Impromptu Gospel

Last week I was not able to carry out the shepherding one on one that I used to have with two young brothers, as one was on a vacation outstation and the other had his exams. And another two young brothers were also not available for online prayers. Yet today, the Lord unexpectedly sent two new ones, though sisters, to come and inquire about the minsitry conference which they heard from a Pastor I heard about but have never met. Though they came for entirely different purpose, to enquire about conferences in USA, I grasped that opportunity to let them know what trainings and conferences are, what are its contents, and who can join. By the time they heard me, they realised that they were not ready for what they came to enquire for.

I turned the table and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ as a part of answering one of the sisters' query on what the ministry books are for, "Were they religious?"

Beginning from God's plan, how created man eith three parts, bidy, soul, and spirit, and all the way through redemption in Jesus Christ, and the way to salvation, point by point, in a simple, logical, scientific yet spiritual way. They both were enlightened with the gospel as they heard it for the first time in this way, succinctly ministered. One of them,  a Catholic by faith, even confessed that she never heard about Jesus told in this way. And the other, born into a majoritarian religion of the nation, heard the gospel for the first time with a clarification on who God is, Jesus is God!

As the freedom of expression granted to us by the constitution of India, I exercised that right to express what I believe to ones who came to enquire a matter related to my faith. Having done that, I entirely left the choice of belief to their own discretion. As I exercised my right to express my belief, now that have the right to exercise their right to believe what they choose to believe into. The freedom of choice is with them.  But I, on part, have done what I felt I should do. What an impromptu gospel!

May the true and living God save them.

Walking with God

Genesis 5:21-24, RecVer

21. And Enoch lived sixty-five years and begot Methuselah.

22. And Enoch walked with God after he had begotten Methuselah three hundred years, and he begot more sons and daughters.

23. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years.

24. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Hebrews 11:5-6, RecVer

5. By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he obtained the testimony that he had been well pleasing to God.

6. But without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him, for he who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Excerpts from HWMR Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4), week 45.

1. To walk with God is not to override God, not to be presumptuous, not to do things according to our own concept and desire, not to do things according to the current of the  age, and not to do anything without God—cf. Psa. 19:12-13; Josh. 9:14b; Luke 24:15.

2. To walk with God is to take Him as our center and everything, to live and do things according to God and with God, according to His revelation and leading, and to do everything with Him— Rom. 8:4, 13-14; Gal. 2:2a; 2 Cor. 5:14-15.

3. To walk with God means that we do not live by what we are or can do but by the immortal life, which is Christ Himself—vv. 4, 9.

4. To walk with God is to have habitual fellowship with God, to be in constant touch with the Lord, and to be under His constant infusion—1 John 1:3; Phil. 4:6; 2 Cor. 3:16, 18.

5. To walk with God is to continually exercise our spirit to enjoy the Blessed Trinity—Jude 14, 19-21.

6. To walk with God implies the denying of our self and everything that is of our self so that we may be one with Him; it implies that we have given ourselves to Him, that we will give in to Him and let Him take the lead—Matt. 16:24-25; 2 Cor. 2:13-14.

To walk with God is to walk by faith—5:7; Heb. 11:5-6

The Lord’s uptodate speaking become such a blessing to me these days. It changed the way I live my Christian life, much more, my time with the Lord, day by day. I have been graced these days to learn to walk with God. The Lord has led me from mere praying to Him during prayer time, to walking with Him regularly. Though I dare not say that I have been walking with God all the time, but the percentage of walking with Him has improved quite much. This is more like John's statement:

He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30, RecVer

Yes, the more we walk with God, the more "I" decrease with the increase of Christ. Enoch did not walk with God for a short while now and then. He walked with God about three hundred years! I believe, day by day, as he walked with God, he was infused with God Himself to the extent that one day he was fully saturated and permeated with the divine life that led him to be translated, taken up! 

As the case with Enoch was, so shall it be with us today. The secret to translation or rapture is, walking with God. Interestingly, the price one need to pay is, a daily walk with God, not merely a daily prayer and reading the Bible, though these are within the wider domain of walking with God. By such walking, one becomes pleasing to God, a testimony that God desires, issuing in Him taking up His walkmate.

My time with the Lord these days have been very enjoyable. I commune with God as friend with friend. Though I still pray the burdens He bestowed upon me, I do so as I walk with God. The walking has been so peaceful, pleasant, delightful, and joyful. 

O for the grace that will daily, hourly, and moment by moment supply me to walk with God all the days of my life! O Lord Jesus!

Shepherding Lesson

Only the Lord Jesus truly is the good Shepherd. Without His shepherding life in me, I can never shepherd anyone. I have been learning this lesson time and again. My heart has been for shepherding the new ones and I have been doing so with a good number of younger ones and older ones too. Whether by meeting them physically or virtually over the phone, I have been enjoying the Lord’s grace to be able to shepherd. This definitely requires the Lord Jesus' shepherding life.

John 10:11-14, RecVer

11. I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

12. He who is a hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

13. He flees because he is a hireling and it does not matter to him concerning the sheep.

14. I am the good Shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me,

At times, when the shepherded ones were not available, or were not picking the calls, I learn not to give up on them nor be discouraged. But I kept praying for them all the more. Sometimes, I intentionally called them even when I knew for sure that some of them would not pick my calls nor reply to my texts, I still regard them as "sheep the Lord entrusted me to shepherd" and I faithfully do what I am required to do. This is an important lesson I have been learning these days. Deep within me, I still trust that the Lord remembers my heart for these ones and He will, in His time, recover all of them. As some of them have strayed away from the church life, some veered away to the world, and some have completely lost interest even in spiritual things. Nonetheless, I don't give up on them as the Lord would not give up on anyone else. One day, the Lord will recover all of them for our labor in the Lord will never be in vain.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58, RecVer

Two young brothers have not been picking my calls nor bothered to answer my texts any longer. This is a good test for me as a learning shepherd, how I deal with such ones. It's so easy to simply give them up, but I will not, unless the Lord indicated to me to give up. Herein lies my attitude towards them as a shepherd. May the Lord grace me all the more and reproduce His shepherding life in me.

Household Arrangements

After sixty one days of external renovation and painting works carried out at he premises of our dwelling place, the entire aura and vista of the house changed drastically. The standard of the living seemed to have been upgraded, at least at its outlook. Following suit of such changes, I deemed it proper to make necessary changes within the house too. Therefore, night after night, I spent hours to clean, rearrange, and uplift the living condition of the house we live in. In so doing, I enjoyed the joy of doing things according to my heart's pleasure. Though I could have hired someone to do it, I prefer doing it myself exactly according to my taste. So, in the process, I had to discard so many things.

First, I began by sorting out clothes that we don't use them anymore but in good condition. After a week of sorting, I finally sent to a brother in Delhi as a gift; four luggages of clothes and a bag of shoes with socks. Second, I cleaned up the storeroom and discarded many things and rearranged it for smart and spacious storing. Third, I got the help of my wife to sort out many unused utensils and gave it away to local daily wage earners. Fourth, I got the help of my wife and daughters to sort out many unused books and clean up the bookshelves. Fifth, I got the help of my son to clean up the chairs in the living room and dining hall. Now, I have a plan for painting and renovation of the entire interior of the house.

These exercises reminded me of God's household arrangement for His heart's desire and good pleasure. If I could find pleasure in my tiny household arrangements, how much more the great God would find pleasure in accomplishing His household arrangements that comprises billions of His children universally. A physical sight of my own gave me a spiritual sight on God’s view concerning His house, the church, the Body of Christ. Now, I truly realise the importance of God's economy, His household arrangement and administration. 

Besides, I deemed it proper for a father of my family to take the initiative and do the needful with the help of all my family members. Day by day, things have improved. Most importantly, I enjoy the joy of carrying out my heart's desire, my good pleasure. 

Recently too, my dad had called up for some financial help he needed urgently. It was a joy again, indeed, through the Lord’s blessing, I was able to provide all that he asked. After all, he is my father. And I also had the liberty to let my siblings know about the land the Lord provided in Ngarian, Manipur twenty years ago and letting my younger brother oversee the matter with my intention made known to all.

All these are my household arrangements which ultimately is also for God’s household arrangements. 

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8, RecVer

Shepherding Visit to Chandigarh

On the 21st May, while we were in a fellowship from 6:25 AM, I received a message concerning the demise of the sister of the leading brother in the church in Chandigarh and that I should consider to attend the funeral. Initially, I thought it was not practical for me as I was in the midst of fellowship, besides, there were brithers from Delhi who could go on my behalf. However, as I called and fellowshipped with the brothers, we all felt that we should visit the church and attend the funeral. It was indeed proper to take care of the feelings of the churches in Chandigarh, Delhi, and Gurugram and grasp the opportunity for fellowship and shepherding. Then, a decision was made to visit immediately. 

As soon as we were all ready, I also decided to take the car the Lord has blessed me with. I reckoned that for a long distance journey, about 14 hours to and fro, it would be wise to travel comfortably, given the option. Personally, it was also my first experience to drive the new car for a long drive and that too, along with the brothers. That was indeed a blessing.

Our presence as fellow members of the Body of Christ and and as brothers in the Lord was all that was of utmost importance. The price we paid for such a brotherly visit at such a crucial time was all the more worth it. Though we could not say much, but our visit was all that matters. That was the shepherding. That was the fellowship. That was the brotherly love, care, and concern. Otherwise, all our talks of church life would just be an empty and vain teaching.

This was also a time to meet the family members of the brothers and the saints in Chandigarh together with the saints in different localities of Punjab. One impression I got was the brother's burden for the testimony of Jesus in Chandigarh. Since this was also the first ever funeral in the church life, he was very concerned for how things would turn out. The Lord headed up everything and the entire visitation became a testimony in itself, though we ourselves missed the funeral, at least, we were there on the day when they needed the Body most. As the Lord led, we also made an impromptu offering of considerable amount from the two visiting churches. We had our lunch, a time of fellowship over a cup of tea, and then left jn the late afternoon.

By the time we came back home, it was about 1:30 am the next day early morning. It was indeed a memorable day, and a memorable visit to the church in Chandigarh, and a timely shepherding visit.

Lord, bless the church in Chandigarh. 

Shepherding: Married Couple

For you were like sheep being led astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

1 Peter 2:25, RecVer

Only the Lord Jesus is the Shepherd of our souls. No human can truly and fully shepherd the complicated souls. It would be foolishness to try to do so without the Lord, even stupidity to even think that one imperfect soul can shepherd another imperfect soul. Any attempt would simply be, a blind leading a blind. This lesson I have learned long ago. The Lord’s light have shown on me and I am well aware of the complication of the untransformed complicated souls.

Today, I received a surprise and a distress call from a sister who has been living separately from her husband. She called to enquire if I could somehow find out how her husband was doing. It seemed that a suicidal post came to light on social media from her husband. I have long ago stayed away from social media and was not aware about people’s posts. Thereore, sensing the urgency, I complied to her request, yet not without first praying and careful consideration of what I was about to get into.

I called the brother as requested to call, and sure enough, he was in a deep distress since his wife lived separately a few years ago. Deep within me, I prayed to the Lord for wisdom to discern the situation rightly and not be carried away by what I heard. One lesson I have been learning is, learning to listen. So, I lent my listening ears as he poured out his soul even with weepings, sorrows, anguish, regrets, loneliness, and desperation. I was fully aware that only the Lord Jesus is the soultion to his marital issues that comprises his personal life too. I dared not lightly voice my opinion nor even try to console in my natural man. For I know, only the Lord Jesus can console and comfort him. I was all prayers as I was listening to whatever he had to say. Finally, after about an hour of his emotional outpouring, I led him to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. Then, I prayed and he followed suit. 

Though he confided in me his deep emotional longings, I led him to turn to the Lord Jesus who is the only Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. I cannot give life but I can dispense the Lord’s life dispensed into me to him through shepherding. Since he also requested me to initiate a conference call with his estranged wife, I gave my honest reply by letting him know that for such, her consent was required. I cannot intrude into other people's personal space without their permission. Then, we hung up the call for further calls.

As I called up the sister, she also poured out her feelings concerning him and the reason for separation and her decision for further actions. Again, with clear understanding in mind that only the Lord Jesus Christ is the Shepherd of her soul, I also let her know what the word of God says about a married couple. She also agreed for a conference call, so we had a conference call: he, she, and me, keeping in mind that we were not and cannot do anything in this regard, and praying that the Lord Jesus would come in, in the call.

As the couple and I were on a conference  call, I gave a general overview of what the Bible says about a husband and a wife. And God's purpose in creating man and Satan's strategy of destroying what God had planned. I only respoke the word of God and let both of them know and reminded them that, as chidren of God possessing God's divine life, they are to fulfill God's purpose and that their marriage life is for God and not merely for themselves. And also warned them that having known God's purpose, one's responsibility is to obey and submit to God and His words; no matter their history; no matter their feelings, opinions, and decisions; and no matter what. Nevertheless, I made it clear to both, the choice was theirs. 

Then, I let both of them speak. Each had spoken their view points that went on for another hour. The Lord’s grace was sufficient to pay heed to what the duo had to say. Though differences of opinion arose concerning their relationship, at least they both spoke their hearts out. Most importantly, they heard one another.

Finally, I had to interject and encouraged them to go before the Lord in prayer and let the Lord lead them. I prayed for the couple to be under the Lord’s perfect will, and that God's love, life, and light be their love, life and light, and that they would love one another with the divine love and be one with one another with the oneness of God. Therefore, I committed them both to God. Thus, the online conference ended in a good note.

Sometimes, I wonder why a good number of marital issues among the saints have been brought to me, time and again. I know fully well that I am incapable of settling any issue, and I would not dare even try. But as the matters keep coming I cannot escape from it either. I had to listen to marital issues, which, by and large, in principle, are all the same. All with different actors and settings, but same storyline. I only brought whoever brought their marital matters to me, to God, by the way, leading them to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls.

Lord, preserve all the married couples in You for the sake of Your testimony. Lord, may all the married couples of the saints love one another with Your divine love and be one with one another in Your divine oneness. Lord, put Your enemy Satan to an open shame and turn all his divisive tactics to the manifestation of Your multifarious wisdom. And, glory be to You. Amen.

Lesson on Prayer: Shameless Persistence

I say to you, Even though he will not rise up and give him anything because he is his friend, surely because of his shameless persistence he will rise and give him what he needs.

And I say to you, Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.

Luke 11:8-10, RecVer

In prayers, we must be shamelessly persistent in asking the Lord what He wants us to pray for. We do not pray selfish and foolish prayers shamelessly. But, once we discern God's will, which He revealed through His word or through the inward anointing, we must exercise to pray by faith and pray it persistently.

This has been my personal experience and enjoyment in my prayer life. Whenever the Lord gave me burdens to pray for His will, I exercised my spirit to pray those burdens faithfully. In fact, the burden motivated me to pray all the more. Because I knew that these were God’s will for me to pray for. So, I pray daily, according to the burdens given by the Lord Himself. 

In many cases, the Lord imparted new burdens and confirmed it through circumstances. Therefore, I was all the more bold to pray those prayers in a way of commanding God to fulfill it. Because these are not burdens generated by me, it was bestowed upon me by God. So, according to His very command, I command Him to fulfill it.

Thus says Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel and the One who formed him, Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons, And concerning the work of My hands, command Me. Isaiah 45:11, RecVer

In many instances, the Lord gave me this experience of knowing His will and commanding him to do it. From matters as trivial as housing and rentals, children's education, daughter's college, son's exams, new ones' salvation and baptisms, my official service, church responsibility, etc., I experience shameless persistence in prayers.

In one case, when my daughter's result for college acceptance was pending as we had been praying daily for over ten months, one night, I just commanded the Lord that the university we prayed for should accept her, and I also directed my prayer to the university to accept her. The result of acceptance came today! Praise the Lord!

There are many other prayer burdens the Lord blessed me with. I pray for these burdens daily. In fact, I have been shamelessly persistent in my prayers, knowing fully that these are prayer burdens from the Lord. My responsibility is to pray and pray. The answers to my prayers are up to the Lord. I only simply pray persistently and shamelessly. 

The day before yesterday night, as I was out in the park for prayer, a heavy thunderstorm, lightning, and a hailstorm struck. I was determined to pray, and I prayed through and through, amidst the storm. As I released my burden, the storms also abated. When I finished my prayer, the storms and rain also stopped. As I came home, there was a power cut because of the storm, and there was also a water leakage due to rain, that aiped into our electric main control board. No electrician was willing to come at night amidst the rain. So, I decided to solve the electrical problem myself and prayed to the Lord for the solution. Meanwhile, I did not skip the regular Life-study pursuit and family prayer due to these electrical issues.

What an experience to pray this kind of prayer! It helps me in my prayer life and makes my prayer life very enjoyable. I enjoy the joy of praying persistently and shamelessly!

Lord, grace me with Your burden that I pray persistently, shamelessly, and perpetually.