Doctorate Poet

A brother's family invited their neighbor for a gospel home meeting last Lord's day evening. And he wanted me to be there to preach the gospel to him. It was a double blessing for me to accept such a special invitation; firstly for the shepherding of the new ones, and secondly for the preaching of the gospel to the new one's neighbor. My wife and two other brothers joined me in the meeting.

But as we reach the brother's home, we were told that the neighbor they had invited was reluctant to come and made lame excuses. But we decided to pray for that neighbor. After we all prayed one by one, surprisingly the neighbor just showed up and joined us in the meeting.

This neighbor introduced himself as a doctorate degree holder in an engineering field but had taken early retirement to pursue his hobby of writing poems. He brought his new book, a collection of his poems and introduced to me. I took the book and flipped through the book randomly. Surprisingly I came across a poem which began with "Jesus Christ". As I read through the poem, he was discoursing about the temptation the Lord Jesus faced when He was on the earth. Perhaps, his thought was,  if Jesus Himself was tempted, who is man not to be tempted? His poetical thought was on how to overcome temptations in life. I read the paragraph out loud for all the ones present in the home of our brother. Immediately, I felt led to minister on the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4 since there were three other believers to address too.  

Using Matthew 4, I preached the gospel especially for the neighbor friend and gave him an opportunity to call upon the Lord's name and pray to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as His Savior. Then, the expounding of the three temptations with their spiritual significances followed suit. After over two hours of gospel preaching and home meeting, we all were full of joy! Especially, our host's family was so joyful that their neighbor finally came to their home to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and was shown the way to believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ! The joy of the neighbor was the joy of the new ones' family, which was also our joy. We all were filled with the joy of the Lord. The following day, that neighbor sent me an email expressing his joy and thanks for the gospel meeting. May the Lord save him fully.

Praise the Lord! 

Three Dancers

Last Saturday I wanted to join the gospel preaching with the saints in the morning session after the brothers' fellowship, but I felt the resistance to actively participate in it as I had other responsibilities in caring for the saints. But after the prayer meeting of the church in the afternoon, as usual, I got myself released from other preoccupation and participated in the door knocking. Even then, the distraction from the enemy was such that as I went to dropped off a team in their propagation area, my car got punctured. So, I ended up fixing the problem and when I was actually ready to go for door knocking, an hour had already gone by. It was so tempting to just give it up and stay back home. But I felt I should still go. Therefore, I went to preach the gospel.

When I was on the field, joining a team of three sisters, for door knocking I barely had an hour. I simply followed the sisters who already had gone to the area before. As I followed them, we pressed a doorbell whose residence invited us in. As this person knew only Hindi and being a male, I had to exercise my spirit to preach the gospel in Hindi. To my surprise, he was so receptive. After preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, sensing his condition, I led him to call upon the Lord's name and assist him to pray the sinner's prayer to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. As soon as the prayer was over, his roommates arrived.

With two more of his roommates, now the house was filled with people; my self with three sisters and three of them, seven of us altogether. They invited us in. We sat in their living room, and this time, I preached the gospel again in English for the sake of the other two roommates. Beginning from God, the Creator, to His creation of the universe and man, the fall of man, His incarnation as the man Jesus, accomplishment of redemption at the cross, and His becoming the life-giving Spirit, a complete gospel, in short, was preached to all of them. As the Spirit led further, after preaching the gospel, I lead them to pray, all the three friends heard the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives, and also prayed to receive the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives. O what a joy! We all were so joyful, and after the preaching and leading them to pray, we also prayed for each one of them. Then, I gifted them with Hindi and English New Testament Bible. Praise the Lord!

As we conversed further, it was learnt that all of them were professional dancers. One of them had even performed in a reality show. Now, he has been pursuing a career in acting aiming at Bollywood and would be moving to Mumbai. The other two dancers will be stationed in Gurugram, learning and teaching dancing. Now and then, they have been organizing a dance party. All of them agreed to the pitiful and sinful condition of man, and the only way out is to believe into the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a surprise visit for them and for us too. The Lord was so sovereign in leading us to them. May the Lord continue to work in their being and grace them the full experience of God's full salvation.

Praise the Lord for these three dancers!

Promises of God

Genesis35:11  And God said to him, I am the All-sufficient God: Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from your loins.
45:20  And do not be concerned for your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.

God is a speaking God. He spoke then, and He speaks now. It has been His speaking that has been leading all this while. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalms 119:105. Besides, He is leading by His speaking on a day to day basis. He also speaks words of promises for the future. It is up to the hearer to believe the promises of the Lord. To those who believe, the promises are true, and the word of God never fails. Still, to the unbelieving, the Lord in His mercy does fulfill. I have been receiving grace to be able to believe the word of God and receive it by faith. The speaking of the Lord comes when reading the word of God.

Recently, two instances happened, the first on the 19th and the second on the 23rd, today, while reading the word of God. The first is related to my children. My heart's desire for the three children the Lord blessed us with is that they all should grow up in the grace of the Lord, in the love of God, in the reverential fear of God, as God-man children, loving God and will serve God all the days of their lives. This has been my prayer for my children. I have no desire that my children will be successful people in the eyes of the world with worldly riches and glory. I have lost all desire for worldly riches and glory. This is the mercy of the Lord. Once I used to dream of them and tried to labor to achieve such, now the Lord has gracefully changed my goal in life altogether. What the Lord has called me for, in 2003 Jan 1, will ever be my life's goal.

Deuteronomy 10:12  And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God ask of you except that you fear Jehovah your God so that you would walk in all His ways and love Him and serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul;

I must walk worthily of the calling with which the Lord God has called me. 

Ephesians 4:1   I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called.

I don't how the Lord will call my children. Only He can override my desire for my children. Otherwise, I wish and pray that they all would love the Lord and serve the Lord in whatever way the Lord deems best. That will really make me happy. After all, it's not up to me, it's all up to Him who is the Lord of lords, and above all. In the midst of this thought for my children, the Lord spoke to me this clear word concerning my children, "kings shall come forth from your loins." Whatever that means, I amen to whatever the Lord has promised. Time will tell what the Lord meant by "kings." In fact, all genuine believers who live under the heavenly rule of the King are kings indeed in today's age. It could also mean rulers above others in their lives and workplaces. In reality, all those who live and walk by the Spirit taking Christ as life are the real kings on earth today. May the Lord bless all the children He blessed me and my wife with. Trusting in His grace, we will do our best to give the best training and education within our measure, and leave the rest to Him.

The other instance is, it has been quite a while now I have been deliberating on my housing in Gurugram. The rent we have been paying is hefty. With the same rent, we could have gotten for ourselves a very nice, modern, and decent housing. The house that we live in now has a host of physical issues. In addition to being so old, there is no furniture at all, not even a single wardrobe for storing clothes. The building outside is cracking, and pieces of construction have fallen now and then. The woodworks are all in bad shape; some termites have eaten, some got rotten, and some were partially damaged. The kitchen and the toilets too are in bad shape. Despite all these, it is liveable and we are still living here. Many times, I wondered why I have not found myself a better housing? But every time, I pondered on this matter of finding better housing, the Lord would not give me peace at all. I had tried shifting out at least five times now, but every time the Lord would stop me. Now I am in the tenth year in the same house. Not really by choice, but the Lord's sovereignty. He knows best, the reason for my family to be in this house.

In spite of all these physical drawbacks, our family has been living with much peace and joy. The presence of the Lord has been very enjoyable. My children like the house so much that any suggestion of shifting will invite a strong reaction from them. My son even promised that he like this old house and he would buy it when he grows up and rebuilt it.  There has been so much emotional connection with this house. And the saints have been using it every time we meet together as the church meeting hall is on the ground floor. In terms of usage, both family and church side, it has been very useful, Perhaps, for this reason, the Lord never allows us to shift out nor find a better housing with similar or even lower rent elsewhere. In the midst of all this consideration, the word of the Lord today morning is very heart touching: And do not be concerned for your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. Whatever this verse means, the Lord's promise is, He has given me the best. And perhaps, He will give me the best. The best according to Him may or may not be the best according to the eyes of man. Nevertheless, I gladly amen and accept whatever the Lord gives to me. He knows the best. And it is best to amen what the Lord deems the best. This reminds me of the journey of the children of Israel. My housing and living will be as such, at the command of Jehovah.

At the commandment of Jehovah the children of Israel set out, And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, then after that the children of Israel set out; there the children of Israel encamped. and at the commandment of Jehovah they encamped; they remained encamped. Numbers 9:17-18

Praise the Lord for His promises and encouraging words!

Execute Justice and Love Mercy

He has declared to you, O man, what is good;
And what does Jehovah require of you,
But that you would execute justice and love mercy
And walk humbly with your God? Micah  6:8 

A similar experience of dealing with the serving ones after much deliberation and prayer was posted a few days ago. https://palmeichung.blogspot.com/2019/08/justice-and-mercy.html

These two cases of dealing with the serving ones in the way of life is a special training for me. For weeks I had been praying and considering how to handle this case without giving the enemy any ground to attack us in any way. Yes, there definite were mistakes committed by the serving ones; we all do commit mistakes. But the way I deal with the mistakes should not be another mistake. I should not give any room to the enemy while dealing with the problems.

A brother who has been coordinating with me has not done accounting properly for years. As we plan to clean up the accounts, many payments have not been recorded accurately, thereby creating debit balance to my clients. However, as we approached our clients they narrated their history of payment for their purchases which somehow was not taken into the record by the serving one concerned. Later, it was discovered that there indeed was a lack of clarity in accounting with many clients' account recorded as a huge debit.

This also is a big lesson for me. I have trusted the ones coordinating with me fully and hardly checked on them. I even told them, "We are co-workers serving together in coordination and I trust you fully." Even after this incident was exposed, I still do not lose my trust for the brother. Everyone makes mistakes; we need more learning and perfecting from the Lord through one another. I waited and waited in prayer until today to fellowship with him in love. 

As I fellowship with him, I gave him the ground to explain all that has transpired. He confessed that there indeed was a mistake from his side. Without me passing any judgment or needing to say anything, he himself agreed to make it up for all the mistakes he had committed. The Lord has already convicted him, and I do not need to do anything further. I simply have to amen what the Lord has already done. He also agreed to clear up all the misappropriation of funds in the accounts of the clients. The matter was solved right there; the Lord has already executed the justice due. And I also fellowshipped with him about the adjustment in his service that he would not deal with money matters any longer. His function has been fully transferred from distribution to full translation service. In this way, he still has his service. The Lord's mercy is still abounding. Later, we prayed together over the phone when he confessed all sins and asked the Lord for forgiveness. I amened the prayer and asked the Lord for more grace that we all could serve faithfully and be useful vessels to Him.

I do not follow the worldly way of  "Hire and Fire" policy. Whomever the Lord calls, He brings into His service, and whomever He wills to remove, He "fires" them. Without me taking any outward action, the Lord Himself works in the serving ones using their conscience and circumstances. My only responsibility is to echo the Lord's doing by amening whatever He has done. He executes justice, but He also loves mercy. To the unrighteous, justice will be executed, yet at the same time, the Lord loves His children. Even in executing justice, His mercy reigns. 

After a couple of weeks' waiting and prayer, and then fellowshipping with the concerned brother as He led me, I felt very relieved. A supposedly "big trouble" was handled in a proper way. Justice was executed, not by me but by the Lord Himself, and yet He was also full of mercy. No one is being "fired" in the process, but everyone is being disciplined and perfected to serve in a proper way. Praise the Lord!

Perfected into One

John 

17:21  That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me.

17:22  And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, even as We are one;

17:23  I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.

Whenever a matured and an elderly brother came to fellowship with us, he would invite some of us into his hotel room where we would pray and fellowship for hours altogether. Yesterday was another such time together again. I felt very blessed and thanked the Lord that there is such a brother from whom we can learn a lot. In fact, every time he came, I would receive new light, and further help me in my personal life as well as in my service life.

Our appointment was at 10 AM. We started praying together from 10:18 AM till 11:52 AM to be exact. As we prayed, the direction the Lord led us was on the matter of oneness. All our burden and prayer was mostly focussed on the Lord's prayer in John 17:21-23, a prayer for the oneness. Though I had been to many prayer meetings of the church and I had prayed with many brothers and sisters a countless number of times, this was one prayer with much light and a clear and strong burden for the oneness as the testimony of Jesus. The prayer prayed among the brothers, nine of us, was as if one was playing a basketball game, passing around the ball and hitting the ball into the basket as many times as we could, was truly amazing. Through that prayer, many hits were made into the basket; the spirit was so strong, the burden so deep, and we all could exercise our spirit in one accord.

As we pray-read the verses, "perfected into one," I truly felt deep within that the Lord has indeed been blending us and perfecting us into one. This is no doctrine, no mere teaching, but a reality. The call of the deep within my being unto the deep testifies to me that we have indeed been on the process of being perfected into one. What a blessing! What a grace!

The fellowship that followed suit, then over to lunch, and the afternoon session, all of them were richly anointed of the Lord. Some crystals of truths that came out and were further developed were truly worth. 

Properly Aggressive for the Lord

Paul and his fellow coworkers being forbidden by the Holy Spirit as they headed for a certain destination implies the aggressiveness of Paul in carrying out the heavenly ministry of Christ. He indeed was one with the Spirit, that what he determined in his heart for the Lord's work was honored by the Lord. He was forbidden only if the Holy Spirit did not agree to it. Otherwise, all his ministry journeys were initiated by him and the Spirit anointed him wherever he went. Here is the lesson for proper aggressiveness in serving the Lord. I must deliberate before God and take action in His move by being one spirit with the Lord. I cannot be and must not be passive in serving the Lord. On the contrary, I must be properly aggressive. This is in accordance with the word of God experienced by Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:40b "according to my opinion; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God."

Constituted as Gifts

Ephesians 4:1-16 begins with "walk worthily of the calling with which you were called." To such a walk, there is an urgent need for proper humanity which is the gaining of the experiences of Christ in His incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. This is the constituting of the gifts of Christ to the Body. Such a constitution restricts the gifted ones yet perfects them to be the gifted members. The purpose of such gifts is to perfect the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ. This is, 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." (v13) Day by day, I must experience the experiences of Christ to be constituted as the gifted members of the Body of Christ to perfect the saints and build up the Body.

One on One Shepherding

One on one shepherding is yet another crystal brought forth through the fellowship. I have been shepherding the new ones for years in my church life. This is good but it is uni-directional; it flows from me to the new ones. The other aspect of shepherding is a one-to-one shepherding on one-on-one. Not only that I shepherd the ones under my shepherding car, but I must also be shepherded by a shepherd. I and another saint must shepherd one another. If all the saints, besides, shepherding the new ones, shepherds one another, how built up and glorious the church will be! This is also known as general shepherding. This needed, in fact, very much needed for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Praise the Lord for such a blessed and perfecting time of fellowship! Through such perfecting fellowship, the Lord is indeed perfecting us all into one.

Seven Souls

It was last Saturday that as usual, we gathered together for the church's prayer meeting. The entire afternoon was drizzling with slight rain. After the wonderful prayer meeting of the church, exercising the authority the Lord has given us to bind and loose, we formed into teams and went out to preach the gospel. Had we considered naturally, it was not wise to go out on a rainy day, and that too for gospel preaching, as we would not be able to meet and preach the gospel in the open area, as the areas we have chosen are all on the open.

After all the other teams had left I needed a companion, a brother, with whom I could coordinate for the gospel preaching. I invited a brother who decided to stay back to come along with me. After  much persuasion he finally agreed to come. Then we both together with another team of sister drove to our target area.

As I parked my car and got down, I saw a group of three young men standing under a tree taking cover from the rain. Immediately, I told my brother, "Let's go and preach the gospel to them." We met them and introduced ourselves. Without any hesitation, we preached the gospel in Hindi as they were local teens from Chakkarpur speaking mostly Hindi. Even as we were preaching, two teens came by bike to join us who were their friends. We introduced ourselves again and preached the gospel using the tract, The Mystery of Human Life. After a while, another teen came by, who is also their friend and joined the group. And finally, another teen came by his bicycle and joined us. The number of our new ones grew from three to five, then to six, and then to seven. To make the points clear, we preached the gospel again from God's creation to His redemption and requested them if they would like to receive the Lord in prayer, which they all willingly did.

Meanwhile, as the Lord brought all these "fish" into our gospel net, the continual downpour from above, the rain, was all that kept the group together. Even after we preached the gospel and led them to pray, we could not leave the place as it was still raining. Instead, I took that as the Lord's leading to start the first home meeting with these new ones. So I proposed that we read through the tract one more time, one by one, in sequence. I asked the boys to read, each one a paragraph. And after every paragraph reading, we explained the content of the reading. After reading through the entire tract, then we lead them to pray the prayer mentioned in the tract one more time. What a home meeting!

Still, the rain did not subside even after reading through the tract. Then, I requested them to memorize the Bible verses in Hindi printed on the tract. One by one, verse by verse, each one of the boys memorized the entire three verses in Hindi! The verses are:

Romans 10:13  For “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”Mark 16:16  He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.Acts 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.

Then we got their contacts and invited them to visit us the following Lord's day, which four of them did. We set up a time to meet again in the park in their community. After all the preaching, reading, and prayer, and sharing of contact information, we dispersed, though it was still pouring. The rain was indeed a shower of blessing for the salvation of the seven souls. May the Lord work in them and save these seven souls.

That was the Lord's doing as a direct answer to the prayer of the church. Heaven and earth worked together for the salvation of men; God and men worked together in coordination to save souls. Praise the Lord!

Lord, save these seven souls! 

Make them remaining fruits!

Give Food at the Proper Time

Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time? Matthew 24:45

As a believer who serves the Lord, my status is that of a slave. As a slave, I must be faithful in my service, and prudent in the way I serve. The Lord has his household, His church with the saints. My responsibility as a slave is to serve the saints and seekers with healthy spiritual food, the word of God.

From my side, I must be serving as a slave. A slave has no right of his own. Whatever the Master says, he must do, at any time in any condition. To be a faithful slave I must be ever ready to serve whenever the need arises. If there is a call, I must attend to it immediately at that time. This is to give food at the proper time. In addition to faithfulness and prudence, serving at the proper time is equally important. The best time to feed is when one is hungry for food. If timely food is not dispensed, a belated meal will be of no good. This is an important spiritual lesson to learn.

Yesterday, I was in my office trying to accomplish a task. I was determined to finish my work at all cost, and it was about 7 'O clock in the evening. Then I received a phone call from a brother requesting me to visit him immediately at about 7 PM. The matter was that there was a seeking sister who wanted to know more about Christ and the church. Though I decided to finish my work first, the Lord reminded me of my need to be a faithful and diligent slave. I have no right of my own to say "no" when there is a call for shepherding of a needy soul. And the call also was related to giving spiritual food at a proper time. Therefore, I shut down my computer, left my works undone, and visited the brother.

The Lord had arranged a home meeting with three new ones. A gentile visitor, to whom I preached the gospel and led him to the Lord, and two other seeking sisters who are in need of fellowship were present in the meeting. The Lord burdened me to shepherd them using the words of the Bible. They both are believers, the daughters of a reverend who passed away already. Due to their family situation, they have been working in Gurgaon to make a living. For many years they have been living in a strange city, away from home, toiling to make a living, and in the process, have gone far away from the Lord. They have not been having any Christian fellowship with anyone as they are fully occupied with their jobs. Sundays being the busiest day, they hardly could have fellowship with another fellow Christians too. They are like the diaspora of Israel in a foreign land. 

Now that we met and fellowshipped, they felt very comforted with the word of God. After fellowshipping on the need for the Lord's presence in our daily lives and works, the need to come to the word of God daily and in prayer, and the need for fellowship as the church, I prayed, and also requested each one of them to pray. When the two sisters prayed, they both were in tears, asking forgiveness for their wandering far away from God, and yet at the same time thanking the Lord for recovering them back to a fellowship. I was deeply moved in my inner being. The Lord remembers who are His'. And I must be a faithful and prudent slave to give food at the proper time to the Lord's lost sheep and bring them into the flock.

Had I not listened to the brother's invitation and decided to finish my own official work, I would have missed shepherding these seeking sisters. Now, they decided to come together weekly for a regular home meeting. They also expressed their desire to fellowship in the church. May the Lord recover them all!

What a subjective experience of shepherding! What the Lord has been speaking to His churches, He also led me to experience it right away. May the Lord grace me to be a faithful and prudent slave, to give food at the proper time.

The Recovery of a Brother

Thirteen years ago a brother was baptized and was in the church life in Gurgaon. But he did not stay long and was wandering in the world. For over thirteen years, he was completely lost in the world. No fellowship, no meeting, no communication even. He thought he would live his life the way he wanted it. Well, he tried as much as he could, to live the way he liked best. Until the day he lost his job and his money stuck with his unrighteous employer. Finally, his source of livelihood was cut off. The life he thought he would live was no longer possible as his source of income was completely cut-off. It was not that he could not work, nor that he was not skillful. In fact, he is a talented fashion designer, diligent and hardworking. But due to the market crunch for the textile industry, and his company running on lost, he had to quit the job. Since then he could not find another one on his field of expertise. For months now, he has been jobless. Therefore, penniless and hopeless.

Now, he realizes he has nowhere else to turn to, except God. He has no one to share his problems too except to the brothers in the church. He had nothing else to do but to meet with the saints. This is the sovereign arrangement of the Lord. Through this process, he was recovered back to fellowship and to the church life. Praise the Lord! The Lord loves him and He has the best way to recover His beloved.

Through the visitation and shepherding him, he begins to realize the importance of the Body-life. Even after much suffering, he still was reluctant initially. But I did my best to visit and shepherd him whenever he called, picked him up for a home meeting, invited him to attend the prayer meeting of the church and also the Lord's table meeting. Gradually he yielded in and began to enjoy the Lord's shepherding through the ministry of the word and the fellowship of the Body. Step by step, his enjoyment of the Lord grew by the day. Now he has decided to join the full-time training for a short term. As he waits to join the training, a week propagation is beginning in the church, so he decided to participate fully in the Lord's move. Such a drastic change of mind within a few weeks' time is truly amazing. 

Last Lord's day, he had a very subjective experience of the Lord speaking to him. He was on his way to the meeting hall by walk. The weather was so hot and humid that his sweat drenched him from head to toe. Midway, he decided to go back home. It was then, the Lord reminded him that if he wanted to enter into the kingdom of God why can't he pay a simple price of walking to the meeting hall when the Lord gave up His own life for his sins. This speaking of the Lord convicted him so much so that he repented for his narrow and selfish thought. He came and attended the meeting, and he enjoyed the Lord's speaking in the meeting so much. His experience last Lord's day confirmed to him of how serious he ought to be in his Christian life and church life.

Now, he decided to give the first priority to his spiritual growth, and he has put his need for a job as a secondary one. When he shared his testimony over the phone to me personally, and to the saints in the group meeting in our home last Tuesday, I was thankful to the Lord and worship the Lord for His wise ways of recovering a brother.

May the Lord preserve his enjoyment of the Lord in the word and in fellowship. And may the Lord gain him as a faithful one, and perfect him to become a useful vessel to the Lord. 

Justice and Mercy

He has declared to you, O man, what is good; 

And what does Jehovah require of you, 

But that you would execute justice and love mercy 

And walk humbly with your God? Micah  6:8   

The word of God has been a guiding light for my path in all the things I have been facing in my life. There were times when it was so tough to make a decision. If I were in a secular company dealing with gentiles, it would have been a lot easier to deal with people. Thre are principle laid down on personnel management had to be simply followed, and that's it. But now, my position is to deal with a person who is an employee and also a brother in the church. Where do I draw the line between official responsibility and shepherding a weaker brother? This was a very good spiritual lesson for me to learn. I had no choice but to face the situation head-on and take a decision.

An employee, a brother in the church, had not reported to work for over two weeks. He had his reason for physical weakness which was beyond his control. He was completely down on bed and could not do anything else. In his absence, his works were not done but it did not affect the main function of the office. He was merely a hired worker to do cleaning and other menial works, and he is not a regular staff. Still, action need to be taken. But how? 

To be in the natural man and fire him is the easiest decision to take. I believe many would do this right away. But as for me, I need to take the case to the Lord and seek for His leading. I took this as an opportunity to seek the Lord and learn from Him. If I cannot learn my spiritual lesson in a case like this, I reckon myself disqualified for the work the Lord has assigned me. I cannot be like any other secular or worldly person doing things in the natural man according to the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, I took the matter to the Lord again and again until the Lord spoke to me the verse, "But that you would execute justice and love mercy."  

Officially I need to take action to execute justice. Therefore, when he was healthy enough to speak to, I fellowshipped with him and told him that his regular official pay would be cut, for he did not work for it. But there is the side of mercy too. Instead of cuitting him off completely, I felt led to open a mercy door.  So, on the one hand, I let him know that his status has been demoted from regular pay, but he can still work and still receive his pay according to his work. Before he would be paid monthly, now he would be paid per his work. No work, no pay, yet still he can work. He will still work, but his pay is no longer a monthly payment, but pay per work. This is a combination of justice and mercy. In this way, he learned his lesson and I learned my lesson too. He did not lose his job nor did I lose a serving one. Despite the enemy's attack, the Lord graced us through this tough time. Here the balancing factor is "mercy." Justice and mercy!

God too, in His mercy, has kept me alive till today. If He had to execute only justice, I would have been consumed a long time ago. No man can match His righteousness, much less, me. But His mercy has been renewed morning by morning. To the merciful, God showed His mercy too. The Lord's speaking through His word has been my guiding light as I tread the path He has laid for me.

The ministry of the word that I have been pursuing and enjoying are becoming very subjective as they become practical and real day by day. What a blessing of the ministry of the word, the Lord's up-to-date speaking in His recovery! What the Lord spoke to me personally and what I have been enjoying through the supply of the ministry are going hand in hand. What He speaks to me personally is being confirmed by what He speaks generally to the churches. This particular experience I have been experiencing these days is proof of the Lord's leading, "You would execute justice and love mercy." 

The Holy Bible: Thirty Secondth Time

It was on the 11th of August 2019, a few days ago, that the Lord enabled and graced me to read the Holy Bible through once again from Genesis to Revelation for the thirty-second time in my life, and for the first time for this year 2019. Generally, I would complete reading the text of the entire Bible at least once a year. This year, I have the burden to read through the text-only two times. This is not merely for the sake of number but it ha more to do with my heart's desire.

As much as I can, I want to soak myself in the word of God, read as many times as possible. For every time I come to the word, I have a deep sense of satisfaction within, an enjoyable supply of life. Often, I hear the Lord's speaking in one way or the other especially when I am going through a situation. Most of the time I hear the Lord's specific speaking when I am considering what do at try times. I don't know how many years the Lord will give me to live on this earth, but as long as He gives me breaths of life in my nostril, enables me to read and understand, I would love to keep reading His holy word. I find this is the only book that I can keep reading "n" number of times. Irrespective of my daily schedule, or how busy I may be, the word of God will always have a slot in my daily time table. Even if I really am too busy, still I use my toilet time to read the word. Of course, his is the last option. But the word of God always has the first place in my daily schedule, even as with prayer.

If the Lord so will, I long to be able to read the word of God as many times in corresponding to my physical age. At present, I am forty-one years in my natural man and twenty-two years in my Christian life, and I have read the Bible thirty-two times. My burden is that one day, I will be able to read the word of God that many times as of my physical age. In fact, I have the plan to achieve this, and I trust the Lord will grace me to accomplish it.

Year  Age  Times of Reading the Bible

2019  41    32-33

2020  42    34-35

2021  43    36-37

2022  44    38-39

2023  45    40-41

2024  46    42-43

2025  47    44-45

2026  48    46-47

2027  49    48-49

2028  50    50 reading the word of God will be the same with my age.  

If the Lord tarries in His coming back, and if He graces me to live, my heart's desire will be to accomplish the time table above and keep reading the word. As married couple vowed a marriage vow on the wedding day, "Until death do us part...," I too vow the same vow in my marriage with the Lord Jesus, "Until death do us part I shall be reading and enjoying the word of the Lord."

I praise and thank the Lord for my grandfather who instilled in me the habit of reading the Bible since I was thirteen years of age. Though I did not know what I read those days, one thing for sure is, the love of the word of God, the habit of reading the Bible, and the mysterious instinct to read the Bible has been inculcated in me. I impart the same burden to my children, my family members, the saints in the church where I am, and to all the believers I have met. So that the word of God may dwell in us richly. 

The word of God is the richest eternal inheritance inherited from God, my Father! 

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

Gospel Preaching: At a Family Function

Proclaim the word; be ready in season and out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2

Last Lord's day evening as we attended a wedding ceremony of a brother and a sister, my attention was turned to the family members of the sister who were not saved yet; our sister's father and brother. Therefore, I approached them and sat with them for conversation.

Establishing friendship was the key to open the door for further sharing of the gospel. As we were having a friendly discussion on faith, life, job, and other things, I was so burdened to preach the gospel. With much exercise of my spirit, I began with who God is and what His plan is in creating man, then explained the fall of man and expounded Christ's redemption at the cross. As I observed them listening intently to all that I had to say, I felt deep within that the Lord had actually prepared them to receive Him. With their openness and receptive attitude, I was much emboldened and encouraged to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then I requested if they would want to pray with me to receive the Lord Jesus, to which they replied in the affirmative. When I was about to lead them to pray, the younger brother of our sister requested if he could make an audio recording of the prayer, to which I readily obliged. Then, I led them to pray to receive the Lord Jesus. O what a joy! 

Then, I just remembered that I had one copy of the New Testament in my bag. I offered to the son if he would accept this gift of mine, the word of God. He replied, "Why not?" Then, I gifted him the New Testament. In fact, I never thought that I would meet someone to preach the gospel to and gift a copy of the Bible. But thank God, I always had some gospel tracts and at least, a copy of the New Testament for whoever may need it. Praise the Lord!

The family became very friendly and invited me to visit them in their home in Jalandhar, Punjab. What a blessing that the gospel can be also preached at a family gathering! 

May the Lord save the entire family!

Gospel Preaching: At Home

Proclaim the word; be ready in season and out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2

The gospel preaching in my country and the city I live in may begin to face opposition. yet, the gospel preaching can never be stopped by anyone nor by any forces on the earth. The gospel preaching cannot and will not be hindered in any way; as it is the work of God and no one can oppose God. 

Generally, we go for the gospel preaching on Saturdays as a church, but last Saturday I had to go with a group of saints to attend a home meeting in a new one's home. As we enjoyed the home meeting reading through some Bible verses, a lesson on Shepherding Material, and also fellowshipped on the point of truths, my attention turned to the son of the family who also joined the meeting. To all the other members of the family I had preached the gospel few months ago, led them to call on the Lord's name, and even led them to pray. Now, to this one, I felt the time was ripe to lead him to the Lord too.

In their home, as the other saints were fellowshipping with his father and mother, I spent personal time with him in the corner for the living room. As he narrated to me concerning his professional life, personal matter, and the struggle he has been facing in his marriage life, I felt it so timely to preach the gospel. I preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and led him to receive the lord as His God and personal Saviour. He was prepared by the Holy Spirit as an open vessel to receive the Lord Jesus into Him. In the Lord's sovereignty, I also brought a couple of New Testament along with me, which was an apt gift for him at that moment. With this first son of the family, the gospel has now been preached to the entire family, except his wife who I have not met yet. I felt very joyful, and he felt the same too. I simply trust in the word of God, that can give life and save sinners.

When the enemy tries to stop the gospel preaching at open places, the Lord leads us to families and homes, which is far more effective. Perhaps, He allows such opposition in public places to turn us to the homes, and begin home meetings right there. This is also very much in line with the burden in His move in India these days.

The prayer that we have been praying for household salvation is actually fulfilling right in front of our eyes. Praise the Lord!

May the Lord fully bring the entire family into His full salvation and gain the family for His testimony in Gurugram!

God's Love: Marriage Ceremony

A new family that has been contacted through door-knocking, and in whose home we have been enjoying a home meeting for months now, need special attention in regard to the marriage of the son. All that I know is that they got married legally at the court of law and the family wanted a special meeting of prayer and celebration. Through the shepherding of the church here in Gurugram, they have come into the church life and started attending the Lord's table meeting. 

Last Lord's day, a brother and I were invited to attend their family gathering hosted with the burden of the son and daughter-in-law's wedding ceremony. We fellowshipped, prayed, and felt good to attend and help them in whatever way we could as cherishing and nourishing to the entire family. 

As we arrived at the venue in Noida, we were welcomed by the family, and the father and aunty fellowshipped with me the tentative proceedings of the meeting. Since nothing was formally planned for the meeting, we worked it out in fellowship. The Lord led us, and the meeting was blessed with the word of God to the entire family.

Two main messages, though short, were released. One, related to what marriage is according to the Bible and its purpose. This was released by my brother. And I released my burden on God's love. 

The strongest and best relationship between husband and wife is that of love. But not merely human love, but God's divine love. No human life can love without the divine love within that human love. Human love has terms and conditions, and perhaps, warranty and guarantee. But all these will fail one day, if not for God's love covering the marriage. My burden was released in twofold. 

First, the husband and wife should love one another. But that love must be of God. They both should and must love God, and with the love of God, love one another. 

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. 

Second, my burden was also for the family, the majority of whom are not yet regenerated by believing into the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I began with the new commandment God gave to man to love one another.

John 13:34-35A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another. 

And I further expounded that God is love, and only with the love of God, we can love one another. Therefore, I preached the gospel of the love of God. "In this, the love of God was manifested among us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might have life and live through Him. Herein is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins." I also encouraged the entire family to believe into the Lord Jesus if they have not yet. "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God."

With the word of God ministered, we prayed for the newly wedded couple and joined them in the feast that followed. The father and mother, and the husband and wife, were so thankful that at such a crucial phase of their life, the Lord introduced them to the church. We hope and pray that the Lord would continue to shepherd them and make them all pillars to bear the Lord's testimony in Gurugram.

May God bless the couple, and the family!

1 John 4:7-21Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God, and everyone who loves has been begotten of God and knows God. He who does not love has not known God, because God is love. In this the love of God was manifested among us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might have life and live through Him. Herein is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God has loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit. And we have beheld and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. And we know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. In this has love been perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of the judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also. 

The Most High is the Ruler

The whole country is now gripped by the revocation of Article 370 and 35A. All news and all heads now turn to Jammu and Kashmir(J&K). As a citizen of India, like it or not, I should be aware of what all these meant. In fact, a few days ago, there was news of scrapping this special status given to J&K. And it sent a warning to all settling there. The actual scrapping of this special status was done yesterday when the bill was introduced in the parliament and passed thereafter. Since then, all commotions, news, opinions, debates, on this sensitive issue engulfed the entire country. This is in the political atmosphere in the realm of the secular world, and in the country, I live in. I have no comment on neither the pros nor cons, but I do know and understand one thing: God is still on the throne.

When the news was spread and panic gripped the minds of the people there, the same message was sent to one of the WhatsApp group of which I am a member.  Though the message was posted with a burden for prayer, the tempo of the message showed signs of troubles lurking in and terror knocking at the door. immediately, I felt the need to counter such emotion with the word of God. I posted the following message:

The Most High is the Ruler 

Let us pray according to the word of God. God is in control, He rules. He knows best, and He will do what is best. Many things we don't know, much less, we understand; but one thing we do know and understand, God is still on the throne. 

No matter what, all that are happening and will be happening in our country is for the Lord to gain His divine purpose and accomplish His will on the earth, even in our country, and even through us, if we are one with Him.

Nothing to worry, nothing to panic. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in J&K, and for His move and testimony there.

Jesus is Lord! Christ is Victor! Amen!

Daniel 4:17This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, to the intent that he living may know that the Most High is the Ruler over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills and sets up over it the lowliest of men.

Daniel 4:25You shall be driven out from among mankind, and with the beasts of the field shall your dwelling place be; and you shall be made to eat grass as bulls do and shall be wet with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you come to know that the Most High is the Ruler over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills.

Daniel 4:26And in that it was commanded that the stump of roots of the tree be left, your kingdom will be assured to you after you have come to know that the heavens do rule.

Daniel 4:32And from among mankind you shall be driven out, and with the beasts of the field shall your dwelling place be; you shall be made to eat grass as bulls do; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you come to know that the Most High is the Ruler over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills.

God has sovereignly made me a citizen of India. And I can only pray for the ruler of this country as the Bible instructed me to do so. My opinion does not really count. When God allows things to happen, He knows why. Time will tell, and I will know it in time. Whatever happens, He wants to fulfill His purpose on this earth. Its a wake-up call for all, to turn to the living God. 

May God gain India for His testimony! God bless India!