With so many things in this world competing
for our attention, how do we keep from
being distracted from our calling as disciples of
Jesus?
We'll consider that vital question today on The
Road to Reality with Brother K.P. Yohannan.
Great to have you back with us this
week as we present The Road to Reality
with Brother K.P. Yohannan, Founder and Director
of Gospel for Asia.
Today we'll be listening to a message centered
around the question, what distracts us?
Is what we're doing contributing to our calling
as Christians?
And life spans only a brief time here.
Are we living with a sense of urgency
in light of eternity?
Or are we getting distracted?
Brother K.P. will offer some important insights
on what distracts us from our high and
holy call, reminding us to make the most
of our present and limited opportunities.
Somehow I think in all our life, unless
we constantly remind ourselves of the purpose, the
reason, the focus, we can lose sight of
the most important thing.
The power of focus is so incredible that
we see throughout the scripture also from the
life of Jesus.
And you know some 4,000 years Christ
would wait for the time of the Father
to come to earth to die on the
cross.
And before the world began, he knew this
was going to happen, the lamb that was
slain before the world began.
So he knew that.
Yet as he come to earth, he will
find from the day one how much distractions
he faced that would take him away from
the purpose of which he came.
The 40 days of fasting and prayer, then
the temptation that was offered to him to
take a shortcut.
Then you know how the Greeks came to
Jesus.
If you read the context of the scripture,
basically you have to read into it.
I first learned about that after I listened
to Dr. Stanley Jones.
That is, hearing about the opposition Christ was
faced with, the possible death that he will
have to face, the Greeks came pleading with
him to come away with them to be
their philosopher, their teacher.
And this is where Christ responds, unless a
seed falls into the ground and dies, it
remains as it is.
But if it dies, it brings forth much
fruit.
And you know his brothers and his sisters
and his mother came in one place trying
to take him away by force, thinking that
basically he's out of his mind, he's in
trouble.
And then he will respond both times saying,
who is my father?
Who is my brother?
Who is my sister?
Those who do the will of my father.
Another time we said those who obey the
word.
So you find in the life of Christ,
he faced this.
Now when the Bible says he is a
high priest who can sympathize with us, for
he was tempted in all things that we
are.
A casual reader who don't think deep enough
may read it and walk over it.
But if you sit down and think about
what is the thing that troubles you the
most?
What is the thing that discourages you the
most?
What are the things that causes you to
stumble so easily?
What are the things that makes you feel
so sad and cry yourself to sleep?
And what are things that are so strong
temptation that you're fighting for your life from
giving into it and have a shipwreck of
life?
For he experienced all these things yet without
sin, so he can help us in the
time of need.
Now if you leave it like that without
going further, we may miss the point.
The point is, why temptation?
Why struggle?
Why setback?
Why agony?
It was all for the purpose of trying
to deviate him from the one reason for
which he came.
That's the whole thing about it.
And this is the reason why I have
to often sit down and think about what
this is all about.
Some of the decisions I make about where
I should go, where I should not go,
and what I should do, should not do,
is really based on, is this what the
Lord called me to do?
Is this thing going to contribute to fulfilling
the call God gave me to do?
Or is it going to be something else?
Sometime ago, I was called to attend an
international meeting of Christian leaders from almost every
country in the world, and my invitation was
to represent India and speak on behalf of
the church.
And it was something that, honestly, every way
you look at it, logically, it is a
fantastic thing.
But I sat down and thought through this
deep enough.
It was a horrendous temptation to say yes
to it, to be in the limelight.
But in my private heart, I said, this
is going to take me away from that
cause, even for the short time.
There are benefits, there are things, but I
weighed carefully whether I made the right decision
or not.
Honestly, I can tell you, I found peace
in the end.
I said, well, I'm glad I didn't do
that.
Not that another time, if I say to
the Lord, the Lord will say, well, yeah,
you go to that.
And I would definitely want to do that.
It's not every time you have to do
the same thing or not to do the
same thing.
So what I want to somehow share with
you, you know, being in a place like
this, morning prayer meeting, Tuesday night and Friday
night and all day working and kids going
around with a little book writing prayer request
and talking about manja and talking about the
kids and, you know, the Dalit children, all
this, I mean, look like we are a
bunch of cuckoos, you know, look like we
drink and eat and sleep and dream and
wallow in the same, you know, stifle atmosphere.
This is all we can think about.
It is a healthy thing.
Is this the way to live?
Is this all about life?
Well, I think it depends who is asking.
It depends who is answering and what perspective
you have.
For example, if our life on earth is
a very temporary season, especially when you hit
50, I tell you, this really hit home
if you are not yet aware of that.
But what I'm saying to you, think about
your grandparents, your great-grandparents.
Where are they?
I have not even seen them.
You?
Maybe.
But where are they?
Where are your grandparents?
Where are your parents?
Are they alive?
Well, it is a matter of few years.
If Jesus didn't come back or rapture didn't
take place, definitely you are history as I'm
history.
So if even our carnal reason tell us
we are here but for a very short
time, then we have to ask the question,
what is all about?
You don't need to be philosopher for that.
Now that that is we are made for
eternity, not for time.
And if this book is all that is
there to tell us what God is thinking
about us and what life is all about,
the whole thing, even the wisest, the richest
of all men on planet of the Solomon
says in chapter 12, Ecclesiastes, the end of
all this is this fear God and do
what he says.
But if you take this whole Bible, it
has only two things to talk about.
One is Christ first coming, second Christ second
coming.
There's nothing else.
This whole 66 books is about that.
So if that is the case, we have
a short time.
The Lord's coming you soon.
Our life on earth is, but for a
very little time, eternity is where we're heading
for.
If the whole Bible talks about Christ first
coming and second coming, if you analyze this
whole thing, it is all about seeing a
group of people come to know the Lord
Jesus Christ to be prepared to reign with
him forever and ever, a bride for his
son.
If that be the case, the question is
answered.
What are you doing here?
What am I doing?
What is our life all about?
I think the answer for me is very
simple.
I am given the highest honor privilege of
all privileges on earth to serve Jesus, to
see people come to know him, especially from
a world that never heard his name, especially
in a time when people are crying out,
saying, come and help us.
We don't know how to.
If that is the kind of world we
are living in, then I think it is
such an incredible privilege the Lord has given
us to serve him.
And so brothers and sisters, it is our
tremendous privilege and honor.
The Lord has given us to be a
peculiar people, to be a strange people, to
be wacko a little bit, if that's what
you want to call Keith Green's language gone
bananas for Jesus, you know, to be a
group of people set apart saying no to
a lot of things for the sake of
the elect.
Now, if that be the reason and the
purpose for which we are here, does that
mean it's going to help us to survive
till the end?
No, I don't think so.
I think one of the struggle we face
is that if the devil couldn't get you
to stay away from the call, if the
devil could fight hard enough and you gave
in and you didn't get into the battle,
didn't get into the place of throwing away
everything to follow the Lord, what happens, as
he always does to me, to you, it
is along the way he will do everything
possible to wear us out.
In Daniel, it talks about wearing out the
saints.
It is like an axe you take and
the tree is so huge, just one chop,
the tree never falls.
But chop after chop after chop, continually, non
-stop wearing out the saints until you simply
want to give up or get out of
the battle or slow down or take a
side road, whatever else.
And that's why I said Jesus faced that.
Let's not make a mistake with that and
we will face the same thing.
And many that followed Jesus, keep in mind,
they came out with good intention, but when
things got rough, the distractions became too strong,
they wouldn't make it.
And you know that to be true.
And many, majority, walked away.
And Paul talks about Demas and several other
people in 2 Timothy.
In the very last, after having journeyed so
long, Paul says, and having loved this present
world, he, that's Demas, left me also distractions
that took over.
So here is what I want to make
the statement.
You and I will face throughout our life
distractions from the enemy to slow us down,
to make our heart grow cold, to lose
our focus, our eyes become kind of foggy.
Unless you are diligent and be vigilant and
be objective and critical about your own feelings
and emotions and other people's voices and either
your wife or your husband or whatever, I
can tell you, you can become blind, not
completely, but then you don't see things so
clearly.
So the finish line, the focus, the end
game, the rapture, eternity, being with the Lord
and millions and billions and no man can
number, none of those things become any more
important.
We become short-sighted.
How easy it is to become short-sighted.
So we must take great care to not
allow anything to keep us from our calling.
In a few moments, we'll return to our
teaching with more important insights on what distracts
us.
You're listening to The Road to Reality with
Brother KP O'Hannon, founder and director of
Gospel for Asia.
If you're not familiar with the mission work
the Lord is doing through Gospel for Asia,
please stop by our website.
And while you're there, request your free copy
of KP's latest book, No Longer a Slumdog.
On page 65, this is what he writes.
He says, over and over again in scripture,
we recognize God's heart for those who have
no voice, for the captives and the oppressed.
And there is a divine passion for them,
a heavenly desire for their well-being because
God prizes them highly and his heart breaks
to see them suffer.
This eye-opening book will lead you into
some of the darkest corners of the world
and testify to how hope is growing in
the hearts of the suffering children of Asia.
Receive your copy by going online to winasia
.org.
That's winasia.org or call 866-WIN-ASIA.
That's 866-WIN-ASIA.
Friends in Canada, call us at 888-946
-2742 or log on to gospelforasia.ca. Well,
let's return to Brother KP.
He'll offer four more areas which can distract
us from our calling as Christians.
We begin with the example of Nehemiah, whose
life shows us how to stay on track.
Nehemiah, he was commissioned to go and build
the wall.
Very unselfish his ambition was, but distractions came.
The prophet spoke so.
And there was actually a threat to his
own life saying that, don't take it light.
Come, let's talk about it.
And then so many voices in there said,
you guys go and get lost.
I'm tired of raising it.
He said, a man like me to come
down, no way.
I got a job to do.
You guys do whatever.
I ain't going to stay on, carry a
weapon in my hand.
And the work on the other hand, I'll
keep doing it.
That's how I finished the work.
And it's amazing even to read through the
book of Nehemiah, the tremendous amount of distractions
he faced.
And Paul had to say this in Acts
20, none of these things move me.
The prophecy that came that you're going to
be bound up and beaten, abused, and all
those things.
They were not lying.
They were true prophecy, literally.
And Paul believed it.
So you want actually knowing that you're going
to be beaten up and abused, you want
to go into that sink.
Paul said, yeah.
And the reason, Paul, I did not think
of myself too much.
If I die, that's fine.
If through my death, I can finish the
work the Lord gave me to do, that's
all it is.
And so distractions can be not just, you
know, people offering you a nice job and
more money and better housing and all this
different.
No, distraction also can be difficulties and problems
and trials and all these things we all
face.
And I say this to you because some
people think the older you are in the
ministry, the more theology you know, the more
Bible you know, the more seasoned leader you
are, the more things get easy.
It is not true.
Really, it is not.
It get only harder.
It is not easy.
And Paul was able to stay focused in
spite of all the struggles he faced simply
because he saw the end.
Remember 2 Timothy says, Timothy, I ran the
race and I fought my battle so well.
I finished my course.
Now there waits for me a crown, not
only for me, but those who love his
appearing.
You see the key?
The key was he saw something at the
end of the line.
That is something more precious, Jesus and his
call.
And he would stay focused.
Now for us, what is our call here?
It's a very unique call.
We talk about the 1040 window.
We talk about 300 million Dalits and the
possibility of who knows, half a million children.
All you need to do, just type Dalit
persecution, pages after pages, after pages, after pages,
after pages, after pages of 24 Dalits being
lynched, cut into pieces.
A young mother was stripped naked, walking through
the village and in the end beat her
to death.
Her crime, her son made fun at an
upper caste boy or girl in the community.
10 people butchered because they drew water from
the well.
And stories not one or two.
It just, it just never ending pages.
And no wonder why they're crying out in
one voice.
We are tired of this.
We are quitting.
And this is an incredible, awesome privilege the
Lord gave us.
So let me conclude in the next five
minutes by saying what are some of the
distractions specifically you and I may face in
our journey in serving God, especially here.
One cares of this life.
Jesus said that, nothing new.
Whether India, China, Germany, Canada or California, wherever
you may be from, we as human beings
should always face these kind of things.
And brothers and sisters, I would encourage you
to think about it.
Is the sale signs, the garage sales and
the attractions and all the mega shops and
all those things keep on calling you to
buy things and invest your life and time?
Are you getting crowded out?
Half of the world go to bed literally
with empty stomach and naked bodies.
And we need to be cautious and I
need to be cautious how much stuff we
need and how much we have that we
keep on using it.
Please keep your life simple because these are
distractions that take so much of your time.
And since I got three or four neckties
now, it don't take much time to figure
out which one to wear.
The time I had 70, it took me
a half hour or more.
I'm not saying only have four neckties, you
have all you want.
But I'm telling you, I'm telling you, all
you have is little time, money you can
make.
How much of your time are you spending
on taking care of your personal life, your
children, your family, your cooking?
When you realize the reality we live with
in this world of millions slipping away into
crisis eternity on a daily basis, it is
too painful.
Let us not lose focus on that.
It's very important.
And to the Lord give you wisdom.
I cannot dictate to you how you should
be none of my business, none of anybody's
business.
But you ask the Lord to give you
wisdom.
I tell you what, you will never sacrifice
too much for the Lord and accept suffering
for which he will not take care of
you.
He is never your debtor.
But you go after constantly your health, your
welfare, your children, your wholesomeness.
You keep on doing it.
In the end, you will find its emptiness.
I advise you to be sober, not to
lose sight of what which God called you
for.
Second distraction, relatives and friends.
No greater distraction you will face in life,
someone said, as much as well-meaning parents,
uncles and brothers, sisters, co-believers who will
counsel you with so many wonderful Bible verses
to keep you from embracing the cross and
going forward.
They cannot face it.
If William Carey didn't have friends, even his
own wife said, you go your way and
I'm staying here.
If that be the case, you need to
know there are times when the best well
-meaning friends will advise you, then cut into
the call of God.
And you have to be discerning about it.
And again, this is not somebody can make
decision for you.
It's up to you.
Third, the preoccupation with yourself.
I call it introspection.
Okay, I speak English, you speak Texan.
That is, there are people who never seem
so victorious in their life because they always
think about themselves.
You know, I am not good enough.
I am not strong enough.
I don't read Bible enough.
I don't fast enough.
You know, I don't have faith enough.
They all they can think about the negative
things, the lack in their life.
And that's a, that's a trip of the
enemy.
I'm telling you what, till the very last
minute of your life on earth, you still
be imperfect.
After 20 years of preaching, Paul said, I'm
the chief of sinners.
If somebody says they are holy people, they
have no sexual temptations.
They're always pray fast.
And they hear of what I tell you,
they're liars.
Usually the people who pretend to be more
holy, usually got more problems than anybody else.
And I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about
the good things in life.
God has given to us, but let's be
honest.
We are human beings.
God called the weakness, but we need to
stay focused, trusting in him.
As George said, nine, look at Jesus and
one, look at yourself.
Don't look nine times yourself.
And then one look at Jesus trying to
make it.
No, look at Jesus 10 times and look
at yourself one time because he's making us,
we are not yet there.
So please don't let the enemy come in
and show up with a whole bunch of
struggles you have from the past or now,
whatever.
I'll say, listen, you keep moving.
Okay.
That's what it's all about.
Okay.
The next thing, majoring on minor things and
get sucked into the present losing sight of
the goal for which the Lord called you.
You know, it's a very interesting thing.
When we are taking a trip from here
to New York or Los Angeles, wherever, you
know, you get in the car and go,
the journey is not easy.
You know, the potholes, the delays and car
wrecks and all kinds of things.
You can get so preoccupied with the events
along the way, and then you lose focus
where you're going.
And in our life, there'll be disagreements with
the coworkers.
There'll be disappointment.
There'll be misunderstanding.
There'll be setbacks.
There'll be some struggles you will face in
life and all kinds of things, but let
not those things blind you from the most
important thing.
What is that?
To see a world come to Christ.
But what I'm saying, you can get so
brainwashed with all these issues that you lose
sight of nearly 200,000 people dying every
day and plunging into hell.
And we spend more time agonizing, arguing over
these stupid things, and don't have one day
to fast and pray and weep before God
for the lost world.
Where are we?
See how the enemy can trip us up
with all these different things.
As long as we live, there's going to
be struggles we face, all kinds of things.
But let's label much of these things are
the distractions from the enemy to keep us
from seeing the lost world come to Christ.
And that's what I would encourage you for.
Well, having the Lord is having everything.
And when we see the glory of God
in the face of Jesus, well, no earthly
glory can compare.
That and any suffering we may face in
this present life is simply not worthy to
be compared to the glory that will be
revealed in us.
You've been listening to The Road to Reality
with Brother K.P. Yohannan.
Before we leave you today, we'd like to
share with you a way that the Lord
can use you to transform a village.
That's right, a village.
For just $30 a month, you can help
support a Gospel for Asia supported national missionary.
You see, these national missionaries have few or
no cultural barriers to overcome, and they can
readily share God's love with those that have
never heard it before.
Read some amazing true stories and gripping testimonies
from these missionaries and learn how you can
help at WinAsia.org.
That's WinAsia.org.
And if you'd like to reach us by
phone, for whatever reason, here's where to call
866-WIN-ASIA.
That's 866-WIN-ASIA.
For those in Canada, you can call us
at 888-946-2742 or go online to
gospelforasia.ca. Well, The Road to Reality is
brought to you by Gospel for Asia.
Remember, don't let anything distract you in your
walk with the Lord.
And join us next week when KP will
encourage us to be clothed in humility.
Until then, may the Lord bless you and
strengthen you.