God promised Abraham and Sarah a child. But as the years went by, nothing happened. As the years of childbearing passed, they began to wonder how God could ever fulfill His promise. They reasoned and agonized for months and finally decided that they had to give God a helping hand.
As a result of their own carnal reasonings, they did what a lot of us do today when we have a faith-crisis, they came up with their own plan. It was to employ Sarah's servant girl, Hagar, as a surrogate mother. The child Abraham fathered by her was named Ishmael. We don't like to admit it, but today this same kind of thing still happens-even in our church business meetings and missions work, in our fund-raising appeals from the pulpit, and in our communications. We can't wait for God, so we do things our way. And then like Abraham, we seek God's blessings on our efforts. . .
Ishmael was born to Abraham when he was eighty-six years old. In Genesis 17:1 we find that Abraham is now ninety-nine years old and obviously impotent. Now the chosen time has come for God to act. There was nothing left in Abraham-absolutely nothing that could help him or Sarah to have a son. The Bible says she was ninety, well past her childbearing years as well. Isaac was to be born miraculously so all could see that this new race was a people of grace, created by the grace and mercy of God.
As God's people for this present age, we must also forsake our Ishmaels and be circumcised in our hearts. Only as we learn to depend on God will we father no more Ishmaels of our own. How dare we run to the world for their expertise as if God is helpless to do His work? I am convinced that we have been deceived by the powers of darkness. For too many years, we've been transferring our faith from God to the methods of modern business, management, marketing and science. No wonder we're not praying today. No wonder we're not spending nights in prayer waiting for God to show us His plan. No wonder the authority, power and glory of God are gone from our assemblies and missions. No wonder we're victims of every new fad, philosophy and pseudo-theology that comes along. Our dependency on self is producing a twentieth-century baby boom of Ishmaels!
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K.P. Yohannan ( - Present)
Dr. K.P. Yohannan, the Metropolitan Bishop of Believers Church, was born and brought up in Niranam, Kerala. Niranam has immense historical significance in the tradition of Saint Thomas, a disciple of Jesus Christ who planted the first church there in AD 52. K.P. Yohannan dedicated his life to God at a young age to serve the needy and downtrodden. He prayed, “Oh my Lord, let my heart break with the things that break Your heart” and his life was never the same. It’s his belief that one can only demonstrate God’s love by loving people. After over four decades of selfless service, he says, I have no regrets in praying that prayer for I know God has touched millions through what He did in and through me. It is all God’s grace.He spent the early years of his service in North India and traveled to the remote villages sharing the love of Christ and doing charitable works. Through numerous encounters during those years, he was instilled with an increasing passion to bring hope, peace, and comfort to the needy and deprived. His sacrificial commitment, farsightedness and aptitude to perceive helped him to lead a life of unhindered devotion to serve Christ and His church. K.P. Yohannan is also the voice of Athmeeya Yathra, touching millions through his daily radio and TV broadcasts. His 250 books offer practical and spiritual guidance on hundreds of subjects.
Recommends these books by K.P. Yohannan:
Living in the Light of Eternity: Discovering God's Design For Your Life by K.P. Yohannan
The Beauty of Christ through Brokenness by K.P. Yohannan
Crisis in Leadership by K.P. Yohannan
K.P. Yohannan is the founder and president of Gospel for Asia, a mission organization involved in evangelism and church planting in the unreached regions of Asia. Currently Gospel for Asia supports thousands of church planters in the heart of the 10/40 window.
Born in a remote village of South India, K.P. Yohannan's personal journey toward spiritual reality began at the age of eight when he gave his heart to Christ. While he was still a young boy, his mother began fasting each week, praying God would call one of her six sons into full-time gospel ministry. Her prayers were answered in 1966 when 16 year-old K.P., her youngest, volunteered to serve in North India with Operation Mobilization.
From 1974 to 1979 K.P. attended Criswell Bible College in Dallas, Texas, where he earned his B.A. in Biblical Studies. He was also awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Hindustan Bible College in Madras, India. During the time he attended Criswell, he pastored a local church in Dallas. However, he was unable to forget the millions still lost without Christ in his homeland of India, and knew God was calling him to reach his own people. In 1978 K.P. resigned his pastorate and he and his wife, Gisela, organized what is now Gospel for Asia.