Building a Heavenly Home (Tamil) — Zac Poonen

Chosen Before the Foundation of the World

He has chosen us before he created the universe. I believe that more certainly than the sun will rise tomorrow morning. That is why I have great security in my life. Because God chose me before the worlds were created.

And he chose you. So, even though we are living now, God knew us before the worlds were created. And why did he choose us? You read here in Ephesians 1. It says here in Ephesians 1 verse 4 that he chose us before the worlds were created.

And in verse 3 it says he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Now, every spiritual blessing means every blessing of the Holy Spirit. Now, in the old testament he only blessed them with earthly blessings.

But in the new testament he has blessed us with spiritual blessings. And gives us the earthly things that we need. See, God knows that we need some earthly things to live on this earth. We need money to buy food, to pay rent for our house, to buy clothes, to educate our children.

So, God knows that. Jesus said your heavenly father knows what you need before you ask him. So, the difference between the old testament and the new testament is that in the old testament they were only occupied with earthly things and that was everything for them.

But in the new testament the heavenly things are everything. But in the new testament the heavenly things are everything. The earthly things, what we need is given to us. Not what we want. God doesn't give us what we want just like we don't give our children everything they want.

Only a foolish father will give his children whatever they ask for. If you give your children everything they ask for, you will spoil them. And if God gives us everything we ask for, we will also get spoiled.

Our little children do not know what is good for them. So, they may ask for 101 things. We may give them only 2 or 3 things. Because the other things we know are not good for them. So, when we pray to God, we must remember that we are like those little children.

God Answers Prayer According to His Wisdom

Romans 8 says we don't know how to pray, we don't know what to pray. Christians pray for all types of stupid things. I will give you one example. Few years ago we had some public meetings in Trichy. And a whole lot of Pentecostal pastors got together to have a prayer meeting against our meetings.

Do you think they knew how to pray? No, God saw that their prayer was foolish. So, he didn't care for their prayer, he blessed the meetings. That's just one example. That we pray for a lot of foolish things.

God won't listen to it. He will answer it. But the answer is no. I always say God will answer every prayer. If your conscience is clear. If you set everything right with other people. God will answer every prayer of mine.

I have found God has always answered my prayer. But his answer is like these traffic lights. But his answer is like these traffic lights. How many lights are there? Three. Red, Orange, Green. So, God's answers to prayer are like that.

Always one light will be burning. So, you ask for something. It may be green. Okay, you can have it. Sometimes it may be orange. Wait. And God tells you to wait. If you don't wait, you will have an accident.

God tells you to wait. If you don't wait, you will have an accident. Sometimes God says, red, no. So, you must never say God did not answer my prayer. He answered. Maybe it was a red light. Maybe orange light.

Or a green light. So, don't say God doesn't answer prayer. If my 3 year old son says, Dad, give me 500 rupees. I say, No. Have I answered him? Of course, I answered him. The answer was, No. When he is 15 years old, he says, Give me 500 rupees.

I say, Wait. You wait 3 -4 years, I will give you for your college studies or something. I don't say no, I will give it to you, but not now. God knows what is good for us, just like we know what is good for our children.

So, when we seek the things of heaven first, God will give us everything that we need of earth at the right time. If he gives us too much money, we may be spoiled. Because we don't know how to handle it.

Sometimes God has to give us little bit. God has to give us very little, so that we learn how to struggle and be faithful with little. God knows exactly what is good for us. God knows exactly what is good for us.

If you don't know this promise, you must know it now. You must remember it by heart. God will supply all your need according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Now in English it says need, not want.

That means what is lacking. That's what it says there in Tamil. Something is missing in your life, God will give it. Not everything you want. What you need, God sees you need something, he will give that.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

But when it comes to heavenly things, spiritual things, there is no limit. See Ephesians 1 .3, we saw that. Every spiritual blessing is mine in Christ Jesus. I told you there is a difference between Christ in me and me in Christ.

Both are true. But Christ came into me maybe some years ago. But God put me in Christ before the foundation of the world. And in Christ he gave me every spiritual blessing. Now I don't have to ask God for it.

I can say Lord, according to Ephesians 1 .3 you have already blessed me. According to Ephesians 1 .3 you have already blessed me. You have already put God in my bank account. You have given me all the money signed by Jesus Christ.

I will give it and take what I want. Every spiritual need I have in my life, according to this verse, God has already given it to me in Christ. I have to take it. I say Lord, I want this in my life. For example, supposing I want to be pure in my eyes.

That's not a material blessing, that's a spiritual blessing. So I ask God, Lord I want purity in my eyes all the time. I want to look at people the way Jesus looked at them. Supposing all of you men pray like this.

From now on, I want to look at every woman the way Jesus would look at them. Exactly like that. How do you think Jesus looked at women? I don't think he looked at them as beautiful, not beautiful, black, white, yellow.

He looked at every one of them as a sinner for whom I am going to die. The good women and the bad women. Whatever the color of their skin. Whatever their features. A sinner for whom I am going to die to save them.

So, very often I say that's a sinner for whom Jesus died. That is a person whom Jesus wants to save from their sin. There was a missionary who came to India about 200 years ago. He worked among the Muslims.

He was a young man. His name was Henry Martin. And he said something. He said, as a young man I am tempted with women. And he said, this is what I do. Every time I see a woman I am tempted with. I pray for her.

I pray that God will save her soul. And forgive her sin. And bring her to Christ. And make her Christ like. And he says, after I pray like that. It is impossible to lust for her. That was real wisdom.

If you don't believe me, you try it. Every time you are tempted with some woman, just pray that she will be born again. And give her life to Christ and become Christ like. And that she will be a pure Christ like woman.

And that she will be a pure Christ like woman. I guarantee it will be impossible for you to lust after her after you pray like that. God gives us power for every stage of this. And you keep on like that.

Then God will see that you really want your mind to be pure. The same thing with money. See, don't think only rich people love money. Don't think only pastors love money. Everybody in the world loves money.

Have you ever seen a beggar who doesn't love money? We have got many beggars in India. I have never seen any beggar who doesn't love money. And I have never seen any rich man in India who doesn't love money.

All of us love money because we are children of Adam. And the proof of it is this. That when we get money, we become happy. And when we lose some money, we become sad. That proves that we love money. Now the Bible says, love of money can lead us to all types of evil.

Viewing Money Through the Eyes of Christ

So we must also pray in relation to money like this. Lord Jesus, I want to look at money the way you looked at it. That's the meaning of being in Christ. I will give you an example. If this is me, and this is Christ.

To be in Christ means I am in Christ. Now, I have to look at everything just like Jesus looks at it. Before I was in Christ, I was looking at it with my own eyes. Now I am in Christ. Now I am going to look at everything the way Jesus looks at it.

Do I want to look at women the way Jesus looks at women? I want to look at money the way Jesus looks at money. Jesus used money. So we can use it. He saved money. Judas Iscariot was keeping the bank. That was like a saving.

He didn't get some money and spend it the same day. Then there was no need for a bank. Judas kept the bank because Jesus was saving the money for maybe tomorrow or next week. So that teaches us there is nothing wrong in saving money.

And it is better to put it in a bank than to give it to somebody like Judas Iscariot. So that is why we put it in a bank. There is nothing wrong in saving. There is nothing wrong in saving money to build a house.

Or you may want to buy a scooter or a car or something. Or something for your house. There is nothing wrong in it. It is better to save money and buy something than to keep on borrowing and get into debt.

I don't believe that Jesus ever borrowed money and got into debt. I want to look at money the way Jesus looked at money. There are a lot of believers who get into a lot of problems by borrowing money and getting into debt.

There are many many problems. My advice to you is don't borrow money unless it is an emergency. You know if there is a sudden emergency that you didn't anticipate, you may have to borrow. Try your best not to borrow.

I am nearly 70 years old. I never borrowed a rupee in my life till today. That is not because I am a very rich man. Today God has blessed me but when we were married, my wife and I were very poor. I didn't even have money to buy a shirt.

But I never borrowed. I said I will wear my old shirt and I will not borrow money. For 2 -3 years we struggled like that. That was good for us. I said Lord I want to be like Jesus. What did Jesus do in that situation?

Now when I look back, I see that God was testing me to see what I would do. So God may take you through some difficult financial circumstances to see what you will do. It says about in John chapter 6 When Jesus saw a great multitude of people following him.

They were not having any food. John 6 verse 5 He called Philip. He said Philip come here. Where shall we buy bread to feed all these people? Why do you think Jesus was asking that question? Do you think he was trying to get Philip's advice?

See the next verse. Jesus already knew what he was going to do. But he was saying this to test Philip. Jesus sometimes asks a question to test a person. And he may allow you to come into a certain situation to test you.

Let me see what you will do when you are in this situation. God is bringing you here to test you. Now here is Zach Poonen. His shirt has become old. Let me see what he is doing in this situation. Please keep this in mind.

What I am saying is what happened 40 years ago. I don't need anyone to buy me a shirt. I have many shirts. I am saying what happened 40 years ago. God says he doesn't have a shirt. What will he do now?

Will he borrow? Or will he just stitch all the holes and live with the old shirt? It's a test. Like that God will test you in some situation. Will you be satisfied with what you have? You know there is a lovely verse in Hebrews 13.

Hebrews 13 it says. Verse 5 Be content with what you have. That is a very good verse. This is a verse that tells us how to be free from the love of money. Many people ask me this question. I say there is only one verse I can show you in the Bible that tells you how you can be free.

And that is written in scripture. Be free from the love of money. By how? By being content with what you have. So that is the way. Don't always desire for something you don't have. Somebody else has got it.

You want it. No. Then you love money. Even if you have money to buy it. Don't buy something just because you see somebody else has it. If you don't have enough money to buy it Don't buy it. That is a principle.

My wife and I followed for 41 years of our married life. When God wants me to have something else He will give me the money for it. If He doesn't give me the money for it Then I know the will of God. He doesn't want me to have that.

When He wants me to have it He will give me the money. Because I followed this principle My life has been very peaceful. I never have to think. How will I return this money I borrowed. Never have to do it.

I am not covetous of what somebody else has. I am not covetous of what somebody else has. I want to encourage you to be like that. Let us covet the spiritual blessings God has given us in heavenly places.

Seeking Heavenly Blessings First

In those days when my wife and I had very little In 1969 We used to live very simply in a small room. Do you know what we used to pray? We used to pray for baptism in the Holy Spirit. That's what we prayed.

Not for earthly things. I never prayed for a new shirt. My wife never prayed for a saree. We prayed for baptism in the Holy Spirit. We prayed that we might have power to serve God. God saw our heart. And I tell you He gave us more than we could think.

When He saw that we were more interested in the spiritual things. He not only gave us the spiritual things He gave us some extra earthly things also. So remember. Many times. Just like Jesus was testing Philip He will test you.

Do you know what He is testing? What is my child seeking for first of all? Is he seeking for physical healing Or freedom from sins? Is he seeking for spiritual wealth Or earthly wealth? Is he seeking for a job on the earth Or looking for a ministry in my body?

God is always testing you. And I tell you one thing. If you seek the heavenly first You will be tested. If you seek the earthly first Everything that you need on earth God will give you. I have experienced this for 40 years.

I can tell you from my experience. For the last 40 years I have not sought for earthly things. Not for myself or my wife. Sometimes I would seek that for my children. I would pray that they would pass in some examinations.

I would pray that they would get admission in some college. Because they were not spiritual. They were small children. And they needed some encouragement. So I would pray for earthly things for them. Because they cannot handle failure.

I can handle failure. But little children cannot. So I used to pray for earthly things for my children. But I never prayed it for myself. My wife and I never prayed for ourselves. We only prayed for earthly things for ourselves.

And God blessed us abundantly. So what I want to say to you is. It's alright if you pray for earthly things for your children. It is good. Because we have a responsibility To feed them, clothe them, educate them etc.

And we pray that one day they will become spiritual also. But for ourselves. When Jesus says Don't lay up treasure for yourself. We must not seek anything for ourselves. But heavenly blessings. Say to the Lord.

If you have never said it before Say it today. Lord I tell you I will never ask you for earthly things. I will ask you for heavenly blessings. And all the other things will be added to us. You don't even have to ask for healing.

Praying for Health to Do God's Will

Ask God for health. Do you know health is better than healing. Which is better. Never to get sick or to get sick and get healed. It is better not to get sick. So that's a good prayer to pray. Why should we pray for health.

That's a good thing to ask ourselves. I will tell you honestly I have prayed for health for myself. Many times I pray for myself. I say Lord I would like to live up to the age of 90 at least. What for.

Not to see the world. I am not interested in seeing the world. But Lord if I can serve you And serve God's people. Give me health. I pray for myself. There is nothing wrong in that. Because I learned from the Lord's prayer.

The Lord taught us to pray like this. Our father who art in heaven. Matthew 6 verse 9 The Lord be thy name. Thy will be done. And now He says give us this day our daily bread. That is a prayer for earthly blessing.

Is that a correct prayer. Of course Jesus taught us to pray. It is right to ask for earthly blessing. But That must not be number one. It is not our father who art in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.

No that is number four. That's all. If you put it number four it is okay. But if you put it first it is wrong. The Lord be thy name. And then we need to ask ourselves. One thing God showed me from here.

Why do you want your daily bread. And by daily bread I mean All earthly necessities Food Clothing Housing. Children's education. Because they have to earn their daily bread one day. I don't want my children to grow up to be beggars.

They must also get their daily bread. So I must teach them to earn Get a job According to their intelligence And according to my financial ability. I must educate them. That is different for different people.

Simon Peter. My train is Child to be a fisherman. Another lecturer. My train is Child to be an engineer. It is different. So that is up to each person. So even education is included there So that our children can earn their daily bread.

But in it all We have to ask ourselves. Why. Why do I want these earthly things. Like bread and clothing and all that. Or health. Health is also included in this verse. Give us this daily bread means Give me health.

That you must link up With the previous request. What is the previous request. Thy will be done on earth As it is in heaven On earth means in my life. So now listen to this prayer. Our father who art in heaven.

The Lord's Prayer and the Purpose of Earthly Provision

Number one. I want your name to be glorified on this earth. That is my number one request. Even if you don't grant anything else. Let the name of Jesus be glorified In Tamil Nadu In India. And then secondly Lord I want your kingdom to come To this earth soon.

Let your kingdom come and be established. There is so much of wickedness On this earth. So many poor children And poor women Are being exploited by evil men. So many of our poor brothers and sisters In Sri Lanka are suffering Because of war.

Please let your kingdom come. Many things when I read In the newspapers I always say Lord let your kingdom come soon. Automatically I pray Lord let your kingdom come. I see so many poor beggars And lepers on the street.

Lord let your kingdom come. Then Lord I want your will to be done In my life Exactly like it is done in heaven. Lord let your will be done In my life Exactly like it is done In heaven. We are talking about The heavenly life on this earth.

This is the heavenly life. God's will to be done In my life Exactly like it is done In heaven In order to do your will On earth. Give me health. No God wants me to come here And preach in Thanjavur. He can't allow me To be paralyzed Lying there in Bangalore.

How can I do that When I come here. He can't allow me To be sick with fever Or diarrhea Or something somewhere. No I have to pray for health. I am not praying for health To make more money. No I am not praying for health To make more money.

No I am praying To do your will On earth As it is done in heaven. Give me health. I remember Once somebody took me To a house to pray For one non-Christian Who was sick. I am happy to go Because Jesus prayed For so many non-Christians.

So I went there I said Now we want to pray That this person will be healed. But you know When we pray to God It is good to give him a reason. We want him to be healed For a reason. So I said I said How shall we pray for you.

Shall we tell God Why you should be healthy. Shall I say Lord He is not strong enough To go and stand In the cinema queue To buy the tickets. So please give him health So that he can stand there Next week And buy the tickets And all for the cinema.

Or Lord He is so weak now He can't even shout At his wife. Just give him some health So he can get up And shout at his wife From tomorrow. Why does he want this health. Lord He used to fight With his neighbor Now few days He can't fight with his neighbor.

Please give him health So he can get up And start fighting. I said it like that So that he realizes Why God gives us health. So that he realizes God does not give him health To commit sin. And I want to say that to you When you pray to God For healing.

And the Lord says Why do you want me To give you health To go and commit sin. No That's not why We should ask God Then go to the doctor. But when you pray To God to heal you Lord I want to do Your will in my life Like it is done in heaven Lord Like it is done in heaven Your will should be done In my life.

So Give me the food That I need today. Give me health Give me strength So that I can do Your will on earth. See We have some Very highly educated Believers In our Bangalore church. But I asked them A question once.

Using Education and Ability to Serve God

Why did you people Have got such a clever brain To get such a good job In some college Or university Or something God gave it to you. Have you ever thought Of using that mind To study the scriptures So that you can Serve God's people.

I said some of you Have got such a good mind To do business And make money. Have you ever thought Of using that mind To study God's word To study the needs Of God's people So that you can serve them. I remember the years When I was working in the navy God gave me A very good mind A clear thinking mind That is not something I produced.

God gave it to me When I was born I cannot take any credit. God gave it to me. But then I said Why did God give this to me Just to make a lot of money In the world With my cleverness. Yeah I can use it To make money To support my family.

But I must also Use this mind To study the scriptures So that I can Live the way God wants me to live And help other people. Have you ever Thought about that. Some of you Sitting here Have a very clever mind.

God has blessed you. I remember the early days When I used to come to Tamil Nadu Tuticorin first. Nobody had A car. Nobody even had A scooter. The rich people Had a cycle. The rest went by bus. But now I see Cars and so many things.

There is nothing wrong with that. But what I mean is That people have got Good minds And they are earning money Praise the Lord. Now all I am saying To all of you is Please use the same mind To study the scriptures And bless God's people.

Yes you can Build a house You can use a car. Everything is okay. But please Use your mind also To study the word of God And bless other people. You should not always Depend on somebody else Coming and sharing.

You don't have to depend On me coming every time. I am absolutely convinced That many of you Have got as good a mind As mine Or a better mind than mine. My question is What are you doing with that mind?

Learning God's Will Through Diligent Scripture Study

I used to work in the Navy And in the spare time I used to spend hours and hours Just studying the Bible. I didn't study the Bible There to come here And preach in Thanjavur. I never even knew I studied the Bible Because I wanted to know What God's will was for my life.

And I studied it And studied it And studied it And studied it For seven years. See I learned something From the example of Jesus. Jesus has been the great example For me throughout my life. We know That generally speaking Children can begin to Read and understand From about the age of five.

They can read and hear And understand. So Jesus came to earth As a baby just like us Without knowing anything. So I am assuming That by the time He came to the age of five He could hear and understand Things that were spoken About the Bible.

So from age of five To the age of twelve Was seven years. And we read in Luke 2 That by the time he was twelve He knew the Bible so thoroughly He could discuss it With all the great scholars. So I learned something.

It is possible to know The Bible in seven years. You are very careful To use your mind To study God's word. Jesus wasn't doing only that. He had to go to school Like other children. I am sure he also played Games with the other children.

I don't believe he was Fasting and praying. When the other children Were playing He played with them. And it was perfectly Normal for children Along with his going to school And along with his Playing with the other children.

He paid such attention That in seven years He came to know the scriptures. So I said Lord I believe I can learn The scriptures in seven years. And I did learn The scriptures in seven years. I want to tell you Those of you who are Working or even mothers Or anything All of us have Sometimes a little spare time Meditate on the scriptures.

Think about it. Don't just be satisfied. You read the Bible Fifteen minutes in the morning. You don't even need a Bible. Jesus didn't have a Bible. But he meditated On the scriptures that he heard. And you can meditate On the scriptures that you hear.

Now we have so many things. We have CDs And books And so many things Which Jesus never had In his time. What I am saying is If you concentrate You can understand The scriptures in a few years. And then you will know God's will How you should live That in your life.

A Heavenly Home Through Doing God's Will

God's will teaches us What heaven is like. You can't live a heavenly life On earth without knowing What God's will is. Heaven is heaven. Because every single thing There they do God's will. If you want your life To be heavenly.

The simple secret is You do God's will In every area. If you want God's will To be done in your home. In everything you say I want to do God's will. Then your home will be A heavenly home. And God gives us The Holy Spirit To show us Whether something is His will or not.

In many things We can know God's will Even without the Holy Spirit. Even if you don't have The Holy Spirit. You read the Bible. It says here When you come to pray And your brother Has got something against you.

You stop praying. Go to your brother. Please ask forgiveness For hurting him. Maybe your wife Or your servant Say I'm sorry For speaking like that. And then come back And then pray. You don't need to ask God.

You don't need the Holy Spirit. It's all written here. If you are fed up with your wife Shall I divorce her? You don't have to ask God. It's written here That if you divorce your wife You are committing a sin.

Shall you tell a lie? It's written here. Your yes must be yes. Your no must be no. I remember once I had to do a little Business transaction with someone. And I gave him my word. I gave him my word. But I didn't sign the contract.

I just said the word. The day I had to sign the contract Had to be a few days later. The day I had to sign The value of the contract Had to be increased In the interval of days. The value of the contract I could have told him.

Now the value is so much. So I can't go by what I told you Three days ago. So we have to go by this thing now. I didn't say that. I said my word Is as good as a signed statement. It's okay If I lose 10 ,000 rupees.

Even if I lose 10 ,000 rupees It's lost. My yes is Like going to a court And signing a document. Because I am a Christian I will tell you this. No matter how much I lose God will bless me more than that.

He is testing me. Are you behaving like a Christian. Or are you behaving like Those people in the world. Your yes Is yes. Your no Is no. See these things. We don't need the Holy Spirit. It's all written here.

Guidance of the Holy Spirit in Decisions

But there are many other things Which are not written here. For example You may think. Shall I marry this person Or that person. Both are believers. Shall I take this job Or that job. Both look like good jobs Both places.

There is a church I can have fellowship. There are many decisions like this. Now I have money. Shall I buy this house Or that house. There are so many decisions in life Where we don't know. It's not written here.

For that We need the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will show us What God's will in heaven is. That will we can do on this earth. Just like worldly people. Go to some clever man For advice. Say what do you think.

Should I do this or that. How blessed we are. We can go to God himself. Say what do you think Lord. You think I should do this or that. It's so good That we can go to almighty God And ask his opinion.

And does God speak to us. Of course There is a difference. In the old testament God was outside man. I told you the Holy Spirit Could not come inside. He was outside. So he spoke from the outside. Abraham.

Get up and do this. Go and take your son Tomorrow morning. Or David Do this. Like that God would speak From the outside Because he was outside. On the day of Pentecost The Holy Spirit came inside. So now how does he speak From inside.

From inside. He will tell us How to find out Whether this is the voice Of the Holy Spirit Or my own voice. Whether this is the voice Of the Holy Spirit Or my own voice I will tell you. First of all You must say Lord I am willing to do anything This thing or that thing.

Whatever you say I am happy. I have no personal choice. I want your will. And then God will guide me. Now if I don't give up my will Then I will read verses In scripture And I will apply it To do my own will.

For example Supposing a young boy Is in love with one girl Called Grace And he is very much In love with her. And to show that He is spiritual. He says Lord please show me your will. And he turns to 2 Corinthians 12 And he reads there.

Verse 9 My grace is enough for you. I found God's will. God has said This is his grace And that is for me. You see How easy it is To deceive yourself. He knows there is a verse like that So he will turn there And look for it.

It is very easy To deceive yourself like that. I have seen people like that. They go to some verse And say that is for me. So The way to know it is First of all Give up your own will. And then Romans 8 Verse 6 It says The mind of the Holy Spirit Is peace.