A Training in Guwahati

Few months ago I received the announcement for the Serving Ones Training in Guwahati. For at least two months I was in dilemma as the timing of the training is colliding with the date line for my house shifting. Moreover, there were other reasons both personal and official that further clouded my sky. The only thing I could do was to bring it to the Lord in prayer over and over again. 

One day a brother called me concerning his marriage to be held right after the training in Guwahati and requested me if I could minister the word of God in his wedding meeting. My only reply was that I would pray and fellowship with other brothers as well first, how they feel about his proposal. Besides, I have the burden for the Lord's move and testimony in the North East. These two matters clubbed together with the need for me to attend the training and also for the presentation of the Recovery Version Bible Translation Project; it all worked together and my sky became clear enabling me to make the final decision. Later, I fellowshipped with my wife of all these important matters, and with her amen, I took the final call. 

Praise the Lord that I could attend this training! In addition to the Lord's rich speaking through the brothers on the need for "our cooperation with the resurrected and ascended Christ", I also enjoyed the fellowship in life with brothers from different localities. Most importantly was the fellowship with our Mizo team and clarifying once for all the hidden misunderstanding among the serving ones. Each serving ones' functions were clearly defined. Another significant matter was the decision of a sister to come to serve the Lord in the literature service full-time. Had I skipped the training all these important things could not have transpired. Praise the Lord, He knows best!

Spiritually too, I learned a deeper lesson of the Lord's working into my inward being. Without any opinion, and accepting the brothers' arrangement in how the Lord's move in the North East has to be taken care, was another precious lesson. The brothers' arrangement was perfect and the Lord has been carrying out His move step by step. Though I may not participate directly, whenever the Lord arranges I can still be a part of it. In fact, in prayer I have been praying a lot for the North East. This time I also could fellowship about gaining and raising up new local churches in Ukhrul and Tamenglong in Manipur; Dimapur in Nagaland; Diphu and Karbianglong in Assam with the leading brothers in the North East. 

May the Lord bless His move and raise up His strong testimony all over the North East! 

The Rainbow

The rainbow in the Bible signifies God's faithfulness in keeping His covenant He made with man. He made a covenant and He is faithful to fulfill it in time. He has chosen and predestinated us unto sonship, and He sure has made us His many sons. He has created us for His expression and representation, and for sure He is working on us and gaining us to express Him and represent Him as the reality of the rainbow; expressing God in His righteousness, holiness and glory. He has purposed us for eternity and indeed we are becoming the New Jerusalem as the eternal consummation of our Christian life and church life as the city of Rainbow, expressing God in full in all His attributes.

“I set My bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth” -Genesis 9:13
“There was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance” -Rev. 4:3
“I saw another strong Angel [Christ] coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud;and the rainbow was upon His head” -Rev. 10:1

Today, in the local church here we all enjoyed the Lord's speaking on the rainbow. One practical point that we all appreciated and experienced is related to the color of the rainbow. A rainbow can be considered as being produced from the combining of three basic colors—blue, red, and yellow: Blue, the color of God’s sapphire throne, signifies God’s righteousness; red, the color of the sanctifying fire, signifies God’s holiness; and yellow, the color of electrum, signifies God’s glory (Rom. 1:17; 3:21; 10:3; 6:19, 22; 3:23; 8:18, 21; 1 Cor. 1:30). (Excerpt from The Rainbow— the Consummation of the Experience of the Christian Life and the Church Life, Outline II C). Because man has fallen he has fallen short of God's requirement of righteousness, holiness, and glory. But Christ came to fulfill God's requirement of righteousness, holiness, and glory, and He imparts God's righteousness, holiness, and glory into us, the believers. In fact, He has been continuously working on us to dispense more of His righteousness, holiness, and glory until we become Him and express Him in His righteousness, holiness, and glory, expressing Him full as the Rainbow. For this, we need not struggle to become such, but open to the Lord for Him to work on us day by day, moment by moment. He is faithful to make us what he wants us to be.

Last week a brother posted a message in which one has to stay faithful to be of somebody in the eyes of the Lord. My innate response was replying with the following message. By now, I have experienced the faithfulness of God in keeping His children from the very beginning to the end. Though there is a part man has to play on the humanity side, but its more of God's faithfulness signified by the rainbow. 

Phil. 1:6 - Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun in you a good work will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus;

1 Cor. 1:9 -  God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

May we look to the Lord, the Faithful One, for His grace that we may be preserved complete. Let us never trust in ourselves, not even in our own spirituality nor that of others', but only in the faithful Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

1 Thes. 5:23 - And the  God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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."