Follow-up Shepherding: Rourkela

The Lord has brought a brother to be an Assistant Professor in NIT in this city. He and I were together in a Christian group and both of us came into the church life at the same time. The Lord has carved the path we have to tread. His function is through the academic line and mine, through the ministry of the word. Whether on full time academic service or full time serving in the ministry of the word, we are all serving the Lord. We enjoyed mutual fellowship, encouraging one another.

There, in the campus, we also met a man who is a relative of a brother. I was burdened to preach the gospel to him. I did so in English with a brother translating it into Oriya. He received the Lord in prayer. May the Lord preserve him to be a seed for His testimony.

As we took a walk around the campus we had mutual sharing of testimonies, encouraging one another. And later, we had a fellowship on the subjective signs and experiences of the Lord's called ones from Exodus with the burden that the Lord's work will be given its due priority. 

Exodus 4:2-4And Jehovah said to him, What is this in your hand? And he said, A staff. And He said, Throw it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses recoiled from it. And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand, and take it by its tail — so he stretched out his hand and seized it, and it became a staff in his hand. 

The "staff" should just be a staff to assist us in our walk with the Lord. It should be a means through which the Lord's work is carried out. It must never be that we become a slave to the "staff". For the staff could be anything we depend upon for our livelihood; perhaps, our jobs or businesses. Yes, they are needed, but they should not occupy us nor should we be occupied by them. We simply use them to meet the Lord's need. 

With all these fellowship we also prayed together, for our brother and also for the Lord's testimony to be gained in Rourkela. With prayer, we look forward to the day when the Lord will gain His testimony in the city.