Brother Doctor

Ten years ago when I first came to Delhi I met a brother whose brother was a doctor in the most famous medical university in India, AIIMS. It was not a very pleasant relationship then, as naive and immature I was in contacting people. Nevertheless, our relationship went on. Now and then, we would meet exchanging religious "Hi-Byes". 

Few years later, that brother doctor would frequent the church meetings with some home fellowships. But, being from a "Pentecostal" affluence some matter of the local church meeting he would deem incomplete. Undoubtedly because we do not practice nor pay too much attention to minute and peripheral things, our full focus is on Christ and His church only. With this little lack, as he felt, we lost touch for years altogether.

However, his name was somehow listed on my prayer list. For I maintain a record of all those whom the Lord burdened me to pray for. Though some of these are "hopeless" cases to me, because of the Lord's burden in me, I preserve the record and prays for them now and then.

Two weeks ago, this brother gave me a surprise call, and that call led to an appointment to meet him, and we did meet the following week. O things were so different now....

Brother himself testified of the lack among believers in knowing and practicing the Body life. His own statement repeated over and over again was, "Everything else were there, except the Body-consciousness." This statement is purely out of so many years of experiences of his Christian life in the denomination. Now the Lord has brought us together again to fellowship as members of the Body. The Lord burdened me to fellowship on Ephesian 2:15 and Colossians 3:11 concerning the "One New Man." 

After the fellowship, the prayer we offered and the attitude of our brother was so positive and touching. We fellowshipped to meet again and that he would also visit the brothers in Delhi for more fellowship. Later, when I came back home and discovered that his name was indeed on my prayer list, I was so encouraged at the faithfulness of the Lord.

May the Lord fully recover this brother and his whole family into the Body-life as he has been so much burdened for.

God's Speaking : Restoration

With two saints whom the Lord recently recovered into the church life, we visited a brother of their acquaintance. It was my first meeting with him, nevertheless, our acquaintance became so sweet and the Lord's anointing was richly felt in the meeting.

The pre-lunch meeting was all his time to pour himself out. The Lord graced me with a listening ear to patiently listen and discern whatever he had to say. His "ice-breaking" session went on for over an hour, and that was a very good one. For I got to know and understand him more to be able to minister the word later.

After  a lovely lunch was served, the ball was on my court. Beginning with God's plan, creation, the fall of man, the redemption of Christ, the regeneration of man, the growth in the divine life and also church according to the Bible, I went on and on, with some interactive sessions in between. The flow of the Spirit was so sweet that we all get much life supply through the fellowship, including myself; I was so supplied too. It really met the urgent need of the brother.

He had been a zealous lover of the Lord with a strict upbringing from an orthodox Christian family background. However, things did not turn out so good as expected of a religious believer. His matter went to the extreme of marital discord, lies, cheating and even divorce with false accusations and family separations. Not only so, he was literally robbed of everything including finances and properties. At that juncture, he was seeking the Lord to the uttermost with all religiosity and piety. But a time came when all these religious struggling reach a limit, resulting in breaking loose from self-made religious laws. Since then, he came even to the point of not being happy with God for all the unfulfilled promises, or rather, a kind of spiritual rebellion; stopped fellowshipping with believers and stopped the regular church meeting. Just be freed and broke loose from religious ties. 

To this narration my instant and innate reaction was, "Praise the Lord!" But I had to explain why I praised the Lord for such a bitter experience.

Initially, I ministered on the matter of the need for God to stripped us off of all our natural efforts, struggling and striving even for good. And further ministered on the importance of taking care of the basic of our Christian life; normal breathing, drinking and eating the Lord daily. Then he was very much encouraged and confessed that he had neglected these basic necessities. He was so happy that these matters were made clear to him and he joyfully exclaimed, "This is God's speaking; I will definitely do it from today..." Meanwhile, before we left, his mother also commented that she was so happy to see his son being so happy; and further confirmed the aptness and timeliness of the words spoken as she also listened from the adjoining bedroom.

The knowledge of the word and the revelation of the word is important to rescue the children of God from the devil's blinding darts. With the proper understanding of God's words and God's ways, the children of God have a clear sky to walk on in their journey of life irrespective of the circumstances, matters, persons or things on the way. 

It was indeed a great day of restoration as he himself testified. It was indeed God's speaking for restoration of our dear brother and his family and also for the Lord's testimony in that city, Noida.

God's Promises

The speaking of the Lord of late was very subjective. This time it is not to me personally, but corporately for the ones with I am coordinating. When applied individually it does mean very much, but I felt it more subjective and enjoyable when applied corporately. The speaking is from Isaiah 35.

1 The wilderness and the desert will be glad; And the desert will exult and blossom Like the rose.
2 It will blossom and blossom, And even exult with exultation and a ringing shout. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The splendor of Carmel and Sharon; They will see the glory of Jehovah, The splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands, And confirm the shaking knees.
4 Say to those who are of anxious heart, Be strong; fear not; Indeed your God Will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped;
6 Then the lame will leap like a hart, And the tongue of the dumb will give a ringing shout; For water will break forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.
7 And the desert mirage will become a pool, And the thirsty ground, springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, their resting place, There will be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 And a highway will be there, and a way, And it will be called, The Way of Holiness. The unclean will not pass on it, But it will be for him who walks on the way; No fools will err in it.
9 There will be no lion there, Nor will any ravenous animal go up on it; They will not be found there; But the redeemed will walk on it.
10 And the ransomed of Jehovah will return And will come to Zion with a ringing shout, And eternal joy will be upon their heads. They will lay hold on gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

In our distribution service, this season is kind of dry. The challenges ahead of us are like herculean tasks, as we prayed and planed to comb through the whole of North India, beginning with UP, with the ministry of the word. We didn't even know how and where and when to begin; but just planned it. As we pray-read these verses before our fellowship, the Lord enlivened us and gave us a new direction. The pray-reading was so enjoyable that it went on for about an hour, until finally we started fellowship. There was not much to fellowship, for through the enjoyment of God's rhema word we got the answers already. Within seconds we made decision after decision, and later I compiled them and sent it for prayer, to the churches. 

It was no longer "thus spake the Lord",  but is rather, "the Lord promises and thus it will be." 

A week later, in our propagation in Gurgaon when we had our prayer, the Lord spoke through these verses again. With all the trainees, the Lord reconfirmed His promises for the break through and increase in the church in Gurgaon. With much joy we pray-read these verses and declared them as facts already accomplished! The word of God is true and living and it has been fulfilled!

Witness

As I shepherded a new believer, his sharing on how he was inspired by a political leader of different faith doing so well with a global appraisal and a national applause, which even brought him to reconsider his newly found faith. Here is the need for stability in faith in Christ Jesus, at the same time, there is also an urgent need for a living witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This made me consider the word "witness" in the light of the Scripture, and thus is this article.

Acts 1:8

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Witnesses: Lit., martyrs; those who bear a living testimony of the resurrected and ascended Christ in life, differing from preachers who merely preach doctrines in letters. In His incarnation Christ carried out His ministry on the earth by Himself, as recorded in the Gospels, to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God only in the Jewish land. In His ascension He would carry out His ministry in the heavens through these martyrs, in His resurrection life and with His ascension power and authority, as recorded in the Acts, to spread Himself as the development of the kingdom of God from Jerusalem, as a beginning, unto the uttermost part of the earth, as the consummation of His ministry in the New Testament. All the apostles and disciples in the Acts were His martyrs, His witnesses, of this kind (reference 8c). See notes 113 in ch. 23 and 161 in ch. 26.

A normal Christian life is a life of "My witnesses", bearing a living testimony of the resurrected and ascended Christ in life. Any living falling short of this is abnormal. "My witnesses" is Christ's witnesses and a Christian life is such. Whatever one is, wherever one works, he must be a witness. Christ, the Head, has placed each member of the Body according to His sovereignty. And He also has given gifts according to the measure of each one. Without any envy or striving, one must diligently live the Lord and function according to His measure. Then the Lord has a way to fulfill His purpose on this earth; this is the very meaning of our existence.

The word "Witness" means so much to me. It can be a witness of the Lord or even witness of anything else too. The hue and cry of these days politicking in India does have serious impact on the minds of people. If one is not solid and stabilized in his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, witnesses of other faiths does affect them. The mere pomp and show of some leaders in different religious faith keeps the novices wonder if those too were of the living God. In fact, it is, but not necessarily a matter of faith attached to. God gives rain and shine to all. He appoints leaders which we are urged to pray for, even gentile kings. They may not be believers but God uses them to display His multifarious wisdom. King Cyrus, the Prince of Persia, was used by Jehovah to trumpet the return of the Israelite diaspora to Jerusalem to rebuilt the ruined temple. That does not necessarily mean king Cyrus was a believer in Jehovah; may or may not be, only God knows. But the danger is in attaching "witness" to king Cyrus rather than the invisible God behind kind Cyrus who made him a harbinger of such a herald.

Having observed thus, I do pray that the Lord may raise up many of His children to be on the level of "king Cyrus" in status and position, and at the same time be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. To me, such is also effective in reaching out to all, especially among the gentiles. A Christian should have a good testimony before God and man; in all fields, be it academic, professional or business. Even to this regard, I pray, if the Lord wills, I would pay any price for such, trusting the Lord's grace and blessing.

To be "My witnesses", of the Lord Jesus Christ to all the nation!

Bear One Another's Burdens

Galatians 6

2 Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ completely.10 So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do what is good toward all, but especially toward those of the household of the faith. 

This is what the Lord has been teaching me these days. My Christian life is becoming more subjective than ever before. Besides, the Lord has blessed me richly and also graced me accordingly to be able to burden the saints' burdens.

Recently the Lord has been dealing quite severely with two saints in a very particular way. And He graced me to be with them through all their thick and thin. We have had a lot of fellowship, prayer and considerations concerning their matters. And it was amazing, how the Lord led us step by step, to solve one problem after another. The Lord has been so subjective. I can only glorify the Lord in His sovereignty over minute detail, all for the purpose of gaining them, their inward being and their outward living. 

After certain amount of dealing and breaking; and perhaps, growing a little bit more, they began to function like "Nathanel" in introducing the Lord Jesus to some of their colleagues. And more so it will be, for this very purpose is the Lord's dealing in them.

While bearing the same burden with them, I myself learn and gain Christ a lot. In fact, it strengthened my faith in the Lord and helped me to function more in shepherding not only them, but their colleagues too. This is an opportunity the Lord often arranges; when such knocks at my door, I should not shy away from it. Rather, grasp it at all cost. This is a blessing in disguise. And especially that of the household of faith. 

As being a human being, sometimes, doubts do arises as to go ahead or not. No doubts, it is crystal clear that as believers one should help one another and bear one another's burden. But what if an advantage is taken of? That's the Lord's business, He will righteously handle it. But my responsibility is to heed to the Lord's word, to bear one another's burdens. Come what may, in bearing such burdens, the gaining of the Lord and the experiences the Lord blessed is much more worth than the burden itself per se. 

This is the lesson, my wife and I are learning intensely these days. Thank God for the opportunity. O that I may learn this lesson thoroughly well: to bear one another's burdens, especially of the household of the faith.

Miracles?

When in life one is going through troubled times, hardship, trials, sickness and even death; one often look to the Lord for miracle of deliverance and healing of some sort. Genuine healing and work of God, I do not deny, but petitioning for miracles when the Lord ordained such incidents to deal with our natural man and gain us, is not called for. If the so called miracles have to happen, all the lessons hidden behind the incidents would never be learned. In fact, the greatest miracle would be not just to bypass the situations but to go through it and come out triumphantly in Christ. Such miracle even the devil will tremble and dread it to the uttermost.

In recent days I have had much fellowship with some saints, particularly in a case where business plan went upside down, yielding a proportionate loss instead of the vainly hoped gain. Every time we fellowshipped the Lord showed one step ahead, not in a way of miracle outwardly sending money from nowhere, but by righteousness and life. A heavy and important decision was taken, in fellowship and prayer, and that led forward a recovery a step each time. Besides, the greatest miracle that I witnessed was the saints losing all their natural self-confidence and trusting in the Lord much more; praying much more, loving the Lord much more and above all, their whole being recovered for the church life! What a miracle this indeed is? What is impossible with man become possible with God! To me, this is a miracle; gaining Christ and being gained by Christ.

Yet another "miracle" may be, I experienced and enjoyed the anointing of the Lord when I fellowship and prayed with the saints. The bigger the problem or matter is, the better the experience, the sweeter the fellowship and the stronger the anointing. Bearing the burden of the saints as though it is mine own, sympathizing with them, encouraging them and standing with them, I feel I am more blessed. Instead of "deliverance" physically, the experiences of Christ in a deeper and richer way is the "miracle." 

Having learned and tasted this "miracle" I would always, as much as the Lord allows, open myself to the saints in need and give my time for fellowship and prayer. Every problem the saints brought in, is a blessing in disguise, a precious gift from the Lord. Only the fools will bypass it; the wise will look to the Lord for the spiritual lessons beneath the problem, whatsoever. Though time, money and energy has to be invested for such, it's worth it. The end result outweigh the investment. 

Lord, grace me to face any challenges in life, be it mine or others, as long as it is from You.

Traffic Jam

Today afternoon I was on my way to pick up a family for a prayer meeting cum love-feast dinner tonight. Though I started on time I was stuck up in a traffic jam at its peak hour where five main roads converged. When I started from home I was about to take a different route that would by pass this road, but by reflex action I just took this one and securely locked up in a traffic jam. I had no other choice; I could not turn back, nor to the left, nor to the right, and neither could I go forward. Just stuck in the traffic jam. I guess the longest jam I ever experienced in Gurgaon. What else could I do? Time was running out, moreover, my plan was to be in time for the Tuesday prayer meeting tonight with the new family. It looked like the enemy was not happy. I just called on the Lord and prayed - a good time for prayer, not for the traffic, but the time created by the traffic for prayer.

Once the traffic was cleared I went to an area which I thought was the address for pick up point. But I had to drive merry-go-round to find the exact address. Another lesson learned; I should not assume things  but always check and cross-checked to confirm it first.

This reminds me of certain situations in Christian life where often we get stuck up in "traffic jam" of life. Whether by mistake or coincidentally, life just get stuck up. Mostly allowed by the Lord, so that He may have a way to break through into our inward being and break loose all self-confidence, just to faithfully trust in Him only. 

Such "traffic jam" are mostly and sovereignly ordained by the Lord to get through into a believer's being. This happens to me oftentimes, for instance, today's traffic jam. On the one hand it taught me precious lessons of life and yet on the other hand, the Lord has a bit more ground to work Himself into me. For, all the reasons behind this, too, is out of my own initiation, perhaps, out of a good heart of learning to be hospitable to new ones and trying to walk the extra mile of caring for them.Nevertheless, such lessons always comes with a price.

Overall I thank the Lord for His sovereignity, or else I would never learn something new, and may never write this blog. Thank you for the "traffic jam!" Though I don't look forward to it nor welcome it again, but I definitely would not deny the lessons and price tag with it, if it does.