12+1 Core Values: Christ Centered | Celina

You're listening to a message to go from asks church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Let me just kick start the message by asking everyone

this question, what does your life revolve around?

Wow? Difficult question, right, Okay? So do you have.

Something or someone that you learn so much that your

life literally revolves around the thing or the person?

Okay? So basically what I mean by revolve around.

Is that whatever decision that you make, whatever plan that

you make, whatever things that you need to reorganize your life,

this thing or this person will be the point of

focus before you make decisions and plan.

Okay, all right, So there is a question. I want

to it all, issue it out to all of us here.

Okay, So I just want to share with you, you know, recently,

I think probably some of you who are K pop

fan you'll know that for the next few weeks oward

there are some K pop people that is coming to

Malaysia to have concerts and whatnot. Uh yeah, So I

have this friend of mine. She loves this particular K

pop singer so much.

Okay, she really really loves it so much.

That her life literally revolved around this K pop uh

you know singer.

I have no idea who this person is like.

But you know when I look at her, her speech,

her ig, everything that she does.

I even saw her room.

You know how she decorated her room is literally revolved

around this K pop singer. Okay, so I always tell

her this, I say so as all I feel that,

you know, you eat sleep brief this K pop forlot.

She said, yeah, yeah, yeah, cause I love this person

so much. Okay, so you know she loves it so

much when I look at her IGI, right, she literally

labeled this person as her husband, and then she called

herself the wife, which made me scratch hit. I cannot

understand and it actually makes a lot of us scratch hit.

Also, how can you.

Call someone that you don't really know personally right, your husband?

Okay.

So we may feel that, yeah, maybe she's a fanatic

or crazy, but to her, for someone who who love

this idol so much, that is her devotion towards this person,

because why she looks up to this person, She admires

this person, She care for this person, and that makes

her willingly to you know it, slip brief this person

and make decisions. And I think she spent half her

her inheritance on just buying, you know, all the stuff

just to support the idol.

Okay.

So in short, what I'm sharing about this is dead

the idols become the center of her all. You know,

even she takes leave and whatsoever, right, I mean, apart

from taking care of her mom, she takes leaks to

go to this concert. She will take live you know,

for this fan meet or something like that. Okay, So

that is her way of expressing her devotion and admired

admiration towards this Okay. But coming back to all of us, okay,

I can tell you one hundred percent, all of us

here can't no one that's being single laa.

All of us here have something.

Or someone that we really care about that we are

willing to go all out just to give all our love,

our care, you know, our defend or whatsoever to that

particular thing or that person. Be those of your parents,

your children, for those of you who have no children,

maybe your properties, maybe your career, maybe your family, and

it can be anything all of us have. I can

tell you that sometimes ministry will also be our idol

or our fan that we revolve our life around.

Okay. So all of us have, including.

Myself, all of us have, Okay, But bringing it to

a closer question to us is that today we're going

to talk about this topic called Christ's centeredness, and I'm

going to ask all of us here how much do

we love Jesus? Then your question with life isn't the

elder's message? Well, you know, we come to church every

Sundays to ask ourselves this question. How much do we

love Jesus? Will we live our life revolving around him?

Will we eat, sleep, and breathe?

Jesus? Is Christ the center of our own? Okay?

So today we're going to talk about christ centeredness. So

what is the heart behind this value?

Okay? So in this age and time, right, we.

Know that our life is constantly bombarded with a lot

of things, you know, the state of the art building

power lighting. Recently I went to a company's aniverse already,

I tell you I was so impressed by their lighting, right,

their presentation.

Right, I was like, oh, so cool. I want to

learn how to do that. Okay, not that're very good

with all this kind of like things, but it is

so cool. Now. I was like, oh, this is something

that we can do for our church too. Right, we

are bombarded by you.

Know, all these kinds of things that attracts our attension,

the things of the world. Okay, I'm not saying that

this is better. And we are constantly surrounded what else,

with how our music. We are surrounded by people who

are very eloquent and can preach and speak very well. Okay,

I'm not a very good speaker. Okay, if you spotted

any grammar mistake, pleased on true, Sue and me.

Okay, yeah we are.

We are bombarded by attractive ministry and okay, attractive movements,

and all these can be distraction to us, okay, and

because of all this distraction, right, we will slowly drifted

away in building our church and building our life based

on all these attractiveness rather than on Christ. You get

it that things are so attractive, right maybe like Okay,

I look at Jolly preaching. He can speak so well well,

you know, she can tell such a good jokes. Okay,

and now I go home every day I was spent

try hours learning how to tell jokes. Okay, yeah, you know,

I try to be someone else, okay, rather than you know,

in order to help myself to share well, instead of

spending three hours, you know, learning how to tell a

proper joke. Okay, you know, I read spend the three

hours learning to tell proper joke than spending three hours

reading the word of God and downloading it from God.

Because why my attention shifts because I thought being able

to tell joke will help me build x Amtung. You know,

a lot of times we do not know how to differentiate. Okay,

we do not know how to differentiate what is good

way and what is God way. So that's why today

we're going to learn that why Christ's centeredments is in

and why christ centeredness is the foundation of what we

should build our church from and build our life from.

So that is something that we need to remind ourselves

that Jesus have to be absolute center in order for

everything to flow, in order for the Holy Spirit to

to you know, flow into our place, annoying us and

allow us to see the power of God moves.

Okay.

In case you're wondering, okay, whatever they have just talked about,

just now, where is it from?

Okay? So this value is based on the scripture taken

from X chapter towards thirty six.

Okay, So this scripture says, therefore, let all the House

of Israel know assuredly that God has made these Jesus

in case you don't know who Jesus is, the Jesus

whom we crucify, Okay, both the Lord and Christ. Okay,

so if we acknowledge that Jesus is our Lord and

our Christ, he should be the center. It's just like

how my friend acknowledged that the cave pop Foreller is her,

you know, her idol, and hence she made the cave

pop Forller to be the center. If we acknowledge that

Jesus is our Lord and as Christ, Jesus have to

be our center, whether you like it or not. Right

the moment we say that Jesus, I need you, I

want you, and I accept you as my Lord and

my savior, the moment we confess that he should be

the center of our life. And if Jesus is not

yet the center of your life today, I pray that

all of us will realign again. Or maybe you have

made Jesus your center, but along the way you get

drifted away. Let's realignmack, because all of us, you know,

in our journey, we will drift away, one including myself.

Okay, we will drift away. But it's okay. You know,

God give us chance to come back in alignment again.

So when I say that, you know.

We will be drifted away. So today we're gonna look

at what old us away from Christ? Do you know

that being drifted away?

Right?

It's not a suddenly thing. It's not that today, well,

I love Jesus, Tomorrow I don't love Jesus anymore. It's

not like an abrupting one. It's like, you know, today

I fall in love with Jesus. Tomorrow, Jesus, I don't

love you anymore.

Okay. If it's really like that, then maybe you need

to comfort prayer, okay, with God or with human being. Right,

you don't fall in love today and you fall out

of love tomorrow.

And there is always a journey that caused us to

drift away subtly.

Okay. So what causes us to subtly.

Drifted away is because of maybe we are We got

distructed by tests, We got distracted by trials, We got

destructed by temptations.

Of this world. Okay.

And I can tell you right, these treatise that I

just told you, right, test, trials and temptations, it's not

new in our life. It's not new in our dictionary,

because why enemy always used the same trick. Okay, enemy

always put you to different kinds of temptations to drop

to lure you away. You know from from Christ. He

always uses pleasure, he always uses fun. He uses the

rewards of this world to distract us. Okay, whether we

like it or not, that is how the enemy use

it to distract us. So here, you know, we put

it into two kinds of distraction. The first one is

the external, the good. Okay, So again I say las,

the good is not always bad, and it's not sinful.

Okay. It's good when we want good.

Music's good when we exercise our creativity. It's good to

have beautiful decorations so that later, Happy Father's Day to

all the fathers here.

Remember to go to the back there and take picture later. Okay.

Yeah, so it's good. It's good to use technology as well.

It's good to use different kinds of things. You know,

God gave us brain, right, that's why we always use

our brain to produce good things. So I'm not saying that,

you know, don't use all the good things. Okay, go

back to the old school.

This is the day, this is the day.

No, I'm not saying that, okay, but I'm saying that,

don't use it to distract us. So it's as simple

as sayinger, Okay, I'm going to use espresso as an example. Okay,

we go out to the espresso table, and then you know,

I will say that, you know, hah, today's Sunday prepared.

Jacob biscuits near.

Jacob biscuits got good enough for new comer, you must

prepare my law, So on the Jacob biscuits you must

put some cavier there or so ha cavier or Jacob biscuits,

and my law definitely will draw hundred people to upaluant.

And then espresso is like how okay, So it's very

easy for us right to use these kind of things

right to attract people. Right, we want to have like

maybe okay, you know the lighting here, how white light

you near? I think we need to go and buy

some you know, likes you know, next week to do it,

maybe like like like some party too, and then more

young people will come, right or maybe like yeah, maybe okay,

uh today who says don't singer her? Yeah he always

miss cuan or he cry on stage. They're not nobody

singing up?

No, no, no, what no one.

Okay, maybe we shall do something like you know, like

Malaysians idle. We get people to singer who can sing

very well to be on stage, they can attract another

one hundred people.

I don't you want to say?

Yeah?

Okay, so we use a.

Lot of physical external people can see one to try

to attract people. Okay, again I say, don't get me wrong,

I'm not against one thing to give our best experience

to our people. In fact, can I tell you that

our Expresso team, especially they have been using you know,

three star budget or maybe to start up. Perhaps they

will say, I know, only one start budget and they

give us five star experience.

Who agree? Right?

I can tell you if you if I get the

budget that they have and you ask me to prepare

their spreader, I will probably scratch my head. How you know,

I don't even know where to go and buy all

the food, and you know I don't even know how

to cut. I always say that I cannot prepare food

to save my life.

One. You know, the most I can do is like

going out and eat. That's it.

Okay, but that is what they do because why they

want to give best experience to people. Okay, But it

became an issue where we forget that, you know, to

bring God into the center of the focus.

Okay, so instead of like.

You know, because you want to give the best right again,

I'm used espresso especial leator.

You don't tell me you want to resign.

Okay, you know that you wanted to give so good

experience to the newcomer that you can't tell me that, Selena,

I cannot see in service today.

I cannot listen to the message today.

I cannot come into worship because why I need to

go to the street but telling to get.

The flowers and then I need to go child Kate

to go ahead, buy the away. Then after that I

need to go. I'm about to collect the place. And then.

You know what I mean that you so focus into

the physical attraction that you forget that you need to come,

you know, into the presence of God to gain God's experience.

That is the difference, you know, if you say that, okay,

I prepare what I've prepared. I'm just going to leave

it to God and I'm just going to come in

and worship the King of King Lord and the lot

of lords. And I can tell you even though it's

just Jacob Biscuits and my.

Lord outside there all of us.

It's like, wow, what an awesome spread of expresso that

we have, because why we shifted the focus back to God.

So that is what I'm trying to get here.

Don't be too into the external outlook that we forgot

about God.

And then the next one is the internal.

What causes us to always focus on the external is

because of our internal we become.

So obsessed on the numbers.

We become so obsessed with the popularity, We become so

obsessed with the fame, the fortune. Right then we started

giving glory to all this external physical items. You know,

we are so obsessed with it that we we we

give glory to the worship team saying that whoa Today,

worship is so good because John sayings, so well, wow

today the worship so it's so good, you know, because

the speaker preacher so well, oh today the service is

so good because the espresso team prepares such a good food.

Then we've forgotten that the service became so well. It's

because the presence of God is here. You know, a

lot of times that is what we do, including myself.

I can tell you that, you know, sometimes I'm when

we see what today's exank God, you know, eighty people

with ten newcomers. Because why because we prepare well we

invite people well?

Is it?

Is it because we prepare well we invite people well?

Or is it because we really get down on our

knee and pray and ask God to open, you know,

the gates of heaven and pour out his anointing uponness.

Sometimes we forget that.

That's why my prayer is always this, Lord, I pray

it's because.

Of your supernatural power that people come to Unbound.

I pray that it's because that this week we pray

for healing and people got healed, that.

They go out and say that it's Jesus that healed

me that draw people to Unbound.

So I pray that, you know, this will not just

be my prayer, but everybody's prayer, that we remember that

it is the presence of God that we want in

this place to bring people into church. So we should

not do things to please the crowd. Maybe some people

will come to you, and you know, the homes leader,

the people will come to you saying that Iluna, you know,

want the church down the road.

Do things like that. I don't know.

I think we also need to do this. Then you

say that no, Lam, that that is not what God

wants us to do. Say, you don't know, don't know.

I live chachia, right and a lot. Let me tell you,

as a leader, when we hear people to repaying one,

we will really panic one. But again, when we build church,

is it about pleasing people or are we here to

please God first?

Right?

So, when I was preparing this point, right, I remember

this particular tapeline when I.

Was a youth. We use it a lot. The will

w JD. Okay, yeah, okay, it's not for it's not

the total or the treaty or whatever. The will w JD.

What will Jesus do?

So when we read the word of God, okay, you

can read it in John chapter six, verse sixty six, Okay,

we will learn that Jesus was never.

About the crowd. So in John chapter six, the whole scripture,

I think.

It's from verse sixty to worse sixty six was where

Jesus was preaching about you know, he is the bread

of life, that he came from heaven. And then after

he preached that, right, all the people is like, is

he all right? Why is he saying that he's the

bread of life. What is he saying that he's the

only you know, he's the only one that can give

life to people, you know? And and we read that

many of his disciples left him, all went their way, okay,

and none of them worked with him anymore.

And he was left with the his his twelve disciples. Okay.

So basically a multitude that came to listen to his preaching,

and everyone left with the twelve of them. So you see, ah,

you probably will have a ten thousand people and then

all go away, left the twelve.

And then guess what Jesus did? Jesus right, I think

I say the wrong thing really, like you don't go,

you don't go? Did Jesus say that?

No, Jesus turned to his disciples and asked, will you

also leave me? So if Jesus was about crowd about

pleasing the people, he will have tided the disciples. Okay, okay,

next time, I will not say things that. I will

not tell people that I'm the way, the truth, and

the life. Likee I will not tell people I'm the

bread of lifelve. I will not tell people I'm the

door to you know, I'm the gates.

I cannot remember what the whole thing. Yeah, I will

not tell people all this are if not on litter,

I will not have ten thousand people for low mina.

So did Jesus stop telling the truth. No, So that

is something that we have to remind ourselves.

When our internal heart is right and we know the

truth and we know what makes God's happy, we need

to continue to teach people God's way. And when we

start to tell people God's way, we don't need to

be afraid, you know, of losing the crowd, because why

we are focusing on Christ. We are teaching people about Christ.

We are leading people closer to Christ, and that is

when Christ himself will retain the people. It is the

Lord that convicts our heart to stay. It is the

Lord that leaders to do what we need us to do. Okay,

So that is how we need to, you know, focus

our eyes on Jesus. So let's be reminded that what

Jesus did is that we can learn from him that

he is not about the crowd. He's not about the status,

he's not about the numbers, like how we put it

as our first priority. Okay, And when we remember this, right,

it is something for us to remember also every first

week of the month, Remember we partic communion, right, and

we will read the scripture right.

And this is my body which is broken for you.

Do this in but in remembrance of who me, Who

is the me Jesus? Okay. And then this is my

blood that was shed for you. Do this in remembrance

of me. So do we only remember Jesus when we

partake communion? No, it's every day.

So, but taking communion right, it's a It's God's way

of cutting through all the noises around us.

Okay.

It's not that you know, we we have amnesia or

what last that we've forgotten that Jesus saved us. But

it is that the noise of the world sometimes drowness. Okay,

it drowns us to the point that we forget about Jesus.

It's true.

And because every single day we have so many dadlines,

every single days, we have so many commitments, every single days,

we have so many different kinds of things that we

are living by the hour because of our different different dadlines,

our schedules and whatnot.

And said to say, God is always the last in

the list.

So what I want to help us to re protest

again is that Let's bring Jesus from the last from

the list to the top of the list. Let's bring

him back to be the first, regardless of anything. So

whether we we we we want to do anything in

the day, we always remember Jesus first. So it is

not only during the particking communion, but we remember him

all day early. If you can wake up first thing

in the morning, is that, oh I need to drink

my coffee, Why not you wake up first thing in

the morning. I need to I need to do my

devotion now, right. So this is a challenge for you,

a challenge for me as well. Let's start our day

remembering Jesus. Let's start our day acknowledge jing Jesus.

Okay.

So that is something that we learn external and internal

that pull us away from Christ.

So what does Christ centeredness look like? Okay? So this

is how Christ senteredness look looks like.

So in Liuve chapter nine, verse thirty five, okay, and

the Word of the Law says, and the voice came

out of the clouds saying, this is my beloved son.

Hear him. Okay, So this is what we need to do.

We need to listen to the son which is Jesus.

So our goal in life is actually to please the Father, Okay,

our father in heaven. And then what did our father

in heaven say, this is my beloved son. Who is

his beloved son Jesus?

And what did he say? Hear whatever he said, we

hear him. Okay. So the question to us is that

where is our eyes looking at right now? Okay? I know.

If let's say some of you are trying to be chicky,

you say that, Okay, my eyes is looking at you now.

Because you're talking right. But in our life, okay, in

our life, where is our eyes looking now? If you're

in corporate, are you looking at the next step that

you can be promoted to? Maybe you're as a parent,

you're looking at which school should I enroll my kids into?

Maybe if let's say you are newly wet, you're thinking, hmmm,

where should I bring my wife to holiday?

Next?

You know, the question is where is our eyes looking

at now? So all of us will be looking at

different different things at the moment. Okay, maybe you are

at the high you know, the mountaintop, Now what are

you looking at? Maybe you're at your lowest valley? Now,

what is your eyes looking at? But in the scripture,

the Word of God says that you know, not only

how can we hear a person, it's by looking at

the person. Can I say that I'm hearing what Eddie

is saying, but I'm not looking at him. He was

probably talking to Mila, but I'm not looking at him.

And then when we are not looking at the person,

we know that, you know, whatever, the person is tooking

our back, right, you know, we kind of like will

ignore on. So imagine that you know, you're trying to

talk to me, and then I am not looking at you.

Then after five minutes an do you, hey, Maga, what

do you just tell me?

Right?

Because I wasn't paying attention, right, So our father in

heavens want us to look at Jesus and not anywhere else.

So I'm just going to give to a example here

from the Bible that talks about where our eyes is

looking at when we are at the mountaintop, and where

our eyes is when we are at the lowest valley. Okay,

So the first one is the transfiguration on the mountain,

came from Matthew, chapter seventeen, verse twenty eight to thirty five. Okay,

So this story of the transfiguration. We know that, you know,

Jesus brings his disciple to the mountaintop to pray, but then,

as usual his disciple, I think hiking is very tiring.

I reached up the mountain tory thirty doors for a sleep. Okay,

so that was where Moses and Elijah appear. And then

Peter suddenly woke up and then saw, you know, Elijah

and Moses walking away. And then Peter said that, you know,

should I build you know, a trade altar okay, one

for Jesus and one for Moses and one for Elijah.

Okay, that is what he wanted to do. But in

the end, Moses and Elijah left right. So this story,

it just.

Reminded us that, you know, sometimes we will look at

great people around us. We are at the mountaintop, experienced

great people like Moses, like Elijah, great leaders, great methods,

great movement, and we want to build altar okay, you know,

in worshiping with all these greats. But you read in

that scripture itself that you know, Moses and Elijah left eventually,

and who was left on the mountaintop. It was only Jesus.

And this reminds us that when the Great moved away.

Only one person remain, which is Jesus. You may be

at your mountaintop right now, okay, Jesus walking with you,

you know, bring you from you know, because majority of

you are working adults here. Okay, how God brings you

as a young executive into seashood? Now, okay, achieve and

then you've suddenly forgotten who Jesus is. And then you

start to you know, worshiping your high level career. But

can I tell you a fact that whatever that you

gain in this world will eventually goes off and Jesus

will be the only one remain. So are you going

to worship you know, your career or are you going

to worship Jesus? And this story tells us that we

are here to only worship the one, which is Jesus.

Will we don't get ourselves caught up with the Great

in our life. We've forgotten about Jesus, so we need

to remember there it's only one one altar to build,

and that belongs to Jesus. So you know, when when

I read this, right, I read the New Living Translation,

and I like how the New Living Translations say, this

is my son, my chosen one, is the greatness around

us God's chosen one. No, it's Jesus and hence we

need to listen to him. So that is when we

are at our mountaintop. But what about when we are

in our lowest valley. We read the story story of

the woman called in adult tree, right, So remember that

christ senteredness is not just a mountaintop surrounded by greatness.

We can also be in our.

Deeperst valley and our eyes is always on our accuser,

our circumstances, our situation.

That we forget to focus on our eyes on Jesus,

you know, maybe we will be uh okay an example, Uh,

we may be caught in uh bad health report.

Right and very normal, including myself. My eyes is on

my health report. I'm like, oh no my health report

like that? Why what did my my health report? This

times so bad?

Okay?

And then I start to research which doctor should I

go for? You know, what solutions should I do? You know, uh,

who can I go for?

Advice? You know should I go for? You know, both

western medical and traditional medical? You know normal?

Because why we when we look at health, the first

thing that comes to our mind is health provided. But

when we look at the story of the woman caught

in an doultrey, right, you realize that when Jesus say that, no, uh,

for those of you who, without seeing cast the first stone.

And then when they all the accusers, when did any

accuser throw the firstone?

No? All left?

And who remained Jesus right, only Jesus. And then what

Jesus told the woman? Neither do I condemn you?

Right?

And how does it translate back to my example? Just now,

when our eyes is on Jesus, we do not need

to worry what the doctors say. The doctor will tell you,

you know, bad report, but we just need to focus

our eyes on Jesus. Because why when we focus on

our eyes on Jesus, we believe and trust that the

Lord heals. And I'm not saying this a based on

whatever I read, you know, from the commentary and whatnot.

It is my own personal experience.

When the doctor told me that I'm suspected cancer, of

course I will read like I'm gonna look through all

you know, Google, dot Com, GPT, GERMANI, you know, hospital

and all worried because the moment I hear the word biopsy,

my my legs shake already.

But what I did.

I went to the Lord. First, I went to the

Lord and I prayed. The report came out, the doctor said,

it's clear. You know that is a testimony, or you

can even ask you know, another person. Leona, for those

of you who have heard her testimony, her hand was

you know, cracks and not doers whatnot. Every day she

has to pluster her hand. I don't know how many

pluster I told her. You know, probably Joelo need to

buy share in Hands up Plus, you know, so that

can get free, you know, pluster because when she played

piano it hurts.

I look at her hand. My hand was so pain Okay,

but what did she do. She didn't ask you a

lot to.

Go and buy share in Hands Up Plus. She only

went out on her knee and pray and God heal her.

And her hand now is a biby hand. You can

go and touch her hand with Joel's permission. Okay, right,

So that is Jesus way of telling us, neither do

I condemn you. We may feel that, yeah, okay maybe,

uh you know, Selena Isma, you're nice, a leader mad

That's why I got heal them?

Who am I will God heal me?

Let me tell you you are God's beloved, God will

heal you regardless.

It is not. God doesn't true that because you are

a leader. That's why I hear you. You know, you know,

Abe it's not a leader, so I wouldn't heal her.

Jesus is not a dead. Jesus came to die for

all of us.

The word of God says, by your stripes, you know,

you know by jesus tripes, we are healed. And then

he didn't say that by his stripes that Selena is

here and no one else. No, it's for everyone. So remember,

in good times, bad times, in all times, always remember Jesus, okay,

and making the center of it all regardless of good

that report. First thing I want everyone to remember is

to give thanks and give glory to God. Right, always

run to him first than anything else. And then the

next thing, you know, we need to listen to the sun.

The second one keeping his commandments, okay, in action not

just word. Don't say that, oh I know the tank commments?

Are you knowing and doing is two different things? Are okay,

you can know the tank commments, but not observe it,

not following it, not doing it. So being presented is

not by just hanging across at the door of.

Your house, okay, and just put there. Christ is the

lord of this household. But yet you do nothing what

the Christ told you to do. Okay. So being Christ

centered is hanging the cross in our heart. Okay.

Basically it is acknowledging that He is the Lord. So

we need to listen to what he said, which is

the point.

Just now.

We need to do what he taught us to do.

We need to do what He has commanded us to do,

and make everything that he said he taught us, he

commanded us as the priority.

Okay.

So this is why Jesus commanded all of us before,

you know, in Matthew twenty eight, you know, before he

go off to heaven forever.

You know, this is what he said, teaching them. Okay.

The whole context of this.

Criture is that go there for and make disciples of foundation,

baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all things,

observe what the Word of God. Okay, observe the things

that Jesus has commanded us.

Okay.

Can you see that he wants us to teach the

people that we are we have made disciples. Okay, we

go to the world, we preach the gospel, we made disciples,

and then we don't say that, oh because this except

Christ ready dar nah, this person is safe for redeema.

I do need to teach this person anymore. No, we

need to disciple them. We need to teach them the

word of God. We need to work with them so

that they also know what does the Bible say and

then they will observe it.

Okay. So that's why I always pray this. Let us

not just be the hero of the word, but be

the do world of the word. By us hearing the

word of God.

There won't be okay, the power of God maybe will

be only fifty percent in our life. But when we

do the word of God that you will see it

became one hundred percent powerful in our life. So this

culture reminds us that it is not just Jesus just

saying that, Oh Jesus is my lord that said no,

but to do it, okay, what he has taught us

and make it the priority. So in John fourteen fifteen said,

if you love me, keep my commanments, not keep in

the pocketta. And you say keep my commandment, Smith, you

do it. You exercise it, you you you practice it.

Okay. So if we want to love and bide.

In Jesus, take his comments and make it, you know,

the top of the least in our daily practice. Okay,

all right, So how do we constantly keep Christ in

the center, okay, which is what I mentioned just now,

keeping our eyes on Jesus. Constantly fix our eyes on Jesus.

Remember his awesomeness, remember his goodness, looking at his tender,

loving kindness, looking at his grace, looking at his mercy,

looking at his beauty. When our eyes is on Jesus,

there's no way, okay for us to stray.

Okay. So instead of spending like thirty percent of your

time trying to harness your skill, I would rather.

You spending twenty five percent of your time praying King

God and five percent harnessing your skill. And I'm not

saying that you know you you you need to come

to the Lord and pray and seek the Lord, and

then you're supposed to practice or your your your key

bought say you need to practice it. No, that's why

I say, is thirty percent trying to harness your skill,

twenty five percent seen the Lord, five percent harnessing your

skill because you know what, when you seek the Lord right,

the Lord will give you the creativity in how to

improve your skill. And really at okay, I'm I'm a

leaving example, and I will share with your later okay.

And then in he Brewshiped the Travelers too, it says

here looking onto Jesus, the author and the finisher of

our faith, full for the joy that was set before him,

and you're the cross despising the shame and sat down

at the right hand of the trune of God. So remember,

we don't need to worry about finishing well. We only

need to remember to work with and to keep our

eyes focused on. When we focus on Jesus, because he's

the author and the finisher of our faith mark, he

will definitely help us to finish well. Unless along the

way you're telling Jesus that not Jesus, I don't need

you to run this race with Mena. Then then you

don't blame like you know, how come I don't finish

well in your race of faith?

Okay?

But if you are working with him, your eyes are

on him, okay, you will definitely finish well.

Okay, So that is one. Then surrender the nice things

to God.

Okay, so I started off saying that, you know, don't

don't focus too much on making things so great so nice,

so you know, all the beauty of the external trying

to draw people, right, that is why I started off. Okay,

all of us like nice things on including myself. Okay,

all of us like nice things really like nice car,

nice house, nice back, nice but Drew nice should Okay,

we like everything nice, but let's not allow it to

tep us.

Surrender it to God. Okay, we like it, we.

Admid, we dream it, but don't spend your time too

much time pursuing it.

Surrender it to God first.

If God said that okay, now it's the time to pursue,

then you go. If God say that no, don't pursue

it first, then don't go. Okay, that is what it

meant by surrendering it to God. Okay, listen to what

God says, whether is to buy a house, whether it's

to accept a new job, whether it is to you know,

say yes to a guy who came to you and

say that, you know, can you be my girlfriend? Or

you know whatever thing, okay, anything, Always listen to God

because if we decide not to listen to God. I

can tell you that the journey will be hard, because

why we try to take things into our own hand.

Okay, so.

If you don't surrender them, your eyes will shift from

Jesus to the object and you will start focusing on

how am I going to get that?

When do I get that? How much harder do I

need to work to get that? Right? This is the

usual questions that all of us have.

Okay, That's why I'm writing it down because it's the

thing that I always ask myself because I grew up

working hard to get.

What I want.

That is how I was brought up. But when I

say yes to Jesus, Jesus you mean, I don't need

to ask this question. I just use render hard wall.

But I wanted like tomorrow because I'm very impatient. Right,

so I try to be God's help alert. But then

you know, God always say that I don't need you

to help me to bless you. You just need to

listen to me. Who You're tough, I tell you, very tough.

Okay.

So John ten ten say I have come that they

may have life, that they may have it more abundantly.

You know, it take me very long to really buy

it by description in my life. You sure not God

that you want me to have things more abundantly. I

think you you bluff me. Wanna so, I need to

work very hard. You know, I need to work it

hard to climb the corporate letter. I need to work

where it hard to earn my income. I need to

work where it hard. This, I need to work wear

it had that, But that is not what Jesus said.

Jesus never asked you to work very hard to earn

your first you know your yeah, your your your saving.

Jesus never asked you to work very hard to climb

the corporate letter. Jesus just said that you know you

need to seek me first and everything will be added

onto you. And again, please don't take me wrong. I'm

not asking you to go back to your office and

then you.

Just say, Selena ask me had I said, like na

see Nina, No I Okay. We still need to do

what we need to do. But always remember who is boss? Okay,

whom am I pleasing Jesus? Okay?

So Jesus promises us abundant life, and that means there

is nothing on earth you cannot have if Christ wants

you to have it.

If Jesus want you to have that house, he will

make it happen. If Jesus want you to have that car,

he will make it happen. If Jesus want you to

have that position, he will make it happen. But if

the very thing that you're praying for is not what

God wants for you, I can tell you God will

shut the door tight and very very tight that no

key can open one. I can testify to that, and

I can tell you Annabelle can testify to that too,

right because we all heard her testimony.

That's I can't use her name, okay, right. If that

is something that is not what God wants for us,

he will close it. He will shut it. That's why

we look to him, so that we will not run

a journey that waste our time. Let Jesus be our

main satisfier, not the things of the world. Let him

take care of our life. All we need to do

is to worship Him and continue to do our best

based on what He has taught us and tell us.

So if you say that I don't know how to

give my best, lah, go read the word of God.

I don't know how to be the best. Parana go

read the word of God. I do not know how

to be the best word girl. Go and read the

word of God. I do not know how to be

her best husband. Go and read the word of God.

I do not know how to be the best wife.

Read the word of God. I do not know how

to be a best father. Read the Word of God.

I can tell you everything I just said is all

written in the Bible, and it's in the New Testament.

If you say that I do know how to be

a good boss, read the Word of God. Everything is

inside there. And I can tell you there will be

a lot of self help book that you read in

this world, but if you to compare it in the

world of God, you will realize that a lot of

things that's written in all this self help, right, you

can find it in the world of God.

One.

I'm not lying because I was reading one self help

passage the other day I read. I was like, Hey,

the point though, is my tamlight something I read in

the Bible the other day And when I checked back,

the Word of God. It is in the world of God,

whether is it written by a Christian or non Christian.

The principles everything is from the world of God. So

why do you look at something that's written by another

man when you can read it from the man who

inspired all the writers on earth to write the Word

of God. Go back to the Word of God and

download it from God on how to lead our life. Well,

so when we focus on Jesus, God will teach you

the way to go for right. So as eye close,

I'm just gonna share with you this testimony about how

I surrendered my ambition onto the Lord. You know, from

the moment I accepted Christ until today, a lot of

decisions that I made is always Jesus first. You know,

I won in so many company right, all my bosses

commented this, Selena, why do you always save your leave

for church things? And I didn't And I didn't realize

these are because different company I worked for. Some company

I got sixteen days leave, some company I got eighteen

days leave, and I never taken leave for holiday. And

all my live always fill up is church conference, X

kids holiday program, mission strip, mission strip, mission strip. And

then my boss said, Selena, can you please take your

leave to go for holiday?

There?

I will look at her, but no money go holiday?

Then she like, but you got money to go for

all this mission strip. I say, yao, I save money

for mission strip. Well then she said you go for

one mission strip. Let's say and go for holiday can

or not? Uh no, never mind, I think I go

mission strip is more fun. And there was that makes

me realize that, you know, I make a lot of

my decisions based on what is important to God.

You know.

During my study time, also, all my friends will stay

back in the hostel. Okay, I stay. I used to

study in tai classy back then. Now it's time you're

empty and I stay in Klang. Okay, It's impossible for

me to travel every single day, so I rented a

room outside and I stayed. So all my friends are

all from Klang, and they never go back on weekend.

One so Friday, regardless of what time I finished class,

I will sure go back to Klang. And my housemates

will always ask me class finish at nine pm.

Why do you want to rush back Klang? Go back

on Saturday morning? No?

I cannot because my youth group is on Saturday morning.

Then they're like, you wander, don't go your group Canoa?

Uh Canola?

Because I'm serving, you know, it never occurs my mind,

in my mind that I am prioritizing thing because.

I know what I do is what God wants me

to do, and that is how I prioritize.

So it's the same thing when I it comes back

to my most recent testimony, okay about my career.

Okay.

So as I closed and I invite the Extreme team up,

I'm just gonna share this testimony, okay. So this testimony

is about this particular milestone in my career life that

I always wanted to achieve, okay, and I couldn't do

it because of different commitments and because of financial constraint.

Okay.

So majority of you know that I recently graduated from

my master's of education, right, So that is one of

the dreams that I have, Okay. I always wanted to

pursue my master's in education. Okay, that's the first one.

The second one, it has always been my desire to

be certified in the field that I'm working in.

Okay.

So I'm working in education line and my first degree

is not education, so I'm not professionally trained in the

education sector, especially in.

Terms of teaching.

So I always wanted to be certified in the field, Okay.

And then my desire to be a trainer is my

first dream.

Okay.

I want to be a certified trainer so that I

can train people in my area of expertise. But to

do all this right, it requires time, it requires money

and a lot of money, and I don't have.

Okay.

So I've been working in education sector for twenty years now. Okay,

again I say I'm not trained in this sector, but

that is this is a feel that God caught me into.

Okay.

So what I did was that, you know, I try

to do things my own way without seeking God. God

shut the door. Okay, God shut the door, and basically

a lot of road blocks, and I look at it,

I'm like, I will never be able to achieve this

tree desire that I have. So I started surrendering to God, Okay,

and I told God that, Lord, Lord, I'm just going

to focus my eyes on you and I'm just gonna

trust in your timing.

But the same time I always pray this, I say

that God, you.

Have caught me into this sector, this feel for twenty years,

and I wish to be certified so that you know,

I can have a solid credentials continue to do more

for you in this field.

So I waited, I prayed. I waited. Nothing happened. So

I continue to serve him regardless.

I continue to do what he has taught me to do,

and I continue to seek him, you know, in every

time I want to change jobs to do different things

and whatnot, I continue to be faithful. So I continue to,

you know, God say I need you to lead at

something I do.

I need you to do this. I do that.

Eventually, I kind of like forgotten this tree desire that

I have, you know, because I already so into what

I'm doing, reallyma, so I, you know, surrender to him,

and I totally slip off my mind, not until I

came to my current's job. Okay, in my current company.

So one fine day, I was preparing a different submission,

you know for my company, okay, to off new courses.

So I work in a college, Okay, in the compliance team,

so dealing with governments doing submissions.

Is my daily job. Okay.

So I was preparing these submissions and then I was

looking at the guidelines and all that I noticed that, Hey,

there is this particular tagline that says that whoever that

has ten years experience in a particular field, you can

actually apply for a certification of that field without needed

to go for.

Classes or exams or whatnot. All you need to do

is just submit a portfolio, go for an interview and

you'll be certified.

That I was like, oh wow, then, which means I

got twenty years experience. Man, Then I just need to

submit my portfolio and then get interviewed and then I

will get a certification. But the thing is to submit

that portfolio, I need to have all the documentations of

the things that I do in this particlar field. So

basically it's the operations documentation and all this whatnot. That

I was like, Ah, this one I got because when

I was working in the school, I was the one

in charge of preparing all the s obs, so I

have a record of it. So I printed it out,

I submitted and I was certified with the SKM level

try Early Child Education and Care certification. And that is

the first ambition or first dream achieved. I am certified

in the field. Now.

So the second one was again, I told you, it's

my desire.

To pursue myself of education, and we know that pursuitaiary

education is never cheap. So I came into this company

and MYLI said that ezelea, you are to study myself

or not? I said, no money, you know, and then

he said that don't worry, we have collaboration with this university.

You will get staff priced. I'm like, oh really.

Then I say, can we draw from EPF to be

not can get? And then I went registered and I

got a placement and then I completed it in one year.

So that was my second dream achieve you know, things

that I could not do. God did it for me.

And then the third one was being a certified trainer.

So to be a certified trainer. If let's say you

are in the field, you know that being a HIDC

trainer was actually supposed to attend a five day course

to be certified, okay, and to attend the five day

costs you also need to pay a sum of money

which I don't have.

So I kind of like, okay, this one needs to

at ten costs. I got no time, no money, now

my life just shout with that. And then once find it.

I was having a conversation with my friend and my

friends said, Ezelena, you do compliance one right, so you

kind of know all this sop, right? Can you help

me to reachro this soob and tell me you know

how to become a trainer. So as I was reading

the soop again, this line popped up, if you own

a master in education, you can apply for exemption. I

was like, whoa, which means I need to go for training,

I need to pay money. I need to pay money

to get a certified And I applied for the exemption

of the Gothic.

So that was my third.

Ambition of how God makes things come true. We doubt

me spending any effort at all. And the bonus one

was this because of all these credentials I have. Right,

my boss said, Selena, do you want to apply for

a teaching permit?

I like sure, why not? I say, is the company

sponsoring me? Then then she said that yeah, I'm going

to apply. The company will pay for it. And that

was the bonus.

And with the teaching permit, now I can become a

Curdi Fight lecturer in andy Tertiary. So that was how

when I surrender it and to God, I say that,

you know my prayer has always been this where no

matter what company I go to, Lord bring me to

a company. Allow me to learn what I needed to

learn so that I can use it for the extension

of the kingdom. So everything that I do, I see

how God equipped me to be able to bring back

to His kingdom. Though a lot of times I say,

God of all sexls my education, you know, in education,

I cannot be rich on a lot, you know, but

God has never allowed me to live it like. God

has never short changed me. God provided everything that I need.

So that is how God, you know, reminded me that

you know, I have come to give you life and

life abundantly, and that is how God make my life abundantly.

You know, if I were to do all this on

my own, it would cost me at least a thirty

thousand or more. But because I surrender it to God,

it is only within twenty KA which I am able

to withdraw from FROMWS me to pay for whatever I

need to pay for. And I even get text ex

emution for all this things. Right, So that is how

amazing that you know, God allows us to achieve our

dreams effortlessly without struggle when we put Him first. So Church,

as I close, I just wanted to remind all of

us that, you know, as we leave this place, you know,

after the service, let us come back to God once again,

don't be easily derailed by the wonders of this world.

Don't be easily distracted by you know how the world

tells you how success is like. Let the world of

God tells you how success is like. And in order

to achieve that success, there's only one way, which is

Jesus Way.

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God bless