Calling Jesus in UP

Our visit to Uttar Pradesh, mainly Raebaleri, Amethi, Faizabad and Ayodhya was very unique in many ways. The number of believers in these places are not big yet they were mostly at the initial stage of salvation or at least, they need to grow in the divine life. There are few observations that are noteworthy. 

The believers we visited were mostly from the villages. Majority of the believers were female. In every group there seemed to be someone possessed by evil spirits as some of them got delivered after prayer. They also seem to anxious about many things in their lives. Life was definitely hard for them as many of them were poverty stricken. Yet their love for the Lord was very sincere and they were very seeking. Another good point was, they were so simple that almost everyone of them would come forward for prayer after every meeting seeking for prayer. My burden to such ones who always sought for prayer was to help them exercise their spirit and learn to pray by themselves. This, perhaps, was not properly taught to them. And after every meeting, they would come forward to offer something for the Lord; some offered a kilo of rice from their paddy field as majority of them were farmers, some vegetables, some money. What they offered may not be much, but their hearts that offered, the Lord would definitely remember and bless. I personally would not dare to relieve whatever they wanted to offer, as I deem myself not worry of their hard earned offering. I directed every offering to the local brother who took was around. I was moved by their genuine simplicity and seeking hearts. May the Lord continue to bless them. 

In all these meetings, our main emphasis was to help them know from the Bible who is God; how God created man with three parts - spirit, soul and body; how God in Christ has become the life-giving Spirit; how to exercise the Spirit, calling upon the name of the Lord, prayer and reading the word, etc.

The climax of our visit was in Raebaleri, our last meeting before we left the city. It was with a group of believers in a small ancient style hut built with mud and wood. By the way to the hut was offered by a brother who experience the Lord's dynamic salvation that he wanted to use it for meeting and prayer. The room was filled with seeking sisters and few brothers. Though I could not minister in Hindi, the brother requested me to speak and another brother translated for me. Looking at the crowd, the only burden the Lord gave me was to help them exercise their spirit.

Only three burdens I released with a strong spirit. Calling upon the name of Lord using Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:9-13. Then we all called upon the name of Lord in Hindi, "He Prabhu Yesu!" It was so enjoyable when we all called out loud, the name of the Lord on hindi in a hindi heartland. To me that was the best way to help them exercise their spirit and turn to the Lord. I even asked them to recite Acts 2:2, and "Aur jo koi Prabhu ka naam lega woh udhaar payega." That was another way to help them read the word, recite the word, and memorise the word. This was the best way to help them touch the Lord in the Word, and they all enjoyed it. And finally, I also encouraged them to spend time in prayer, as much as possible. With these three burdens, our meeting was ended, and after lunch we left them. Now with much hope and faith we look forward that the Lord will one day raise up His testimonies in all these cities. 

Praise the Lord! Calling Jesus in UP was really wonderful. 

Ministry of the Word to Faizabad and Ayodhya

With a burden from the Lord we came to this city Faizabad. Though we planned to meet two Christian leaders of an established churches we could not meet them. One of them promised to meet us but was not available without any explanation, and the other one was not up from the bed yet. Herein, is a lesson for all believers, to be exercised in spirit and in character. On visiting their campuses even the outward environment of the premises were not taken care of. If petty physical things could not be taken care, how could one take care of spiritual matter? Though we could not meet the pastors, I learned a very important lesson of taking care of one's character and well being of the one under one's care. I could only see slothfulness in some of these workers. In such an important city where the Lord's testimony is so weak and the numbers of believers so small, but at least the existing few should have exercised to be the Lord’s testimony. Well, this is no finger pointing comment, but a lesson learned in caring for the Lord's interest. 

The meeting with a young brother who could manage English was such a relief. Perhaps, he was the first and only person I could communicate comfortably in English. I left no stone unturned; I introduced the ministry books right away and ministered further on the importance of the knowledge of the interpreted word of God. He readily received the ministry books and we established connection for future contacts. The city has so few believers that with this meeting it was like we covered this city. For those that we could not meet we handed the responsibility to this brother as we had to move on to the next destination. 

This same brother led us further to the next destination, Ayodhya. This is a city that host the site of a religious dispute with the claim of being the birthplace of a particular religious deity. Besides, it also has a "holy" river where ardent believers would come and take a "holy" bath and dip. To my eye sight, the river looks muddy and strains or gravels of ashes streams with the flow of the current. I was told that this river was saturated with ashes from cremated dead bodies as the last rites used to be performed on this river. With all these religious significances, our burden for this city grew all the more. 

Herein too, a meeting was arranged where we ministered the word of God in Hindi on God’s creation of man and the tree of life. Then we distributed Hindi books to all those who could read. This crucial city has only few believers in the midst of fundamental religionists. As of now we can only pray for the Lord's move in Ayodhya.

The Lord faithfully took us to these places as pioneers in sowing the seed of the kingdom. May the Lord gain these two cities and raise up His strong testimony! 

Ministry of the Word to Amethi

With the burden of visiting Amethi I fellowshipped with the local brother. Though he knew no one to meet in the city, he still took us to the place he knew. A small village on the outskirt, Saraimahesha. Here too, the believers knew only Hindi and our fellowship was in Hindi too with books distribution.

Though we knew no one to visit in the city of Amethi, with the burden for this city we still passed through the city on our way to our next destination. We hope and pray that the Lord would gain His testimony in this city. Then we came to a village called Koocho where we had a meeting with seeking believers from three different villages nearby. Here too, only Hindi speaking ones, so we ministered in Hindi and distributed the ministry books. We got to fellowship with few Christian leaders and pastors and ended up staying in this village. 

We ate village food with the brothers and slept in a village house. It was altogether a new experience. Before we took rest for the night, the entire family and few other believers came together for night fellowship. There I was asked to share the word. I shared what I enjoyed yesterday and today morning, The Miracle of Feeding Five Thousands. 

The saints were touched by few points I shared. "In the evening" when all the days works were done, and when all life's pursuit is over still there will a deep hunger and thirst which would bring people to the Lord. But for the Lord to bless, we must give all that we have to the Lord, "five loaves and two fish." Even if we have nothing to offer to the Lord, at least we have our lives. All that we have and are need to be consecrated. Then the Lord would bless it, then break it. This is the turning point. The Lord as the source of blessing must break all that we offer to Him, all our good and bad must be broken, as the Lord was crucified too. Then in resurrection, what was broken would be resurrected and then multiplied. This fellowship was so rich and the believers were all supplied. Then we all prayed together. 

Later a brother, our host, and came to fellowship with us when he shared his testimony. This brother seems to be simple and pure. May the Lord gain Him purely for His testimony. Then we took rest for the day. 

Ministry of the Word to Raebaleri

After a Christian Leaders Seminar in Allahabad, a seeking brother had been calling requesting for a similar meeting in Raebaleri. I took the matter to prayer and fellowship with the brothers. After few weeks of consideration in prayer, it was very clear to me that I need to take another trip. In consideration of the areas, the cities to be visited were confirmed. 

Raebaleri is the first city visited in this trip. A pastor received us in his house and took us to two different areas of the district; Kodar Jahanpur and Naya Purwa. These villages have some believes under the shepherding of our brother. All of the were pure Hindi speakers and understanding English was a far cry. In this heartland we could only minister in Hindi and distributed Hindi literature. Many of them wanted a special prayer with laying of hand. I wasn't ready to do such and passed on all the request to the local Pastor who gas been doing such prayer. Some of the villagers have manifested possession by evil spirits and that were vast out in prayer. The people were so simple and passive that they easily fell prey to the Devil. The need for this group of people is a proper constitution of the word of God. Only the word of God and their exercised spirit can preserve them from all the subtle attack of the enemy. 

After the whole day visiting of villages, we had a time of fellowship with our host, planning for the trip. And since we met for the first time, I reckon this as the Lord's arrangement and wanted to know more about our brother. On my request, he shared his testimony of how he believed into the Lord Jesus Christ and how he came to serve the Lord full time. He has been blessed by the Lord that he has in fact become the biggest Christian group in the city. Notwithstanding the outward matter, the fact that the Lord brought us together was very significant. I may not be able to apprehend it in full now, but one day it will definitely be manifested. I only wish that he see God’s divine economy and take the way of the Lord's recovery for the building up of the Body of Christ and bear the Lord's testimony in Raebaleri.

A Brother's Baptism

Few years ago two sisters whom the Lord graced me to shepherd and who entered into enjoy the church life took me to a couple who were their friends. At that time, they were not interested in the gospel at all, but since we visited, we prayed for their salvation despite not being able to preach the gospel as we ought to. Few years later, the Lord worked on Him and there have been a drastic change in his life. Last week one of the sisters told me briefly about the change this person have been going through and that how much he needed to be properly baptized. Last week, a sister was introduced to our Tuesday group meeting. Yesterday, after the Saturday gospel preaching we went to drop the daughter of that new sister who now have been friends with my children and came along with us for the gospel preaching. When we dropped the little girl at her home, her uncle happened to be the man we met few years ago and prayed for. Just within seconds of the meeting my meeting with him, he decided to come for the Lord's Table Meeting. 

This morning he came, with his sister and her daughter. After the meeting we had fellowship and he testified of how heart hardened he used to be, even devilish many times, but recently he had experienced a drastic change in his life. He has been looking for a proper Christian fellowship despite his own personal pursuit of the Lord. He has the sense that as a Christian he needs the church for corporate fellowship. Even as the fellowship continued, the matter of baptism came up. Without any persuasion, I simply declared the biblical truth about the need for baptism for those who believe into the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit confirmed in our fellowship about baptism and he took baptism. That is the Lord's blessing to him and to the church. 

In the church here we have been praying and looking to the Lord for His leading in our going on as the church. Since yesterday we had a fellowship on the God-ordained Way with a brother from the United States who visited us. The Lord's speaking through our brother was very timely as we could testify from the saints' response and the upliftment of the meeting today in our Lord’s Table Meeting. Moreover, this new brother's baptism is also a sure sign of the Lord’s blessing too. 

The blending among the brothers, the sisters, the children, and the young people are becoming sweeter and sweeter these days. I may not be too quick to attribute this to the prayer we have been offering to the Lord for more blending, building, and also for His blessing. I believe these are the results of all the saints' burden and prayer in the church and for the church in Gurgaon. 

Praise the Lord! 

May the Lord continue to shower His blessings to the church now and ever more. 

God Meets Our Every Need

And my God will fill your every need ⁴according to His riches, ⁵in glory, ⁶in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

 Notes from Recovery Version Bible

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19⁴ God supplies us according to His riches, not according to our needs. His riches exceed our needs.
19⁵ In glory modifies fill. Glory is the expression of God; it is God expressed in splendor. God's rich supply to the believers, who are His children, expresses God and bears the glory of God. The apostle assured the Philippians that God would abundantly supply all their needs in a way that would bring them into His glory.
19⁶ In Christ Jesus also modifies fill. Christ, the all-inclusive One, is the base, the element, the sphere, and the channel in and by which God cares for His people according to His riches and in glory. This indicates that even the believers' giving and receiving of material things are intimately related to the experience of Christ.

This verse and the interpretation thereof has been so true to me. God fills my every need according to His riches. 

Though I am serving the Lord full-time, trusting the Lord and living by faith, the Lord has been faithful to meet my every need, and He meets them abundantly according to His riches. This is His blessing. Besides, He also provides in abundance also for the need of my dear ones, even my family members, my blood relation. 

It was few months ago when my sister got married, and as her elder brother, trusting the Lord, I took the responsibility of bearing the main expenses for the wedding held in Delhi with the help of the church brothers. Though the church wanted to bear the burden, I did not feel too peaceful without any participation from my side. I took the matter before the Lord and fellowship with Him and also with my wife, then we decided to bear all the expenses. As the church itself has many other needs to take care, my conscience simply did not give me peace to let the church bear this burden. Of course they paid for it initially, but my inner man told me again and again that I should pay them all back, either by installment or at one go. 

One particular day I was so convicted that I should pay off all the amount due without any hidden expectation from the church to bear the need. I was encouraged to take care of this matter righteously, and I did so though some saving we have in the bank. The Lord even gave me a dateline to clear this off. I wrote to the brothers thanking them for their love, care, and concern, and paid back all the expenses. As I did so, I was so filled with peace and joy. The Lord blessed the wedding meeting, the marriage testimony in the church in New Delhi, and also He blessed us with His riches to be able to bear all the expenses. 

At my home in Manipur too, for all the relatives another meeting was arranged at my village. Even for that meeting, the main burden I had to bear though many relatives have come forward to participate in the need. My dad, elder sister, and my younger brother labored a lot for this and spent whatever they had. As an elder brother I deemed it right and righteous to participate too. And in sweet family fellowship, my wife and I agreed to bear major chunk of the financial need. Even in this, the Lord graced us to meet all the need and in doing so, my conscience was very clear and was filled with peace and joy.  

My younger brother was going through some hard times due to the birth of his twin sons and business not going too well. In fellowship I promised to help him as a brother and also as my participation towards the family as I hardly could be with them nor support them regularly which generally an elder brother would have done. Due to my service, all family responsibility, I, kind of, handed it over to my younger brother who has also been with mom and dad. At least, I deem it right to meet their financial need now and then. Again, after much prayer and fellowship, in agreement with my wife, we helped the family by transferring a sum that I asked my brother to give me. It was really a blessing to be able to help the ones in need again. 

The Lord also has been speaking to me about His riches and blessings that meets every need, and not merely according to our need to bu much more according to His riches. This verse by Paul has been so subjective to me these days. I even charged the same burden to the family that I visited. 

My God meets your every need according to His riches!

Tell Him

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

In this world of toils and trials, we are faced with many different circumstances. Amidst it's cares and concerns we are helpless without the Lord. Many times we run from pillar to post to chalk things out only to find oneself in deepened trouble. Man-made wisdom only brings in man-made disaster. The more one tries to solve a problem, the more complicated it gets. Godless men are doomed to suffer bitterly, and the same fate goes with believers who do not put their trust in the Lord. 

Thank God, I have a God on whom to trust and tell Him of all that I am going through. When troubles and sorrows meeting, when trials and snares crossing, I can always go to my God, and and tell Him of all that I am going through. He is ever ready to listen to my heart's cry in prayer and petition, and much more to grant His peace. 

This telling of the Lord of all my heart's burden has many definite blessings. Even the Bible says, "In nothing be anxious." So should I not trust the Lord's word? It would be a folly not to. Thank God, I can indeed trust Him and tell Him of all my cares and concerns. This draws me closer in fellowship with Him, even in oneness. The more the better, and the sweeter it becomes of this fellowship. 

This fellowship of need also leads me to spend time with Him in prayer. I believe the Lord often does things to draw our attention. Else we would be too busy in our world of no- time-for-God. So, He is sovereignly wise to cause us to turn to Him. This strengthens my prayer life too. Though I pray daily, often I need more specific and intense intercessory prayer. Such things are common when there are spiritual storms around. Thank God who allows such a "storm" to me sometimes, though it might be a mere storm in a tea cup to Him, so that I can come to Him to tell Him yet again of all my heart. 

This frequent turning to Lord again and again also leads me to have intimate fellowship with the Lord. God is not merely to pray all our prayers to. He is much for a sweet and intimate fellowship with us. Often, we are too religious to be intimate with Him, so He finds a way out for us to spend intimate time with Him. 

Telling Him of all our concerns strengthens our prayer life, our fellowship and intimacy level, and the best beneficiary in the ordeal is me, because I tell Him of all that is in me. 

This is the Lord's speaking these days, in our group meetings and fellowships; these verses we pray-read and we fellowshipped this burden in our group meeting last week. And I am already falling in love with these Bible verses. The Lord gave a timely word in the meeting. Tell Him...

"In everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."