Still My Onesimus

It was barely two months ago when I confided in the Lord and took in my cousin brother to join and help in the official service vacated by his brother, knowing fully well his background and the critical condition as a man who used to indulge in unhealthy habit of intoxicating drink. To me it was more of grace rather grade. He had zero score on grade from all angles, academically and even otherwise, but in the eyes of grace, he is a precious Onesimus to me. After passing through the required fellowship he came on board to serve as an office staff, in fact, more of a helper on clerical job.

Indeed, he has been such a help to us officially and in family too. But the day I set out for another official trip. barely a week ago I received a news of his going to his past habit of drinking. It was a surprise to me at the first hearing though I had the sense that something went wrong as I could discern from another staff that he did not report for office duty. Later, my wife confirmed it and for few days the attack of the enemy was ferocious. I was in the midst of literature tour and back home was this incident. Many thoughts lingered, and as I and my wife brought the matter to prayer, the Lord just shepherded me to commit him to the Lord and support him in prayer. Each succeeding report went from bad to worst. But I could only pray.

The Lord gave wisdom to my wife to handle the matter wisely in my absence. And I stood with her in prayer. There were thoughts ranging from punishing him to firing him, but the ultimate and timely speaking of the Lord was to simply shepherd him. He is still my Onesimus.

Now, deep within me, my heart is to encourage him and supply him more with the divine life supply that he could fully overcome all the attacks of the enemy. Some wise disciplining might happen but most importantly is the supply of the divine life that swallows up death. Life overcomes death, love overcomes hatred, and, light overcomes darkness. Praise the Lord!

Come what may, there is never a hopeless case in the eyes of the Lord than the devil himself. All cases are hopeful, and the Lord can restore His children from worst to good and then to best. In Christ and with Christ, all is well and He will make it best with a proper spirit and proper attitude and shepherding. 

God's Favor

What a makes a man special is the hand of God in him, upon him and behind him. When one is with God, all things fall in-line in favor of him. This is a common phenomena in the lives of many saints throughout the ages. Since the time of the Bible, men of God like Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, etc., had God’s favor upon them. Wherever they went, whatever they did, God’s favor was upon them. Similarly in the New Testament, beginning with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and the apostles, and the earlier believers, the Lord’s presence as His blessing was upon all of them and they prospered in all their activities. So was the case today as well. With God and in God we are blessed, and are in God's favor.

One particular instance I encountered recently was with a brother and a friend too. He has be trailing behind peers and perhaps trolled in the background in the corporate world he worked in, by some busybodies. Often times, I encouraged him not to be bothered by all these "challenges." The Lord knows best and He will lift up his people in due course. Often these temporary "bites" are a test for future blessings. When the time comes the Lord will accomplish what He intend to accomplish.

Few weeks ago he informed me of a new job offer, but very challenging as he needed to pass through all the tests and interviews. When he vaguely mentioned the offer I had a strong feeling within me to encourage him to go ahead though it meant leaving the present job and many new things to be adjusted to. I prayed with him that the Lord's perfect will be done and commented that perhaps, that was the answer to the prayer for many months concerning his profession, marital issues, and the likes, as his status would definitely improve.

Stage by stage, he updated me of the progress towards the new job. From the first step of sending his CV to the technical test and interviews, then on to HR and Management interviews, and the results in each stage, and finally to the selection and appointment order, we have been through prayers. Few days ago before the final result was out, he called to fellowship his concern of his incompetence for the new job as it definitely was an upgrade with tougher and higher responsibility, especially on leadership skill as he had no experience, nor was or had ever been in such a post. But I encouraged him that it is all the favor and blessing of God that matters. I even cited the example of Moses and Joseph. Moses treasured God's presence and Joseph found favor in the eyes of his "bosses" because God was with him.

Exo. 33:14 - And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.Exo. 33:15 - And he said to Him, If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

In every stage of development, we prayed together and sought for the Lord's blessings. And step by step we witnessed the Lord's favor, His blessing hands. And finally he texted me stating that he was favored and received the appointment letter with a salary hike and upgraded profile.

Today, we prayed together thanking the Lord for His blessing and favor, and beseeched the Lord that he be the Lord's testimony among his peers, juniors and seniors. And also that this be a new beginning in Christ in his professional career, his family life and his Christian life for the Lord's testimony.

When the Lord's blessing comes, it just comes and none can stop. May the Lord bless him continuously all the days of his life and make his family a living testimony for Christ and the Church.

Listening

One of the lessons a serving ones of the Lord should learn is "listening." In fact this is one of the character traits mentioned by brother Watchman Nee in his book, "The Character of the Lord's Workers." Many times, listening is a big test for many workers of the Lord. This time, I am also learning this lesson.

A brother who had been in legal trouble over his marital problem, whom I had warned of his decision for remarriage to an unbeliever, went ahead to make his own decision. Despite making such a gross mistake I still did my best to shepherd him whenever possible. In fact, I even attended his marriage and prayed that the Lord would gain him through all situation. I warned him on three important points, the main one of which was not to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. 

2 Corinthians 6:14Do not become dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
Note from the Recovery Version: Dissimilarly means diversely, implying a difference in kind. This refers to Deut. 22:10, which forbids the yoking together of two dissimilar animals. Believers and unbelievers are diverse peoples. Because of their divine nature and holy standing, the believers should not be yoked together with the unbelievers. This should be applied to all intimate relationships between believers and unbelievers, not only to marriage and business.

This word indicates that the Corinthian believers were dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers, not separated unto God from worldly people. This means that they were not fully reconciled to God. Hence, the apostle exhorted them not to be dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers but to be separated that they might be fully reconciled, brought back, to God.

Though I wished that he can be a channel of blessing to his wife and family, as expected , things really did not turn out well. Despite the outward facade of good and modern lifestyle, there indeed was no oneness as a proper couple should have. For oneness can be achieved only by both being in Christ. Therefore unequal yoking cannot indeed bring about oneness. The ultimate issue was a break-up.

Though I  did not approve his decisions in many ways, still, as a brother I looked to the Lord to shepherd him. He did visit me last week and we had hour long fellowship. This week even as I was on a distribution tour, he called me again. It was just two nights ago that I had to listen to him for hours over the phone. He went through a tough time and needed someone to talk to and fellowship with. The Lord simply led me to listen to whatever he had to say. He spoke and spoke and spoke, and I listened and listened and patiently listened. After he spat out all that were in his being concerning his family matter he said, "Thank you for listening to me patiently." And further explained his gratitude to the Lord for giving a brother who gave him a listening ears. After all "stories" I simply led him to pray. Since he needed a special advice, my recommendation to him after the late night talk was to take a good rest.

The next day morning he called again for fellowship, and I simply led him to the word of God to pray. We prayed few verses from Matthew 5. The word of God was so nourishing that we repeated the verses over and over again. The best prayer was to pray the word of God and be nourished by it. I was nourished and he was nourished too. Praise the Lord!

Many times to shepherd people just needs a listening ear. Not to give advises or suggestions, but to simply listen and discern what the reality is and shepherd with the word of God.

Lord, grace me a listening ear, to listen to Your children and to You, and apply the word appropriately.

Fire and Hammer

The Word of God as Fire and Hammer

Is not My word thus—like fire, declares Jehovah, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. Jer. 23:29

Note on fire and hammer from the Holy Bible, Recovery Version

On the positive side, the word of God, as a grain of wheat (v. 28), dispenses God as life into us to nourish us.On the negative side, the word as fire burns us and many of the things in which we have confidence, and the word as a hammer breaks down our self, our natural life, our flesh, our lusts, and our concepts.

As we pray-read these verses in our pursuing one morning, the Lord impressed me deeply about the function on the word of God as fire and hammer. It was indeed the Lord's timely speaking and I needed it so much both on the positive as well as the negative aspect. The word as fire to burn me of all my tin and drowse and sanctify me wholly and make me holy. Even as the word as a hammer I need the Lord to break me of all that I am and be rebuilt with Himself by His life and nature. As the instant speaking of the Lord, I ministered the same to the saints serving with me.

The following Lord's day when I visited a family for shepherding, the Lord's instant speaking was on this matter of the word as fire and hammer, and the family was so nourished. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer with testimonies of the family in how the word as fire and hammer applied to them.

Few days later, in another family, the Lord burdened me to minister on the same truth again. The family too was nourished with the word. The same message I posted in some of the WhatsApp groups I am in, and some re-posted and forwarded it to more people.

The instant speaking of the Lord is so sweet, cherishing and nourishing too. And when echoed with the Lord's supply, it supplies life to the listeners. 

Lord, I need more of Your word as fire and hammer! 

Repainting

It’s been years since we moved into the house we are presently in. As the Lord blesses our family with children, and as they are growing, they love playing and drawing to the extent that they even drew many “artistic designs” on the walls. If only the walls were drawing boards it would have been much appreciated. Alas they were not! Therefore, the need to repaint the walls.

As a family project we coordinated to repaint the walls. This gave me the opportunity to clean up the whole house and learnt a very precious spiritual lesson of coming to the Lord and applying His precious blood again and again. As by influx of time, consciously or unconsciously, we get dirty by the dust of the world surrounding us. And one day, by the Lord’s mercy, we came to our sense that we have become too dirty and could not go on without the Lord’s washing and cleansing us with His blood.

This also reminds me of the need for the Lord’s anointing as the painting on the wall. The more the painting, the better the walls become and expresses the paint. The wall expresses the paint, whatever the color the paint is.

Similarly, the more we are anointed, the more we express the anointing itself. The anointing is the Lord as the Spirit. With the Lord’s anointing as the paint, we expresses the Lord. Yet the painting is practically non-existent without the object on which the painting can be practical. The paint needs the painting board to be practical and real, and the board needs the paint to be painted to express the painting, so also we need the Lord as much as He needs us to express Himself through us. The Lord will not and need not physically incarnate again as He already was incarnated, crucified, resurrected and ascended. But the Lord needs us to be expressed through us. Therefore, the need to be repainted again and again.

Later,I wrote to our house owner of the family project of painting we just did. Now, the look and feel of our house is highly uplifted, and the feeling of our family too. Our children were educated too of the need to maintain proper discipline at home and maintain the cleanliness of the house. 

Praise the Lord for this simple yet wonderful experience of the Lord through simple “repainting!” O how we need to be repainted again and again with the Spirit as the anointing. 

Lord, repaint me again and again with Yourself.

Short Prayers

It was last week’s Tuesday praying meeting when we prayed monotonously and the leading of the Lord through a brother was to adjust the way we prayed. We read a portion of the ministry on short prayer that enlightened me so much.

PRAYING SHORT PRAYERSToday we need to be blended together by much and thorough prayer. In our prayer we should not merely exercise our spirit but also release our spirit. Praying is the unique way for us to exercise our spirit and even the more to release our spirit. When our spirit is released, we can be blended together in this released spirit. Actually, when our spirit is released, there is no need to talk about blending. The released spirits are a kind of blending.

When we come together to pray, we need to release our spirit by praying short prayers. Our prayers are too long. The long prayer is a prayer of composition. It is not prayer out of a burden. The real burdened prayer would not be a long composed prayer. At one time in the 1960s when we were in Los Angeles in Elden Hall, our prayers were very short. Sometimes we had over two hundred in our prayer meeting. Each saint would pray one sentence, and we were like one person praying together. We coordinated together in our prayer, and there were no long prayers. In one recent meeting, I pointed out to some of the co-workers that their prayers were too long.

Soon after I was saved, I met with the Brethren. We always had a long prayer meeting with long prayers. In that long meeting, there were only four or five who prayed. Four or five occupied the entire time, and the composition of their prayers was mostly the same. Furthermore, among these four or five who prayed, we usually knew in what order they would pray. When the prayer came to the last one, everyone knew that after his prayer, we would soon be dismissed. Our church prayer meeting has reached this kind of situation with long prayers. Long prayers kill, but short prayers stir us up. Short prayers fan our spirit into flame.

It is very difficult for the brothers and sisters who are used to praying long prayers to have a change to pray in a short way. Those who pray long prayers always lay a foundation of much explanation in their prayer. They explain to the Lord why they need to pray, or they give the Lord directions about how to answer their prayer. They may say, “Lord, You are so good. We are not praying for ourselves. We are not on this earth. Lord, we are today in the heavens. Even we are at Your throne....” We need to drop this way of explaining in our prayer to the Lord. In order to blend ourselves together in the vital groups, we must drop the old way of praying long prayers. We should pray short prayers, simply telling the Lord what we want Him to do for us (cf. Mark 10:51).Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups,  Msg. 12,by Witness Lee

After this short reading on short prayer, we practiced it and it was full of life. Our spirit was lifted up and we could release our spirit, exercising our spirits to pray short prayers. That prayer was again a new lesson to me on prayer. We had the burdens and could release them one by one, in a corporate way. Amen. 

Anger Management

Almost a month ago a brother I have officially engaged for translation service shot me an email of certain complaints which to me were all false allegations. It was a surprise mail to me, even a shock, for I never expected such mail from him as our relationship has been going on quite well officially as well as spiritually. I read the mail a couple of times and could discern that some misunderstandings have crept in, as the work we have been engaged in is a very serious and important matter for the Lord’s move among the Hindi speaking people of India. It was the attack of the enemy to try to thwart the Lord’s work in this important region of the world. As I read through the three mains allegations, I had answers for all of them and was about to shoot back a strong reply, perhaps, a tit for a tat?

But thank the Lord for His mercy that I did not succumb to such minor allegations and the realization that I should not sell myself to such a nasty act of “revenge.” I left the matter to the Lord in prayer. The more I prayed about it, the more the Lord confirmed to me that I should not react in my flesh nor in my soul, rather leave the matter to the Lord who sees and knows all, in and out.

In fact, there was a time I was about to present all the hard facts to refute the false allegations. But the Lord did not give me peace to do so. And I just left the matter to the Lord. Instead of reacting against the allegations, the Lord enlightened me to pray for the matter instead, and perhaps, visit him to fellowship face to face. But with a confirmation that he should call me first. I did attempt to visit but I could not find a proper time earlier, at the same time waiting for the proper time with the confirmation that he should call first. After a month, the Lord arranged a meeting with him in fellowship in a brotherly way. 

Then when I realized that the time had ripened to visit him, a brother and I went to fellowship with him. As we fellowshipped no such allegations cropped up. Instead, I clarified all his misunderstandings one by one in a way of fellowship. Besides, on his inquiry for clarification, I ministered the word clarifying the difference between soul and spirit. He was enlightened of many deeper truths which he was not aware of inspite of being in Christianity for decades, and despite the fact that he proof-read some of the translation work on the same topic, “soul and spirit.” After the fellowship, we even prayed together and rebuild our relationship as Christian brothers, and as well as official delegates.

Later, I even realized that the mail was not written by him at the first place, but by his assistant. And I just thought to myself, what a fool I would have been had I replied to the mail written by a third person on false allegations. Satan is so subtle to tear down the building work among the believers. And he "angers" people on "false charges" trying to create enmity among the brethren. It needs the Lord's mercy to not succumb to his divisive tactic, and never to give vent to anger nor pay heed to what causes anger. I guess, this is the best "anger management?"

Lord, cover us with Your blood and keep us under the shadow of Your grace.