Expecting the Lord's Words

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master. -Matt. 25:21,23 

These are the words of the Lord to the faithful slaves. And this will be an incentive for us who are still alive on the earth expecting the Lord's return or to meet Him. 

I have never seriously thought about the significance of these words. Often I took these words as mere parables and the Lord's appraisals for faithfulness. But the depth of it, I begin to understand of late, and its spiritual significance thereof.

Recently, brothers fellowshipped that it is my turn to attend a training in the west with two weeks of further training on proofreading work. For this, all legal formalities have to be done and I have many official schedule lining up. So I decided to complete all national formalities well before I begin my further trips. As all formalities were carried out and I need to attend an interview, and there were possibilities of objections too, I experienced a deep longing for a word that approved my application, as all will naturally do. I did give the interview and the word of approval was in indirect speech, not grammatically but logically, thereby putting me in tip toe until the confirmation on my passport. Today, as I received my passport with the approval sticker on it, the experience was quite remarkable. I use this as an example to drive home the point of the Lord's approval.

The experience above, though menial, opened my eyes to the truth of the Lord's word. Should the Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master." or "Evil and slothful slave or useless slave" as in vv 26, 30.

What a relief when I got my approval for such a trivial thing as compared to the Lord's reward for eternity! No comparison on the duo. 

This boils down to my Christian life on earth and touches the very core of my living and being; expecting the Lord's words of approval is the reward I can die for. With this realization, my whole Christian outlook took a paradigm shift. In all my words, deeds and even creeds, I must be in line with the Lord's word and live in His presence that I may find grace and be appraised in time. O, to hear that words from the Lord when my time on earth is done will indeed be the greatest joy, "Well done, good and faithful slave. Enter into the joy of your master". This is worth everything.

Well, this being said, I must look to the Lord for His continual grace that I am be found faithful and prudent to all that the Lord has sovereignly apportioned to me; not once nor now and then, but all the days of my sojourn on this earthly ball. And to meet the Lord on that day and hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master". This is my earnest expectation and longing.

Lord, grace me so, to be spoken to, as such, "Well done, good and faithful slave. Enter into the joy of your master."

Principles of the Lord's Leading

In the principle of incarnation, God carries His works through man; in a sense, God needs man to co-work with Him and man needs God to co-work with him too. So God speaks and burdens man to carry out His heart's desire, but the carrying out of the work is by man. Man only has to realise and join himself to be one with God in His move, and God will grace him to accomplish the calling and the burdens. This is how God works today in the principle of incarnation.

The other side of the coin is the principle of the Body. Yes, man might have definitely received a call and a burden from the Lord, but still it is best to always fellowship with the fellow members in the Body. The Head and the Body are one, and anything genuinely from the Head will always be in oneness with the Body. This is a safety check in serving the Lord and carrying out the Lord's call and burden. For what guarantee is there that the Lord, the Head of the Body, indeed called and burdened a member of the Body without the fellows members' confirmation? Not that God's leading need confirmation, but that man has fallen and there are rooms to be misled and misinterpret spiritual matters. Therefore, the fellowship in the Body is a secure safety measure. Most assuredly, the Head will never say or do a thing without the same Body amening it. Thus, the fellowship in and with the Body in the principle of the Body is a great blessing.

Such has been my experience these days for anything I am doing. I find joy and peace in the Body's fellowship when I brought any matter the Lord has burdened me for fellowship with the Body; be it personal, official or church related matters. My "safe heaven" is in the Body. The Lord anoints the Body and in the Body is the Lord's blessing and presence.

A particular matter related to my personal life, yet official too, in the matter of qualification upgradation in my academic life has been brought into fellowship with some concerned brothers. It was by the same principle of the Body that I did so. The result of the fellowship from the brothers are, "as the Lord leads you". I honor the brothers' word, and they have replied to my fellowship again in the principle of the Body. As the Head leads, the Body follows and echoes the same burden. What a beauty! What a oneness!

It is the mercy of the Lord that I can learn and am learning this precious lesson. Even if I am 100% sure of the Head speaking to me directly, I must be graced to humble myself and fellowship with the Body. What is genuinely of the Head, the Body amens. Even if I am 100% sure, still I am just a member of the Body, much more, still in flesh and blood, I can go wrong, or perhaps, I could misunderstand or misinterpret the Lord's speaking or it could even be that the timing is not yet ripe though the burden from the Lord is clear. So, always be in fellowship with the Body for any matter. I dread those "spiritual giants" who are 100% for Christ and also 100% individualistic in the name of Christ. There is more hope for a "spiritual dwarf" who hide in the Body than self-proclaimed spiritual perfectionist. Thank God, the Lord has delivered me from that path of self. 

May He grace me further never to return to that spiritually individualistic path.

The Lord's leading is always confirmed in the fellowship of the Body. May the Lord, the Head preserve me in His Body.

Truth Matters

When rumors and lies are spreading among the believers concerning the beliefs and practices of certain Christian groups, one response is to be silent and leave the judgment to the Lord, yet another response is to not let the lies to be believed as truth and refute it as the Lord leads, with the truth, for truth matters.

The latter has been my experiences of late, as misunderstanding and misinformation based on no facts have been evilly communicated, even by so called apologetic and preachers. To such Christian leaders I do not shy away and will not, for they cannot be ignorantly harbingers of false accusations, for their sake and ours too, who are misunderstood.

The Lord has sovereignty led me to some of them, surprisingly, the main ones. In face to face fellowship, I have used the Bible to refute the false accusations and questioned them back the basis of their false accusations. Surprisingly, they had none and were mum when asked to furnish proofs. Not a vindication nor self-justification, after every face to face dialogue-fellowship, the air of misunderstanding was cleared. And they mostly confirmed our orthodoxy and ended up appreciating the truth we uphold, which is the word of God. Seldom do I debate on the truth and I am not for it as it is mostly futile, but I do refute and stand for the truth, for truth matters.

To this day, at least seven well known Christian apologetic and leaders have I fellowshipped with in India, not counting those who simple pass on hearsay as evil reporters and of no repute to any by their character. And the result, our brotherly understanding was restored and we can fellowship and visit one another or exchange mails or phone calls. I do hope and believe, such face to face fellowships were the end of their being "accusers of the brethren".

This exercises and experiences strengthens my faith in the Lord and establishes me in the word. It helps me to dive into the Word of God deeper and deeper and experience Christ richer and richer. All things indeed works together for good, even the false accusations and the refutations thereof. Thank God, the Lord has been gracing me to experience this even as He placed me in the literature service. I love it and I enjoy it. Amen to the Lord's sovereign arrangement in all things.

Truth triumphs and I uphold it, and ever will, for truth matters.

Marital Matters

Though I am no counselor to any, and neither do I consider myself qualified to fellowship on marital matters, because of the urgent need, the Lord graces me to do so and I am learning from it myself. 

A brother has time and again brought up the matter, mostly in desperation. Such was the opportunity for me to learn from one another. I myself have still many more lessons to learn, and am looking to the Lord for all of it. In fellowship with my brother I myself too learn in the process.

The key, to my understanding, for a blessed marriage life is, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He must be the center and circumference of all marital affairs. Apart from Him, marriage is an empty shell which none can fully and truly satisfy. Christ must be the love that romances the couple, Christ must be the life that enlivens the couple, Christ must be the Shepherd that cherishes in humanity and nourishes in divinity, and the enjoying, experiencing and gaining of Christ must be the goal of the marriage life, and thereby becoming the testimony of Jesus as a God-man family life for the church life, and for the building up of the Body of Christ. Christian marriage should really be a picture and foretaste of Christ and the church.

Within these are all the spiritual and physical aspects in marital matters; mutual love, care, trust and oneness in Christ in every matter sweetens and tightens the marital cord of love. I do believe in prayer and the Lord's blessing so much, and practices my regular prayer with my wife, with my children and also with all who lives with me, as a household. And I also practice to be one spirit and also in one soul, in every matter big or small, with my better-half. I am just half, 50%, and need my wife as my help-meet, another half, 50%, to make us complete, 100%. Only then there will be a normal, proper and healthy marriage life.

Hopefully, my fellowship will be helpful to my brother as much as it is to me. Only the Lord can grace a blessed marriage life for His testimony.

Lord, be the centre and reality of my marriage life, and to my brother's too and all the saints'.

Chennai Revisited

Following the burden the Lord blessed me with, whenever I pass through Chennai I would visit certain families, for brotherly fellowship in Christ. Though all of these may not hold the same view concerning the church life, still I reckon them as my dear fellow members in the Body and visit them for fellowship and ministering Christ. The revisitation three weeks ago was noteworthy. 

I never had any preconceived agenda, but as I visited them the Lord's instant speaking was so dear, apt and timely. It just matched their situation and we harmoniously fellowship and blend together. 

To one family the Lord's speaking was on the general teaching and revelation of the Lord's recovery and the church life, to another about the importance of the Lord's presence in everything we do and the subjective experiences and enjoyment thereof, and yet to another the need to be under God's shining light and set things right with God and man to discern the genuine leading of the Lord. In all these fellowships the Lord's presence was very dear and sweet.

Another surprise visit was w to an IT engineer who was two years my senior when I studied my Master's degree. It was a friend and a brother who proposed to visit him. We did visit him and the time spent together was very sweet as I testified of the living testimonies of my experience of Christian life and how Christ has been so real and experience-able, subjective day by day. Besides, my words of encouragement was that he must "try Jesus" as well, and directed him to the ministry books website where he can read good spiritual books and be blessed. I recommended him to read The Economy of God by brother Witness Lee.

Only the Lord knows what the real result of these visits would turn out to be. Though these visited ones are on my prayer list and wish that they may be even as I am, enjoying the church life, I neither impose nor even vaguely indicated that they should be so, I only pray and visited them whenever possible.

God knows best and I did my part and leave to Him the rest. These visitations will continue as long as the Lord allows.

May the Lord bless them all.

Follow the Lamb

These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He may go. Rev. 14:4b

The result of experiencing the Altar of Burnt Offering and the Golden Incense Altar is that we become ashes and are acceptable to God, and become one with God in His move on this earth for His testimony.

It was Saturday afternoon, 12th March 2016, when I had my personal time with the Lord, experiencing the golden incense altar, the Lord spoke to me about Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

As I interceded for the Lord's move, the burden within me grew stronger and stronger to visit the Islands. I prayed and prayed and considered all the practical aspect including time and money. At one point I was about to give up. But the Lord confirmed within me that I can reschedule my time and need not worry about the finance even though the expenses incurred would be heavy according my standard at the moment. The more I prayed and considered the visit, the more I had the peace to go ahead. Nevertheless, I would not depend upon my own feeling, however strong it may be. I could still be wrong, for I am just a man; I need the Body's confirmation too. 

Later, as I brought the matter to fellowship, the Lord confirmed it even through the Body. Still I fellowshipped with the brother in Port Blair and waited for him to confirm too, since he would be my host. A day after he confirmed, and still I fellowshipped with another brother to coordinate with me, and after all the necessary fellowships the flight tickets were booked. Then I finally visited the Islands on the 16th March 2016.

The visit was purely the following of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, wherever He led. It was a surprise and impromptu decision to all who were involved. But it was the grace of God that I could follow the Lamb wherever He led. When the Lord, the Head of the Body leads, He confirms with His Body too. And the issue is His anointing and blessing. That's the blessing of following the Lamb. What an enjoyment!

During all the five days of our stay in Port Blair, the Lord's presence was so rich and His anointing was with us with whomever we fellowshipped. I firmly believe that the Lord has His heart's desire in this Islands, especially in the capital city, Port Blair and will fulfill His economy in His recovery for His testimony. 

Hasten that day Lord! Yes, even through the ministry of the word!

Follow the Lamb wherever He may go.

LITERATURE JOURNEY: Port Blair

MINISTRY LITERATURE JOURNEY: Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 16-20 March 2016

Background: A couple of years ago I met a brother during the Guwahati, Assam NE India propagation, who in turn introduced a brother who lives in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and loves the Lord very much. Later, we contacted by mail and phone, and since then we are in virtual fellowship on WhatsApp.

Last month the Lord burdened me concerning these Islands and I sent the ministry books as a gift to that brother, The Economy of God, The Glorious Church and The New Testament Recovery Version.

Two weeks later he called up to thank for the books and testified that he finished reading the two books in four days and that changed his whole understanding of a Christian life. Little did I realised that that was to be a "Macedonian Call".  

Three days later during a propagation training fellowship, the Lord's speaking was on the burden for the Lord's testimony in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. That prompted my spirit to testify of what the Lord has done thus far with a local brother who has been in fellowship and enjoying the ministry. Upon further prayer and fellowship, the Lord burdened me to visit this Islands for the introduction and distribution of the ministry of the word. 

Thus, three days later, a brother from Rhema and I landed in Port Blair for the introduction and distribution of the ministry of the word among the seeking believers.

Port Blair: Port Blair is the capital of Indian Union Territory, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The archipelago of Andaman & Nicobar Islands spreads along 780 kms in the Indian Ocean. The Andaman group has 325 islands while the Nicobar group has only 24 islands, totally comprising about 546 villages.

The major languages spoken are Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi and Urdu.

These Islands are the home of six primitive tribal groups and some of them are very hostile towards outsiders.

• 1.     Nicobarese
• 2.     Shompen
• 3.     Onge
• 4.     Great Andamanese
• 5.     Sentinelese
• 6.     Jarawa

The Lord’s Move in Port Blair: The Lord led us to this Islands to a local brother with whom I have been in virtual fellowship over smartphone for over a year.

As lovers of the Lord and seekers of the truth, we fellowshipped and blend organically in life, ministering Christ to one another almost all the time we were together. He arranged all the hospitality and took us to various Christian bookstores and servings ones of the Lord to whom the ministry literature was introduced, and books orders followed suit. The Lord has granted us open doors for the spread of the ministry of the word!

The two main Christian bookstores and distributors ordered all our Indian print books whichever were available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam without any hesitation and further proposed to take these books to many other places.

Besides, we also went to different public parks for prayer and preaching the gospel followed by distribution of tracts and Rhema books.

Everyday of our stay in Port Blair was filled with prayer and fellowship. The Lord's presence was so rich that we kept fellowshipping with the brother all the time on various subjects at length; on the objective truth and subjective experiences of the Bronze Altar, the Golden Incense Altar, the Ark of the Testimony, the church as the Body of Christ, the oneness and fellowship of the Body of Christ, the ground of oneness, church living and real life testimonies of our own. May the Lord gain him for His testimony. 

The Lord sovereignly arranged the right people to meet at the right time as we could meet up with the main Christian workers among the campuses and leading Christian churches. What more satisfying was the meeting with the local Nicobarese, and also  with the students and main Christian leaders for the whole Islands, fellowshipping with them and distributing the ministry books.

We also distributed the ministry books among the mainline Churches who have been in the Islands for centuries. The Lord also led us to the main college campuses where we distributed the books, and much more preached the gospel and led three Bengali students to the Lord. May the Lord preserve them and shepherd them.

In addition, the Lord also led us to meet those who received Rhema free books many years ago. After we fellowshipped with them they are willing to become distributors of both Rhema and Amana literature.

After the rich enjoyment of the Lord's leading, presence and blessing, our burdens were released and we came back, paving the way for many more to go. What the Lord has begun, He will accomplish it for His eternal economy. As He led us, we followed Him and released His burden in us, and leave the rest to Him. May He recover His testimony in His time.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the Lord's testimony in His recovery for His economy!