God's Favor : An Atheist Believed!

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah.

In this wicked and perverted generation, the only way to be well pleasing to God is finding favor in the sight of Jehovah. Apart from God's favor, none can stand the wiles of the enemy. 

This matter of "favor" touched me so deeply these days. As I know myself, if not for the favor of God, the grace of God, I would have been worst than the worst of beasts. Learning this lesson, I dare not condemn any soul, however sinful he or she may seem to be, for it is His grace only that I am what I am today.

Last night, four new ones visited us and we had prepared a love-feast for them. One of them was an intelligent engineering student, an atheist or at best, an agnostic. We began our friendly talk on variety of topics with questions and answers on the astronomy, the universe, the Creator of this universe, the plan of this Creator God and the making of man-the trichotomy, the fall of man, the incarnation of the unique Creator God, the salvation accomplished at the cross and resurrection to be the life-giving Spirit, the need of man for God, the way and goal of receiving this God. Through this friendly conversation, the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached. And he specially found favor in the eyes of God; God graced him to believe into Him and was later baptised. Hallelujah!

Actually, no one is an absolute atheist. It's only that he believed in "no God" because he has not heard yet or perhaps, heard about God but have not experienced the true and living God yet. So there is a need for the harbinger of the glad tidings of GOD.

An aspiring astronaut, an atheist and an agnostic, believed and baptised into the Name of Jesus Christ! This is finding favor in the sight of Jehovah. Not of man's planing or doing in any way, but of God. It was neither of the one who preached nor the one who listened, though both are really crucial, but it is of God who shows favor and grace to man.

This is a deep lesson for me, as I reckon myself unworthy of witnessing such a salvation to a one who is entirely new to the Lord Jesus Christ and reckoning myself unworthy of being a channel for Him to verbally speak Him forth, for I know too well my frailty and vanity. No merit to none else, but God. It is God who favors. 

Lord, may I ever find favor in Your sight.

Gospel Preching : Enjoyment

In fellowship in the Body and with the Body, and flowing along with the Lord's present move, I was so blessed and graced to be able to coordinate with the saints and with the Lord in the gospel preaching in Guwahati. Though the city seemed dry and tough and the geographical area new to us, not mentioning of the local language, yet in the Lord's move, it was the Lord's move and what was required of us was just a willing cooperation in the spirit with the Spirit.

From day one, the Lord reminded me and the saints that our gospel preaching is by enjoyment of Christ, hourly and daily. We just rented a lodge and lived a normal life, enjoying the Lord. When we went out, street by street, house by house, the Lord just opened up the gates, the doors and the hearts of people. Especially in my team, there was not one day worth counting as waste. Every time we went out the Lord gave us some good "fishes"; we preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, lead people to call on the Lord's Name to believe into Him and received Him, and some even to baptism. O what a joy! What an enjoyment!

Gospel preaching is by enjoying Christ in our corporate living. Such a living is a real life training in living abiding in the Vine to branch out to bear fruits. 

Though the Lord blessed us in door knocking and bearing some fruits in baptisms and gaining some solid homes to recover the church in Guwahati, the greatest blessing was of the Lord getting through and breaking through in us and among us. 

On the last day, the Spirit's move was so strong that after our normal pursuing, we went into a strategic and intercessory prayers for the the church in Guwahati, for all our contacts, for all the churches in NE and also for the recovery and revival among the saints to practice the God-ordained way of every saints functioning to bear remaining fruits. All of us could testify that the Lord was using that propagation time to perfect us in our living and service, and was taking us ahead "Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," Ephesians 4:13.

On To Maturity

Hebrews 6:1

Therefore leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, let us be brought on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith in God.

Recovery Version Note 3:

The Lord wants to bring us on, but we must let Him do it. This is our willing cooperation with His gracious work. In order to be brought on to perfection, to maturity, we need to share with Christ in His attainments (1:9; 3:14), to be diligent to enter into the remaining Sabbath rest (4:9, 11), to come forward to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace (4:16), and to feed on the solid food to enjoy Christ as our High Priest according to the order of Melchisedec (5:9-10, 14).

To be born of God is the greatest miracle on this earth, much more, to grow in the divine life of God unto maturity. These days, the Lord is working in me deeply that I may grow. All the experiences and things happening around me proves the Lord's ultimate desire that I grow and grow. Lest perhaps, I fall short of His desire and be left behind. Meanwhile, as growth is a matter of deep concern, there is also another anti-element operating in me fighting directly against the growth process. I easily reckon this as the opposing works of Satan. And oftentimes I find myself entangled in the war between God and His enemy. Like it or not, I am a part of this spiritual warfare. And the victory of the battle through me depends on which side I choose to cooperate. 

When I cooperate with God and give myself fully to Him, I experienced and enjoyed His operation in me and through me, all by His mercy and amazing grace. Yet at the same time, I feel the blinding forces of darkness trying to destroy me at all cost. But the grace of God sovereignly preserves and keeps me. Sometimes I am caught in the two extremes of God's bountiful grace and Satan's torturing darts thrown at me. To this, my urgent need is to cooperate with the Lord in His move to perfect me day by day, until I am fully mature. 

This is not my need only, it is the need of all the saints too, especially in the locality where the Lord has placed me. In fact, our church prayer meeting tonight is focused on this matter of growth so much. Almost all the saints cried out to God that we all may grow, for only God can cause the growth. Though there is a need on our side to cooperate with Him too, His mercy is need to be able to do so. 

Even the Lord's speaking to me personally in my personal time with Him in the word is this very matter of growth. Lord, grow in me!

A Dream

Hardly do I have a significant dream, but when I do, I feel its worth pondering over. Dreams could be out of many reasons. Psychologically or physically, what had happened or thought about deeply are often reflected in the subconscious mind of a person as dreams. But sometimes, beyond these two reasons, dreams do occur; possibly from either of the Lord or His enemy. Whatever, any dream that is from the Lord will always be fulfilled and time is the true test of its genuineness.

Last night I dreamt of brother Witness Lee sleeping in a bed in a room and I came into the room to minister to him and with him. Then I woke up. 

Only the Lord knows what this could mean. But the undeniable fact is that I have been so much blessed by the Lord through His humble servant. My enjoyment of the Lord, and love and pursuit for Christ and all the blessings of God I received in my life itself has so much do with the help I received from brother Witness Lee through the ministry of the word, in the principle of incarnation. 

Not a man follower or a man adorer; but the fact is the fact. Brother Lee has made the word of God so enjoyable, make me love the Lord much more than any other Christian minister I could think of could do. Life experiences have proved it time and again. Any minister of the word that can make a person love the Lord to the uttermost and give himself up for Christ and the church can undeniably be a proper minister.  And such minister will always bear the brunt of the enemy's attack yet will always come out triumphant and glorious, even turning the attacks into hot-spots of Christ's victory. This is what I have been experiencing since I came into contact with the ministry God has ordained to His servant. And such ministry which is of the Lord, which is of the Spirit, always ministers the divine life to people and issues in the building up of the Body of Christ. What a blessing to under such a ministry!

Whatever the dream meant, praise the Lord for the ministry through His minister!

Crowd of Cares 2

These days in Shillong I enjoyed the Lord's supply so much. Coordinating with the saints in one accord, the Lord poured out His blessings step by step. Wherever the Lord led us through the Body, we went along with it without any opinion, and received the blessing of the one accord.

My last month's experience on crowd of cares : http://palmeichung.blogspot.in/2013_10_01_archive.html  was a deep lesson of exercising to be one spirit with the Lord. When we actually came to Shillong, all the cares that I had concern for were fully resolved. The Lord's work belongs to the Lord and none can mar.

Meetings by meetings, never were we informed before hand of our need for ministering the word. We just exercised our spirit, lived out the God-man life and whenever we were asked to speak, we just spoke and the Lord anointed it. We didn't know before hand the people we were visiting nor their situation, but the Lord put His words in our lips and the timely words were ministered which later on was confirmed that what we ministered was what they actually needed. What an enjoyment! Word by word, and life followed suit. The saints who received our ministering were blessed and we ourselves were also blessed. Through this, the Lord is building us up into the one Body. Hallelujah!

Our fellowship with the saints in Shillong, with the families in group meetings, visiting the nearby local church too, a village named "Lawbah" on Bangladesh border and Cheerapunji were on the one hand, a special fellowship and blending time with the leading brother and also a church visit for life supply for the fellowship and building up of the Body of Christ on the other hand. 

Crowd of cares were out of genuine concern from a burdened heart. When committing all to the Lord, as the Lord work is the Lord's, the Lord just came in did all they He had to do. Then these cares turned into blessings, Hallelujah!

The Flow, the Dominion and the Church

Psalms 72:8

And He will have dominion from sea to sea and from the River unto the ends of the earth.

The River of the water of life flows from the throne of God to every corners of the earth. This River reaches us, supplying us with the Triune God. And we have been enjoying the divine supply since the day we believed and received the Lord. And this supply flows even through us to others, to water others through our contact with them, through our ministering of the Word of God. Praise the Lord!

This is what we have been experiencing these days as we preached the gospel. First the River flow into us. As we are enjoying this flow in us and among us, it flows through us. This flow is the Triune God Himself. Wherever the flow is, there the Triune God is. And with the Triune God there is the dominion- the authority that subdues everything not Christ. And this dominion will issue in the testimony of the Lord Jesus. What we need to do is to open ourselves to this flow; hourly and daily, abiding in the Lord.

This has been the Lord's instant speaking since the time I left Delhi for Guwahati. Though the propagation was planned already, there was no solid physical arrangement. Besides, from the human point of view, many things were very very impractical and in physical preparedness, we were far away. Firstly, we did not know the local language, Assamese. Second, we did not know the city, where is where, as we hardly were there. Third, is the financial supply as we need to rent for lodging and arrange food for all participants. Anyhow, as I was in the train praying, the Lord showed me the matter of the rivers flowing and watering the dry land; the River is the Spirit who is in us, so as we go to this city it is the Rivers flowing to water this dry land! And wherever this River flows, there the dominion is, for the River is the life of God who in itself is authority to subdue the enemy of God and anything that is contrary to His will. And finally, as the dominion takes place, the testimony of Jesus will be raised up. Hallelujah! This is what the Lord is doing exactly as we are propagating in Guwahati.

As for the language, we easily overcame as the local people either knows Hindi  or English or both. When we went out to preach the gospel, the Spirit spoke the right words to save sinners. As to the city logistic, we just went to a nearby area street by street and preached the gospel. And as to the financial need, the Lord supplies it in abundance through the saints' free will offering. This is a proof that the work of the Lord having its source in God will have the Holy Spirit's supply of power to carry it out unto the glory of God!

This is the Lord's move and we just flow along with the flow of the Rivers of living water.

Healthy Teaching

Titus 2:

1 But you, speak the things which are fitting to the healthy teaching.

7 Concerning all things presenting yourself as a pattern of good works, in your teaching showing incorruption, gravity,

8 Healthy speech that cannot be condemned, that he who opposes may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about.

Footnotes from the Bible, Recovery Version:

The healthy teaching is always according to the truth (1:14) of the faith (1:13). It is the content of the apostles' teaching, the content of God's New Testament economy. It not only ministers the life supply to the believers and heals the spiritual diseases, but in so doing it also brings the church into a sound condition with a good order. Hence, it is very much stressed in these three books, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, books dealing with the disorder and decline of the church.

In my study of the word, the Lord impressed me so much the matter of healthy teaching. Healthy teaching is the teaching of God's New Testament economy, that covers the whole Bible. This teaching is according to truth and ministers life to the believers and heals all spiritual diseases. This healthy teaching keeps the oneness of the Body of Christ and builds up the Body of Christ to bring the Lord back. 

"We are what we eat" is a dietitian's dictum. You eat healthy food, you will be healthy. Just eating is not sufficient, for not all food are healthy. To be healthy, one must eat a healthy food. Likewise, to be spiritually healthy one must also eat healthy spiritual food that supplies life and builds up the Body. The Word of God is the most healthy spiritual food; even the proper interpretation and proper understanding of the Word according to God's New Testament economy is healthy.

Once the eating is healthy, one's living will also be healthy. Eating Christ everyday in the Word will make us live Christ everyday, presenting ourself as a pattern of good works. The only one good is God Himself. When we eat healthy and are filled with the Word of God, our living will manifest Christ as the one who is good, presenting ourself in Christ as a pattern of good works. This will also issue in healthy speech, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Once Christ makes His home in our hearts ( Ephesians 3:17) by our opening to Him, giving Him the full ground, He will constitute us with Himself as the Word which becomes our healthy speech that ministers Christ as life for the building up of the Body of Christ fulfilling God's eternal economy.

This matter touched my being so much that it became my prophesy today in the meeting of the local church in Shillong.

The Doctor's Prescription

Recently the salvation of a Doctor couple taught me a lot of deep spiritual lessons. Right after they believed and got baptised, they asked me what they should do. The reply to this question was easy and instant.

Just as a new born baby need fresh air to breathe in all the time and drink milk and eat solid food as they keep growing, so much the more a spiritual babe needs the same. For a healthy baby, a prescription of a healthy food is a must. Our real Doctor is the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John He revealed Himself as the true bread for believers to feed upon. The prescriptions are :

• Eating Him (John 6:57); He is the Bread of Life (John 6:32-35; 48, 51).
• Drinking Him (John 7:37,38; 4: 14) as the Rivers of living water.
• Breathing Him in by calling upon His name (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13) and praying unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• Fellowshiping with the believers (Hebrews 10:24-25; 3:13).

In addition, they asked that since they were from a gentile religous background they will be required to participate in idol worship or things that believers would not normally participate in. To this, the answer was that there is no do's and dont's but as one enjoys and pursues the Lord, the Lord will give the grace to overcome whatever is needed to overcome; there is no need to worry about anything, just keep enjoying and loving the Lord, He will take care, in time.

After the fellowship was over, the couple being doctors, reviewed what all they need to be aware of in their Christian lives, the "Doctor's" prescriptions: Reading the Bible everyday; eating Him in the Word, spending time with the Lord everyday by exercising the spirit to breathe and drink the Lord. A good way is to spend 15 minutes in the morning, in the noon time, in the afternoon, in the evening and in the night time. That makes upto one hour and fifteen minutes! And praying together as a couple at least once a day. Fellowshipping in their home at least once a week, to sing, pray, testify and minister Christ to one another.These they reviewed and took it seriously as a "patient" would do to their "doctor." And when we met the next time, they reviewed how they actually did it and received the Lord's blessing.

Though these were the instant words of encouragement spoken to the new believers, it indeed is very much for us the believers too. I myself was refreshed, so were all the other saints. This is indeed the "Doctor's" prescription for a normal and healthy Christian life.

Lord, make me such a lover and pursuer of You everyday.

Commit to Faithful Men

2 Timothy 2:2

And the things which you have heard from me through many witnesses, these commit to faithful men, who will be competent to teach others also.

The urgent need of the Lord's move in this age is to perfect all the saints. This matter has not boiled down with me so well when I first heard about it. But during this time of propagation in new city, Guwahati, the Lord freshly touched me of the need and urgency for perfecting more faithful saints to do the work I have been doing. If I cannot perfect others, however functioning I may be, I am limited by just me, and there is no other person like me. This limits the Lord's move.

"Commit to faithful men," is a strong phrase. All the saints have at least a talent. All of them need to be perfected to use the most of their talent for the Lord's interest. But they need perfecting. As much as I can preach and teach and perfect others, so much the more, more saints should be perfected to do the same, if not better, as I can. Otherwise there will be a vacuum in my service, a lack and a loophole. Whether I am available or not should not matter anything at all. The age of spiritual giant is gone; today is the age of the Body and the members of the Body must all functions and their functions must be perfected.

As far as time frame is concerned, I have two and half weeks time; half of this is almost gone. Though I am so much burdened and functioning as I could, I cannot stay here longer as I had to go to other places. In one of my morning prayer time, I was so worried about how would the work continue if I go to other places? Then the Lord reminded me to perfect the younger saints that they can do the same thing that I am doing, even that they be able to do better than me. Thereby, starting today, I gave more opportunity for the other saints to exercise and function. And are giving all the opportunities to other saints that they all be perfected and function to build up the Body in gospel preaching, shepherding the new believers and taking care of many practical matters. Oh what a release to learn this lesson; a lesson of committing to faithful men!

Lord, perfect me to commit what You have blessed me with to faithful men that they too may be blessed and be blessings to many more.

Doctor Couple

As the gospel move is going on, we just cooperated with the Lord's move by always abiding in the Lord. The recent training on The Vine in John 15 has a deep impact on me. First, my eyes were opened to see that I am a branch, just "a branch in the Vine", as such my sole responsibility is to just abide in the Vine. As a result of this abiding, the riches from the Vine will supply me and overflow through me to bear remaining fruits.

As the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God began, I personally took care of this matter of abiding in the Lord. In this abiding is rest, joy and peace; there is no struggling nor straining. Based on this experience and enjoyment of abiding in the Lord, I fellowshiped with my fellows branches that "preaching the gospel is by enjoyment of Christ; not by human effort of planning, scheming and struggling." And as branches we enjoyed abiding in the Vine by our corporate living and went out by teams, door-knocking, and the result is wonderful.

In particular, a brother and I planned to go to a place. But since we were new, we could not locate the right locality we intended to door-knock. So we kept driving until we found a parking spot. Then we went door-knocking, house by house, street by street. Many local gentiles listen to our gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and some even called on the Name of the Lord and believed and received the Lord! As we went on and on this way, our final knocking was a surprise warm door.

Initially a lady responded to our door-knocking and spoke to us as stranger. However, as we  preached the gospel she welcomed us in. Then the Spirit move was very intensified within us and we preached the Word more boldly. To our pleasant surprise, we discovered that this lady has been seeking for God and even for a miracle to happen as confirmation of the so called "god" she believed into. Indeed, later, a mysterious miracle happened and the miracle was, we met her, preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to her and she received the Lord! Further, we inquired about her family and we decided to meet her husband as well. Later, in the evening, we came again to meet her husband, and another miracle happened. He was also so seeking to know and experience this "god." We preached the gospel to both of them again and helped them to believe and receive the Lord by simple prayer of faith. As per the word of God in Mark 16:16, we explained the importance of baptism as well. The response was so good that we planned for baptism the next day, as the Lord has already prepared His chosen ones.

Following this was all a spiritual battle, I knew this would happen. So we all prayed and bound the strong man as the Body in one accord. As expected, there indeed was a tendency of postponing their baptism for very reasonable reasons. However, having learned from previous experiences, I would not budge an inch to retreat. We just went ahead as planned and started praying a victory prayer. And finally, we experienced the victory of the Lord! They both got baptised! A couple, both doctors by profession, Hallelujah!  Then we had a fellowship on the importance of breathing, eating and drinking the Lord by calling upon the Lord's Name, reading and eating the Word of God and prayer, apart from gifting the The New Testament, Recovery Version.

Praise the Lord! May the Lord gain them fully for the testimony in Guwahati.