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Living Like Christ Lived (Kannada)
Zac Poonen

Zac Poonen (1939 - ). Christian preacher, Bible teacher, and author based in Bangalore, India. A former Indian Naval officer, he resigned in 1966 after converting to Christianity, later founding the Christian Fellowship Centre (CFC) in 1975, which grew into a network of churches. He has written over 30 books, including "The Pursuit of Godliness," and shares thousands of free sermons, emphasizing holiness and New Testament teachings. Married to Annie since 1968, they have four sons in ministry. Poonen supports himself through "tent-making," accepting no salary or royalties. After stepping down as CFC elder in 1999, he focused on global preaching and mentoring. His teachings prioritize spiritual maturity, humility, and living free from materialism. He remains active, with his work widely accessible online in multiple languages. Poonen’s ministry avoids institutional structures, advocating for simple, Spirit-led fellowships. His influence spans decades, inspiring Christians to pursue a deeper relationship with God.
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Sermon Summary
This sermon emphasizes the importance of moving beyond a focus solely on Christ's death on the cross to also understanding and embodying His life on earth. It highlights the need to be led by the Holy Spirit to live a Christ-like life, showing love, humility, and patience in all situations. The speaker encourages believers to grow beyond being spiritual babies, to be mature and loving individuals who reflect Jesus in their daily interactions.
Sermon Transcription
Let's turn again to John's Gospel, Chapter 17. We want to understand in these days what it means to take hold of eternal life, because that is how the church is built. That is how all believers will grow to maturity. Otherwise we can have a church where everybody is a baby. And that is not God's will. And there are two reasons why people remain babies. One I said is where the elder brother is like Saddam Hussein who rules everybody. And then nobody can grow. Because he decides everything. He doesn't consult anybody. He doesn't allow anybody to do anything on their own. And there are elder brothers like that. If they treat their own physical children at home like that, then the children also will remain babies for all their life. But many of these elder brothers are very careful when it comes to their own children. They are not bothered about other people's children. But what to do? That sometimes there is nobody else in many places to lead a church. So we have to get second best or third best or tenth best person to lead a leader. In many places it is like that. Because it is very very difficult to find godly people who know the father. And the second reason why people don't grow spiritually is because they themselves are not interested. They want to be spoon fed and spoon fed and spoon fed all the time. Now in the beginning we know a baby we have to feed with a spoon. But I mean it is sad if the mother has to still feed the child with a spoon even if it is ten years old. Don't you want your children two years old they should start eating on their own? That is god's will that we should grow up quickly. You know in how many years god wants us to be standing on our own feet and feeding ourselves? Two years. If you are born again in two years you should be able to stand on your feet. And even have victory over sin. There are two examples of that. One is in ordinary life. You know children when they are born they cannot walk. They don't know they are not trained to go to the toilet. They cannot feed themselves. But if the mother really encourages that child by two years it can walk very well. And there are many children who know how to go to the toilet on their own by the time they are two years old. And they can eat by themselves also. That is one example. The other example is when god took the children of Israel out of Egypt. After two years he brought them to the land of Canaan and said go and take it. You can conquer the lions now. The giants. But they didn't go into the land of Canaan. And so they remained babies for the next 38 years. They were 40 years old but they were like two year old babies. And twice in the new testament we are warned don't be like those people. I'm sorry three times. I'll show you that. One Corinthian stand. There is no example from the old testament which is given us as a warning three times like this. From the old testament. This is one Corinthian stand. He says all these our fathers were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Verse 2. That means they came out of Egypt. They took water baptism and baptized in the holy spirit. That is the meaning of these two. And they ate. That means they read the bible. Spiritual meaning is that. And they received the holy spirit verse 4. These are example of believers. They left Egypt. That means they left the dominion of Satan. That means they left the dominion of Satan. They were redeemed by the blood of Jesus. They were baptized in the red sea. Cloud came on them. That is picture of the baptism in the holy spirit. They ate God's word. They received the holy spirit. But verse 5 God was not happy with them. Same thing today. It's written for our warning to these Corinthians who are babies. See this letter is written to the Corinthian church. And we saw earlier he said you people are babies. There is one example given in the bible for babies. What is that? Look at the children of Israel who never grew up from being babies for 40 years. For 40 years they lived like 2 year olds. They came to the borders of the promised land. They said no no no we cannot overcome. Just like many believers today who say we cannot overcome sin. What did those Israelites say? They said these giants are more powerful than God. Joshua and Caleb said no. God is more powerful than these giants. Now when we read that today, what foolish people they were. What foolish people they said these giants are more powerful than God. It is easy to see the fault of other people. When you cannot overcome your anger, you are saying the same thing. Your anger is more powerful than God. When you cannot stop lusting with your eyes, you are saying the same thing. My sexual lust is more powerful than almighty God. It is easy to see the stupidity of the Israelites but not to see our own stupidity. I will give you one good bit of advice. Stop looking at the stupidity of other people but start looking at your own. If you are a proud person, you will think there is no stupidity in yourself. Whenever you hear a word in the meeting that convicts you, you do not accept it. But something for somebody else you are happy to receive. What is the mark of a husband who is a baby? If a husband is a spiritual baby, what is the proof of that? He always wants his wife to hear what the Bible says wives should do. You know what he will tell his wife? The Bible says submit to your husband. That is the clearest proof that such a husband is a baby. I want to tell you sisters, if your husband ever tells you, see the Bible says submit to your husband, he is a baby. Because that is not what the Bible tells husbands. The Bible tells husbands, love your wives, love the church. That is all he is supposed to do. That is a mature husband. But a husband who is a baby will always tell you, see you must submit to me. And the Christian world is full of such babies. If a husband is a baby, he is a baby. I have been married to my wife for 36 years. I never told her, see the Bible says you must submit to me. Not even once. Because I am not a baby. And I do not want to be a baby. And what is the mark of a wife who is a baby? She will tell her husband, see you do not love me. You do not love me. You do not love me like Christ loved the church. If you have a wife like that, she is a baby. But what to do? Some people are babies. Supposing you have a 20 year old who is still behaving like a baby, you do not throw him out of the house. Your life is a problem, a terrific problem because of this 20 year old baby in your house. And you can have a terrific problem with a wife who behaves like a baby. Yeah, some wives are like that. You do not love me. I saw you looking at that woman. These are babies. What to do if you have a wife like that? You do not throw them out of the house. But you will pray that they will grow up. They want you to be like the horses, you know, who have got these little things here. They only look in front and walk. Because these horse drivers do not want the horses to look this side and that side. Some wives want their husbands to have those horses things in their eyes. What to do? Leave it to God. God will judge him, do not worry. Do not ruin your life by suspicion and jealousy. Grow up. If God leaves him alone, you leave him alone. Pray for him. I tell you, if you are a child of God and you are a whole hearted disciple sister, your wife, your husband plays the fool with somebody else, almighty God will judge him so severely, you yourself will feel sorry for him. But if you decide to solve the problem, God will say, okay, you solve it, then I will not solve it. It is true. Whenever there is a problem in your home, God says, do you want me to solve it or you want to solve it yourself? You want to solve it yourself? God says, do it. See, I have served the Lord now for nearly 40 years and anybody who serves the Lord wholeheartedly will have many enemies. Jesus had many enemies. Paul had many enemies. Anyone who serves the Lord has many enemies, particularly if he wants to please God. See, the kings in Israel never wanted to kill the false prophets, they only wanted to kill the true prophets. Because the true prophets stood up for God. So I have had many enemies who attacked me in so many ways. I can write a book about the way people have attacked me, most people don't even know. But I won't write that book. Because God says to me always, do you want to deal with them yourself or do you want me to deal with them? I say, Lord, you deal with them. I will not do anything. I will only pray for them. You deal with them. And I tell you, I have seen again and again, God deals with them. I have seen that for 40 years. I have seen it in the Bible. When Cain killed Abel, God dealt with Cain. Abel could do nothing. Abel could do nothing, he was dead. But God said, I won't spare this man. When Pharaoh troubled the Israelites, God said, I will deal with Pharaoh. He has always been like that. When the Jews killed Jesus, even though Jesus forgave them, God in heaven didn't forgive them. He punished them for 2000 years, they were scattered all over the world. God deals very severely with those who trouble. Those who troubled Paul, those who troubled Peter, God dealt with them very severely. So I give you a little bit of advice. Don't try to deal with problems yourself. You can't straighten out your husband. You say, Lord, you deal with him. You can't sort out your wife. You pray God will deal with her. If you have a rebellious child, you pray to God. Don't try to deal with yourself. You'll never, you'll just make a mess of it. God says, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. But a baby wants to take vengeance himself. Haven't you seen little children? You take that person's toy, the other one will go and fight. You tell that 2 year old, listen, leave it to God. Don't fight with him. 2 year old says, I'm not going to leave it to God. If I don't get it from his hand, God is not going to give me another toy. And that is how some grown up people also behave because they are babies. That is how the Corinthians were. So he warns them, see what happened to those Israelites. Now another group of people who were babies was the Hebrew Christians. These were another group of Christians. And they also were babies. He says in chapter 5, verse 12, the time has come when you should have become teachers, but you still need somebody to teach you. And you need, verse 12, last verse, you can't eat solid food. I can't put a piece of bread in your mouth. You will choke on it. You can only drink milk. That means if somebody is preaching some solid stuff from God's word, oh brother, this is all too much for me. So what do you want to hear? Brother, tell me how I can go to heaven. How God can give me plenty of money on this how we can heal all my sicknesses, and we don't have any children, tell me how we can have children." He said, there's nothing wrong in these prayers. I also pray when I'm sick that I should be healthy. And if I have financial need, I'll tell only God. But those are not the number one things in my life. Those are all unimportant things. Supposing your child is sick and your dog is sick, and your dog is sick, which one will you take to the hospital first? Can you pray about that for 2-3 weeks and tell me? Your child is sick and your dog is sick, and your dog is sick, whom will you take to the hospital first? Okay, you know, you take your child first. Now the meaning of that parable is, your soul is sick and your body is sick, which will you deal with first? Which will you deal with first? You see, we all know the right answer. But when we do that, are you more concerned about your sin than about your sickness? That is a mark of a grown up person. Otherwise they're always drinking milk. Yeah, Lord, please make my life on earth very comfortable and I will have nothing more to ask you. Don't let me have any trouble in my office. Don't let me have any trouble in my body. Don't let me have any financial difficulties. Give me a good wife who will obey everything I say. Give me a good children who will obey everything I say. And Lord, it doesn't matter if I don't get victory over anger and lust and all. Those are all secondary. That is a baby. A grown up person doesn't talk like that. He says, Lord, I don't care if I have trouble in my office. I don't care if I have problems with my neighbors or if I have a difficult wife or difficult children or financial difficulties. Give me victory over sin. That's the most important thing for me. That's like saying, I don't care if my dog dies, but please heal my child. Don't you think that's a sensible man who says, I don't care if my dog dies, but please heal my child. That is a sensible man who says, Lord, give me victory over sin. It doesn't matter if I have problems on this earth. Because this is only a short time. The dog is not going to live forever. My child is eternal. And all these earthly problems won't last forever. It's like a dog. I'm not going to be worried about it. But my soul is going to last forever. Just make sure that my soul is pure. But these Hebrew Christians were not like that. They were only interested in the earthly thing. Everything around me must all be peaceful. And so they were babies. And so to them also, the same warning is given. In chapter 3 verse 16, he says, who are the ones who provoked God? Those who came out of Egypt. And those who, he was angry with them for 40 years. They all died in the wilderness. So the same warning is given to another set of babies in Hebrews. And the third time that warning comes, is another set of babies in the book of Jude. In the book of Jude, he says, actually, he says in verse 3, I wanted to write to you all about our salvation. That was my real desire. It means Jude wanted to write a letter like Romans, explaining the gospel. But he said, when I see your condition, how you are giving up this faith, and you are not standing up for the faith which is given to the saints. What is the faith which is given to the saints? The faith to overcome sin. And he says, you are not fighting earnestly for that faith, which is given to the saints. Verse 3. You have given up that. And now you are having faith for money and property and houses and cars and all that type of stuff. What has happened to the faith which Jesus gave, which the apostles gave? You have given up that faith. And then I have to write about that. And he says, I want to give you a warning. Remember in verse 5, after saving people from Egypt, the Lord destroyed them. Why did he destroy them? Because they are sought after like you all are interested in. So three times in the Bible, that warning is given to those who remain babies. That do not think because I was saved by the blood of the lamb and I am baptized, I am alright. And I am baptized in the Holy Spirit. He says, those people from Egypt had all that. But they never entered the promised land. He says, the same thing can happen to you. So fear. Fear lest you also miss this promise. See God sent Jesus to earth with two purposes. One was fulfilled through his death and resurrection. The other was fulfilled through his life. We all know what it is to be saved by his death. All Christian babies know how to be saved by the death of Christ. Every Christian baby knows that. That is milk. Christ died to forgive our sins. Even nominal Christians know that. That means those who are not even born, even they know it. We can say they are like babies inside the womb, not even born. How much does a baby inside the mother's womb know? Even nominal Christians know that Christ died for our sins. We are saved by his death. But supposing I say we are also to be saved by his life. Say, what is that? Is that in the Bible? Yes, it is. See Romans chapter 5. It says here, if we can be saved by his death, we can be saved by his life. That's what it's saying. He can be saved even more by his life. Did you know there is a verse like that in the Bible? Romans 5 verse 10. In a nutshell, this is what that verse means. If we can be saved by his death, we can be saved much more by his life. Please remember this. If we can be saved by the death of Jesus Christ, we can be saved much more by the life of Jesus Christ. I want to say that again so that you will never forget it. Romans 5 verse 10. Remember that verse. 5 multiplied by 2 is 10. Romans 5 verse 10. If we can be saved by the death of Jesus, we can be saved much more by his life. What are we saved by his death from? From the judgment of God for our past sin. Then what are we saved by his life from? We are saved by his life from our future sin. It's very simple. The death of Christ to save us from our past sins. And the life of Jesus is to save us from our future sins. That is the simple meaning of Romans 5 verse 10. Like I said last night, the devil blinds the minds of so many people that they don't understand these things. They understand half the gospel. That is half that verse. We can be saved by his death. Supposing you study only up to fifth standard. Yeah, you can't say you have not gone to school. But you finished only half school. School is up to 10th standard. But you went only half. You can't say you don't know anything. You know quite a lot. By the time you come to fifth standard, you have learned a lot, which those poor children in the slums don't know. But you didn't finish your school. You studied half of what you're supposed to study. So that is half a gospel. To be saved by his death. Jesus said you will know the truth. The truth will set you free. God sent Jesus to earth for two things. To die and also to live. So we know how we are saved by his death. I need to take the punishment for my sin. But Jesus said, no, don't kill him. Let me die in his place. So he died in my place. So I'm free. From what? From all the guilt of my past sins, which are millions. But now I have another problem. That is the future. For that, I need to be saved by his life. That life he gives to me through the Holy Spirit. That is why the most important message for believers is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Not for the unbeliever. For the unbeliever, the most important message is repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ. And ask him to forgive your sins. Okay, for unbelievers. You've already done that. For believers, the most important message is be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the devil, when he hears that being preached, he confuses people about the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit means what you see in those Pentecostal churches. Oh, I raise your hand, make a lot of noise and speak in tongue. That's it. No, no, no. Even the devil can raise his hand. Even the devil can clap. Look at all these rock musicians, those devil's agents, they sing so well. And the devil can also speak in tongues. But the devil can never help you to live a holy life, because he doesn't live a holy life himself. So, what I am looking for is a holy spirit who can lead me to a holy life. Please remember that. There is a reason why the third person of the Trinity is called holy spirit. And there is a reason why in the Bible the devil's agents are called evil spirits. Supposing you go to a child who is not a Christian, supposing I get a 10 year old boy who has never read the Bible, who is not a Christian, I ask him, son I am going to ask you a question. You have never read the Bible, you are not a Christian, I ask you a question, just simple answer from the mind. Can you tell me the difference between evil spirit and holy spirit? What do you think he will say? He will say, uncle I think evil spirit must be making you evil and holy spirit must be making you holy. I will say, you know more than many Christian pastors and many Christian preachers and Do you need great revelation to understand that? Dear brothers and sisters, don't be fooled by the devil. We need to be filled with the holy spirit otherwise we will never be holy in a thousand years. Remember that, all the other external things are not the proof of the holy spirit. I know what happened to me when God filled me with the holy spirit. Inwardly something happened. I could get ability to overcome sin. Yeah, I also clapped and praised the Lord and spoke in tongues and all but that is all outward. But inwardly, his life came in and I could be saved by his life. I told you yesterday, when we become the body of Christ, life flows into the body and brings healing where there is an injury. You know, we think a doctor can cure our sickness. No. You know, I will give you a simple example. If you get a big cut in your hand, you go to a doctor and you tell him, can you make these two pieces of skin join together? If he is an honest doctor, I can't do that. That is impossible for any man to do that. I can stitch it together and put some medicine. But only God can join the skin together. It's true. An honest doctor will say, we can only treat, only God can cure. I can give you the right medicine, only God can cure your diabetes or blood pressure or anything. And that is what an honest preacher also says. I can only show you the way. The Holy Spirit only can make you actually holy. Don't think that just because you understand everything I say, you are going to be holy from tomorrow. This is only the way. A preacher is like a signpost saying, Bombay is that side. Looking on the national highway, there is a sign saying Bombay, that direction. And it's written there, Bombay, some 300 kilometers, 400 kilometers. And some foolish man sees Bombay, oh, this is Bombay, and he clings to that signpost. No, no, no, that's not Bombay. He is only signposting, Bombay is in that direction. A preacher is like that. There are so many foolish people clinging to some preacher, oh, this, I found my salvation now. Some preachers like that also. There are thousands of people clinging to some signpost, thinking they have reached Jesus Christ. They are not Jesus, that is some preacher only. And you look at these people who are clinging to the signpost, there is no spirituality in their life. That's why I don't allow anybody to cling to me. I say Jesus is there. I can show you the direction. I am also going that direction. I am also going to Bombay, you can follow me if you like. I want to be like Jesus. You can follow me if you like, but don't cling to me. Dear brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit alone can give that life of Jesus in you to make you like Him. That's why we need to understand not only why Jesus died, but why He lived. This life of Jesus, that is the same life He lived in Nazareth. The life He has today, is exactly the same. He is not any different. As He was a servant those days, He is a servant today. Even in heaven, He will be willing to wash our feet. He is not suddenly going to change, sit on the throne and say, come on, wash my feet now. You know, some people think, yeah, when I get to heaven, then you will see what I am. I will be sitting on a throne and you fellows will all be my servants. I am sorry to disappoint you, that's not going to happen. If you think by being more faithful on earth, you are going to be some king in heaven, I am sorry to disappoint you. I know what I will be when I go to heaven, if I am faithful here on earth. I will be a better servant of yours. I will be a better servant, able to serve you much better than I am doing today. You think Jesus was only acting like a servant here? No, that is God's nature. God's nature is to serve others. Not to rule others. The devil wants to rule others. There was a man who wrote a poetry about the devil's fall from heaven. About Satan falling from heaven. When he was an angel, he fell and became the devil. But one man wrote a story about that as a poem. And he wrote like this. That this is what the devil said in heaven. It is better to be a ruler in hell than to be a servant in heaven. That is the spirit of Satan. Better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven. All those who want to rule over others, They are like the devil. Whoever they are, God doesn't want to rule over anybody. He doesn't say, I am God, come on, you obey me. Even Jesus didn't say that. He said, You call me lord and master? If you love me, keep my commandments. If you don't love me, don't keep my commandments. I will still love you. That is Jesus. How does the devil tell his servants? You don't obey me, I'll straighten you out. I'll punish you, I'll give you so many problems if you don't obey me. So, We have elder brothers who are like the devil And we have elder brothers who are like Jesus. The church in the world, There are very few elder brothers like Jesus. Who are they? Who have no desire to rule you. Who have no desire that you obey them. They only desire To serve you. To wash your feet. To bless you. To help you. And if you don't obey them, They say, that's alright, we'll still love you. If you don't obey a godly elder brother, You'll make a mess of your life. He won't make a mess of his life. He will live with God. He will rule your life, that's all. So, he won't try to rule your life. If anybody tries to rule your life, You can be 100% sure that man is not like Jesus Christ. I am a father. Once my children are grown up, Now when they are small, they are under the law. Then I have to treat them as under the law. Keep the commandments. Particularly the ten commandments. But once they have grown up and left my home, They are not under the law. Like Jesus, when he left his mother's home, He said, woman, what have I got to do with you now? Maybe he was humble enough to understand that. Now I can't interfere in his life. The same way I find, Once my children grow up, I say, I can advise you. That is how a godly father is. And that's how a godly mother will be. And that's how a godly elder must be in the church. That's how Jesus was. Throughout his life. Somebody called him, Beelzebub, prince of devils. And he said, Have you spoken against me? I am an ordinary man. You are forgiven. That is how Jesus lived. He was only a servant. If you shout at your servant, what will he say? Just quietly go away. So people shouted at Jesus, he quietly went away. That's all. That is godliness. But the devil is not like that. You irritate the devil and he will really harass you. So remember this. We have to learn from the life of Jesus, If we want to be saved. All of us have learned enough from his death on the cross. What is the result? You have been saved. You have been forgiven from your sins. Now you need to spend the rest of your life Studying the life of Jesus. I have spent the last 30 years Nearly studying the life of Jesus. How he lived. What a wonderful life he lived. How he preached. How his messages were so simple. And yet were so anointed. I said Lord, I want to learn from you. How he behaved towards other people. How he behaved towards his enemies. How he behaved towards Pharisees. How he behaved towards the rich man Who came to him once. And I tell you, you can learn something From the life of Jesus. That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John chapter 16 When the Holy Spirit comes He will guide you into all the truth. In verse 14 He will glorify me, Jesus said. What will he do? He will take all the things in my life And he will show it to you. Do you know there are many things in Jesus' life Which are not written in John's gospel? See the last verse, John 21-25 There are many other things which Jesus did Which are not written here Which the world cannot contain If they are all written down. If they are all written down The world cannot contain them. John 21-25 In verse 30 There are many other signs Which Jesus performed Which are not written in this book. There are many things Which Jesus did Which are not written in the four gospels. Particularly in the first 30 years. But it says in John 16 The Holy Spirit will take those things And show it to me in verse 14. When I read that verse I said Holy Spirit of God I don't want you to give me The gift of doing miracles Or healing the sick If you want you can give it to me I will use it. But more important than that I want you to show me The life of Jesus. I want you to show me How he lived on this earth for 33 years. And I want you to make me like that. I want you to show me how he preached And help me to preach like that. I want you to show me What attitude he had towards money And if you ask the Holy Spirit To teach you those things According to John 16.14 You will know Jesus. What did he say in the next chapter Chapter 17 verse 3 John 17.3 Eternal life is to know Jesus. How to know Jesus? How to know Jesus? In the last session we saw How to know God as a father. We must also be a father like God. How to be like Jesus? How to know that? The Holy Spirit has to show us. And the more you learn from the Holy Spirit The more you will be A Christ like husband. And you will be a Christ like wife. And you will be a Christ like mother. And you will be a Christ like father. And you will be a Christ like brother. And you will be a Christ like sister. And you will be a Christ like elder brother. And you will be a Christ like neighbour to others. And you will be a Christ like person in your place of work. What a wonderful thing. That is how we stop being babies and grow up. In a very simple way We can say that babies are those Who are only taken up with Christ's death on the cross. Grown up people are those Who are also with his life on the cross. Who are asking the Holy Spirit To show me how did Jesus live. And in many situations The Holy Spirit will tell you He doesn't rebuke you Like our earthly parents rebuke us. You know earthly parents can be very foolish. Some earthly parents are so bad They call their children by all types of bad names. They say you pig, you donkey All types of names. But if that child is a pig and a donkey What is the child's father? Must be a bigger pig and a bigger donkey. That the father doesn't realise He is so stupid. Because only a pig can produce another pig. What else? So if your child is a pig What are you? But all types of names people call their children That is foolish. You stupid fellow. Where he got his intelligence from? From you. He is stupid because you are stupid. This is all earthly parents are like that. How many times I told you not to do that? God never talks to us like that. Never. He loves us. He corrects us. But he never says you stupid fellow. When you do something wrong Say my son You know that was not right what you did. There is a better way for you to do that. My girl that is a better way you can do that. You feel like clinging to someone like that Who corrects you like that. Yes. The Holy Spirit shows you Your father is like that. That is why I like to cling to God. Because that is how he corrects me. That is how he leads us. Step by step by step To become more and more like Jesus. It is a wonderful life. And that is how you must live every day Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. You will never be discouraged. Because he will never call you a fool Or a donkey or anything like that Like human beings call you. He will never say How many times I told you not to do that. Not even once. Even if you are doing the same mistake One thousand times Say my son Let's try again. You will do it correctly next time. Isn't it good to have a teacher like that? One thousand times you made the same mistake. And he says Don't worry. You can do it. This is how the Holy Spirit encourages me. And I want to be like that. To my brothers To my sisters To my wife To my children To my non-Christian friends Supposing somebody comes and bangs Into my scooter on the road And bends something I say it's ok I can go and straighten it out somewhere Not pick up a fight with him I don't know who gave you a driving license Why you come and hit me like that Jesus didn't talk like that And if you talk like that Don't get discouraged After that fight is over And you are going away The Holy Spirit will tell you Jesus would not have talked like that And then you weep And you will never do it again We may make a mistake But like the dog We won't go and eat the vomit again That's what the Bible says Ok you made a mistake That's like the dog vomiting something Please don't go and eat that again That means don't repeat that mistake If the Holy Spirit convicts you Our whole life can be changed You know what is my greatest desire Whenever I do some small thing Unlike Christ The Holy Spirit should tell me immediately I say Lord please don't tell me tomorrow Today Don't even tell me this evening Tell me now I want to listen to you all the time So to me Bible reading is not just Half an hour in the morning I want to listen to the Holy Spirit everyday That is more important to me Than even half an hour Bible reading I want to listen to the Holy Spirit the whole day Because I want to become A Christ like person If you have that desire You won't be a baby anymore You will be such a strong Brother and sister in the church Let's pray Heavenly Father Help us to listen to the Holy Spirit To walk in your footsteps All our life Help us to take our Christian life seriously In Jesus name Amen
Living Like Christ Lived (Kannada)
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Zac Poonen (1939 - ). Christian preacher, Bible teacher, and author based in Bangalore, India. A former Indian Naval officer, he resigned in 1966 after converting to Christianity, later founding the Christian Fellowship Centre (CFC) in 1975, which grew into a network of churches. He has written over 30 books, including "The Pursuit of Godliness," and shares thousands of free sermons, emphasizing holiness and New Testament teachings. Married to Annie since 1968, they have four sons in ministry. Poonen supports himself through "tent-making," accepting no salary or royalties. After stepping down as CFC elder in 1999, he focused on global preaching and mentoring. His teachings prioritize spiritual maturity, humility, and living free from materialism. He remains active, with his work widely accessible online in multiple languages. Poonen’s ministry avoids institutional structures, advocating for simple, Spirit-led fellowships. His influence spans decades, inspiring Christians to pursue a deeper relationship with God.