Being Nothing

These days the dealing of the Lord is sour yet sweet. He has been stripping me off, bit by bit, of my natural disposition. All the things that I used to be confident in, and in fact, boast of, are all being torn away layer by layer. I used to be a "giant" in my own eyes on many aspects of life. In matter of discipline, character, spiritual activities, self-control etc. But all these were of me and not of the Lord. Perhaps, these are my good flesh in my good natural man. To the Lord these "goods" are as bad as the evil of the tree of good and evil. O what a mercy to be able to see myself in the light of the Lord! But for this, I would be a religious zealot. Thank God for His moulding Hands!

Even the saints who regularly came for fellowship also are going through the same experience of being stripped. At one point of time they were all "high" in their eyes, not caring for the things of God nor God Himself. But through the many experiences of stripping off and now reduced to zero, they were humbled to the core of confessing that "only God is and they are not." To come to this realization is not a small matter; it is the sure mercy of the Lord. 

Same with me too. Thank God, I lost all my self-confidence in my natural man. I dare not even talk about the "goodness" of my old-man. In fact, it has been crucified already. Its not even worth remembrance except for the remembrance as a reminder for never trusting in the old natural good man. All these are dung as Paul rightly termed it. I should not pursue any of these dungs, but purse Christ Jesus the Lord only.

Once upon a time I was dreaming of being "so and so" or "such and such," all a self display of a "good man." Now after learning some lessons of life in the Lord, the things that I dreamed of, are all a nightmare now; the person that I used to love to be, is now what I loathe the most. This drastic turn is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in me. My views, my goal, my ways are all changed. Hallelujah for the mercy of the Lord!

Paradoxically, when I come to this understanding, the way the Lord uses, in His mercy, is all against my natural concept. What I thought was not my portion nor my function was exactly what the Lord gave me as my portion and function. This experience humbled me all the more. If at all there is anything that I can comment on, it is all by the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15:10a.  

Now I can somewhat understand what I found it difficult to understand about brother J N Darby's hymn, "The Joy of Having Nothing, Being Nothing..."

O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothingBut a living Christ in glory,And being careful for nothing but His interests down here.Whom have I in heaven but Thee?And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside Thee.O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothingBut a living Christ in glory,And being careful for nothing but His interests down here.

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/26

These experiences have brought me to nothing and felt as if I have hit the rock bottom. The only progress to make further is to grow upward in Christ. O what a joy indeed to be in this state; no competition,no comparison but just the compassion of Christ.

O the joy of having nothing and being nothing indeed, in Christ. May I be graced to be such, all the days of my life.

All Came To Pass

Joshua 21:

43 So Jehovah gave Israel all the land that He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and dwelt in it.

44 And Jehovah gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And no one among all their enemies could stand before them; Jehovah delivered all their enemies into their hand.

45 Not a word failed of all the good things that Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.

The promises of Jehovah will always be fulfilled. As proven by the history of Israel, as in the history of the children of God in the past generation and so also will be in our generation. The Lord spoke to me these verse few weeks ago, and He spoke to me today again. All the promises of God will come to pass! 

At times, we wonder if God really spoke to us and promised us something that we have been desperately waiting for, now knowing when it will come to pass. Similarly, in my life too, there were many promises of the Lord that have already come to pass and still there are more promises that will come to pass. I was so encouraged when I read these verses again. It really strengthened my faith and trust in the Lord. For they will all come to pass.

For instance, I have been praying for my family since the day of my salvation. Now they all are saved. I further prayed that they all will enjoy the riches of Christ in the church-life, and that too is being fulfilled. And I still pray that they all will be normal, vital, functioning members of the Body of Christ, and this also is beginning to be fulfilled. 

In my family, the one who was on my heart and pains me oftentimes was my own younger brother. He was not as healthy in the Lord as he should have been. In fact, I used to receive a prayer feedback for him. The only thing I could do was, just commit the matter to the Lord and only the Lord can fully recover His child. Last week, on Lord's day morning I received a surprise message from him about his turning back to the Lord and his experience of being recovered by the Lord through one of the church's perfecting meeting on the matter of vital groups. It was a very pleasant surprise and immediately I shared the good news to my younger sister and my wife. It was indeed a moment of rejoicing, as a shepherd finds a lost sheep. Actually, this is the fulfillment of the Lord's promise. It came to pass, of what the Lord promised concerning my physical family.

Following this is the recovery of our fellowship and led me to create a family chat group called "Our Family" where all the close relations are members. Subsequently we started enjoying a wonderful fellowship via chat messages and family photo posts. Our relationship in blood and fellowship in the Lord got much sweeter, dearer and enjoyable. This is also the promises of the Lord coming to pass.

And similarly with the church life here in Gurgaon. The close-knit fellowship among the saints are becoming sweeter by the day. Each saint experiencing and enjoying the Lord more and more each day. And more will come to pass in the matter of increase in the church life. Our burden and goal as promised by the Lord is to gain twenty five families this year for the vital church life. And this also will come to pass. And many more on the prayer list will come to pass. for the word of God say it so.  

Not a word failed of all the good things that Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Family Training

The first time in my church-life I had joined a training called, "family training" last weekend. It was a glorious training indeed. The burden was very glorious too, "to have a God-man family living." What a blessing!

Through all the messages the Lord brought me into a new aura of a Christian life in the church life. My whole view of a family life was re-focused. And the importance of children for the next generation of the Lord's testimony and move was imparted. In the matter of daily living, family atmosphere, relationship and building up between parents and children, and also between husband and wife. All items of training were so practical and involves day to day affair of a human life on this earth. Me and my wife were so blessed.

The Lord also opened my eyes to see the importance and blessing of the children the Lord blessed us with; though we are the physical parent, actually they are God's and we are only the custodians of the Lord's "little lambs." We must be serious in nurturing our children and shepherding them for the Lord. The Lord also exposed me of my failures in many areas of my family life, and my need to amend them, not to give room to the enemy to intrude into our family life. It was a timely message- the speaking of the Lord. 

In the children's exhibition I could see how my children were so precious and how blessed they are. My love and appreciation for my children grew a lot more. And I am reprimanded of the way I mishandled them in their disobedience sometimes. I am learning and am still learning. My prayer is that the Lord be the parent of my children and that they all may be preserved by the Lord in His mercy and grace to be what they should be according to God's ordination for the Lord's testimony and economy. 

Lord, shepherd us to live a God-man family life.

Doctor's Baptism

Last Monday two brothers went for a medical check-up and in the process, the doctor who examined them physically was examined in return spiritually. He was in deep troubled in soul; undergoing pain within for many untoward incidents in his married life. The countenance of our brothers shone through the doctor's dark steps he had been treading through. Because of which he opened up his situation to our brothers and our brothers preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to him.

Later, the doctor was brought for more fellowship to the meeting hall of the church. As we fellowshiped, the burden the Lord released was on the matter of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ and also a "believe and baptism" as in Mark 16:16. He was so opened and seeking that he not only believed into the Lord Jesus Christ, but also was baptised according to the holy word of God.  The baptism was so glorious!

The immediate fellowship with him was on the urgency for breathing, feeding and meeting. These were the instant speaking of the Lord. As new born babe spiritually, the most immediate need was to breathe the Lord Jesus Christ as the breath of life, moment by moment by calling upon the Name of Jesus. As we fellowshipped, we also called on the Lord's Name over and over again. "O Lord Jesus!" How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds!

Besides calling, we emphasize the need for feeding on the word of God. We also gifted him a copy of the New Testament, Recovery Version with footnotes, for him to feed on as his daily food supply. And also strengthened the burden on meeting with the saints; now that he was regenerated and born into the family of God, he must live a corporate life of fellowshiping with the saints, meeting as much as practicality permits. And further shepherded him on the assurance of salvation with the word of God. He was so happy, so were we.

The same night he dined with us, and exclaimed that it was the first time in his life to feast with people of different race, but one in spirit. He also joined our Monday night group meeting and was bubbling with joy. The following day too, he came over for fellowship and joined the church's prayer meeting.

What a joy to witness sinner getting saved! That too a local north Indian decent of high standing, a Medical Surgeon, from a religious background. This is the Lord's doing for His testimony in north India! May the Lord preserve our brother doctor to be a remaining fruit for the testimony of Jesus!

The Passover

The Lord's speaking through the ministry of the word was very timely two weeks ago. As the church we entered into the the video training on Exodus; one particular message reignited my burden to compose a hymn. The message was on "The Passover" and the brother who released the message encouraged us to write a hymn on "The Passover" as there hardly was any hymn specifically on the subject. At the moment, the Lord burdened me to begin composing a hymn; after a long gap my burden for writing hymn was rejuvenated.  

As I enjoyed the Lord's speaking I jotted down a couple of lines for the hymn, and during the entire message two stanzas were composed. Later in the evening study time, I went through the outline of the message again on the passover and composed five more stanzas. The hymn was titled "Praise of the Lord - The Passover." 

However, I realised this hymn need to be corrected and polished so that it can really be a blessing to the saints. The only person that came to my mind for help was a brother who is the publication work of the ministry. I mailed him for help and he responded with a very helpful and constructive corrections. I was so happy to be corrected and adjusted; the comment this brother made gave me a whole new way of composing a hymn, especially on the grammatical aspect. To me it was a great "salvation."

With this new learning, I worked through the hymn again, studied the truth of the subject of the hymn again, and looked to the Lord for His anointing. The result was a revised version of the same hymn, edited and still waiting for more polishing.

This simple experience turn my way of thinking all around. I am individually just a member, I need the help of another member. What I do not know and cannot see, my other members must have known and seen it. I must open to the other members for help, supply and perfecting. Though this lesson is learned from the hymn writing, it applies also to a wider scale of my whole person. I need the Body to balance me and perfect me.

Besides learning some precious lesson of life, I enjoyed the hymn too. I sang it a couple of times, and it was so supplying, in truth and in the experience of life. A genuine experience of the passover indeed it is.

Marah and Elim

Exodus 15:

22 Then Moses moved Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore its name was called Marah.

Oftentimes in our Christian lives, due to spiritual malnutrition, we are under-fed and go starving almost to death. Such is the case of "finding no water," no life supply from the Lord in the word nor through the Spirit. In this spiritually starved situation, we become so weak in spirit. And the manifestation of this weakness is complaining, murmurings, backbiting, criticising, accusing etc. When one is such, he finds fault with everyone, except himself; only he is "Mr. Right?" But this should not stop here. We must seek for "water" to quench our "drought." 

1 Samuel 1:10 And she was bitter in soul and prayed to Jehovah and wept much.

As Hannah cried out to Jehovah in such a bitter and desperate situation, we must cry out to Jehovah; pouring our soul to Him even with weeping. The Lord will then come into and turn our situation upright. Not just to deliver us out of the bitter state but to bring forth Christ!

It is a part of the experience of Christ, in the principle of incarnation, that the Lord allows bitter situations at times. It may not be His initiation but He sovereignly allows it, for some reason. At such times, we must be like Hannah, praying to the Lord with much desperation. This will usher us to experience the cross of Christ. The cross subjectively is the experience of the crucified Christ. We do not suffer with Christ in His accomplishment of redemption, but we sure must experience Christ is His crucifixion of all the negative elements within our being; sins, the world, self, Satan, our old, natural and good soulish man. This bitter experience of Marah through the experience of the crucified Christ will usher us into the resurrection of Christ, the experience of Elim.

Exodus 15: 27 And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters.

After every experience of the crucified Christ we will always be led into the wonderful enjoyment of the Lord's resurrection. Just as Hannah's prayer was answered with the birth of Samuel, an overcomer that brings forth Christ, there will also be the operation of the resurrected Christ in us making us an overcomer to bring forth Christ in our living and ministering. We will become the "mighty ones and strong ones." Hallelujah!

This enjoyment of the ministry of the word through the video-training on the book of Exodus enlightened me a lot; to see thing snot just for myself but also for other saints too who go through a bitter situation. As I was supplied by the Lord's speaking, the Lord remind me of a brother who is very bitter at the moment of the church-life and the ministry. The burden the Lord gave me was to fellowship this matter to him and that he also be brought into the experience of Elim, the resurrected Christ to bring forth Christ.

Lord, when in bitterness lead me to the Cross

That I may drink the sweetness of the Spirit!

Never let me stay in Marah,

Always lead me on to Elim!

Exodus

Exodus 3:7,8 And Jehovah said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

The enlightenment the Lord gave me today was the matter of exodus from Egypt. We all were born in Egypt and grew up in Egypt. Our beginning is from the world, and we grow up in the world. Therefore, every one needs deliverance. Not merely being save from eternal perdition, but also being saved from many sinful and worldly things of the day to day affair, 'the working out of our daily salvation:

Philippians 2:12So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own⁴ salvation with fear and trembling;

---

12⁴ Not eternal salvation from God's condemnation and from the lake of fire but the daily salvation that is a living Person. This daily salvation results from taking the very Christ whom we live, experience, and enjoy as our inward as well as outward pattern. The main elements of this salvation are Christ as the crucified life (vv. 5-8) and Christ in His exaltation (vv. 9-11). When this pattern becomes the believers' inward life, the pattern becomes their salvation. Only this would make the apostle's joy full.
In ch. 1 salvation comes through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, but here salvation comes from the operating God within us. The operating God is actually the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In both these cases salvation is a practical, daily, moment-by-moment salvation. The constant salvation in 1:19 is one in which a particular believer is saved from a specific encounter in a particular situation; whereas the constant salvation in 2:12 is one in which any believer is saved from ordinary things in common situations in his daily living.

Even though after having believed into the Lord for many years, still something of the world is still in us. Until "that day" no one can claim complete deliverance from the world without any traces of it, as long as one is in the flesh and blood in this world. But there is a way out of this world!

In Exodus 3:7 and 8, the initiator of deliverance is Jehovah Himself. He has been watching His children and cares for their welfare. "I have surely seen the afflication of My people," was what He said, "and heard their cry." The Israelite have for sure been crying out to Jehovah for deliverance. And in time, Jehovah came to deliver them out, "I have come down to deliver them." And the goal of His deliverance is "to bring them into the good and spacious land."

This is our experiences today. All of us have been under some kind of bandage of the other. Perhaps, some big and serious, while others are small and silly. Still bondage is bondage. In spite of being ardent lover of the Lord, and serious seeker too, still somewhere there is a need for deliverance. Some thing of "a thorn in the flesh" is still there." 

For this complete salvation, there  is need to cry out to Jehovah for deliverance. This is our cooperation with the Lord's work of salvation in us. In ourselves, we cannot overcome, but in the Lord, we for sure can. In looking to the Lord and calling upon His name, the Lord responses and works in the environment, to deliver us completely. It is "by strength of hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the slave house." Exodus 13:3, 14.

This is how we experience the Lord's complete salvation, not for us merely to escape the corruption of the world, but to enter into the "to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey," the church life for the building up of the house of God.  

Call and cry out to Jehovah, He will deliver in time.