Glory, Glory, and Glory

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you, and while speaking lies, say every evil thing against you because of Me.Rejoice and exult, for your reward is great in the heavens; for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Mathew 5:10-12

It was on the 3rd of Nov 2018 that my father was called by the highest authority in the village, Peikai, to clarify his stand, basically, our family's stand, on the village dictate of everyone participating in the rituals of the tradition and custom of the Rongmei Naga which from ages have been handed down from generation to generation. The Lord graced my father to stand for the truth that there can be no compromise on our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we professed; that we cannot participate in the rituals of the villages whatsoever as we have been saved and have become Christians and have forfeited the old heathen traditional religion of our forefather in the flesh; that we will not and cannot compromise on our standing for the truth; and that the village authority may take whatever action if they deem our faith and standing for the truth of the Bible as a violation of the pagan practices of primitives. The action taken for our stand for the truth was, in a single word, ex-communication. This means that none of our family members can communicate either verbally or in visitation with any of the other villagers and vice versa.  

When the decision was conveyed to me in our family fellowship, my first reaction was, "Glory, glory, glory...to the true and living God!" We have been graced and counted to be persecuted in such a glorious way we do not deserve. The Bible verses that came to me are the Lord's word as quoted above: Blessed are you..., Blessed are you..., and Rejoice and Exult...

I felt like the glory of God has finally been bestowed on our family. I could imagine our two families, my family and my aunt's family, in our village who are in the church life are like to pillars of cloud by day and pillars of fire by night. And that we have come nearer to what the Lord has promised us, what we are and what we should be - the salt of the earth and the light of the world in Mathew 5:13-16.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become tasteless, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men.
You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden.
Nor do men light a lamp and place it under the bushel, but on the lampstand; and it shines to all who are in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in the heavens.

I also reckon this incident as a direct answer to our prayer for the salvation of my village Keikhu and my own people in the flesh, the Rongmei Naga. As we have been praying regularly, the hand of the Lord has started to move. This is the first step of separation that is very much needed as we live in the midst of the heathen. What will follow is sanctification by the blood of Jesus Christ and saturation by the life of God. This first step has stamped a clear-cut distinction between the believers and the non-believers. It is like crossing the "red sea" so that there can be no going back to "Egypt." I see this as an answer to our prayer for my younger brother too. What man cannot sanctify positionally, God has to do it by all means. Therefore, whatever has transpired was the Lord's doing; His invisible leading hand behind the visible. 

Since the incident, our prayer for the salvation of our village Keikhu and the Rongmei Naga has been much more intensified, with much more faith, and with much more hope. My overall reaction is to simply thank the Lord and give Him all the glory. 

Glory, glory, glory to God the Father who planned,

Glory, glory, glory to God the Son who accomplished,

Glory, glory, glory to God the Spirit who applies.

Salvation to Keikhu! Salvation to the Rongmei Naga!