Change Within Your Heart - Part 2 — K.P. Yohannan

Changed, within the heart. We all need for it to happen, but how will it happen? Find out next on The Road to Reality. From Gospel for Asia comes The Road to Reality with Brother K .P. O 'Hanlon. Welcome once again to our program.

In just a couple of weeks, many of us will be opening presents. Today, however, we'll talk about the greatest gift of all, and it comes through Christ, available to all. K .P. attracts our attention to Mark 6, as well as John 6 today, where we find another familiar story of the feeding of the 5 ,000.

Tucked within this beautiful miracle are some valuable insights we'd do well to grab a hold of. Here to draw them out for us now is Brother K .P.

Transformation Beyond Christian Information

You can go through 50 years of Christian life, or you're a born again person, yet your life will not change while you may have all the information in the head. Now Jesus did not have a seminary, didn't have a setting like we have to teach his disciples.

He taught them with life incidents and events. Always he did like that. That which happened in the normal life, he took it, something tangible, something temporary, something earthly, and he taught them eternal spiritual truths with those events.

Jesus taught not just words, but life. He said, follow me, and I will make you. Gospel of Matthew chapter 11, toward the end of the chapter, Jesus invites again, come, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.

The word in Greek language used there, it is not just listen and get information, rather, you participate in the change, in the transformation, that is, you become like me. That is the whole thing. It is not mere imitation, but rather change, that you become like me.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand as Discipleship

So this particular incident, while he was feeding the 5 ,000, it's wonderful. He was helping, and huge miracle taking place, and caring for the poor people and the hungry people, yet, you must keep in mind, Jesus was always seeking to teach his disciples because they are the ones that must go later and bring change for millions of people in their generation, and the generations to come.

And that is an important factor we need to keep in mind. Now, let's look at this passage and go through this carefully and find some applications. In the Gospel of Mark, and you will find reading from verse 30 on, Jesus' invitation, look at verse 31, Gospel of Mark chapter 6 verse 31, then, because so many people were coming and going, and they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, come with me by yourself to a quiet place and get some rest.

So they went away by themselves in a boat, in a solitary place, and so on like that. Now here's the thing. For the Lord Jesus, to do anything significant in the plan of his Father, you find him taking time to be alone to pray, for example, to decide about picking the disciples that must follow him.

He spends the whole night in prayer and waiting. Now keep in mind, here is God in flesh. He lived as a man on earth, demonstrating to us, we as normal human beings, how we must live. This is an example that the Lord has given to us.

Prayer, Preparation, and Knowing God

So here is a huge need, tremendous opportunity, 5 ,000 men, of course you can take a lot more people into consideration here because a lot of women, a lot of children, they all came. Here is a huge miracle that is going to transpire, that which will be talked about for generations to come.

What is Christ doing? There is a going away, to be alone, taking time to spend in prayer, to be alone with his Father. The scripture says, those who know their God will do exploits, in the book of Daniel.

Knowledge of the Lord, understanding my God and his ways becomes the foundation for my to do the works of God. So as we go through life, 50, 60, 70 years, what are we doing with our life? Hopefully we are impacting other people's parents, training their children, the next generation, leaders influencing people around them, pastors, their congregation, neighbor, their neighbors, teacher, their students, students, their friends.

We never live by ourselves on an island, we are always influencing others. What huge significance when you think about that. But here is the thing, unless there is a commitment we have to be with the Lord and take time, we will not be prepared to do what God actually wants and intends to do through our life.

Knowing Christ Above All Other Priorities

Philippians chapter 3, Paul talks about it, he says, I gave up all the other stuff. I mean, if you translate that into our time, you can say, you know, I have so many other things to do, I'm so busy, so busy, I have no time for anything else.

And some people say, I'm sorry, I didn't have time to read the Bible or pray and on and on, things like that. Paul says, I said no to so many good things, so many good things. I said no to it, that I may know Jesus Christ, that I may know the Lord.

My brothers and sisters, no one can make you spiritual, no one, no one can change you. Only as you spend time alone with the Lord, you will find God working deep down and you change. Information is good, but it must lead us further to be alone with God.

This is what Jesus had to do. I want to ask you a very simple question. I don't need anybody to raise your hand. Do you pray? Do you wait upon God? If you do, how much time a day? Is there a time in 24 hours you are alone, at least one hour, you and your Lord, no one else?

Think about it. Sobering thought maybe, but only the Lord can give you understanding. But I can assure you, much of God's precious dreams and plans are never accomplished because the man is not prepared.

Moses and the Time Required for Spiritual Preparation

Moses had an assignment, huge assignment, but 40 years it will take before he's ready. Forty years to learn, first of all, that he's a nobody, second, that he will hear God. See how God works? There's no magic.

Today we have microwave ovens, you know, you take a glass of water, I make tea for myself sometimes, and also I have a little coil I carry when I travel, you know, in a place I have, I cannot get a tea or coffee, I take my little, you know, what, heater, what do you call thing, immersion heater, the tiny thing, and you plug in the wall and get a glass of water and put it in.

Within 30, 40 seconds, ooh, the water boils, and I take my teabag and put there my sugar and make my tea. But it don't work like this in Christian life. There's no instant Christianity. Today the curse of Christianity, people learn by reading books and getting information, they think just like that, it will never happen like that, it takes time.

But you must choose to be alone with God for him to prepare you for the work. Moses, it took 40 years, some people look at what I do, all they can see is the campus, the building, or the ministry, this and that, or the books I have written.

My brothers and sisters, my journey only began, but I began at the age of 16. Most of the things I have done, only I was doing in the last 14, 15 years. I'm still learning and trying to understand the ways of God in my own life.

So I encourage you not to look at some other people and say, wow, I can do this, if only I had the money, if only I had this, no, don't work like that. Let God prepare you for him to do the work of your life.

Encouraging us to focus and trust in God, who alone can implement the change we so desperately need. This is The Road to Reality with Brother KP Yohannan. We'll come back to KP in just a moment. As Christmas draws near, no doubt you'll be out shopping for gifts for your family and friends.

How would you like to give a gift that has the power to change lives? Hundreds of families were so blessed with gifts from our Christmas catalog last year, and through the gifts they learned more about the life-changing love of Christ.

So we'd like to do that again this Christmas. If you'd like to learn more about giving a gift to bless a Dalit, untouchable family that is, or a native missionary with a tangible expression of the love of Jesus, just visit winasia .org.

Again, our web address is winasia .org. Or we can tell you more as you call us toll-free at 866-WIN-ASIA. That's 866-WIN-ASIA. Well, as we dive back into the message, KP recalls some well-written words from A .W. Tozer.

Waiting Alone with God Before Ministry

Now, a lot of people just want to find some shortcut, and we all attempt it because we hate to waste time, but it don't work like that. I just want to read to you a quotation from A .W. Tozer. If there are books in the library, by him, I encourage you to read his writings.

A .W. Tozer. This is what he said. I read. There are certain things that you will never learn when others are with you. Did you hear that? There are some things you will never learn when your friends are with you.

There is no question, but that part of our failure today is religious activity that is not preceded by an aloneness and inactivity. I mean the art of getting alone with God and waiting in silence and in quietness until we are charged and then when we act, our activity really amounts to something because we have been prepared for it.

We can go to God with an activity that is inactive. We go to God with a heart that isn't acting in the flesh or in the natural, trying to do something, but going to God and waiting and waiting. It just means that within our inner spirit is seeing and hearing, remember that, seeing and hearing and mounting up on wings while the outer, the physical person is inactive and even the mind is to some degree suspended.

There is an inactivity which paradoxically is the highest possible activity. There can be a suspension of the activity of the body as when our Lord told his disciples to carry until they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they did.

They waited on God. No wonder, no wonder. In Acts 17 we read, here comes these people who turned the world upside down. In Philip's translation that verse says, here comes world revolutionaries. Jesus looking at 5 ,000 people, what are we looking at?

Compassion for the Spiritually Hungry

500 ,000 villages without a worship place. What are we looking at? 5 million children living on the streets in the slums of the Dalits and untouchables and the lepers. Over 300 ,000 children on the streets of Calcutta not knowing who their parents are.

Over 100 ,000 precious, precious children on the streets of Bombay not knowing who their parents are. If you don't believe me, go to the World Health Organization website and look at those websites and see what I'm telling you is true or not.

What are we looking at? You see, this is where, this is where what I said as my introduction becomes important. Think about that. Some of you listening to this, this is, you know, like you hear, you know, ten people committed suicide.

It jolts you or you read a newspaper, whole family, 15 people committed suicide. That jolts you, that shakes you, you say, wow, what a terrible thing. But next week you will forget it. This is where when we become like Jesus, our actions change, our behavior changes, our decision changes.

Why? Because our nature has become like Jesus' nature. He sees, it says in Mark, he was moved with compassion when he saw the multitude. In Matthew 9, he says the same thing. When he saw these people are tired, weary, thirsty, worn out, he says to Philip, how are you going to feed these people?

They're hungry. But this, I mean, all of a sudden, they are reasoning in their logic, and Lord, eight months' wages can't even give them a piece, not even one piece of bread. So many people, you see, they are not troubled at all.

They are not bothered at all. But the Son of God as a man, deeply troubled. So he takes this and try to help his disciples to see something so significant. So here is what I'm asking you. What will we do?

Sharing the Gospel with Those in Need

Will you carry gospel tracts wherever you go? Because physical hunger is one thing. But the more terrible tragedy, people die without God and go to hell and forever. Will you make a commitment that you rather fast a day and use that money, or stay away from something and use the money to buy gospel tracts, or whatever, and know where you will go without a commitment to give two or three or four people a gospel.

They'll read it on the national program. You can give to that night, you can pray, God, today I gave out five gospel tracts. I cry out to you, O Lord, would you please use that to bring hope into their heart.

Bread of life that they may have, O Lord, would you do that? A couple of years ago, one atheist, a man who did not believe in God, got a gospel tract and he read it, he gave his life to Christ, came to a Bible school.

How much God can do? I'm only giving an illustration. Jesus saying, by looking at these people, you feed them, you take care of them. They are saying, what can we do? There's nothing we can do about it.

You see, they are not engaging themselves in the picture with compassion. Parents raising your children, I want to ask you, no matter how old they are, three or four or five, whatever, are they coming to you and saying, I want to give help to a missionary, or I want to pray for this missionary, help me to know some names.

Do they have a notebook? They write their names of the people they can pray for. Are you teaching them to write the names of their friends in school so they can pray for them, that they may come to know the Lord?

You see, I'm asking these questions to make you think the fact that your life is empty and void of Christ's compassion and his life, hence you cannot really pour this out to them. Even if you did, from mental information, they will not follow you because life only begets life.

Information don't. It's like a father who smoke, tell his son, don't smoke. It don't work. I'm hoping that I'm taking you farther away from information to analyzing your life. Do you have a list of names that you're praying for, people that do not know the Lord?

Do you have a list of people that are spiritually hungry? There may be believers, but they are not walking with God. Is there a place that you are concerned, that you become the agent of reconciliation and meeting that need in their life?

This is what the Lord wants. This is what the Lord is trying to do. And so, this can only take place when we plug ourselves, our life, engage our life with the Lord himself, that we may become like him.

A Changed Heart and a Life of Compassion

Many, many years ago, before the movement that I'm part of was born, many years ago, many of you do not know this, some of you know, I was living in America for myself. And one day I prayed, Lord, change my heart.

I was crying out to him because nothing could change me. I was living for myself. I was not living in sin or doing any bad things, but I did not care. And then one day I prayed, Lord, take eternity and stamp on my eyes.

Let me see everything through the lens of eternity, that I must die one of these days. What am I doing with my life, Lord, change my heart. And this is where my life began to change. And that was before the mission was born.

Before I did any of those things that you're looking at, before I ever wrote one book, before any of those things, God must change me. There was one time I spent two weeks all alone in my room, not going anywhere, only crying out to God that he will come and talk to me.

I must know him. And I must tell you, my brothers and sisters, especially those of you are new here, none of the things I am doing, I have done. I did it by looking at all the needs and all the problems and how to do this.

Nothing like that. Nothing. It came out of broken heart and a lot of tears because Jesus changed me from the inside. And I beg of you, not as a preacher or a teacher, as a brother in the Lord, that you will take your life, not your wife, not your husband, not your friend, not your children, you or your own life, take it before the Lord.

And as you do that, then I can tell you the changes will take place and God will work through your life. Our time is running away, but I just need to say one more thing and conclude and ask the Lord to change us, that's what I want to do in the end.

Hard Hearts After Witnessing the Miracle

We read there, after all this miracle taking place in Mark, latter part of chapter 6, as Jesus now walks on water and comes to them, they saw him and they were terrified, I would too. I mean, then the Lord says, take courage, it is I.

You see the problem here? They were with Jesus, but they never understood him the way they should understand him. Why we say that? Look at verse 52, for they had not understood about the laws, their hearts were hardened.

Think with me, we are going to conclude here. Think with me, why God the Almighty will put that verse in the Bible for us to read? Why? Just that one verse. The reason is this, they were so full of activity with Christ to do the feeding, they take care of the crowd and they were distributors and all this stuff was going on, but they never understood the depth of Jesus, they could not walk into him.

They did not understand the miracle of the Lord. What do you mean by that? I mean, I saw it. He did it. It's a huge miracle. No, that's what, they saw, but they didn't see, they heard, but they didn't hear.

The Lord was trying to teach them, not about the lows, the hungry people, no, he was trying to teach them about his heart, about himself, who he is. Their hearts were hardened. The more you read the Bible, the more you hear sermons, the more you get information, the more you're part of church activities, unless you hunger after Jesus and him alone, your heart can be immunized.

You get enough dosage, but nothing really changes. This is the reason why emotional Christianity often becomes a great hindrance for people to become godly with deep honesty and purity of heart, because they remain within the soulish level, nothing deeper.

But the Lord will take them to further journey. If you read again the gospels, you'll find the Lord is moving on with them until the end, until they are transformed and they did change. May the Lord help us to take the invitation of the Lord and follow him, that we too, in our generation, can touch the lives of not thousands, but millions.

They are hungry, they are desperate, they are lost. You make the choice. You make the decision, and the Lord will change your heart.

You're listening to The Road to Reality from Gospel for Asia. Brother K .P. O 'Hannan has unveiled how we can experience a change within our hearts. As we leave you today, please allow me to tell you briefly about our Christmas gift catalog, in case you missed it at the mid-break.

In it are a number of gift ideas to bless and encourage a Dalit family or native missionary. And through these gifts, you'll be expressing the love of Christ as well. We'd be happy to send you our new Christmas gift catalog if you'll call us at 866-WIN-ASIA or you'll find it at our website, winasia .org.

You can't miss it right there at our homepage. Again, it's winasia .org, and that phone number is 866-WIN-ASIA. Would you please keep us in your prayers as we continue proclaiming God's good news? We thank you for that.

And then if you can, be with us next week for another Road to Reality broadcast with K .P. O 'Hannan. The Road to Reality is brought to you by Gospel for Asia.