Ministry of the Word to Ujjain, MP

Ujjain, a city of temples, was not in my initial plan for this ministry of the word literature journey. Yet last week I received a call from a brother who lives in the city requesting me if I could visit him as I came all the way to Jabalpur already. After a day of waiting, praying and considering before the Lord, I became clear that I should visit this city too. 

Yesterday morning I came to this city with the plan of just visiting the brother and a couple of Christian leaders and then leave the same day evening or latest by night. Somehow, I could not get a confirmed ticket first for the evening train. On fellowship with the brother, he suggested me to stay for two days at least so that we could meet more people in the city to which I readily agreed. That was the Lord's plan as He had prepared a family for more fellowship, which became clear later. 

Yesterday morning we could meet a leading Christian brother and had a good time of fellowship with him on the ministry books. He was so interested that he wanted to take all the books, but I could not give him as I needed the sample books to show to other Christian leaders as well. While in Ujjain I called up a brother whom I met in Jabalpur if he knew any contact here in Ujjain. He replied that he would introduce a contact. Later, a sister who introduced herself as a Doctor called me to visit her family. After lunch we visited her family, and what happened after that was amazing. 

As my burden was, I simply introduced the ministry books first, then felt led by the Lord, I began to minister on what the Lord burdened me to minister in Jabalpur last Lord's day on Who is Jesus? Where is Jesus? How to experience Jesus? The sister and her parents were so touched by the Lord that they started opening up their family matters; the sister, especially, on her personal matter, as she felt strongly that she should open up. I offered no solution to her problem but encouraged her to bring all her concerns to the Lord in prayer and that the Lord would led her through and through. The fellowship went on for about two and half hours, and they were so touched by the Lord. I also encouraged them to start a regular prayer life personally and even as a family to the extend that I gifted them Life Lessons, 4 Volumes, in Hindi, for them to pursue at least one lesson a week. Later, their youngest son came back from office and joined us. Since he missed out on what I fellowshipped, they asked me to repeat and briefly summarised what I ministered. I did it again repeating all the Bible verses I quoted, this time her father noted the verses down for his further studies. 

When we were about to leave, she testified that she felt the presence of the Holy Spirit visiting their family when we first entered their home. My only comment was, "Praise the Lord!" She also testified that this was the first time in her Christian life that she could open up for fellowship to any one, and she was fed with the rich supply of life. Furthermore, they invited us for a lunch lovefeast the following day.

After this family visit, we went to the mainline church, Masihi Mandir Church, and met all the committee members where we introduced the ministry books. The timing was perfect, though not planned, we should meet all the important people at one go.  

In the evening and the next day morning, my time with the brother was mostly shepherding him to have a proper God-man living with a normal and healthy practice of prayer, reading the Bible, and fellowship. He started reading the Bible and determined to do so regularly, we prayed together, and we also enjoyed morning revival together for over an hour. It was definitely a new beginning for him. May the Lord fully recover His enjoyment of the Lord through the word and the ministry books. 

A short while fellowship with a Pastor and city tour of Ujjain's city of temple in the morning was the deal for the morning. A brother and I just exercised our spirits to called on the name of the Lord Jesus out loud as we drove across the city by scooty, claiming the city of temples for God to be the city of God, the city for the Lord's testimony. 

As invited, we had lunch with the family we met yesterday. After lunch, the burden the Lord released was on Matthew 14:14-21 on the feeding of the five thousands with an emphasis on the conditions to receive blessings of the Lord: Absolute consecration to the Lord-of our life and all that we have, acknowledging God as the source of all blessings, being broken by the Lord, and then being blessed and multiplied. The sister opened up further and asked questions that had been lingering on her for many years, like the blood of Jesus, the genuineness of today's tongue speaking and the much misunderstood Holy Spirit's baptism, and certain practices of today's Christians. After answering all the questions with relevant Bible verses, I prayed and ended the fellowship. They requested me to come back and said they would issue a formal invitation for upcoming meetings. Let the will of the Lord be done. Amen. 

Now, I understood why the Lord led me to this city and that I should stay for at least two days. He is sovereign. 

May the Lord gain His testimony in Ujjain!

Ministry of the Word to Jabalpur

This weekend we are exhibiting the ministry books in a large Christian gathering in the city of Jabalpur. Generally, such meetings draws large Christian crowd and we make use of this opportunity to distribute the ministry literature as much as possible and also sought out for seeking Christians as they would be easily identified by their hunger for the word. 

On the first night, Friday, I was at the counter where we displayed our books, when a brother walked up to me and spoke for few minutes. Within that few minutes conversation the Lord touched him and he immediately invited me to minister the word in his congregation the coming Lord's day, which is today. Initially I was wondering how we would distribute books in this gathering as a stall was not booked for us yet, and was wondering what I would be doing for three whole days. But the Lord sovereignly arranged an unused stall for us and we became very busy distributing and meeting people. We met a lot of seeking believers and one such person was the one who invited us.  The Lord introduced this brother to us and established a relationship. Only God knows what has be reserved for His testimony in this city. 

Today morning and last night I was looking to the Lord what to minister. Generally, I would just minister instantly when the time comes but this time I wanted a definite word from the Lord. This morning as I was praying, the Lord gave me a very definite message which later was ministered in the congregation of the brother who invited us. 

The word of the Lord was ministered by answering three simple but very important questions. 

Who is Jesus? Matthew 1:21-23And she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins. Now all this has happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel” (which is translated, God with us).  

Note from the Holy Bible Recovery Version Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua (Num. 13:16), which means Jehovah the Savior, or the salvation of Jehovah. Hence, Jesus is not only a man but Jehovah, and not only Jehovah but Jehovah becoming our salvation. Thus, He is our Savior. He is also our Joshua, the One who brings us into rest (Heb. 4:8; Matt. 11:28-29), which is Himself as the good land to us.  

Jesus is the Saviour, and He must be our personal Saviour, saving us from every sins as much as from eternal damnation. Jesus as the Savior must be experienced in every aspect of our Christian life, and wherever we are, in whatever we do. Then only can we say that we truly know who Jesus is. Otherwise, it will be just a namesake, and doctrinal knowing of Jesus as anyone would know Him. Even Satan knows that Jesus is the Saviour, but He never believed into Him to be saved!? Jesus also must be the Saviour of our family, as the unit of salvation is household. 

Acts 16:31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household. 

I testified of how the Lord blessed our family in granting household salvation. The size of household salvation depends upon our faith. If our faith is merely close relative, then that's our household. If our faith is larger and greater to include all our relatives near and far, even our entire village or state or country, that much will be our household. 

Where is Jesus? Romans 8:10-11But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. 

Romans 8:34Who is he who condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died and, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 

On the one hand Jesus is at the right hand of God, interceding for us, or yet on the other hand, He is in our spirit as the Holy Spirit indwelling us. 

We must meet the right person at the right place. The right person in Jesus Christ and He is in our human spirit as a believer. To meet Him, and we simply has to turn to our spirit.

2 Timothy 4:22The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.  

How to experience Jesus? Three simply way to experience Jesus is first by simply calling upon His name. At this point, with the congregation, we all called together the Lord's Name, "He Prabhu Yesu!" Second, the Lord can be experienced by simply coming to the word of God and reading, studying and praying over the word of God, daily. And finally, we can also experience the Lord by spending time with Him in prayer. 

This was the message the Lord gave for the seeking believers here in Piparia Khamaria near Jabalpur. May the Lord gain what He has to gain in His time. 

After the meeting we had a lunch fellowship with with our host's family where I encouraged his elder son to study the New Testament Recovery Version Bible. Later,  I gifted a copy to him, and also spoke to him about the importance of preparing our vessels for the Lord's purpose, especially in the matter of education. Furthermore, as the Lord leads, I encouraged him to pursue his PhD and be a professor to serve the Lord among the university students. Our host also expressed his interest to "join" us in the ministry but I encouraged him to read the ministry books first, the book gifted to him: The All-inclusive Christ, The Economy of God, The Knowledge of Life, and The Glorious Church. I further said, after reading these books we can fellowship again and see how the Lord would lead further. 

The Lord was so gracious to lead us in this city, Jabalpur. May the Lord sow Himself as the Seed of the divine life to all the people we distributed the ministry of the word to. 

Lord, gain Your testimony in Jabalpur, MP! 

Budding Rod

Numbers 17:8
And on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and there was the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi: it had budded; it even put forth buds and produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds. 

 Note from the Recovery Version Bible 

A rod is a piece of dead wood that has not only been cut but is also dried up. Yet such a dead and dried-up piece of wood budded! A bud is something organic, something of life. The budding rod of Aaron typifies not a dead Christ but the resurrected Christ, the budding Christ, who not only buds but also blossoms and bears fruit to maturity. Such a Christ imparts life to others (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3). Today He is still budding, and we are the fruit, the almonds, of His budding.

This morning as I was enjoying the Lord through the ministry of the word, I was so touched by the truth of the budding rod. Though I knew the spiritual significance and interpretation of the budding rod, it never became so subjective as it was today morning. The more I prayed over the word the more the Lord's word became subjective to me. 

In fact, I realised there are yet areas in my life I really need a subjective experience of the budding rod. Perhaps, there are areas in my life that need the resurrection life to overcome the deadness and dryness of the rod, and this rod must bud. It also dawned in me afresh the need for the resurrection life of Christ to overcome any negative things; the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. The continual struggling even of the ones under my shepherding can be overcome with the experience of the Lord’s resurrection life as the budding rod. The message today morning was loud and clear: Resurrection, resurrection, resurrection life is the solution, to live an Overcoming Life. 

Four matters that also impressed me are:

Where can the rod bud? Only in the Holy of Holies. Only in this place where we enjoy Christ in God’s presence, we can experience the resurrection life of Christ. To experience the budding rod I must be in the Holy of Holies, in my spirit; this is my sole responsibility to be the budding rod. 

God’s Selection: The budding rod is the basis for God's selection. Similarly, in our lives or in our service, whether we are approved of the Lord depends on whether we are in resurrection or not.  

God's Authority: Authority in our lives or in our service also depends on whether we are in resurrection or not. One must come to the end of Himself for the Lord to exercise His authority in him and through him.  

Resurrection: Resurrection means God is and we are not, God is able and we are not able, with God all are possible which otherwise are impossible, and as such a man must come to the end of himself until God can begin His work in him and through him. Brother Watchman Nee's statement has enthralled me in this regard: The end of man is the beginning of God! 

Resurrection is an eternal principle for our service to God. As God asked Moses to place the budded rod in the Ark in the Holy of Holies as an eternal memorial, so must our life and service be in resurrection ever.  

Numbers 17:10

Then Jehovah said to Moses, Put back the rod of Aaron before the Testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, so that you may put an end to their murmurings against Me, and they not die.

Purpose of Resurrection: The main purpose of the resurrection life of Christ experienced is for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose. With the resurrection life there is the divine capacity that can do everything for the carrying out of God's economy; to know God, to live God, to be constituted with God in His life and nature to become His increase, His enlargement, to be His fullness for His eternal expression. 

This is my morning manna for today, and perhaps, my manna for all the days of my life. Praise the Lord for the budding rod! And I must experience the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ as typed by the budding rod and produce blossoms and then bear ripe  rod and produce blossoms and then bear ripe almond!

Lord, preserve me in the Holy of Holies, and in my spirit, to ever be the budded rod. 

Calling Jesus in UP

Our visit to Uttar Pradesh, mainly Raebaleri, Amethi, Faizabad and Ayodhya was very unique in many ways. The number of believers in these places are not big yet they were mostly at the initial stage of salvation or at least, they need to grow in the divine life. There are few observations that are noteworthy. 

The believers we visited were mostly from the villages. Majority of the believers were female. In every group there seemed to be someone possessed by evil spirits as some of them got delivered after prayer. They also seem to anxious about many things in their lives. Life was definitely hard for them as many of them were poverty stricken. Yet their love for the Lord was very sincere and they were very seeking. Another good point was, they were so simple that almost everyone of them would come forward for prayer after every meeting seeking for prayer. My burden to such ones who always sought for prayer was to help them exercise their spirit and learn to pray by themselves. This, perhaps, was not properly taught to them. And after every meeting, they would come forward to offer something for the Lord; some offered a kilo of rice from their paddy field as majority of them were farmers, some vegetables, some money. What they offered may not be much, but their hearts that offered, the Lord would definitely remember and bless. I personally would not dare to relieve whatever they wanted to offer, as I deem myself not worry of their hard earned offering. I directed every offering to the local brother who took was around. I was moved by their genuine simplicity and seeking hearts. May the Lord continue to bless them. 

In all these meetings, our main emphasis was to help them know from the Bible who is God; how God created man with three parts - spirit, soul and body; how God in Christ has become the life-giving Spirit; how to exercise the Spirit, calling upon the name of the Lord, prayer and reading the word, etc.

The climax of our visit was in Raebaleri, our last meeting before we left the city. It was with a group of believers in a small ancient style hut built with mud and wood. By the way to the hut was offered by a brother who experience the Lord's dynamic salvation that he wanted to use it for meeting and prayer. The room was filled with seeking sisters and few brothers. Though I could not minister in Hindi, the brother requested me to speak and another brother translated for me. Looking at the crowd, the only burden the Lord gave me was to help them exercise their spirit.

Only three burdens I released with a strong spirit. Calling upon the name of Lord using Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:9-13. Then we all called upon the name of Lord in Hindi, "He Prabhu Yesu!" It was so enjoyable when we all called out loud, the name of the Lord on hindi in a hindi heartland. To me that was the best way to help them exercise their spirit and turn to the Lord. I even asked them to recite Acts 2:2, and "Aur jo koi Prabhu ka naam lega woh udhaar payega." That was another way to help them read the word, recite the word, and memorise the word. This was the best way to help them touch the Lord in the Word, and they all enjoyed it. And finally, I also encouraged them to spend time in prayer, as much as possible. With these three burdens, our meeting was ended, and after lunch we left them. Now with much hope and faith we look forward that the Lord will one day raise up His testimonies in all these cities. 

Praise the Lord! Calling Jesus in UP was really wonderful. 

Ministry of the Word to Faizabad and Ayodhya

With a burden from the Lord we came to this city Faizabad. Though we planned to meet two Christian leaders of an established churches we could not meet them. One of them promised to meet us but was not available without any explanation, and the other one was not up from the bed yet. Herein, is a lesson for all believers, to be exercised in spirit and in character. On visiting their campuses even the outward environment of the premises were not taken care of. If petty physical things could not be taken care, how could one take care of spiritual matter? Though we could not meet the pastors, I learned a very important lesson of taking care of one's character and well being of the one under one's care. I could only see slothfulness in some of these workers. In such an important city where the Lord's testimony is so weak and the numbers of believers so small, but at least the existing few should have exercised to be the Lord’s testimony. Well, this is no finger pointing comment, but a lesson learned in caring for the Lord's interest. 

The meeting with a young brother who could manage English was such a relief. Perhaps, he was the first and only person I could communicate comfortably in English. I left no stone unturned; I introduced the ministry books right away and ministered further on the importance of the knowledge of the interpreted word of God. He readily received the ministry books and we established connection for future contacts. The city has so few believers that with this meeting it was like we covered this city. For those that we could not meet we handed the responsibility to this brother as we had to move on to the next destination. 

This same brother led us further to the next destination, Ayodhya. This is a city that host the site of a religious dispute with the claim of being the birthplace of a particular religious deity. Besides, it also has a "holy" river where ardent believers would come and take a "holy" bath and dip. To my eye sight, the river looks muddy and strains or gravels of ashes streams with the flow of the current. I was told that this river was saturated with ashes from cremated dead bodies as the last rites used to be performed on this river. With all these religious significances, our burden for this city grew all the more. 

Herein too, a meeting was arranged where we ministered the word of God in Hindi on God’s creation of man and the tree of life. Then we distributed Hindi books to all those who could read. This crucial city has only few believers in the midst of fundamental religionists. As of now we can only pray for the Lord's move in Ayodhya.

The Lord faithfully took us to these places as pioneers in sowing the seed of the kingdom. May the Lord gain these two cities and raise up His strong testimony! 

Ministry of the Word to Amethi

With the burden of visiting Amethi I fellowshipped with the local brother. Though he knew no one to meet in the city, he still took us to the place he knew. A small village on the outskirt, Saraimahesha. Here too, the believers knew only Hindi and our fellowship was in Hindi too with books distribution.

Though we knew no one to visit in the city of Amethi, with the burden for this city we still passed through the city on our way to our next destination. We hope and pray that the Lord would gain His testimony in this city. Then we came to a village called Koocho where we had a meeting with seeking believers from three different villages nearby. Here too, only Hindi speaking ones, so we ministered in Hindi and distributed the ministry books. We got to fellowship with few Christian leaders and pastors and ended up staying in this village. 

We ate village food with the brothers and slept in a village house. It was altogether a new experience. Before we took rest for the night, the entire family and few other believers came together for night fellowship. There I was asked to share the word. I shared what I enjoyed yesterday and today morning, The Miracle of Feeding Five Thousands. 

The saints were touched by few points I shared. "In the evening" when all the days works were done, and when all life's pursuit is over still there will a deep hunger and thirst which would bring people to the Lord. But for the Lord to bless, we must give all that we have to the Lord, "five loaves and two fish." Even if we have nothing to offer to the Lord, at least we have our lives. All that we have and are need to be consecrated. Then the Lord would bless it, then break it. This is the turning point. The Lord as the source of blessing must break all that we offer to Him, all our good and bad must be broken, as the Lord was crucified too. Then in resurrection, what was broken would be resurrected and then multiplied. This fellowship was so rich and the believers were all supplied. Then we all prayed together. 

Later a brother, our host, and came to fellowship with us when he shared his testimony. This brother seems to be simple and pure. May the Lord gain Him purely for His testimony. Then we took rest for the day. 

Ministry of the Word to Raebaleri

After a Christian Leaders Seminar in Allahabad, a seeking brother had been calling requesting for a similar meeting in Raebaleri. I took the matter to prayer and fellowship with the brothers. After few weeks of consideration in prayer, it was very clear to me that I need to take another trip. In consideration of the areas, the cities to be visited were confirmed. 

Raebaleri is the first city visited in this trip. A pastor received us in his house and took us to two different areas of the district; Kodar Jahanpur and Naya Purwa. These villages have some believes under the shepherding of our brother. All of the were pure Hindi speakers and understanding English was a far cry. In this heartland we could only minister in Hindi and distributed Hindi literature. Many of them wanted a special prayer with laying of hand. I wasn't ready to do such and passed on all the request to the local Pastor who gas been doing such prayer. Some of the villagers have manifested possession by evil spirits and that were vast out in prayer. The people were so simple and passive that they easily fell prey to the Devil. The need for this group of people is a proper constitution of the word of God. Only the word of God and their exercised spirit can preserve them from all the subtle attack of the enemy. 

After the whole day visiting of villages, we had a time of fellowship with our host, planning for the trip. And since we met for the first time, I reckon this as the Lord's arrangement and wanted to know more about our brother. On my request, he shared his testimony of how he believed into the Lord Jesus Christ and how he came to serve the Lord full time. He has been blessed by the Lord that he has in fact become the biggest Christian group in the city. Notwithstanding the outward matter, the fact that the Lord brought us together was very significant. I may not be able to apprehend it in full now, but one day it will definitely be manifested. I only wish that he see God’s divine economy and take the way of the Lord's recovery for the building up of the Body of Christ and bear the Lord's testimony in Raebaleri.

A Brother's Baptism

Few years ago two sisters whom the Lord graced me to shepherd and who entered into enjoy the church life took me to a couple who were their friends. At that time, they were not interested in the gospel at all, but since we visited, we prayed for their salvation despite not being able to preach the gospel as we ought to. Few years later, the Lord worked on Him and there have been a drastic change in his life. Last week one of the sisters told me briefly about the change this person have been going through and that how much he needed to be properly baptized. Last week, a sister was introduced to our Tuesday group meeting. Yesterday, after the Saturday gospel preaching we went to drop the daughter of that new sister who now have been friends with my children and came along with us for the gospel preaching. When we dropped the little girl at her home, her uncle happened to be the man we met few years ago and prayed for. Just within seconds of the meeting my meeting with him, he decided to come for the Lord's Table Meeting. 

This morning he came, with his sister and her daughter. After the meeting we had fellowship and he testified of how heart hardened he used to be, even devilish many times, but recently he had experienced a drastic change in his life. He has been looking for a proper Christian fellowship despite his own personal pursuit of the Lord. He has the sense that as a Christian he needs the church for corporate fellowship. Even as the fellowship continued, the matter of baptism came up. Without any persuasion, I simply declared the biblical truth about the need for baptism for those who believe into the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit confirmed in our fellowship about baptism and he took baptism. That is the Lord's blessing to him and to the church. 

In the church here we have been praying and looking to the Lord for His leading in our going on as the church. Since yesterday we had a fellowship on the God-ordained Way with a brother from the United States who visited us. The Lord's speaking through our brother was very timely as we could testify from the saints' response and the upliftment of the meeting today in our Lord’s Table Meeting. Moreover, this new brother's baptism is also a sure sign of the Lord’s blessing too. 

The blending among the brothers, the sisters, the children, and the young people are becoming sweeter and sweeter these days. I may not be too quick to attribute this to the prayer we have been offering to the Lord for more blending, building, and also for His blessing. I believe these are the results of all the saints' burden and prayer in the church and for the church in Gurgaon. 

Praise the Lord! 

May the Lord continue to shower His blessings to the church now and ever more. 

God Meets Our Every Need

And my God will fill your every need ⁴according to His riches, ⁵in glory, ⁶in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

 Notes from Recovery Version Bible

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19⁴ God supplies us according to His riches, not according to our needs. His riches exceed our needs.
19⁵ In glory modifies fill. Glory is the expression of God; it is God expressed in splendor. God's rich supply to the believers, who are His children, expresses God and bears the glory of God. The apostle assured the Philippians that God would abundantly supply all their needs in a way that would bring them into His glory.
19⁶ In Christ Jesus also modifies fill. Christ, the all-inclusive One, is the base, the element, the sphere, and the channel in and by which God cares for His people according to His riches and in glory. This indicates that even the believers' giving and receiving of material things are intimately related to the experience of Christ.

This verse and the interpretation thereof has been so true to me. God fills my every need according to His riches. 

Though I am serving the Lord full-time, trusting the Lord and living by faith, the Lord has been faithful to meet my every need, and He meets them abundantly according to His riches. This is His blessing. Besides, He also provides in abundance also for the need of my dear ones, even my family members, my blood relation. 

It was few months ago when my sister got married, and as her elder brother, trusting the Lord, I took the responsibility of bearing the main expenses for the wedding held in Delhi with the help of the church brothers. Though the church wanted to bear the burden, I did not feel too peaceful without any participation from my side. I took the matter before the Lord and fellowship with Him and also with my wife, then we decided to bear all the expenses. As the church itself has many other needs to take care, my conscience simply did not give me peace to let the church bear this burden. Of course they paid for it initially, but my inner man told me again and again that I should pay them all back, either by installment or at one go. 

One particular day I was so convicted that I should pay off all the amount due without any hidden expectation from the church to bear the need. I was encouraged to take care of this matter righteously, and I did so though some saving we have in the bank. The Lord even gave me a dateline to clear this off. I wrote to the brothers thanking them for their love, care, and concern, and paid back all the expenses. As I did so, I was so filled with peace and joy. The Lord blessed the wedding meeting, the marriage testimony in the church in New Delhi, and also He blessed us with His riches to be able to bear all the expenses. 

At my home in Manipur too, for all the relatives another meeting was arranged at my village. Even for that meeting, the main burden I had to bear though many relatives have come forward to participate in the need. My dad, elder sister, and my younger brother labored a lot for this and spent whatever they had. As an elder brother I deemed it right and righteous to participate too. And in sweet family fellowship, my wife and I agreed to bear major chunk of the financial need. Even in this, the Lord graced us to meet all the need and in doing so, my conscience was very clear and was filled with peace and joy.  

My younger brother was going through some hard times due to the birth of his twin sons and business not going too well. In fellowship I promised to help him as a brother and also as my participation towards the family as I hardly could be with them nor support them regularly which generally an elder brother would have done. Due to my service, all family responsibility, I, kind of, handed it over to my younger brother who has also been with mom and dad. At least, I deem it right to meet their financial need now and then. Again, after much prayer and fellowship, in agreement with my wife, we helped the family by transferring a sum that I asked my brother to give me. It was really a blessing to be able to help the ones in need again. 

The Lord also has been speaking to me about His riches and blessings that meets every need, and not merely according to our need to bu much more according to His riches. This verse by Paul has been so subjective to me these days. I even charged the same burden to the family that I visited. 

My God meets your every need according to His riches!

Tell Him

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

In this world of toils and trials, we are faced with many different circumstances. Amidst it's cares and concerns we are helpless without the Lord. Many times we run from pillar to post to chalk things out only to find oneself in deepened trouble. Man-made wisdom only brings in man-made disaster. The more one tries to solve a problem, the more complicated it gets. Godless men are doomed to suffer bitterly, and the same fate goes with believers who do not put their trust in the Lord. 

Thank God, I have a God on whom to trust and tell Him of all that I am going through. When troubles and sorrows meeting, when trials and snares crossing, I can always go to my God, and and tell Him of all that I am going through. He is ever ready to listen to my heart's cry in prayer and petition, and much more to grant His peace. 

This telling of the Lord of all my heart's burden has many definite blessings. Even the Bible says, "In nothing be anxious." So should I not trust the Lord's word? It would be a folly not to. Thank God, I can indeed trust Him and tell Him of all my cares and concerns. This draws me closer in fellowship with Him, even in oneness. The more the better, and the sweeter it becomes of this fellowship. 

This fellowship of need also leads me to spend time with Him in prayer. I believe the Lord often does things to draw our attention. Else we would be too busy in our world of no- time-for-God. So, He is sovereignly wise to cause us to turn to Him. This strengthens my prayer life too. Though I pray daily, often I need more specific and intense intercessory prayer. Such things are common when there are spiritual storms around. Thank God who allows such a "storm" to me sometimes, though it might be a mere storm in a tea cup to Him, so that I can come to Him to tell Him yet again of all my heart. 

This frequent turning to Lord again and again also leads me to have intimate fellowship with the Lord. God is not merely to pray all our prayers to. He is much for a sweet and intimate fellowship with us. Often, we are too religious to be intimate with Him, so He finds a way out for us to spend intimate time with Him. 

Telling Him of all our concerns strengthens our prayer life, our fellowship and intimacy level, and the best beneficiary in the ordeal is me, because I tell Him of all that is in me. 

This is the Lord's speaking these days, in our group meetings and fellowships; these verses we pray-read and we fellowshipped this burden in our group meeting last week. And I am already falling in love with these Bible verses. The Lord gave a timely word in the meeting. Tell Him...

"In everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

NBC Chennai 2017

To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, Philippians 3:10

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Note on "know" from the Recovery Version: Paul lived in a condition of having not his own righteousness but the righteousness that is out of God, in order to know (to experience) Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. In v. 8 to have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ is by revelation. But to know Him here is by experience — to have the experiential knowledge of Him, to experience Him in the full knowledge of Him. Paul first received the revelation of Christ, then sought the experience of Christ — to know and enjoy Christ in an experiential way.

It was on my journey in the train from Delhi to Chennai last week when this verse touched me so much. I pray-read over and over again this verse, and prayed that the Lord would grace me to know Him in a very subjective way. My deep burden was to know the Lord as I ought to, and as God would desire me to know Him. And my prayer and burden in attending the National Blending Conference in Chennai with my whole family was the same too, to know Christ and experience Him thus.

Amazingly the subject of the blending was "Know Life and the Church." It was a perfect plan for me to pray to know Christ, and the Lord answered it in the conference with many brothers, who in one accord, ministered the word on this subject. The Lord's speaking was very timely and spirit-filled as the whole Body had been praying for this blending. The churches in India have been blessed and graced by the Lord to come to a stature that manifests the growth in life and building up among the saints and the churches. This is amazing! 

The coordination in the Body was so marvelous, with all service team carrying out their responsibilities faithfully; from transportation to accommodation to meeting to ministry of the word to different kinds of meetings to food, all were wonderfully coordinated. Herein is a testimony of the Lord's blessing in India. I have been through all the national level blendings in India so far, this blending has manifested much maturity. Praise the Lord!

Personally, the Lord also answered my prayer and deep desire, to know Him by knowing life and the church, not doctrine alone but also in experience and in reality. Praise the Lord!

When India had her first national blending, that too in Chennai, I was a trainee then in 2004. For many new ones it was a crucial turning point in their Christian lives; coming into the church-life. Thirteen years after, many of us, those "new ones" then are now functioning in many crucial services in the Lord's move in His recovery today. Looking back, it was purely and truly the Lord's mercy who have been leading us and shepherding us thus far. Majority of the "new ones" I knew then are now maturing and functioning today. Praise the Lord for his mercy!

Lord, continue to bless Your testimony and Your move in India! Bring all of us to know Christ as life and the church as our living! India for Christ and the Church!

Chennai Family Visit

After the National Blending in Chennai last week, as a family, we visited an Uncle and an Aunty who were my guardians when I was a student At MCC in 2000-2003. This was my first visit as a family. Though they are aged, they are still young in spirit and welcomed us with the same love and care as when I was a student then. Our fellowship began with their daughter and son-in-law, who used to serve the Lord in Shillong, when I was studying for my graduation. Since then we have a very wonderful relationship in the Lord. Whenever I pass through or visited Chennai I would do my best to visit them. They reckon me as their own son in the Lord and I deem it so spiritually too. Though their daughter had gone to be with the Lord, the bridge that she established between us is still going strong. With the same love and care they have for me, I too want to reciprocate in the best way I can. Perhaps, by introducing the ministry to them, and the saints as well. What I have done so far is, introducing the ministry literature. If it be of the Lord, I pray that they also be brought into the church life and be blended and builded in the Body.

Besides this visit, as a family, we had a day visit to a theme park mostly for the sake of my children. This was the park I visited twenty years ago when I came to Chennai for the first time for students' retreat. That time I was one of the enjoyers of the theme park, but this time with three children, I was the ward of the enjoyers, my children. Now, my desire and interest are related to my family, especially my children. 

As a family, we also visited the family of my teacher when in college who was instrumental in introducing me to the church life. Ever since I began my fellowship with him, my teacher then and my brother now, our relationship in the Lord has been steadfast. Though we may not share the same vision exactly, still as a brother, I always did my best to visit whenever opportunity arises. This time my visit was purely a brotherly-family visit. We enjoyed dinner together with my children getting to eat their favorite south Indian specialty: Dosa, Puri, and half-fried egg,"bull's eye."

My travel this time was more of family oriented. Though I travel often for the ministry of the word distribution purpose, this time I was reminded to pay more attention to my family. My wife has been reminding me to bond with my children more, as much as possible, as I hardly get time to really bond and blend with them. This was one of the opportunity to bond as a family in our visit to Chennai.

Praise the Lord for all these families whom the Lord has prepared to shepherd me then, and now I can fellowship with them as Christian brothers in the family of God. As a family, our prayer for them follows too. 

May the Lord grace them good health and long life to continue to serve the Lord by serving the saints, especially students.

Learn Christ

This is the phrase that I learned some twenty years ago. My understanding of this phrase has grown so much through all these years; not merely in doctrine, but much more in life and experience. This two words together means a lot. It eccompases the entire Bible in truth, and perhaps, our entire human life-span, in life. There are so much truth and revelation in this power-pack phrase, "Learn Christ!" The ministry has helped me understand this phrase in a very specific and practical way.

But you did not so learn Christ, Ephesians 4:20

This is the living needed in the daily life of a Christian: Learn Christ. 

Note from the Recovery Version on "learn Christ":Christ is not only life to us but also an example (John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21). In His life on earth He set up a pattern, as revealed in the Gospels. Then He was crucified and resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit that He might enter into us to be our life. We learn from Him (Matt. 11:29) according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life in resurrection. To learn Christ is simply to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).

The Bible also narrated the detail of learning Christ in our daily living in many aspects. This time in my personal study of this portion of the word, I was enlightened to see the humanity that is needed for living Christ. It entails many practical things that are very human, not the natural humanity but the humanity of Jesus. 

In Ephesians 4 and 5, there are practical ways of learning Christ; walking worthily of the calling with which we are called, lowliness and meekness, long-suffering, bearing one another in love, being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace, the reality is in Jesus(the reality of learning to live Christ is in Jesus Himself), renewed in the spirit of your mind(a very practical way of learning Christ), put on the new man(to live by the life of Christ), speak truth each one with his neighbor, working with his own hands in that which is respectable, no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but only that which is good for building up that it may give grace to those who hear, kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ also forgave you, walk in love, walk as children of light, redeeming the time, understand the will of the Lord, be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father, being subject to one another in the fear of Christ....Many of these virtues can be lived out only in the life of Christ, by being Jesusly human. This is indeed to learn Christ. And I am learning them one by one.

Even as the Lord spoke this portion of the Bible subjectively to me today, coincidentally, the morning revival portion that I am enjoying today is on the same line of thought too. Learning Christ to live Christ by putting the body to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus may be lived out in the our mortal flesh.

Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 2 Cor. 4:10-11 

For the testimony of Jesus we need the highest human life, a life lived out according to the divine life given to us by God. By the divine life we need to have a human life that reaches the highest standard. In our living we should be “Jesusly human.” We should aspire to have a glorious testimony of the Christ in whom we believe and whom we serve and honor. Then we shall be a shining, golden lampstand. This is our declaration concerning human living. (Life-study of Titus, p. 29)

These are on the truth side of learning Christ from the Bible and also from the ministry portion. Now the experience of learning Christ is being carried out day by day; these days, it has been more intensified. Not by outward imitation of Christ, but by exercising our spirit and turning to our spirit. To learn Christ, we must love Christ; as we love Christ, we will learn Christ and the issue will be to live Christ. So love Christ, learn Christ, and live Christ. In fact, this was the statement I wrote on the book of a classmate sitting next to me in a classroom on the first day of my MCA class at MCC, Chennai, in 2000. The result of this statement I wrote was that he became my friend, brother, prayer partner and a brother in the church-life today. Learn Christ!

Blossom and Blossom

The wilderness and the desert will be glad; And the desert will exult and blossom like the rose. It will blossom and blossom, And even exult with exultation and a ringing shout. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of Jehovah, the splendor of our God. Isaiah 35:1, 2. 

As I was enjoying the reading of the word of God, the verses in Isaiah 35 became very living to me. Personally, it was and still is, the Lord's speaking for the day and the days to come. These days, things seems to be dry; the spiritual atmosphere as I perceive in the locality where I am is like a dry desert. The last few days, in all my prayers, be it personal or corporate, my burden has always been to pray for the saints and the church in Gurgaon; many times, naming the saints one by one. The is the best thing I could do for the church at the moment. At times I am discouraged at the spiritual condition of the the saints including myself, and yet other times I am very encouraged that the Lord has given many good fruits, good materials for His testimony. The need for improvement is the regular corporate meeting, blending and building up of these saints. Perhaps, this is the spiritual background from which the Lord spoke this today.

"The wilderness and the desert will be glad; And the desert will exult and blossom like the rose. It will blossom and blossom."

I take God at His word. My words may be unfaithful, but His is always faithful. My wilderness and desert will be glad; gladness or joy is the fruit of the Spirit. Come what may, the enemy may try as much as he could, the ultimate result of the Lord's shepherding will be "gladness" despite all the attempts of the enemy. The spiritually barren land that I am in, will exult and blossom! There is a time for everything; time to sow and time to reap. As I and the saints are in the garden of God in the church here, and as we have been watered by the ministry of the word, the Lord will definitely cause the plants to grow and blossom. This is the promise the Lord has promised me. All our prayer and labor will one day bear forth fruits; even abundant fruits. It will first blossom and blossom followed by fruits and more fruits. 

As a brother my simple responsibility is to "Strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the shaking knees." v3. I may have been seeing weaknesses all around; nonetheless, I must not condemn the weak vessels, but strengthen them. 

35:4 Say to those who are of anxious heart, Be strong; fear not; And there are many shaking knees too. 

To the weak ones, a word of encouragement as well. Shepherding and prayer is all that I can do at the moment. Likewise, I visited and called many of these new ones for shepherding and prayer. AFter a few weeks of travelling when I contacted the new ones under my care, they all are going on in life and in the Lord. The Lord has been preserving and shepherding them too. O how my heart yearns for their growth in life and their enjoyment of the Lord, and that they can bear the Lord's testimony! The promised result would then be:

35:5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped;35:6 Then the lame will leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb will give a ringing shout; for water will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.35:7 And the desert mirage will become a pool, and the thirsty ground, springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, their resting place, there will be grass with reeds and rushes.

These are the words of the Lord; so encouraging! As the church corporately, and personally too, the Lord has promised, so we will blossom and blossom! Lord, hasten that day!