May 1st, 1993 “The Works of God” Mrs. N. Daniel

Psalm 77:11-15

The servant of God who wrote this Psalm says, “The first step is to remember the works of the Lord - all the wonderful things which God did for His own glory.” Then, he says that we must meditate upon His works and His doings, because there is no God like our God and no works like His. “Who is so great a God as our God?” He knew the works of God. He knew the people of this world, even the great people. So he says, “Who is so great a God amongst the people in this world?”

Our Lord does wonders. If we read the whole Psalm, we see how many great things God did for His own people. We know how the Lord divided the Red Sea and the people safely crossed it and reached the other side. And on the other side of Jordan, they saw many great things which God did for them. But there was this weakness in those people that after seeing great things, they forgot them. When they faced trials of faith, they limited God's power. That is our weakness also. We cannot escape trials of faith. Unless there is a test, we do not know how far we have understood God's love and God's power. Our God is love and He is full of power. He is wisdom itself. To understand our God, we need to pray. In prayer, the power of God will be revealed to us. Whether it is a woman or a man, only in prayer they can understand their God.

In I Samuel 2nd chapter, we see that Hannah went into the presence of God. In prayer she began to understand her God. First, God gives to his people salvation. So she begins with, “I rejoice in thy salvation.” Then she began to understand her God. Verse 2 “There is none holy as the Lord.” Then she understood further. Verse 3 “God is knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.” Therefore she gives an exhortation to people in verse 3, saying, “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” In her prayer, we see how much she understood about God, of His power and His grace. She understood that He is mindful about the poor beggars also. God pays great attention even to poor, neglected people. They too can inherit the throne of glory, she said. Her prayer is a revelation and a sermon for ever.

When the heart is changed, whether a song, or experience, or a psalm, - whatever proceedeth out of the new heart will be a blessing to people. But the people of Israel began to limit God. In this Psalm it is said, they limited the power of God. 18th and 19th verses – “And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust; yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?” So these are the sins we generally commit. We have seen that our God is a great God and He is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God.

Now, when the retreat is approaching, I am afraid whether I will limit God’s power. We have invited a thousand and five hundred people, according to the capacity of our retreat centre. We are getting more letters saying, “More of us want to come.” We should not overcrowd the place. Till now, infectious diseases were kept out of the camp. Death was kept away. But we must be careful also to preserve the witness. I have been seeing this great God in our retreats since 1945. There were no deaths in the camp. There was no want in our midst, and the people were fed with the Word of God. Many people were blessed to become witnesses of God and His saving power.

The first two retreats were in our own place- Kakinada. The numbers were small. The Canadian Baptist Mission gave us the use of their Boarding School. We had two retreats in Vishakapatnam. We had to go to that place and get the place ready for the retreats which lasted two weeks. The next retreat we had in Samalkot, seven miles away from Kakinada. In those retreats, we never were in want, and never had to borrow money. In the first two or three retreats, we had our own money we had saved up for our children's education. God asked us to use that money, and so we used it for the retreats. When our money was exhausted, God supplied all that was needed for our retreats. Now you can understand how this large construction came up, and is nearing completion. So we know that we have a great God. Since 1951, our retreats moved into this city.

“One man can spoil so much good”, it is written. So we must be careful. People expect to see a high standard from the Head Quarters. We have to be very helpful and loving. With fear and trembling, we should walk before the Lord, serving others. No one should be afraid of heavy work during the retreat, or before the retreat, or after the retreat. We have to ask the Lord to give us bridles to our tongues, so that no vain word proceeds out of our mouth. Without a bridle, our religion is vain. We have to open our mouths only to utter words that help and heal people.

How shall we get victory over anger? The Bible says, “Anger rests in the bosom of fools”. Converted people are not fools. They are supposed to be wise people. Our God is wisdom. And He is very patient with all His people. So, we have to be very careful not to bring anger into the camp. We need a calm spirit. We have to bring heaven down into our midst. The angels must help us because this is God's work, and He has to send His angels to help us. He must give us His Spirit to guide us.

Sometimes, our faith will be very strong. But when we turn our eyes away from the Lord and look at the wind and waves, we tend to go down. We are people who make wine into water and not water into wine. Sometimes, the kitchen crew is smitten by fear, wondering if the curry will suffice. They are ready to increase the quantity by adding water. These are human methods. All these years, the Lord has been with us. The retreat is the Lord's. He asked us to gather our converted people and give them His Word. So, God has raised up many workers in the Fellowship. Many families are following the Lord. Small children are taken care of. Young people are also strengthened. The Lord has given us many centres of outreach. The faith which Jesus is teaching us is spreading to many countries also. In many countries, people are exercising this holy faith and following the leadings of the Holy Spirit. Our God is a great God! He has got great plans for His kingdom and wants to use us to fulfil His plans.

So let us prepare ourselves with prayer, to meet our great God. God says, we are His co-workers. We have to glorify our Saviour, Jesus Christ. God has got many blessings for us. We have to receive them. God bless you!