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Amen, and that Jesus is in our midst, that's a beauty when we all come together, when we call upon Him, He's not too far somewhere, He just comes right where we are. He came down 2,000 years ago, lived among us, died, and rose again, and He comes wherever people call upon Him. There's no God like Him, amen, hallelujah. Yes, as Shahi already announced about the couples' treat, I also want to extend my appreciation to each one of you for giving out your names. And I think the first-ever program that we have to close the registrations much early in time. You don't have to keep announcing about it. We got 25 couples who are eager to come and participate. We are praying every morning that God would move in the life of our dear couples, and they will have a blessed married life, a Christ-centered married life. So, all those who have given your names, to pray, plan, prepare, and be there at eight, don't worry about the breakfast, all taken care of, you just have to be yourself. Children are taking care of, all the especially children five and above they are taking care of. So every arrangement has been made, now all of you come prayerfully, and let us believe for great things, amen, hallelujah. Such things encourage me as Pastor too, when I organize various Retreats and programs, you know why I do that? It's not that to fill my calendar or anything else, so that I need to see people being blessed. I need to see people growing in the Lord. At the end of the day, it's only God who can make a difference in our lives, not money, not people, you can have all of that, but your life can be an utter mess if Jesus is not in your life. So, all that we do is to see that we all walk closely with God and experience all that God has for our lives, amen.

Shall we look to the Lord in prayer as we open the word? I would want to encourage you to just utter a word of prayer saying, "Jesus, speak to me, I'm here to listen to your voice." Jesus said, "I know my sheep, they hear my voice and they follow after me. May the voice of Jesus be heard this morning, not man's voice but the voice of Jesus. Dear God, we thank you for this wonderful time where we could come and be with you and celebrate your presence. Lord, we are a family, Lord. Lord, we thank you, we're eternally grateful for the eternal life that you've given to us. That's the reason why we come, Lord. We are grateful to you, Lord. Thank you for saving our lives and making us your children. Dear God, even now we pray that you would speak to us through your Living Word. Your words are life and the spirit, they give life to us. As your word comes, let that be life. As your word comes, which is your truth, let the truth set people free. Spirit of God, take control all this time. You reign in this place. I submit to your lordship in Jesus' mighty name we pray, amen. Can we all give one more round of applause to Jesus, amen? What a joy to be in the house of God, isn't it, amen?

So, I'll continue with the promised word that I had begun this year. I hope you're not forgotten. We're just in the second month of the year, we are believing for great things this year, amen. I believe some of you already have begun to experience it. I'm hearing some wonderful testimonies from you of how God is moving in your life. I'm believing for Open Heavens over us. The word that we have received is that over the church, over our lives, over each one of us, we're going to experience Open Heavens, amen, hallelujah. What does it mean, Open Heavens? Open Heavens is walking under the favor and the blessings of God. Open Heavens is walking under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Open Heavens experience is the experience of having divine visitations, visions, and revelations in our life. Open Heavens is the experience of walking in an intimate way with our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm believing for all of those things to happen, amen, hallelujah.

I've shared from Nathaniel's experience how Jesus met with him and gave him the promise of Open Heavens. I shared with you about Jacob, as he was going through a dark night experience of his life, how God met him and changed his destiny. Today, I would like to talk about Jesus himself, how Jesus experienced Open Heavens in his life. Let's turn our Bibles to Luke 3, verse 21-22. Can you all read together, "When all the people were baptized?" I said, let's all read together, "When all the people were baptized." It came to pass that Jesus also was baptized, and while he prayed, the heaven was open, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him. And a voice came from heaven which said, "You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased." The context is that John the Baptist has come to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus. Most of the songs today we're hearing that word constantly, "prepare the way." So, John the Baptist, in his time, prepared the way for the king of glory to come in. Who are the John the Baptists of the 21st century? You and I, you and I are called to declare the word of God and prepare the way for the king to come in, amen, hallelujah.

So, he preached repentance, and he gave baptism as a sign of repentance. People all across Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, Romans, all alike, from all kinds of professions, were pierced in their hearts while they heard this man of God speak. And then went and got baptized in River Jordan. Jesus was about 30 years old, even though Jesus knew that he was called for this great mission of saving the souls of the entire world, saving the entire mankind from sin, from wretchedness, from bondages, to destroy the works of the enemy. He knew that as early as he was when he was 12 years old. When his parents lost him, Jesus did not get lost when his parents lost him, and when they found him and asked him, "Son, why did you do this?" What was the response of Jesus? "Don't you know that I must be in my father's business?" At the age of 12, he knew his life's mission, his life's purpose. It's unfortunate to see many at 30, 40, 50, 60 years old yet not discover the purpose of our life. That's a very disappointed way to live our life without knowing why we are born. Somebody said there are two great days in a man's life, one is the day of birth, and second the day he discovers why he was born. Those are the two great days a person can have on this Earth. Jesus very well knew, but he

waited for 30 years, and then he was launched into the purposes for which he had come. They say generally when the Greek society that Jesus grew up, at the age of 30 is when men went for public service. If you look at the Jewish customs in the Old Testament, even the Levites when they were 30 years old is when they went to serve in the temple. So, there's some significant meaning for the age of 30. So, Jesus comes to get baptized by John the Baptist in that verse. I want you to notice two things, okay? Two things before the heavens opened and two things after the heavens opened. Can you see that? What are the two things that Jesus did before the heavens opened? He got baptized. That means that talks about his obedience. Then notice one thing, when did the heavens open? While he was praying. So here it is, what will cause Open Heavens over our lives? Obedience and prayer. I want you to notice two things what happened after the heavens opened? The Holy Spirit came upon him in a bodily form of a dove. That means divine empowerment. And second, we see he heard the voice of God himself saying, "You are my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased." That talks about his Divine identity. So, this is what I'm going to share this morning with all of us, the things that are going to lead us to have Open Heavens experience and when Heavens open over our lives, what are the things that we can expect? The first thing is let's talk about obedience. Luke 3, verse 21, the same text, I'm not going to go anywhere else, I'm going to stay on to this text, stick to the text. I want you to understand what's happening here. Jesus came to be baptized. Why did Jesus have to take baptism? In Matthew chapter 3, when Jesus comes to River Jordan to get baptized, John hesitates. John is reluctant to give him baptism. He said, "You don't need to take baptism. I as the one who needs to be baptized by you." What was the response of Jesus? "Allow it to be done for now, so that I may fulfill all righteousness." What does that mean? Jesus had come to fulfill all of the law of the Old Testament and live a righteous life so that he can be worthy, eligible to impart that righteousness to all of those who would believe in him. So Jesus here recognizing the word that John the Baptist had was from God, he did not want to disobey even a single word. He wanted to obey and complete all righteousness so he is fully righteous so that he can offer that righteousness as a gift to us. It also talks about his obedience. Baptism talks about his obedience. Sometimes today people take simple things and make it complicated.

Why do we get baptized? Simple. Jesus got baptized. I don't think I need any better reason for it, but let's understand why Jesus got baptized. Even though there was no sin in him for him to repent, he had not committed any sin, you know, for him to turn away from the Lord to turn to the Lord back again. He had not sinned in name yet he took baptism. I want you to listen so that he could become one among us, so that he could identify himself with us. This is not just a story; it's a living incident that happened. This can make this truth more practical to us, where we can understand it better.

There was this missionary called Damian, a Catholic missionary who went to Hawaii in the 1800s. Those days, many did not travel to that place, but he traveled to minister among lepers. He lived in a leper colony there. He bound the wounds of the lepers, he cared for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, he led many unto the Lord, and he even built a church in that place. After about 11 years, one day Father Damian himself contracted leprosy because it was a contagious disease. Those days, you can imagine what he would be going through. The next Sunday when he stood there to preach in the church in the leper colony, the congregation was lepers. His general addressing statement was always used to be "my fellow brethren," but that day it changed, his opening statement from "fellow brethren" to saying "my fellow lepers." He had become one among them. Jesus took baptism to become one among us so that he could call us "my fellow humans," "my fellow brothers." He became one among us. When we take baptism, we are doing the other way; we become one with Jesus. Hallelujah. As simple as that, baptism is an indication of us becoming one with Jesus. Mind you, let me be clear on this: baptism will not save anybody. The Bible is emphatically clear in Ephesians 2:8, we are saved by grace through faith, we are saved by grace alone, faith alone, and nothing else. Coming to church will not save us, reading the Bible and praying will not save you, doing charity will not save you, giving tithes and offerings will not save you. All those things are done by saved people; that's an expression of our salvation, that's obedience to the commandment of God. But what saves us is the grace of God alone and our faith in Christ Jesus alone. Amen. Nothing can be added to that.

So when Jesus got baptized, that was an expression of his obedience. So, the number one thing that is going to cause open heavens over us, how many of you want to have open heavens over you? The first thing is obedience. Obedience, not just in baptism, for the matter of fact, baptism should not be just a one-time event that took place many years back. It should be a daily living experience where we consider ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God, living in the power of resurrection every day. Amen. Hallelujah. So, God expects us to walk in obedience. Whatever the Lord is speaking to you, whatever the Lord is leading you to, when God is speaking to you, obey. Obey the word of God. Obedience opens heavens for you. It brings the favor of God, mercy of God, grace of God, blessings of God, power of God over your life. We cannot live in disobedience and expect heavens to open over us. So, I encourage you, let's choose to walk in obedience like Jesus.

The second thing that made heaven to open over us, open heavens open over Jesus, is what? When did the heavens open for Jesus? Luke is very specific, that's why I chose this verse from Luke's gospel. Matthew also has written the same, Mark also has written the same, but Luke mentions, as Jesus was praying, while Jesus was praying, heavens opened. The second thing that's going to cause heavens open over us is our prayer life. Jesus was a man of prayer. He prayed in the morning sometimes, sometimes he prayed in the night, sometimes evenings, sometimes days, sometimes all nights. Can you just think about it? If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to pray while he was on Earth, how much more you and I should pray? He considered prayer the most important thing, more than the sermons he preached, more than the healings he performed, more than the deliverances he performed. If you put together 33 and a half years of his life, Jesus easily spent most part of his life in prayer. That was, in fact, the secret for his power. I would want to encourage you to have a strong prayer life. It is prayer that's going to open heavens for you. As I stand here and look at you, I don't know how your prayer life is. You might not know my prayer life. God knows everybody's prayer life. But I want to challenge you to commit to a serious, committed, dedicated, consistent, instant prayer life. Prayers are going to open heavens for you. The key to victory in your life, you want to live a life of victory? Victory over temptations, victory over anger, victory over pride, victory over the works of the enemy? You cannot have victory over your life unless you're a man and woman of prayer. It's impossible. You cannot have any kind of victory in your life without a prayer life. You are as natural as anybody else, as carnal as anybody else, without a prayer life. So, I want to encourage you and challenge you to commit to a strong prayer life, and you're going to see heavens open over you.

Generally, I hear three kinds of excuses from people why they don't pray. And I'm sure that you and you would have heard about it. The first common reason and excuse I get to hear from people why they don't pray is, "I don't have time." Is that true, really? We have time for everything else in this world. Time to chat, time to browse, time to scan, time to surf, for everything, we have time. But somehow, we fool ourselves by telling ourselves that there's no time. If you really consider prayer is important, we will make time. Prayer was important to Jesus. It's not that Jesus had all this time on this Earth, was so free, didn't know what to do, had to pass the time, so he prayed. Jesus was a busy man. He traveled cities, towns, villages. Many times, crowds flocked around him. He withdrew himself to go and pray. Sometimes, after a long day of ministry, he used to go back to prayer. Sometimes, early hours in the morning, he used to pray before he could begin the day. He used to pray. Not that Jesus had a lot of free time. He didn't know what to do, that's why he prayed. Is there anybody here who is busier than Jesus? Let's come to a normal human being called Daniel. In Daniel chapter 6, Daniel was now in the Medes and Persian Empire. Darius was a king. He was second in position, equivalent to today's prime minister position. So

, you all can expect what that position demands. Was Daniel had a lot of free time? But you know how many times Daniel prayed? Three times in a day. Being a prime minister of a huge empire, the greatest empire of those times, he made time to pray twice in a day. In fact, there were people who were jealous about his success, and the only mistake that they could find in him was he prayed. So they schemed about coming up with a plan to fix him. So they went to the king and said, "Let's make a law. Let's make a law saying that next 30 days, nobody in this empire should pray to any god, any man, except the king." They knew by only that they can catch Daniel breaking the law. And what was the response of Daniel? He went and prayed as usual. For us, we don't need a law. Without law itself, it's a struggle to pray. I don't know tomorrow if a government passes no praying, what will you do? Hallelujah. Now, this is how I see Daniel felt. It is better to die in praying than to live without praying. Daniel felt it's better to die without praying. That's how close he was to God, that's how he enjoyed praying, that's how he delighted in being in the presence of God. He could not stay without praying. Was Daniel at a lot of time? That's why he prayed? No. So the greatest lie we can tell to ourselves is that we don't have time. Friends, you have no idea what you're missing by missing out on a prayer life. When you come to God, pour out your heart, talk to him, commune with him, life changes. Things begin to happen. I don't think there's anybody, man or woman of prayer, whose life cannot be impactful, whose life is not changed and transformed. So, "I don't have time" is not, I don't think, is the right excuse that anybody can give to anybody.

The second reason I hear from people why they don't pray is, "I don't feel like praying." Have you heard about it today? "I don't feel like praying." Does your faith based on your feelings? Do you think anything that God has told in scriptures is something you'd feel like doing? What do you think Noah would have felt when God told him to build an ark in the center of the city? You know, some scholars say it took Noah 50, 70, or even 100 years to build the ark. Do you think every day he had great excitement, enthusiasm, and feeling to build the ark?

What do you think Abraham would have felt when God told him to go and sacrifice his only son on the altar? Do you think Abraham would have felt great feelings, like, "Wow, what a word from the Lord"? What do you think when God told Moses to go and stand before the Emperor Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go? Do you think Moses was so excited about it?

What am I saying? Anything that God tells you to do, you will not necessarily have good feelings about it. You might feel like doing so many other worldly things, like watching television or Netflix. But to do spiritual things is natural, not to have feelings. Waiting for your feelings to come before you obey God will hinder you from obeying Him.

We have to fight against our feelings and simply do something because God has asked you to do it. And when you pray because it is the right thing to do, feelings will follow. But don't wait for your feelings to pray. I keep telling people, sometimes just do what is right. Keep your feelings to yourself. You want to see God move in your life? Don't base your Christian life on your feelings; base it on faith and the word of God.

The second thing that causes heavens to open for Jesus is prayer. You want to see heavens open over you? You want to see great things happen in your life this year? It's not going to happen just because someone preached. It's going to happen when we obey and when we pray. If you're praying great, this is not for you. But if you're struggling, this is a time to awake. God will give you the grace, express your desire, make a decision, and God will give you the power. The Holy Spirit himself will pray through you if you just come and say, "Lord, I want to obey Your word."

So these are the two things that happen before heavens open. Now coming to two things that happen after heavens open. When heavens open for us, what are the things that we can expect in our lives?

The first thing is the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove; He experienced divine empowerment. All that Jesus did in this world was by the power of the Holy Spirit. He never preached a single sermon or did a single miracle before being filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus did everything through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that's why he said, "The things that I do, you will do also." The potential of every child of God is to do what Jesus did and even greater things. The same power that resided in Jesus resides in us.

The potential of every child of God is to do what Jesus did and even greater things. The same power that resided in Jesus resides in us.

Divinely empowered. You want to experience power in your life? You want to be successful in every area of your life? Come to God and ask Him to fill you each day with the power of the Holy Spirit. It's not just for spiritual things; the Holy Spirit wants to be involved in every aspect of your life.

The second thing that happened after heavens opened was Jesus heard a voice. There's one text in the Bible where we see the presence of the Triune God: the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Father. Jesus hears a voice from above, from Father God, saying, "Here is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." It was essential for Jesus to hear this approval, to hear this voice from above, to stamp the seal over his life, to know who he was. If Jesus had believed only in his human identity, all he could have achieved was becoming a great carpenter, the son of Joseph and Mary. But Jesus was something beyond that; he was the Son of God. He had to stand firm on his identity.

If Jesus did not know who he was on this earth, can you imagine what could have happened?

We worship a Triune God, three in persons and one in essence. All three persons are present here. If Jesus didn't know who he was, everything else in his life would be shaken. So, recognizing our identity in Christ is crucial for our lives.

Remember, life is tough, but God has not left us empty. He wants to fill us with His power, with His Spirit. Come and be filled with His presence each and every day. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome temptations, to succeed in everything God has called us to do. That's what we see in the life of Jesus. Amen.

So, when heavens open over us, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and we hear the voice of God affirming our identity in Christ. These are the promises for us as believers.

But Jesus had a firm conviction, especially at this moment, just about stepping into Ministry. He needed this stamp of approval from Father God, saying, "Here is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." There's something very important that I want to tell each one of you. We all have a human identity. We are born to so-and-so, in a place so-and-so. Some of you might have noble family backgrounds, many of us might not. The kind of world that we are growing in, I don't know where it's going. Many children would be in situations where they don't know who their parents are, they come from difficult backgrounds, abusive backgrounds, all kinds of family situations. It's going to be normal in the days to come. You're going to see them. If you are limited by your human identity, you cannot achieve much in your life.

The greatest battle that Jesus had to fight in his life, you know what was that? It was a battle for his identity. Just about when Jesus was to step out into his ministry, just after hearing this voice telling him, "Here is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased," right after that, as he goes to the wilderness to fast, who comes to him? Satan. And what was his first temptation? "If you are the Son of God," making him doubt his identity. "If you are the Son of God, turn the stones into bread." The second temptation, the same pattern. "If you are the Son of God, jump from this temple," again, an attack on his identity. This battle continued till the end. And while he was on the cross, hanging on the cross, there are people shouting at him, "If you are the Son of God, come down." But the greatest thing is, Jesus never doubted his identity. He had heard from above the voice very clear, saying that "you are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

Friends, there are voices that are below that we are hearing, and there's a voice that is screaming to us this morning. The voices that are below want to talk about our background, our limitations, and our past. They want to pull you down when you set out to do something great, when you set out to do what God has called you to do, when you set out to accomplish the great dreams, great visions, great purposes. When you want to step into that, you'll hear the whisper of Satan telling you, "Who do you think you are? Can you do it? Look at your family background, look at the place where you come, look at your limitations." I want to tell you, when we understand the divine identity, every human limitation will break free because the capacity a child of God carries is what the power of God can achieve. If you're born to your human limitations, "I'm born in such a family, I'm born to such parents," everything looks common. "I can't dream big, I can't set visions big, I can't achieve anything big, I can't do anything in life," that's what you're going to be. But when you believe that you're a child of God, son of God, daughter of God, there is no limitation to what you can achieve in your life.

I want to challenge you. I want to see some great people rising in this place. That will happen when you understand your divine identity that you carry in life. While you hear so many voices that want to drag you down, while you hear so many voices below that pull you down, while you hear so many voices that make you doubt yourself, doubt your ability, doubt your competency, doubt your personality, doubt yourself, there is a voice from heaven screaming on the top of his voice, looking to you and telling you, "You are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter, and in you, I'm well pleased." Can you believe that? Can you hear that? In Christ, we are loved by God. In Christ, we are forgiven of all our sins. In Christ, we are accepted by God. Doesn't matter who has rejected us, but in Christ, we are accepted. In Christ, the power of past is broken. In Christ, we have a bright future to look forward to. In Christ, everything becomes new. We carry the divine identity in our lives. Amen.

Some of the people who don't understand this identity, you know, they look for approvals from people. They look for recognition from people. They look for appreciation from people. They want to constantly hear from people, saying, "Hey, you look good, hey, you look smart, hey, you look bright, hey, you're talented." Those are the things you would like to hear from people. And when the world fails, because certainly, the world will fail to approve you, accept you, commend you, those are the times you feel that you are not capable enough, you are not strong enough, you are not wise enough, no, you are not good enough. Those are the thoughts you carry because you're expecting from the wrong place. But when you hear the voice from above, "I'm the son of God, I am the daughter of God," it doesn't matter who approves you, who doesn't approve you, it doesn't matter who accepts you, who doesn't accept you, it doesn't matter who appreciates you or doesn't appreciate you, it doesn't matter who recognizes you, doesn't recognize you, you will walk confidently as a son and daughter of the most high of God. That's all I need to know. That's all I need in my life to achieve the things that God has called me to. Amen. Hallelujah. You are deeply loved by God. I'm telling you, however hard it might be for you to believe as you sit and listen, can I be a beloved daughter of God? Can I be a beloved son of God? In Christ, not on your own, not on your merit, not ability, not on your performance. In Christ, because you accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life, because your life is in Christ, now you are accepted, you are beloved. Amen. Hallelujah.

I read about a missionary called Charles Te Lebor. He went to a place called Westfalia, Germany. He was a doctor by profession. He went on missions to serve that place. If anybody, God calls you to do a missionary, please don't resist, don't reject, please go ahead. Your missionary field can be here in Bangalore, in Lanka as well. Okay. So this man called Charles Te Lebor was a doctor and he went to serve among the most difficult handicapped children. He was serving there and one day a wealthy businessman walked into this hospital and he was expected to make great donations to that clinic. So after touring that entire place, this wealthy businessman comes to Charles Te Lebor and asks him, "What is the ratio of these children getting well after you treating them?" So Dr. Charles responds to them, "Probably one in a hundred, only one in a hundred might get cured." So this wealthy businessman was shocked to hear that just one in a hundred. "And is it really worth what you're doing, the money that you're spending, the efforts you're making? Is it really worth it to make just one child cured out of all the hundreds of children?" Dr. Charles looks at this wealthy businessman and responds, "Yes, it matters if that one child was your child. It matters."

You matter to God. And that's why He came down to die for our sins on the cross. That's why we can confidently believe this morning that I'm a daughter of God, I'm a son of God. In me, God is well pleased. I don't want anybody to walk out of this hall doubting who you are, doubting your ability, doubting your potential because God's hand is upon you. Let nobody deceive you to tell you're ordinary. Let nobody deceive you and pull you to a human identity. Doesn't matter to which family you were born, to which place you were born, what are the limitations that people set upon you. But I pray this morning you'll have a revelation by the spirit of God who you are, and you'll walk from this place as a different man and a different woman. Amen. Hallelujah.

So what happens when you're walking under open heavens? You'll be filled with the Spirit of God, and you'll walk in the revelation of His son and daughter of God. In closing, I want to tell you, as you believe for open heavens this year, what are the two things that are going to cause heavens open over us? Obedience. Pray. I don't want anybody to leave without making a decision this morning. God, I choose to obey you. Don't depend on your feelings, just obey what God is telling you to do. And as heavens open over you, you will see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. You'll be filled with God's presence, God's glory, God's power, God's favor, and you will experience and walk in the revelation of son of God and daughter of God. Can you all rise in God's presence this morning?