Deadness

Two week ago, I enjoyed and experienced the Lord's speaking concerning the Nazarite vow in Numbers 6. The main point that I experienced was the matter of deadness. 6:6 says, "All the days that he separates himself to Jehovah he shall not come near a dead person."

It was the Lord's day morning. I was not really in a "mood" because I did not excercise my spirit initially. But as the meeting began and we started singing hymns, my spirit was stirred up. Before this, my deadness let me decide in my dead mind that I was useless and I need not function in the meeting at all. But as we sang, and exercised our spirits, the Spirit really revived me. Within seconds, I was resurrected and felt very lively. My spirit was fanned into flame. Right after the Lord's table meeting, without any second thought, I stood up and prophesied on the matter of consecration, especially on "Nazarite Vow." 

As a consecrated believer I must hate death and have nothing to do with anything dead. Deadness is more dangerous than sins. For sins could be redeemed with the blood of the Lord Jesus, but once deadness invades, it is just dead. Deadness issue from Satan himself and is manifested in many forms. Even the church of God is under the constant attack of the enemy's darts of deadness. Some of the common ways of spreading are gossiping, backbiting, loose talks, criticisms etc.. As consecrated believer, since our whole being is consecrated, we must give no room for the hearing ear and the seeing eyes, and not be contaminated by these forms of deadness. Instead, be exercised in spirit to receive life and minister life to one another.

Following this prophesying, some saints followed suit to confirm the very matter of deadness spreading through careless talks and how they consecrated themselves not to give heed to any of loose talks. Neither receiving nor spreading death. But be exercised and filled in Spirit to minister life to one another. 

The prophesying was so time, so healthy and so enjoyable. I personally could sense what the Lord did among us guarding us against the attacks of the enemy from deadness. 

Lord, All the days of my life, I separate myself to Jehovah, and may I not come near a dead person.

Lord, Preserve me in Your life, fill me with your life and may Your life overflow!

Lemon Juice

These day we have been drinking a lot of lemon juice; mostly for health reason and also to beat the heat. Every time I made lemon juice, my daughter would stand by me watching the way I made it, if she was around. It has been a refreshing juice for all the family members, in fact, lemon juice is our favorite drink; natural, healthy and available. 

One day my daughter served me a class of lemon juice in my office. She came, exclaiming with joy, "Daddy, I  made lemon juice for you!" I was surprised that she could very well made the juice, just as tasty as I used to make. Just to confirm, I asked her a couple of times if she really made it. Thus to convince me, she would show it to me how she made it. She held my hand and took me to the kitchen. There she demonstrated how she made it. Wow, children learn so fast, and they learn it from their parent.

This is a good reminder of being a pattern to our children. Every movement, every word, every thing under the roof is like a ready-air ever ready to fill the empty and hungry jars. Home is the best school for kids to learn lessons of life. What they will be, will be determined by where they live and how they are brought up. So if I want my children to be godly, I myself must be godly; if I want them to love the Lord and pursue the Lord, I myself must love and pursue the Lord. What I desire them to be, that I must be, as a pattern. Of course, the Lord's mercy is also needed to accomplish this. But, as a father, I must bear the fullest responsibility with my wife to be a healthy pattern of a normal God-man life.

Just as much as we need lemon juice to quench our thirst, so much the more, we need the reality of lemon juice, the Spirit, to quench all our spiritual thirsts, under the hot and hard weather with worsening climatic changes of the world. Only the Spirit, the live-giving Spirit, can quench all our thirsts. We must come to Him day by day, to drink Him.

From this common and simple juice, so much of life lessons to be learned. Praise the Lord that I am learning it; how to make lemon juice and enjoy lemon juice; teach others to do the same. 

Only the Spirit is the real life juice that satisfies all hunger and thirst. 

Lord, fill me with Your Spirit day by day!

Praise Him!

Last Wednesday morning a brother called me up to present a brief overview of a portion on "Praising" from brother Watchman Nee's book. Though I read this message already, it did not impress me as much as it did, when I read it over and over again. The revelation concerning "praising" never dawned on me before this message sank into my being. 

"Praise is the highest work carried out by God's children. We can say that the highest expression of a saint's spiritual life is his praise to God. God's throne is the highest point in the universe, yet He sits "enthroned upon the praises of Israel" (Psa. 22:3). God's name and even God Himself are exalted through praise". Lesson 16, Messages for Building Up the New Believers, Vol. 1.

The Lord graciously spoke to me through my own pursuit of the message; I was so joyful to learn the hidden depth of the Lord's word in relation to praising Him! Praise Him because He is ever praiseworthy! The message overview was so enjoyable and I myself was very much supplied. Later, I wrote to a brother whom the Lord burdened me to write on the same line: my own enjoyment as a fellowship to him.

Praise the Lord for His sovereignty!

Come what may, we must always praise the Lord. When our prayer seems to be unanswered, or we are unable to pray, we must exercise our spirit of faith and praise the Lord for what He is. No matter what our situation is, He remains the same, He is ever praise worthy. We praise Him not because of our good situation, not even because of the evil ones, whatever may be our inward and outward condition before God and man, He is still and ever praise worthy. For this we must praise the Lord!

When we praise Him as such, victory is ours. The fiery darts of Satan have been poisoning us, nevertheless, its sting can be undone and overcome by praising Him. Sometimes, we don't understand many mysteries in our lives and the environment surrounding us, sometimes we go through much pain and internal bleeding within, which are often hard to share to any one else except to the Lord. But even at such times, we must offer a sacrifice of praise to the Lord. Praises issuing out of the pains, hardships, troubles and trials we are going through are the genuine praises as "sacrifice of praises". The Lord is pleased at such praises.    

Tonight as we prayed for all the new contacts and released our burden, the Lord led me minister again on this matter of praising. The result of it was full of praises and hallelujahs! Not because of my sharing, but because of the Lord's speaking and revelation through the word. The prayer meeting reach its peak, and it was a glorious prayer meeting.

Right after this I received a call from a brother who has been through "the valley of the shadow of death" from all angles of life, to the extent that the fellowship was in tears, out of a deep pain within. My joyful encouragement was on the same message of "praising" even in the midst of much sufferings, offering a sacrifice of praise! The fellowship concluded with praises and hallelujahs, for the Lord is sovereign over all and He is ever praise worthy! 

Praise Him! Not just with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; Not just with psalteries and harps and stringed instrument; Nor just with claps and shouts and dances. But much more with tears and pains and agony! That's the highest form of praise, the most genuine praise, straight from the heart; sacrifice of praises!

The Joy of Helping

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so. Proverbs 3:27

The Lord blessed and graced me to experience this verse and to enjoy the joy of helping others in need, especially, the household of the faith.

As much as the Lord blessed us, He also graced us partake in the joy of helping others. Through much prayer and fellowship, my wife and I, in one accord, coordinated to help our younger brother to start up his business. Years ago it was a "no-no", but now years after, it was all a "yes-yes". For the time is ripe now and he has grown more mature in many aspects of life. Besides the financial help, the greater blessing was that of closer brotherly tie and sweeter fellowship in Christ. Now I can testify in the Lord's grace, that we have a very good coordination for the family affairs and also for the spiritual shepherding of one another.

Another case was a widow sister who was in dire straight of her daughter's education for lack of fund to pay the school fees. When the matter was brought for fellowship, my wife and I, in one accord, decided to meet all her urgent need. Oh it was such a joy to be a channel of blessing, especially to the saints.

Similar case was with another family for their second baby delivery needing help, and yet another two sisters for their business crisis bail out. In all these cases, the Lord placed us in a situation "When it is in the power of your hand to do so", so we grasped the opportunity to "not withhold good from those to whom it is due", so that in helping others, we can share in their joy and enjoy Christ together proportionally.

In fact, in all these cases, we never expected anything back. We leave all to their conscience how and when they will pay back. Righteously they must, but graciously we will not demand. The joy of helping is already our reward! I only wish, we can help all the  more. 

Since it is all out from Him, it all must all be also through Him, and yes, also all unto Him. What a grace to be graced with the blessings of helping, yes, especially to the saints, the household of the faith. 

Lord, grant us more grace for more such grace.

Brotherly Fellowship

Last week in Bengaluru, the Lord granted me the blessed opportunity of fellowshipping with different brothers. He supplied the life in our fellowship and we had such a wonderful brotherly fellowship. Though it was an official trip, it turned out to be more of spiritual fellowship. 

• After a decade long the Lord brought me together with a brother who was my close academic friend, a prayer partner, spiritual companion and now a fellow member in the Body. The Lord was faithful to lead us through in various stages of life, and led us out from the division and religion of Christianity to Christ Himself and the glorious church life. Though a decade has elapsed, still our relationship in Christ is fresher than when we were a decade ago, as student friends. 

• A fellowship with my cousin was also quite timely. Though I was instrumental in shaping his career and laying his spiritual foundation, we have long been out of touch. However, the seed of life once sown cannot die, for eternal life never dies. The spiritual growth may be hindered and delayed, but the life can never die as much as God cannot die. My main burden was to reestablish his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and restore his normal Christian life and also perhaps, recover him for the church life. Only the Lord's grace and mercy can do this. After an hour long fellowship I gifted him for his pursuing, The New  Believers' Series, 3 Volumes, with a strong emphasis on his personal time with the Lord in prayer and the reading of the word of God and also, perhaps, the fellowship with the fellows members in the Body. Then I prayed for him.

• A fellowship with another brother elder to me, at least in age, was very straight forward, for I could succinctly discern his urgent and timely need. Though he has had various experiences of the Lord, his life and living has a lot of instability.  My simple fellowship was, that he should be first disciplined to read and eat the word of God everyday and be constituted with Christ  as the Spirit in the word. And also be disciplined to live a life of prayer, faith and trust in the Lord for all his needs, physical, psychological and spiritual. Such a dear, humble and simple brother, I admire in these aspects. May the Lord gain him fully.

• A fellowship with my fellow brother in my official responsibility was more of a testimony than a "fellowship" per se. The Lord's anointing was simply to testify of all the goodness and greatness of the Lord. I testified of how I came into the literature service and all the experiences of trials and testings the Lord graced me through, and how he further blessed me in many areas of my life. The burden to him was more of an encouragement in serving the Lord and being faithful in every matters, small or great, to man even as much as to God.

• A sweet flow of life on the experiences of the Lord's blessings and the conditions to receive such blessings was with another brother with whom I coordinated for literature distribution in the past. He was such a good shepherd that the Lord blessed him with the blessings of the sheep he has been shepherding. He is a clear testimony of a good shepherd. The saints just loves him. 

• Besides, the Lord also granted more brotherly fellowship with few other brothers which I have been missing for years altogether. There was a joy indeed in this kind of fellowship-brotherly fellowship; full of life supply, full of shepherding and even perfecting.Praise the Lord for brotherly fellowship! The more the better!

Glorious Ending

The quality and outcome of a man's life is determined primarily by the last stage of his life. As in Jacob's life, at the age of 147, he manifested such a glorious testimony of being a "blesser". He blessed and blessed; he blessed Pharoah, his twelve children and also Joseph's two sons. And finally had a glorious ending.

Though I am still in the middle age of my life, I pray and hope for such a glorious ending. If, perhaps, the Lord tarries further even till my last breath, I desire the Lord's mercy and grace to be humbly granted a glorious ending with full growth and maturity in the divine life.  

These days, as I encounter many situations especially among the elder brothers who are physically full grown, perhaps, with grey hair, my prayer for them, as much as it would be mine too, that the Lord may grant them more years, if He wills, otherwise, whenever he pleases to take them, let it be a glorious ending. Not that I do not want them to live longer, but that their lives be full of the manifestation of God's glory. O how I wish this for all the saints too.

I seriously hate the enemy's work of attacking the senior saints and make them a cause of concern. Sometimes, seniority is a big danger, as they tend to think they are learned and often presume to be perfect in whatever decisions they make or whatever things they do. And the further danger is in being set, unchangeable, inconvincible and sometimes stubborn. May such never occur in the the church life in His recovery.

What a blessing to be in the midst of the senior saints who are full of life; who have been transformed and dealt with, and have been filled with the divine life! Such are the treasure and blessing of the younger generation. From whom we can learn, of whom we can be perfected and to whom we can fellowship. 

Lord, grow in all of us unto full maturity till the glorious ending! 

Shepherding Day

Today the Lord, the good Shepherd, shepherded me by bringing many sheep for shepherding. Since, morning when I barely finished my office work, "sheep" after "sheep" visited me for fellowship.

Listening: The first group was three friends, two of whom have already received the gospel. They were all local youngsters, very very promising for the Lord's local testimony. And they were all very talented in their respective profession. Two of them were Engineering students and the other a promising diplomats and social worker having a connection with social and political leader of Gurgaon. 

The way of shpherding to them was just to listen to whatever they have to share. Listening is a very important lesson of shepherding. This is the first character in brother Watchman Nee's book, "The Character of the Lord's Workers". I did not speak much, but I keep listening to them and encouraged them to pour their hearts out. After about an hour's time, the boy who spoke all the time exclaimed that he was so happy meeting me and felt such a peace and release. In fact, the main reason he came was he had a verbal fight with somebody yesterday and since then he was mentally restless. After he came and met me, he felt such a peace that all his worries left him. I only told them without, God life is vanity of vanities and encouraged them to come regularly even for the Lord's day meeting, which they agreed. A fresh and good relationship was established. May the Lord gain them all.

Fellowshipping: Even before the first group left, two dear sisters came over for fellowship. All the fellowship was the pouring out of all anxieties, fear and tensions, choking them at the moment. It was indeed hard times for them, a serious crisis in their business life. However, the Lord allowed it with a good intention of gaining them wholly for Himself. My fellowship to them was on : Psalms 145:17-19 on "calling upon the name of Jehovah" and Proverbs 3:5-10 on "trusting in Jehovah at all times, acknowledging Him always and honoring Him with all things". Later we prayed together, and helped them in all ways possible, even financially. They were so joyful and the Lord has been praised! 

Helping: Again, before the sisters left, another brother came for practical help to break another world record though he already has five world records and six national records to his credit. Besides the physical help, my sincere fellowship to him was that he should read the Bible everyday, which he promised to start from tonight. Though he has been praying a lot, there was a lack in reading the word of God. Later, as I dropped him, he invited me for a snack of pizza where we mutually shepherded one another- a brotherly cherishing indeed. Helped and be helped.

Cherishing: And in the midst of helping the brother mentioned above, another sheep came to meet me. I had a wonderful friendly cherishing talk with him. Even shepherded him in the matter of finding a proper sister for his marriage. He felt so happy and was cherished. He left with much joy and wanted to visit again at the earliest.

Such was the shepherding the Lord shepherded me with. 

Lord, Thou art the good Shepherd, shepherd me daily by shepherding, and to shepherd Thy sheep.