Helping Hands

Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality. Romans 12:13  

Few days ago my Bible reading portion was on this verse, the practice of the Body life by living a life of the highest virtue. This was also one of the verses we pray-read for our official fellowship yesterday. Little did I realize that this word of God would really mean business with me. The Lord's word is no doctrine at all, every time the Lord led me to certain verses, what followed suit was its application. The word of God was sweet and nourishing, and it was practically applied to my living. In fact, it was sweeter in a deeper sense that it touched my inward being, to the extend of paying some price and to experience its worth.

In application to this verse, "Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality," the Lord created a situation in which I had to contribute to the needs of the saints practically. The Lord sovereignly allows some saints to seek help from me, all of them in the matter of helping in booking flights tickets to different destinations and involves a transaction to the tune of a hundred and fifty thousand rupees. 

Well I did not have that amount in ready cash. My initial thought was to be just frank and tell the saints, "Sorry, I can't help you this time." But as I prayed over the matter, the Lord impressed me in this specific matter that I should not turn down the saints' requests for help. I really wanted to help by all means, as long as I have the capacity to do so. So I fellowshipped with my wife and she was one with me. What followed next was, we broke one of our FDs and got enough ready cash to help the saints. Of course, they will pay back, but at their own pace and convenience. 

This matter of booking flight tickets happened at the same time for eight different needy ones. If we had not decided to help these saints I don't know how much it would have affected them. Praise the Lord for the grace the Lord has bestowed on us, that we can be of some help to the saints in need. There was a little price paid from our side, but it was nothing in comparison to the joy of being able to help the saints in need. Perhaps, this is how we contribute to the need of the saints?

Similar case is with hospitality. "Pursue hospitality." The last few days, the Lord suddenly brought eight persons to our home. There was every reason to deny hospitality with the simple excuse that we don't have enough space or room for accommodation. But when my wife and I considered the matter over, we decided to make some urgent arrangement so as to accommodate every one. Amazingly, every one was accommodated with mutual understanding of adjustment wherever needed. This is another precious lesson the Lord is teaching us to learn in all humility.

By and large, it is all the grace of God bestowed upon our simple family that we can participate in the needs of the saints, and by so doing we are blessed by being a blessing to others. Not that we have learned this lesson well, but that we are learning and looking forward to the grace of God to learn much more.

Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality.

Lord, enlarge our capacity that Your Word may be real to us and that we may live it out.

Blessing in Disguise 2

Accepting the Lord's arrangement has been my family living since the time I got married. Hardly did my wife and me made any preference in, to whom we have to give hospitality, not just for a day or a week but years, some even almost a decade now. Whomever the Lord sends to stay with us we just amen the Lord's arrangement. In fact, till date we have not lived alone as a family, as we always have someone staying with us. Even as the Lord blesses and our family grows, now with three children, still the Lord keeps sending someone or the other to stay with us. Now we are very much used to it and also enjoyed the Lord's blessing that comes in disguise. The reality was, when the proposal for such hospitality came up, we considered from many angles, sometimes, heartbreaking with no amicable solution, but we just accepted the Lord's arrangement without any arrangement from our side, as we did not know how to either. And finally, all of them turn out to be blessings in disguise; not just spiritually, but physically and psychologically too. 

The recent one was my niece  coming to stay with us for her further education besides two other saints already staying with us. Now this has brought in a family revival. My relationship with my own siblings, especially my elder sister, became sweeter as we prayed together, lived and ate together. Real blending and building is taking place among us. I had many good and valid reasons to not accept this hospitality request initially, but the Lord impressed me deep within not to express any opinion but let things happen as He leads. So my wife and I just left the matter to the Lord. Now, the sky is clear, the Lord has made all necessary arrangement and now we enjoy the corporate living together.

Moreover, there are two other sisters who are temporarily sharing hospitality with us. Despite our limited facility and capacity, still we could arrange and get along. This is a training and perfecting lesson for me and my wife, even as we are serving the Lord. The real service is in practicality besides spiritual shepherding.

In fact, this is one of the answers to the prayer I made two years ago when fasting and prayer on 31 December night. Because I felt we were very weak in hospitality and wanted to improve in this matter, but did not know how. Gradually, we found ourselves giving hospitality to many, by living a corporate family life together.

Lord, enlarge our capacity! Make us as hospitable as You would desire so.

Birthday Gift

Since the time the Lord saved me and gave me the wonderful experience of salvation, I scarcely remember any celebration of my physical birthday. But last week, on the 21st of June I was so burdened to pray even as sovereignly I was in Jaipur, I prayed throughout midnight and the speaking of the Lord was on Solomon's prayer to Jehovah.

1 Kings 3:

7   And now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king in the place of David my father, though I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

 3:8   And Your servant is in the midst of Your people, whom You have chosen, a vast people that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude.

 3:9   Give therefore to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?

 3:10   And this word seemed good in the sight of the Lord, that Solomon had asked for this matter.

 3:11   And God said to him, Because you have asked for this matter and have not asked for long life for yourself and have not asked for riches for yourself and have not asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for discernment for yourself to understand justice;

 3:12   I now do according to your words. I now give you a heart of wisdom and understanding, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor will one rise up after you like you.

 3:13   And I also give you that for which you did not ask, both riches and glory, so that there will be no one among kings like you all your days.

Perhaps, my birthday gift was the Lord's word; a heart of wisdom and understanding with riches and glory. Praise the Lord for such an eternal gift! May it all be for God's purpose and His glory. Certain other things besides the spiritual were also promised. Including official matters, for the  literature service in India with our own land and office premise and my own shelter of housing. What the Lord has promised He will fulfill in time, I just keep trusting in Him. On top of all, the speaking of the Lord in the word is supreme, time will prove its authenticity.

The following Monday when we had our literature service fellowship we pray-read these verses and it were so nourishing. The same word was enjoyed by all of us yet again. As we all need wisdom from the Lord in all our dealing with the saints and seekers, as we are in the literature service and that our burden is to release and make the ministry of the word available to all Indians.

Even on that day, being the Lord's day, the word the Lord burdened me to minister to a congregation of believers was on the word of God itself, encouraging all to love the Lord and His word and practically read the Bible every day and that the word of Christ may dwell in them richly. I encouraged all the saints to pray and read the Bible daily. The goal is to read at least one chapter each of the Old Testament and the New Testament daily and finish reading the whole Bible at least in a year with one hours of prayer daily. 100% of the congregation who were literate agreed to receive the gift and be blessed. May the Lord bless them with this simple birthday gift of mine.

Ministry of the Word 2

Last weekend a brother and I had a very wonderful trip to Jaipur. Last year I did consider to visit Jaipur once a month but that did not work out. After a long wait of half a year I visited again. The main reason for the long wait was I never had the Lord's leading until this last visit.

The Lord was working on some of our contacts and somehow I have learned the lesson of not going ahead of the Lord's leading. This time it was well planned, by the Lord Himself. The main focus of service is the ministry of the word. Apart from the word, I find no ministry. Works with the Word is worthless. 

Acts 13:2 And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.  

Ministering to the Lord issues in the move of the Holy Spirit, the following the move of the Holy Spirit issues in the ministering of the Word. This was my experience last week. It was when I was on my knees looking to the Lord concerning visiting Jaipur that he decision to visit Jaipur was made and confirmed through through persons and matters too. 

From 8:30 AM we set out in prayer in the car until we meet with a brother for fellowship at 9:20 AM. Then the Lord anointed all of us with His rich speaking, the ministry of the word just flowed without any interruption. All four of us were enjoying the rich speaking of the Lord. The word was so rich, so fresh and so nourishing. It supplied all of us and we didn't know how time flew. When we ended our fellowship it was about 4 PM. The ministry of the word was on "Priesthood", "Transformation", "The Bible and its Translation", "Prayer" and "the Church." Praise the Lord! It was a wonderful day!

Later we met two families and continued with the ministry of the word and prayer. The word of God is so sweet when anointed by and with the Spirit with mysterious revelation which only the Spirit can gives. This ministry of the word cherishes, nourishes and builds up the believers for the church as the testimony of Jesus. 

By this ministry of the word, the Lord is reconstituting few solid brothers for the testimony in Jaipur. We have no outward agenda, nor plan, nor goal. Our one burden is that the Lord must raise up His testimony in Jaipur, and we follow the Lord's leading, step by step; following where He leads and  ministering what He wants. We only pray that in His time, the Lord may recover His Lampstand; we are here only to cooperate and coordinate with Him.

By the way, this way of ministering is for my learning and perfecting as much as it is for the ones whom the words have been ministered. 

The Satanic Lies : Wordlessness

"Wordlessness," be it a new term coined by me, to mean the lack of reading, knowing, constituting and living out the word of God, the Holy Bible, is another subtle tool of the enemy. Though I have the grace to read the Bible everyday, still I need more light and revelation of what I have been reading, and also that they be my constitution and living. 

One thing the Lord exposed me is my deficiency in the full knowledge of the word of God. There are, indeed, many truths I have learned but I was exposed by a brother's fellowship on deriving spiritual light from the facts in the Bible. I hardly paid attention to the historical and geographical facts of the Bible, including the years and places. But I was so helped to see how these seemingly  "un-spiritual" facts are full of spiritual revelation too. The times and places of writing have many mysterious facts to reveal in regard to the progress and development of the written word.

Not only cutting straight the word of the truth, but also praying it over and over again and receiving the Lord's speaking straight from the word and through the word is another lesson I am learning. For this, we pray-read a verse in Ezekiel 1:4 "And I looked, and there came a storm wind from the north,.." To my surprise, we pray-read these few phrases for over an hour. As we pray-read, the Lord's speaking through the words like "looked", "came", "storm wind" and "from the north" became so rich. In faith, we had the assurance that the Lord had indeed sent the storm wind to blow all the negative things; all things that does not belong to Him nor are Him. And this wind that blows is from the "north", form the Lord Himself. The thick cloud of darkness hovering over North India has been blown away!

By such pray-reading the Lord taught me a new lesson of diving into the word and hearing the Lord's speaking through the word. Thank the Lord for such a lesson! What a blessing to learn from the Lord through a brother's fellowship. A timely word for my constitution that I may not be wordless. And be kept away for the Satanic lies of wordlessness.

The lack of the word is one of Satan's tools to blind people and confuse them with fear and anxieties of life. No wonder the  world goes crazy in all form of corruption and abomination. All due to the drought in the word of God. No wonder, many people including the children of God are kept away from the word of God. Many worldly things have replaced the word of God. And many have fallen in ignorance of the word of God. The panacea to these Satanic attack is to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God" Colossians 3:16.

Lord, fill me with Your word!   

The Satanic Lies : Prayerlessness

When a brother who led me to the Lord told me, when he came to know that I am serving the Lord in North India, that we are fighting a spiritual warfare of Satanic darkness and blindness that grips the whole of North India in idolatry, corruption and sins. Little did I realise then the truth of his statement until I began to experience this battle raging as I have been in the North for about a decade now. The task though herculean, is not impossible. The Lord has a way to break through and display His multifarious wisdom. He will do it in His time as we cooperate with him in prayer.

A brother fellowshipped about how the Lord broke through in gaining increase when the leading brothers of certain localities seriously and sincerely prayed and prayed in one accord. The churches that have not had any increase for years, some even decade, when they turned to the Lord in prayer, the Lord gave them a marvelous breakthrough. In fact, it was always the Lord who wanted to bless the churches, but He needs the cooperation of the saints in prayer. The definite examples cited were the churches in Bangkok, Laos, Manila and Hong Kong. And the same must apply to the local churches in India, especially North India too. This testimony of prayer and ensuing blessing impressed me so deeply.

I personally was so convicted by the brother's fellowship. We have tried all ways except the right way, that is "prayer." In fact, it is true. The prayer life in my locality is weak, in fact, very weak. This is definitely a wake-up call, an alert from slumbering unconsciously. The Lord is recovering us by his speaking.

Even in prayer, it is not mainly to speak and intercede, but also to listen to the Lord's speaking through the saints' prayer. As the Spirit moves, the Lord utters certain prayer through the praying saints which was His speaking; better learn to listen and amen the Lord's speaking. This is the kind of prayer we, brothers serving in the churches, need. 

Prayer in the spirit is full of burden, which is the Lord's burden Himself. In fact, such prayer is the echo of Andrew Murray's definition of prayer, "Prayer is the Christ in you praying to the Christ in heaven." At times, genuine prayers are deep and long as the Lord's burdens are being released in detail. There is no short cut and quick fix "prayer." Prayer has to be released with burden from deep within in oneness with the Lord and with the saints.

With proper prayer in faith and in spirit, the Lord will "move the mountain." Sinners will be saved, seekers will be shepherded and there will be increase in the churches. Satan know this very well, and he induces sleepiness in prayer and makes the believers numb, leading to prayerlessness or no prayer at all.  This is the Satanic lies, and must be refuted, in deed, by praying unceasingly in spirit.

Thank the Lord for exposing the Satanic lie of prayerlessness through a brother's fellowship.

Lord, make me a man of prayer. Save me from the sin of prayerlessness.

Fellowship : The Lord's Speaking

Last Monday and Tuesday was very memorable as we had the opportunity to fellowship with a brother who supplied us with life. The matter of the fellowship was not on the high peak truth per se, but they were very basic yet very important for our personal Christian life and our corporate church life. I personally was so supplied and renewed in my spirit. 

As member of the Body, I received life supply from another member who is much more experienced and mature. To have such brother in our midst is such a blessing; a brother whom the Lord can use to speak freely and frankly, even rebuking us, adjusting us and perfecting us. What a blessing!

This particular brother, the Lord graced me to meet him every year since the time the Lord called me to serve full time. My impression of this brother remains constant since the time I met him first. Every time I met him, the Lord has some special particular portion for my learning and perfecting. He may not be aware of what he spoke, but what he spoke were all life-giving spiritual "medicine" to me. That was when I was still a single brother. Nine years have transpired since then, and every year something new the Lord has accomplished in me. And now even when I am a father of three children, the Lord still uses this brother to perfect me in my need of the time. In fact, we even had the grace to fellowship over lunch with him with my whole family. What a grace!

I have never met the Lord physically, nor some men of God whom God uses throughout the century, nor have I ever met brother Watchman Nee nor Witness Lee from whom I received much help in the matter of the Body of Christ and living out of Christ for the church life. But meeting this brother made me feel as though I have met those whom I never met and desired to meet. He was indeed a living testimony to me. The Lord really anointed him whenever he fellowshipped. The exact perfect and dealing words I needed proceeded out of his mouth in fellowship.  I inwardly thanked the Lord for such brothers who is truly a living testimony and witness of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. What a treasure, what a blessing to have such brothers in our midst! And that even I can have fellowship with him. What a grace! Than the Lord for His speaking through fellowship.

Lord, praise you for such brother, so living and so vital! May I also grow and be such to minister Christ as life to others.