 Okay, welcome back after the break. We'll continue. We were looking at the different seasons that we go through in life. Just another season I'd like to mention is a season when we are serving another man. Okay, I don't think that's there in your notes, but a season when we are serving another man. Luke chapter 16 verse 12 says who can give you what is your own if you are not faithful with what is another man's. Okay, Luke chapter 16 verse 12 says who can give you what is your own if you're not faithful with what is another man's. Okay, so there will be seasons when God was Luke chapter 16 verse 12 says who can give you what is your own if you are not faithful with what is another man's. Okay, so there will be seasons in our life when, you know, God requires us to work under others, you know, or to be in others vineyard. Okay, to be part of what God is asking someone else to fulfill. And those seasons when you have to give in your, you know, you have to be faithful, sincere, committed, you have to work hard for to fulfill, you know, what God's and God's plan and purposes for them. What they're calling is to fulfill their calling, you give in all your talents, your time, your energy, your giftings, your creativity. And you're saying, God, you know, what am I doing here? You know, I'm in another man's business. You know, when I want to do my own business, for example, you're saying, God, I want to start my own church. That is what you have said is my plan and purpose for my life. What am I doing here? You know, serving another pastor. You know, but God is saying, you know, it's taking us through times and seasons where we need will be under others or in others vineyard. So to say, we're building up other people's business. Okay, or their plans and purposes that God has called them to fulfill. And God is asking us to be faithful there. God is asking us to be sincere and committed. And in that process, God is actually teaching us that when we have our own. You know, when we become an employer one day and we're no longer an employee, then we draw on all that we have learned that what has happened to us and we become better employers. Okay, so when you are faithful, when you're sincere, when you're committed in what is other man's business or other woman's business, then you do what is required of you in Luke chapter 16 verse 12. And the principle will come into effect. What is the effect of that? If you are faithful in what is not your own, you know, God will give you if you're faithful in what is another man's God will entrust to you your own. Okay, and God will bless you. He will multiply you. Okay, so we look at this was to recognize, you know, God's times and seasons in your life. And then we look at the last guide post. What is the last guide post recognize God's pattern of working. And then once we do that, we will take up any questions any of you have. Okay. Okay. Can you just put on that switch please? Yeah, because my camera is very, very, you know, it's not functioning to its full extent. So I forgot to put this later. Okay, so we the last guide post the last indicator for us to help us to understand God's purpose and plan for our life is to recognize God's pattern of working. Okay, so the Bible unveils to us that God is in a habit of setting up examples, patterns and models in people's life for us to follow. Okay, and I'll just give you some example. Paul says in 1st Timothy chapter one was 15 and 16, but we look at verse 16. He says, For this reason I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life. So what Paul is saying here is whatever Jesus did in me is a pattern for others to follow. Okay, so why does Paul write about his entire life? Everything that happens is because he's saying whatever Jesus has done in my life is a pattern for for all of us. Okay, to follow to understand the same thing we see in Abraham's life. Okay, God says if you want to follow the steps of faith, look at whom the life of Abraham. Okay, he's a pattern to follow on how we need to walk in faith. So if you want to know how to walk in faith, there's a pattern already said for us that God has said for us and who is that? Abraham, Romans chapter 4 verse 12 says, last phrase of verse 12 says, but who also walk in the steps of faith with our Father Abraham. So what Paul is writing here is a church at Rome, he's saying it's not the law, it's not the circumcision. Okay, which is a sign of covenant that is going to make you be justified in God's sight, which is going to make you faultless or blameless before God, but it is faith. It is righteousness by faith, it's right through grace by faith. And he's saying, you know, Abraham is giving an example of Abraham and he's saying Abraham, even before he received the law, even before he received the sign of circumcision, which is a sign of the covenant, you know, he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. So Abraham was made right in God's sight, not by keeping the law, not by the sign of circumcision, but by faith because he believed in God. Okay, so he very beautifully talks about that in Romans chapter 4. Okay, so Abraham is an example for us, you know, to follow, to walk in faith because Abraham did not know where he was going. He just obeyed God, that is faith. Faith is you don't see, but yet you believe. Okay, so then another example, he says, take for example Job. Now, Job is an example of what? For us. Job is an example of endurance. Yes, thank you, Rin. Job is an example of endurance. So if you want to see a pattern of endurance, who do you look at? Job. Okay, you look at Job, James chapter 5 verses 10 to 11 says, you have heard of the perseverance of Job. What does it mean your perseverance? Perseverance? Online students, anyone knows what's the meaning of perseverance? Yes, Evangini? Constantly striving. I like that word constantly, thank you. Constantly striving. Okay, never giving up. In a good example is a spider. You pull down the web because you know, go back and speak. Okay, so he's saying, you know, you've heard of the perseverance of Job. So have perseverance like Job. Job went through a lot of difficulties and hardships, but he never gave up on God and he was blessed doubly for what? He had what he had before. Okay, then also an example we can, one more example, many examples that God has given us in the Bible, patterns that we can follow. One example is the people of Israel. Okay, we read about them in the, we can learn so much about them when we read, you know, the Pentateuchal books or when we read the Old Testament. And so in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 10, 11 says, you know, now verse 11 says, now all these things happen to them as examples. All that happened to the Israelites is an example for us to learn so that we don't fall in the same pit. We don't suffer like them. Okay, that they were written for our admonition upon whom the end of ages have come. Okay, so if you look at your own life, you will see God working in certain patterns. How do you know God's plan and purpose for your life through this? Now, how do you recognize the pattern of God's working? Okay, I'll just give you an example from my own life. You know, when I told you as a young person, I love children. Okay, when I was in 12th grade, even before I went into Bible college, I was teaching in Sunday school. Okay, but when I went to Bible college, I wanted to basically get into the whole thing of counseling. But I saw God again putting me with children. So, you know, my weekend ministry, you know, we have all put in ministries where we go out and minister in the city of Pune. So I was put into school ministry. So I was, you know, never thought of that I would go to school and teach scripture. Okay, and then on weekend, we have campus ministry where we do inside campus. Again, there I was teaching Sunday school to all our faculty, children, staff and all our students who have children. You know, we have a Bible club on Fridays for them. I was part of that group. And then weekend ministry, again, I saw myself on Sundays going to church. And again, they put me into children's ministry. But then when I was in my fourth year, I wanted to do my thesis and I thought I'm going to get into counseling. So I wanted to counsel drug addicts and alcoholics. I went to wrote my thesis on that. I went to Kolkata for my internship for seven months. I worked in Kolkata with drug addicts and alcoholics. Again, they got put me with children. You know, I stayed with children. They picked up on our platform. I ministered to street children who used to come to our center. I used to teach in scripture in the school that the same organization that I was with had. So I, you know, saw myself going back to children every time. And then when I wanted to go back after my studies in Bible college and I wanted to go back to doing counseling and working with drug addicts and alcoholics, there was no door open. Even though I thought there was an wide door open, got shut that and who got me brought me back to buying clothes. And I was working with an organization which was more with families. And you know, with the families, I was just coordinating all their programs. And one fine day my boss looks at me and says, you know, good with children. Why don't you start a project for children? And you know, I started a project with product project for not product project for children and you know, started ministering to children in schools. And that is where I saw God taking me. And that's where I'm still now, even though I wanted to do counseling, you know, but you know, God's plan and purpose for me was to minister to children. And I could see that pattern. Are you able to understand the pattern, you know, that he took me through. And I know that this is where God has called me. This is where he wants me to minister. And of course I counsel children, even as I minister to them. So he works in certain ways in our life, a certain way that he is leading us. We need to discern that, understand that. And through this pattern of working, he's unfolding things in your life. So somebody, some of you might be interested in working with you. So some of you are, you feel very much for women, single women, divorced women, abused women, or some of you might feel sad for children, you know, on the streets, right? And you know, all of that. And so you see a pattern of God working in your life and that will help you discern what is God's calling plan and purpose for your life. So that's a certain way he's guiding you, a certain way he's doing things in your life. Now, don't be upset if you're not able to see this pattern saying, God, why don't I see this pattern? Am I so unrighteous and holy? No, it's not that. Okay. God will show you that pattern, but you need to start being conscious. Okay. I didn't realize way then that this is a pattern. Okay. Now, when I'm, you know, go through pastor's book. Oh, yeah, this is a pattern. God is the son. He wants me to do it. But some point in time, you begin to recognize. So start being conscious of that possibility and start looking for patterns in your life. Okay. So this is the end of the nine guideposts that, you know, to how God will lead us to discern his plan and purpose for our life. Okay. So if you're looking in your own life for what does God's plan for my life? What is he doing in and through my life? If you want to know what God wants to achieve in and through your life, then, you know, keep these nine guideposts, you know, a look for two or more that he's actually trying to work in your life. If there's a steering, if he's speaking something to the word, counsel, prophetic word, you know, pattern, circumstances that he's orchestrating, look for two or more guideposts. Because the Bible says by the mouth of two or three witnesses, what happens? The word will be established. Okay. And then you bring it to use in your life and your things will begin to flow and God will begin to reveal things in your life. Okay. So that is the end of the nine guideposts. Amen. Okay. But you know, anytime you're lost, you want to know what God's plan and purpose for your life is keep these nine guideposts. Just look at them and look at how God is leading you and it will help you to find your plan and purpose for your life. Okay. So any questions? Online students? Very quiet. Any questions from any of you? I hope all of you are there and all of you are following me. Yes. The online students are very quiet. What about Shiv Kumar, Arilla, Krisha? No questions. Thank you, Prabhu. Samyoon. Surya. Okay. We have 11 of our online students here. Any questions from any of you? Anything that you didn't understand? You want me to explain again? Nina. Viku. Okay. No questions. Okay. Thank you, Shiv Kumar. Thank you, Arilla. Any questions from our online students? I mean in-person students? No questions. Okay. There's no questions. We'll move on to about seasons. Okay. Jason has asked a question about seasons. Can there be an overlapping? Can there be, yeah, there can be an overlapping. It can be a season where you are pursuing God's plan for your life. You know what is God's plan for your life. You're pursuing that as well as you're getting married or you are pursuing God's plan. Children, yes, there can be an overlap. Yeah. Yes. Can you just list the guideposts once again? Okay. List the guideposts once again. I'll list that. It's there in your, Nina, are you following the PDF? If you're following the PDF, it's on page number, page number eight. We have all the guideposts listed in the PDF. If you go to apcwo.org slash publications, you go to English books, you will find the book fulfilling God's purpose for your life. And I'm following through with that book. Of course, I'm giving you a lot of my extra notes and explanation, but all of that, the content is there. And the nine guideposts are mentioned in that page number eight. Okay. Jason says, as in foundation season and dark tunnel season together. Okay. Thank you, Prabhu. That was really good and quick and fast. Okay. As in foundation season and dark tunnel season together. Yes. Can be. You can go through a foundation season where it's a dark tunnel season. You can also be a season where you're going through trials and challenges. Yes, it can be. Okay. Thank you, Prabhu, for putting all those nine guideposts on chat. Okay. Any questions online students? Anything more? Thank you for interacting in person students. Any questions? No. Okay. What we are following is from fulfilling God's purpose for your life. The PDF of the book is available online. You can go to apcwo.org and then you can go to publications, the tab on publications. And in that tab, publications, English books, you will find a whole lot of English books and in that you will find fulfilling God's purpose for your life. And there you will, you will find, you know, what we are basically teaching and what we are following in our class, but of course I'm giving you a lot of explanation and extra notes which you can write. Okay. Anything else online students? Okay. If not, can we go on to our next chapter? Understanding God's preparation purpose. Okay. Now God take reveals his plan and purpose, but before he, you know, he gets us to understand what is his plan and purpose for us. He actually prepares us. Okay. God does not say, okay, here, take, you know, Nina, take my plan and purpose for your life. Begin doing it. You know, he doesn't say, sorry, what's your name? Vijay doesn't say, Vijay, here's my plan and purpose for your life. Come on, start, get ready. Start doing it. Okay. God does not do it. What he does is he gets us ready to and prepares us for what he is going to ask us to do. Okay. So just like, you know, a 12 standard student is thinking what next in life and the 12 standard student wants to become a doctor. Okay. I'm going to become a doctor. Now the 12 standard student is not going to take a white coat and a tethoscope and sheets and, you know, check people and, okay, let me prescribe some medications. No. The 12 standard student has to write an entrance exam, get a medical seat, get a study five and a half years and then is qualified to check people, test people and prescribe medications. The same thing, the same way it happens spiritually in our own lives. You know, God prepares us for the things he has in store for us. So what does God prepare us through the preparation process? What, you know, how he prepares us and what he's taking us through. Okay. Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 21 says the last phrase in verse 21. Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 21. All this is in your notes. It says, you know, God prepares us for every good work. Okay. So can somebody read verses 19 to 21 please? Thank you. Thank you. So God has prepared us for what? God has prepared each one for, yes. Yes, for good works. Tell your neighbor, God has prepared you for good works. Okay. I mean, you need to say that with conviction. God has prepared you for good works. Come on, you know, get excited in life. Okay. So, you know, he's prepared us for good works that he wants us to do. But before that, before he releases us into the good works, he prepares us now worse. These verses that we just read verse 21 says God wants to make us vessels of honor. Okay. Honor means what vessels of value, esteem and dignity. Okay. It's there in your P in your PDF notes. The second thing God wants to wants to wants us to be. Scientific. What is the meaning of scientific pure holy set apart for specific use. Okay. Okay. He's setting us apart for a specific use. Then God wants us to be fit. That means useful, profitable, suitable for the master's use. You know, for God to make us useful, profitable for his use. He has to train us. He has to get us ready. Okay. And then God wants you to become prepared for every good work. Okay. So God's preparation process in our lives is continual. It doesn't just happen one period and stop. It's continual. Okay. In each phase of our life, we need season of our life. God is preparing you for the next season. Okay. So even as you go through the season, God is preparing you for the next season. So the first two seasons has to do with who you are. The first two is God wants you to make you a vessel of honor. He wants you to be sanctified. It has to do with who we are. Okay. God wants us to make us vessels of honor and sanctified. He wants us to be consecrated in every area of our lives. That means in every area of our lives, he wants us to be holy and pure. Okay. Now the second two has to do with what God does through me. Okay. The first two has to do with who we are. The second two has to do with what God does through me. Okay. What God does through me is he wants me to be a person who's fit. Okay. Okay. Profitable, useful and prepared for every good work. Actually, for God, who you are is more important than what you do. Who you are as a person, your character, your values, your motives, your attitudes, your mindset, the way you look at things, the way you perceive things, the way you treat the seasons he's giving you, the way he's, you're treating people, the way you're treating the situations, the way you're treating the purpose and the plan that he's given to you, the way you're even utilizing your time. All that is very important for God. Okay. So for God, who you are is more important than what you do. Okay. Or what God does through you. So, so often, you know, we want to focus on what God wants to do through us more than being a vessel of honor. You're saying, God, I want to be that mighty man, mighty woman, pray like this. When I pray, God, I want everyone to be healed and release words of prophecy and word of wisdom, word of knowledge. When I, when I read worship, I want to be the best worship leader. When I teach, I want to be the best teacher. I want to reveal revelations. When I preach, I want to be that powerful worship, I mean, preacher. You know, God, I want to write books. She says, well, all this is very, very good. And God wants to do good works through you. But God is more interested in preparing you than what, you know, being vessels of honor, then how much you can do for his kingdom. And we'll look at some, you know, great leaders in the Bible. How many years God took to train them to actually release them for what he had planned and purpose for their lives. You look at Moses. Okay. Now Moses, you know, we see that God supernaturally arranged for him to be in the palace. Okay. All the other babies were thrown in the river Nile, but supernaturally he was, you know, taken to the palace. He grew up in the palace. And this was God's seed of spiritual destiny in his life, that he's going to be the next Pharaoh, the next leader who's going to set his people free. Okay. So there were Moses's initial preparation days for him to position himself for God's calling to be a leader to set the people free. Now the age of 40 Moses actually was able to discern and know what God's calling is. He knew that he's not an Egyptian. He knew that's an Israelite. And he wanted to set his people free and he wanted to do this, but he tried to do it in his own method. He tried to accomplish this in his own method. Okay. So what happened? It delayed the process another 40 years. Okay. So remember every time we try to attempt to do things in our own strength, in our own ability, we further delay God's plan from unfolding in our lives. Okay. Remember the example of Maria Woodworth. Okay. She wanted to, she knew God's calling for ministry. She wanted to be in the ministry. She couldn't be as a single lady. Then she decided to marry her, which did her, her pastor so that, but she ended up falling in love with a soldier, marrying him, having six children and spending her life just taking care of six children and her husband. And the plan of God went out of the window. Okay. So it's, you know, we can, when we attempt to do things in our own ability, in our own strength, we delay God's plan from unfolding in our life. So it delayed 40 more years. I don't, two things according to the flesh depend on the Holy Spirit. Okay. So Moses had to spend 40 years in the wilderness. Okay. Was it God's plan for him to be in the wilderness for 40 years? No. Why was he there? Simply because the King whom he had angered was living and not yet dead. But when the King, when Pharaoh died, what did God say, go back to Egypt. Okay. So it was the age of 80 that Moses resumed his divine mission. How many years of delay? 40 years, 40, when he was the age of 40, he recognized God's plan for his life. But because he did it in his own strength, it delayed 40 more years. So the age of 80, he began to resume God's plan for his life. But we see the goodness of God here. Even though Moses made a mistake, God didn't shun him. You know, God didn't say, okay, out. You know, no longer in my plan. God still incorporated him into his plan. He led him. Okay. That's something very important that we need to know that, you know, sometimes when we can have people in our ministry groups or in our teams or in our church, who sometimes fall into sin, you know, we just can't shun them. We just don't throw them out. We be patient with them. We, you know, get them through a season where we restore them and then we bring them back and send, give them small, small responsibilities and see how they're doing and then give them bigger responsibilities, but totally don't shun them because that's not what God does. Okay. To us. Okay. And we see there was a slight delay in God's plan. God wanted to set the Israelites free 400 years, but it took 430 years. So we see that our choices not only affect us, but it affects also people around us. Let's look at another example, David. David was anointed when he was a small teenage boy. Say he was 17 years old. Okay. And we know that he had initial training in his father's house. He took care of sheep when the lion and the bear came and killed, tried to eat up the sheep. He killed them. Okay. He also became very skilled in music during this time. So this was a time preparation time for him. Killing the lion and the bear gave him the confidence to kill fight. Goliath. Okay. So the preparation time and the season when he was getting into his spiritual destiny. Okay. And then we see his success of how he killed Goliath. He became a, you know, national hero. And what happened? Saul became very jealous of him. Okay. Saul became very, you know, was not comfortable with him around. And so Saul decided to kill him. And for the next five to six years, David was running away from Saul and hiding in caves. So here is a man, you know, God tells him that you are the next king. And where is he? He's running away from the king and hiding in caves. So five to six, five to six years. Okay. So he was anointed to be a king, but he was actually hiding from Saul in caves. And, but during this time, God brought about 400 men to David. God brought 400 men to David who were part of his army. And these men became his generals or captains when he became king. So you see that even during these days of preparation, you know, God was doing something that was having a lasting impact on David's life. So your preparation process is having some, a lasting impact on David's life. It will last for the rest of your life. So preparation time is never wasting time. Tell your neighbor, the preparation time is not wasting time. God is strategically putting things in place in your life. Okay. So get ready for the things to come in your life. Okay. So we see that when David was about 23 years old, Saul dies and then he asks God, what is your job? God tells him to go to Hebron and when he goes to Hebron, only one tribe makes him the king. But God says you will be king over Israel, but only one tribe, the tribe of Judah makes him king. So he rules over Judah, only one tribe for seven years. Then when he was 30 years old, he's finally made the king over all Israel. And he rules over Israel. And he rules over Israel. King over all Israel. And he rules Israel and Judah for how many years? 33 years. So we see from the, when did the prophet Samuel anoint him as king when he was 13? When does he become the king of Israel? 30 years. So how many years in between? 13 years. From 17 years to 30, 13 years of preparation time for whom? King David. Okay. It's time of calling to the time that he steps into commissioning or fulfilling his call. Okay. Let's look at the life of Paul. Paul must have been 33 years when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Okay. And when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, Jesus tells him you will be a light to the Gentiles. Okay. Paul spends after that three years in Damascus and Arabia. He starts preaching as soon as he encounters Jesus, you know, after that he immediately starts preaching in Damascus. And then people try to kill him. So he flees into Arabia, into the desert. Okay. And it must, people say it must be during this time, three years when we do not know what Paul was doing, just during this time that he receives revelations from God. And that's why Paul says, you know, if you read Romans, Romans chapter one, he says my gospel. Okay. He says the gospel of Jesus Christ says my gospel. Why does he say my gospel? Because everything that he was taught, he was taught by the Holy Spirit. He received revelations from the Holy Spirit. Okay. Then after his three years in Arabia and Damascus, you know, he goes to Jerusalem for 15 days where he preaches the word powerfully. And again, people try to kill him. And then he runs away to Tassus. Then when he comes to Tassus, you know, he spends about 13 years in Tassus. Okay. So it's been 16 years from when Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. And, you know, during these years, he was just receiving revelations from God. He was just preaching here and there. So these 16 years, you know, is known as the silent years of apostle Paul because we don't know anything much what he did in the 16 years. It's the silent years of apostle Paul, other than him receiving revelations and understanding the mysteries of God and preaching here and there. Nothing is recorded about his life. And we also see that the Holy Spirit did not feel it necessary for these 16 silent years of Paul to be recorded in the gospel. We know that all of scripture is inspired by whom? The Holy Spirit. So if you don't know anything about 16 years of Paul, silent years of Paul is because the Holy Spirit did not want it to be, you know, recorded. Okay. Now towards the end of these 16 years, we see Barnabas coming to Tassus, taking Saul to Antioch. Saul spends a year in Antioch preaching. And the end of this year, Paul makes his second trip to Jerusalem where he is carrying funds from the churches to give the churches at Jerusalem. So it's after 14 years that he's going back to Jerusalem. So finally, after 17 years, Paul begins his first missionary journey. After how many years? 17 years. This great apostle who most of the teachings and doctrines that we receive in the New Testament is written by him, 17 silent years you know, it was after 17 years that he begins his first missionary journey. Okay. And it was after 17 years that he is referred to as an apostle. So some of you say, you know, I want a title of a pastor, you know, reverend, bishop, whatever. But Paul had to wait how many years, 17 years to be called an apostle. Okay. So what do we learn from all of these three examples of Moses? Moses of David and of Paul, that God is not in a hurry. Okay. So you don't be in a hurry. Tell your neighbor, don't be in a hurry. Okay. Although you may understand God's calling in your life, Rin, don't be in a hurry. And Karin, don't be in a hurry. Okay. Even though you don't, you understand God's call at a very young age, you may say, this is what God has called me to do, but God is not in a hurry. We want everything now. We have the instant generation, everything quick, everything fast, everything to just happen at, you know, a click of the finger. Okay. But, you know, God takes time. He prepares us. You know, Moses, you know, 40, when he was 40, he understood God's calling. And in how many years it took for him to get into that calling, to commission that calling, 40 more years. And he ended up seeing at age of 17 and became king at 30. Saul, when he was 33 years, you know, encountered Jesus. And, you know, when he was 50, he begins his first missionary journey. So, God will take us to the preparation process. And as we go to the preparation process, you know, God with this, you know, we will discover our hidden talents, our gifts and our colleagues. Okay. And what does God do during this preparation period? Basically, two things, Godly character and maturity in all areas. Okay. Two things that he does is, you know, Godly character and maturity in all areas. Matthew chapter nine was 17. Can one of you read that, please? Matthew chapter nine was 17. I don't think it's in your notes, right? Matthew chapter nine was 17. It's... Okay. Thank you. So here, the wine skin is symbol of our character. Okay. And the new wine is the anointing. So wine skin is our character and the new wine is anointing. So if you need new anointing, our character needs to be built up. You will say, God, why am I not having anointing like that person? Anointing to pray, anointing to preach, anointing to share your word, anointing to minister. It's because God is building our character so that when he pours the anointing, it will not be a waste. Why God does not give us anointing is because our character is not fully developed. They are not perfect. They are not mature. And he knows if he puts that anointing into immature wine skins, what is going to have burst is going to be of no use. So he first develops a character before he gives us anointing. So the gifts, grace, and the anointing come from there. Your gifts, your talents, your grace, the anointing comes from there, from heaven, from above. Your character is built here on earth. The gifts are given in a moment. It doesn't take God too long to give you your gifts or your anointing. But character is developed for a lifetime. That is why we need to go through the preparation process. God wants to anoint us. But if we are not that right to vessels, he knows the anointing will be a waste. It will just spill out. It will create a mess. So he prepares us so that when he anoints us, we can be used powerfully. So God is more interested in our character than our gifts. We are more interested in our gifts than in our character. So people look at our gifts. People look at our gifts. But God is looking at our character, who you are. He wants you to be like him so that when the anointing flows, it will just be powerful. You know that saying your gift can take you where your character can't keep you. Your gift, your talents can take you to high places. But if you don't have the right character, you don't relate well to people. You're constantly bossing, constantly arguing, constantly ordering people. You think you're high and mighty and great. You don't want to listen to others. You don't work along with others. You don't build unity. You don't consider others better than yourself. You have pride in you, jealousy, hatred, backstabbing. You're pulling down others so that you can go up the ladder of success. Then your gifts cannot keep you where your character cannot. Your character will not be able to keep you where your gifts take you. So it's very important that you ask God to correct you in the areas of your weaknesses so that your gifts and anointing can flow in a mighty way. Psalm 51 verse 6 says, You desire truth in my inward parts. God desires truth in our inward parts. What we are thinking. We can do things and people say, oh, what an angel. But our motives can be totally wrong. Our agendas can be totally wrong. We can speak so sweetly to somebody. But inside we just basically say, hmm, you know, okay, this one, okay, you know, but we just, you know, want to show that we are, you know, brothers and sisters in Christ. So God is looking more at our inward parts, our attitudes, motives, why we are doing what we are doing. Okay, so God is more interested in our character. So what is God doing to the preparation process? He's basically two things. What is the first thing? Godly character. Second thing is maturity in all areas. Okay, look at Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 to 16. I like you all to look at verse 15. It says, grow up in all things into him who is the head that is Christ. So it says, grow up. We don't come mature. We don't come Christ like. We don't come Godly. We need to grow up. When do we grow? When does a child grow? A child says, Mom, I don't want to eat this. You know, as a kid, as a small infant, the child says, I don't want Serelek or I don't want, you know, this rice and dal that you have mashed. I want chicken. I want fish, you know. You know, the child is not going to grow healthy. The child says, I don't want this. I don't want to eat it. No, the child makes a fuss, but the mother forces them, right? But the child is going healthy as, you know, the parent keeps feeding them healthy food. So we need to be willing for the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. Now, when you're born again, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives. He does the work of sanctification, but he does it to the extent we allow him. So we can say, why is somebody more holier than I am even though I'm born again? It's because that person is aligned the Holy Spirit to sanctify them in every area of their lives. What they think, how they see, how they perceive things, the way they speak, the way they act, their attitudes, everything is the Holy Spirit is sanctifying them. So the extent you allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify you that much, extent the Holy Spirit will sanctify you, then God can pour out his anointing. Okay. So we need to have maturity in our personal walk with God, which means we need to be obedient in all areas of our life. Not only maturity in our personal walk with God, maturity in our relationship with people. How we respect our parents, how we respect our elders, how we respect, you know, the people God has positioned in our lives with authority over our lives. You know, how we react to them, how we relate to them, how we relate to people around us in the world, you know, in church, how we relate to them. You know, maturity in our gifts and in our callings, you know, your growth in Godly character is progressive. Okay. It grows step by step. It does not happen overnight. It takes time to build our character. Okay. So we need to be patient with God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in various areas of our life. So every time we step out into new levels of obedience with God, saying God, I don't feel like doing this, but because you're telling me to do it, I'll do it. Okay. I don't want to go and say sorry to that person because it's, you know, I feel what I did was right. But if you want me to do it because you want me to do it because it honors you, I'm willing to obey. So when we grow into new levels of obedience, you know, we grow into new levels of godliness. We grow into new levels of maturity and you will find a new level of God's anointing over your life. Okay. So when you're growing in new levels of obedience, new levels of godliness and maturity, you will grow into new levels of anointing in your life. Okay. So before we close, we will just look at how God prepares us. Okay. He prepares us. How does he prepare us? Come on. How does God prepare you to be godly, to be mature in your character? How does he prepare you? His word. Thank you. Yeah. His word. His word prepares us. How else does he prepare us? I just not told Holy Spirit. Yes. The Holy Spirit. Okay. You know, Second Timothy 3 verse 16 and 17 says that all scriptures inspired by God and it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for godliness, for correction and training in righteousness and holiness. And why? So that the man of God can or the woman of God can be complete. Okay. Why does God train us in righteousness and holiness so that we can be complete? And why else? Please look at Second Timothy 3, 16 and 17. It says so that we can be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Why does God prepare you so that you can be complete and you can be thoroughly equipped for every good work? So it's important for you to devote time in reading and studying God's word. Okay. Second Corinthians 3 verse 18 says, you know, but we all with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of God, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of God. The Holy Spirit transforms us into what? The Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of God. Can you imagine? God wants us to be like him. The Holy Spirit is transforming us. So the Holy Spirit is going to correct us. He's going to guide us. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Okay. Then, you know, how does God prepare us also through other people? Iron sharpens. Iron Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 says, you know, as iron sharpens, iron so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. So God uses imperfect people to perfect you and God uses you as an imperfect person to perfect somebody else. So when somebody is correcting, you be open to correction, to seeing, to correcting yourself because don't say, hey, man, you are imperfect. Who are you to tell me? And everybody is imperfect. So God uses imperfect people to correct imperfect people or to perfect, imperfect people. Okay. And it's also important that we associate with the right people. Okay. When you associate with the right people, you know, they can sharpen you. They can build you up in godly ways in the plans and purposes of God for your life and you can move forward. Okay. And the last thing is, you know, life experiences. You know, we go through bad and good experiences in life, but we need to understand like Romans chapter five verses three to four says, you know, we'll stop here. Okay. We'll do life experience next week because our time is up. Anyone has any questions? Sorry. I'm abruptly stopping because I just saw the time and it's exactly 950. Okay. 1050. Sorry. We'll do life experiences next week. Anyone has any questions? Any questions from our online students? Okay. We learn quite a bit today and it's not something that we just hear, but we put into practice. Okay. This is something that we need to put into practice. It's not just theology, but it is theology put into action. Okay. Any questions? No questions. Okay. Okay. Thank you everyone for joining class. Have a blessed weekend. Thank you. Shiv Kumar, Arilla, Krisha. How do I pronounce this? Jay Chin, Samuel Prabhu and Nina Shiv Kumar. Can I miss out any names? Viku. Okay. Thank you all for joining class. Have a blessed weekend. I'll see you next week. Okay. Bye. I have to rush off to my next class.