Who are you sailing with?
Acts 27:23 "For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,24 saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.' 25 "Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.
A) Whom I belong:
This speaks of Paul’s intimate relationship with God, actually it is these words that made me meditate this portion and write this article. Those words ooze with love for God and boasts of God being his owner. Trusting God because someone told you about God is a starting point but then you need to grow in the knowledge of Christ and then you have to call Him ‘my God’. Amen. Look at the ‘love letters’ (Book of Psalms) of David where he says "I love You, O LORD, my strength."2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress..” (Psalm 18:2) God is looking for such love, not wishy-washy Christianity who drag themselves to church, skip prayer and throw away the Bible in the shelf and still pretend to be good Christianity. God calls them “white-washed tombs”. Examine yourself today! Deuteronomy 10:12 “..what does the Lord your God require of you, to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
It is so heart-rending when people walk into the church casually very late, sometimes they stroll in after half the sermon is over. My conundrum is why they come and for what they come? Since they disrespected the rules of the House of God, they have already forfeited the blessings. When you disrespect church timings, you disrespect God! Anybody listening?
In the midst of our crisis, we need a man like Paul who has a close relationship with God. He would be the right person to ask for advice not some moron who doesn’t know the True God. Hollywood actor Will Smith met spiritual guru Sadhguru J Vasudeva after he slapped Chris Rock who was anchoring the show at the 2022 Oscars ceremony that created a big uproar worldwide. Will smith was looking for solace/advice from Sadhguru; today we see scores of such people running helter-skelter for solution and advice from the wrong person. People pay huge amount money also as counseling chargers, whereas the Lord says:
'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3)
“He revealeth the deep and secret things, he knoweth what is in the darkness, and light dwelleth with him” Daniel 2:22
B)Whom I serve
Acts 27:23 "For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,24 saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.
Paul goes on to say, ‘whom I belong and whom I serve’. Observe the words ‘whom I serve’! Lovers of God will definitely serve Him too! Even if you are not full-time servants of God; yet, you can serve Him in some capacity as volunteers, helpers, Sunday class teachers, help in sound system etc. Just sitting at your desktop also you can help the church with preparing agenda and other typing work. Have you ever asked your pastor ‘how can I help the Church? There are several areas where you can assist God for the building of His Kingdom. We would host 3 days fire camp yearly where people from various states would participate; there would be enormous amount of work where we would need helpers; yet, not many would volunteer to help us, few would sleep in the afternoon, such is the state of believers today. There were days I wept in the night because of work pressure, stress and heavy demands and felt ‘ why not few attend and just volunteer’ without actually participating in the camp. Alas, there are none with such burden, they are ready to throw stones at organizers instead. Sad!
How our ABIDE SCHOOL started: After moving to Hyderabad, we had no ministry openings, we had no friends, relatives….so I would go on the road and look for opportunities. Yes, seekers find! One day I randomly walked into a children home nearby and volunteered to teach English, he allowed me to teach the kids. I bought them biscuits, pencils and chocolates and started my first ‘Academy class’. Here is where I got the burden to start our own academic institution, n because children were neglected and they were sitting in dark dungeons. We rented an individual house for rent and raised a banner and called it ‘ABIDE SCHOOL’. Simultaneously, we visited the respective office and submitted our application for permit. 2013 we received permit to run our own education institution. God-lovers find a way to help the community rather than be passive.
An angel of God stood before me: We live in a world where people do not want to discuss their faith and feel that is personal. Imagine telling the people, ‘last night an angel of God spoke to me’, they would brand you mental. People do not want to have visitations from God and desire for such ecstasy is not there. Their focus is on some foreign land and that is what gives them Goosebumps rather than angels and God.
c) 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you:
Who are you sailing with? It is very important who we move with because we would be getting deposits of advice, counseling, business plans, regular talks and if it is from the wrong person then they would never benefit you but destroy you. Caveat!
Two hundred and seventy-six persons in the ship were encouraged in the most darkest journey while they were in the middle of the sea with no sign of shore, because Paul spoke words of faith. Not just empty words but he spoke of the visitation of the angel the previous night and the promise of God. The crowd included prisoners, soldiers and passengers but the Bible says that they believed Paul (verse 36) All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food. That’s something!
‘Do not be afraid’ are golden words that the world wants to hear today, as we are surrounded by
news of US banking sectors collapsing, Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank, which collapsed in March 2023. Normally we feels that banks are stable places where money is protected behind padlocks and steel bars, or these days, digital firewalls. But really, banks are inherently unstable, their whole business model is take your money, loan it to other people and then make it back with interest. My last stint before joining the Lord’s full time service was with a multinational bank, the corridors were posh, entire atmosphere was glossy and opulent; however, within a few months of joining, a very important officer committed suicide by drowning himself because of debts. What? My conundrum was ‘how could an officer with such high salary do such a thing? Mismanagement was the answer.
It is very important you have a good spiritual mentor who is able to give you good advice regarding your life and you need to have a teachable spirit to listen to them.
Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”
Be connected with the right church that teaches you to fast, read the Bible, pray and live a holy life. You just cannot jump into any bandwagon that calls itself church, you need to be under the right leader.
Proverbs 13:10 By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom.
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