Bezalel

Exo. 31:21b  Bezalel  Exo. 35:30;  36:1, 8;  37:1;  38:22;  39:2;  1 Chron. 2:20; 2 Chron. 1:5

Bezalel was a master builder, a leader in God’s building. His name means in the shadow of God, indicating that as a master builder, Bezalel was a man under the shadow of God’s grace (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10a; 2 Cor. 12:9). Uri, the name of Bezalel’s father, means light of Jehovah, and Hur, the name of Bezalel’s grandfather, means free, noble, white (signifying clean and pure). These three names indicate what kind of persons the builders of God’s dwelling place should be.

In serving the Lord, all God’s children are and must be Bezalel. As the name signifies, Bezalel, must be under the shadow of God’s grace. Without being under the Lord's covering grace one cannot go on serving the Lord. For the attack of the enemy is severe against those serving the Lord.

Mathew 16:18 "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." In the New Testament, we are today's builders of the church. What the Lord prophesied on the building of the church is very significant. He simply did not say that He will build the church, but also that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the builded church.

Note from the Recovery Version:
Gates of Hades refers to Satan’s authority or power of darkness (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18), which cannot prevail against the genuine church built by Christ upon this revelation concerning Him as the rock, with stones such as Peter, a transformed human being. This word of the Lord’s indicates also that Satan’s power of darkness will attack the church. Hence, there is spiritual warfare between Satan’s power, which is his kingdom, and the church, which is God’s Kingdom.

Today, as we serve the Lord in whatever way or whichever capacity, the gates of Hades will not be silent, rather, with all the evil forces of darkness it will attack the building work, especially the builders, if possible. And I have been experiencing the same in my service to the Lord.

This time the attack was very fierce before I set out for the recent ministry journey that I am undertaking at the moment. From my family side there was a conscious care for my cousin brother who could not attend to the office works because of his health and past habit. And the concern of my wife in my absence if things did not go well. Besides, the current economic crisis India is embroiled in, due to demonetisation of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes. Though our money is in the banks with our saving accounts but not withdrawable due to cash crunch at all banks and long queues of cashless clients at ATMs. On top of this, an official need to defend and confirm the truth against the false allegation of some unknown writer which was reported to be in printing and the need to stop such false accusations. Literally I was tossed in dilemma for at least a day. At one time, deciding to cancel the literature tour, and at other time, going for it as planned. But finally, after serious prayer and consideration I decided to go ahead as planned, trusting in the Lord's covering grace.

As I went ahead as planned against all odds, the Lord indeed blessed the decision as we have been experiencing now in our ministry literature journey.

Few days ago as I met the Principal of the largest Bible college in town and introduced the ministry of the word to him, I also read the Bible portion from Exodus concerning Bezalel, Uri and Hur and expounded it with spiritual revelation. I myself have been experiencing the same, the need for the covering of the Lord's grace as a serving one.

All serving ones of the Lord are Bezalel and must be under the Lord's covering grace. Otherwise, there is no way to build up the church and no way to go on in our service to the Lord.

Lord, keep me ever in Your covering grace. Amen. 

Greek Finally

Almost three years the Lord has been gracing us to learn Greek, mostly grammar and vocabulary. Since the course began, by the Lord's mercy, I have done my best to attend all the classes and completed all the exercises. Besides studying as much as I could, the Lord graced me to score above 90% except the last exam at 89.5%, which if a question to be adjusted was to be taken into account, my score would be 90% score. In fact, this last exam with the least score was mainly because I was too busy travelling for the distribution of the ministry of the word, I hardly get time to study. But I did my best to find time and did my best. At least once, I got the grace of scoring 100%. Though number is not the deciding factor of how much I have learned, it does speak volume. For scorecard was earned through studies and hardwork.

When my teachers asked each one to comment about the course my comments were:

Online Classes
The faithfulness and burden of the servings ones motivates and encourages me to do my best to get into the lessons and assignments, study the vocabularies, take the quizzes and exams. Though I did not understand much at the first briefing, the studying that followed helped me a lot. 

Generally, I go through the lessons at least five times, both online and using printed books, made my own notes, and did a lot of practices on the tables and vocabularies, mostly memorization. I did not deem myself qualified to take the quizzes or exams until I felt I have thoroughly learned enough, so I put a base number as "minimum five times" going through the whole lessons to qualify me to take the tests.

The questions in each class on crucial point(s) caught my attention on the key points of the lessons. They were very helpful.

Assignments
It helps me in the practical application of what was learned in the lessons. In most of the cases, it was the assignment that made me really understand the lessons, without this would be a mere theory. Some of the assignments were quite lengthy and difficult for a first timer, but it was worth the labor. And the answer keys to the assignments added much to the proper understanding of the lessons. In many cases, I did not get it right, but the answer keys served as a self-help teaching tool. 

Quizzes and Exams
These are the main motivating factors that help me to study hard. I dared not take those until I was 100% sure I had studied enough to be able to answer all the questions.

Comments
To be frank enough, I have nothing to say of what I don't like, I like them all. And I don't know what better ways than these will there be. I had been a student for 20 years till my Master's Degree, and I never studied in this way. If all my classes were this way, I feel I could have done much better in my academic score as a student then.

As serving ones, family man and also holding various responsibilities, the way the Greek classes were conducted, the time duration for the studies, assignments, quizzes and exams were just perfect.

This is no exaggeration, nor "trying to please my teachers", I mean what I said.

I only regret that I might not have met the expectation of my teachers.

Overall, I feel really blessed to be a student of my "Father tongue" and reckon it as God's grace and a dream come true.  My main concern now is "do I really learn it well?" as expected or as I should. Hope I do so...

Lord, have mercy on me and grace me.
Thank you, dear serving ones.

Even after all these years of learning I still feel I am still a naive. Greek is still Greek to me. But when I delved into the word, on the Greek text, I did discover that I did learn something. Praise the Lord for that. But I still feel I should learn more, and be more equipped in my "Father tongue."

There were times I had to study while on a literature tour. Sometimes in the bus, in the train, and at guest house. I have written at least three exams while on a literature tour. To me, time, place and circumstance cannot hinder my heart to learn. Where there is a will, there is always a way. I think I proved it. I hardly miss any class except once when I was in Goa for a distribution tour as I could not get proper internet access, and never missed any assignment or exam. All were done on time, at least at the eleventh hour.

I know not why my teacher thinks I can teach Greek. He surprisingly offered me a role of "staff" after the final exam which I was more than obliged to accept it, not to teach but to learn more. Last week as we had the final class I still feel I am a young learner. Approximately three years of learning is not too long. I felt the same now even after the course as when I first began to learn. Greek is still Greek and I must keep learning. Though I will still be in touch with Greek, at least as a staff, I will ever still be a learner. My attitude is the same as when I began then, and now even as I finished the course. 

Greek finally will still be Greek.

Challenging Decisions

Of late, the Lord is leading me to learn to carry out official responsibility with challenges poised before me. Generally, I always take a safer route and would rather give up on challenging tasks rather than risk it in fear of failure. But these days I have been learning to be more bold in making decisions with the view to learn and explore new heights in my service the Lord has sovereignly assigned to me. Recently few big decisions were before me and the Lord graced me to face it head on.

The first big decision was printing fourteen new Hindi titles of one thousand copies each. Never did I make such a big decision in one go. But because of the need and urgency for spreading the truth and a plan to visit various North Indian cities for the ministry journey, in fellowship with my fellow serving ones, I decided to go ahead. The printing was done and distribution began. Though I made a deal with the printer to pay later, meanwhile contemplating on how the printed books could be sold soon and pay off the printer, the Lord opened a door through a leading Christian Hindi literature publisher and distributor.

One day the Lord gave me a strong burden to meet the manager of this publisher. On that morning though I had to rush for Christian Expo, I was held back in my spirit to pray first with the serving ones for the Lord's leading for the day. When I met the said manager, in fellowship we struck a deal for 700 copies of 14 Hindi titles to be distributed through them. 70% job done and the remaining 30% for our distribution! Besides, through all my travelling the remaining books are finding ways to be distributed.

Another decision was on participating in a Christian Expo with a considerable investment in terms of money and manpower. From business point of view, it sure must be a no-no, as the investment would not be gained back through the exhibition. Nevertheless, with the burden of exhibition of the ministry books, exposure to the Christian community and gaining seekers, I took the decision to go ahead. And the Lord indeed led some genuine seekers to us for our future contact and lead for propagation in NCR.

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Another decision was on printing of 50 title books of 50 copies each on Print on Demand with the view of upcoming distribution in different parts of India. It took me over two weeks to make the decision as it involved huge investment. If I had not gone ahead we would have no way to intensify the distribution. I finally called the shot for the sake of meeting the basic need of making the ministry of the word available to fellow Christians. After the printing, the fifty copies were divided up to different slots for distribution all over India.

Yet one more risk was on participating in a Sangai Festival 2016 at Imphal, a secular event. After I made the decision to participate, I kind-of changed my mind and called to cancel it, taking into consideration the present economic situation after demonetisation and the on-going economic blockade in Manipur. But the cancellation did not transpire and  we had to go ahead with it. At the last minute all things were done, and another risk taken, at least, for the exhibition of the ministry of the word and contacting people for the gospel.

These challenges taught me lessons of life, both spiritually and officially. May the Lord be my wisdom and discernment in functioning according to the measure He measured to me. Amen.

Christian Expo, Delhi

As a part of reaching out to the Christian community, as the ministry literature servings ones, we participated in the World Christian Expo at YMCA New Delhi. Our main burden was for the exhibition of the ministry of the word, and hoped that Christians can have a taste of the ministry. Our motto has ever been, "The Ministry of the Word for All!" 

Besides, by such participation, we have a good exposure to our fellow Christian brethren. Though it was planned for a big event, the turn out of the crowd was not as expected. Coincidentally, the day the Expo began was the day our Prime Minister announced the demonetisation of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes. The aftermath was, the entire nation was shell shocked and economic crisis creeps as cash crunch crashed every Indian. Suddenly our currency which normally were saved in 500s and 1000s became mere pieces of paper. All ATM and Banks were running out of cash and we cannot withdraw even our own money saved in the bank. This incident affected the exhibition so much. But we thanked the Lord for all things.

Despite the economic turmoil, the Lord brought some genuine seekers for fellowship in our stall. Some from Gurgaon, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida and even Faridabad. The Lord prepared a ground work for His further move in NCR(National Capital Region).

Besides, two very seeking sisters visited our stall and upon further fellowship they opened up their real condition and consented to fellowship with the church in Delhi. The following Lord’s day they attended the meeting with the saints.

To me, personally, it was a good experience of first hand handling all the practical arrangement. From planning to execution to accomplishment, it was indeed a blessed experience. I enjoyed the exhibition despite the negligible sales. I treasure the life lessons more than the workload and business per se.

Moreover, our relationship with some Christian leaders were sweetened and strengthened. We also got to attend a Publisher's Meet where new things were learned for the distribution of the ministry of the word.

Despite all the physical setback in terms of business or profitability I graded the overall experience as "PASS" considering the positive aspects of making the ministry of the word available to the seekers and Christians in general.

May the Lord gain those who came in touch with the ministry. Amen. 

Trump Triumphs and Trumps

Since the day I heard about Mr. Trump from the very early days of his entering American politics, my inner sense told me, "this man must become the President of USA" though I knew nothing about him. I was and am still very naive to American politics, still my inner sense supports him for some reasons unknown to me then and now, but the who;e mystery were unfolded from time to time. Since then I began to check the news on Google for updates about this man. Never in my life I have been so interested to follow up on secular matter like his candidacy, and much less foreign politics, though I have been very regularly updated on my country's, India, current affairs.

Few reasons for my inclination towards Mr. Trump for the President of America are these:

His supports for Israel, especially his promise to shift the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. To my understanding of the word of God, anyone who proposes change in line with the Bible prophesy must be elected to power, just like how God had to used Cyrus, the King of Persian, to fulfill His prophesy. This point itself is a solid base for my hidden inclination.

His proposal for stopping illegal immigrants which is related to God's righteousness. I don't think he can stop the legal migrants, but the point is, conforming to principle in the Word of God. Illegality is unrighteousness by law.

His opposing abortion and homosexuality is another valid point, as it amounts to murder and fornication if this has to be legalised. Besides, the opposing party had not only approved of it but even legalised homosexuality which God hates and warns against it time and again. To stand against such anti-biblical stands must be approved by the Bible abiding believers.

His opposing radical and extremist religionists is another strong point that deserves approval. Anything extremist must be fought against. He just proposed to do that. While the other party dare not even use the word "radical"  to condemn fanaticism.

He being mistreated by the US Media, to my understanding, was truly unfair. Almost everything I read about him reported by the media were mostly negative. But this boomeranged with a condemnation on biased media. When I needed an update I first looked at the news report and then the news from his own party and compared them. And my discovery was a biased and unfair reporting of one and supporting the other. There definitely was a biased reporting which was meant for His disadvantaged but which actually boosted a hidden support for him,  at least because of the bias. Unfavored bias u-turned to be his unmerited favor.

His seeking God’s wisdom and guidance and the support he garnered from the evangelicals despite being rejected and ridiculed by many hypocritical politicians even from his own party fold. The seeking of God's blessing and wisdom and being supported by the believers in constant prayer is a very strong point for approval.

His proposal to right the rigged system of the established system was another value added point to his election.

Besides all these, the prayer that I prayed to God when an elderly brother confirmed to me that I had the gift of prayer and that all that I prayed for will be answered. As a confirmation to this I prayed a prayer to see if what that brother prophesied was true. And thus, like Gideon, my prayer was for the triumph of Trump. The same thing I did last night as the election was going on that the Lord may elect him for His purpose on the earth. Yet again, as a proof to whether my prayer will be answered.

This morning as the counting was on full swing, I was awestruck by the result that Trump was on the way to triumph. But as the counting went on, I became very nervous, and finally when the final result was out, it was a joy indeed. Not merely because of the triumph of Trump but because of the hand of God behind the scenes and the spiritual deal I had with God based on the prophesying of an elderly brother concerning my function in the Body of Christ.

To me the person was not the matter, either him or her is not the issue here at all. But the matter of the fulfillment of the word of God. This election has much lessons in store for me. Ultimately, it is God who decides all matters under the sun. The Most High still rules.

Trump triumphs and trumps to make America great again. So shall it be. God bless America!

Being Daddy

The Lord has been gracing and blessing my marriage life all these years, a decade now. Last week the Lord gave me a new experience in practically taking care of the children the Lord graced me with, as my wife and my youngest daughter went to Chennai to attend a Serving Ones Training. In fact it was the first time I got to take care of my children alone without my wife. Initially, I was wondering how to take care of them as I never did alone before. But I took the opportunity to learn and experience more from the Lord.

Putting on the shoes of a mother and yet still being a father, my way was to lead them to be responsible for household chores from the time they wake up; folding the blankets, washing up, prayer, breakfast, dressing up and going to school. And the chores continued when they were back from school; changing dress, eating lunch, doing homeworks, Bible reading, sometimes for games, then dinner, bathing, night prayer and resting for the day. I also joined with them in some of the daily chores. My life took a new turn with new experiences, and my relationship with my children became sweeter and dearer.

This blessed experience taught me precious lessons of life and I am learning "being daddy." What a blessing to experience the Lord's leading in caring for the children the Lord blessed us with. 

With my wife, our prayer for our family have been that we would be God-man family, loving the Lord, living the Lord and being one with the Lord. Besides being covered by the Lord’s grace, our prayer also is that our house be a house of prayer, a house where many guests and visitors can receive God’s blessing when they visits us, where sinners be saved, seekers be shepherded and saints be strengthened. Even as we have been praying for all these we also faced some attacks from the enemy now and then. Nevertheless, through every trials and temptation the Lord has been gracing us to come out victoriously gaining more Christ, growing in life a little more,  and maturing in life gradually.

When my wife came back I updated her of the well being of our children. We both realised the need to work together in shepherding as guardian angels and as caretakers of the Lord's children whom He blessed us with. Our responsibility is to be faithful to the Lord in what He has entrusted us with, and learning to be proper Christian parent. What she can I may not be able, nor what I can she may not be able, so we both must coordinate together to take of the children. And especially me, learning to be daddy just by "being daddy."

Triangular Trip

This time the Lord took me to three places in North India again for the distribution of the ministry of the word, viz., Roorkee, Haridwar and Rishikhesh. Again this was my first visit to these places. A brother came along with me in coordination and we were given hospitality in a local brother's home in Baktowali, Jhabrera.

This was the brother I met few years ago, who came along with another brother in Gurgaon. Surprisingly some other brother had asked him to meet me, and till date I could not recognise that unknown introducer even after his photo was shown to me. Anyway, it was all the Lord's arrangement for His divine economy. During that visit, I remember sharing to him for hours on the truth concerning a genuine ground of oneness. He was very receptive and invited me to visit him since then. But I could do so, only this time it was possible; this was the perfect time.

We were together for six days, each day visiting different people and ministering as the Lord led us to. Though this was meant to be a distribution trip, it was more of a propagation. One significant thing in this trip was the following of the Spirit's leading. And we did exercise in prayer to discern the Spirit's leading.

Memorable and some note worthy meetings were below.

A seeking family: As the meeting began they sang local Hindi songs, none of which I was familiar of, then to take care of us they selected two English hymns, the last one being "showers of blessing." As we finished singing, the instant speaking of the Lord was on "Blessing is God Himself." For over an hour the Spirit's speaking was very rich on God in Christ as the Spirit is the real blessing. The family were very nourished and enlightened as message was loud and clear against the degraded understanding of blessings implied on materialism and mammon. As a token of thanks they attempted to offer some "offering" which I politely rejected with explanation, to set a precedence for the coming days.

Meeting with a Christian leader: A wealthy Christian leader running a big congregation in the city of Roorkee and having a solid work among the IITians was on a defensive mood as we introduced the ministry literature, especially the Recovery Version Bible. But as I shared my testimony of salvation and God's calling he was completely mum, listening with rapt attention. Though he tend to differ in some topics we brought out as he himself is a Bible teacher, he did acknowledge that he learned new things from our fellowship and confessed his defiant attitude when he prayed. We were glad, at least, he heard us out, and he promised to go through the ministry books before he could recommend to others.

A Christian leader in Haridwar: The main and earliest serving ones in the city, who was also a leader of a big international Christian organisation, was very curious to hear us first before he introduced his service to us. As we used the ministry books to minister the word he nodded and even audibly applauded our sincere effort to equip the believers with the truth of the Bible. His response too was that he himself would read the books first and then introduce to other Christians as well. His final comment was his appreciation in the clarity of the truths we presented, and opened up to us for any future help if we need it at all. Later we enjoyed lovefeast together.

A Christian leader in Rishikhesh: A very decent, well to do and educated leader and his wife welcomed us and gave us good audience. Every ministry books we introduced was an eye opening to them. With some insight, we presented the subject on "authority and submission" which pricked them so much as the Christian world today is embroiled with hidden fights for name, fame and position. They, without any hesitation, selected that book with the same title and others as well. Since they promised to introduce to others and they being the main one, we were happy that the beachhead was touched.

The most significant of all the meetings we had was the one with a Christian leader and his family with the local "Sarpanch," an elected head of a village-level statutory institution of local self-government called the panchayat (village government) in India (gram panchayat), along with a the district president and vice president of a ruling political party of the state, Uttarakhand. The Spirit's speaking was on growth in Christian life, oneness among the believers, sanctification by the word of God, and the truth and practices of righteousness. The speaking was so strong that these leaders would have been impacted in their inward being and living as political and social leaders. The burden on oneness was released because our host was in tears when he met us and expressed the sadness and seriousness of division among believers today of which he himself was one of the victims.

Another additional meetings were:

Two brothers from Delhi of a leading Christian group were co-hosted by our guest with us. As we fellowshipped, the Lord burdened me to share my testimony that touched them so much that the elderly brother of seventy five years later acknowledged his gratitude to the Lord for the unexpected meeting. He further fellowship and told me something of his discernment that I had the gift of prayer and healing and other gifts that many Christian leaders are seeking for. I simply nod my head in neutrality, and he asked me to simple say "amen." Only the Lord knows what He has bestowed me with, and if at all His discernment were true the gifts of God is for the building up of the Body of Christ that will fulfill God’s eternal economy.

Finally, the last meeting we had in this trip was the Lord's day meeting where I was asked to minister the truth on "baptism." I ministered on the seven significances of baptism, after which three new believers took baptism, one of which was a village "pradhan," the village head.

This triangular trip to three different cities and villages has opened our eyes and a new door for the Lord's move in the Hindi heartland.

May Your testimony in the Hindi heartland!