Learn Christ

Ephesians 4:20 But you did not so learn Christ,

Recovery Version Note:

Christ is not only life to us but also an example (John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21). In His life on earth He set up a pattern, as revealed in the Gospels. Then He was crucified and resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit that He might enter into us to be our life. We learn from Him (Matt. 11:29) according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life in resurrection. To learn Christ is simply to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).

In my study of the word, the Lord convicted me deeply with this matter of  learning Christ. Since I believed and received the Lord, I have been learning Christ in bits and pieces, here a little, there a little. Sometimes, my learning is slow and stagnant. Though I know all believers must be steadfast and burning in spirit, serving the Lord, (Romans 12:11), meanwhile growing up to Him day by day. Somehow I lack behind in keeping up with my spiritual age. These days the Lord freshen up this crucial matter once again. Even convicting me saying, "But you did not so learn Christ."

To learn Christ is simply to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). This happens only by growth, and growth happens only by daily eating Christ, and one can eat Christ daily only when one has the grace of the Lord to hunger and thirst for Him.This requires the Lord's mercy. Disciplined and habitual daily eating is a good way; but enjoying what we eat is a better way. For this the mercy of the Lord is needed. Otherwise, one's eating of the Lord will just be religious duty, piously and ritually carried our day by day. This will not help learn Christ.

Lord, make me poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3) that I may have the hunger to come to eat You daily, and pray, "Lord give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11) 

With this prerequisite, I can learn Christ in a genuine, proper and normal way. Moreover, He will arrange every circumstance deemed perfect for learning Him. Perhaps, in hardships and tirals, or in riches and in poverty; or in sickness and in health; or in weakness and in strength; or in life or in death. But what He deemed best is indeed the best. And to His sovereign arrangement, I humble amen and give myself to Him, that indeed, I may learn Christ.

Pleasure

Pleasure, a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment, is often misunderstood by many, especially the religiously spiritual ones. Because of its immense dilution by Satan as a counterfeit of genuine pleasure which is God Himself, many have disdained the very usage of this word, and even much more the very subjective experience of it. Satan is too aware of God's intention for His children to enjoy Him as the greatest pleasure, he introduces via crooked and fallen minds, many evil, unhealthy and dirty counterfeit of pleasure in the form of sinful pleasure, earthly enjoyment and worldly entertainment. Its form are varied; changing and developing with the pace of time and ages. Nevertheless, God's desire for man's enjoyment of God should not be deterred.

Interestingly, after God created man, He placed him in Eden garden with his counterpart (Gen. 2:15). Eden, beautifully means pleasure, signifying God's desire for man to enjoy Him as his ultimate pleasure; the presence of God which is the fullness of joy forever. This is God's desire and good pleasure too. But this can be experienced only in the mingled spirit, the subjective holy of holies where God as the Spirit dwells within us, by the living, walking and the exercise of our human spirit.

Today the counterfeit pleasure are mostly external; fleshy and fleshly, pertaining to sinful enjoyment of the indwelling sin in man, in his flesh. This indeed is a kind of pleasure too, though negative and sinful in nature and very short lived. This is where the whole created man is trapped since the fall. This is why Christ had to shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sin, the personified and embodied sin in the flesh.

A more decent yet sinful pleasure is of the soul; of the unrenewed and crooked mind, an undealt emotion and untamed will. These from of pleasure may not be outrightly sinful in the eyes of man, but in nature is sinful. The world has enough to offer a delightful treat to the soul. In fact, man has spent most of his time and energy for this soulical pleasure. In a gentleman's vocabularly, this is just a decent and normal lifestyle. However, to the living among the dead, the two are just sinful of varied degree each.

The highest and holiest pleasure is that of God and God Himself. His presence means all to those who are truly His. Riches or poverty, sickness or health, life of death, good or evil, day or night does not affect this genuine pleasure. The Psalmist of old have written a lot in poetry and hymn about this ultimate and consummate pleasure, God Himself. Once one experiences God's presence, all the counterfeit pleasure of Satan are far too inferior even to reckon, much less compare with the superior and extreme enjoyment of God Himself.

The Lord in His mercy gave me such experiences at times. And mostly in the Body of Christ, when coordinated and in oneness, His presence is always there. And also when one lives and walks in the spirit, the presence of God is enjoyed. Last night the Lord gave me such experiences of enjoying His sweet presence. O what a joy! Praises and worships and thanksgiving overflowed, This indeed, is the experience of the third heaven! O how I long that the Lord visit me likewise all the days of my life, and to all His children. Yet, this is just a foretaste of the New Jerusalem. All our being, doing and living are for this. Lord, Your presence, our pleasure...

Words

I never realised how human words can be so powerful especially on the destructive effects then the constructive. Even facts spoken in human words can be easily misunderstood especially if one is not in the spirit. Unintentional words spoken with good intention may mean entirely different with the hearer, even among the believers. In fact, among believers the effect is more rampant as the enemy is always on the alert to use every opportunity to attack the saints; to make it mean what it should not have meant, to create confusion and destruction.

Recently this happened to me. I was misunderstood for what I did not intend. However, I cease to believe that such misunderstanding can halt a spiritual progress of a believer. If mere words can hinder a person's growth, it is very doubtful of that person's stability and spiritual soundness. Nevertheless, I would not allow such minor case to be a stumbling block to a weaker saint. May the Lord forgive me.

This brings me to the matter of the tree of life. Anything apart from Christ as the tree of life can bring in death. If I don't enjoy this tree of zoe, all my deeds, much less mere words, can bring in death. I must eat the tree of life and live by the tree of life. May the Lord preserve me from anything apart from this tree. The tree of life is the solution to all problems. If I am such a one who enjoys the tree of life, my words will be full of life to impart life to others. Otherwise, all that is spoken is of death and darkness, even though the words spoken were good and spoken with good intent.

The Lord reminded me again and again, to mind my words, and bridle my tongue. To speak or not to speak should be determined by the indwelling spirit. Tonight as I had a meeting, I let loose my tongue to comment unnecessarily on certain matter and that created ruckus before our small group meeting. A real life lesson indeed. Later, we switched gear and started enjoying the Lord by singing hymns of praise to God. O we all were transferred to a new realm and we kept singing hymn after hymn until we realised we have spent more than two hours with some ministering of the word and prayer. 

Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord," Yes to speak or not to speak is determined by what you should speak. Speak word of grace in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. With these the enemy will have no ground to misinterpret it to the hearer.

Lord, preserve me in the enjoyment of the tree of life and to only speak words of life. 

In Christ

A couple weeks have passed since I have been delving on the mysterious phrase, "In Christ." This simple phrase spans the whole Bible and the whole divine revelation. It has been so frequently used by many Christians that it so become so common to the point of nullifying its real significance. Today, to many among believers, its a reflex action of the mouth to utter this, yet far far away from its reality.

"In Christ" signifies one is in Christ. Christ today is in every believers' spirit, but how about every believers in Christ? The problem today is not that Christ is not in the believers, He is very much there since regeneration. But to many, He is just locked up in their spirits without any freedom. Instead of He taking control, the soul or even the flesh of the believers is mostly the ruler and the person. So is the deficiency in many Christians' lives and living. I, not an exception.

When my Bible reading portion was on dealing with the flesh and walking by the Spirit as in Galatians 5:16-26, I could not easily proceed further, as the Lord was leading me to the subjective experience of the word. Though outwardly sinful I may not be or at least appear to be, but there has been a struggle between my human spirit and my flesh, as is with any man with flesh and blood. I delved deep into the word and prayed, over and over again, considering the practicality of walking by the Spirit and not having to do with anything of the flesh.This has been going on for a considerable length of time. 

One Lord's day morning, I could not read my Bible further and I was led to pray a very genuine prayer, opening myself fully before the Lord. The Lord then shone upon me that the answer to the very question I had been asking was the very familiar phrase I have been using all my Christian life-- "in Christ!" 

When one is in Christ, sin, Satan, the flesh and the world has no ground. The fact that one is struggling a toggle between the two is, one is not in Christ. Where is Christ! "..in Christ....seating Him at his right hand in the heavenlies" Ephesian 1:20. So when one is in Christ, and since Christ is in the heavenlies, he is in the heavenlies in Christ! If one is truly in Christ, the question of the flesh is obsolete. But the question remains, "How can one practically be in Christ moment by moment?" As I pondered over this question, the Lord shown on me further with the very dictum of the church life, "Exercise your spirit!" What a revelation of the revelation that have become so common. Yes, to exercise my spirit and to live in the mingled spirit is the way! Hallelujah!

As I went through these mysterious interaction, out sprang a very familiar hymns that I could sing the whole lines by heart, even in Hindi. I enjoyed singing this hymn and joyfully thanked the Lord for my spirit and His Spirit in me. Yes, to be in Christ, is to be in spirit; exercising our spirit to live and walk according to the spirit.

Later this experience became my portion and I ministered to all the saints in the local church on that Lord's day prophesying meeting.

1. We will sing to the Lord with our spirit,
   We will sing to the Lord from within,
   We will sing hallelujah to Jesus;
   And be blent into oneness with Him.
2. We have been many years in religion,
   We have been many years in our mind,
   We have been many years in emotions,
   Always seeking, but never to find.
3. Now we’re learning to turn to our spirit,
   Now we’re learning to take Christ as life;
   Now we’re learning to feed upon Jesus
   And be freed from all struggling and strife.
4. Hallelujah for life in the Spirit,
   Hallelujah for newness within.
   When we turn from our mind to our spirit,
   We enjoy all the riches of Him.
4. Source: http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn.php/h/1141#ixzz2bReGnYkp

Zeroed

The Lord in His sovereignty allowed me to experience Him practically in many minute and practical matters these days. Especially, making me realise that I am nothing and indeed, nothing; not just a mental apprehension but a real life experience. All the good qualities I thought I possess were all stripped off one by one. My strong points became my weak points; both in the physical and spiritual realm.

I used to think I am a man of prayer, but the Lord showed me that without His grace I don't have any strength to pray. I used to think I am a seeker of the truth, with much hunger and thirst for the Word, but the Lord showed me that without His operating in me I have no thirst for Him and without His Spirit's enlightening I have no taste and enjoyment of the Word, even though I still may read the Word regularly. I used to think I am full of patience, but the Lord exposed me in many minor things that I really do not have any patience at all; rather I complained and murmured, and that He alone can be my patience. I used to think I am quite disciplined from childhood but without the Lord's grace, I realised discipline is just a regulated form of asceticism. I used to think I can discern things rightly and make decisions wisely, but the Lord exposed me that my discernments are full of shortages and my decisions are full of flaws. I used to think I am wise enough comparatively but my own wisdom condemned me of how foolish I was and have been. 

These experiences are treasure to me; an exposition of my self, who is just worthy of condemnation and death. This humbled me to the core and I thanked the Lord for such a revelation. Otherwise, I would have been a blind fool assuming to be wise.

It took a lot of dealings by the Lord to bring me to this realisation. What a mercy to see and know who I really am. With this revelation, I humble myself before the Lord and cry out for His mercy. And this confirmed my desperate need to be identified with the crucifixion of Christ and live in His resurrection life.  

Lord have mercy on me, and continue Your wise work of stripping until none of my self remain, but only You and You only. Hasten that day!

Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.

Recovery Version Note 2: To be poor in spirit is not only to be humble but also to be emptied in our spirit, in the depth of our being, not holding on to the old things of the old dispensation but unloaded to receive the new things, the things of the kingdom of the heavens.

To do the right thing, in the right way at the right time is not sufficient, it must also be done in the right spirit. Its not merely a matter of being right outwardly, but much more being right in our inward being; having the right spirit in doing the right things. This is far more important than just doing things right.

To be poor in spirit is to have the right spirit in every matter. Especially in our Christian living, walk and work, a proper spirit is of utmost important; never assuming we are qualified or "spiritual" or "good". One who is poor in spirit is always humble before God and before man, not to receive praise from man of being humble, but genuinely and deeply seeking the Lord and His kingdom; always open to Christ, the Head of the Body and also to the believers, the members of the Body, for more fellowship and the Lord's speaking, in the principle of incarnation. Such a one trembles at His word and also rejoices at it, and heeds the word in all purity, sincerity and faithfulness. Such one boasts of nothing except in his own weaknesses and in Christ the Lord. Blessed are, indeed, such ones: poor in spirit.

These days the Lord's speaking to me is just the same. My prayer has been that the Lord, in His mercy, would make me poor in spirit and pure in heart. Any impurity or pride within me may be uprooted from its very core till I be as blessed as the poor in spirit. In fact, in reality, I know I am not, yet I look to the Lord to make me such. May the Lord have mercy on me.

Recently a brother texted me of the Spirit taking the things of Jesus and making it real to us, as in John 16:15. My immediate reply was, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, to realise the reality of Jesus as realised by the Spirit." Yes, every spiritual and heavenly blessings, all of the all-inclusive Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit can be real to us and subjectively experienced by only those who are poor in spirit. For the things of God, of the Spirit, of Christ can be realised only in the spirit, and this too provided, one is poor in spirit to realise the reality of God. So truly, and indeed truly, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens."

Lord, make me poor in spirit!

Family Time

God has blessed me with a wonderful wife, my better half and my perfect match, with two wonderful kids and awaiting the third one. Counting over all what God has blessed, I have no reason why I should not thank and praise God. What a blessing! And what more can be more blessing than this? Life is wonderful in Christ. Sometimes hearing of many cases, I wonder why people do not enjoy their lives? Perhaps, they are void of the true and living God? For believers in the true and living God, everything is so sweet and enjoyable, even bad things at its worst, is a deeper experience of the Lord. So nothing is bad for those who are truly in the Lord. Come what may, God is with us. The presence of God means everything.

Sweeter even, is the enjoyment of family life with children; just being a husband to my wife and a father to my children, spending time together; playing together and doing household chore together, etc and etc. What an enjoyment! Though I have been a father for more than half a decade, I have never experienced the sweetness of family life as the Lord has graced me these days. Training children, teaching and educating them, praying together with them, reading the word of God--the Bible together with them, and in their childish fight, intervening to make peace between them, caring for them when they are sick physically,.. The list may go on and on. All the world has to learn doing things is right there in a proper family life. If one can handle his own family well, all the basic learning to deal with the world is half learned. O the importance of a family life, who can fathom it?

This is why Satan hates a proper family life; he is using all tools to dislodge the family ties. Couples falling prey to the Devil's subtlety are pitiful. Recently I have come across some; swirled by the typhoon of household turmoil. May the Lord preserve my own family from such and also preserve the families of the saints. Only the covering canopy of the Lord's blood and the supplying grace of the Holy Spirit and the unfailing, eternal and divine love of the Father can preserve us, purely, holy and wholly for Him. Slowly, yet steadily, as the years go by, family life is sweeter and sweeter, in the Lord.

As much as a normal Christian has his time with the Lord, in the word and for the saints in the church, so much more, there must be a family time. Parents having no time for their children, busy in their work to make money is the worst at its best. Even if it is for the Lord's work, family must not be neglected, not that family stands between God and us, but proper time must be given just for the family. Though parents must do their best for the family, yet the outcome is all upto the Lord's mercy. May the Lord bless every Christian family. And may the Lord preserve my family unto the end for His purpose.