In this sermon, Rich Abuse discusses the importance of having an eternal perspective and living for what truly matters. He shares a story about an old woman who dedicated her life to serving God despite facing rejection from her family. Abuse emphasizes that being converted and knowing Christ is only the beginning of the journey, with 95% of the work remaining. He then references Luke chapter 12, specifically the parable of the rich fool, to highlight the importance of using our blessings and resources wisely.

Position, popularity, pleasure, you deserve it, as the adverts put it. But next, on the road to reality, we see what happens when we have an eternal perspective and live for what actually matters. Here we are, Richard Buse greeting you today. In the Bible, it was James commenting on the brevity of life when he wrote, It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Deep down, we know our time on earth is temporary, but we don't act that way. It was Solzhenitsyn of Russia who said, Only one life is allotted us, one small short life. So, to gain an eternal perspective and a life that matches it, requires an input from the blazing truth of Scripture. Today, on the road to reality, Brother K.P. Yohannan will help us with that as he turns to Luke chapter 12. This, my friends, is the weekly radio ministry of Gospel for Asia, and we invite you to stay with us for the next half hour as together we explore this. Our U.S. headquarter for our mission is for the U.S. is in Dallas, Texas. We have some 110 families with their children. We serve the Lord there, giving our lives to reach the lost world. And during the year, I have a few weeks like this that I'm able to travel and speak to God's people. And these are very precious opportunities. And I was saying to myself, looking at all the people coming in, standing around, drinking coffee and talking, all those things, people like you. And I said, you know, it's amazing that with all the stuff going on in San Diego, you know, the boating and skiing and whatever people do, you have taken the time to be here to learn from the Lord and to say, Lord, I love you. So I speak to you as someone who is in this journey with you, as a pilgrim and stranger on this earth, heading toward something more significant and real. And I think the Lord's coming is near. Although for Americans, thinking about Christ coming back is not terribly something people jump up and down about because our lives are fairly comfortable here. Whereas, you know, when I go to, you know, Nepal or Bhutan or Bangladesh or China or some of those countries in the prayer meeting times, it is not unusual for someone crying out and you open your eyes and look what's going on. Tears streaming down on their face, their hands raised in sentences like this, Lord, how long must I wait for you to come back? And one time I heard this old woman in an all-night prayer meeting. We had about 1,500 people and the prayer meeting was going on from seven in the evening until five, six in the morning. And toward two o'clock in the morning, I heard this woman pray, you know, saying, Lord, it's been a long, long journey. It's a lonely journey. All have forsaken me. And Lord, when will you come back? And I was so curious about the emotion, the words. I opened my eyes, you know, and saw this old woman, so wrinkly faced with a little cloth on her head, you know, the head covering and just her face, you know, looking toward someone that she almost could see. And next day I asked who this old grandma was and found out when she was studying in college, she gave her life to Christ. Her parents, her brothers and sisters actually threw her out of the house and she remained single all her life, serving God. And she was so desperate for the Lord to come back. And so the time I have here, I want to kind of be talking to you practical. Some things that I hope will help you in this journey. You have made a commitment to follow the Lord and I thank you for that. But that is only the beginning of the journey. Being converted, knowing Christ as your Lord and savior is only 5%, 95% of the work remains. And that 95% of the work remains is a tough journey because we often blame the devil and all the demons for all the chaos, the economy problem, this problem, that problem, everything else. But you need to know this. As an individual, you are destined to be with the Lord, to reign with Him for eternity. There's no time, there's no end to it. And that is the focus, the purpose of your call to be His. And while we live on earth, we are told we ought to be, we must be having the attitude, being seated in the heavenlies. In other words, our perspective on life here on earth should never be guided or led by the people of the world, materialism and money and security and this and that, any of those things. Our values must be so entrenched that we look at everything that happens on earth with eternal point of view. Nothing makes sense in life unless you relate this to eternity. And I remember one time I was going through some real difficult time in terms of pain in my life, not that physical, but you know, I must confess this to you just to make a point. I do not sleep hardly more than five, six hours a day, which is rare. And then the first time I'd taken a vacation, 45 years of my journey to serve the Lord was just last year with my wife and kids and all that. Not that one should not take vacation, but there were times I almost came to the place of just didn't know what to do, so full of despair. And I said, Lord, you said your yoke is easy and your burden is light. What am I dealing with? My life, if you want to know, I spent no less than 300,000 air miles traveling every year speaking. And no complaints. I'm so delighted. I'm healthy and strong to continue the journey. But I remember the Lord speaking to me. He said, son, why don't you read Philippians chapter three? I said, I read that a million times and taught from that, wrote books on it. He said, well, you know, do it again. And it's quite interesting as I was reading that passage, the Lord used that to say, you know, problems and pain and suffering and poverty and nakedness, misunderstanding, loneliness, having nothing taken everything away from you is opportunity for you to enter into my suffering. Let me be in it, understand it. My perspective changed so completely. Not that I'm looking for problems, but rather whenever that happens, I'm not saying, oh my goodness, what am I supposed to do? So Christianity and following the Lord is not always acquiring information, information, information, information, how to be a good husband, how to be a good wife and how to be a good parent and racism. Really, it is a journey of learning to die to self and saying yes to the Lord. We rather spend 10 hours going to a consultation and counseling session or some marriage, working some seminars than turn the alarm clock on to go off one in the morning, two in the morning, you get up and wash your face and go and kneel by the bed or in the living room and spend those three, four hours on your knees in prayer. We rather do a thousand things to fix our problem than taking a week to fast and pray and ask the Lord to intervene. We are prone as Americans being pragmatic, make things happen. Finally, we end up ministering to the house of God, being so busy with things that we missed the Lord himself because you cannot know him and fulfill his plan until you and I come to the place, we accept what Jesus said, if you want to follow me, deny yourself, pick up your cross daily and follow me. It is not the devil, the demons, your enemy, it is often your own self-centeredness. The call of Christ is to say no to self and follow him. That requires an outlook that takes eternity seriously, which is what we aim to gain on today's road to reality. Now K.P. Johannan will be back with us in just a tick. First, I'd like to tell you of a wonderful aid to our prayers as we intercede for those without faith or hope. Operation World is a prayer guide book to every country in the world, pouring in the facts about billions of people whose minds and souls are in darkness. I've got a copy myself and you can get a copy from us for only 15 pounds. Visit our website at roadtoreality.org.uk or phone 01904 643 233. Got it? roadtoreality.org.uk or 01904 643 233. Let's go back to K.P. now as he opens Luke chapter 12 with us. Now, if my time must be spent in America to preach and teach from Bible passages, then I shouldn't be doing that here because my reason for being here is to call your attention to a world out there that do not know the Lord. But I know it is not going to be now one, two, three, four things you do to make things happen. Rather, knowledge of the Lord and your knowing Him will result in the kind of life we ought to be living. That's what it's all about. So that you will not think, I mean, he said a lot of things, but he didn't read the Bible. You know, Luke chapter 12. Just a couple of verses as a reference. Luke chapter 12. This is where Jesus told the parable about the rich fool. Remember that guy who had a lot of field? You know, I grew up in a rice farm in South India, so I can tell you how that looked like. And he was so blessed and he had a real problem what to do with it. He said, oh, I'm going to tear down everything, build bigger barn and hold everything up. And then I said to myself, drink, eat, have a wonderful time. In California, you say, take it easy, go for surfing, get another boat, get the latest fashion and get the newest car that does everything for you. You can go to sleep in it while it drives by itself. And your hands are so weak and without just electric toothbrush, it will do it for you automatically. And, you know, take it easy. I mean, just care for yourself. And God said, you fool, if your life is snuffed out tonight, if a cardiac arrest takes place, you don't wake up in the morning. What happened to the boat? What happened to the house? What happened to the plants? What happened to all the fancy stuff that you just ordered online? And what happened to all the vacation plans you dreamed of for next 10 years? And what happened to all this stuff? You see, I'm just talking about a lost man, obviously, maybe, but do you realize that a lot of born-again Christians live their life for themselves? I remember some years ago in 1974, I came to America. And the first few years of my life, I was living for myself. And to the extent, it took me sometimes half hour to get dressed because I read the book, Color Me Beautiful. I analyzed my skin, I was a winter. And, you know, having married to this wonderful girl from Germany, her parents used to send us quite a bit of money, so I did not buy anything on credit, just bought stuff, began with Kmart, ended up buying from Neiman Marcus stuff. And 70 expensive neckties, all of them imported from Europe before I came here, I was there. And, you know, nothing wrong with having nice things in life. I believe being Christian, our life should be wholesome, not raggedy and living on the street. You know, but when I looked at my library, in my own private library, seven expensive leather-bound Bibles sitting there, I remember the Lord speaking in my heart, son, half of the world have never seen one page of the Bible. Never seen one page of the Bible. What are you doing with your life? Is 13 Christian radio stations in Dallas, Texas, 24 hours every kind of teaching and best of music? Is it not enough for you, you have to spend so much money to buy the best stereo system and all the equipments? And the Lord said, for the entire nation with a billion people, not one Christian radio station in that country where you're born and raised, what are you doing with your life? When half of the world go to bed with empty stomach and naked bodies, son, how much more stuff you must buy to clothe your little fragile body? It was not condemnation or guilt or somebody beating me on my head and say, you are a lost sinner. No, it was compassion. It was mercy. And that's when I realized, Lord, even in spiritual things, I'm so self-centered. I'm so lost. I don't care. And all I could do was repent. And the Lord didn't tell me, sell your house, sell your land, sell your car, throw clothes away. He didn't say one of those things. I said, Lord, what do you want me to do? You know, I never forget those three, four weeks of simply on my face before God. And he was not trying to get me give up all the stuff. But whenever, whatever we sold and gave away, walked away from everything I had, you know, it was not out of guilt. It was such a joy. If the Lord asked me to jump off from a seven story building, I would have done it because I couldn't stop telling him how much I love him. It was not works or legalism. But finally, I saw my life on earth so fragile, so very brief. I must exchange everything I have for the sake of him who died on the cross for me and for the lost world. And my precious brother, my sister, I cannot help but encourage you to think about 100 years from now, what all this will mean for your life. And the strange thing, you know, I grew up as a young boy in India where we as little kids going to school, we learned to use fountain pen. You know, I like to stay in hotels and motels because I can steal everything they have. And this, you know, so I picked up two of them already. But, you know, these are disposable ones. But fountain pen is, you really put ink in it and it's always been my delight. You know, we all got our weaknesses. You know, my weakness is finding pens. And so before coming to America, you know, being in Germany, I bought this pen called Montblanc. I mean, I think some of you know that. Who wants to spend $600 to buy a fountain pen? Somebody really dumb. But I wanted the best fountain pen. I remember during the day, some 35 years ago, the Lord dealing with my heart. You know, I remember sitting in my comfortable room, writing with this pen. You know, it's the most weird thing, how God sometimes speak to us. This is one of those times. It looked like the Lord walked to my desk as I was writing away with my pen. The strange question the Lord asked, I just could hear it in my heart. So you like that pen? I mean, what a question to ask. Of course I do. It's my pen. And the next thing, I mean, it's out of nowhere. It's just new thought. Who's going to use it 100 years from now? I mean, that just totally paralyzed me. I literally held that pen up and looked at it. And I heard the question again. Who's going to use it 100 years from now? That was one of the many things the Lord was doing to make me understand what it means to be His and completely His. And so I say this to you, my brothers and sisters, you know, if giving up house and money and Mont Blanc and have no clothes and, you know, live poor on the street is to be spiritual, then people in Bangladesh and Africa and India are far more spiritual than any of us. People can be poor, but be greedy as the devil. The issue is not that. The real issue is, do we take the call of Christ serious when He said, unless you forsake all and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. When He said, lift up your eyes and see the harvest field, they're white for harvest. They are not waiting for next month, but they're dying right now. One punching into eternity. 80,000 people every day in the Indian subcontinent, they die having never heard Christ's name. Afghanistan, some 17 million people in the entire nation. It is said, maybe less than 500 Christians in the entire country, not one church building. If you belong to Christ, if I belong to Christ, whose heart must ache and eyes must weep and accept sacrifice and embrace the cross and pray and fast. If you will not do that, if I will not do that, who will do it? Again, here is what I believe the Lord is calling us during these last few years that are before us. Do not hold on to your life. This man was so concerned about his own little life, especially now the economy is going haywire. I think in America and, you know, some ways, think about it. If you got two shirts, a bicycle and a room where you can sleep, no air condition, maybe a little running water, you will not die. Please think about it. Don't be so paranoid about, Jesus said, what are you going to eat? What are you going to drink? He said, he didn't start thinking about all these things. You know what? We have 60 some Bible colleges scattered throughout a dozen nations and every year graduate some 2000 young people in Bhutan and India, Nepal, China and all these places. You know, it's a strange thing when the graduation service take place, they all line up. Now, having made the decision to go to the mission field, wherever the Lord leading them to go with the consultation with the mission leaders and all those things. And the last thing happens, we lay hand on these young people and pray for them. And these are the words spoken over them. My young brother, my young sister, the Lord called you to go to the mission field. When you get to the mission field, you may face some problems and difficulties, some persecution. And if the Lord allow you to lay down your life on the mission field, if that's where you must give your life for him. Remember, heaven is a much better place. You wait there for us and we will come and see you later. And I can tell you story after story after stories. Like the young missionary I met while ago, the guy is handsome, very well-trained, good looking. Everything was wonderful. But after being on the mission field, now coming back for a pastor's conference, seeing him, I was startled, amazed and shocked by that because there was a deep scar on his forehead and whatever whoever did what they did with it, it was a messy job in stitching it up. And I asked him, brother, what happened to you? Before he could answer, another brother standing next to me and said, well, I'll tell you the story. Well, the story is on the mission field as he led a whole bunch of people to Christ. The anti-Christian fanatics came on Sunday morning and simply began to beat him up with iron rod and chain and left him in a pool of blood saying that we'll come back to bury you. Don't stay here. It took a long time for him to recover. But the senior leaders told him, now you better don't go back there. They will come and kill you. This is not unusual. I don't know if you know this or not. Just in the last one and a half years in Orissa State, some 4000 Christians' homes were completely demolished by anti-Christian fanatics. Over 500 believers lost their lives. And when they told him, maybe you should relocate. This is what he said. He said, I will do what you asked me to do. But when I was sent here, this is what I was told. Heaven is a much better place. He said, I'm already dead. My life is not mine. See, at Stundi, when Paul told, people told Paul, hey, don't be that dumb. You're going to get in trouble. Walk away. His response, you remember, this is not to be studied for Greek and Hebrew and theology and fancy talk. No. He said, I know. But I do not regard my life precious to me. Why, I ask you, my sister, my brother, we cannot spend two or three days fasting. Why can't we spend at least an hour a day on our knees for a world that is dying? How come that our spirituality is not making us to say no to self and what we want for the sake of him? Yes, that's K.P. Johannan urging us to let go of self-centered living that shrivels within its own shell. Hey, you're listening to The Road to Reality. As K.P. was talking about having a heart for eternal things, may I remind you again about this aid to prayer that opens up our hearts to our lost world. The new Operation World, as it's called, takes us through every country in the world with information as to how many Christians there are in any country you select, how many people are still unreached with the gospel, and what the greatest prayer needs are. Let's expand our vision and our prayer life. Listen, your bedroom could touch the world. For 15 pounds, Operation World can be sent to you from our website, roadtoreality.org.uk That's roadtoreality.org.uk or call us on 01904 643 233 01904 643 233 and like Gospel for Asia UK on Facebook or follow GFA underscore UK on Twitter to receive encouraging quotes and up-to-date stories and prayer requests from the mission field. Now we'll be with you next week at the same time and continuing the same theme of eternity with K.P. Johannan. That'll be right here on the Road to Reality. This is Richard Bews with Gospel for Asia wishing you from all of us God's blessing and encouragement in our shared driving desire to advance Christ's kingdom even among the most unreachable.