Hospitality

Two years ago, as a young couple with kids, my wife and I, was really struggling in the matter of hospitality. Facility wise and in man power, we were not just ready to give any hospitality to any saints. Apart from this, all the other activities like gospel preaching, shepherding, group meeting and church meetings were all attended well. Often, I used to wonder when we can grow up in this matter of hospitality. One of the characteristic of a serving ones is being hospitable. In 2013 December 31st night, I even shared about the weakness in giving hospitality, and the need to improve.

In 2014 December, the Lord enlarged our capacity so much. He graced us to be able to give hospitality to our parents, both my parent and my wife's parent, each for one month. And later, Saints from Shillong came and stayed with us for few days, and occasional love feasts for different saints. Physically it was busy-schedule, but we received a lot of help and blessings in giving hospitality. The Lord has answered our prayer and enlarged our capacity in this area.

Throughout the years the Lord has been leading us and blessing us, stage by stage. Still looking to the Lord for more grace to grow in every aspect of our Christian life and the church life. Even now with three kids, we are learning not just to manage our family affair, but much more to take care of the saints, the church and the new ones, besides my official responsibilities in the literature service. All these are carried out by the Lord's grace, wisdom and blessings. 

O for more grace, to me more enlarged in our capacities and functions! 

From This Day

Haggai 2:19 Is there yet seed in the barn? Indeed even the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit; from this day I will bless you.

In Life

1 Timothy 6: 13
God, who preserves all things in life

Genuine Care

Deuteronomy 15:

7 If among you there is a needy one amidst your brothers within any of your gates in your land, which Jehovah your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart and you shall not close up your hand from your needy brother;

8 But you must open your hand to him, and you must lend enough for his need in whatever he lacks.

9 Be careful that there is not within your heart a base thought like this: The seventh year, the year of release, is near; and your eye be evil against your needy brother and you do not give him anything, and he cry against you to Jehovah, and it become sin to you.

10 You must give to him, and your heart shall not be displeased when you give to him; for on account of this matter Jehovah your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.

11 For the needy will not cease being in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, You must open your hand to your brother, to the poor one with you and to the needy one with you in your land.

These days the Lord's leading in me and in my family is to take of the needy saints. In fact, by the Lord's mercy, we have spent a lot for others and we are almost running out. Yet still last week, a family fellowshipped of their urgent need. Though we were almost running out in our liquid cash, still the need was sufficient. In fellowship with my wife, we had the grace to help them again. 

Immediately after this, I received a phone call from a distant uncle asking for my account number as his son wanted to offer some from the scholarship he received, to those from whom he received spiritual blessings. (I never reckon myself as any blessing to anyone, but someone feels so that must really be the Lord's doing. And I dare not go against the Lord's operation in people). Initially I thought of rejecting it straight away, but the Lord impressed me that it was His hand to provide me. Later, an amount was transferred.

Following this was another sister who was again in urgent need fellowshipping with me. We just got sufficient to meet her need as we received an offering. Again in fellowship with my wife, the Lord enabled us to help her. There was a lot of cash transaction and fellowship too. 

By the way, while all these needs were brought to us, the Lord's speaking to me was both from my Bible reading and the Life-study of  Deuteronomy. What I had been going through was just confirmed by the Lord's speaking in the ministry of the word. I just could not deny that the Lord wanted us to help.  Even after taking care of the needy saints, still we have sufficient to meet our urgent needs. In fact, we even booked a flat in Gurgaon under a Government's affordable scheme. This is almost like an impossible case becoming possible. If this is not the Lord's hand, it is none else. 

In caring for the needy saints, the Lord's blessings are even more in abundance. "v 10b for on account of this matter Jehovah your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings." I confirm this verse in what we have been experiencing these days. This word of the Lord keeps ringing in my ear whenever needy saints comes for help, "You must open your hand to your brother, to the poor one with you and to the needy one with you in your land." Even when my wife commented that whenever any saint needs help they will always come to us and you will never say "no". To this I replied that it was not my natural goodness that helps, but the leading of the Lord through His speaking. I only obey the Lord's speaking.

What a mercy, and what a grace to be blessed by God to be able to bless others, especially the needy saints! We don't deserve this, but praise the Lord for His blessings! May we be preserved to be able to always care for the needy saints.

Valley of Achor (2)

In 2012, the Lord spoke a very car word concerning the seriousness of the presence of the Lord, without which nothing can be accomplished. Today, He spoke the  same words again, as I considered before the Lord for the defeat we have been facing in the propagation here in Gurgaon. But this time, it is more on the actual failure.

http://palmeichung.blogspot.in/2012/11/valley-of-achor.html

Joshua 7

12 Thus the children of Israel are not able to stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become something devoted to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy that which was devoted to destruction from among you.

13 Rise up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, There is something devoted to destruction among you, O Israel; you will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove that which was devoted to destruction from among you.

Footnote in the recovery version enlightened me so much concerning the presence of the Lord. Note 1 of verse 4 : 

The secret of Israel's defeat at Ai was that they had lost God's presence and were no longer one with God. After this defeat Joshua learned the lesson of staying with the Lord before the Ark (v. 6a). Eventually, the Lord came in to speak to him and to tell him what to do (vv. 10-15). The spiritual lesson to be learned from this account is that we, the people of God, should always be one with our God, who is not only among us but also in us, making us men with with God- God-men. As God-men, we should practice being one with the Lord, walking with Him, living with Him, and having our entire being with Him (Rom. 8:4; 2 Cor. 2:10; Gal. 5:16, 25). This is the way to walk as a Christian, to fight as a child of God, and to build up the Body of Christ. If we have the Lord's presence, we have wisdom, insight, foresight, and the inner knowledge concerning things. The Lord's presence is everything to us.

What a timely speaking of the Lord! As we began our propagation in coordination with the trainees, the Lord's word is to care for His presence. We do not set a target yet, nor do we select where we should propagate, but we know for sure in taking care of the presence of the Lord, the Lord will lead us and gain what He wants to gain in Gurgaon.

The leading of the Lord has become so clear to me: be in the presence of the Lord; and deal with anything that hinders the presence of the Lord. Whatever price to pay, pay it and experience the presence of the Lord. This is the key to the Lord's blessing and the secret of the Lord's victory. In this regard, we will spend more time in prayer and enjoying His presence.

Genuine Burden : In The Body

Since my regeneration, the Lord has been blessing me with burdens, for people who are saved and not doing well, and also who are not yet saved. He further graced me to pray for them continuously. Many prayers have been answered and many more prayers have been added over the years. Now my list are becoming longer by the day, as burdens increases. At times, I wonder if I alone have to bear all these burdens. But since I was very clear these burdens are all from the Lord, I honor them, treasure them and pray for them as many times as I can. 

These personal burdens are very good. But from this week the Lord led me to a higher degree of bearing all these burdens. As I was fasting and praying, as usual, for all these burdens, one by one, every time I mentioned a name and prayed for, the Lord spoke to me that my prayer for that person has been answered in the Body. This was something very new I experienced recently. Every name and every matter I prayed for, the Lord's answers were, its all done in the Body.

As a confirmation, last Monday, a brother whom I have been praying for and in fellowship with for the past two years, called me and informed that he is going for a blending meeting with the saints in the nearby local churches. When he called I was physically resting as I was sick with body-ache and cough. But on hearing the glad tiding that he is going to blend with the saints out of his own will, I was so happy, I woke up from my bed and prayed with him over the phone; praising the Lord for His move. Because, I have been so burdened by the Lord for this brother to be brought into the fellowship of  the Body. Later, I texted him that the Lord may blend us and build us up into the oneness and reality of the one Body of Christ. 

Whatever I have been praying for, the Lord's answer henceforth, was, "in the Body" its all done. I have the burden for prayer, but the answer of my prayer will be carried out and fulfilled in the Body, by the Body for the Body.  

Not that now I have no more burdens any longer, but the burdens I am bearing are very light and vital now. Even in matters of prayer, I must be in the Body and be blended and builded up in the Body. All the burdens are still intact, but the way I pray and uphold them has totally changed. The same burden, but burdens are borned not by me alone, but carried forward in the Body. What a release! What a comfort!

Recent experiences confirmed this. Almost all those whom I bore in prayer alone, are all in fellowship with the saints now, and they all are in the process of recovery. I feel so release and so joyful to subjectively discover and recover this great truth that "genuine burden is in the Body." Halleluijah!

Genuine Spirituality : In the Body

The greatest test of our spirituality is the Body! What a statement this is! Though I have heard this before and read about it a couple of times, it never dawned on me the reality of this statement. 

Last week I was deeply longing to spend time with the Lord in fasting and prayer. Every time I planned, something or the other related to my coordination in the church service came in between. But every time I reconsidered to make a choice, the Lord reminded me this statement again and again, "the greatest test of my spirituality is me being in the Body, serving in, with and for the Body." So the coordination in the Body took preference over my own personal thirst for spirituality. But as I took the way of the Body, I experienced the Lord's abundant life supply!

It was Thursday night, last week, when I wanted to  fast and pray. As I was about to set out a sister informed me of the need for visiting a new family from whom also we planned to purchase some furniture. My innate response was to say no, but on considering it over, the Lord reminded me to take care of the need at the moment, to visit that new family. On my own personal assessment I was very weak, but as I went with the saints to meet the new family, life flowed out in our fellowship in gospel preaching by way of giving a testimony of how the Lord saved me from the mixture of two religions, Christianity and Hindusim, into Christ. After the gospel testifying I felt so happy and nourished. The Lord's speaking in the ministry was confirmed; my spirituality is in the Body life.

The next day, I wanted to plan another fasting and prayer time. But a new group meeting was started of which I felt I must attend.  Once again, I had to deny my spiritual taste and blend with the saints in the flow of the Spirit in and through the Body. I went for the group meeting wherein we pursued the truth concerning "Consecration." It was so life supplying and life flowing again. Instead of me praying individually I could pray and fellowship with the saints and enjoyed the Lord's supply in the Body very much.

Again on the following day, I attempted to do the same personal spiritual exercise. but the whole day I was fellowshipping with the brothers concerning the church matters. Later, in the afternoon, we prayed together and went out for gospel preaching. The burden within me for gospel preaching was so strong that I just flowed out preaching the gospel to a dozen of people in a park. Some have believed and called upon the Lord's name with the sinners' prayer. It was a joyful moment indeed, in the Body. And after the gospel preaching we went to a suburb area for a home meeting. There too, the flow of the Spirit was so sweet.

In all these incidents, though I could not carry out what I personally intended to, but the Lord's speaking and anointing was very rich. The Lord taught me and made me experience that my genuine spirituality must be tested in the Body, by the Body and for the Body. What a precious lesson! 

Of course, the Lord also gave me time to really fast and pray on some other day. The point here is, I must know the Body, living in the Body, care for the Body and always be conscious of the Body even at the cost of my own personal spirituality. A genuine and real spiritual person cares for the Body and lives in the Body. What a blessed lesson with rich experiences!