Sacred | Vinod Laxmikanth

Hey, you welcome to the Generation's Church podcast. We pray you will be

blessed by this message. Today I made a word of God both encouraged and

challenge you to be all God purpose you to be. Now, let's dive

right in. Okay, I'm an anesthesiologist, a specialist in anesthesia and intensive

care, so I warn you it can get a bit intense. Okay,

that's just me. That's just me. About a month and a half ago,

month and a half ago, I was critically ill. Okay, and

coming take my word for it. I'm professionally trained in this area. So

when I say I was critically ill, I literally mean I was critically ill,

struggling to breed, not enough oxygen. I was admitted to the ICU.

Ironic, the ICU specialist being admitted into the ICU. I know life

can be ironic, isn't it. You think it won't happen to you,

happens to everyone else. I'm forty one years old this year. I have

no known medical illnesses. While I sound like a doctor, don't I now?

I have no come morbidities. I don't smoke, I exercise, I'm

fairly fit. My wife would beg to differ um, never been admitted for

the longest time, and here I am being admitted to the ICU on high

levels of oxygen. My consultants and my fellow specialists were all grim with the

notion that we may have to incubate Venot and put him on artificial ventilation.

So as I lay down there in the ICU, tears streaming down my face

because I was thinking about my wife and my children. I don't know how

to quite explain this, but God spoke. Okay, God spoke, and

I can't really articulate everything that he said, and we'll talk about it as

we go along. What that means, I can't quite put it into words,

but I'm going to try my best to explain. I realize at that

point where it could be life and death, quite literally, I realize it's

down to not what my achievements were, not how much money I had in

the bank, not how many songs I've sung, not how many ministries I've

been serving in, not how much money I gave, not all the different

accolades, achievements, not even my experience. I realized God at that point

was saying, you know, it's just me and you, and you're faced

with death, He's just you and him. There's no one else, surrounded

by all the monitors that I'm familiar with, surrounded by all these faces that

I work with, surrounded by all the nurses that I know so well that

we're hoping for the best. Nothing anybody could do. In that sense,

as I'm breathing, trying to get that oxygen in, all I could feel

and sense God saying, you know, you know what, don't worry,

It's just me and you, just me and you. Man, It's back

to me and you. Then I really something this whole sense of like how

this relationship that we have with God is sacred, sacred, sacred, sacred

meaning not that it's like oh holy, and and you know you can't touch

it and you know you you you you gotta be pure and totally spotless and

totally without mistake and error. No, no, no, sacred meaning that

it's just you and him. It's just you and him. It's sacred.

It's because when it comes to death, really, take it from a person

that has seen death almost every other day and has gone through an experience where

death was at my door, it really comes down to just you and your

maker. And then that made me realize death is sacred, and therefore so

is life. It's not really oh, at death, it comes back to,

oh, it's just me and God and no one else, nothing else.

Actually, all the while, it has always been me and God,

no one and nothing else. It's just that we only come to a realization

when there really is nothing and no one else. And then you realize,

oh, yeah, you catch my drift. It's really about you and God,

no one, nothing else. It's sacred. It's sacred. And what

I mean by this, what I'm trying to convey to us, each and

every one of us, is that this relationship that we have, that this

relationship that God has with us, whether you acknowledge it or not, whether

you recognize it or not, let me say I tell you right now that

God has a relationship with you. Really he does. It's just that you

may not realize it. You may not acknowledge it, you may not identify

with it, you may not think about it. But that does not change

the fact that God has a relationship with you. Example example, my father

will always be my father. If I don't seem today, if I don't

seem tomorrow, if I don't see him for ten years. If he doesn't

talk to me or I don't talk to him, it doesn't change the fact

that he is my father. You understand what I'm trying to say, So

sacred and this relationship that we have with God to not be mistaken. He

is all about the individual. The individual. When he looks upon us right

now, he does not see generations. He does not see us in categories

and labels and demographics and age groups and ethnicity, race. He knows all

that. He sees all that, but he sees it how individually personally.

You you some twenty three verse one one verse and humor me. I don't

usually do this, but those of you who are comfortable with it, can

we just say this together? The Lord is my shepherd. You may think

nobody knows you here, and in a way it doesn't matter. But God

is your shepherd, yours, yours, yours. Oh, we always use

it, you know the cliche. Oh he knows you by name, he

knows the hairs on our head. We understand the verses. We may have

heard it before. Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it.

No, No, no, I don't think you get it. My

friend, he is yours, You are his personally. You know, I

am a father of three beautiful, wonderful Okay, my eldest might want me

to say handsome, right, sounds a bit to say beautiful and wonderful and

godeous and cute. Right, So I am a father. Let me give

you an example. Analogy okay, analogy example. Sometimes it helps to have

some examples. Huh. So I'm a father to my children category children.

But do you ever once think that when I think of them, I think

of them as a group. How many parents do that? Yeah? Yeah,

I'm a father to my children, my children children. No, no,

no, no no. And I'll give you proof. I'll give you

proof. And some of you know this. Those of you have siblings,

You realize that your father, if it's like me, treats every one different.

Some of you might even complain. Yeah, how come he can?

I cannot. How come he gets to do that? I don't. How

come he gets to eat ice cream? I don't. How come he gets

to sleep at night late night? I don't. How come she gets to

sit on your lap? I don't. How come you always giving him the

hugs? I don't. How come you're taking him out for dinner? Just

the two of you, not me, why Kah It is personal, personal

individual? Do you know? Let me put it this, say the flip

side of the coin. Imagine what it must be like. How weird it

sounds, How weird it sounds, Isaiah, I don't mind if I use

your example. How weird it sounds. If Isaiah tells his friends, you

better know what if Isaiah tells his friends, yeah, yeah, yeah,

doctor V. Doctor V is our father. How yeah, okay, I

get it. It's quite right. Worse still worse, still, worse still

is say? I says, yeah, yeah yeah, doctor V is easy

killed dead. We laugh, but some of us are doing that. Jesus

is not your Jesus. The Lord is my dad shepherd. I'm just following.

The Lord is my wife's shepherd. I'm just accompanying. The Lord is

my husband's shepherd. The Lord is my son's my daughter. The Lord is

my grandfather. Do you know? Do you know you don't know what you're

talking about? A doctor? We do you know? Not? My grandfather

was an evangelist, you know, grandfather? Say bro good on your grandfather?

How about you? You know what I'm trying to say? So sacred

means that what I'm trying to get at is that he's personally in this relationship

between you and him, and it's something that is unique. Unique. Yes,

when we read in the Bible, I'm sure you notice this, don't

you. Don't you notice it? And you might raise some questions. First

of all, don't you notice that God, although he addresses an entire creation

of people and a tribe of people, but don't you notice he always interacts

with one individual. I want to tell you why it's so unique and what

I want to why I feel so passionate about this because God feels so passionate

about this, because He wants a unique personal story with each and every one

of you, not generic, not oh I heard, oh yeah my friend

had this testimony. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah.

No, No, no, he you you, you, you.

You have that opportunity of having something totally unique that no one else has ever

done, seen her, no I has seen, no year has heard,

nor has conceived in the mind of man, what God can do that kind

of unique and personal. So wanted to share a quick story. I was

out of medicine, or at least out of the ministry or health for a

long time, and then God spoke and then said, you know your true

calling is to medicine. Get back there. Okay, long testimony, long

story shot. I actually ended up back there, and I was back there,

and I was training in Universtimulaya as a specialist in anesthesia at the time.

And get this, I was training, I was working, I was

on call all that without a salary, no salary zero. My wife,

who has been the thought of our family. I owe it all to her

and God providing through her. But it came after two and a half years,

after my exams and all that. I'm like, okay, I think

I need to ask for a job. And a lot of you don't know

the situation, or you do know the situation. That contract we have all

these issues with contract doctors, we have all these issues, were not in

a space in the ministry or the list goes on. I want to cut

the long story short. I went and met my head of department, my

head of department, who's a wonderful Malay Muslim lady. And I specifically say

that because you may think, oh, I know a Christian boss. No

I don't. I do not have Christian boss. Wonderful Malay Muslim lady.

She looks to me and she simply says this, And I want to summarize

this is what it meant. She told me, quote quote impossible. We're

not impossible. No way, our system, our structure can accommodate you full

stop. I said, okay, didn't think too much about it. Two

weeks later, suddenly a while later, sadly, she's the one who meets

me, and then she tells me, out of the blue, she says,

if you don't next week, you come for interview. I say,

one interview. I didn't apply for anything, I didn't write in anything,

I didn't speak to anyone, as God is my witness. And then he

said, you come for interview. I said for what. Well, possibly

it's still impossible. I don't know how that makes sense. But possibly we'll

give you a job. Possibly. So I go, and this is how,

this is how, this is how I want to tell you how unique

and how personal and how interested God is in your life. So I went

for the interview, and I walk in and the director of the hospital is

there. There's this whole big panel of you know, big guns in the

administration and the clinical side of all that seaterd and just to paint the picture

so that it's clear for you, all of them Malay Muslim, Okay,

clear enough, clear enough, you can imagine. Okay, So I sit

down, want to cut the long story short, right. So suddenly the

director of the hospital says, oh, we know on as if she knows

me. It is my first time meeting her. I have never seen her

before. She tells me, I know so much about you. I've heard

so much about you. We like you very much. I have never said

hi to her in my life. Sit down, you know, just it's

breezing through the interview right then my head of department, who's perplexed and confused

and rather frustrated right looking at all this is happening. And then suddenly that

suddenly they go through my my, my, resume, my whatever, and

then suddenly it is it is noticed, Oh we know you're color blinder.

I'm color blind, by the way, And immediately my head of department screams

in aghast. I'm dramatizing it a bit, but she was. She was

totally like, you know, caught off god and made her shock and horror

very obvious to everyone, including the director of the hospital. And she said,

we know, how come your color blind. How come you color blind?

Essentially trying to paint the picture that no way we can hire you know,

his color blind, which is not the case, by the way,

But yeah, now this is the way I want to tell you. Only

God can do this. The director of the hospital, also Malay Muslim lady,

turns to her immediately and says, no, no, no, no,

you cannot say that. So when she said that, I'm like,

oh, okay, I get it. At least she is more informed,

because being color blind does not negate you from being a doctor. Ra da

da da da. The list goes on. You can do your own research.

So I thought, okay, normal one. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

at least, so thank God, at least she's more informed than my

hero department. Right, But this is where I knew. I always knew

God was in the picture. But this is when God was telling me.

You know, you don't realize how much I'm involved in this. The director

of the hospital says, I get goosebumps every time I say it. My

son is color blind. The director of the hospital says, my own son

is color blind. You cannot be biased against them. You cannot be dude.

I don't know how you can orchestrate yourself, even if you wanted to

to find the director of the hospital that you are working to have a child

who is color blind, just like you. You want to try, you

want to call, you want to bribe, you want to give money.

No way you can create this kind of situation. But God did? God

did? I have not to. But I'm just telling you the truth.

I have had many instances in my life where I am the exception to the

rule. Unique. You are wonderfully and uniquely made, my friend. Stop

thinking in common denominated terms. I'm Christian. Everybody's Christian. You just get

the general Christian blessing whatever. I don't know what that means. I just

e conilla. No, brother, sister, what is God doing personally in

your life? Because he wants to do something personal and unique? Why?

Why? Why? I believe to prove to you that He is real.

This relationship is real. It's not an organizational thing. It's not an administrative

thing. It's not a whatever you may call it, sociological thing. It's

not. It's relationship. We say it all the time, right, Oh,

not religion relationship. Not religion relationship, you really understand what that means?

Non unique, Let me give you a clincher to the story before I

move on clincher to the story. So I told you right, exception to

the rule. Let me prove my point in case you think, hey,

this guy like to exaggerate, Let me prove my point. I'm not exaggerating.

One month later, I think about the ELLA because they have to drop

a contract, right, they have to draw some kind of agreement. Right.

The Human resource department calls me personally, and this is their words.

I'm trying to quote word forward. The Human Resource department calls me personally and

you know what they say. You know what what The lady on the other

side says, a wonderful Malay Muslim lady. She says doctor V. She

doesn't call me doctor V. Doctor. We don't. Very sorry, I'm

translating into English. Very sorry. We took so long to draw up this

contract for you because and this is her words, I would say in Bahasa

and then I'll translate. Dalam Sadjara Hospital, University, Malaya, Key.

In the history of the hospital, we have never done something like this for

someone like you ever. Essentially, let me break it down. What does

you mean she said? We had to create Now you see how God,

God is the creator? Right, you always want something God? Where's the

opening, Where's the open door, Where's the closed door, Where's the window?

Who say God can create something when it's not there? All you see

is a war? Who say God can create something when all you see is

a wall. They said, we created an entire administrative structure just for you.

You know, under the entire structure? How many peover doctor? You

know? Do you know how difficult impossible that is? In the government of

Malaysia. It's sacred, this relationship because it is meant to be intimate,

intimate Song of Solomon six six three. I am my beloved, and my

beloved is mine. Not your neighbor, not your friend, not your brother's,

sister, uncle, auntie, father, pastor mine mine intimate, private,

private, It is something private between you and him and something exclusive.

Is that the relationship that you have with God, because that's the relationship that

He's seeking with you. We live in an age where everything is public.

I'm an Instagram frian everything, so I put on Instagram, But there's a

lot that I don't you think that is my life. It's not. But

what I'm trying to say is that have we lost the capacity and the ability

to be private. Means to say, I don't have a story to tell

about this. You know why? You know why I don't have a story

to tell because it's private. It's something that God and I only know,

and God and I only understand that. Even if I were to tell you,

you will not get it. Because why you won't get it? Not

because you're not smart, not because you're not experienced, not because you haven't

walked with God long enough. No, you won't get it because you were

never meant to get it. Men, it was meant for was me?

Are you and I satisfied or even seeking this kind of relationship with God?

Because that's the relationship he's seeking with you. He's not interested in everything he

tells you, everything he does in your life, Everything is meant for a

public display. No, what is my example? If you don't, how

can you say that we are supposed to be We overcome you know, we

overcome the evil one by the blood of the lamb and the word about destiny.

Where's where's your reference? My reference is Jesus. How many times has

Jesus healed someone and told the person to not tell anyone? How many times

you think, right, he's done this tremendous miracle. He's made this guy

walk, and then he go and tells the guy, don't tell anyone,

don't tell anyone. How many people were there when God spoke to Moses through

the burning? No one he was between him and Moses. How many people

were there? In fact? How did God speak to that man of God

that said, let me see your face? And then there was the thunder

and the lightning and the wind and the storm and paraphrasing, But in the

end, how did God speak? Still small voice? Because it's not meant

for everybody else, It's meant for you. It's meant for you. It's

meant for you. Marriage is the analogy I can give. There's a lot

of things that happened between me and my wife that only me and my wife

will understand. How are you going to explain? In my case, Lobb,

you're still quite junior, fifteen years of marriage to somebody else. How

are you going to explain that? How are you going to explain the relationship

that God has with you? You think from the moment that you accept the

Christ, but actually God shuted that relationship when way before, when you were

created in your mother's womb, when you were still in his mind. That's

when he created that relationship with you. How are you supposed to explain that

to someone else? I can't. There are things in our life. Yes,

he does it so that you can share, but I would say most

of it, most of it, he's just you and him secret. Have

we lost that? The ability to keep things private? Even in community?

Private quiet? It's supposed to be internal, this relationship, this thing that

God is seeking. God is really not interested. Well, I should qualify

that his target is internal. We live in a very exteriorized world. There's

no such word. I just created it. We live in a very exteriorized

you know what I mean? Everything is on outside, even in Christianity.

Sorry to say, maybe not Christianity, I should say in church, churchy,

church, church thingy, I don't know what you call it, everything

on outside. I jump high so that people know I really am passionate about

God. I scream my loudest scream, because so that people can hear.

How sincere I am and dedicated I am to the Lord Jesus Christ. I

wear a certain kind of gob I do a certain kind of movement because I

saw that I do it. It looks cool, it looks powerful, and

I'm like, man, I want to do it too. What did Jesus

say to the Pharisees, Minu to the Pharisees, you know, he said,

what, you're very interested in how the outside of the cup is,

right, You're so interested in how clean, how what the design is like,

how how pristine the outside of the cup. But who would drink from

a cup like that when the inside is all dusty and dirty? Who would

drink? He asked the question said better is the cup clean on the inside

that you may drink from it? He called the pharisees wor white washed tombs,

you know, Maxonia on the outside of me wh by shining bride wow,

but inside bit a copse. I know I'm being strong, but then

I'm using Jesus words, so I don't know. Am I being strong?

Jesus? Are you being strong? Which is it? I don't know.

But what I'm trying to say is that friends, brothers and sisters, those

of you that don't know that God is interested in this relationship with you,

don't be mistaken and don't be carried away by what goes on on the outside.

Don't be mistaken by all this inside Philippines one six that he which began

a good work in you were perfected until the day of Jesus Christ. What

does he say? A good work in you? A good work Demander Delore

de claring the talam thedlam in New in New But I want to quickly share

with you a story, is it? Okay? Story? Okay? This

is not so much a testimony as as much as I'm trying to tell you

what it may look like someone that has something going on internally and someone that's

just interested in the external. Are you okay? Real story from my life?

Okay, real story. So let me bring you back to when I

was sixteen years old, and believe it or not, when I was sixteen,

I was a competitive discus thrower, you know discuss you know, discuss

Olympic event discus, right, yeah, I was a discuss thrower. So

fast forward. I'm trying to keep this long story short. The top favorite

athlete that everybody fell, everybody knew, everybody perceived is going to win the

gold medal was from a rival school or rival college at the time, and

he came and I'm not exaggerating, huh, try my best not to exaggerate.

Came with brand sponsored gear, Nike sweatsuit, Nike shoes, Nike socks,

Nike jersey name or printed right. And this is what he did before

his first throw, not everything before he went in. He even he hasn't

even touched anything. He screamed, hasn't done anything yet. Finally he picks

up the discuss. Right, everybody's watching, you know, everybody crowds around

the cage, watching, watching, even the even my fellow competitors, all

watching, watching, watching, because he's the one. He is the one.

Just look at him. He must be the one. And he gives

a big, big sign breath. This is sound he's making. And then

the best one he throws. He takes a turn, full turn, throws

and he has already the biscus has already left his hand already, but he

is still screaming ah. The discuss has already fell to the ground. He

is still screaming ah. And everybody claps your hands like whoa oa, fellow

competitors, you know, all clapping their hands. My ten, I don't

look the part. First of all, I'm other thing at that time,

now not so much right, And my coach always told me this. You

know you need to be more expressive love you know? Oh so quiet,

I said, cannot, I just can't. So I go in quietly,

no sound. Everybody has left the surrounding area of the cage, gone right,

and then I pick up the discuss. Nobody's watching me because I'm not

so quiet, and because I've been doing hockey most of the time, hockey,

I represented the competitive hockey. I couldn't do the turn because they will

go everywhere. You'll be foul. Please qualify. Heay long, sorry,

so long, sorry, sere, I go go go, So I cannot

right, So what I did? Guess what I did? I stood there?

No sound, so no sound film. My coat is making sound.

If you don't make sound, I don't know. The discuss goes true.

Sorry breaks the national record. Suddenly everybody noticed and they couldn't understand. How

did this guy no sound, no movement, no kaya, not sponsored beats

the other guy flat flat. I didn't just win. I broke the record?

Do you understand not? My mom is admitted to the stroke unit as

we speak right now. She collapsed yesterday. She collapsed yesterday, massive stroke.

The prognosis looks grim. Yet I am here. Why that is sacred,

but so is life. Your life is secret, my friend. You

may not recognize it now, my friend, but then will come one day

when you too will realize this is sacred. I gotta stop playing games,

got to stop fooling around, stop just all nonsense, and really come to

terms with what life is about. Thank you for joining us. We trust

you have been blessed by the word of God. If you like what if

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