Watch Your Words

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21  

This well known proverb I have never realised its deep meaning until recently. I have been learning the lessons of speaking the proper words at the proper time with the proper tone. The Lord is gracious enough to let me learn this precious lesson. I had many missteps in using words that I should not, mainly because I did not exercise my spirit in speaking those words. My intention was good yet it did not go down well with the Lord who should have been consulted first before I spoke those words at the first place. Two significant incidents are:

My dad called me for a land purchase at a very good deal, not just for the sake of the land but more with the burden to help someone who is in great financial need. Out of respect for my dad I kind of consented to his request. Few days later when he called again I even promised that I would go for it though I knew I should have prayed over the matter first.

This call had triple effect on my part; to obey my dad, to gain a plot of land, and to help the needy. Nevertheless, I could not make a decision of my own; I had to go before the Lord and fellowshipped with Him and also with my wife though I had said something to my dad already. As I did so, deep within me I had a felling to fellowship the matter with my elder sister too. On such fellowship, my sister had a totally different feeling. This led me go before the Lord and pray over the matter again and again. As I prayed over the matter seriously before the Lord, I felt good not to go ahead for now, and informed my dad to put on hold. After these series of fellowship and prayer, I realised I should not have spoken words of consent to my dad so soon. 

Another case is: A family I used to visit and have some freedom to speak frankly as a brother. This family has not been doing well in their relationship, and the two brothers have been living separately for months now. Nevertheless, I keep visiting these two brothers separately. Somehow, yesterday I spoke to the elder one something related to their family matter out of concern to bring the two families together, at least, to reconcile them. But it did not go down too well with him, and he spoke up to me about the bitter relationship he suffers with the other members. Immediately, my eyes were opened to see the serious of the matter; I should have simply ministered the word and not get into their personal family matter. The mood of the group meeting turned gloom. I later had to apologize and learned my lesson not to repeat the same mistake. Though the ministry of the word and prayer was still carried out, the enjoyment of the meeting was not high enough. 

There were a couple of other incidents in which I spoke in haste and later had to repent for my loose words. At times I had to do things I am not suppose to do just because I had already spoken and promised to do it. And sometimes, it turned out that I was an utter liar by not fulling what I said I would. 

Words can easily kill, and words can also readily give life. It depends on how and when those words are spoken. Death and life are indeed in the power of the tongue. Before making any decision, wait on the Lord until the sky is clear; then and only then, speak. Beware of words released out of emotion, temper, or anger. Be slow to speak, and speak only when you are sure what is spoken is of the Lord. This is a very important lesson for all Christian to learn, "watch your words."

Lord, guard my lips.

Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth; Keep the door of my lips. Psalms 141:3      

Open Doors

Praying at the same time for us also, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ (because of which also I am bound), Colossians 4:3   

These days the Lord has been opening doors for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, the church, the Body of Christ. Since the beginning of this year I intended to spend more time with my family as the children are growing up; even my wife fellowshipped with me on the importance of spending more time with our children. I did my best to spend more time and build a good family relationship in love and care. Yet at the same time, my burden for the saints, seekers, sinners, and new ones grew all the more. I intended to spend more time in prayer for all these rather than physically meeting them. But as the days went by, the Lord opened one door after another which requires my visit or their visiting me. Once the Lord opens a door, I dare not shut it for whatever reason, lest I be counted guilty of being an unfaithful shepherd. The only option left to me is to shepherd these sheep the Lord graces me with.

Since last month, the number of open doors has been growing, and one by one I fixed an appointed on a weekly basis. Thus far, the open doors that the Lord has graced me is being shepherded on a daily basis. On Monday afternoon is a meeting in a beauty saloon with the owner, manager, and staffs; beginning from scratch they have now started to pray by themselves with daily Bible reading. On Tuesday morning is a meeting with two local seekers, a Recovery Version Bible study, beginning with the gospel of Mathew. They have enjoyed the Bible study so much that wanted to bring in their friends in the coming days. On Wednesday night is a meeting with a brother who had gone astray and are now being recovered back; he and his friend. On Thursday and Friday, a small group of new ones families in five different locations, to be organically and mutually arranged. On Saturday is with a local family whom I used to visit and now being regularized again, in addition to the weekly gospel preaching. And on Lord's day is with open families, and  I switched around with different families according to the need, in additional to the general Lord's day meeting till afternoon.

Whenever I counted the open doors the Lord has blessed the church in Gurgaon with, I am amazed at number and the hunger and thirst of all these ones.They accepted the ministry of the word so readily. The only concern now is, I should not be the only one who goes around to visit all these. But the church as a whole should raise up to shepherd these dear ones. My learning these days is in bringing along with me one or two brothers to coordinate and carry on the work of shepherding. The question is not longer with people, for there are many, both individuals and families, who are open to the ministry but the shepherding who would faithfully shepherd these ones.

These open doors are of two types; one for the gospel, and the other for the church-life. The Lord has been teaching me how to shepherd these two categories of people. To both , the time spent has been very enjoyable and they have been blessed whenever we had meetings. What I need to learn more is how to also usher them into the Body life that they can easily blend with the other members of the Body too. Their openness should not be limited to me only. Many times, the case is, the openness seems to be biased. And I do not wish to see them not being as open to the other members of the Body as much as they are to me. I do not wish to attract people to myself, but to Christ and the church. This is a challenge I am facing these days. I really pray that I would learn to shepherd the new ones to the extend that they can be shepherded by any member of the Body, and in turn do the work of shepherding themselves.

Thank God for these openings. May the Lord gain all these open doors, open homes, and open hearts for His testimony. Openings for Christ and the church!

Return to Jehovah

Hosea  6:1-3  Come and let us return to Jehovah; For He has torn us, but He will heal us, And He has stricken us, but He will bind us up. He will enliven us after two days; On the third day He will raise us up, And we will live in His presence. Therefore let us know, let us pursue knowing Jehovah: His going forth is as sure as the dawn, And He will come to us as the rain, As the late rain which waters the earth.

In spite of all our failures, sins, worldliness, and all the negative things we have been committing, the compassion of the Lord never fails. Though the Lord in His compassion chastens us for our sins and failures, he will never forsake us forever. This is the good news for all Christians. But this is no licence for sinning or repeated failures: Be warned!

It was in our morning pursuit of the truth that these verses became so enjoyable. We pray read these verses and enjoyed the Lord's word. Later, I used it for our pray-reading in the distribution fellowship and the brothers were stirred up in their spirits so much. Some had confessed their short coming in their services and repented, some praised the Lord for the upcoming promised blessing of rain in relation with the distribution of the ministry books we are carrying it out.

Return to Jehovah! He will heal us, He will bind us up, He will enliven us, He will raise us up, and we will live in His presence! What an encouragement it was and has been since then! These prophetic words became so living to us, serving ones in the literature service. These words eventually become rhema for our service. Amen.

Personally too, I have been encouraged by the Lord's promise of restoration, first by returning to Jehovah. Then He promised further that He will come to us as the rain, the heavenly blessings. Despite anything negative, return to Jehovah; the issue will be the enjoyment of His presence with the pursuing of knowing Jehovah and receive the blessing of Jehovah!

Return to Jehovah!

Specific Prayer

Last night I went out to a park to pray as I desired to do so once in a week in fasting. I did not have any agenda for prayer, but simply opened to the Lord. My time with Lord was just to contact Him, to fellowship with Him, and let Him say or do whatever He wanted too. 

As I was spending time contacting the Lord from deep within, the Lord impressed me to pray for some brothers whom I was graced to minister the divine from the very beginning, including their salvation. With a few I prayed over the phone and there was one particular brother, who I can call before the Lord, my spiritual child, the Lord led me to pray specifically for. In fact, I ended up spending most of my time praying for him and later, fellowshipping and praying with him.

As I prayed for this brother, I was led to check a Facebook post from this brother. To my surprise I saw his invitation card for his wedding! Initially I thought not to contact him, but rather wait until he would contact me first. But the Lord rebuked me not to be childish and contact him as he is my spiritual child. Sometimes, a child may be ignorant of certain code of conduct, but the parent must know how to nurture the child in love, care and concern. Sometimes, a child may hurt his parent in disobedience or even in rebellion, but a proper parent would overlook them all and still nourish and cherish his child. Here lies the difference between a Master and a Father, a Teacher and a Father, and a Boss and a Father. A genuine father never forsakes his genuine child for whatever reasons. So I learned my lesson in shepherding my spiritual child.

Later, I texted him and sure enough, he replied back immediately. Then I called him: He narrated his side of the story that he has been through all these months. Then we prayed together over the phone, which he put it on loud speaker in the presence of his family, of course with my consent. And I sensed after the prayer that a thick cloudy sky has become a crystal clear sky! Prayer and fellowship is the key.   

Actually for the past few months, we were out of touch and some misunderstanding crept in between. But last night, in prayer with the Lord's definite instruction, this hurdle was cleared off. Yes, all misconception between us were cleared off; he was joyful and I too. Praise the Lord for the effect of prayer!

In a Christian life there are certain things that need a specific prayer, not that ordinary prayer is useless. Some prayers can only be answered with a definitely fasting and prayer, not in a religious nor superstitious way though. Therefore, at least for my self, I commend a normal life of prayer, even a weekly fasting prayer in addition to all the other kind of prayer, both personal and corporate. 

Matthew 17:21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.Mark 9:29 And He said to them, This kind cannot come out by any means except prayer.

Nothing religious, nothing superstitious, but a specific and special burden to pray as the Lord Himself practiced while in His earthly ministry is a necessity. Trusting in the Lord's grace, I desire to practice as the Lord did too. And I encourage that all may take this way to carry out what God would wants to do through us. Blessed would be those would take this way of specific prayer once in a week or even in a month.

Please, Your Ways...

Now therefore if I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know now Your ways, that I may know You, so that I may continue to find favor in Your sight. Consider also that this nation is Your people. Exodus 33:13  

"Please let me know now Your ways," this is the calendar theme for March-April 2017 which I designed for the literature office. Every time I saw the calendar at home or in my office or in the saints' home, I would pray to the Lord deep within, "Lord, please let me know now Your ways." This year I have been experiencing many deeper things in my personal life, family life, church life, and office life. I had no ready made solution for all the decisions that needed to be taken. Every time I counter a situation that entails making decisions, my innate prayer has always been, "Lord, please let me know now Your ways."

Gone are the days when I could just fellowship certain matters with some senior brothers and receive a reply with execution following suit in obedience. Now I have to bring every matter to the Lord myself first, and wherever and whenever necessary, fellowship with the concerned brothers and then make the decision. Life has been progressing, so also responsibilities. I have nothing to spoon-feed upon any longer, instead, I have to seek the Lord and find out His ways, case by case. It is a blessing to be able to exercise in this way and seek the Lord, "Lord, please let me know now Your ways."

I could not keep count of how many matters I have brought to the Lord the last couple of weeks. But one thing I keep count is, I always sought the Lord in matters big and small, "Lord, please let me know now Your ways." Either instantly or gradually, all the matters of concern were all answered one by one. Walking with the Lord is very adventurous indeed. Sometimes thrilling with anxiety, yet other times, joyfully marvelous. In all walks of life He is very subjective and real.  

In many cases, the Lord's leading is different from I what I thought the Lord's leading could possibly be; assumption doesn't work, nor trial and error. Even the past experiences of the Lord's leading in same matter cannot be copied; it changes with time and circumstances. The instant leading of the Lord is what a Christian has to seek from the Lord, case by case. So life long, we are dependent on the Lord. For every matter at all times live by this rule, "Lord, please let me know now Your ways." And the Lord will make His way known concerning the matter and the presence of God will be the issue.

"Lord, please let me know now Your ways."

Blessed Bread

When the religious Christianity was busy with their "Good-Friday-Easter" weekend, being a general holiday, as a church we decided to feast on the blessed bread of the word of God by coming together for prayer and pursuing the truth. When the proposal was made, it was responded with grim and doubt: Would the saints come the whole day just for pursuing the truth? 

Yes, indeed. The appetite of the saints have changed significantly. Though we are all from Christianity background, through the course of our church life, our spiritual taste buds have been much sharpened, and our appetite for the pure word of God have grown much more than ever. We don't need any outward attraction to bring the saints together, nor do we need to worry about the ministering of the word at any length; the saints are hungry for the blessed bread of the word of God. Just the word of God, with prayer, and the Spirit is more than sufficient to shepherd the saints and blend them together. Gone are the days of running after emotional praise and worship, charismatic preacher, signs and wonders, and the likes. Blessed bread meets them all!

As we gathered that weekend, we delved into the depth of the word on the recovery of the truth concerning God, Christ, the Spirit, the eternal life, the believers, the church, the oneness of the church, and the ground of oneness, it took us three days and still not sufficient enough. We decided to pursue every Lord's day after the Lord's table meeting, prophesying meeting, and the lovefeast.

My greatest joy was in pursuing the truth with the saints together. Everyone participating in asking questions and others answering in mutuality. Some of the critical questions asked were very good for my exercise to use the word and answering in spirit. I got helped and the saints too. Praise the Lord!

This kind of meeting was very helpful; it went beyond a formal meeting which was uni-directional in nature, but this was bi-directional in mutuality where the actual need of the saints could be addressed. They would not have dared to asked question freely in big meetings, even if they did, it could not have been addressed better. Now I am absolutely convinced through experience that what the saints really need is the "Blessed Bread" of the word of God; word of God ministered in spirit and in prayer.

To this extend, I have told the brothers and sisters that the Lord has indeed blessed the saints in the church in Gurgaon with His blessed bread as evident from their hunger for the word, backed up by their lives and testimonies.

Lord, bless us with Your blessed bread always for the blending and building up of Your Body.

Clear Sky

Ezekiel 1:26 And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, like the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was One in appearance like a man, above it.

Above the coordinated living creatures is a clear sky with a man on the throne having the appearance of a sapphire stone. This implies that whenever there is a proper coordination on the earth, there will also be a clear sky. A cloudy sky is always the result of lack of coordination. For such a clear sky, all the cloud that obstruct the heavenly vision must be dealt. All the offenses and condemnations in our conscience must be thoroughly dealt with, in order to have a clear sky. The more severe the dealing is, the clearer the sky will become. The same principle applies to our "personal sky", "family sky", and "official sky" before the Lord as well.

These days I have been experiencing subjectively the matter of a clear sky. Since the past five weeks my official sky was kind of cloudy. I had to take a couple of important decisions, but I just could not do that instantly. I brought the matters before the Lord in prayer again and again, and also fellowshipped with the concerned brothers and sisters. At times, the decision was leaning toward one direction, yet other times, it swing back to the opposite direction. For few days and even week, I had to consider and reconsider before the Lord and fellowship with my coordinator-brother, again and again. After these swinging in a cloudy sky, my official sky became clearer and clearer. The matters of concern were made clearer and clearer before the Lord until all were being cleared off completely.

This clearance did not happen at one go; it happened case by case, matter by matter. Some of them I had to bring it before the Lord on my knees until I was fully clear what decision to take. As my sky got cleared I executed the decision the following official working day, and now almost all of them got executed. Had it not been for the knowledge of Jehovah and His leading by the clear sky, I would have been tempted to make my own naturally good decisions apart from God; that would have been a disaster. After much careful consideration and prayer before the Lord, all the decisions taken were truly of the Lord, and I had much peace within and the parties involved were also very happy and were at peace. 

What a grace to be able to learn this lesson of having a "clear sky" before the Lord! Once our sky is clear it means we are under the throne of God, under the direct ruling of God ,and what follows is the presence of God.

Today a brother called me concerning his complicated family situation. Initially I had nothing to response to his fellowship. But in the midst of the phone call fellowship the Lord gave me a clear sky to fellowship with my brother about a clear sky. At length I encouraged him to go before the Lord and clear up any offenses between himself and the Lord, and also with his wife until his family sky would become crystal clear. I told him that only then his complex circumstance would be crystal clear to know the Lord's leading.

I also gave a testimony to the church last Lord's day about how I cleared my sky before the Lord in prayer and dealing with all matters that needed to be dealt with, and how the Lord led me on and on, case by case, in my personal, family and official life.

Lord, grant me a clear sky in all things all the time!