Testimonies of Saints

The gospel meeting of the church in Gurugram has  been conducted weekly for months altogether now. We have been praying and inviting our contacts to come hear the gospel message online. For evey regular meeting we have, at least two saints give testimonies of their salvation. In this way, many saints got the opportunity to exercise and function in the gospel meeting.

Surely, by the Lord's mercy, some of the saints the Lord has been gracing me to shepherd have now all become shepherds themselves. Today we are coworkers in the Lord's vineyard. Shepherding truly works. It takes time, much prayer and patience, and labour over a period of time, even over a decade. The Lord shepherded me in shepherding these ones and now I could see them functioning. In some cases, they function much better than me. O what a delight and joy to see the saints functioning especially those whom I laboured on them for years.

Tonight, two brothers gave their testimonies. One them had even cause trouble to me at one point of time. Praise the Lord! Prayer and shepherding works! In fact they are my prayer partners  these days as we pray together almost every night. There are some sisters too who have been shepherded and are doing exactly the same thing I have done to them in my shepherding. Sometimes, in my eagerness to see fast result I often get discouraged at the new ones I have been shepherding. But all the prayer and labour poured upon them truly worth the price. What a joy to me when I see them functioning!

I take  no pride in any of these. I am simply declaring the fact of the Lord's shepherding pattern that I learnt from. May the Lord raise up more and more shepherd to produce even more shepherd. In this way, the Body is being built up and also gain the increase.

The burden these days is also on the matter of universal and mutual shepherding for the building up of the Body of Christ. The past few days we have been under the training for the full-time serving ones and the main burden is also shepherding. The result of such shepherding is manifested in life and in times like this, has been clearly visible as testimonies. The Lord will continue to grace me on and many more testimonies will come forth.

Shepherding is the way to accomplish God's goal, and testimonies will testify of the same.

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Monthly Classmates Fellowship

Last Saturday we had our secondth monthly prayer meet with my fellow classmates, MCC MCA class of 2000. As it was a burden driven fellowship, the Lord took charge of all practical arrangements. He gave me the burden and He also gave me the grace to carry out the burden. He also gave me brothers to coordinate with. And also burden some classmates to fellowship together, though just a handful.

In the first meeting, the Lord burdened me to share my life's testimony,  and in the second meeting, He led me to share the meaning of human life. It's always best to begin with the beginning of the Bible and with the basic foundation of the Christian life. So when it was my turn to minister, I ministered the truth concerning the meaning of human life beginning with the plan of God in His creation of man with three parts and Him being the Spirit. The key Bible verses quoted were Genesis 1:26; 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; John 4:24, and 2 Timothy 4:22. The word of the Lord just flowed out of my being as I took the "Bible Study."

As I released my burden, I encouraged all present in the online meeting to share as well, making it mutual, interactive, and organic. To my surprise, every one shared too, and some did so with much conviction and even with tears. This has indeed been the timely need of all my fellow classmates. Nothing but the Lord can meet our deepest longing. For this purpose, the fellowship was initiated. And the Lord will grace us on and on.

I also expressed my twofold burden: for fellowship with fellow believers in Christ and for the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ unto the salvation of all my classmates. Added to this, was a word of encouragement to walk the narrow path when God's purpose is touched, as not many will take the way. Nevertheless, we must walk the narrow way that leads to life as in Matthew 7:13-14.

Enter in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it.Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it. 

The word of God ministered, the fellowship we shared, and the prayer we offered were so joyous and it was truly worth the time and energy spent! May God continue to grace us for this monthly fellowship unto the fulfillment of the two fold burden He Himself bestowed upon me.

Lord, save my classmates! Lord, bless my classmates!

My Niece

Five years have elapsed since my niece came to stay with me and my family in Gurugram for her further education after her high school and for her spiritual progress in the church life. Time flies indeed. She was a kid when I played with her when I visited my home as I prepared to serve the Lord full-time. 

My niece is so precious to me though I did not express it outwardly as her father had left her few months after she was born. It was a sad sad thing for my elder sister to be widowed at such a young age. Nevertheless, the Lord caused all things to work together for good, and that, to her salvation. Since such a tragic incident, she has been loving the Lord so much beyond my human understanding of her. I can say this because we grew up together most of the time fighting during our childhood. Temperament-wise, my elder sister was not my type at all, in fact, she was an opposite character to me. But as a sibling, the natural bond has ever remained intact. And it grew the more sweeter and dearer after my salvation and much more after her salvation too. Now we are wonderful brother and sister in the Lord!

I had never imagined that I could be of any help to my sister when she opposed me in almost every important decision I made in my life. From education to career choice to marriage and many family-related decisions. She somehow has had her opinion voiced and opposed me. But I never heeded her voice as I was very confirmed in my life's decision taken with much prayer and peace within from the Lord. And down the line, she became clear of all my life's decisions too. Though she is older than me in physical age, I bet not in spiritual matters. The Lord is my witness. And now she is so precious to me; she has changed and transformed a lot after much breaking and dealing from the Lord. Praise God that I have been graced to be a guardian to her daughter, my beloved niece!

My niece has just completed her graduation study in Delhi University, honors in English literature after her two years of higher secondary education in Gurugram. All this while she has been a daughter to me, and even more a sister in the church life. To my level best, I have shepherded her in deed as we enjoy a family life together with my children lovingly addressing her as "appi," meaning, elder sister in Rongmei dialect, my "father-tongue". The warmth of a family life has cherished her in our stay together for five years which zipped by in a blink of an eye. She has passed out of college life so fast. Time indeed flies.

One of my prayer points for her has been that she should join the full-time training in New Training for two years after her college degree. I did not express it to her until she was in her final year of college, this year. This has been my desire for my niece and for all my children too, and for all the young people in the church life. Since the Lord graced me to serve the young people beginning this year, one of the burdens I placed before the Lord is that all the young people I serve should eventually go through the full-time training gradually. That too, beginning with my own family, my niece, the best and first candidate. The Lord has faithfully answered my prayer and fulfilled my burden.

Last Saturday, our whole family dropped her to the training center with much joy and thanksgiving to the Lord. To me, this is more glorious than any worldly achievement. For God's economy has captured me, now all my life and service is all for the Body of Christ as much as I am for the Body of Christ, and much more. Now, I pray that the Lord would grace her to enjoy the training and perfect her to become a useful and functioning member in the Body, to become even a pillar to bear the Lord's testimony and be a living lover of Christ and an overcomer. May the Lord grant this wish I have for my beloved and precious niece! I deem this as the best I could wish and pray for my niece. 

On the academic front, if the Lord so leads, after the training, she may continue her further studies and get a Ph.D. degree, get married to a brother in the church life, and serve the Lord all the days of her life. I would desire this for my own children as much as for my niece. This is just my human desire for the young generation, but the Lord's will be done. The Lord's will  may supersede all my desires. Though I have the freedom to express my desire, the Lord's will is supreme. And amen to the Lord's will should it cross my will in anyway at any point in time. The Lord's will be done.

Lord, grace my niece! Lord, bless my niece! Amen!

Evaluation

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

The present pandemic has many lessons to teach me and the world too. Even in the fellowship of the church brothers and the Lord's work, the pandemic has become a blessing in disguise in many untold ways as proven and testified by the brothers in many local churches in India. One of the effects is, the saints are being recovered and revived; in their spiritual life, church life, prayer life, gospel preaching life, and in the practice of the God-ordained way.

Through the fellowship in the Body, I have received a great help in the matter of evaluation. Yes, evaluation of my life, my living, and my service in the Body. The past few days have been a great blessing to me as we brothers fellowshipped on the Lord's move in India. One significant point of fellowship is, EVALUATION.

The world has changed, and should I not change it too? How long can I linger on the old ways of doing things when the whole world system has changed to adapt to the present need? Can I still depend on the past experiences and continue as before when the whole world have changed adapting to the present situation? I should not be so foolish to remain the same and stay where I was when every thing demands a change.  For the positive changes, I must be evaluated in four main areas.

• Evaluation of My Life 

• Evaluation of My Church Life

• Evaluation of My Service 

• Evaluation of My Work

My life, church life, service, and work needs to be evaluated in the light of the Lord's judgement seat. In case I fall short of the Lord's standard, I must make necessary changes and make progress as not to be left behind in the Lord's up-to-date move. Herein, I need much grace from the Lord to be one with Him and His Body in every aspect. Now that I know where changes have to be made, I look to the Lord for more grace that I may not fall short of the Lord's standard. I trust the living Lord to grace me on and on.

The brothers fellowship we just had and the full-timers training that has started and will go on for another three more days have opened the light house to me. Layer by layer I have been unveiled to see where I lagged behind. With His unveiling He will also grace me to go on and on to be one with Him. Now I simply commit myself to Him to will also accomplished the tasks He gave to me. Much grace to me for the evaluation follow up that I can meet the Lord's demand at this hour and the days, months, and years to come. 

Matthew 25:21
His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master. 

May I be found faithful in carrying out all the evaluation being done.

Much grace Lord, much grace! Amen.

Greek Revisited

A couple of years ago my dream to study Greek was fulfilled. I did my best to study and spent a good number of hours in the course that was conducted online for the translation of the Recovery Version of the Bible. Though I am not a translator myself, I am graced and blessed to get involved in the project for the translation of the Recovery Version Bible into Indian languages. Sometines I thought to myself why I worked so hard to study Greek and what motivated me to study Greek? Only God knows why. I am glad that I have studied it satisfactorily and did my best. Time will tell the real reason for such a leading and an enthusiam that is beyond my own understanding. When the opportunity to study was graced to me, I grasped it and did my best, leaving the result of the study to the Lord who knows best.

Three weeks ago there was a literature fellowship in which we concluded to train two more brothers to learn Greek in an intensive course to meet the urgent need for Marathi Recovery Version Bible translation. A sister has been faithfully translating the text into Marathi but there is a need for more qualified translators to coordinate with her, to form a team to be able to bring out the translated Bible into Marathi with the footnotes. Therefore, it was fellowshipped that I could be one of the felicitators in this study to make sure that the course is being carried out successfully on time. 

Greek study needs much diligence and faithfulness without which it would merely be a half-baked cake. Since the course is a side way to meet the need, it is meant to be a self-study with strict monitoring. Herein comes my function to make sure that the learners are being encouraged, motivated, and even monitored. I take this as a challenge and an opportunity to revisit Greek. What a grace!

Well, as usual, I took the matter before the Lord in prayer and the Lord confirmed to me that I should not merely monitor the learners but I myself revisit my Greek study again. I don't know why, but I know there must be a reason for the Lord's leading. So in prayer I confirmed that I should devote my time again to study Greek one more time.

Once I got a clear confirmation from the Lord, and being confirmed by the brothers in India and abroad, I formed a WhatsApp group for daily monitoring and initiated a monthly progress reporting system. Then, we began our seven months journey through Greek studies with 4 hours a day, 5 days a week or 20 hours per week, a topic a week, and updated the brothers.

UpdateToday, 22nd of July 2020, we have started a Greek course for Marathi translators.

1. We formed a WhatsApp group for fellowship, clarification, monitoring, and also for updating their daily study report at the end of the day.
2. A monthly attendance sheet will be maintained by each learner to be sent to the Amana office for the disbursement of their monthly support. 
3. Grading: They have done their first preview assignment, please help to do the grading.

Hence, I embarking on a journey of Greek studies again for the Bible translation without being a translator myself, but to coordinate with the team of translators for God's divine economy. 

Lord, grace me again in this Greek revisitation!

Young People Gospel Meeting

This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior God, Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4

The burden for the gospel preaching has been intensified very much these days, especially post-pandemic. As the church, we have been encouraging all the saints to pray and actively participate in the gospel preaching of the church. Likewise, the young people's training has intensified this burden further for the young ones with whom I am fellowshipping. I feel blessed to be able to actively participate in the church's as well as the young people gospel meeting. It is indeed a double blessing!

As the young people have their friends and classmates to whom they wanted to preach the gospel, they were invited too for the general gospel meeting. But due to age difference and timing, a good number could not really make it for the general gospel meeting on Fridays. Therefore, another gospel meeting was introduced on the Lord's day to meet this need.

The young people themselves made arrangements for the gospel meeting. Be it hosting, singing, testifying, or preaching the gospel message, it was all done by the coordination of the young people as a team. I was just there to oversee them. The previous week and last week we had the gospel meeting and it went well. The main benefits I see are the young people functioning for the gospel meeting, and an added blessing for the church with more gospel preaching. 

In line with this burden, I was very much impressed by the Life-study of Revelation on Gospel Preaching.

God’s wisdom is to make this age, the age from the ascension of Christ to His coming back, an age of gospel preaching. Everything on earth today is for the preaching of the gospel. Factories, printing, airplanes, radio, television, and even nuclear weapons are for the preaching of the gospel. This is the gospel preaching age. 

The history of the world since the ascension of Christ is a history of gospel preaching. What are we doing today? We are preaching the gospel. And we are not preaching a partial gospel but a whole, complete gospel, a full gospel. Do you realize that the full gospel includes the church life, the kingdom, and even the New Jerusalem? 

The full gospel encompasses everything from Matthew through Revelation. In these days we are preaching the full gospel, the gospel that includes the church today, the kingdom in the coming age, and the New Jerusalem in eternity. 

Whatever happens today, including the opposition against us, is a help to preaching the gospel. This is the vision of the first four seals. We should not be like a frog in a narrow well who has a very limited vision of the sky. Rather, we must have an overall vision to see the significance of the first four seals. Instead of having the view of a frog in a well, we should have a bird’s-eye view. 

The rider on the first horse is neither Christ nor Antichrist; it is the preaching of the gospel of the glory of Christ. This is the crucial factor of this age, and the three other horses are helping this one horse to run the race. We are not with the riders on the last three horses; we are with the rider on the first horse. We have a bow without an arrow, for we are preaching the gospel of peace, a gospel in which the victory has been won, in a peaceful way. Hallelujah, this glorious preaching of the gospel is riding on throughout the earth. Praise the Lord that we are on the first horse! (Excerpt from The Life-study of Revelation, Message 19)   

The current world situation proves that this age is indeed the age of gospel preaching. People need the Lord Jesus more at this present time. The whole world seems to be crushing in every area. All objects of trust proved futile. Despite the pandemic, the gospel much be preached and many people brought to salvation. I am glad I am living in this age facing the current situation and participating in the gospel preaching in all possible ways. Praise the Lord! 

Lord, save people! Grace us continuously to ever preach the gospel and bring many people to salvation!  

Cleaning Exercise

Cleanliness is next to holiness. This is a famous dictum. As much as we desire to live a holy, clean, and pure life within, we also must live a clean life without. Once in a while, I got time to devote to house cleaning according to my taste though cleaning has been regularly done by my brothers and sisters who live with me.  It was last Saturday, I felt the urgent need to rearrange many things in the house. Therefore as a family, we all worked together to do the cleaning work that cannot be done on a daily basis as it involves sorting out old and unnecessary stuff, throw them off, and neatly rearranging the thing still needed. It was such an exercise that consumed time and energy, yet after the cleaning, the house looks much better and breathier. Such an exercise was truly worth the labor. 

Last night, there was heavy rain for quite some time. The drainage pipe in my balcony got blocked and water clogged to the extent that it flowed into our bedroom unnoticed while we all were lying down to sleep. Only when my daughter woke up to use the restroom she almost slipped on the floor partially flooded by the rainwater then we noticed what intruded in. Then, we woke up to discover our room getting flooded. We all then coordinated to drain off the flooded room, removed the bag packs stored under the bed. It was a surprise mid-night cleaning raid. The cleaning that was started did not touch our bedroom, therefore, we continued the cleaning exercise of our bedroom as well. 

Today, after lunch, I could see some areas to be cleaned further. So I ended up cleaning and rearranging our toilet and rearranged stuff in the room. The cleaning that began continued until we could work through the whole room and then the house itself. What an impromptu cleaning exercise! 

Such a cleaning exercise is frequently needed. It reminds me of my need for dealing with my heart and conscience, that needs to be cleaned now and then. What a grace to be reminded of cleaning exercise within and without!   

Caring for the Needy

The ongoing global pandemic has thrown tantrum to the lives of many, causing havoc in their businesses and family lives. The Lord in His mercy and grace has been faithfully and bountifully supplying us with all our needs. Even when our needs seem to exceed the supply, the Lord in His own time turns the table around and makes the supply exceeds our needs. Our Christian life is so enjoyably thrilling! This is wonderful and mysterious yet so real and sure to those whom the Lord loves and cares for. It is indeed a blessing to be blessed by God in every respect. 

When our needs grow, the Lord's supply is much more; when the Lord supply is more, our heart should be generous enough to give even more to other needy ones. 

As it has always been from the very beginning of my Christian life, I and my wife have always, in one accord, been graced to give as we receive; the more the better. After all, it is the Lord who gives and blesses. Though the channel of supply may be from family, friends, or any member of the Body of Christ, the source has always been God and God alone. The channels supply because the Lord gives and moves the channels to do so. This is the Lord's heavenly supply-chain. Blessed are those who understand this divine economy and abide by it.

One evening during my personal time with the Lord, I was reminded to call up a sister who has been really struggling to meet her ends meet, especially of her children's school fees. The matter came to our knowledge as my cousin-brother has been helping the family for various practical needs during this pandemic situation. In fact, we have been praying for her family as well as her needs, as they are not small. The only thing we could really do was pray and pray for her. And it never ever dawned on me that we could ever help her practically anytime soon. While calling her I asked her how she was doing and what her needs were. She replied that she had been struggling and very worried about paying her children's school free as her resources ran out. As I enquired for more detail she said she only had half of what she actually needed for her children's school fees. The fees were overdue and they were threatened by the school that their names will be struck off if not paid after repeated reminders. Then I got to know what her practical and urgent need was. I simply told her to trust the Lord and hung up. As I continued my personal prayer, the Lord confirmed to me deep within that I should offer to her need from the gift we received from our beloved and caring parent. After my prayer time, I fellowshiopped with my wife and we both in one accord separated that particular amount and sent it to her the following day. 

The sister on receivng the offering was in tears as she very well knows that we don't live a "wealthy" life in the eyes of others. Our living is very simple and we have three children to care for too. She was so convicted that how could she receive the offering from a family who outwardly seems to be needier than her. She texted me of her feeling, but I replied stating that it was not from us but from the Lord; its the Lord's supply to meet her urgent need. Then she replied back, "Amen!!" Later in the evening online group meeting, she expressed how she was so joyfully thankful to the Lord beyond words for what she just experienced of the Lord's timely and bountiful supply!

Praise the Lord for the Lord's bountiful supply! 

Prayer for Healing for the Body (A Family)

A brother in my locality, Gurugram, called me up yesterday to express his feeling and consideration concerning his marital issue with his wife. The Lord graced me the patience of hearing his heart out. He has confided in me some of his deeper feelings and I could feel the pain and pressure he has been going through all these years. Especially the past few weeks have been too much for him to bear. He needs an outlet to flow out his thoughts and feelings. I offer myself as a brother to console and pray with him during these hard times. Listening to all that he said, I could discern what he actually needs. I disagreed with some of his proposals and advised him as a brother to drop some of his cherished thoughts. For I knew they were not biblical and were not of the Lord, it was purely out of the undealt mind. He obliged to listen.

After all his discourse on his life, past and present, and his plan for the future, I fellowshipped with him as a brother, not as a friend, to consider some basic Christian principles of living. I discovered that despite all his biblical knowledge in doctrine, there has been little growth in life; both he and his wife. Despite all the outward show of miraculous experiences and biblical knowledge, they very much lack behind in the fundamental elements of the Christian life. I have told him that the strength of a tree is not in the thickness or tallness of the trunk that is seen and openly displayed wonderfully. But it is in the depth and width of the root beneath unseen and hidden mysteriously. Our hidden life with Christ and in Christ is the secret and basic element in our Christian life. Without this, the Christian life is as hypocritical as the religious people of the Bible and of today.

Therefore, I fellowshipped with him that the problem he has been facing now is the Lord's chastening hand to lead them to rectify all the wrongs committed or neglected since they first believed into the Lord. I advised him strongly to humble himself, and start afresh from ground zero, discarding all vain knowledge however scriptural that may be. His inner life has to be set right, as well as his wifie's. His time with the Lord has to be made right daily. A total and a fresh new beginning are what they both need. Without which their marriage will be shipwreck as it has already been cracking.

I gave my word to stand with him and pray with him and also pray for him and his family. Besides the marital issues, financial and health issues are already too much to bear. His wife has just been diagnosed with breast cancer though in the early stage. To me, that is still not the real issue. The real issue is in their basic beliefs and practices of their Christian life. For this, I strongly recommended him to exercise his spirit to call on the Lord's name, pray, and fellowship with the Lord intimately as much as possible. After all, only the Lord is the solution to all his problems.

For his wife and him, we have been praying too, in our family prayer and also in the group meeting and even in the church prayer meeting. Our prayer for their physical and spiritual healing is so that the Lord can gain both of them for His testimony wherever they are. Our prayer for their healing is for the Body of Christ. 

I have been fellowshipping and praying with this brother weekly. The Lord will fully recover him and his wife, physically, psychologically, and spiritually. 

Lord, heal my brother and sister for the sake of Your Body and Your testimony.

Prayer for Healing for the Body (A Brother)

Today morning I received a surprise call from a brother who has been on the process of recovery from being bedridden for the past couple of weeks. Today morning he could get up by himself and he had the spiritual hunger and thirst to call me and pray with me. So we prayed together over the phone for a couple of minutes. In his prayer, he expressed thanks and gratitude to God for being so merciful to him and gave God all the glory. He also confessed his need for the Body and be in fellowship with the members of the Body, that's why he called me to pray with him. He also expressed his thanks to God for I could be his brother praying for him and with him. He even termed me as an "honest and mature and understanding brother" though I personally do not feel comfortable with all these words. In my understanding of myself, I am no way near to all these descriptions. Anyhow, I listened toa ll that he has to pray and I also prayed after him.

A few days ago I received a text from a sister that I could call him though he was still in ICU. To this sister, I told her to inform me when I could speak to the brother over the phone when she informed me of him being hospitalized for weeks then. On being informed, I called the brother immediately and prayed with him. He was so happy that I could call and pray with him and for him.  

Since the time I heard of him being hospitalized, I and my family have been praying in our daily family prayer meeting and in the group meetings. In my prayer, I am very clear about what to pray for. By the Lord's mercy, I have known this brother to some extent since the first time I met him in Shillong. Whatever happens to him is allowed by the Lord in His loving care for His testimony. This brother is very instrumental in the Lord's move and testimony in his state. Though there has been some misunderstanding in terms of truth and practices of the church life, my brother truly loves the Lord. He has also been very influential among the saints and the local churches there. If the Lord so will, he probably could be the one to bring all the saints and the churches in his state into the fellowship, oneness, and blending with the Body of Christ in the nearby states and also in this country. My specific pray for his full recovery in the body is for the full recovery of the oneness and fellowship of the Body of Christ. I am very clear about this point and for this point only I prayed and still have been praying for his recovery, in body, in soul, and in spirit.

The Lord needs proper vessels for His move on the earth. He does things the way He does to achieve His goal. Once we know what God's desire is, we must pray only according to the Lord's heart's desire. That was my heart's desire in my prayer for the brother so that God can fulfill His will in his state Meghalaya and in his locality Shillong. For this purpose, I have been praying for the healing of my brother's mortal body for the recovery of the Lord's mystical Body in that part of the earth. And I have the faith that the Lord will gain His heart's desire and recover His testimony all over Meghalaya.

All that I do or pray for, must be in oneness with God and His desire. That is doing the will of God after knowing the will of God. Yes for this purpose, I pray and I will continue to pray. Even for the healing of my brother for the sake of God's economy, for the building up of the Body of Christ. 

Lord, heal my brother!

Gospel Neighbor

The reason why I am where I am is because of the Lord's sovereignty. He knows best why my family is in Gurugram, and that too, in an upper-middle-class society, among the rich and influential people. I never chose to be here. It just happened, and I have been living here for the past twelve years. The literature work has been carried out from here for the whole country and the saints are also meeting in this place for the church in Gurugram. 

Besides all these, as a family, we have also been praying for the salvation of the people of this city, especially the community we live in. Since the time we came to know that a new neighbor is shifting in, we have been praying for their salvation, not knowing who the neighbor will actually turn out to be. We simply prayed and prayed. Beginning this month, a new family has finally shifted in. 

After a week of prayer, the Lord gave me and my wife the opportunity to visit them one Saturday evening, in fact, last week. It was our first meeting and an ice-breaking session. We had a good neighborly conversion for over two hours. 

During the conversation, I was considering if it would be the proper time to share the gospel. Or should I wait until we familiarise ourselves with them? But deep within I felt that I should not miss any opportunity. Therefore, towards the end of our meeting, I briefly spoke about the mystery of human life. I am not too sure if they appreciated the gospel sharing part as they also seem to be a devout worshipper of their gods and goddesses as manifested in the idols in the room. Anyhow, a simple gospel was preached. And now they got to know us as Christians next door. As a kind gesture, we extended our help in any way should they need so to which they oblige to accept if need be. I even proposed that we should meet up once a week to read through some spiritual materials. Perhaps, I went too far? Then, we took leave for the night.

The following day, I received a surprise message from my neighbor that they appreciated our visitation but was not interested to continue in the "religious" part of spiritual pursuit. The message was so disappointing to me as I thought the Lord answered our prayer in bringing a new family to which we can share the gospel. Looks like they accepted us as a good neighbor but rejected the gospel we are burdened to share with them. Anyhow, this experience drove me to deeply consider before the Lord in prayer how we can be a blessing to our neighbor in the gospel. Since they openly expressed their feeling already, it would not be wise to intrude into their space. The only thing we are left with is, to pray and pray and pray until they are open for the gospel. Perhaps, the Lord wants us to learn the lesson of living the gospel first before preaching the gospel. 

Personally, I was a bit disappointed and repented to the Lord if I had done anything wrong. Or perhaps, I went too far or too fast in gospel preaching. I look to the Lord for His mercy and wisdom that I may know how to preach the gospel at the proper time. Though the situation was such, we do not give up, we will continue to pray and pray, and looking forward to the day our whole neighbor's family will be saved.

May the Lord make us a channel of blessing and even a blessing to all our neighbors!

Love Not Money

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain;6:8 But having food and covering, with these we will be content.6:10 For the love of money is a root of all evils, because of which some, aspiring after money, have been led away from the faith and pierced themselves through with many pains.

Since the very beginning of my human life, the Lord has been taking care of all my needs. The Lord's care has become more evident and real since the time I got saved in 1997. And it has even become more practical since the time the Lord called me to serve full-time in 2003. All these while, the Lord has been my good Shepherd; spiritually, psychologically, and even physically with all my financial support. Umteen number of times, He has been providing my needs and the needs of those around me. He has taught me this lesson of depending on Him for all things even as tangible as money. Therefore, the lesson has always been, not to love money at all. When the need arises He provides. I must never love money and must not and never run after money. The Lord has been gracing me in this regard, and His grace will preserve me to the end from loving money.

Recently, due too the global pandemic that affects the whole world economy. Many companies have gone bankrupt and millions have lost jobs. There is news of tussles between employers and employees, and between house owners and tenants. Each one demanding their rights for survival. Thank God, the Lord save me from this tussle. 

As a serving one in the literature service with a good number of serving ones to care for, I never once thought of reducing or stopping the serving ones' support. On the contrary, I desire to take care of each one of the serving ones first before I take care of my own needs, though I have a big need too. Though there are some serving ones who could not do any productive work in terms of "business" due to the ongoing prolonged lockdown, they all have been supported fully without any delay. Deep within me, I felt they are my own dear brothers and sisters. Their joy is my joy, their pain is my pain. And I take pleasure in taking care of them first before I even take care of myself. The Lord knows my heart, and I believe it is the reflection of His heart, at least in this regard.

The office and the house I live in have also room for negotiation with my house owner. But righteously I felt, since I am using it, even if there was lockdown, I still need to pay the full rentals though the office has not been utilized to its maximum capacity as before. Since the Lord has been providing all my needs, I find no reason to not pay rents. I  do not have the peace to negotiate on the rentals due to the lockdown though my own neighbor did it. I do not have that liberty in my spirit. For the sake of saving a couple of months' rent, I do not want to sell my self for the love of money. I seriously do not know what use the money would be which was meant for rentals which the Lord provided if I did not pay my rents. I find no use for any other reason. I am rather glad that even in times of global disaster, the faithful Lord has been providing all my needs. I see this as a testimony of the living Lord.

When my neighbor asked me if I have been paying rent since the pandemic. I replied with an affirmative, Yes! He replied that he has not been paying for the past three months as his business was badly affected and that he had to lay-off a good number of his employees. Well, he is still a gospel friend and not yet a believer. I cannot subscribe to his standard of ethics or living. Unless my house owner voluntarily offered to reduce or cut the rentals due to pandemic or unless the Lord placed me in a situation I had to talk about the rentals, I could not by myself take the lead to negotiate. My conscience simply will not allow me to do such. In fact, I told my neighbor, "My source is God, as long as He provides, I keep paying the rentals." That was a shocking statement to him. Well, for many people, this is a good opportunity to not pay rent at all with the global issue as an excuse. 

While considering the matter of rent or saving money, I hold no grudge with my house owner who waived off my neighbor's rentals and not mine. At the very thought of such, the Lord reminded me of the verses in 1 Timothy, not to love money. God is the source and it is perennial and eternal. As long as He faithfully provides, I need not worry at all.

A day later, as I was spending time with the Lord, He reminded me again that I should not even be bothered about money at all. He is my source, and whenever the need arises, He will supply. In fact, true to His words, He supplies bountifully. Praise the Lord!

Do not love money.