How good it is to be near God (Kei dingin Pathian naih hoih ahi)

My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he
is mine forever. Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. But
as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter, and I will
tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

Psalms 73: 26-28

I tulai khovel uh buai vengvung kar ah, Pathian thu gendi a theih huaikei mahmah a, thum di le
a haksat hun a om sek a. Himahleh, I haksat deuh deuh leh Toupa I poimoh dan a kilang deuh
deuh a. Amah lou belh di leh muan taak omlou ahih dan I muthei semsem hi. Huaiziakin tuni in
Pathian naih ei adin ahoih dan chih sut khawm sawm le chi ihi.

Bible ah mi nih hinkhua etkhiak sawm ihi a. Amasa ahih leh itheih mahmah uh, Joseph ahi. Ama
tangthu Genesis ah om a, I neu apan ina zak sa ahih toh gen tam luat ngailou din I koih di.
Joseph hinkhua apan ken kana muh khiak thak thil tamlou kon share di:

Joseph – The Lord was with him/ Toupa a kiang ah om

• The Lord was with Joseph and he succeeded in everything he did as he served Potiphar, Captain of Pharaoh’s Guard (Gen 39:2) – SUCCESSFUL/ LOHCHINNA
• Potiphar realized that the Lord was with Joseph and so put him in charge of his entire household (Gen 39:4) – PEOPLE SEE GOD THROUGH JOSEPH/ MIDANGTEN MUANNA
• To Potiphar’s wife “How could I do such a thing? It would be a great sin against God.” (Gen 39:9) – DOES NOT SIN AGAINST GOD
• After he was wrongly imprisoned, the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden who put him in charge of all other prisoners and everything in the prison (Gen 39: 21, 22) – GOD BLESSES UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
• To chief wine taster “Interpreting dreams is God’s business.” (Gen 40:8) – STRONG FAITH IN GOD’S POWER
• However, for two years he was still stuck in prison (Gen 41:1) – NEVER DOUBTS/LEAVES GOD
• To Pharaoh “God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.” (Gen 41: 16) – DEPENDENCE AND GLORY
• “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?…Youwill be in charge of my court and all my people will take orders from you.” (Gen 41:38,40) – FILLED WITH SPIRIT AND IT SHOWS
• To his brothers “God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors… he is the one who made me an advisor to Pharaoh” (Gen 45:7) – KNOWS GOD IS SOURCE OF ALL BLESSINGS
• “Pharaoh and his officials were all delighted to hear this… get your father and all your families, and return here to me. I will give you the very best land in Egypt, and you will eat from the best that the land has to produce” (Gen 45:16,18) – GOD BLESSES JOSEPH’S ENTIRE FAMILY
• Jacob buried along with his ancestors in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan.
  Egyptians mourned his death for 70 days. With Pharaoh’s blessings, Joseph went with
  the entire officials of Pharaoh along with his whole family. Solemn mourning for 7 days,
  even the place name was changed to Abel-mizraim (mourning for Egyptians) (Gen 50) –
  LOVE AND RESPECT FROM OTHERS
• After Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers were afraid that he may take revenge. But Joseph
  said “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me,
  but God intended it all for good.” (Gen 50:19,20) – FORGIVES
• Joseph lived to be 110 years old and he saw three generations of his decendants. (Gen
  50:22,23) – LONG & FULL LIFE

Joseph hinkhua apan Toupa naih/belh ahoih dan tampi ina muthei a. Toupa Joseph kiang a om
ziak ahih leh, Joseph in Pathian a naih gige a, a muang gige ahi, Pathian a ginna taisan ngei lou
ahi.

Bible a midang khat tangthu kenle kana theih luat louh zanlam in kava mu kha a, ama hinkhua
leng enzual le chi kahi. Amah ahih leh Judah Gam a kumpi Asa ahi.

King Asa – Good turned Bad king of Judah (2 Cronicles 14 - 16)

• After the death of his father King Abijah of Judah, Asa became the next king and he did
  what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord his God. (14:2) – Removed and
  destroyed Idols, Commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord and obey his
  instructions.
• So, Asa’s kingdom enjoyed a period of peace. (14:5b) – He could build his kingdom and
  fortify towns.
• No one tried to make war against him at this time for the Lord was giving him rest from
  his enemies. (14:6b)
• Once the Ethiopian king Zerah attacked with 10 lacs men, Asa asked help from God
  “Help me O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have
  come against this vast horde.” So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians in the presence of
  Asa and the army of Judah (14:8) And they plundered his towns
• After this event, the Prophet Azariah told Asa “The Lord will stay with you as long as
  you stay with him. Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him,
  he will abandon you.” (15:2b)
• After this message from Azariah, King Asa removed all the idols and repaired the altar
  of the Lord. He called his people and they sacrificed 700 cattle and 7000 sheep & goats
  taken from the plunder. They entered into a covenant to seek God with all their heart
  and soul. They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the Lord would be put to death
  (15:9-13)
• Everyone in Judah were happy as they sought God with all their heart and God gave
  them rest from their enemies from every side. (15:15)
• King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother as
  she made an obscene Asherah pole. King Asa was faithful to the Lord and he brought
  into the temple of God the silver and gold. (15:16,17)
• So there was no more war until the 35 th year of Asa’s reign (15:19)
• In the 36 th year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah. King Asa took the
  sliver and gold from the Temple treasuries and gave them to King Ben-hadad of Aram.
  King Asa wanted Ben-Hadad to break his treaty with King Baasha. Ben-hadad attacked
  towns of Israel and this made Baasha retreat from Judah’s territory Ramah. (16:1-3)
• At this time, Seer Hanani told Asa “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram
  instead of the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king
  of Aram.” In the past when Ethiopians and Libyans attacked your kingdom, you relied on
  the Lord and he handed them over to you. (16:7,8)
• Seer Hanani “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those
  whose heart are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you
  will be at war.” (16:9)
• Asa became so angry that he threw Hanani in prison and he also began to oppress
  some of his people. In the 39 th year of his reign, King Asa developed a foot disease but
  he refused to seek the Lord’s help and turned only to his physicians. He died in the 41 st
  year of his reign. (16:10-13)

Kumpi Asa in Pathian ana naih den hileh, a lalgam thupi zaw sem din a gintak huai. Amah leh
kum tampi dam din a gintak huai.

Mihingten Pathian ina theih a hoih a, hilehleng I damsung teng phial a Pathian naih a I om nung
in leng, Amah ana taisan theih ahi. Huai chiang in Toupan ei hon paisan thei ahi. I damsung hun
nuam leh I hun haksa ah leng Toupa naih gige ni.
 
Pathian thupiak poimoh pen ‘Kei lou ngal Pathian dang na nei kei ding’ chih ahi. Pathian I biak,
pahtawi leh belh ding ahi.
 
Bang ziaka Pathian in hichi tuka Amah pahtawi di a hon phut ahi diam? Chih ana ngaihtuah
kha I om un ka ging. Lei leh Van leh thil dang tengteng sang a hoihzaw leh thupi zaw, phattak
leh belh tak zaw, Pathian sang in a omlou ahih ziak ahi. Pathian in Amah lou biakdi leh phatdi
hon gen leh, zuau/blasphemy gen ana hi di hizaw ahi.
 
Huaiziakin, eivek un, ‘Kei dingin Pathian naih hoih ahi.’ Chithei chiat ni!

~ From sharing at ZCF Bangalore, October 2015