 right good morning everyone welcome back to another session right let's just begin the session with the word of prayer maybe one of us could lead us in prayer Salome if you're there can you please lead us in prayer yes Pastor thank you Jesus thank you Lord thank you for this morning your father girl thank you for this meeting of father girl God I pray father you will lead pastor father you will every word that you see is a father God thank this time that we could have a father God that we could learn from him that we will learn from him and I pray God that you will lead us in everything that we do a father thank you Jesus thank you master for all I've done I give it Lordy honor and praise in Jesus much name we pray amen amen amen thank you Salome all right so as we get into today's class let's just quickly look at what we did yesterday yesterday we started with chapter 2 carrier plan we looked at how it's important to know our grace our gifts our skills and once we know those you know the grace and the gifts that God has given us we are to develop in that right and how do we develop we explore opportunities we we get input from people who are experienced or from our leaders and we drop a plan right we write a plan we you know we think about it we can as we discuss we can write plans of you know one-year plan five-year plan 10-year plan whatever you feel comfortable with and then we looked at some very important but practical things one of them was even as we as believers you know we start praying we start seeking God very important is to step out right I didn't give you that example where you know I was spending time in prayer but I was not stepping out right so everything must be done simultaneously we pray we seek God we hear from God but we are also to step out right and why do we step out it's like we're knocking on doors we're asking God God open doors for us give us opportunity give me opportunities to you know use my gifts use my skills and talents for your kingdom and so it's very important that we balance both of these so let's continue from where we stopped we are picking up from the point expect unusual favor on your notes you can check that it's page 20 on your notes expect unusual favor let's read Genesis chapter 39 and verse 21 Genesis 29 verse 31 right before we read that if you also have questions on anything in terms of this course you have questions you can unmute and ask you can also post the questions on your chat and we look to answer that right Genesis to 39 39 verse 21 yes one of us please read yes go ahead anybody Genesis 39 and verse 21 Genesis 39 21 but the Lord was with Joseph and saw him mercy and he gave him favor in the sight of keeper of the person prison yeah thank you Abinas now we know the story of Joseph right when we read through the whole story there was so many ups and downs right early in his life God spoke to him said you know you will lead you'll be a leader your brothers will bow down before you that made the brothers jealous and you know his father loved him so much the brothers again were more jealous they threw him into this place into the spit he was sold as a slave things were going all right again things went bad you right so we see ups and downs but here's the thing Genesis 39 21 the Lord was with Joseph right such a comforting verse that is but the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor right so as as the scriptures we see that many people all through the scriptures we see that God showered unusual favor upon people right when God's favor is upon our lives the impossible becomes possible right now let's look at you know some of the examples that are not here in this book let's look at Daniel right Daniel was very favored to the point that you know when when he was old and Darius comes in as the king Darius tells him no I want you to be the leader you should be the you know the prime minister of this and coordinate everything in this place so much so that you know even the riots knew that Daniel was a man of God a man who had character who had unusual favor of God then we look at even Nehemiah now if you read the book of Nehemiah it is it is unusual favor a picture this you've got the you know the people the Babylonians they come they destroy Jerusalem right they break the walls they burn it down and the walls of Jerusalem are completely broken down and destroyed and Nehemiah is living you know a comfortable life in the palace he was a cup bearer for the king so he was living a comfortable life and the Lord minister to him and he goes to the king and he says oh king how can I buy how can I be pleased when my you know my city Jerusalem my nation the people are you know being destroyed the walls have been broken the burns are the gates have been burned down how can I be in peace and after that if we read the king the king grants all the wishes of Nehemiah so it's basically those people the Assyrians the Babylonians came they destroyed the gates burnt the place down and they themselves paid for it and sent their own people to rebuild it again so when we are in God's will and in God's plan we can expect unusual favor to come upon us now this unusual favor is not only for ministry right we can be in the workplace and God can grant us unusual favor right God can give us people you know make us people of influence give us access to people give us access to places opportunities and this is something that you and I should pray for Lord even as I go grant us favor grant us favor and when God's favor is upon us whether they are people from our faith or people from other faith it won't really matter because when God is planted God can use anybody to pour out that favor upon us right so from one stage of our life to the next stage in our career in our workplace in our ministry ask and pray and ask God for favor right now let me give you this little example we were in in Mangalore one of the things that we wanted to do was to reach out to colleges the city of Mangalore has plenty of institutions so we are new to Mangalore and so we did some research online we said okay what are the top universities so we got a list of about five six universities and then we began to pray so God grant us favor grant us opportunities open doors so as a church every day we would whenever we'd meet for 21 days of prayer or every Sundays Friday prayers we would pray God grant us favor right and I would say that as a church we received unusual favor what happened was you know one day we we we got an email saying that we can go meet with this the principle of a very reputed college here in Mangalore so we went and we told him we met him and met him we told him that we you know we teach the word of God and you know it was a Christian institution so we teach the word of God in different places in Bangalore do you think you'll be open to doing this in in in Mangalore as well so this this principle was so excited he said yes we want you to come every week teach our students the scriptures every week right and then he said not only this I want you to also go to the 11th and 12th standard I will speak to the principle there and you can go there and also teach in those in that college so in just a five minute conversation we got opportunities in 11th and 12th and the degree students the three-year degree students so that rounded up to about 800 odd students in a week just teaching them the word of God and slowly after this it didn't stop there this principle said I know of other colleges and I will call them and tell them that you know we need to get something like this involved in our curriculum where we teach the scriptures so he opened those for two other colleges and colleges after colleges began to open up right he said hey if you are going to this one of the best colleges in Mangalore and teaching please come to our college and so right now we have opportunities in about seven colleges where we go every week now that it's online sometimes we do it online but we teach the word of God to the students then we have also counseling our sessions we have you know life skills sessions all this happened just because of one person and God should favor through him to us just one one principle and he doesn't even really know us all of this happened in five minutes five minute conversation so when we ask God for favor God can grant us not just favor but unusual favor maybe in your business or in your work you know you have to do presentations when the favor of God is upon you the managers or your leaders and your your bosses say hey this is something that we like this is something that we can take forward and it is something that will be pleasing in your leaders eyes why because the favor of God is upon it right so now this does not mean that we don't prepare right we prepare we do all the preparatory work we you know we didn't go to the father blank and say you know we want to do this but we took a whole you know a curriculum we told them these are the you know chapters these are the courses that we can do these are the topics that we can cover one of the topics is suicide and you know which is a problem and drug addiction these are problems you can we can address the students with all these matters so we were prepared and when he went there we saw the favor of God Proverbs 1435 the king's favor is towards a wise servant but his wrath is against him who causes shame so in our workplace now the word king can be leaders our bosses in our workplace when we work in wisdom when we work in integrity the favor of God will be upon us right so I want to encourage each one of you it is nothing wrong to pray and say God grant me you know unexpected unusual favor you will see that people will begin to you know call you maybe maybe in your workplace you know now you've not really been given any importance but if God's favors upon you people will call you you will be brought in front right so don't give up on that then the next point you can build only after you have settled down so stop wandering now this is a very important point Proverbs 27 verse 8 the message translation says people who don't settle down wandering hither and yon are like restless birds flitting to and fro now we do understand that there will be times of transitions in the workplace even in ministry there will be transitions right we talked about it yesterday if you worked in a company for five years you may feel okay this other company is getting me a better position with better prospects and I feel I can do better here why don't I shift yes transitions will be there now as we also discussed each transition is usually you know three to four years because it helps you to grow in that in those you know years of working in a place but the mistake that we may make is in a bid to you know to get everything easily we may very soon you know transition from one place to another right and what happens is we may not settle down in a certain place restless birds don't lay you know don't build a nest they don't lay eggs they're always flying around they're going to one place to another always moving about and I know of plenty of young people who have gone into companies and you know a young man that I know of it was 2020 January he had to submit his yearly report for the year 2018 and he was given a deadline he didn't complete it in that deadline and then he got a strong email from his boss yet he still you know he apologized and he began to work on it but it was long time long past due and finally his boss got really upset and said I didn't get the review for the document for the year 2018 and really you know was upset with him and shouted at him right which is understandable because you know those due date was already passed and there was no response from him and then when he met me he told me that in a fit of anger he said I'm not gonna work in this place I quit and he just wrote that email and he quit that moment he wrote his resignation letter and the the his boss said all right no problem and and then later and when his mind was cool he sat down and he thought about what he did and he was so ashamed of what he did he said what have I done you know this job is something that he really liked it was a good opportunity a growing company in a fit of anger he just put his papers down and then to make matters worse in 2020 February March didn't that season COVID came in and you know he was he was just down and out he was not getting any job anywhere even to this day he is still looking up for a job so what I'm trying to say is resist the temptation of jumping from one place to another just for the sake of certain benefits right don't don't you know work in a place for six months then work in another place for six months then move again no try to settle yourself now I'm not saying that you know things are going to be easy I sometimes you may have to drag yourself to work oh I don't feel like going to work I'm not happy with this it's alright continue right it may be one year in this job that you're doing and you feel oh I don't want to work here it's it's just it's getting too much but hear from the Lord if the Lord is not opening any door and you feel that there's no transition required stay on right develop in your skills develop in your you know in the grace that God has given you right the the mistake that we make is the moment we get bored we want to shift right at the moment we feel that okay this company is not good they don't have this we want to shift so don't we are not to do that right we it's good to stay in a place you know I'm not talking only about you know corporate jobs but I've seen people in ministry as well come they work you know they say oh no this is not something I want to do and they just move on you know there are people this young man that I met in a different state many years back and he was saying I got a job in them I always want to be in the ministry and he got a job as you know he liked to preach and you know teach the word of God wonderful young man and then he got a job in a church to write material for children's church that he had to write material and write stories and make a curriculum for the children's church so he began he was excited he began that work and after three four months he got bored so he put his papers down and left and then you know we were doing a conference this is way back and he was talking to me and he said no this is what happened so I asked him why you left he said because I got bored of it it was not my calling so I had to explain to him that you know through these doors even though it is children's church you're creating material you're equipping yourself you're studying the word you're creating material you know once you become a pastor that's what you have to do you have to sit and prepare create sermons create material and after talking to him he realized you know the mistake that he made and he said I will go and you know request for another opportunity so even before we make decisions it's very important to hear from God it's not about our feeling right here from God is the Lord leading you towards the change look at the time frame look at all the other aspects involved right and then make decisions right stop wandering around but but but see what you can build on after you settle down right next point sharpen your edge which means your grace your gifts your skills as you are growing as you are in the corporate sector or in the ministry sharpen your edge like imagine an axe the the axe is you know it looks very nice right but what if the axe the point of the axe is blunt we can look at an axe and say oh this is a wonderful looking axe I think it can cut down a tree very easily by the look of it but you won't really know it until we take the axe and you know try to cut down a branch or a tree and if it's blunt nothing is going to happen right so in our professional carriers the grace the gifts everything that God has called us for we are to grow in it sharpen it maybe you know some things that you feel that you're not strong in and you want to grow in that so sharpen your edge right sharpen the things that you are if there are things that you're already good at build on it right don't say I know this so let me learn something else you can also do that but take time take effort take make take energy to progress in your life right that's why a plan is very important because we can go past year after year after year and remain the same right let me give you an example you know I'm not very technically savvy I know the basics of you know computers and just the basics right now we worked in the IT company so you know we know Excel word PowerPoint all those things but when when when I joined APC there was this campaign called the power to change campaign and you know our church was involved in this campaign also it was a global campaign and I remember I was just new to the church like new stuff and pastor said Paul can you handle this and I said yes but I didn't realize that you know it involved there was this whole software called the CHMS or and it involved a lot of technical things a lot of technical things right now I'm good at I feel my strengths are you know going and meeting people praying for people preaching creating material you know more of these practically oriented things and but I got that opportunity and I was praying I said God I'm gonna have I'm having a really tough time you know because all technical things and we have you know the IT team they would use words which I have no idea about they would say can you do this on the software do that on the software I had a really tough time but I realized that hey gone are those days where ministry is only about going on the streets and standing there and you know preaching it's not only that technology God is going to use technology in the ministry so I have to develop I have to sharpen my skills so you know I took it as a as a as something that I want to grow in as a challenge and I began to learn was it easy no I think Tarun is also here on this call many times I've called Tarun who has helped me in so many ways so what am I trying to say just because we are not interested in something doesn't mean God is not going to put that in our plate right I was not interested in technology and all these you know IT things but God made me do it said you learn it was it interesting no I don't it was not interesting at all to me asked me to lead worship for one or two hours we can do it but not on the software with all those but God expected me to learn it and so I look back and I think okay I'm glad I did that because even now we're using that software and I've become you know it's comfortable for me to use and technically I think I've improved right is it good yes is it in line with what I'm doing yes but that time in the year 2012 it was not in line I think it was 2014 when we had the power to change campaign so learn new things develop new skills and expand your skills don't don't just say okay this is what I am this is what only I'm going to do right for example if you feel that God has called you for to be a teacher right so expand your skills learn more things learn more ways of teaching new ideas of teaching now with online you have to come up with new ideas right children have to be willing to sit and listen even though it's online right so new ideas ask God to give you new strategies new you know ways of communicating to the children so develop those skills right and as you develop as you make progress you'll see that you are fulfilling the plan of God in your life right so you're very important I want to just emphasize on that just because you know God has called us to be a pastor or evangelist does not mean that whatever opportunity we get is going to be in line with that right so when we look at the bigger picture God can give you something that is very unrelated to what you know to what we are doing what you're doing now but later on it's going to help you right all right any questions any thoughts on this is it all right any questions shall we go on it's good sir yes we can go on but I haven't got a question which page are we now okay I I'm using the the hard copy so let me just check what page we are in now so we are on chapter 2 chapter 2 the point of the point is sharpen your edge grace yeah page 15 yes Samuel page 15 yeah that okay Maxon you're there yes it's okay I get it yeah okay so let's move to the next point right take stock of things frequently review revise and refine the three hours review refine and revise right let's read Proverbs chapter 4 verse 26 yes could one of us please read that Proverbs 4 verse 26 Proverbs 4 26 ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established hey man thank you Samuel ponder the path of your feet so the writer here in Proverbs he's saying don't just go wherever you feel like going right ponder sit think about the path about the steps that you are taking right don't do things out of the blue right taking when you're taking steps think about where you're going think about what you want to do how you plan to achieve that how you plan to you know work out your professional life or even your family children how are you planning so ponder on the paths of your feet now the word feet does not mean that wherever you walk you look it means your life plan ponder about that path pause now maybe sometimes you know we get so used to working now we've been working in the company for the same company for it's been one year two years three years five years and we're just doing the same thing now it's very important to not get into that you know that cycle of monotony but we need to pause we need to stop at times reflect review yourself okay 2015 I joined this company I just an example 2015 I joined this company now it's 2020 it's been 21 we just finished okay it's been six years now what have I achieved where have I sharpened my skills where am I looking at ahead so frequently review yourself revise whatever God has put in your heart 2015 God may have said you know you may have felt that you want to do you know something in this field but somewhere along the line the Lord may have impressed something else in your heart He may lead you to a different direction revise it's all right don't say God no no no can I please take on to this itself because this is what I want to do no right revise it's all right to revise it's all right to refine your plan right because it's not only it's not a it's not something we remember we don't know everything that we are going to be right we look at the next point points later on also you know God is in control so we make the plan we we ask we surrender it to God let God work it out right so but here's important thing review your plan revise it read it again think about it and wherever there's needs to be some changes or refining to be made do that now for example I'm in the year 2015 I made a you know a document plan till 2020 but in 2018 we had to make this transition to another city and look at ABC Mangalore now that was not in the document right 2015 I didn't know that I'll be going to another city with my family but the work the ministry was something that was always continuing but there was a transition there was a change so when I look back 2015 and and now there's so many things that you know have been revised so many things that have been uh you know refined yet uh it has it has improved it has benefited my life so the same way take stock of things don't let months and years go by just the way it is take stock of things one of the things that you know growing families remember this young couple in you know in our church they they we were speaking together they said it's so hard to manage with one child so difficult the child is so small and you know we have to you know plan out execute things either one of us should go and I completely understood it because you know we have two small kids as well but I encouraged them and I said look it's just a part of life the children are going to grow they're not going to be the same right children are going to grow my kids were small children will go through you know those kind of fevers and those those tough times and the good times as well so children will grow it's a part of life you're five years from now my children will be you know 12 years old and they grown up so it's a part of life so we don't give up in that season okay no it's very difficult so you know there's another couple that I had met and they were speaking to me and they said you know we don't have any children it's their wish nothing wrong with that you don't have children why they said no because it is too much of a headache we have to you know look after and you know nobody comes to help and there's no helpers and all of this I realized that you know sometimes we need to be willing to come out of our comfort zone when you review your life when you make a review and you feel that there are some things that should change you can revise you can refine it now I'm not against you know children not having children just trying to say that the reason for not having children was you know can be changed and so there are times we will have to take stock of things take stock of things right here is what I have achieved financially in the year 2020 make a budget we're going to be talking about all of that budgeting everything later on as well so we can look at that right let's go to the next point to grow we need to change right first Corinthians 1311 yes one of us please read that first Corinthians 1311 to grow we need to change first Corinthians 1311 when I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things thank you thank you Christopher right Paul is writing it so perfectly here when I was a child I spoke as a child and I understood as a child but as we grow as we mature we put away childish things right so whether in the workplace whether in the ministry growth happens through a process of change you know spiritually we have changed glory to glory strength to strength but maturity happens when we go through life and we go through and accept the changes that are there in life right nothing in this world is constant change will keep changing many things in our professional life in our spiritual life there will be changes right some of these changes may be easy changes some of these changes may be critical or difficult changes or drastic changes changes can be anticipated changes can be you know unexpected right now the year 2020 nobody knew we're going into a whole season of online church and online working from home maybe you know 10 years back the whole concept of work from home was very very very limited in especially in nations like India we believe get up go to work 95 work come back but the whole concept of work from home right changes this is a drastic change and looking forward 20 you know coming years as well many companies are shutting down their offices are closing because you know they work from the employees are working from home why should they pay you know high amounts of lease and you know keep those offices open when people are working from home and the outcome or the productivity is the same or even better so many companies have gone to fully working from home so some changes may come upon us unexpectedly some changes we need to take it up right we can now for example now we can look ahead we can say okay let's focus on you know media we can really you know do ministry through the media so we can do that right now as long as change is moving you further in your life plan go with it right if there are changes in your life my life and it's moving you forward go with it don't say no no I don't want to change no enjoy the seasons of change enjoy the seasons where you know you're stable everything is you know the stability enjoy the seasons where it's not stable as well right but put away childish thinking put away childish thoughts become mature right even in the ministry it is it is sad to say that many leaders who are many many years in the ministry but they're still you know immature in certain things why because you know they're not accepting the change happening around there's this one pastor who came up to me and said I don't like the new gospel songs I like only the hymns they have you know a lot of weightage of the word of God in them I don't like the new gospel songs and so there's nothing wrong in the new gospel songs there's nothing wrong with the hymns yes the hymns are powerful but the gospel the new worship bands are powerful as well many of songs are written out of a place where they've gone through difficulties or seasons in their own lives and many songs are directly from the word of God right so we should be willing to change right the way ministry was done 15 years back and the way ministry is done now may be very different right so enjoy the changes that God will put in your life look for clarity as you keep journeying Proverbs 4 18 but the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day now remember very important things may be unclear we don't know the where the why the when how and which we may be in a dead-end job we don't know what is ahead of us right we don't know some things may be completely disinteresting here's the important thing continue to pursue and ask God for clarity ask God for clarity God is this something that I should put my foot into is this something that is going to help me fulfill the plan of God in my life is this something that will that my the gifts and the grace that you've given me is it something that I can do in my life right so ask God for clarity avoid the donkey and the horse syndrome let's read Psalms 32 8 and 9 Psalms 32 8 and 9 go ahead one of us Rupa can you please read that sure sir Psalm 32 8 and 9 I will instruct you and teach you in a way you should go I will guide you with my eye do not be like the horse or like the moon which have no understanding which must be harnessed bit and brittle else they will not come near you thank you thank you Rupa right so what a what an important instruction God has promised to teach us to lead us to guide us he will empower us God has promised all of that but God also tells us don't be like the donkey and don't be like the horse now look at the donkey you keep pushing it you sometimes you tell it calm come it does not come it will just be so stubborn it will sit in one place right it it will just not move you know there are times when a donkey can be hungry and if you put a plate of you know food it is sometimes so lazy to get up and come and eat it it can be so stubborn that the food the plate of food may have to come till the donkey like donkey is a stubborn they and very lazy animals very reluctant don't be like the donkey don't be like the horse where the horse you know it just wants to run it just wants to go and sometimes you know that's why the horse have a brittle so the the person can control the horse because they can go wild and just go anywhere run here and there just go anywhere that is why you see these you know the horse racing they have the brittle which controls them say okay you need to go left you need to go right you need to you know slow down here or go fast here they need to be controlled why because they can just go anytime anywhere do anything so the writer here in Psalm 32 is saying don't be like the donkey too lazy too reluctant or don't be like the horse too quick going anywhere doing anything but be wise avoid both of them have a stability in your life plan well right remember to walk in step with God don't be in a hurry or don't be too lazy to take decisions sometimes in our in our professional life or in our ministry in ministry we may have to make quick decisions right the decision has to be taken I don't say oh no let me wait for the next you know month or so and then I'll make the decision sometimes decisions need to be quick sometimes you need to sit you need to ponder on decisions to be made right so avoid these two syndromes I love that verse it says you know we need to have a sober mind sober mind not too high not too low see sober just be calm through all the seasons be sober right have control over your thoughts over your decisions over your planning have control over it right remember that even as you step out the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord I love this verse sounds 37 23 I'll just read that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way though he falls he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with his hands now there are plenty of times we will make mistakes we may not hear the word we may not hear God clearly and we may make a decision and make a mistake and we may fall but this word says always help me says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord the Lord will lift us up back he will not despise us right I've had my share of mistakes plenty of them right just because I'm teaching this does not mean I've not made mistakes plenty of mistakes right but one thing I can testify and say is the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord the Lord will uphold us and the mistakes that we've made we learn from them that's maturity we learn from those mistakes don't make repeat those mistakes again right so be assured even in the decisions we make we may feel this is a right decision you may feel that God is leading you towards it but and the today it may look like hey it's a wrong decision remember the steps of a good man are ordered by God God is ordering your steps right trust God even when you can't figure out everything right nothing happens on our own we can't you know figure out all things by ourselves we don't know what 2022 holds right we don't know what 2023 holds we can't figure out anything on ourselves but make your plan trust in the Lord with all your heart right things will change things will not change by planning we are being good stewards of God we're saying God whatever you've given me I'm being a good steward or whatever talent grace material blessings everything that you've given me I'm being a good steward I'm planning ahead for the coming years finally step up to your mountain when we use the word mountain we're talking about the spheres of influence now if you see in your notes there are seven main spheres of influence which is family an institution set up by God which we have to you know as as if we have children and as parents we have to be able to look after our family Paul writes and he says if we don't if you can't look after the family how can you look after the body of Christ the church right so it's very important family to religion which includes the church education many of us may be school teachers in the professional field of education then you've got media right newspapers TV ads internet arts and entertainment sports all these areas business many of us may be in small businesses big businesses business transactions being made or government in the government sector whatever field we are in God is encouraging us and he's saying step up to your mountain go take your mountain right does not mean if somebody has a job in the government sector that God is not with them God is with them right in between all the things that are happening maybe there's corruption there's hatred there's jealousy all those things but in between all of that God can grant us unusual favor and God can use us like Daniel in the government sector he's able to do it right so here's the important thing we had to find out what fear God has called us for if we already know it that's great work towards it so we close with this we finished chapter two we'll come back next week we'll begin with chapter three all right let's close in prayer uh ask maybe uh uh maxon can you lead us in prayer close close in prayer please okay let us pray thank you lord for allowing us to gain insight from you i worship you this time for allow us i pray for everyone wherever we are we are going to have a break for another class lord ladies in the name of Jesus Christ amen amen amen thank you maxon thank you everybody for joining have a great week ahead i'll see you next monday good bless