Outstanding A+

Today is the seventh birthday of my son, Amana Palmei. It is also the day his first grade final result was announced. Together as a family we went to meet his class teacher, and the sight of the event of his teacher meeting him and congratulating him was noteworthy.

The moment his teacher saw him, she hugged and congratulated him with the news that he topped the class with A+(outstanding) in almost all the subjects and some A(excellent) scores. He too was very excited over the result as he used to trail behind his friend who used to topped the class and who is also at least a year elder to him. As parent we are happy too and congratulated him, but I quickly reminded him that this is the Lord's answer to his and our prayer that the Lord would make him a good student, an outstanding student. In the class where we met the teacher, I took him aside for a short while for thanksgiving prayer, where he and I prayed giving thanks to the God who blesses. Besides, the day being his birthday, we all went for family shopping and lunch at KFC where he had his favorite meal. 

We experienced a wonderful time together enjoying the blessing of the Lord. This little incident strengthened the faith of our children as we taught them to pray and read the word of God everyday from their very young age, and learning to trust the Lord in small and big things. Every morning when I drove them to school we prayed together for the Lord's grace for the day, His wisdom, His blessing, and much more, to be a good student, diligent and faithful, besides praying for their classmates, teachers and the school in general, that one day they would come to know and believe into the Lord Jesus Christ.

In a similar manner, as a Christian I am student in a class called "life" where the Holy Spirit is my teacher and the Bible, my text book, and Jesus Christ, my principal, in the school called the church. Each day I am looking for grace to study well and do all my homeworks diligently that after the final exam I may be rewarded with a A+, an outstanding score. 

From my son, I am learning lessons of life. It is merely the Lord's grace that me and my wife are learning to be proper God-man parent for the Lord's testimony with all the three children the Lord has blessed us.

Thank you Lord for your blessing! Ever keep us by Your grace to continue to receive Your blessing, even an outstanding A+. Amen.

Espresso Double Shot

Espresso Double Shot is a special variant of coffee drink, I guess for true lover of coffee, except me. I have never been a coffee lover, and I drink once a while when it is available or am being served with it. Recently, a brother in fellowship suggested that I try once after he described what it was. I knew it was hard and I would not like it. He did this to let me know that I must be willing to accept change. In fact, later he used the "Expresso Double Shot" as an example of how difficult it is, at times, to accept new things that we are not used to. That's really true indeed. I am very used to things that I have been used to. Often, this becomes a hindrance to learn new things and grow in life.

A day later, I and another brother got to fellowship with this brother and we determined to order "Espresso Double Shot" at a coffee shop while we fellowship. I tried this bitterly coffee for the first time in my life, and wondered what was the taste. My, it was bitterly strange! To help me drank the whole lot, I used the supplement of milk and brown sugar, in fact, the whole lot. There, I learnt a very precious lesson in life, "be ready for new things, for a change."

The fellowship we had was a very sensitive one, and crucial as the matter was related to my service and church life. My innate response was "amen" for the points of fellowship. It might be as bitter as the "Espresso Double Shot", strong and strange, but really good for my service and church life. That fellowship, to me, was a step forward and I could see new realms opened. Things I never thought before were being opened up in fellowship. My vision got bigger and better. Thanks for the bitter coffee that taught me this precious lesson. I got the "Double Shot" and its "Espresso!" And thank to the brother who gave me the "shot!"

Now, with a brighter and bolder view of things for the better, I am ready for a positive change, though it may be bitter. Sometimes, it takes an "Espresso Double Shot" for a better tomorrow. Accept the bitter for the better, its worth it.

Perfecting Training

2 Corinthians 13:9,11For we rejoice whenever we are weak and you are powerful; this also we pray for, your perfecting. Finally, brothers, rejoice, be perfected, be comforted, think the same thing, be at peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Note on "perfecting": Or, restoring. Implying repairing, adjusting, putting in order again, mending; perfectly joining together (cf. 1 Cor. 1:10 and note 4), thoroughly equipping, well furnishing; thus, perfecting, completing, educating. The apostles prayed for the Corinthians that they might be restored, put in order again, and thoroughly equipped and edified to grow in life for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Note on "perfected": Or, completed thoroughly. I.e., repaired or adjusted, put in order again, mended, perfectly joined together; thus, restored. In Greek this word is the root of the word for perfecting in v. 9 and in Eph. 4:12.

God needs vessel to corporately express Him. Man is created as earthen vessel, this vessel needs perfecting to be transformed to be useful vessel to the Lord. Every vessel, good or bad, needs the Lord's working into and upon to be able to contain God and express God. For this, growth in life and transformation is of utmost importance.

As brothers serving in the church in Gurgaon, we started fellowshipping and blending with the brothers in Delhi to learn from one another, and much more be blended and built up with one another. The Lord has sovereignly been showering His blessings upon the church in the capital city of India, New Delhi. In 2005 in New Delhi I first came as a trainee to learn and to serve, now the number of the saints have grown up from a mere 10+ to some 300+. Praise the Lord! At least for about two years I had the honor of serving in New Delhi, after which my service was transferred to Gurgaon. Now in Gurgaon I have been learning to serve and coordinate in the church service as well. 

With this impending need and burden of perfecting, we have attended the perfecting training with the brothers in New Delhi since last month. The ministry helps us to see and know the need of perfecting, and as such the training to be perfected. The apostle Paul's burden too was on perfecting the believers in the local church in Corinth. Perfecting implying repairing, adjusting, putting in order again, mending; perfectly joining together (cf. 1 Cor. 1:10 and note 4), thoroughly equipping, well furnishing; thus, perfecting, completing, educating. The apostles prayed for the Corinthians that they might be restored, put in order again, and thoroughly equipped and edified to grow in life for the building up of the Body of Christ. And this is exactly our burden too, for the churches in NCR.

Following this training was the visit and fellowship with senior co-workers for two days. Every time we had fellowship, my inner being was in fear and trembling, receiving in submission, humility, and obedience, the practical fellowship of the brothers. Though I did not expressed it orally, deep within my being I expressed my gratitude to God for these brothers to whom I could look up to for learning, perfecting, and as my pattern. The Lord also anointed them with His Spirit to minister life to us, serving ones. What a privilege! Had it not been for the ministry in His recovery today, I would have lost myself in self-deceit and false spirituality. Thank God for such brothers whom the Lord uses to shepherd us even as we learn to shepherd the saints in the church of the living God. All these fellowship and experiences are indeed a practical perfecting training to me. And I need this perfecting more as I desire to be useful to the Lord and be a blessing to the saints and the churches.

Lord, perfect me... 

My life itself is a perfecting training; including my family life, service life, and church life.

The God of Daniel

Daniel

6:16   Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king responded and said to Daniel, Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.

 6:25   Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in the whole land: May your peace abound!
 6:26   I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God / And enduring forever; / And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, / And His dominion will be unto the end.
 6:27   He delivers and rescues, / And He does signs and wonders / In heaven and on earth; / It is He who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
 6:28   And this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Excerpt from the Life-study of Daniel, Message Eight:

V. DANIEL'S SUFFERING OF THE PERSECUTION

Knowing that the edict could not be changed, the king commanded, and the opposers threw Daniel into the lions' den (v. 16a). The king responded and said to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you" (v. 16b). A stone was brought and set over the mouth of the den, and with signet rings it was sealed by the king and his lords that nothing might be changed regarding Daniel (v. 17). Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him (v. 18).

VI. GOD'S DELIVERANCE OF DANIEL

In verses 19 through 24 we see God's deliverance of Daniel. The king arose at the first light and went in haste to the lions' den. When he had come near the den, he shouted to Daniel with a sad voice, saying, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?" (v. 20). Daniel replied, "My God has sent His angel and has shut the lions' mouth, and they have not hurt me, inasmuch as before Him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm" (v. 22). Just as the Lord did not quench the fire for Daniel's three companions, He also did not slay the lions for Daniel's sake. Instead, He shut the lions' mouth, making their teeth of no effect. The king was very pleased concerning Daniel, and he commanded that Daniel be taken out of the den. Thus, Daniel was removed from the den, and he was found completely unhurt, because he had trusted in his God (v. 23).

A. Darius the King Writing to All the Peoples, Nations, and Languages concerning the God of Daniel

Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in the whole earth, making a decree that in all the dominion of his kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. "For He is the living God / And enduring forever; / And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, / And His dominion will be unto the end. / He delivers and rescues, / And He does signs and wonders / In heaven and on earth; / It is He who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions" (vv. 26-27)

God, to Daniel was very personal and intimate. He had a wonderful fellowship with Him in a very specific way to the extend that even a Gentile king had to comment, "Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you." The God of Daniel is not a mere generic God somewhere in heaven, but very near and dear and real. When a decree was made against Daniel to be thrown into the Lions' den for his prayer life and worship of God, he did not bow down to man-made laws. He stood firm and faithfully trusted in his God. As his faith, so was his reaction to the threat to thwart his worship of God. He went ahead to continue to pray and was ready to face whatever the consequence might be. And the ensuing incident was marvelous.

The enemy of God tried to destroy Daniel, a man of God and a man of prayer, by raising up wicked opposers. But God turned all wicked schemes of the Devil into His wise designs through Daniel, to prove Himself as the unique true and living God, and even to decree a new law that honors and worships the God of Daniel! 

As I was enjoying this portion of the word, a light dawned on me afresh of the faithfulness of the God that I worship. To Daniel and the kings it was the God of Daniel, and the same God is my God, and others must see this God as my God and worship Him too. When opposition arises against our worship of God we must never back-down, instead  face it in faith, for this is an opportunity for the Lord to manifest Himself as the true and living God, not merely as a God, but the God of "so and so."

It wold be a folly to fight against the schemes of the Devil when he tries to shame the believers. In India, it has happened elsewhere where Christians tries to fight back the opposition they have been facing. In the light of the word, spiritual battle must be fought spiritually, as Daniel did. He did not strive with his opposer, much less, had a any say even, as it was needless. He simply continued to worship his God and faced the consequence of it. The true and living God manifested Himself as God indeed, in fact, very particularly as the God of Daniel. Not merely verbally, but even in writing. "Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in the whole land: May your peace abound! I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God..."

The God of Daniel through Daniel's living faith and testimony had caused the Gentile kings to decree to all the peoples, nations and languages that dwell in the whole land to fear the God of Daniel for He is the living God!

Today, the God of Daniel is our God, more particularly, my God. So I must trust my God and manifest Him in such a way as Daniel did.

Lord, Your are my God!   





  

Daniel's Prayer

Now when Daniel came to know that the writing had been signed, he went to his house (in his upper room he had windows open toward Jerusalem) and three times daily he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, because he had always done so previously. Daniel 6:10

In my pursuing of the Life-study of Daniel, I was very much impressed with the ministry of the word concerning Daniel's prayer. An excerpt from Message Eight:

DANIEL'S FAITHFULNESS IN THE WORSHIP OF GOD

Verse 10 reveals Daniel's faithfulness in the worship of God. "Now when Daniel came to know that the writing had been signed, he went to his house (in his upper room he had windows open toward Jerusalem) and three times daily he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, because he had always done so previously." He had read the prophecy of Jeremiah which prophesied that the children of Israel would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years (9:2b; Jer. 25:11). Standing upon this word, Daniel must have prayed many times for the fulfillment of this prophecy and for the return of the captives. He prayed, and he would not let anything stop or frustrate his prayer. He knew that his prayer was for the carrying out of God's economy concerning His elect. Therefore, his prayer was a serious matter.

Today, prayer is the lifeline in the Lord's recovery. The more Satan tries to frustrate our prayer, the more we should pray.

Three things that stands out in Daniel's prayer are, first, he prayed based on the word of God, second, he prayed towards Jerusalem for the fulfillment of the prophesy of Jeremiah, and third, he prayed earnestly as he used to, he was a man of prayer. 

The knowledge of the word of God is a solid base for our prayer life. Without the word of God, prayer would be habitual, if not religious, and would be full of empty words of human opinions, thoughts and desires. Often, many prayers are self centered, and even at times, against God's will. Nevertheless, with the word of God as the base, our prayer will be solid, full of truth and content, and will also be according to God's desire.

Daniel prayed with his windows opened toward Jerusalem. This to me is very meaningful. Firstly, it is again according to what Solomon prayed in his dedication of the the temple in Jerusalem, which is according to God's heart's desire. In today's understanding, it is to pray for the building up of the church, the house of God. All our prayer much be according to the word of God and for the building of the house of God, the church for the fulfillment of God's economy. Even when we pray for our petty needs pertaining to our family or persoanly matters, all our prayers should be ultimately in line with God's heart's desire. Since we are the church, our needs, aspirations and consideration must be one with God and in the view of the building up of the Body of Christ, the church. This is to pray toward Jersualem.

When Daniel prayed this prayer, he was a captive in Babylon. Irrespective of the outward circumstances, Daniel steadfastly prayed. His prayer was not based on convenience but he prayed because we was man of prayer. "Three times daily he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, because he had always done so previously," this proves that Daniel was a man of prayer. Whether there be any specific need or not, he prayed daily, and daily he prayed according to the word of God.

Lord, make me such a man of prayer, praying according to the word of God for the fulfillment of Your will.

Relocation

Moab has been at ease from his youth; And he is settled on his lees and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel; Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore his taste remains in him, And his scent is not changed. Jeremiah 48:11

Few weeks ago, my house owner invited me to his house. A brother and I went to visit him and the fellowship was a possible relocation as he wanted his son to take up a business in the premise we are running our office operation. Later, this point of relocation was my main prayer burden.

This fellowship opened the door for a future and broader view in my service, officially and the church as well. With much prayer and consideration, I started looking out for new premises. Though considerable options are available all of them will still be on rent, and are mere temporary arrangement. This consideration further leads to a consideration for our own premise. 

This incident is a new beginning for us after seven years of being in the same premise. The decision affects our office as well as my family residence. For at least a week I was silent not knowing how to respond to our house owner. But as he kept reminding us of our decision, I finally wrote a mail of relocation while thanking him for caring for us the past seven years.

This further leads to a fellowship of using the premise of our own which is now being used for training purpose. Though no concrete matter has developed yet, we are heading to a good note on this line. May the Lord in His time lead us further on for His move. Through all the considerations so far, there seems to be a possibility of building our own office space on an unused space of the said premise.

Most importantly, there is a need to be fresh and new. When we settled in one place and are at ease, there are possibility of losing our taste, and remaining the same and pale all the while. Often there is a need to be emptied from vessel to vessel. Perhaps, this is the time to be emptied from vessel to vessel.

At His own good time, the Lord does what he needs to do, faithfully. This fellowship of relocation is another move the Lord is going to do in us. I reckon it as from the Lord, and amen the decision of our house owner.

Take Action

There are times when one has to take definite action; mere talk is useless in many cases. For long I have been very gracious in taking care my two Onesimus'. Sometimes, handling certain brothers are not easy as they tend to take things for granted under the umbrella of "brotherhood." This is what bothers me most while caring for some brothers. I do regard their respect and honor, but at certain point I had to fire a salvo at them to teach them some spiritual lesson of life.

One of the brothers who has been staying with our family had created some nuisances because of the personal crisis he had been through recently. With insomnia and hyper-character, I discerned it best for him and our family to let him have his own accommodation elsewhere. Though I had fellowshipped with him about this decision, he seemed to overlooked the matter as being a brother. But things did not seem to improve, and was heading toward unwanted intrusion into the members of the family's life. That's when I took action and called it quit for him. Though painful as a brother, but for his own good and the good of the family, I needed to take action. And I did this after fellowshipping with another brother in the church and with all my family members. Time for action indeed.

Finally, after this action he struggled for few days and called me thrice requesting for a revocation of my decision of letting him go. But I felt it best for him to stay alone and aloof for sometime. But I welcomed him to join us for morning revival every morning and to be regular in his service. A week later, he could accept the decision and now he is back to his normal life.

Similar incident happened with another brother, and I did the same thing, calling it quit for him as a disciplinary action to his misconduct. After few days, he requested for fellowship when he openly confessed his misdeeds and begged for one more opportunity to continue in his service. With prayer I encouraged him to trust the Lord and enjoy His grace to overcome anything that frustrates his enjoyment of the Lord. Now, he is back again to his normal service.

There are times when definite disciplinary actions have to be taken. Such action is purely out of love and concern for the good the person concerned. I do believe such actions are needed according to the nature and condition of the people I am dealing with. Besides, this is also how the Lord trains me to be responsible for my service, in caring for the saints and also in discharging my official duties.

Take action when needed, even disciplinary action, in love.