Jesus, My Good Shepherd

Jeremiah 9:1   

Oh that my head were waters,

And my eye a fountain of tears,

That I might weep day and night

For the slain of the daughter of my people!

These days the Lord has deeply been working on me. Often times, His hand is hard and heavy, yet His supply of grace is more than sufficient. And indeed His yokes are light and easy to bear, for actually He is the One who bears it all for me. 

Reports and news and observations of whats happening around me, both in the spiritual and physical world, are heartbreaking. The worldly affair I do not care too much, but what's going on among the saints in the churches, among the believers in general and seekers in particular, and especially whom the Lord burdened me to care for with anxious concern are real-life test to me; perhaps, of my genuineness in my love, care and concern and how I shepherd them. The Lord has been training and perfecting me, teaching me lessons after lessons. Praise the Lord!

The last few days, I have been burdened with certain situation happening among those I am burdened for. I received messages and phone call that really put me into a spot. My heart was really heavy bearing all these news, whether good or bad, they are all for good as sovereignly arranged by the God of arrangement. 

Today afternoon, I received yet another message of a change of a matter that was already agreed and decided few months ago. And clubbed with few other things in my official duty and personal life, I was so filled with burdens to chalk things out, yet I knew for sure I cannot do it myself. The only place of solace I know so far, and the best one indeed, is to come before the Lord's presence in prayer and pour everything out to Him. So I sanctified two slots of prayer time to spend solid hours in prayer.

I really could experience what prophet Jeremiah wrote concern the people of God, Israel:

Oh that my head were waters,

And my eye a fountain of tears,

That I might weep day and night

For the slain of the daughter of my people!

It was for the burden of the Lord's children that I could pour out my prayers to the Lord. I consider this as a blessing. Even as I poured my burdens out to the Lord, item by item, the Lord comforted and shepherded me that all is well as it is He who is in control; He is still on the throne. No matter what happen, no matter how people may change and what they turn out to be, the Lord is still on the throne. He is still the Lord and the Head of the Body of Christ. As He was, and is, He will still be...

Furthermore, He encouraged me with promises of His blessings upon and through me. O what a release to fully open to the Lord and be released!

To Him I went with head hung in shame and heavily burdened; after the sweet hours of prayer, my head was held high, all shame shattered and burdens lifted. What a release! What a joy! What a grace! What a blessing! Hallelujah!

Jesus is my good Shepherd! He shepherds me to shepherd others according to Him. For this very reason He is gracing me to go through experiences after experiences, all in the line of shepherding, and by His grace, I am learning to be shepherd like Him. O that I may learn it so well! And may turn the weeping of Jeremiah into praising in joy.

Oh that my head were waters,And my eye a fountain of tears,That I might praise day and night with tears of joy

And flow forth fountain of living waters, 

For the recovered of the daughter of my people!

Blessing: Unless Jehovah

Psalms 127:1 Unless Jehovah builds the house, Those who build it labor in vain. Unless Jehovah keeps the city, The guard watches in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To lie down late, To eat the bread of toil; All the same, He gives to His beloved while they sleep.

Jehovah God is the unique Blessing in the universe. Apart from Him there is no blessing. For He is the Blessing. All who needs blessings must come to the Blessing, and receive Him as the Blessing.

The Lord's direct speaking to me as I have been considering about the Lord's blessing in my life or family or church life or official service, is that "Unless Jehovah Blesses" there can be no blessing at all, no matter however much I labor or whatever way I take. Only Jehovah God is the Blessing, if He blesses, only then I will be blessed and we will be blessed.

Footnotes from the Recovery Version of the Bible impressed me a lot:

Unless the Lord builds the church as God's house (Matt. 16:18), those who build it (1 Cor. 3;10-12; Eph. 4:11-12, 16) labor in vain. Unless the Lord keeps the city, i.e., keeps the church as the kingdom (Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17), those who guard the church (Acts 20:28-31) watch in vain.

If  the Lord does not do anything for us, whatever we do will be in vain. We need to labor in the Lord and by His grace (1 Cor. 15:10, 58; Col.1:28-29), but what the result will be depends not on our labor but on God's care and blessing. Instead of toiling and striving in ourselves, we need to trust in Him and rest in Him, for He gives to His beloved even while they sleep.

Increase does not depend on what we do; it depends on how much God gives. Both the care and the blessing come from Him.

The speaking of the Lord through the study of the Word gave me much comfort and I was shepherded. Everyone needs blessings, and I do. In all that I do, I need the Lord's blessings, for without the Lord's blessings, I am laboring in vain.

In my life and in all my labor I need the Lord's blessings. So my prayer has always been, 

Lord, Thou art the Blessing,Do Thou bless me,With Thyself as the Blessing.Make my vessel proper;To command Thy blessings,To contain Thy blessings,To multiply Thy blessings.I need Thee Lord Jesus Christ!Thou art the Blessing!

A Dream : A Hole in Wall

Rarely do I have dreams, and even when I do, they were just dreams, But there were times I do dream of something very significant, which the Spirit through the Word makes it clear upon prayer over it as it was deemed significant.

A week ago, I dreamt of being in a concrete room, well protected from the outside world by the solid wall. But there was one minor issue as I discovered a tiny hole on a corner of a wall, a small hole yet big enough for snake to sneak in. In the dream I saw three snakes trying to sneak it stealthily one by one, but I discovered and was alerted on time, and I killed them all, one by one as they tried to sneak in, with a rock piece crushing their heads asunder. And later tried to mend the hole through the very rock I killed the snakes. Then I woke up. What a dream! It sent a shock wave of adrenaline down my spine.

The interpretation on prayerful analysis is this. The Lord has been keeping me in His grace. Yet, perhaps, due to my negligence or tolerance of some hidden sins, there was a tiny hole into the well built protected wall of my "room." And if this tiny little hole is not mend on time or kept on guard, I am vulnerable to the deadly serpentine attack.  

1 Peter 5:8Be sober; watch. Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking someone to devour.

Notes from the Recovery Version of the Bible:

Sober: To be sober is to have a clear mind of sobriety and self-control that we may know, especially as disclosed in this chapter, God's purpose in disciplining us and His enemy's scheme to destroy us. 

Watch: To watch is to be vigilant as in warfare, as with soldiers on the frontier. Here it refers especially to the suffering believers' being watchful against the anxiety that the enemy brings in while they suffer persecution.

Seeking: Peter here warned the believers who were suffering in persecution. If they would not be humbled under God's mighty hand (v. 6) and cast their anxiety on God (v. 7), they would be devoured by the roaring lion, the devil, their adversary. This teaches us that pride and anxiety make us delicious prey to satisfy the hunger of the roaring lion. In this matter Peter no doubt could not forget the Lord's warning to him regarding the devil's desire (Luke 22:31).

This dream is a wake up call for me to be on the alert all the time and also to warn all the saints to be on the alert, as Satan is seeking whom he could devour. This is a timely warning to me; I need such warning now and then, to keep me on guard and to go on in my Christian life until the end for the Lord's purpose.

Lord, thank you for the dream; a divine loving reminder to be exercised and live and walk in the Spirit all the time.

Sandals

Last week I intended to spend the whole evening in prayer and I did enjoy time with the Lord when I received a message on my smartphone to go for a home meeting. If any believer asked for fellowship I would never say no as I reckon that as the Lord's leading. 

In the home meeting the Lord gave me the word in Luke 15 concerning the famous parable "The Prodigal Son".  As I was ministering the burden of the parable, how God, the Father, loved us unconditionally beyond our imagination, and how He shepherded us in love and tender care even when we were lost in sin. The materials given by the Father to the son touched me so deeply.

Luke 15:22

But the father said to his slaves, Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.

Footnote from the Recovery version Bible, Sandals: Signifying the power of God's salvation to separate the believers from the dirty earth. Both the ring and the sandals were signs of a free man. The adornment, consisting of the robe on the body, the ring on the hand, and the sandals on the feet, allowed the poor prodigal to match his rich father and qualified him to enter the father's house and feast with the father. God's salvation adorns us with Christ and the Spirit that we may enjoy the riches in His house.

Sandals are put on the foot mostly for two reasons: 

1. to protect the legs from the dirt, thorns and thistle of the sinful world 
2. to give a solid and strong base for standing and walking

These two points were a revelation to me as I ministered the word. I need the Lord as my Sandals to keep me and protect me from the dirt and sins of this sinful world. I cannot protect myself nor can anyone do it for me, but only the Lord as my Sandals can protect, prevent and preserve me from anything of Satan, sin  and the world. So I need to put my Sandals on every day, every moment of my life on this earth.

Besides, only the Lord is my Sandals upon Whom I stand, and in Whom and through Whom I walk the path He laid for me on this earthly journey. Without my Sandals on, I cannot walk nor even stand for long. My Sandals gives me the grace to walk and walk unto the destiny.

That home meeting was truly of the Lord; the guest and the host, we all enjoyed the Lord's ministering through His speaking.

As the Father God has given us Sandals, let us put on Him, Christ as our Sandal, everyday and all the day of our Christian life. Not merely for protection from things negative, but much more for the accomplishment of things positive; living and walking in Christ for the fulfillment of God eternal economy. 

Function in the Body

Every member of the Body has each specially assigned function. When all member functions, that body is healthy. And no one can replace another one's function, if it does, it only invites trouble and even harm to the body itself.

This is the burden of the God-ordained way of carrying out the Lord's work. For this, we brothers in the church started praying personally, and also corporately once a week for over an hour. And using every opportunity to dispense the Lord's burden of "all functioning." Praise the Lord for this way of leading in the Body!

Even in my marriage life I discovered that I cannot replace my wife's function, nor can she, mine. We both function as God ordained and help one another. Whenever, with my good intention, I tried to replace my wife's function in anything it turned out to be a disaster. Her function is superb, so is mine. And that makes us a couple- husband and wife, when we both function according to our measure, not beyond nor below.

This same lesson I am implementing in the official duty that I am apportioned to; allowing every serving ones to function as they should. Though I can do many things which others are doing, if not better, still I have to restrain myself from not replacing anyone's function even if I have to wait and hold my breath for a while until the job is done.

Similarly I apply the same rule to my family in children's function. To each in my family we have our assigned portion and I would not replace anyone's portion nor anyone to replace another one's. My son has to do his part, my daughters their parts and my wife, her part, and me, mine. Only when in need, will there be assistance to one another.

As this matter of the functions of each member are implemented there will be a genuine revival among the children of God, and God will have a way to accomplish His eternal economy. Surely, anything that hinders the Lord's move, even Christianity will be dealt with. The killing of the spiritual function of the believers by hierarchy or religious organization surely hinders the Lord's move on the earth today. Such system must not be tolerated in any way if we care for the Lord's interest. The Lord builds up His Body through the members of His Body, by Him as the Head supplying to each member according to their portion.

In the church I am beginning to see the blessing of each one functioning and the fruit thereby.

Lord, recover every member's function in the Body!

Lessons of Life : Gospel Preaching

The Lord's speaking these days has been on the new revival for the building up of the church by carrying out the god-ordained way. I have been so much helped personally that I have the burden and made resolution in my heart to preach the gospel to at least ten people a week. For this, Saturday afternoon was separated absolutely. And the Lord was faithful in honoring the burdened He bestowed.

Last week I learned a very important lesson in gospel preaching. The last two persons I preached the gospel to were young men from a strong religious background. After the presentation of the gospel they stated comparing Christ with their gods and goddesses and raised up a very common question about eating meat which they considered as "sin." Well, I always would do my best to answer, at the same time not enter into argument if different opinion arises. Somehow, as they began to despise the Lord Jesus and the Bible just because it approves or did not prohibit the eating of meat, I just felt not to enter into further argument. But finally and solemnly told them to turn to Jesus whenever and wherever they feel the need for Him after they would have exhausted all other "gods."  With this I left, and it was late and was indeed time for me to leave as other saints were waiting for me to go back. But they requested if I could stay back for a while and "debate?" But I felt it futile and left.

But later I felt, I should not have entered into unnecessary defense on non-vegetarianism and perhaps, should be more patient to hear them out, more of what they have to offer. I was not fully happy as I went back home and could only pray that the Lord would somehow someday convict them. But I learned a lesson, to be patient and not to enter into any argument of right or wrong, but only minister Christ as the divine life to give life to mortal man.

This week, I enjoyed preaching the gospel to as many as ten people. Out of these are a group of five professional who heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and prayed the sinner's prayer. They all are highly educated North Indians, vessels for the Lord Jesus Christ. It was such a joy to minister the divine life to them. They were very convinced and I committed them to the Lord in prayer that all of them would have the subjective and personal experience of the full salvation of God. 

By and large, I learned a lot from the gospel preaching and am still learning. Gospel preaching is always a win-win case; nothing to lose, only gain.

Transformation

All negative things in the universe have been attributed to Satan. But the fact is,  the Lord allows it so. Was Satan not defeated at the cross? Was he not judged? But how comes he is still very active in the world and even troubling many genuine believers? These are some questions many naive believers reckon as enigmas. But to those who truly know the Lord and His purpose on earth, whatever Satan does is allowed by the Lord for the good of His children.

My recent study on the life of Job impressed me deeply regarding God's work in man through Satan. God, in His multifarious wisdom, uses Satan to carry out the work of transformation among His children. Just as He allowed Satan to touch all that Job had except his life, He allows some unexpected things among the believers which in the divine sight is a glorious work of transformation. Many times, like Job, the so called "good" Christians tend to claim their natural goodness and merit as a means for God's blessing and deliverance from the processes God had originally initiated.  Even some blind and foolish Christians dared to "cast" Satan into the lake of fire, which only God could do and would ultimately do, being ignorant of the fact that God is using Satan to accomplish His plan in the believers.

By and large, God would not Himself execute the work of transformation through circumstances involving persons, matters and things, but He would definitely use the right person for the right job, Satan. No wonder, God still allows Satan to roam as a roaring lion. It is like a mother warning her naughty child with police for discipline. So also, the Lord at times allows the stripping through Satan as in Job's case to stripped us of all that is not according to His divine life and nature, so that He can transform us into His image for His expression and representation on this earth.

With this divine revelation of God's eternal plan, one can easily understand and accepts the Lord's transformation work even through Satan. Actually, Satan is the greatest fool and whatever he does is for the display of God's multifarious wisdom. Hallelujah!