Age of the Body

Today we are not only in the age of grace in general, but particularly in the age of the Body. Under the Lord’s grace we have been ushered into the Body, and the Lord today, in His heavenly ministry, is building up His Body. This is the unique work the Lord is doing today, and this is the work of the ministry, and this is the work we must do as Christians.  

Eph. 4:12 - For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ. 

Not knowing this age and not caring for the Body is a grave ignorance under the blinding works of the devil. We need the Lord’s mercy, first of all, to know the age, and then to carry out the work the Lord desires in this age. 

Rom. 12:2 - And do not be fashioned according to this age..

The age we live in, in this world is the present evil age. Negatively, we must be aware of the satanic blinding of today's generation and his destructive work as anti to the work of God. Even the religious, ethical, moral and good works in the eyes of man which are not according to God for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ are mere substitutes and blinding works of Satan that leads people astray in this present evil. Therefore, we must not be fashioned according to this age. Instead, we must positively look to the Lord for His enlightening to see the heavenly vision and must know the spiritual age we are in, the age of the Body. With the divine, spiritual and heavenly light from the Lord in the light of the scriptures, especially, in the epistles of Paul, we can see the vision of the age and thereby look to the Lord for His mercy to carry out the work of the Body. 

The work of the Body today is the building up of the Body. Building takes place in the way of life ordained by God. The way of life begets, nourishes, perfects and builds up. Anything that has life takes the way of life. And life grows and builds up unto maturity and perfection. The principle in physical life applies to the spiritual as well. Therefore, in the age of grace, in the age of the Body, we must take the way of life ordained by God. All that we say and do must be for the growth in life for the building up of one another in love, for the building up of the Body of Christ. 

Col. 1:28 - Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ. 

The burden therefore is crystal clear; as Christians living in the age of the Body we must see the Body, know the Body and do the work of the Body. And for the building up of the Body, we ourselves must pursue the growth in life and carry out the work of perfecting the saints, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ. 

This is what the Lord has been speaking to me these days. And I believe this is the up-to-date speaking of the Lord. 

To this extend, whoever or whatever we are, wherever we may be, we must be Body conscious in all our living and service. More specifically this time,  as we carry out the translation of the New Testament Recovery Version Bible into six Indian languages, we have taken all steps in fellowship with the Body and would not do anything in haste until a thorough fellowship, and,  genuine and sweet one accord is perfectly realized among all the saints concerned. Certain practical decisions we withhold for further fellowship and take care of the feeling and oneness in the Body, particularly with the coworkers bearing the burden of the Lord's work in India. 

These are the practical steps the Lord has been teaching me in my service to do the work of the Body. 

Ultimately, all that we do is for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ. 

Lord, grace us to do the work of building up Your Body in the way of life as ordained by You in this age of the Body. 

Buy Truth, Buy Gold...

Buy truth, and do not sell it;

Buy wisdom and instruction and understanding. 

Prov. 23:23 

As we were fellowshipping over dinner with a couple of brothers last night I was so impressed by the matter of "buying". Anything that is worthy needs a price to pay. Even if received for free, it was paid for by someone else. Concerning the truth, we must also pay the price to buy the truth. Only when there is some payment involved then there is the worth with it. 

When many people bargain for the truth it is because their hearts are not pure and sincere. For things of necessity or even worldly things, many believers can shell out thousands of rupees. But when it comes to the matter of spiritual pursuit or paying the price for spiritual matters, the degraded tendency is, "it should have been for free!" Even if not, it must be cheap. With this attitude, how can one really except the Lord's blessing? When this topic was fellowshipped, I testified of how my conscience would not allow me to buy the New Testament Recovery Version just for Rs.5 when the brothers did a distribution in my campus in 2001 at MCC, Chennai. Instead, I  took 2 Copies and paid Rs. 500 for it as I deemed proper according to my conscience. Later, that Bible for which I paid the price became so useful to me that I received so many revelation from the studying of it. Which later ushered me into the church-life in the Lord's recovery. And the other I gifted to my best friend who now is in the church life. 

Besides, two weeks ago, I was so burdened by the Lord concerning the need for paying the price to buy three things as spoken to the church in Laodicia. I reckon my situation was just that of the degraded church. And the Lord spoke strongly in the matter of paying the price to gain Him.

Rev. 3:18 - I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested, and eyesalve to anoint your eyes that you may see. 

Notes from the Bible, Recovery Version:

Buying requires the paying of a price. The degraded recovered church must pay a price for gold, white garments, and eyesalve, which she desperately need. 

Gold (1 Pet. 1:7;  1 Cor. 3:12-13)
In the Bible our operating, working faith (Gal. 5:6) is likened to gold (1 Pet. 1:7), and the divine nature of God, which is the divinity of Christ, is typified by gold (Exo. 25:11). By faith we partake of the divine nature of God (2 Pet. 1:1, 4-5). The degraded recovered church has the knowledge of the doctrines concerning Christ but not much living faith to partake of the divine element of Christ. She needs to pay the price to gain the golden faith through the fiery trials that she may participate in the real gold, which is Christ Himself as the life element to His Body. Thus she can become a pure golden lampstand (1:20) for the building of the golden New Jerusalem (21:18)

White  (Rev. 3:5)
In figure, garments signify conduct. White garments here signify conduct that can be approved by the Lord. Such conduct is the Lord Himself lived out of the church, and it is required by the degraded recovered church for the covering of her nakedness.  

EyesalveThe eyesalve needed to anoint their eyes must be the anointing Spirit (1 John 2:27), who is the Lord Himself as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). The degraded recovered church needs this kind of eyesalve also for the healing of her blindness. For the three items mentioned in this verse, she must pay the price. 

To pay the price spiritually is the giving up of anything that hinders us from gaining gold, the white garment, and the eyesalve; all these things are Christ Himself. Anything that frustrates my enjoyment of Christ, that hinders my growth in life, that obstructs my going on with the Lord and with the saints must be thoroughly dealt with. If there are things to be given up to clear these blockages, I must trust in the Lord’s grace and give them up. That giving up of the obstacles is the paying of the price. 

The ministry of the word helps me a lot in this matter. The Lord's speaking through the ministry as I pursued the truth personally and corporately, has nourished me so much. I shared this burden of paying the price with the brothers in our brothers' fellowship and also with the saints in the Lord’s Day morning. It was indeed a message and food supply from the Lord to the church on that day. 

O for the grace to pay the price to gain Christ as the gold, the white garments and the eyesalve!

Family Fellowship

With the dawn of the new year, the Lord burdened me to spend more time with those within my family circle and those who are staying with my family. Though there are saints waiting for visitation and shepherding, I was so busy with my official responsibility that till date I could hardly find time to visit them. Repeated request for visiting them were postponed to an unknown date, I don't know when. Now the case is that there are too many seekers and saints waiting for shepherding. In the midst of all these I gave my priority to those who are in my own family, and those who are with me in the same house. 

One by one, I fellowshipped and prayed with them. All of them need special attention and shepherding. One of them, a young one preparing for her Board exam, the other two in the midst of struggling for survival spiritually, as they had been through severe turmoil and hardship in their personal lives. Now I pay special attention to these ones first. First thing first, and the rest will be taken care in due time. 

In personal fellowship, I am beginning to understand their real situation; their struggles in life, their feelings about things and the way to help them. I have to sincerely confess that I cannot help them at all, but shepherd them to turn to the Lord who is the good Shepherd and can truly render special care. Till date, what I can at the most do is, pray, and pray and pray. That's all I  can do and nothing more. While at home or abroad, I would pray personally and with my wife for all these dear ones. I truly have come to the point of utter helplessness in helping these ones with their situation except to pray with them and pray for them. 

Now is the time for yet another exercise of faith, first of all to have faith in the Lord and have faith in the prayer I am offering. My deep concern is, if I cannot be a blessing to my own household how can I be of any blessing outside? As much as the Lord's life grows from within, so much more His shepherding from the family, then to the others.

Family fellowship is as important as any other fellowship of the church and with the saints. I must not be overtly spiritual to assume that all is well at home as long as I take care of the saints outside family circle. Perhaps, there may be exceptional cases, but family life must never be neglected nor sacrificed for the sake of "shepherding" outside. Not that the saints should not be shepherded, but that family must not and never be neglected. Serving ones of the Lord must learn this, and must learn it thoroughly well for the sake of the Lord's testimony as a family and then as the church eventually.

Lord, shepherd my family. Yes even the extended family and also all the saints in the local church to be Your testimony.

Three Brothers

There are three brothers serving full time in the literature service from whom I draw a spiritual lessons of prayer in faith and prophesying in faith. These brothers had served full time in the past and left, for the reasons best known to them. Nevertheless, they could not be aloof for long and now they have all come back to exercise their gifts in their respective service recently. 

About a year ago I was in our Chennai office when I fellowshipped with the serving ones to pray for those who had left the service. I remember telling all the saints in faith that they should pray for these ones until they were recovered back to their normal function in the Body. When speaking such, I exercised my faith and told them that they all would be recovered back. Even challenged them to pray that they should be recovered back before the end of that year. That was last year, 2016.

These three had their own stories and valid reasons for leaving their services. But one thing they perhaps did not know was, they were chosen by the Lord and that in wanting to pursue their own career the Lord was giving them a "wilderness" training. I believe they must have had a "wilderness walk in the valley of the shadow of death" and learned that they had no way to go on in their darkness. Until one day the Lord's light dawned on them and they were gradually recovered back to their respective service in the Body. What a mercy! 

Sometimes, such experiences are needed to learn lessons of life. When brothers' fellowship meant nothing to them and they were lost in their own world, the Lord had to deal with them inwardly, deeply and thoroughly. But the mercy of the Lord never fails, in time, He perfectly does what He needs to do. 

This time round, when I met all the three brothers, I just praised the Lord for His sovereignty and thanked Him for His multifarious wisdom. I did get time to fellowship with these brothers and all of them testified in joy to be recovered back. Praise the Lord! 

Now, in their coming back, "home coming", they are more exercised and serious about their service before the Lord. May the Lord preserve them to exercise the gift given to them and function normally in their portion in the  Body. 

This is no mere lesson of comeback story, but a lesson of faith, a lesson of prayer and prophesying in faith. Had there not been some to pray and even intercede on their behalf, I seriously doubt if they ever would be recovered back. For some reasons, the Lord has given me this special burden of praying for the recovery of many saints who have gone astray, both in the spiritual world as much in the religious world and the physical world. 

I believe in my prayer, else I should not pray a vain and hopeless prayer. And since the Lord graced me the faith to pray, I must faithfully pray to move the hand of God. And pray and pray until I see the result of the Lord's answers to the prayer, like these three brothers and the many more to be recovered.

A Poignant Parting

It was in December 2016 I met a brother after over one and a half decade, when we had sweet time of fellowship amidst the critical health issue his wife was facing then. Eight months later, with a brother and myself, I met his wife again when she was quite normal and could sit and converse. I remember, We fellowshipped on "Calling upon the Name of the Lord." Another few months later, I could meet only the brother as her health became even more critical, she was in the ICU. As a brother I had been encouraging him to leave all to the Lord as He knows best, and just trust in Him. Often we prayed together over the phone and even arranged a fasting prayer for her health with a couple of other brothers. Only to finally learn that she went to be with the Lord. I was not very surprised though I wish her a complete recovery. I did go to meet the brother and had a word of prayer, but what else could I do? I had no words, but encouraged him to amen whatever the Lord did as He knows best. I sincerely had nothing to say, but prayed for him. When all the condolences and funeral services were over, he sent me some photos of her grave. My deep feeling before the Lord was messaged as thus. 

Dear Brother D...., 

One thing we do know amidst the multitude of mysteries, He is God and He has the supreme sovereignty over all, not excluding​ our lives. Only He knows why He did things the way He did. And, is and ever He will be who He is. He is God, and we simply say amen to all His deeds, though many times, painfully, perhaps, even with bitter tears. Despite such, we still worship Him for He is God. 

May we experience grace in hard times as this, and gain Christ. Blessed shall we be, if we are graced to trust Him, and experience Him deeply even in sickness as much in health, in poverty as much in riches, and even in death as much in living. 

Much grace to you my beloved brother. Remember, the God who takes also gives much more, in His time.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. 2 Tim. 4 :22 

Let us consider the death of Rachel as well in the light of the Word. 

The Death of RachelGen. 35:16 - And they journeyed from Bethel. And while there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth; and she had hard labor.
Gen. 35:17 - And while she was in hardest labor, the midwife said to her, Do not be afraid, for now you have another son.
Gen. 35:18 - And as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
Gen. 35:19 - So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
Gen. 35:20 - And Jacob set up a pillar on her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave, which is there to this day. 

Note from the Holy Bible Recovery VersionRachel was Jacob’s natural choice according to his heart’s desire (29:18-20). The death of Rachel was the loss of Jacob’s natural choice. This was a deep and personal dealing for Jacob. Jacob lost Rachel, but in the process he gained Benjamin, who was a type of Christ.

“Rachel” had to die so that “Benjamin” could be born. In the same manner, God will eventually take away our natural choice so that we may bring forth Christ for His expression. God’s goal is not to make His chosen ones suffer loss; it is to bring forth Christ through them.

It was a poignant parting, but we can learn and learn and gain Christ. I am aware over FB post that today there was a memorial meeting at his locality. Despite all the pain, parting while on earth is just a matter of time. Mostly sad, yet in the Lord, all is for good.

In fact, one night I could not sleep, and as I was praying for my dear brother, two hymns came to mind which were written based on similar poignant parting. One being, "It is Well" by Horatio Spafford and the other "Day by Day" by Carolina Sandell. The Lord gives and the Lord takes in His time. Though a poignant parting, amidst the pain, it is the Lord's pleasure to do so. And having grace and accepting the fact with thanskgiving is a blessing.

New Testament Recovery Version India

Nehemiah 8:8   And they read in the book, in the law of God, interpreting and giving the sense, so that they understood the reading.

Today, the 11th of January 2017, after two and half days of fellowship and training with brother Kerry S Robichaux and Joel Oladele, with thirty serving ones mostly translators in six different Indian languages, namely Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Mizo and Kannada, and this after more than two and half years of Greek learning, having passed through four major exams, and all qualified to translate the New Testament Recovery Version from the Greek to the aforementioned six Indian languages, the actual translation works have thus begun. Hallelujah! 

This is truly the hand of God; the prayer of the saints in India and abroad, blessed by the God of blessing, and honored and confirmed by the Body; this historic move of the Lord, the Head of the Body, in union with the members of His Body have truly indeed begun. From man's point of view, at least mine, it's a dream come true. Safe for the Lord's leading, this could never have transpired. And to this I say, amen, praise the Lord! 

Step by step, I could in detail recount of what the Lord has been doing. Though not a translator myself, by His sovereign mercy, I have been graced the honour of coordination with a host of brothers for this glorious project. With many uncertainly in the past yet full of faith and hope, I have been graced to sail along the courses of the tough terrain of Greek classes. Often, burning midnight oils, many times at the verge of giving up, yet the Lord has graced us through to the point of being "qualified" to translate from the Greek, at least in the eyes of our teacher, but not to my self assessment. Since no student can be greater than his teacher, our teacher must be right, so are his decision, faith and trust. We sail along with him, and here we are, ready to set sail on on the vessel of "Recovery Version" for another five years "New Testament" journey. Bon voyage? Only the Lord as the Captain must sail us through the stormy winds, heightened tides, flashing lightnings and sounding thunders to complete the voyage He has begun. We trust the Lord as the Alpha is the Omega as well. Lord, grace us and lead us through to the end. Amen. 

Besides overcoming the personnel matter, there are many other factors too. The financial support for this project, the health of all the serving ones both physically and spiritually, the need to meet the lag that would be left when the translators are shifted for this Bible translation project, and a host of other practical things are still a concern. But we trust the living Lord and live and walk by faith, one step at a time. As of now, I have no idea how all the above concerns will be taken care, but I do have the faith that the Lord definitely will take care of all of them. In fact, I personally have been witnessing how the Lord has practically in time met the needs one by one. Recently, I have been witnessing the Lord releasing translators and providing the financial supplies. I simply trust, all the needs God will meet as He has already been doing so. 

Now praying and looking forward, in faith and hope, for the day when the translation of the New Testament Recovery Version Bible project will be completed. And the saints and seekers in India will read the book, in the law of God, the New Testament Recovery Version, interpreting and giving the sense, so that they understood the reading.

Fasting Prayer

And He said to them, Because of your little faith; for truly I say to you, If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Matthew 17:20-21

I used to fast and pray every Saturday night for many years since I got saved. In fact, it had become a part of my life, and in course of time, a ritual rather than a genuine prayer. So instead of a routine ritualistic fating prayer, I continued to pray but not in a religious way anymore. But that also had another side effect of not being regular and persistent. Still I maintain the genuineness of prayer whether by physical fasting or not, but off late, I was reminded of the need for real fasting too.

It was in the recent co-workers' training that the Lord burdened me afresh to maintain a persistent and set-time fasting prayer again, yet not getting into ritualistic practice of religion. The Lord grace me to restart again. It was indeed very refreshing and I enjoyed it thoroughly. This practice must be strictly adhered to, lest the enemy distract us from such persistent prayer.

Yesterday, a dear brother and a friend too, requested a fasting prayer for the recovery of his wife who is unconscious in ICU due to cancer. It has been a year since she was first diagnosed. And in one accord, a couple of brothers and also friends from college days, we decided to fast and pray for this very burden of our brother's wife healing. I personally was burdened to stand in oneness with my brothers and released a strong prayer before the Lord. As I prayed I had a confirmation within that our prayers have been heard. Later, at midnight, I called up a brother and prayed with him over the phone that the Lord must heal his wife. The Lord indeed blessed us with such a faith. In my prayer I told the brother, "we believe in God's word, we trust in Him and also believe in our prayers."

This prayer burden also led us to create a WhatsApp group, "One in Christ," bringing together some brothers for the purpose of fellowship and prayer. 

There are certain burdens that can be released only by genuine fasting and prayer. Though I never would subscribe to the literal meaning of fasting, emptying the stomach or abstaining from food, I sure support the genuineness of prayer rather than the "fasting" per se. Fasting prayer is not an act of religiously duty, mere emptying of stomach, but genuine fellowship with the Lord and praying the Lord's burden back to him. Such genuine fasting prayer must be a practice of a normal Christian life. The more the better, and at least, once a month, and better is, at least once a week. Such prayer times are meant for the Lord and Him alone, in sweet fellowship, praise, thanksgiving, worship, and petition.

The Lord Himself confirmed the need of fasting and prayer when it comes to dealing with the enemy in a strong way for the carrying out of His ministry on the earth. He emphatically stated, "nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

This kind of prayer is also related to the exercise of faith, fighting spiritual warfare, practicing a oneness with the Lord, binding on earth what have been bound in the heavens and loosing one earth what have been loosed in the heavens, for the fulfillment of His will on the earth. 

The question posed now to us is, "When the Lord Himself fasted and prayed, why not we His believers?" If the Lord fasted and prayed when He Himself is God, much more we must fast and pray according to His will!

Lord, grace me to live a life of normal Christian life; even of fasting and praying once a week, all the days of my life.