israel told their children. What did Moses tell his children? I'm imagining here. I know God, children. 39:59 I don't I'm Yeah, sure, the quail and the manna and all that, but I've got to know God a little bit better. Here's what God is like. Is that what you want to show your children? Here's what God is like. Have you known God's ways because you asked him and 40:12 thirsted for it, and now your children can say, "Daddy knows God." So, seek for the presence of the Lord always. And the second I would say is seek to always walk by faith. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Imagine if God was to tell you this 40:36 morning, "Listen, son. I can show you a movie of exactly what 2026 is going to look like. January 1st, January 2nd, January 3rd, I'll show you everything. You can see now December 31st, 2026, you'll see your whole life. Yeah, you'll go through this 40:56 thing, but God will work it out, and then that other thing will happen, and you'll think you'll face this trial, but I'll take care of it." And he shows you in detail every day of 2026. He says, "That's option one. 41:12 Option two is you just hold my hand." Think about this. Option one is I'll show you a movie of everything in 2026. Day January 1st to December 31st. Full everything else. And you'll see, 2026 will be fine. 41:31 You thought some calamity is going to happen. No, see, it worked out great. March 29th, June 17th, like that. You got to December 31st just fine. You have that option, or hold my hand. Which would you pick? 41:49 2 Corinthians 5, it says in verse 7, "We walk by faith, not by sight." See, faith is the opposite of sight. And what delights God, it says in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. So, which means with faith it's pleasing 42:07 to God. And God says, "Santosh, okay, which would you pick?" Now, the reality is God is not going to give you that option. And there's nobody that can see the future and say 2026 will look like that, 2027. It would feel nice, wouldn't it? 42:19 In our flesh. This is a question the Lord asked me actually, that's where it's coming from. I felt the Lord saying, "Santosh, you really want me to tell you from now until the end of your life how it all looks, how it will all end, and for your 42:32 children also, and your grandchildren, who they will marry, how they will get settled, they'll have enough money. You want me to show you that? A movie of the whole your your your life and your home, your children, how everything will work out? Or do you just 42:45 want my hand? It will please me, Santosh, if you just take my hand." Faith is pleasing to the Lord. And so today I want to encourage you, always choose to walk by faith. Often we demand answers from God. Lord, show me, is it going to work out? And I 43:03 worry, and I fret, and I'm anxious. And the Lord says, "Choose to walk by faith. We walk by faith, not by sight." There's a phrase that says about Hebrews about Sarah in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 verse 11. 43:22 By faith, even Sarah herself received ability to conceive even beyond the proper time of life. Why? We're told here why Sarah Sarah's womb was able to produce a child at the age of 90. Why? 43:41 It's not because there was some, you know, medical miracle or anything like that. It says very clearly that she received the ability to conceive even beyond the proper time of life, since why? She considered him faithful 43:59 who had promised. It's a good phrase to go into 2026 with. God is faithful. He promised it. He said, "I will cause all things to work together for good to those who love him me and are called according to my purpose." He said it 44:16 and Sarah said, "He's good He's good for it." Consider him faithful who promised. This is to walk by faith. Lord, you promised me that you will cause all things to work together for good and you are able to keep me from stumbling Jude 44:31 24 and cause me to stand before you full of joy and you you you that's that's what you promised all these promises that we memorize every other week is a promise I and you promised it and I consider you faithful, so I'm just going to choose 44:47 your hand, Lord, today. And you don't have to show me anything. If you want to show me that's fine, but that's not going to change my rest and my trust in you. Dear brothers, this is you know, the we're called the household 45:01 of faith. Galatians 6 it says the household of faith. Think about the church being a household of faith. Now you and I as heads of our homes, let's make our homes households of faith. And let's be leaders. Let's be heads of 45:17 the household of faith. You're the head of the household, right? Now be the head of the household of faith, which means lead your wives. Let's lead our wives. Let's lead our children on this journey of hus- father honey, wife, we don't need 45:32 to know what God is going to how God is going to take care of this problem. Maybe one of your children is struggling in some way. They've backslidden or you don't know what's going to happen with them. You tell your wife, "Let's pray." 45:45 And you take the initiative to lead your family in faith. And maybe you share this image with with your wife. You say, "Wife, we could we could see how our daughter, our son is all going to work out or we could just trust God. Let's trust God." Let's and 46:00 you take the initiative. You lead your wife into that let's place our hand in God and place it there. And then you lead your children. Maybe your children are going through some struggle and some uncertainty, some disappointment and they're struggling 46:13 and you call your child, "Come child. We don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if you're going to pass that test or which job you'll get or will you get entrance into that college, your entrance exam, how will it go? You work 46:24 hard, you do that, but let's trust God. Let's just put our hand in God's hand in faith." Let's go this way, brothers. I believe it's a way of joy. It's the way of rest. It's a way of putting confidence where we will never be disappointed. 46:41 Always seek for the presence of the Lord in everything you do. Always choose the path of faith, not the path of sight. Heavenly Father, I pray you'll give us this life. I want it, Lord. You know even me, Lord, how often I'm 46:56 tempted to be worried or anxious. And I believe all of us can relate to that and you can relate to that, Lord, because you were tempted in all points as we are. You are the author and finisher of our faith. You gave us an example of faith 47:11 where you trusted your Father perfectly. Give us such a life, Lord, I pray. Bless these dear brothers, encourage them, strengthen them, provide for all their needs in every circumstance, Lord, and above all strengthen their faith. I 47:23 pray, Lord, like you prayed for us that their faith will not fail. And we pray together, Lord, let our faith not fail. Thank you that you are there at the right hand of the Father interceding for us even now and your prayer is the same, 47:36 let their faith not fail. Thank you, Lord, and your prayer will be answered. Our faith will not fail. We trust you. You will preserve us. Fill us with your spirit, Lord, give us the spirit of faith. Pour out that spirit in our midst 47:48 even now and among each brother here and their homes represented here, the marriages represented here, the single brothers, this church, Lord, let this be a household of faith. We thank you you will do it in Jesus name. Amen.
