Brothers in Confinement

Concerning our brothers in confinement, I have been asked again and again about the well being of the brothers, and also the status of the bail application. Since I was not directly involved in the legal proceedings, all that I know was what was told to me. But one thing I have been doing daily is to pray for the brothers. Officially, I was also asked by the brothers in the publication work to update them of the situation. For a couple of days I had nothing to update as nothing was updated to me. But the moment I got a confirmation of the present situation on our Wednesday coworkers' fellowship, I drafted a report and cross-cheched with a brother for correction and confirmation. Once the details were update, checked, corrected, and confirmed, I sent the update just to one brother who will do the needful.  The report is below:

Update: Our Brothers in Confinement

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Remember those who are imprisoned as bound with them, those who are ill-treated as being yourselves also likewise treated in body.

(Hebrews 13:3, RecVer)

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Appealing for Bail in the High Court

Christian lawyers who have been representing various Christian groups in similar cases are now working for us. We applied for bail in the lower court only once and that was rejected. Now, we are going to the High Court for applying bail.  

Monday 4 Nov: Application date for High Court bail plea.

Hearing date may be granted in about a week's time.

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The brothers have been doing well in the prison. Two of them even shared the gospel to their inmates. One of the inmates called upon the Lord’s name and was saved! The very next day, he got bail. The inmate who was bailed testified to the brothers that God had sent them to the prison for His salvation!

The brothers have been resting well and have a lot of time to pray. They even testified that since they have a lot of time with no entanglement, they have been praying for the Lord’s move in North India especially for the state they are in. They requested that if we have any prayer points, they will pray from the prison!

Prayer Burdens

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Pray for the granting of date for the High Court bail plea to be submitted on 4th Nov 2024.

Pray for the brothers and lawyers preparing for the court hearing that God be their wisdom and Counsellor in all the legal proceedings.

Pray that the five brothers be granted bail and released.

Pray for the growing and multiplication of His word in North India.

Pray for the comforting and strengthening of all the family members of the brothers and the saints in the churches in North India.

The Lord is the Lord and He knows how to Lord over every situation. Sometimes, I felt the brothers in confinement have been enjoying life much more than those outside. Though this may sound paradoxical, but as far as I can tell, the brothers in confinement are resting and enjoying the Lord. As the update above, they have been the witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ even inside the prison! Besides, no burdens to bear, they all have been resting well, eating well, and I believe praying well too. I may not be wrong to even state that those who are imprisoned outwardly are released inwardly and those who are released outwardly may be imprisoned inwardly. The real freedom is the freedom of the soul. With no outward entanglement, the soul will definitely be released. With the exercise of the spirit, the soul would be freed further. 

That said, I still pray strongly for their release as they are needed by their relatives, the church, and the official work they are involved in. To this effect, we pray every night for their well being and much more for their release. 

Lord, release our brothers in confinement.

Blending Today

Today, the 31st of Oct, being a national holiday, we fellowshipped and made a plan for a one day Indoor and Outdoor Blending. When the proposal was made by a brother I had no idea what to do with the holiday. Later, as I considered together with the brothers and the saints in fellowship, we all felt good to use the day for blending purpose. Therefore, the outcome of the consideration was apt and clear. 

For the first in the church in Gurugram, we gave all the responsibility of practical arrangement for blending to the young people. From planning to execution, for all the food purchase, preparation, and cleaning up, the young people exercised and they did their parts very well. Some parents and saints attended the blending and enjoyed together with the young people.

Our young people have been so much blessed by the Lord. They all are very talented in many aspects. From studies to sports and other extra curriculum activities, I have discovered that they have been very blessed by the Lord. May the Lord preserve their youth for His divine purpose.

Personally, it was a joy for me to witness the young people functioning positively for the blending. My participation was mostly in initiating the meeting and giving them guidance wherever and whenever needed. Of course, I enjoyed singing with them the young people songs after a long long time. And also enjoyed the food cooked by them. Given the opportunity and guiding them properly, the young people can be very useful in the Lord’s hand.

After lunch lovefeast we went for an outdoor blending. Though the park we intended to visit first was closed, we went to another botanical garden where the young people enjoyed playing games and sports. Though I could not mingle with them in sports, I had my share in just taking a walk on the park. Surprisingly, we met a family who was by faith Catholic and established a contact with them. Perhaps, this may be the open family that the Lord may wish to gain. 

After the outdoor blending, we all came back to the meeting hall and continued blending by singing and fellowshipping, followed by another lovefeast dinner. Thus, the day was well spent in blending. 

Praise the Lord for the one day blending! The young people were happy and the saints too. What a wonderful church life!

Fellowship on Children's Work

As a parent of teenagers children, my wife and I have been invited to join the serving ones and parents of the teenagers in the church life. Generally, I would leave the matter to the serving ones, but since it was mandatory for the parent to join too, I joined such a fellowship. It has been a blessing to join this fellowship as I came.to know the importance of the children in the church for the Lord move. If our own children were not gained and become useful to the Lord, it would be even more difficult to gain outsiders and make them useful to the Lord. If our own children were shepherd properly, we will have a bright future for the Lord’s testimony. As they grow up, they will become more and more useful to the Lord and can even become channels to gain many more people for Christ and the church. They will even become our own coworkers to serve the Lord together with us, as a family, as the church. What a glorious testimony this would be!

Timothy of the Bible is a good pattern of how a child has been sheoeheded at home to eventually become an apostle, a coworker, and an useful vessel to the Lord. There can be many more Timothys raise up in the church life, provided the children work is taken care now.

And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:15, RecVer)

From generation to generation, the Lord has been gaining people for His testimony. Timothy is a good pattern, from his grandmother to his mother and to him, all in the family become useful to the Lord! The secret is children service.

Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded dwells also in you. (2 Timothy 1:5, RecVer)

Children's work is a one piece work as it affects the young people, college students, and finally the working saints. Our own children gained for the Lord in the church life is much better than gaining outsiders. If our children are perfected today, they can become our brothers and sisters, co-working with us as the seeds of the kingdom when they go to college campuses. This is the best increase that a church can gain. In addition, they can further become our own coworkers. They are seeds of the kingdom.

And the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; (Matthew 13:38, RecVer)

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the sojourners of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (1 Peter 1:1, RecVer)

Train up a child according to the way he should go; Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6, RecVer)

The dispersion is the scattered seeds among the gentiles. Peter considered the dispersed Jews as the seeds sown among the gentiles. This is a good example of how our own children as the seeds of the gospel of the kingdom can impact the spread of the kingdom of God. Like the Jews in dispersion spread the gospel to where they were scattered, our children can spread the gospel to wherever they would go in the future. Be it school or college or university campuses, the gospel will be spread wherever they go. To raise up a proper generation, we need a proper children work today. Our view concerning the children work should be long-term. This is a pipe line, a comprehensive service, children work.

We should encourage the children to love the Lord, His word, and the people. In that way, they will be useful to the Lord. We need to have general contact and specific young people for perfecting. It is a warfare as many young people were and are being l distracted by the world. We have to help them pursue the high peak truth, live a God-man life, and propagate. All for the fulfillment of God’s divine economy. 

Lord, bless all our children for Yourself!

Truth Constitution

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 2:3-4, RecVer)

Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. (John 17:17, RecVer)

The Lord has been faithfully leading us in His recovery to go and on in our Christian life in the church life. At least to my knowledge and experience, I can testify how much we have blessed by the Lord through His word. The truth is abundant in the church life with the rich supply of the ministry of the word. Any saints who are open to the Lord and to the ministry have ample opportunities to read, study, pursue, and be constituted with the truth. Moreover, this constitution, in many cases, will be followed by the experience and enjoyment of the truth resulting in the growth and maturity in life.

A week ago, the responsible brothers of the churches in India dived into the recent training, video messages, held at Warsaw, Poland, ITERO Oct 2024. As I also attended the training, I was so much supplied by the ministry of the word on the reality of the kingdom of God. The entrance and the living of the kingdom of God have been made very clear to me. Though all Christians have been born into the kingdom of God, it is also imperative to live by the divine life through which the entrance was made possible. The living out of the divine life is the need of the hour to live in the reality of the kingdom. Only a mere entrance through regeneration is not sufficient. In this regard, I was convicted of my living sometimes when I did not live by the divine life. I failed in many instances. What a warning! Yet one thing that encouraged me is the grace that the Lord has been gracing me with, to spend time with Him everyday in prayer. I truly have been enjoying my time with the Lord, a personal relationship and fellowship with the Lord. 

In the church in Gurugram too, we have a daily Life-study reading every night from 10 to 10:15 PM with extra 5 minutes of prayer. Now, this also is an add-on to the lives of many saints. Another opportunity to be constitute with the truth. The reading portion may be short, but day by day, word by word, the truth has been gradually wrought into the lives of the saints. I could see that some saints have been supplied and revived by this daily truth pursuing.

In addition, there are the home meetings, group meetings, daily morning revival, weekly PSRP, Bible readings, and truth pursuing in groups. All these are the blessed channels the Lord has been blessing us for our truth constitution and then further for our experience and enjoyment of Him.

As for me, in addition to all these, I have an extra portion to pursue the ministry everyday with the serving ones in the literature service, and weekly with those involved in the distribution service. If the Lord’s will be so, I hope to at least read through all the ministry books that have ever been published. I have been a beneficiary of the riches of the ministry! This is a special grace from the Lord.

Now, for our children, teenagers, and college students too, Bible reading, prayer, and truth pursuing have been arranged. As my specific service in the church is with the college students, I have been fellowshipping with them weekly and now helping them pursue the truth and also perfect them to present the truth. All these are done with the vision and burden of shepherding our young ones to live a God-man life with the rich constitution of the truth. Inward constitution of the truth will result in the outward living of the divine life.

The knowledge of the truth also delivers one from anything not of the truth. Today, there are thousands of preachers and teachers. Only the proper knowledge and experience of the truth can save one from deception and be set free from unscriptural bondages.

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. (John 8:32, RecVer)

All these is for God’s divine purpose to be fulfilled in us and through us. 

Lord, preserve our vessels and fill us with Your divine and eternal life through the constitution of Your divine truth for the fulfillment of Your eternal economy.

Special Meetings

Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget hospitality, for through this some, without knowing it, have entertained angels. 

Remember those who are imprisoned as bound with them, those who are ill-treated as being yourselves also likewise treated in body. 

(Hebrews 13:1-3, RecVer)

This week, we are blessed to have two saints visiting the church in Gurugram. Despite the ongoing situation of our brothers' imprisonment in Mathura for over a month now, the church life goes on with much intensity. The saints have learned by now that it is indeed the hand of God in all these for His intensified move in North India especially among the saints. Though we were very worried initially and, in fact, were gripped in some kind of fear, now all that is gone. We learn to accept whatever God allows. He knows what is best for us for His testimony. Though denied bail twice at the magistrate level and session court, we did not lose hope or heart. We still pray and pray, and the Lord will do His work in His way in His own time. The saints all over the world are aware and are praying day by day. In the midst of this, our enjoyment of the church life goes on, it intensifies, and is being uplifted!

Last Lord's Day, Tuesday, and Thursday, we enjoyed the regular meetings like never before. The saints' participation grew in number and the nature of the meetings was uplifted. In addition to having saints visiting us from Pretoria, South Africa, and Bengaluru, South India, the saints who rarely joined the meetings before also joined. The group meetings were revived. In this way, brotherly love continues. And with these saints visiting us, we were shepherded to give hospitality. 

A visit of a brother was special to me as he was one of the brothers coordinating with me in the initial days of the church life in this locality some eighteen years ago. Though the Lord has allowed him to migrate to another locality and later he took up jobs leaving his full-time service, the Lord has been faithful to him and his family. Through thick and thin, he has been braving through hard times. Though he was on a business trip, I took his visit as an opportunity for me to fellowship and blend with him and also exercise giving hospitality, which I am still learning.  In this way, Hebrews 13:1 and 2 became very subjective to me. 

Yes, let brother love continue no matter what the situation of the brother may be, and not to forget hospitality, perhaps, I might be entertaining an angel. With this view, I also took him to join the Life-study pursuing meeting and then dropped him at New Delhi Airport T2. Though he insisted on going by metro, deep within I left the need for me to drop him by car, which I did. In fact, that turned out to be the longest drive I ever had to the Airport. A drive of two hours which generally would take about forty-five minutes. The traffic was terrible and I could hardly drive at about 10-15 km per hour. But that gave us more time to fellowship as we snailed through the capital city congestion. In all the fellowship, I was very much restricted by the spirit not to opine on anything good or bad. My responsibility was just to give hospitality and pay heed to whatever brother felt to share. No opinion. We are all in the Lord's hand. He is working on each one of us.

Besides, last Wednesday a couple of saints visited the brothers in the prison in Mathura and gave us a very encouraging report about the situation of the brothers. They were all rejoicing. Physically, they all had a good time of rest; doing nothing but eat and sleep. Last Lord's Day, when one sister mentioned the need to rejoice in the midst of trials, I quoted a verse and we all sang together the verse.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Philippians 4:4

These were all the special meetings the Lord blessed the church with these days even as He brought us to experience Hebrews 13:1-3.

Special Fellowship for Prayers

Two days ago I received a call from a brother concerning the combined prayer meeting of the churches in NCR especially in relation to the ongoing situation as we have been facing persecution and that five of our brothers have been placed in confinement. This is one of the cases among others where certain anti-Christian groups joined together to purposefully persecute the believers who are a mere minority in their large influential domain. It has been one month since our brothers have been imprisoned. Since then, the churches have been praying and whatever legal steps necessary were all taken. Now the only way out is for the Lord Himself to intervene and do the needful. No matter what transpires these days, we believe in the sovereignty of God and His wise way of doing things. He knows what is best for His testimony in India, especially in North India. Therefore, we all came together online for a time of fellowship and prayer yesterday, Tuesday night, the 22nd of Oct exactly after a month of our brothers' imprisonment.

The burden and content of the fellowship were on fighting spiritual battle and building up the church. But the question looms large,"How to build up the church?"

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18, RecVer)

The Lord Jesus is building His church and the gates of Hades have been opppsoing strongly ever since. As the members of the Body of Christ, we stand in oneness with the Body and fight in the victory of Christ, the Head of the Body. Fighting the spiritual battle in the Body by the following important points from the human side were fellowshipped. Once the church is built the enemy knows his time is limited. Therefore, the gates of Hades will attack the build-up church. But the gates of Hades shall not prevail. We must not have confidence in man but in God. 

Experience the Death and Resurrection of the Lord

The Lord Jesus went through the process of death and resurrection right after He unveiled the mystery concerning Himself and the church and made the greatest prophecy ever, the building up of His church. In this way, He set a pattern for us to follow in building up the church. he went through death and resurrection and defeated the gates of Hades. This signifies that believers today too should experience the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus in fighting the spiritual battle for the building up of the church. For this, we should no longer trust ourselves but trust in the God of resurrection. No longer begging or commanding prayer, but praying prayers of victory and ascension.

Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for Him to be held by it. (Acts 2:24, RecVer)

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of our affliction which befell us in Asia, that we were excessively burdened, beyond our power, so that we despaired even of living. Indeed we ourselves had the response of death in ourselves, that we should not base our confidence on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Cor. 1:8-9

In this battle, the enemy targets the soul of the believers, especially the mind and the emotion. The mind immediately runs wild if not renewed and if not under control. The mind likes to opine and speculate under the deception of the enemy to lead the believers astray in the wilderness of darkness. Then, the emotion follows to cause anxiety, worry, and a sense of insecurity. This is how the enemy makes the vulnerable believers his prey and makes them his defeated foes. Therefore, with our mind renewed we should simply believe in the word of God, the fact God has accomplished at the cross where He already defeated Satan, and also be delivered from the emotional influences but stand with the fact that Christ in His resurrection loosed the pangs of death. We must also know that Christ is the living One.

And the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever; and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Revelation of John 1:18, RecVer)

The Lord’s presence is with us forever and ever in the midst of all these trials and temptations. 

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of our affliction which befell us in Asia, that we were excessively burdened, beyond our power, so that we despaired even of living. (2 Corinthians 1:8, RecVer)

Even the apostle had already experienced affliction to a greater degree. Including, despair which is even lower than depression, a state of losing all hope. Nonetheless, we should base our confidence not on ourselves but on God alone.

Indeed we ourselves had the response of death in ourselves, that we should not base our confidence on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead; (2 Corinthians 1:9, RecVer)

Prayer

In the midst of hardship, when people are suffering calamities, God is using all these to fulfill His heart's desire. For this, we must pray. Pray the age-turning prayer, like Daniel. Pray the victory prayers in ascension. Positionally, we must be in ascension in the spirit, to pray from victory to victory.

And raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:6, RecVer)

And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. (Revelation of John 6:2, RecVer)

Hand Ourselves Over, Consecrate Ourselves to God

Finally, there is a need for absolute consecration to God. As we see all these calamities, we must no longer live to the earth but live to the Lord. We must pray that God may have His way to come in and turn this age. We are not afraid of persecution and opposition. We are afraid that there may not be many who are consecrated fully to the Lord.

Despite all that has been transpiring these days, the word of the Lord must be remembered. The gospel of the kingdom must be continued to preach. The way and timing of preaching may change, but the gospel must be preached and preached until the end of the age.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14, RecVer)

This special fellowship on prayers accomplished two important things for the church in Gurugram. First, the strengthening of the saints in times like this for prayers. Second, the house where we met, we met after a couple of years. Thus a family has been recovered for the church life meeting in their home. After much struggles spiritually for this family, the Lord marvelously worked out things in His favor for the sake of His testimony in this family in Gurugram. I personally can see the hands of God in all these. This is the work of the Lord and He will gain His heart's desire in North India.

Lord, I praise and worship You for this special fellowship and prayers. May Your will be done and may Your kingdom come. Amen!

Fellowship: Newly Married Couple

One of our serving ones in the literature service just got married last Friday. Though he has been eating lunch with us during office working days and is close to our family we could not attend his wedding due to the limitation of the number of invited guests. Because of the persecution faced by the churches in North India at the present time, some families have been affected, and one brother's marriage which was scheduled a day after this brother's marriage had to be canceled as he could not be released yet from the imprisonment for the sake of the gospel. For that reason, the marriage was conducted in a simple and quiet eat and only close relatives and saints in the same district were invited. Therefore, yesterday, after three days of their marriage, we invited them officially to the office for a time of fellowship, prayer, and lovefest. This was the best way I could think of shepherding and cherishing the newly married couples along with their relatives.

Ephesians 5:31For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.

As we had a time of informal small group fellowship, the Lord gave me the burden to share for this couple, for all the other married couples, and also as a preparation for the young saints. Marriage was ordained by God for multiplication and much more for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose in creating man. My burden was simple, oneness between the spouses and loving one another in the divine love of God. I testified in the presence of my wife, how we have been praying together this prayer almost every day, "Lord, cause us to be one with You and one with one another. Lord, cause us to love You and love one another." According to the truth of the Bible, husband and wife are one flesh. This is practical only when the couple is one with one another and loves one another. Without oneness and love, there can be no one flesh between husband and wife. However, for the oneness to be a reality, though God Himself is the oneness and He can only grant the oneness, there are certain prerequisites from the human side that need to be fulfilled. They are listed in Ephesians 4:1-3. I simply read and declared the word of God as they are and encouraged the married couples to practice these human responsibilities of being lowly, meek, long-suffering, bearing one another in love, and being diligent to keep the oneness. May the Lord bless His words to all the married saints for the reality of the oneness of being one flesh in the marriage life.

I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love, being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

A married brother and four sisters also testified of their marriage life especially their relationship with their spouse as a testimony and encouragement to the newly married couple. Then, we continued our fellowship over lovefeast lunch. In the humanity of Christ, I did all that I could do officially to shepherd this brother as he newly got married. I allowed him to take marital leave to prepare for his marriage and allowed him to work from home as he requested a week after his marriage. Should he request for a honey trip and a holiday too, I believe it would have been granted. But I left it to them to decide.

In the church in Gurugram, we have not yet conducted a proper marriage among the saints. All marriages that we have witnessed so far were not really from our locality though they have some connection with the church here. There are a couple of unmarried saints in the church life. I do believe, the Lord will grant us a breakthrough in the matter of marriages in the church life. 

May the Lord's will be done among all the saints, especially in their marriage life.

Lessons on Discernment

Joseph in the Bible in Genesis 42-45 exercised a strong discernment and acted wisely when he met with his brothers who betrayed and sold him off to strangers many years ago. He placed his emotions under strict control and waited until it was the right time to express them publicly. Though he loved his brothers, he exercised restraint and acted wisely so that they also could learn the lesson they needed to learn because of their past misdeeds against him. So he meticulously planned the incidents to touch their consciences and at the same time expressed his love at the right time. Likewise, Solomon also prayed for wisdom when God appeared to him in a dream, and immediately God gave him problems to solve using his God-given wisdom. 

In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, Ask what I should give you.

And Solomon said, You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth and righteousness and in uprightness of heart with You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness and have given him a son to sit upon his throne, as it is this day.

And now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king in the place of David my father, though I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

And Your servant is in the midst of Your people, whom You have chosen, a vast people that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude.

Give therefore to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?

And this word seemed good in the sight of the Lord, that Solomon had asked for this matter.

And God said to him, Because you have asked for this matter and have not asked for long life for yourself and have not asked for riches for yourself and have not asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for discernment for yourself to understand justice;

I now do according to your words. I now give you a heart of wisdom and understanding, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor will one rise up after you like you.  1 Kings 3:5-12

These stories in the Bible are no mere Aesop's fables. They are real-life patterns that I must learn from and live according to it. God also gave me the experience of discernment recently in many practical matters in life.

In Money Matter

Generally, I am a soft-hearted person and I sympathize with people easily. If people came to me for monetary help, I always have a heart to help even as God has always provided me sufficiently. So I have sufficient to help others too if the Lord so wills. In the past, I and my wife have helped a couple of needy ones already. This time around, a family who had been in desperate need did not hesitate to mention their needs to me. Which I initially prayed and considered a lot about. Although I had all the clearance from my wife, and myself, I also fellowshipped with a brother, and that too got cleared. Everything was cleared does not mean it is alright to lend. As I considered and prayed over it again and asked the Lord for His wisdom and discernment, the Lord gradually enlightened me to see that despite all my "generosity" and all the path clearance to help, I still must discern based on what is proper before God and also before man. Then, I came to full clarity that even though I have the financial capacity to lend, it was not proper for me to do so at this time, especially as a full-time serving one of the Lord. Besides, the money we have was offered to my family for some specific purpose and not to lend to someone who may use it for some "dirty" deeds to meet their own selfish needs. Oh, what a salvation it was when this matter got cleared! Praise the Lord for this lesson! 

Later, the Lord showed me what this money was for. There was an urgent need for my wife to be able to do a UPI translation via a bank with her as a primary account holder. For this, a bank with a certain opening balance was required. And the money was meant for this purpose and some investment and saving for future use. Oh, a relief to be cleared of this cloud of confusion.

Similarly, the Lord has been teaching me to discern even in reading WhatsApp messages. There were many messages that my spirit sensed not to even read for the contents would not be spiritually healthy for me. Some were accusations, some were personal promotions,  some were simple personal opinions and just good for time pass. So, I intentionally avoided a good number of messages that were sent to me. In like manner, I also stop receiving many calls that may not be necessary, especially calls from unknown numbers. Even if it was known, the spirit within me gave me the sense, whether to pick the call or not. Likewise, in contacting people or even seekers and saints, I still need to discern if I should necessarily contact them or not. I must follow the Lord's leading by His inner anointing.

Romans 8:6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.

1 John 2:20And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know.

1 John 2:27And as for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him.

The Lord has been teaching me lessons on discernment in my daily living. May I daily experience and enjoy His discernment and wisdom more and more.

Enjoying Christ in Fellowship

Three Students

Last week, three student brothers came to fellowship with me at my office. Though no appointment was made, since they came, I had to fellowship with them. I had no idea what to fellowship. But the moment they came, the Lord gave me the words. I hardly knew them and rarely met them too. In fact, two of them were my first time meeting, but as they sat before me, I knew what the Lord wanted to speak to them.

The Lord spoke to me to speak to them, "Be in fellowship with the Body." I had no idea how these brothers were fellowshipping with the brothers in the church in New Delhi. It seems to me that they needed help on how to fellowship. So when they came, the burden for the need to be in the Body and in the fellowship of the Body was the Lord's speaking. I believe that was what they needed. I used the life of Saul to make clear the burden of my fellowship to them.

Acts 9:6But rise up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.

However, as a sidebar, I gave some fellowship on their academic career and introduced a brother who is a professor at a nationally reputed university. That was just a bonus point. But the main burden was to help them to be in fellowship with the Body. I even told them from the life of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9, how the Lord Jesus, after appearing to him as the great light and blinded him, did not tell him nor heal him any further, but charged him to go to a city and meet a certain brother where he would be told what to do. This is the principle of the Body. The Lord used members of His Body to speak to a member of His Body. This is the fellowship in the Body and this is as good as fellowshipping with the Lord Himself. For Christ, the Head, and His Body are one. Then we all prayed together one by one. And they were so satisfied with the fellowship and I was so supplied too.

A Responsible Brother

A responsible brother in one of the local churches in the South called in the night without any prior information. Though late, I still fellowship with him over the phone. In the fellowship, two matters were brought forth. First, how to deal with a brother who was not one with the brothers and wanted to take his way, have his say, and do his deeds. The answer was clear, always be in oneness with the brothers whom the Lord has placed you together with, to serve together in the same locality. While bearing responsibilities, especially for the church, oneness is the key factor. Right or wrong is secondary. In oneness, the Lord will make manifest what is right according to Him. Second, how he should appraise himself in his company as he needs to fill out the form for appraisal reviews? Again, the answer was simple. Our conscience is the biggest and best witness. Actually, our conscience which is in our spirit is where the Spirit of God dwells. Listening and obeying the voice of our conscience is doing the will of God. Here is purity, honesty, and straightforwardness. If grading low is right grade it low, if grading high is right, then grade it high. All according to the fact. Grading oneself low is not about humility, so grading oneself high is not about pride or boasting. It is simply declaring the fact. Low is low, and high is high. With this simple fellowship, the matter was cleared up. Then, we both prayed together.

A Seeking SIster

Last Lord; 's Day, a sister who was introduced to me verbally over the phone came to visit me, unannounced. Yes, I was supposed to call her and also make some arrangements for her to be contacted by the sisters, but I got busy and was never able to make it. So, she came by herself. To her, I was straightforward and asked her why she came. When she replied she wanted to know more about God or Jesus, I asked her when and how she came to know about Jesus. To which she replied again, since her childhood during school days. Then upon further fellowship, I discovered that she believed in the Lord Jesus Christ already. She even testified that she has been praying to Jesus daily. Then, I discerned her actual need was to be baptized. So, I encouraged her to pray and consider her baptism according to the Scriptures for those who genuinely believe. I only helped her to know that she needed to be baptized if she truly believed, and that the church could help whenever she needed baptism.

In all these fellowships, the Lord within me spoke instantly the timely word to all of them, They all visited me without any prior appointment or information. Nonetheless, I experienced and enjoyed the Lord in fellowship with His children. 

In season or out of season, Christ can always be enjoyed with whoever the Lord leads. Amen

The Test of Taste

Ps 34:8 Taste and see that Jehovah is good; Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

Jn 6:48 I am the bread of life.

Jn 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

Jn 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

When the Lord Jesus said, "I am the bread of life", He implies that He is edible and that we should eat Him to receive the divine and eternal life. This is quite contrary to the concept held by many Christians today when they think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, He is worthy of worship, praise, and thanksgiving. Yes, to Him we pray and petition. And we revere Him supremely. But, how about eating Him?

If John 6:57 was not in the Bible when Jesus said, "Eat Me" no one, even in his wildest dream, would even dare to think of eating Jesus. But the Bible plainly records Jesus telling us to eat Him. What a salvation to see this!

However, to eat the Lord Jesus, one must have a hunger for spiritual food. In the gospel of John chapter six, the Lord revealed Himself as the bread sent from heaven, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, the living bread, and the true bread, all referring to Himself as food to eat. The burden is clear, to eat Him. Without hunger for food, it is rather difficult to eat food. Similarly, without true hunger for the word of God, one cannot eat Jesus. 

In addition to hunger, there must be a taste for food. If one does not have a taste for Jesus, it will again be difficult to eat Jesus. This taste can be developed by faith. The more we hear about Jesus or read about Him, the more we will know Him, the more we will have revelation concerning Him, and the more the taste for Him will develop. Then, the hunger and taste for Jesus will drive one to eat Jesus.

While I was taking a personal training on this message on "The Bread of Life," I was very much impressed by this truth of eating Jesus. For which, hunger and taste are two crucial matters to eat Jesus and enjoy him as my daily spiritual food.

This also unveils a very important principle in eating. One eats what one enjoys, meaning having a taste for it. There are worldly and sinful foods too that many have the taste for and enjoy. So, the development of our spiritual taste for Jesus and His word is an antidote to the temptations of worldly taste and enjoyment. Moreover, the taste for Jesus as followed by eating Him should also be followed by nourishment with proper digestion to ultimately become our constitution. 

The question is, what taste do you have? For Jesus or something else? Your taste determines what you will eat and enjoy. This is the test of taste. 

May we have a revolutionary change in our taste. May our taste for Jesus grow sweeter and sweeter until all the taste for the world fades away. That we may only eat Jesus and enjoy Him every day. And live because of Him!

Lord, preserve our taste for You. Give us hunger for Your word that we may eat You every day as our bread of life and live because of You! 

Young People for Christ and the Church

The past few days, I have been very disappointed with the situation going on these days. I felt, in many areas, that I had been rejected because of the truth I dearly treasure. Some theologians had strongly opposed the ministry that I enjoy, promote, and propagate. Some nonbelievers too opposed the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that I dearly have faith in. Even some believers who often fellowship with us kind of betrayed the ministry by sneaking out and joining hands with Christianity. On top of all these, some of our brothers have been imprisoned in Mathura for being in a meeting of the church.  

Yes, I agree that our righteousness is like filthy rags, but to me, I felt I had no righteousness at all. Even if I had one, it may not merely be a filthy rag, but a rotten rag.  In the midst of this kind of feeling, the Lord reminded me that the apostles and the Lord Jesus Himself were rejected when they were in their early ministries. Why should it be different if I suffered the same when following the footsteps of the Lord Jesus and the apostle as recorded in the New Testament? That thought awakened me and it was indeed a consolation prize for me.

Last weekend and this weekend, the Lord brought young people to me for fellowship. Though the outward situation is not very encouraging for the church, but the Lord confirmed to me that He gave me the young people for me to shepherd and perfect them so that they can be pillars for the Lord's testimony. Despite my discouragement with the ongoing situation, the Lord gave me a consolation prize of young people who can be perfected. 

The previous Lord's Day evening, I was with a young brother, listening to three minsitry messages and spending them in fellowship. Last Lord's Day, the Lord brought two young brothers to fellowship with me at different times, one after another. The Lord showed me that I have to work on these young ones and make them pillars for His testimony. He gave the church the best that he could. Though their parents may not be very encouraging. but their children who have come into the church life will be gained by Him and be perfected to bear the Lord's testimony in Gurugram one day.

And every Lord's Day afternoon I would also spend a time of fellowship with the young people. My main burden is to help them live a normal God-man life of daily personal prayer, Bible reading, morning revival, exercising to keep a spiritual record, being faithful in their studies, and consecration of their lives for the Lord in a way of joining the full-time training when that graduate from the college. I have been checking and rechecking how they have been exercising their God-man life practices.  To me, if the basics are right, the root of a tree will be healthy, and then, everything will fall into place gradually.

Oh, what a real consolation to me! The Lord showed me a new light! What a hope we have as the church in Gruugram! About five young brothers, three teenage brothers and a sister, and a couple of children have been gained by the Lord for His church! These are the young people for Christ and the church! They are the future of the Lord's testimony.

May the Lord work in all these young ones, preserve and perfect them for His testimony!

A Doctor's Call

Generally, I call a doctor when I need a medical consultation for myself or my family. This time around, a doctor was introduced to me a few days ago by a brother who lives in Jorhat. Then, a call came to me from a brother who is a doctor and who was introduced to me for some fellowship. When he called, I recognized the brother and we had a wonderful time of fellowship for about an hour.

This was the first time we fellowshipped. We never met nor knew each other before. But from the very first call, he opened to me his personal spiritual and physical situation point by point. He had such a trust in me that he confided many of his personal secrets to me. As I listened to his fellowship, I prayed deep within for the spirit of wisdom and revelation concerning how to shepherd this brother. I patiently listened to all that he had to say with a few interjections to clarify certain points. Finally, when he fully poured his being out in fellowship, I looked to the Lord and exercised my spirit to offer some words of brotherly fellowship.

First thing first. I checked with him concerning his spiritual condition; how often he prayed and read the Bible, and with whom and how often he had fellowship with fellow believers. I also checked with him about his Christian and family background. Based on all that he shared with me, the Lord gave me an understanding of his situation and also gave me the timely words of love for him. (I believe this is also generally how a Doctor would do to his patient, checking the general health condition.)

Personal Time With the Lord

I encouraged him to take care of his time spent with the Lord daily. In fact, this should be the most important thing in his daily life. Only the Lord is the Lord and only He is the source of life and life-supply. And only He knows everything and only He can solve every problem. I am nobody and I simply direct him to the Lord.

Reading the Bible

I encouraged him to read the Bible every day as it is the word of God, the very breath of God. It is only through His words that God speaks to His children. The Bible is the only tangible and concrete word through which one can receive God's speaking without any confusion. People see dreams and visions, but they may not be as reliable as the very word of God. I even showed him the way to come to the word and read the word sequentially from the beginning of the Old Testament and the New Testament and read on and on till the end, and start all over again. And repeat the process of reading over and over again, even all the days of his life.

Fellowship with Believers

I encouraged him to have a time of fellowship with any Christian brother he can trust spiritually. I offered myself to him if he wished to fellowship with me again. He was so glad that he could fellowship with me and said he would call me again.

With this little fellowship, I led him to the Lord Jesus, to prayer, and to commit his marital matter to the Lord, and that the will of the Lord be done in his life.

After the fellowship, he was so much relieved and expressed his gratitude to the Lord for granting him such a time of fellowship. I do believe the Lord will fully recover his enjoyment of the Lord first and also will recover his marriage life.

Mt 9:12Now when He heard this, He said, Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.

Mt 9:13But go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

This may not be a consultation with a doctor but it definitely was a fellowship with the Doctor of doctors.  Jesus Christ is the true Doctor!

May the Lord work in this doctor brother and recover him fully for Himself and his marriage for the Lord's testimony in Chennai.

Family Life Lesson

May our sons be like plants grown up in their youth; May our daughters be like corner pillars hewn out in fashion for a palace;

May our barns be full, furnishing produce of all kinds; May our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; May our oxen be fully laden; May there be no breaking in to rob or going forth to fight, Or outcry in our streets. 

Blessed are the people who are so; Blessed are the people whose God is Jehovah. (Psalms 144:12-15, RecVer)

On 3rd October the Lord spoke to me these verses in a very subjective way as His promise concerning my children and all the children in the church life. This promise is for those whose God is Jehovah. Since Jehovah God is our God, this promise holds true to us and to me. The word of God never fails and this promise is true even today and it will be true in the coming days too. Many of these words will be fulfilled one by one. We are the blessed people because our God is Jehovah. 

This morning my son sent me a text message:

And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but nurture them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4 (RecVer)

Footnote 1: Provoking children to anger damages them by stirring up their flesh. Not to provoke children to anger requires that a father deal with his anger by leaving it on the cross. In this way he is able to render suitable discipline to his children. 

Footnote 2: Admonition includes instruction. Parents should instruct their children with the word of God, teaching them to know the Bible. However, how the children develop depends on God's mercy.

Perhaps, he must have felt that I might have provoked him as I kept reminding him not to waste time sitting before the laptop if not for his schoolwork. There, definitely, was a chance of misunderstanding my words as I spoke out of genuine care and concern. So I accepted his message and replied back:

Amen.

Please forgive me if I provoked unknowingly.

Later, I went to meet him. And hugged and kissed him asking his forgiveness if I provoked him unknowingly. I also kissed my two daughters as a sign of showing my love and care for them. I have been doing this to all my children almost on a daily basis. They know my heart. May the Lord bless them all to be God-man children, loving the Lord, fearing the Lord, and being useful vessels to the Lord.

In parenting, there are many lessons to learn day by day. In fact, many of them are learned through mistakes and misunderstandings. I believe this is how the Lord has been perfecting us to be parents, and in the process, our children will also learn from us. This is all a part of family life, especially if we are believers in the true and living God.

May the Lord bless the families of all His children that His plan be fulfilled in us and through us.

And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. 

Genesis 1:26, 28

A Visit to Prison

Who executes judgment for the oppressed; Who gives food to the famished. Jehovah frees the prisoners;  Psalms 146:7

On the 1st of Oct, four brothers from the church in Gurugram and a couple of other saints from the church in New Delhi visited Mathura to meet our five brothers who have been loaded in the prison for the false charge against them as per the controversial and purported bill of conversion. The Lord is the true Judge and He will execute His righteous judgment to all at His time. This was my first visit to a prison ever. The processes involved were quite tedious. First, we need to register ourselves with a fee of Rs.10 per person and a maximum of three persons can meet one prisoner. Then, we had to wait for over two hours to be called. When we were called, there was the checking process twice, and a marking on our hand. Only then, we were allowed to meet the prisons at the designated meeting area between nested and iron-grilled fences. We were given about 27 minutes time to freely interact with the prisoners.

Our brother came to meet with us. I passed on the money I had brought for them as they had to pay for everything they needed in the prison at double the price. This money assistance would be of great help in the prison. Brothers were all exercised in their spirits and none of them showed signs of sadness. They were all cheerful to my observation, though I did not have the discernment of what would have been going on in their inward being. At least, they showed a cheerful countenance while we conversed with them. I had nothing much to say. I just looked at them and listened to whatever they had to say. My words of comfort would mean nothing at all. I did not want to be a false comforter. I know what pain they have been going through, psychologically, if not physically. I can only sympathize with them and pray for the Lord to release them soon.

I dare not opine concerning what transpired. I dare not say anything lest I displease my Lord who knows all things. I decided to leave my opinion to myself. There is no benefit in sharing any thoughts of mine. They are not going to change anything. What God has allowed, I simply amen. He knows why our brothers have to go through so much. I trust His presence has been with them.

Never in my life, had I ever imagined that one day this would happen. But now it has happened. In the future, I don't know what will happen. But I submit myself fully to the Lord that He may do what He please. We are here for the Lord and His divine economy. When I looked at the lives of the apostles, especially Paul, he went through the same imprisonments, not just once, but at least thrice. In all his imprisonments, he wrote his epistles which are now a major part of the New Testament. In like manner, the Lord must have something special in mind for other brothers and for the church in North India. 

Because of this situation, I have been advised by other brothers to take necessary precautions as I am also serving in the literature service and in the church. The enemy hates what we have been doing for His kingdom. On the one hand, we accept whatever the Lord allows or will allow, but on the other hand, we must take necessary precautions to not allow the enemy to play with our lives and the Lord's church. I have no answers to many questions except that the Lord knows it all and He will do what He deems best.

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Mt 16:18

On our way back, I felt the need to cherish the parent of one of our brothers and the son of another brother. Therefore, I took them purposefully for lunch at KFC. I did not say anything except reply to the questions asked to me. I refrain myself from expressing my opinion. It's all pointless. I would just keep quiet and enjoy the cherishing meal together with the saints. Only once in a while when being asked, I simply said the Lord will release our brothers and He will take care of everything in His own time.

Now, we wait for the hearing for the bail plea and the release of the brothers with the closure of the case against them. Until then, we pray and pray and pray. The will of the Lord be done.