Humble Service

..It is not fitting for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables. Acts 6:2b


Two kinds of services are revealed here: ministering the word of God and serving tables. The context of this verse gave more weight to "the word of God", nevertheless, "serving tables" is not neglected either. Both are important. Judging by human logic, "the word of God" far out-weights "serving tables". And it is very easy to lower the value of "serving tables" which sounds a mere levitical service. A self secluded spiritual person will definitely prefer "the word of God" to "serving tables" if he were to be given a choice. In my flesh, I would be no different. And so likewise, most or at least some.


But reading further verses v.5, "Stephen" and "Philip" were among the seven selected for "serving the tables"! This is amazing. Who was Stephen? V.8 says, "And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people". Take a break.  Stephen, full of 1) grace and 2) power, 3) did great wonders and signs. Acts 8:5-8 records how God used Philip for preaching the Gospel, casting out unclean spirit and healing many who were paralysed and lame. 


Today, if the likes of Stephen and Philip in their spiritual capacity and manifestations were here, who will serve tables? On the contrary there will be a huge advertisement on any possible media for a huge "spirit filled, powerful messages?" What a shame on today's self exalted generation of Christianity! To the eyes of God, serving tables is serving Him too! Stephen was chosen to serve tables! If Stephen as such could be, why not you and me who are in no way comparison to Stephen?  This is a real challenge to me and many as well. Just to faithfully accept the Lord's sovereign arrangement. The nature of service is immaterial, what is of utmost important is our attitude towards the Lord's wise arrangement.


May the Lord have mercy on me and many of us to be faithful to any service assigned to us, be it cleaning, mopping the floor, arranging the chairs, cooking, washing dishes in the church. All services to God are equal to God. The lower the service it sounds to men, the better it is, giving no room for pride to have its spell cast upon.

Hospitality

Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality. Romans 12:13
Do not forget hospitality, for through this some, without knowing it, have entertained angels. Romans 12:13



In Romans 12:13 is to "pursue hospitality". In Philippians 3:14 is to "pursue Christ" and in 1 Corinthians 14:1 is to "pursue love..". As much as we pursue Christ, we also ought to pursue the various virtues of Christ expressed in human love and cherishing hospitality. To pursue Christ is spiritual and divine, and to purse love and hospitality is equally spiritual and divine with the expression of humanity. It will be ugly odd to only focus on the spiritual aspect of pursuing without the human expression of love and caring hospitality. The later compliments the former. If one genuinely does pursue Christ, it will be definitely manifested in the tender cherishing humanity of mutual love and care.


"Do not forget hospitality..", this is a gentle command. This is not an obligation and can easily be neglected, however, the Lord reminds, "do not forget", which implies the importance of hospitality. To God its so important that we have to be reminded, "do not forget". Not only so, the Lord attached a reward with such an act of hospitality, which is, "a blessing in disguise from God Himself in His visitation". Meaning, the guests are representative of God Himself, visiting us as He did with Abraham. With this revelation, which fool on earth would not entertain angles, God Himself? Making the case clear, we have to grasp for
hospitality whenever opportunity knocks our doors.


The Lord reminded me again of my need to be broad hearted and take care of the needs of the saints. By doing so, unknowingly, angles have been entertained. With this vision, I was delivered from reluctance to give hospitality due to my limited capacity. The Lord indeed knows my need to learn more. This indeed is one of my weaknesses and I am still learning. Thank the Lord, He reminded me of this need and how I look to the Lord for the grace to be such a person so loving and hospitable as Christ Himself is.

Sun & Shield; Grace & Glory

For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield; Jehovah gives grace and glory; 
Psalms 84: 11

The blessings of our dwelling in the house of God are our enjoyment of the incarnated and consummated Triune God as our sun to supply us with life (John 1:4; 8:12), as our shield to protect us from God's enemy (Eph.6:11-17), as grace for our inward enjoyment (John 1:14,17), and as glory for the outward manifestation of God in splendor (Rev.21:11,23). Crystallization-Study of the Psalms, Vol.3, Message 14

Indeed, how true it is in my personal experience of the Lord. Since the day I came into the house of God, I could see that God is not just an outward God as an object of worship only as many religiously superstitious believers do. But He is very much enjoyable as the indwelling life in me as my SUN, the source of my life supply, supplying me with the divine life, not just on the day of my salvation but since then from that very day. As such a SUN, He is drying away all my wetness from groping through mud and water of the world, killing every germs that breeds on the wetness of sin. And supplying the heat and life needed to make me grow, mature, bear fruit and finally ripen for His own harvest.

God is my SHIELD too, shielding me from the fiery darts of the foe. Daily I come to Him as my shield, my hiding  place. Apart from Him, I am just a defeated foe to the foe. But God as my shield, the enemy has no ground and no chance to touch me. He does indeed continuously roared at me but I keep going on under covering of the Lord my shield and I am 100% secure in the house of God, the best firewall.

God is not religiously to be worshiped. The best worship is to enjoy Him daily. The enjoyment of God in Christ as the Spirit is GRACE! Jehovah God gives grace! He gives Himself to me day by day. Even this morning the grace He gave me is this very experience on this blog. He is so rich and can be enjoyed in myriads of flavor. He is all-sufficient and all-inclusive for me to enjoy in every aspect of human life. Not only of those things outward, but much more in things inward. "Lord, grant me the grace I need to enjoy you as GRACE all the days of my life."

God is a God of glory manifesting who He is. And He does wherever He pleases in any kind of environment. Often, in times of trials He comes and manifest Himself using every opportunity created by the wiles of the devil in His manifold wisdom. What the devil has done with his evil intention, God uses it, overturning the whole thing and making it a platform for the manifestation of His glory. This He did in the days of old with the Egyptian Pharaoh. Each time Pharaoh hardened his heart, it was God's opportunity to judge the sinful Egypt and manifest His glory. So is the case in my life. Each time the enemy raises his hand to strike me or my family or the saints in the church, God comes in and manifest His sovereign and manifold wisdom. And at the end, it's all to the glory of God. And indeed to Him is all the glory!

Praise the Lord! God is my sun and my shield, He is grace and glory, when in the house of God, the church. So be it to you.

Caesar's to Caesar, God's to God

Render then the things that are Caesar's to Caesar and the things that are God's to God. Matthew 22:21

Caesar's : This is to pay tribute to Caesar according to his governmental regulations God's: This is to pay the half-shekel to God according to Exo. 30:11-16, and to offer all the tithes to God according to the law of God.(http://online.recoveryversion.org/FootNotes.asp?FNtsID=839)

To render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar is to pay tribute to the Government according to the Government regulation. This to be righteous before man. To render to God what belongs to God is to offer to God. In the old testament, it was the tithe, but today in the new testament, is as much as the Lord bless and according to our cheerful and willing heart of offering (2 Corintians 9:7 Each one as he has purposed in his heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver). This is to be righteous before God. 

The two givings are equally important. One cannot be neglected on the basis of the other. They are like two sides of a coin. One without the other is invalid. A proper Christian will be balanced and will fulfill his righteous duty before God and man. One cannot claim spirituality by focusing on the "God's" and neglecting the "Caesar's." A truly spiritual and proper God-man will righteously take care of both, acknowledging he is still human living under the human Government though he truly has the divine nature under the ruling of God.

Romans 13:

6 For because of this you also pay taxes; for they are God's officers, attending constantly to this very thing.

7 Render to all the things due: tax to whom tax is due, custom to whom custom is due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due.

This reminds me of my rightful duty to the Government of India as a citizen of India that I must faithfully and righteously file my IT return on time as any other citizen. I rejoice to do this, and I am glad God grace me and bless me enough to be able to do this. Any suggestive thought or advice or presumptuous negligence otherwise will be sinful. Its an indirect "gentlemanly" way of robbing the Government.

The Bible, the Word of God, is so clear and balanced about human affairs, and truly it is the living Word of God. Every word in the Bible is for the welfare not only of spiritual, but even of social and national. Even the Lord Jesus Christ was truly God, yet incarnated as a genuine man with flesh and blood, living an ordinary human life, a proper and perfect man, yet a complete God, the God-man. We, Christians are His brothers, and we are the same as He in life and nature, but not in the Godhead. Jesus had set a pattern for all of us to follow, not in a way of outward imitation but by the very divine life of Him who is in us. May the Lord grace every one to be a proper Christian, a proper God-man and righteously rendering Caesar's to Caesar and God's to God.

The Word of God

I made a covenant with my eye; Job 31:1a

Turn my eyes from beholding vanity, Psalms 119:37a

Fifteen years ago when I was saved the verses that kept me from the Tempter's snares are the likes of these verses above. The flesh, with all its sinful vitality always has a grip on the youth, equally as it does with all men of flesh. The path of the Lord seemed apparently absurd with thick cloudy environment of the sinful world. Yet the Lord's Word, the living Word paved a clear path of the believers to tread upon. This, for sure, beckons the hearing and obedient ear of the saved.

As days and years went by, there are progression in life, in truth and in vision. Often times, unconsciously the leading Word of the initial stage of salvation were neglected and compromises crept in, here a little, there a little until one finds himself in a dungeon of the dark, yet professing to have attained great heights and spiritual maturity. But the besetting and belittling sins? It's easily scrap away on the surface more often then dealing with it as it should be by the living Word of God, deep down from the core.

Similar cases occurred to me too. I am not exempted, as I am as ordinary as any human with flesh and blood. The only difference perhaps, could be the grace of the Lord. It is His grace that kept me all these years. Apart from His grace and mercy, I would be no better than the notorious terrorists, the drug addicts, the prostitutes and the criminals whose activities are often recorded to be the reading pleasure of the good man on the daily newspapers. Yes, it is truly His grace and His grace alone that preserved me all these years. "Lord, ever grace me in Your grace."

These verses, "I made a covenant with my eye; Job 31:1a; Turn my eyes from beholding vanity, Psalms 119:37a," calls for a free will exercise to cooperate with God's grace. "I have made" is a decision of the person involved. One cannot simple look to God for grace when he is so passively religious and taking no action. This is the wrong application and a wrong medical prescription to a sickly and sinful soul. It does more harm than good. The Lord reminded me of my need to actively apply the Word with the exercise of God given free will and the exercise of the spirit trusting in God's keeping grace. "Turn my eyes" is a beseeching of the Lord in prayer, in utter helplessness and dependence on God. This also involves the exercise of the God given free will. Yes, we cannot do anything without God. And similarly, God cannot do anything without our willing cooperation with His will either. Here lies the beauty of God and man in mutuality, a God living in man, and a man living by God, with God, for God. This is a God-man living.

The Lord reminded me of these two golden verses. Though the application is not like those days, these are appropriately applied in some specific areas of my Christian life. It's been a great help. The Word that touched me a decade and half years ago is still even more effective now. The Word truly is the living Word of God, a life seed that can be applied to any age of man. I am so much helped afresh. The Words I ate when I was much younger are still working in me today. May all children of God, young and old, eat the Word daily and be richly filled with the Word. This is a heritage, a rich spiritual eternal property. Praise the Lord for the Word of God!

Called and Chosen

For many are called but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14

14¹ To be called is to receive salvation (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 4:1), whereas to be chosen is to receive a reward. All believers have been called, but few will be chosen to receive a reward. (http://online.recoveryversion.org/FootNotes.asp?FNtsID=829)

Many are called, many have experienced the salvation God wrought for any who believe. This aspect is rather general and simple, it requires a simple faith of believing into the Lord Jesus Christ and baptising into His Name. All genuine Christians have been experiencing this. But how about being "chosen"?

To be chosen is to receive a reward, to enjoy the kingdom of the heavens. This is a special portion among the many called, exclusively for the overcomers. To be a Christian is one thing and to be an overcomer is altogether another thing. A simple faith in Jesus Christ qualifies one to be a Christian, but to be an overcomer needs a daily exercise of living out the subjective righteousness of Christ.

This morning as I read the Word, I was reminded of my need to daily live out Christ, taking Him as my life and my living. It is not sufficient just to be a Christian, much more, I must exercise my spirit to live Christ, gain Christ, enjoy Christ and express Christ.

The Lord even convicted me of my lethargic nature towards matters, things and persons. I should be more aggressive in my pursuit of Christ and more severe in dealing with my self, my flesh and my soul life, even apply the strictest lifestyle, trusting in the grace of the Lord and yet having more grace in dealing with others. Specifically, the Lord reminded me to make a covenant by exercising my free will, , not to give Satan, sin and the world any opportunity whatsoever or whensoever. And I must do all that can be done as my human cooperation to not let the evil one have any say or any ground for anything in my life. This is indeed a fresh reconsecration of my tripartite being to wholly be sanctified for the Master's use.

Any by this covenant, He paved the way for me to be an overcomer. Called? Yes. Much more, Chosen. Not just being called in a generic way, but specifically chosen to be an overcomer. May the Lord grace me to be an overcomer with all the saints who have been called and chosen.

The Old Man

The old Adamic race of the dust often raises his ugly head. Since the fall of man, this old man endued with sin in the flesh is a real litmus test of a believer's soul, on whose side he stands with. Even after regeneration, this old man, though objectively crucified at the cross but subjectively toggles between dormancy and aggression based on where the mind of the person is set. The mind set on the flesh is dead, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.

No believer is immune to the activity of the flesh. The flesh with sin is very much present as long as a person is alive. Therefore, the need to exercise the spirit all the time. No genuine spiritual man will easily deal with the flesh, for the more mature a person is, the more he recognizes how sinful he is. The teaching of sinless perfection is just an utopian dream.

No believer can boast ever that he has overcome the flesh all forever. If any claims such, he must be ignorant or blind or at the best a novice. The more one grows in the Lord, the more conscious he becomes of his old man, and thereby, the more he look to the Lord for His blood washing, cleansing and covering. The flesh is very alive but he can be limited, restricted and subdued by our willing cooperation with the Spirit to deny the flesh. This is the exercise needed of every believer. And this is to work out our daily salvation day by day.

The Lord even exposes me these days of how old I have been, and how sinful I have been. The flesh, given opportunity is just the incarnation of Satan manifesting his notoriety. No wonder, the Lord rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me Satan!", even after the glorious revelation of Christ and the Church. Often when not in the spirit, the soul coils down to the bosom of the flesh fully entwined with, in all his heinous deeds. However, if such happens there is a way out! Halleluijah!

The precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is so efficacious! Whenever I fall or sense a guilt within, I come boldly to the throne of grace, apply the blood, offer Christ as my trespass and sin offering and claim the victory of Christ. With this experience bit by bit, day by day, I am climbing the highway of Zion step by step. The enemy may do whatever he may, the Lord is and ever be my Shepherd leading me on and on. The old man will be alive until my last breath, but I must exercise my spirit and starve him to naught.

"Lord preserve me day by day and grant me the grace I need to be in You and one with You all the time. Save me from my self, my old man and my flesh. Lord, keep me in You, in my spirit all day long, all the days of my life."