Road to Reality - the Most Important Thing in Life Part One — K.P. Yohannan

For me to live is, how would you finish that sentence? It says a great deal about you and what your master passion is. See what the most important thing in life is as you join us today for The Road to Reality.

Christ as the Purpose of Life

Could you possibly offer your principle for life in six words? Well, the apostle did in his letter to the Philippians. He said, for me to live is Christ. Now, that's the way to live. And today, here on The Road to Reality, Brother K .P. Yohanan will show us that God wants to be the most important person in our lives.

Does he receive that place in your life? The vast majority are living for the things of this earth and themselves. So let's see together how to get on The Road to Reality. From our Gospel for Asia headquarters in Dallas, here's K .P.

Hi, my good friend. It's always good to have the opportunity to talk to you. You know, I mean, honestly, I really wish I could ride with you in the car or be in the kitchen or just sit down and talk to you.

The Sermon on the Mount as Conversation

You know, some people talk about Sermon on the Mount. Of course, you know, referring to Gospel of Matthew, chapter five, six, and seven. If you read the beginning of that, you will find seeing the multitude.

Jesus called his disciples and they just sat around and he just talked to them. It was not, you know, preaching, thus saith God, do this and that. Basically, it was a conversation. And I find often it's quite frustrating that I'm not able to have this conversation.

Now, as I talk to you here, I'm just thinking about my dear brother, my sister, a grandfather, a grandmother, a young man, a woman, maybe in your car, in your bedroom, or in the kitchen. And I just want to talk to you.

You see, Christianity can often become so elusive, so intangible, because we hear people saying all kind of things, especially here in the United States. Believe it or not, I'm here in Dallas, Texas, Fort Worth area, where we are, you know, find ourself with our headquarters and all that.

I am told there are now more than 14 full-time Christian radio stations, 24 hours. Whatever you want to hear, it's available. But the question finally is this, who is saying something that helped me to come before God and seek Him, and for the reason, not for money, not for health, not for blessings, not for me to be a great, wonderful person doing great things for God, no, just for God Himself.

And that, I think, often is a problem. You know, there was a time, I honestly never, never imagined that I would be on the radio in the United States, and I didn't want to do it, because there's so many people preaching and teaching and everything you can imagine.

But then in God's providence, it so happened that this radio broadcast that I'm doing, Road to Reality, just took off. And now heard over 600 or 700 or 800 radio stations across the nation and Europe, and I'm absolutely amazed by it.

Knowing Christ Rather Than Seeking Benefits

But here's what I want to tell you. I don't have any, you know, hidden mysticism or great truth to share with you, except one thing. My greatest longing in my life, after 44 years of serving Christ, is still to know Him and to be His.

And so, whatever I share with you, it is not with any agenda to get something out of you or send your money to us or, you know, join me for this and that. No, I just so desperately want the people of God finally come to the one place they need to come to, that is standing before Christ the Lord, and they long to be like Him.

And so, that's what I want to talk about. God want to be the most important person in our life. My wife, Gisela, I mean, we've been married long enough. Now we have children and grandchildren, and I did not know anyone who is more devout and have this intimate walk with God as a woman.

And I remember her telling me the story many, many years ago, born and raised in West Germany. And a time came when she must follow the Lord. And the church that she was part of, and the leadership refused to accept the teachings of God's word.

And she kind of tells a story with lots of emotion and tears. She says, you know, I just didn't know what to do because the whole world seems to be against me. All I had was God and His word. And then one day the Lord gave her a promise to reassure and strengthen her heart.

That is in Psalm 73 verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but you, and on earth I desire nothing beside you. In one translation reads, whom have I in heaven but you, and earth has nothing I desire beside you.

The One Thing That Matters

My brothers and sisters, you know, we as humans, we are living on planet earth and we are bound, believe it or not, to be influenced and to be regulated and controlled by things that we are familiar with, as Americans and Europeans or wherever you are.

You know, we are product of our sociological upbringing, our family and books we read and what we hear, preachers tell us and all those things. But the kind of books, the kind of preacher or parents or anyone that tells you whatever they're saying that will lead you to one thing that is that hunger deep within you to know God, they are doing the right thing.

And this particular Bible verse, by the way, if you read the whole Psalm, you will find out this man went through an enormous crisis in his life. He was looking around what is going on with people around him and his kind of a difficult situation and lack of resources and being acknowledged and approved.

And he said, you know, it's not fair, it's not fair. I believe God and I pray to him, I live a godly life, I don't violate my conscience. But, you know, I got the wrong end of the stick. It's not fair.

But he goes through this crisis and finally come to the place. He understand the only thing that matters, the only important thing in life is not the approval of other people, not what others think about me or say about me, not materialism or security, health and wealth and prosperity, nor great accomplishment and great name and this and that.

No, it is to know him and to be his. So he writes in his diary, Dear Lord, when it is all said and done, now I know the only thing matters is this. Whom have I in heaven but you? And on earth, I desire, I ask, I long for no one, nothing beside you.

So I say to you, you know, somehow we need to be thinking of this, that what is the most or the only important thing in our life? Well, the answer is, what is it God want? What is the most important thing he's looking for in us and from us and through us?

I go back to the statement I made. God want to be the most important person in your life. Now, this is quite obvious. All don't live in the same level or with the same concept. Nor do they experience God in the same way.

Seeking God With All the Heart

Why? Because God said, if you don't seek me, you will not find me. And when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Now in my over 40 years of serving my Lord, I have seen it. A lot of people basically live with a shadow and they're living not with the reality.

Lot of work is going on. They do a lot of things and talk about a lot and preach a lot of sermons and maybe write books and, you know, have their nice wholesome life created for them, whatever. But the quality of eternity is lacking in their life.

And in what they do. This man in the book of Psalms, he's not talking about crowns and gold and benefits and rewards and all these things. He says, God, when it is all said and done, the only thing, the only one I long for, and I know it's you.

And so as a parent, a dad and mom, a minister or a missionary, whatever you are called to do, or an engineer or teacher, whatever, may I encourage you by saying this, if you want to be effective and have this life of God, both for you and for God to demonstrate that through you, I tell you, the most important thing every single day for you is to know him and long after him.

Most believers I meet, unfortunately, I find their carnal, very shallow, and all they're concerned about is their welfare and their health and wealth and their children, their family, and there's a strain.

There never seems to be the life of peace and contentment. And once in a while, I meet believers who are radiant. Their face and their eyes, they're so bright. And the more I get to know them, I realize the secret is this, the most important thing in their life, it is not doctrines and activities and doing this and that, running around like the chicken with the head cut off.

No, it is somehow there's a sense of that other world, the unseen Christ, and the long for him. And they actually challenge me to a higher life. But my heart says I want to know the Lord better.

To know the Lord and to be his totally, now that's to be our highest priority in life because it's the most important thing in life. K .P. Yohanan will be back in just a moment with the second half of his message, so keep it right here as the road to reality continues.

As we're discussing the most important thing in life today, I can't help but think of K .P.'s new book, No Longer a Slumdog. In this book, K .P. will encourage you to think less of yourself, more about God and others.

You'll see the world through eyes of the suffering children of Asia. You'll share in their sorrow, rejoice in their victories, and in the end, you'll be left with what's most important. We'd like to send this to you absolutely free of charge.

Just go to winasia .org and request No Longer a Slumdog. That's winasia .org. I'll give you our phone number, too, in case you'd like to call us toll-free, 866-WIN-ASIA. That's 866-WIN-ASIA. Now, for our friends in Canada, you'll want to call us at 888 -946 -2742 or visit gospelforasia .ca on the World Wide Web.

The Cost of Seeking God

Well, K .P. is in studio today. He joins us again now with more about what's most important in life. Now, here's the law.

You have to seek God for you to find him. Now, I'm sure somebody will say, oh, that sound like a heresy. Well, I didn't say that. That's what the Lord said. You'll seek me, you'll find me when you do it with all your heart.

You see, some things are free, such as forgiveness of sin. It is all free. Eternal life, it's a gift. Romans chapter three talks about it. Holy Spirit, it's a gift. We don't have to work for it. Certain things in Christian life, we can do nothing about it.

It's all free. We have to just receive it. But in the teachings of Christ, like in Matthew's Gospel chapter 13, you'll find the kingdom of God is compared to a treasure hidden in the field. Expression of heaven on earth, the kingdom of God.

Understanding this other world value of God. You know, eternal life, some people think, oh man, when I die, I'm going to be in heaven. Please understand me, that's a misunderstanding. Eternal life is now in the present.

Whatever we go through, wherever we may be, in shipwreck, in prison, having no food, no clothes, or in abundance, whatever circumstances you find yourself in, you have the quality of Christ life now here on earth.

It's not our self-created life, but it is the value, the expression of heaven itself through our earthen vessels. Now, in Matthew 13, you have these two parables. Christ talked about it. And by the way, rarely you have two parables that have the same kind of conclusions or the meaning.

And what you have is, the man sell all he has, he give up everything he has to find this precious pearl of great price. He's not holding on to anything. He's willing to exchange all for this pearl of great price.

Not selling part of it, but sold everything. You see, Christians, I'm sure you'll agree with me, a lot of people, they're frustrated, they're tired and weary of their life with divorce and crisis and drugs and problems and this and that.

And finally they think, well, the best way to find a wholesome life is to be a Christian. So especially if you have mega church that offer you the how to find this new beginning obviously, it is like the famous book, How to Influence and Influence People by Dale Carnier.

And of course, we as humans, especially Americans, quite pragmatic. You know, yeah, one, two, three, four, five, six, I can do this and get it. But it all begins with us. The motive, the reason for what we do, even going to Bible school and studying and going to church and worship service and counseling, it's all boils down to what I can get out of it.

How I can make my life better. But please listen to me. The call of God is, He simply says, come, die and live. The measure in which you seek to preserve your life and seek something for yourself and hold on to your life and have the world and the luxuries and the comfort and ease, the approval of men, whatever the world offers.

At the same time, you want to be approved by God and have this deep understanding of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. You will not have it. And so you have the mediocre, the lukewarm Christianity, neither here nor there.

Experiencing the Reality of Heaven

And when people come in touch with your life and my life, they must taste a little of heaven. You know, in heaven is a place of perfect peace. Angels are not sad and gloomy and doggy-faced and, you know, say, oh man, I don't know what to do.

Life is a miserable situation. No, none of those things. But it's a place of contentment and peace and authority and confidence. And a lot of times, you admit, preachers, Christians, our churches, so sad that we hear these things in words, we understand it in theory.

We know the doctrines. But somehow when people come in touch with our lives, they live with us in the family, they hardly can experience the reality of heaven. Most Christian homes are no different from heathen homes.

The quarreling, the fight, the rebellion, the worldliness and the compromise. And basically, we are no different than the Pharisees that pretended throughout their life. And the reason, there is no willingness or commitment to exchange all of earth and self for him and him alone.

Please understand me, I'm not trying to condemn anyone or criticize or put you down. Now, we all of us are in this journey, you know, and then we are learning and growing. My hope is that what I say to you will become an encouragement to you so that somehow in the end, you will say, you know, I've been chasing after so many things to make me a better person and better husband and better wife and experience spirituality and godliness.

Well, thank you for your dreams and your wishes and I assure you, you will. But stop chasing after those things. Why don't you long after the Lord? And the scripture gives us plenty of information how we may do it.

Giving Up Everything to Follow Christ

In the gospel of Luke chapter 14, we know as you read this passage, you know, he will never take the second place in our life. He want to be the first person. And if you're looking at that passage, Luke chapter 14, let me read this verse for you.

Verse 33, in the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has, then the Lord says, he cannot be my disciple. Now, what is it that you had to give up? It could be your selfish ambition, the way you spend your money, the way you spend your time and friendship, what you listen to, the kind of things you're reading and your objective or focus of purpose in life.

Well, I'm not the one to tell you exactly do this, do that. But many, many years ago, I said to the Lord, Jesus, would you please walk with me? I just want to walk through my life, my home, my library, my music, my bank account, my decisions.

And Lord, I give you the permission to please speak to me. And Lord, I give you the permission to tell me what you think about it. Well, it was a two weeks, unbelievable, exciting journey. In the end, I kind of heard the Lord say to me, you know, my son, a lot of things you're doing, I'm so glad about, but there's a whole bunch of things I'm so grieved, but here's a problem.

You raised the dragon, and you have to slay it. I will not do it for you. And I was the one with tears and pain to say no to sin, people, what I wished, what I wanted. And I realized I need to know him better.

But that helped me to understand Christ's deepest longing for the lost and dying millions in my generation. And that happened before Gospel for Asia. So I invite you to join me in this journey, and I assure you, you will never, never regret here in this life, nor in the world to come.

Blessings on you.

Today here on The Road to Reality, K .P. Yohannan brought to our attention the most important thing in life. And that is, of course, God, and to know him better. Well, can you believe it? Christmas is close to a month away, and no doubt some of you have already started your Christmas shopping.

This year, would you prayerfully consider giving a gift that makes a difference for eternity? Gospel for Asia Christmas Gift Campaign is in full swing, and we call it the Critter Campaign. This year, you can select from an even wider variety of gifts.

For instance, you can give something helpful, like a goat, a sewing machine, a radio, Bibles, even a pull cart. And believe me, this will really bless a family in Asia. This Christmas doesn't have to be about getting many things you really don't need.

Rather, it can be about giving to those in need. Go online to winasia .org and browse through the Gospel for Asia Christmas Gift Catalog. That's winasia .org. Our friends in Canada, you can go to gospelforasia .ca on the World Wide Web.

We'll see you back here next week as K .P. Yohannan continues to emphasize what's most important. The Road to Reality is brought to you by Gospel for Asia.