 Okay. Good morning and welcome to class. It's Friday. I know it's the last day of the week, so we're kind of, you know, kind of waiting for the weekend to rest. Okay. But we just pray that God will give us the grace and the strength to go through this day to open our minds to receive what he has, what he has to teach us, what he has to speak to us that we would be willing to listen and hear. Okay. Welcome to our online students as well. Welcome to Nina and Arilla and Krisha. Can one of you lead us in prayer, please? Can come up here in front and you can pray so our online students can also see, you know, our in-person students. Anyone wants to come and pray? Come, Charisma. So this is Charisma and she's going to lead us in prayer. You can stand right in front of the camera. Father, we thank you for this day. Father, we love you, Lord. Lord, I surrender this class into your hands. We ask God that you will speak to us, that you will make it clear to us, God, that we will understand every word that proceeds from your mouth, that you will remove the distractions from our mind and help us to concentrate and focus on what Selena Mam is teaching. Lord, we ask for your grace and your mercy, God. Lord, I also pray that you will reveal your purpose, God, as we are going through these lessons into each and every one of our lives. I cover each and every one by your blood. Be with us and lead us in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Charisma. Okay. Okay, so we were looking at the nine tight posts. What is the first one? Recognize. Okay. Recognize the teaching in God's word. The second one. Recognize the seeds what God has put into your life, the talents, the giftings. Okay. What else? Recognize the stirring within. God stirs us up, leads us to do some things, compels us to do some things. Okay. Yes. I think Krisha has also said stirring. Okay. Thank you, Krisha. Okay. What is the next? Recognize the grace of God that is on your life. Okay. What did we understand by the grace of God? Divine favor, divine empowerment, and grace is also the character of God. Okay. So the three contexts that we see in the New Testament. Okay. And what did we learn about grace? What did we understand about grace, calling, your gifts? What did we understand about that? Okay. God's power works in and through us. When does God's power work in and through us? When does greater responsibility is greater empowerment? Okay. So what did we learn? Grace is given to different measures to everyone, but grace is given to everyone. Very good. Okay. Grace is given to everyone. Okay. And then grace is given for what? Okay. It is given to fulfill your function, to accomplish God's plan and purpose for your life. Very good. Thank you. And what else? When you have the grace of God to fulfill a specific function and you are fulfilling that specific function that God has given you, your position yourself, right? What do you experience? Yes. You experience the power of God. Thank you, Karen. You experience the power of God. And that's how you know that you are in the right place, fulfilling the right function that God has given you. Okay. And also grace means what? When you have grace, you just can't sit back and relax. You know, you have to work hard. You have to labor hard. Okay. Okay. Then what is the next one? Recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit. Okay. The Holy Spirit leads and guides us, teaches us, reveals the mind of God to us, reveals the plans and the purposes of God to us. Because we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 9 and 10, what God has prepared for those who love him, but who has revealed it to us. So Holy Spirit who reveals it to us. Okay. What's the next principle? Recognize the circumstances. Okay. God puts us in different circumstances. We need to recognize that. He works according to that. Then what else? Recognize Godly counsel and wisdom. That is where we stopped. Okay. So we said that Godly counsel is not a command. It is some instruction. It is sharing of knowledge that is given to us. Okay. I hope you are open the PDF in front of you so you can just follow. So we need to, you know, we also receive or we know God's plan and purpose for our life through Godly counsel. Okay. Through people who have, through the wisdom and the counsel of people who have been experienced in that field. And I gave you examples of how not to ask counsel from your own peers. Sometimes yes, peers can help us in certain aspects of our life. But when you're making strategic important decisions, you know, it's important not to ask our peers because, you know, they are not people who have gone through those experiences. It's better to ask somebody who is older. Okay. And I gave you an example of King Rehoboam. Remember what happened? He asked his peers. He asked also counsel from, you know, wise men who were in his father's time. Okay. And they gave him the counsel, you know, and he followed the counsel of his peers. And what happened? The whole kingdom of Israel got divided. Thank you. Yes. Okay. And then we stopped there. We looked at Paul in what he writes in 1 Corinthians 7. And then we moved on to, and I gave you some verses to read from Proverbs. I hope you read those verses from Proverbs. They're simple, just one-liners. And then we stopped at the example of Moses and Jethro in Exodus chapter 18. Okay. So in Exodus chapter 18, we see that Jethro, who is Moses' father-in-law, comes to visit Moses. And he sees Moses from sunrise to sundown. What is he doing? What is he doing? Yes. He's judging people sitting and judging. You know, one person comes and says, you know, this man, you know, he's building his wall on my property. Another one comes and says husband and wife, they are fighting. They're not able to get along with each other. Neighbors are fighting. So whole day, you know, Moses is judging the people. And then when Jethro sees this, he realizes that this is going to drain Moses. Okay. It's totally going to drain Moses. So he tells Moses, can I give you an advice? Okay. And what's the advice he gives him? Anyone knows? Okay. To set up people in groups so that, you know, people can come to them for judging. And what does he tell Moses? You are supposed to be hearing from God. Okay. So important things about the community or the people of Israel, important decisions that these elders cannot judge. They can bring it to you. And you are supposed to be in a place where you are just hearing from God. Just let the other leaders, you know, train them and give them the job and let them execute the job of judging. And what does Jethro say? You're just my father-in-law. You have no business in my business. Mind your own business. Did he say that? No. He listens. He takes advice and counsel because he knows that his father-in-law is much older. He's giving a, you know, counsel or wisdom to him and he takes it and then he implements it and it just benefits him. So here we see that, you know, we need to be humble enough to receive counsel. Okay. We need to be humble enough to receive counsel from those who God has placed over our lives. Okay. Sometimes we don't want to listen to counsel of people and what they're telling us because we think, you know, we know better. Right. But we need to acknowledge this fact that when God has placed somebody over us, whoever they might be. Okay. You know, we need to respect that. We need to listen to their counsel. We need to humble ourselves and listen to them because that honors God. And here we see that Moses was raised up like a leader. He could have told his father-in-law, you don't know about leadership. You know, you've just led sheep. You've not led people. You know, I know better. I know what I'm doing. If God has to tell me what to do, then he would have told me. Okay. Moses, you don't be judging everybody. You do this. But we see Moses's humility in listening to his father-in-law. Okay. So it requires humility for us and that is what God is more interested in. That when somebody who God has placed over our lives who's in charge over us, we need to humble ourselves and we need to listen to them. Okay. And receive counsel and what they are telling us to do. So there are three kinds of counsel. The first one is counsel based on person's own knowledge and experience. So, you know, people give us counsel based on their own knowledge and experience. Okay. I also said that don't go to people who, you know, will say yes to your yes. Yeah. Okay. Don't go to people who say yes to your yes. That means, you know, when you think this is what should be done and, you know, somebody your own age, somebody your own peer group, you know, feels the same thing, then it's not going to help the benefit. You go to somebody who's, you know, who is older than you, who has better experience, who will be able to help you to see the other side of things. Okay. You know, go to people who are willing to look at you in your face and say, this is not right. This is wrong. This is what you should be doing. This is how you should be behaving. This is what God, what honors God. Okay. And that's why sometimes we don't go to our parents, okay, because they look us in the face and they will tell us what is wrong. But we go to our peers because they look us in the face and they'll feel sad for us and they say, yeah, I mean, I'm going through this. You know, what you're saying is right. What you're doing is right. Okay. And Psalm chapter one verse one says, blessed is a man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. Okay. Or stands in the path of sinners, those who sit in the seat of the scoffers or scornful. Which means that, you know, we don't take advice from the ungodly. Of course, the ungodly people can also give us wisdom in certain areas of our life. But when it comes to spiritual things, when it comes to God's plans and purposes for our lives, it's good to get advice from those who are, you know, godly, who are mature, who have better experience. Okay. The second one is counsel based on God's written word. We've already looked at it. You know, God's word gives us the counsel. It guides us. It teaches us. It rebukes us. It trains us in righteousness and holiness. The third one is counsel based on prophetic inspiration. Okay. So sometimes through prophetic words, we can receive counsel which will direct us in the season that we are in. It will direct us in the next season that we are going into or entering into. But we need to, the important thing here is the first one, the counsel that we receive from people. The third one, the prophetic inspiration, the counsel we receive from prophetic inspiration has to be tested, has to be verified, has to be, you know, verified, has to be tested. And how do we test it by God's word? Okay. We go back to God's word and we test it from God's word. Okay. To see if this is what God wants us to do, if this is what God is telling us. Because not every prophet releases a prophetic word. Let me give you an example. Okay. Sometimes we just take, you know, people's prophetic words, you know, as like, you know, the written word of God. Okay. But we need to test that. And, you know, sometimes even prophets, you know, can make an error. Okay. For example, 1st Chronicles, chapter 17, verses one to five. We read there that, you know, David had a desire to build God's house, right. And so when Prophet Nathan comes, he tells him, you know, I dwell, he tells him that, you know, I'm dwelling in this big house of seder, a big palace, but the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord is just in tents, okay, in a tent. Okay. And so Nathan tells David, do all that is in your heart because God is with you. And now David is very excited because he receives this word from, sorry, David is very excited. Yes, because he receives this word from Prophet Nathan. He thinks this must be even God's plan for his life. And so, you know, he, you know, Nathan goes back and at night, you know, the word of the Lord comes to Nathan saying in verse four of chapter 17, go tell my servant David, that says the Lord, you shall not build me a house to dwell in. Okay. So what does Prophet Nathan say first? Yes, go ahead, do whatever God has put in your heart. But then God tells Nathan, no, this is not my plan. So it's important that we test counsel what we receive from people and from prophets. Okay. And how do we test these councils? How do we test if it is, you know, what God is telling us in this season, in this point of our life? Of course, it is has to go according to the written word of God. But also we read in Romans chapter 14, verse seven, that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy. So if the council, somebody's given you a council, whether it's a man, woman, godly man, woman, or it's a prophetic word, then you know, it should produce righteousness, peace and joy. Okay. When it produces righteousness, peace and joy from the kingdom, if it's not, it's not of the kingdom. So this is one way you can test counsel that you receive. That is for the first and the third one. Those two things, you know, word of God, you can just, you know, receive it and you can believe because the written word of God. Okay. So that is recognizing, you know, Godly council, wisdom and counsel from Godly men and women. The next principle is recognizing the times and seasons. Now, if you want to discover God's plan and purpose for your life, it's important to recognize the times and seasons that you are in because God works according to his time. Okay. And he works according to, he does things according to his time. God has a time when he does things in history and even in our lives. Okay. God has a timetable, okay, which he has already planned before and even before the foundations of the world. God has a timetable. So to say, how do we know that? If you read in Genesis chapter three was 15, God says that that I will put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his key. Now, who is God talking about here? I'll put enmity between you and the woman. I put enmity between you and the woman. So who's a you here? Satan, Satan and woman between your seed and her seed. So who's the two seeds here? If you look at the seed there in that verse, if you look into Genesis chapter three was 15, you know, I want all of you to see it. The small seed and a capital seed, okay, a small s for seed and then followed by a capital s for the other seed. Okay. So the small s is talking about who? The seed of the woman. Okay. So whenever we see spirit, which is written in small s, it's talking about human spirit. But wherever it's talking, it has a capital s is referring to the holy spirit. Okay. So the same way with God and God, okay, capital G is talking about the two living God, small G is talking about idols. Okay. So your seed is talking about the seed of the woman and the capital seed is talking about Jesus Christ. Okay. Who will come in the, who is the seed of the woman? But it's talking about Jesus Christ and it says here he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his key. So again, capital H, which is referring to Jesus Christ. So Jesus will bruise the Satan will bruise the healer of Jesus, but you know, Jesus will, you know, you know, strike Satan. So here we see that, you know, God has this plan to bring about this in history, but how long does it take before the seed comes? Almost 4,000 years. Okay. Before 4,000 years, God has only planned that the seed of the woman that is Jesus Christ will bruise the head of the serpent. Okay. We'll crush, sorry, we'll crush the head of the serpent. Okay. Yes. Yes. So God is saying I will put enmity between the woman and serpent and between your seed and her seed is between your seed is, you know, with, with man and also her seed, which is referring to Jesus Christ, because Satan, you know, tempted Jesus, we just read one temptation that's given in Matthew, but we develop, they would have been numerous temptations where Jesus was tempted. And also we see that, you know, Satan would, you know, bruise the head of Jesus, but Jesus will crush the head of the serpent. Okay. We'll crush Satan on the cross. So it's basically talking here about the seed, the capital is referring to Jesus Christ who will come, you know, and would on the cross would defeat Satan and, you know, disarm him and, you know, remove all the powers that he has. Okay. Yeah, enmity is, I'll put enmity between your seed. That means enmity between, we'll have enmity between Satan and us and also enmity between Jesus and Satan. Okay. Satan is an enemy of Jesus. And he's also our enemy. Right. Okay. So it took 4,000 years, even though it was in God's timetable, it took 4,000 years for God to fulfill it. Why did it take 4,000 years? They look at Galatians chapter four, verse four. What does it say? When the fullness of time had come. Okay. So God had this in his timetable even before the foundations of the world. But why did it take 4,000 years? Because the fullness of time, the right time. Okay. You need to remember that in God's timetable, there are two things for time. One that is chronos time, chronological time, which he does chronologically. Chronologically means, you know, the things that he's unfolding. Okay. And there is a kairos time. What is a kairos time? It's the fullness of time. It's a God's appointed time, the right time when God will bring about things in your life. Okay. So you go through chronos time, where you're a child, you're a baby, you're an infant, you know, you grow up and you know, God does everything for you in according to the chronos time. Okay. What you need as a baby, as an infant, a baby, a child, a grown up, a teenager, a youth, an adult. Okay. He does everything. But there is a kairos time when God in his kairos time will fulfill his plan and purpose in your life. And that is God's appointed time. Okay. So God has appointed times and seasons when he does things. He does not do things randomly. We already learned that, right? He does, he's got a design perfection. He doesn't do things randomly. Okay. We see that, you know, even before the Israelites were in Egypt, how many years were there in Egypt? The Israelites, as slaves, 400 years. Even before that, did God say that they're going to be in slavery for 400 years? Who did he say it to? Yeah, he said that to Abraham. Thank you, Nina. He said that to Abraham. So he said that 400 years, your descendants will be in an unknown place. There will be slaves, but I will deliver them. Okay. So we see that God delivered them, you know, even though it was in his timetable, but at the right moment, you know, God delivered them after 400 years, actually after 430 years. Why 430 years? Because Moses, you know, he did things in his own flesh and it delayed things some more. So we need to remember this that, you know, God has kairos moments for us the right time when he's going to fulfill things in our life. But if we don't walk according to God's plan and purpose, if we don't position ourselves right, if we do things, we make judgments and decisions and choices according to our flesh, it delays God's kairos moments. That means what he wants to do in our life, what he wants to fulfill in our lives. Okay, another example is when the Israelites, you know, they were taken into Babylon in captivity. What did God say? How many years they would be in Babylon in captivity? 70 years. After 70 years, what did God do? In the fullness of time, he raised up King Cyrus and King Cyrus allowed them to go back from Babylon to Israel to build the walls and to relocate and to live back in Israel. So God has a timetable for you as well. Psalm 31 verse 15 says, the Psalmist says, my times are in your hands. Okay, tell your neighbor, your time is in God's hand. Okay, your time is in God's hand. Okay, your when, your when, your how, your why are all in God's hands. Okay, the calendar of your life is not hanging in your bedroom or in the hall or, you know, in your house. The calendar of your life is actually in the hands of God. Can we say amen to that? Yes, amen. Okay, so the calendar of your life is in God's hands. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 11 says, for everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. For everything there is a season. Okay, there might be things in your heart that you want to do, that you want to fulfill, but we must understand that everything that is in your heart, there is a time, there is a point in time, there's a point in season. Okay, for it to unfold here on earth. Okay, and we also know this verse, he makes all things beautiful in his time. Okay, when does he make all things beautiful in his time? Yes, when does he make all things beautiful in his time? Not in our time, not in what we want to choose, not when we want, but it's in his time, he makes all things beautiful. In his time, he will bring about perfection, he will bring about fullness, he will bring to maturity, everything that is required of us in his appointed time. And God is never late, he's always on time. Okay, tell your neighbor, God is never late, he's always on time. You know, sometimes we think God, why are you delaying these things in my life, but God is always on time. Okay, so we need to learn to view our life in seasons, very important. Okay, do you view your life in seasons? Yes, no? Yes, only one question, two people, three. Okay, how do you view your life in seasons? Okay, a season when you're happy, season when you're sad, what are the seasons in your life? Yes, as a student, a time when you will start working, time when you are going to marriage, a time of parenting, you know, before that what? You just arrive at that point as a student? No, you were an infant, you went to childhood, you went to young age and you were teenage, young adults, and now you're young adults, some of you are adults as well. Okay, and then you will, you know, transition to different seasons in life. So we need to view our life in seasons. Now, we need to view where you are today, particularly in what season of life you are in now is very, very important. Okay, you're not going to remain in the season for the rest of your life. Okay, there will be a new season that will come, but you need to recognize what season you are in presently. Okay, the same way, even as we go through different seasons in life, even in our walk with God, okay, we go through seasons in our journey with God, we go through different seasons, we go through a new season as well. So in every season, God has a plan and a purpose that he wants us to fulfill. So if you understand which season of life you are in, you will understand what you're supposed to do and what you are not supposed to do. Okay, so now you're in a season where you are a student. Okay, as a student, you're not thinking about motherhood or you're not thinking about being a parent, right? What are you thinking? You're thinking of just to study, to equip yourself in the Word of God in ministry so that you can launch out into ministry. Okay, so what is your next season of life? Your next season of life could be where you are launching out into ministry or for some of you, your next season of life could also be that you are launching out into ministry and also you're thinking about settling down in marriage. Okay, so we need to understand the season that we are in so that we can understand what God's plan and purpose for our life is in this season and for the next season. If you look at 1 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 32, it says, okay, I want one of you to read that. Thank you. So here we see that the sons of Issac, you know, had understanding of the times. Okay, had understanding of the times and it's important for us to have an understanding of the times and the season that we are in. So if you don't have an understanding, what do you do? Okay, if you don't have an understanding, what do you do? You recognize the season. You can't recognize the purpose God has for you. Okay, if you want to recognize the purpose God has for you in the season, you want to understand what do you do? Yeah, simple. Just ask God. Thank you. As simple as that. You just ask God, say, God, give me an understanding of the season that I am in. What is the plan? What is the purpose? What do you want me to do? What you don't want me to do? Give me the understanding of the time and season that I am in presently in. And when you ask God, will God reveal? Yes. And that will determine and help you to know what to do in this season. What course of action to take. Okay. What to pursue, what plans to pursue, what you're supposed to do, what you're supposed to carry out. Everything God will reveal to you. So understanding the times will teach you what you are supposed to do in a specific season. So ask God, okay. God, what season of life I am in. Okay. And then say, God, reveal it to me. Show me, help me and guide me and lead me. Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verses 5 and 6 says, A wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment. Okay. So whose heart discerns time and judgment? A wise man. Wisdom comes from God. Doesn't come from just reading textbooks, from worldly knowledge, that is knowledge. Wisdom comes from God. So you can say, God, give me the wisdom to understand the times and seasons. So judge what I'm supposed to do, what I'm not supposed to do. And it says in verse 6, because every matter, there is a time and judgment. For every matter in life, there is a right time and the right thing that we are supposed to do. Okay. And only a wise man or a wise woman will be able to understand what action to take. Okay. All of us are not wise in ourselves, but we get wisdom from God. So we must ask God, God, give me the wisdom to understand what time and season I am in, what action I must take, and live life season by season. Okay. And if you do, then you will be able to realize, you know, what God is doing in the season and what he wants to do in the next season of your life. Okay. Now there are different seasons that we go through. There is a foundation season. Okay. Now foundation season does not necessarily be when you are a children. Okay. When you are studying in grade 1 to grade 10, but it can even be now. Now is your foundation's, you know, period of foundation or laying season, where you are basically building yourself up to be ministers of God or to be in full-time ministry. Okay. Now is foundation season a very beautiful season? When you're, you know, when a building is being built, is the foundation season very beautiful? No. It's very messy. It's very dirty. There's mud all over. Everything is dark. You know, and there's a, you know, you know, how big the building is, that big, deep, dark, deadly earth. And you don't go look and say, wow, what a beautiful, awesome pitch this is. Okay. You just look at it and say, oh, I mean, how much of mud, how deep they have, you know, have dug into the earth. Okay. So foundation time is not easy. It's very messy. It's very dirty. It's not beautiful. It's not glamorous. Nobody clacks for us. It also involves a lot of hard work, digging and digging and digging, you know, so that the foundations is strong and there is no building coming up. You know, when a building comes up, everyone say, wow, what a beautiful, you know, house, you know, look at that color, look at this grills, you know, what beautiful architecture or look at a building, you know, you just, you know, stand in awe of it. But then, you know, when the foundation period is a time when it's hard work, you know, it's a messy work. It's difficult. It's going to be strenuous. It's going to be painful. It's not glamorous. And it's also hard work. You have to really work hard. No one is going to applaud you. People are just going to look at you and say, not supposed to be doing this. You're not supposed to be doing this. This is how you have to be. This is how you have to learn. So, you know, as students now, all of you are in a foundation period and it's not going to be easy. When I was in Bible College, when I was in the foundation period, it was not at all easy for me. The first time going out of home and, you know, staying in a hostel with people from different cultures, you're put with people from different cultures, different mindsets, different attitudes, you know, you had to adjust, you know, to a roommate or when you want to sleep is playing the music. You know, when you want to study, you know, she is trying to clean the room or, you know, we have different people with different temperaments, different mindsets. And you're wondering, God, did I come to Bible College with these kind of people? I mean, God is really teaching us that nobody is perfect. So, when you're going to go into ministry, you're going to minister to imperfect people just like I am imperfect. And you know, God taught me that very early on in life because now I handle two teams with so many people with different mindsets, different attitudes, you know, and God is giving me the grace to handle them because I know, okay, I do this, then this is the sun, I do that, this is how I need to say this. So, I'm thankful to God that I went through these six years in Bible College, you know, handling different people from different mindsets, cultures. It just, God's given me the understanding, the grace, the maturity, how to handle people. And it's coming to a place of leadership. You don't have this experience. It can throw you out of gear and they can be so much of this unity. You'll be fighting with each other rather than doing God's work. Okay. So, it taught me to learn to live in unity with others who are different mindsets. It's basically God teaching me that, you know, unity is more important than what is your legitimate right, what you think is right, what is, what you think is wrong. And even in Bible College, when, you know, every day for breakfast we had chapati with three curries which they rotated. Every afternoon we had dal and rice with three vegetables that was rotated. And, you know, every time for dinner we had, I had egg curry because, you know, I don't eat beef, it was buffalo's meat. And then I don't eat pork. So every day it was egg curry. So, you know, God is again teaching me that, you know, ministry is not a matter of convenience. It's not convenience. Okay. It's hardships. You need to face all this. And God is not saying I want you to eat all this so that you can suffer and all. No. You know, he's just training us up to know that, you know, God, I'm willing to give up all of these things, pleasures in life just to pursue the call. So, you know, I've been here in ministry for 22 years, I would have quit long time back when I saw attitudes of people, when things got difficult, when people say, you know, you have to do this, you have to do it this way, you know, I could have just quit. But all of this training actually helped me to, you know, run my race with perseverance and endurance. Saying all these are, you know, small things, you know, God will remove it. What is it, I have to do ministry. If I do have to do ministry, I, you know, I have to deal with all of these things. God will remove it. Give me the grace. But what is more important is to fix my eyes on Jesus. And you see even Paul went through so much of hardships and difficulties in life, you know. But you see, even in prison, when he's nearing death, he's writing his letters to the committee, he's writing his letters to filament, he's writing his letter to Titus and he's encouraging them. Imagine in a position where he's going to face death, you know, even be persecuted, you know, he's writing letters of encouragement. Why? Because he's gone through, you know, to read for Corinthians, he talks about all the hardships that he's gone through, right? So all of those is actually, did God really want to put all of these hardships in Paul's life? You know, but why? Just to strengthen his faith, just to say that these things doesn't matter. What you need to do is focus your eyes on Jesus. You know, when I went to Bible college, I never used to sweep and mop and wash the restrooms and toilet and all that. We had to do it and we had to wash the toilet and bathroom where everybody used to go. You know, all of us were put into, you know, the timetable and we had to clean. It was really difficult. But I thank God because, you know, when we, APC uses, you know, not our own space, we don't have our own buildings. We use other buildings. And, you know, sometimes when we meet for children's church, the previous day there would have been a party. There would have been all messed up. And, you know, we can't, when calling the workers, they say, we'll come. They have 10, 15 minutes. They don't come. And I don't wait. I just take the broom and sweep it myself or even just wash the toilet. You know, because for me, you know, you're a pastor and you're sweeping. You're a pastor and washing the toilet. For me, it doesn't really matter because I'm so used to doing it in Bible college. So, you know, I just thank God for all the training that he has given to me. And that is, you know, building our character. That is giving us perseverance. That is giving us endurance to see that all of these things really matter. What really matters is to focus on the calling. And, you know, God will give you the grace to do everything. So what is your objective of foundation period? The foundation period objective is, you know, to build a strong foundation, a deep foundation, a foundation that will allow you to expand. And I thank God for those six years. It was very difficult. At one point of time, when I came back from holidays, you know, I had become so quiet. My mother said, this is what Bible college is doing to you. I'm not going to send you back. But I went back because I know that is God's call. I know he's training me. He's, you know, refining me. He's, you know, renewing my character so that, you know, I can just do what God has called me to do. And God is teaching me that ministry is not a matter of convenience. It's a command. That's what God has taught me. Ministry is not a matter of convenience when it's convenient. I'll serve God when it's not convenient. I'll just walk out. I'll do what I want. But God is teaching me ministry is a matter of command. Okay, to stay focused. And that is why I stayed for 22 years and God will give me the grace to continue on. Okay. So in life, when we go, you know, God takes us to the seasons. There will be difficult seasons, messy seasons, you know, but God wants us to learn so that we can have a strong character, a strong career. And we need to go through all of these things to learn these things. Okay. The next season is the tunnel season or the dark season or the night season. You know, I know you've all gone in train and when you go through tunnels, what do you do? Scream. You scream, right? But when you go through a tunnel, there's no way you can go right or left to escape the tunnel. You can't go back. Okay. Only thing is you go forward. Why do you go forward? Because, you know, there is light. The tunnel is going to end. It's not going to be forever and ever and ever. Amen. Okay. You go through, you go to the tunnel of life with the eyes of things. Okay. That this tunnel will end. So one thing you know that there is an end to this tunnel that you're going through the season. The only way out is to go through the tunnel and God would, you know, you need to stay faithful. So tell your neighbor, wake him up, somebody sleeping, wake them up and say, stay faithful with the tunnel season. Okay. Then there's just another season is just enough season versus abundance and harvest. You know, you know, there's a season where there is abundance. You know, when you stay with your family, with your parents, there's abundance. Anytime you want anything to ask them, they'll buy you. You want to eat anything. You want to go anywhere. They'll do it for you. Okay. There is the abundant season. Okay. Your parents take care of you. You don't have to cook. They'll just, you know, cook. They'll feed you. They will get everything that is needed for you. Then there will be a season where, you know, you get married. Okay. Then you move out of your parents' house. Maybe you move to a smaller accommodation. You have to learn to cook yourself. You have to learn to adjust with your husband, with your in-laws. You have to clean. You have to wash. Okay. So it's, it's a season where, you know, just enough season. Okay. When you were with your parents, you know, money was freely available. You can do anything, buy everything. But you know, when you are married, you know, you have to, you're working. You have to divide your finances. You do more window shopping than real shopping, right? You just go and say, okay, this is nice. I'll buy it sometime in the future. Okay. So, so this is window shopping, you know, but then as things, you don't stay in that season for long. Okay. As you progress, you earn well, you move on, you can move on to a bigger house, you know, then you can buy things, whatever you want. But it's important in those seasons that you stay faithful. Okay. As you become a parent, then your needs become secondary to your children's needs because you have to take care of their schooling, their, you know, everything that the child needs and your needs become secondary compared to your children, compared to taking care of her in-laws or the needs of your extended family as well. So just enough season to us as abundant harvest. Okay. But, you know, in the season, God is teaching you how to learn to manage money, your finances, learning how to say no to certain things, learning how to, you know, give up certain things, learning how to put others first. So God is teaching us everything to this just enough versus abundant season. Okay. Luke chapter 16 verses 10 and 11 says, if you are faithful in little things, God will give you much. Okay. So in these seasons of like foundation seasons, you know, just, you know, enough season, you know, it's just, you know, you would need to be faithful in this season because when God sees you being faithful, he will give you much. Okay. So if you want to move out of the season of just enough, you know, season to a season of abundance, you need to learn to manage and be faithful with the time, the resources, the money, the people that God has given to you. Okay. You need to be faithful with what God is entrusted to you now so that God can entrust you with greater things. Okay. Then there's a season of grief and sorrow. We all know that we all go to seasons and grief and sorrow, but it's very important that, you know, grief is something that Satan uses very subtly to destroy our life. So you need to break from that spirit of grief because that spirit of grief can bring in depression, can suicidal tendencies, can also stop you from furthering God's plan and purpose for your life. Okay. And also stops you from trusting God. Okay. Can take you away from God because you're angry with God that he took away your loved one and you don't trust God. Say, God, I cannot do without this, my loved one. Okay. This was my all in all, but God is saying, I am your all in all. So we're not learning to trust and depend upon God. Then the seasons of trials and challenges of where we all go to trials and challenges, whether it is our health, whether it is, you know, adjusting to new places, new things, the foundation season, whatever. But, you know, during these seasons, God deals with our character. Okay. When God takes you to trials and challenges, it's not because he hates you. He's not punishing you is because he wants to deal with your character. Okay. When Paul is writing to the church at, you know, I don't know. I think it is current. He tells, you know, give this man up to Satan. You know, this man, there's a man who was living an immortal life. And he tells some of the church, give him up to Satan. Now Paul is not being rude and saying, you know, give him up to Satan. So that Satan can destroy his life. What Paul is really saying is, you know, give him up to Satan means when he is, you know, out of God's protection, when Satan brings in all trials and difficulties, then he will recognize his sin. He will turn to God. He will repent and then he can come back. Okay. And the same thing Paul is even writing to Timothy. You know, have nothing to do with such a person. It's not that, you know, get rid of that person or, you know, shun him totally. But, you know, just leave him out of the fellowship. You have nothing to do with him so that, you know, when God's protection is removed, he can, you know, when he goes to trials and situations, you know, when God's protection is not over our life, Satan can easily bring in all of trials and persecutions. And when we go through all that, what happens? You know, the person might recognize their sin. God, I'm sorry for what I've done. Please forgive me and we'll come back to God. Okay. So that is the attitude of God. Not that he wants to punish us, curse us, you know, but to all of these challenges, he's teach and tough seasons in life. He's teaching us lessons. You know, whenever I want to tough seasons in life, I've, whether it's with another person, whether it's with an organization or whatever. I've always asked God, God, what is my mistake? Show me what I have done wrong. And because when I have able to see what I have done wrong, it has helped me to change my own character. It helps me. It benefits me more than anything else. Okay. Our break time now, we'll stop here. Okay. And we'll meet after the break.