GYC 2009: unASHAMED

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Paul Ratsara:  Power Spirituality

Paul Ratsara Sr.

Power Spirituality: Part 1

It is just good to be here and I would like to welcome you for this moment.

As you know, I come from the Southern African Indian Ocean Division.

123, West Central, East Central, and Southern Africa Indian Ocean Division, which is the southern part of the continent of Africa and the islands in the Indian Ocean.

And the smaller ones, 1 is Mauritius, the home country of my wife.

And we have small islands there like Réunion, which is part of France.

So you can see some interesting islands and also countries, but the most important thing is that that is the field that the Lord wants to conquer for his glory.

I'm very happy to be here just to share the experience that I have discovered in the Bible and in the spirit of prophecy.

Our division is made of 23 countries, 23 countries and territories we call them, because a country like Reunion is part of a bigger country which is France, but that part is part of our division.

We have right now 2.5 million members in that division.

We have 20, 000 congregations, 38 conferences and field and 8 unions.

Very glad to see all of you, and we do believe that the Lord will bless us in a mighty way.

Dear Lord, we thank you so much for the time that you are giving us.

You will do great things in our life, lives as individual and as a group.

We pray, Lord, that you take over right now and you change our lives.

Okay, I've decided, I think that was about 5 years ago, that I will never run a seminar or a preach if that seminar, if that meeting will not change lives.

I said, what's the point of multiplying meetings?

What's the point of spending time with just better, maybe it's better for us to do some other things than to go for a meeting and we will go out the same.

So I've been praying and asking people to pray for this seminar that all of us will be changed, including me, so that when we go in, we are, we have certain, we are in a certain situation, and when we go out, it must be different.

So I've been praying, we have people who are praying for hours for this seminar that this will be used by God to change lives, to change your life, and to change my life.

Because the bottom line is this, we must be changed.

Because this is how Jesus Christ was and is and that should be also the way we should be as Christians.

So Just be ready for the Lord to change our lives.

Just be ready for an Extraordinary journey spiritual journey that the Lord will do it for the 6 sessions We will spend time studying the word of God and the spirit of prophecy, and at the same time, we are going to pray, because this is about the power of God.

We are not going just to talk about theory here.

We are going to ask God to do mighty things in our lives, in our families, and when we go out, as I said already, we know that The Lord has done mighty things.

I remember of a seminar that I conducted in Zambia.

That is 1 of the countries in our division.

So we conducted a seminar at the same time conducting an evangelistic campaign.

So in the morning, we had people for the field school, 120, like in the Bible, 120.

And we said, we are going to ask God to give us the power.

And at the end of the meeting, he said, now we are going to preach, But the burden must be lifted away.

Said, write, And we can assure you that no 1 will read this except God.

So we will dispose of these papers, but write your burden, write your aspiration, and we prayed.

I can tell you later on, the Lord has done wonders.

After that prayer, the Lord has done wonders.

And I am praying that that will be also our experience here.

Not only to know mentally, but especially to have this strong experience, the change in our lives that we will be different.

You see, I want you to read what is written in Isaiah chapter 51, verse 9 and 10.

Here God is almost like challenged by 1 of the prophets, And here it is, awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord.

Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.

Are you not the 1 who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep that made the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over.

So here the Prophet Isaiah is asking or telling God, oh God, something is wrong.

When we read the Bible, when we read the accounts of the children of Israel, we see mighty things.

Please, wake up, because we are tired of just reading, but not experiencing.

When we read the Old Testament, when we read the New Testament, we are saying, wow, this is power.

Could be very good to have the same power.

You know, children, I used to be strong when I was young, but now, you know, after many years, I'm older now.

Isaiah said, we are reading about crossing of the Red Sea.

We are reading about many things you have done, but we don't see them now.

In Judges chapter 6, verse 13, Gideon as well.

He said, Oh my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?

And where are all his miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?

Power Spirituality: Part 2

Okay, we were saying that God is answering the question.

Actually Isaiah, he said, oh Isaiah, don't blame me.

He said, awake, awake, stand up, oh Jerusalem.

Awake, awake, put on your strength, oh Zion.

For, oh Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city.

But what is the reason of this lack of power?

Why is it that we don't experience what they experienced?

And that will help us also to know what to do.

Said here, the spirit of prophecy, Christ declared that the divine influence of the Spirit was to be with His followers until the end.

But the promise is not appreciated as it should be.

So that is 1 of the reason why we don't have this power.

First of all, Christ declared that the divine influence of the Spirit was to be with his followers unto the end.

Again, so there is no change, there is no weakened power.

God has promised it, but the promise is not appreciated as it should be.

And therefore, its fulfillment is not seen as it might be.

You see, when you analyze the sermons, the talks and many things, We don't talk much about this thing.

We talk about many things, but we don't really emphasize this topic.

And that's why Lenny Dwight said it's not really appreciated.

So, we have already discovered 1 of the reasons why we don't have this power.

The promise is not appreciated as it should be.

The promise of the spirit is a matter of little thought of, and the result is only what might be expected.

Spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death.

And this is the trick of the enemy, the trick of the devil.

Because if he manages to make us believe that we don't need this power, then he will overpower us.

So he does not want us to talk much about this.

He does not want us to pray about this because the very moment we have this, then he's gone.

So the devil is trying to make sure that we are busy talking about many things except this, because he's afraid of this.

He's afraid of someone who has the power of God, because the same power defeated him in heaven.

So if you bring the same power, then he is defeated here.

So he's saying, oh, you can talk about many things, but not power.

And then spiritual darkness, spiritual declension, and finally death.

Minor matters occupy the attention of the divine and the divine power which is necessary for the growth and posterity of the church and which would bring all of our blessing in its strength is lacking though offered in its infinite plenitude.

We talk about matters, but they are minor.

They are not big because The devil wants us to talk about many things.

Not necessarily bad, but not powerful, because he's afraid of someone who is filled with the power of God.

So minor matters occupy the attention and the divine power which is necessary for the growth and posterity of the church.

We may talk about many things like methods and nothing wrong with methods.

We talk about many things, nothing wrong.

But for us to be strong, we need the power of God.

Engage in physical labor and devote your mind to spiritual things.

Keep your mind from dwelling upon yourself.

You talk too much upon unimportant things.

We lack power because we talk too much upon what?

You gain no spiritual strength from this.

If the strength spent in talking were devoted to prayer, you would receive spiritual strength and would make melody in your heart to God.

So this is the reason why, 1 of the reasons.

We talk too much about unimportant things.

We have time to talk to people but no time to talk to God.

And then the spirit of prophecy said if the time that we spend talking to people, we spend talking to God, we would have more power.

Not that we are going to isolate yourself, but talk about important things.

If you don't talk about it, if you don't pray about it, if you don't ask for it, then it is so clear we will not have the power.

You remember the experience of Joshua, of Joshua.

In Joshua chapter 1 verse 5, he said, no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

Power Spirituality: Part 3

Okay, so we are now with the new section.

We have studied this morning why no power, and we have discovered in the Bible and in the spirit of prophecy, the reasons of lack of power.

So this afternoon, we are going to go deeper into the overcoming the powerlessness.

We have already touched on it a little bit this morning, but we will go deeper this afternoon.

Once again, you remember the promise is, but you will receive power.

As I said already, God does not want us to grab his glory because we cannot handle glory.

We become so proud and God cannot use us if we become proud.

Power to serve, power to be, and power to do the work of God.

So Jesus Christ said after his resurrection, okay, you will receive power.

It is not said you may receive power, but for those who believe in him, it is certain that you will receive power.

And in Councils on Earth, health page 367, it said, if you want power, so it is not wrong to want power, the power of God.

We are not talking about the power to overpower or power to abuse or power to do other things.

We are talking about the power to serve, power to be God's people and power to serve him.

So if you want that kind of power, he said, if you want power, you may have it.

If you have that Earning to have power to serve Him.

We know that that is the prompt of the Holy Spirit because He want to do more for God.

So if you want that kind of power, the power from above, if you want power, you may have it as it is awaiting your draft upon it.

Only believe in God, take him at his word, act by faith, and blessing will come.

What you need to do is to believe, to believe in God, take him at his word, act by faith, and blessing will come.

So we need to be assured that what we are talking about, it is according to the Word of God.

And I am so thrilled about this, that Jesus Christ, not only he has power, but it is said that He is power.

Not only he has power, you remember, God is love.

You see, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 24, I've just discovered this.

It said, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

So Christ not only has power, but he is the personification, the embodiment of power.

So when we talk about power, we are talking about Jesus Christ.

He said Jesus Christ is the power of God.

Remember that for us to succeed in having this power.

Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

So God, when you say you want power, you want God.

You know, we are not only interested in the power of God, but we want God.

Christ, the wisdom of God, and the power of God.

You know very well the story of the woman, but before going there, once again Acts chapter 10 verse 38, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with what?

And when you go to the story of the woman, you remember in Luke chapter 8 and Luke chapter 6 as well, it said, Christ says, somebody touched me for I perceived power going out from me.

And then this woman with the issue of blood was the disciples, they were there.

And then this woman tried to touch Jesus Christ.

And in the midst of the crowd, the big 1, Jesus said, listen, someone has touched me.

And the disciple said, master, you see so many people here.

Of course, Someone, not only 1, but many people touched you.

He said, somebody touched me for I perceived power going out from me.

And that's why in Luke chapter 6 verse 19, and the whole multitude sought to touch him for power went out from him and healed them all." That is the key to our question.

Remember that God is power, And you need to touch God to get that power.

She said, well, if it is possible for me just to touch him.

And he said, yes, all multitudes sought to touch him.

Touch him, for power went out from him and healed them all.

It said the Lord will give strength to his people.

The God of Israel is he who gives strength and power to his people.

He gives power to the weak And to those who have no might, he increases strength.

The Lord will give strength to his people.

God likes to give his power, the strength.

He said, I will give, the Lord will give strength to his people.

And then the God of Israel, he will give strength and power to his people.

And here again, he gives power to the weak and to those who have no might, he increases strength.

Do you feel that you have no power today?

It is just for people like you and for people like me that God said, I will give you that strength.

If you come to me, I will give you strength.

Power Spirituality: Part 4

I just want to invite you as we start our session in prayer, invite you to bow your heads as we pray.

Dear Lord, we Thank you so much for the opportunity to be back again and to continue this seminar.

I want you, Lord, to take over and to change our lives.

Okay, we have talked about sins, talked about confession, repentance.

Now, 1 more thing about how to regain power.

For God to use us, we need to give all to him.

I read, so likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.

So it's not possible to be a disciple of Christ if we don't forsake all.

Said likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all, that he has cannot be my disciple.

There is no choice for us to be used by God in a mighty way.

The key is to be totally used by God, to be totally surrendered to God.

If we keep something somewhere there, then we will not have this power.

For whoever desires to save his life, we will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

We don't have power because we want to keep something somewhere.

Said, oh, I don't want to surrender this 1.

If we do that, we are limiting the possibility of having this power from above.

You have said that we need to ask for forgiveness of our sins.

We must be forgiven, totally forgiven and forgiving.

And now, for the power to come, we need to surrender everything.

Surrendering is not an easy thing and God, we need to ask God to help us to do that.

Hold him up as the 1 who can give you power to overcome.

If we keep something, then we will not have this power from above.

So God is asking, God is looking for someone, someone that He can use.

And the spirit of prophecy in the fifth book, Testimonies, page 662, said, I have waited anxiously, Sister White wrote.

I have waited anxiously, hoping that God will put his spirit, meaning with his power, his spirit upon some and use them as instruments of righteousness to awaken and set in order his church.

So God is looking for someone that he can use And I do believe that you are here today because God has found you.

You have decided to be here because you want this power from above.

You don't want just a half measure thing.

We just want a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

We need to go all the way, surrendering everything.

And Sister White said she was waiting anxiously to follow their faith.

Series

Paul Ratsara: Power Spirituality

Power Spirituality: Part 3

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

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