O Jerusalem!

The day was December 6, 2017. I just enjoyed the Lord's speaking in a full time serving ones training held at Chennai, and I was about to rest for the day when I saw a pop-up news on my smartphone that Mr. Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America is set to declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I was so happy within. Later, a brother came to me to inform me of the same. Since Indian timezone is different from that of US by about half a day, the confirmation could happen only the next day as in IST. As I slept, the thought and feeling within me was a pleasant one. I feel blessed to live in the time where Bible prophecies are literally being fulfilled, one by one. 

The next day, when the confirmation came that Jerusalem indeed has been declared as the capital of Israel, few thoughts came buzzing within. About a year ago, my innate inclination toward the elected President was based on this one key: the campaign promised to declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Among other factors, this one key factor stands out in support for the contending candidate. Biblical views in line with the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose will always find my support and allegiance to it. Though I am apolitical in my stand, I incline towards those whom I consider God, who is on the throne, has sovereignly appointed. What a glad tiding to me this sounds!

This is not about who loses and who gains, when it comes to the fulfillment of God's Word, God's sovereignty is supreme. 

Romans 9:14-16What then shall we say? Is there unrighteousness with God? Absolutely not! For to Moses He says, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 

What God had promised, this He has fulfilled. 

The aftermath of such is foreknown. But God is in control. As such, our responsibility is to pray. 

Psalms 122:6-9Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Those who love you will prosper. Peace be within your bulwarks, And prosperity within your citadels. For my brothers’ and companions’ sake I will now say, Peace be within you. For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God I will seek your good.  

The following days, there has been circulation of messages on the hot topic as breaking news to the entire world. Two such messages are worth mentioning. Authors unknown, I am not the author, and I just "copy and paste" as relevant posts to the subject concerned. 

God bless Israel! God bless America!  

Two "copy-paste" messages:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Response to President Donald Trump's Statement: This is a historic day.

Jerusalem had been the capital of the Jewish people for more than a millennium (1000 BC - AD 70). In Jeremiah 29:10, thus says the Holy Bible (NIV): This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.

Israel became a Nation on May 14, 1948. And its city Jerusalem got recognition as capital on Dec. 6, 2017.

If we calculate the number of days of all these past years in b/w we will get a figure of 25,408 days.

The Jewish calendar, according to Bible, has 360 days/year

(12 X 30 = 360).

If we calculate the total number of days (25,408) by the days of a year (360) we will get the number of total years as 70, i.e., seventy in God's calendar  (25,408÷360 = 70.555).

This prophecy (Jeremiah 29:10) fulfilled in 536 BC and has fulfilled in our days again by God towards Jerusalem. After exact seventy years of its birth as a Nation, it's officially recognized as Israel's Capital. This is called dual fulfillment. That means same prophecy has been fulfilled two times in their respective generations (in 536 BC and AD 2017). How awesome are your deeds, oh God! Who can understand them?

Hence, I think all these prophetical fulfillments are eye openers for any Gentile (i.e., non-Israelite, non-Christian), nominal Christian and unbeliever to understand that Holy Bible is real and it's God is real Who has prophesied everything before in the Bible. And it is also real that Jesus Christ is coming soon. 

Untill December 6, 2017 Jerusalem had not become the capital of Israel. Hence, the Jews could not take full control of Jerusalem to build their Temple. The Bible clearly tells us that before Jesus Christ's Second Coming there will be a Jewish temple in Jerusalem and its control will fall into the hands of Antichrist, a world ruler. Let us take note that in order for a Temple to be built in Jerusalem, the Jews must have full control over Jerusalem and It must become their center of power. This is why the city has got its due recognition on December 6, 2017.

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Read this speech from the prime minister of Israel..... Benjamin Netanyahu, with all Glory to God.

Mr. Nethanyahu said:

Only 70 years ago! The Jews were taken to the slaughter like sheep. 

60 years ago! We had no country. No Army.

Seven Arab countries declared war on our small Jewish state, just a few hours after its creation!

We were only 650 Jews, against the rest of the Arab world! NO IDF (Israel Defense Army).

No powerful Air Force, only brave people with nowhere to go.

Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia all attacked us at the same time.

The country that the United Nations gave us was 65 % desert. The country was out of nowhere!

35 years ago! We fought the three most powerful armies in the middle east, and we swept them... yes... in six days.

We fought against various coalitions of Arab countries, which had the modern armies and many Soviet weapons, and we had always beaten them!

Today we have:

*A country*

*An army*

*A powerful air force*

*A State-of-the-Art economy which exports millions of dollars*

*Intel - Microsoft - IBM develops products at home*

*Our doctors receive awards for medical research*

We make the desert bloom, and sell oranges, flowers and vegetables all over the world.

Israel has sent its own satellites into space!

Three satellites at the same time!

We are proud to be at the same rank as: The United States, which has 250 million inhabitants,

Russia, which has 200 million inhabitants

China, which has 1.3 billion inhabitants

Europe - France, Great Britain, Germany - with 350 million inhabitants..

The only countries in the world to send objects into space! Israel is now part of the family of the nuclear powers, with the United States, Russia, China, India, France, and Great Britain.

We have never officially admitted it, (but everyone knows it) and say that only 60 years ago, we were led, ashamed and hopeless, to slaughter!

We have extirpés the smoking ruins of Europe, we have won our wars here with less than nothing. We built our little "Empire" from nothing.

Who's Hamas to scare me? To terrify me? You make me laugh! 

Passover was celebrated; Let's not forget what this is about.

>We survived Pharaoh.

>We survived the Greeks.

>We survived the Romans.

>We survived the inquisition in Spain.

>We have the pogroms in Russia.

>We survived Hitler.

>We survived the Germans.

>We survived the Holocaust.

>We survived the armies of seven Arab countries.

>We survived Saddam.

>We will continue to survive the enemies present today too.

Think of any time in human history! Think about it, for us, the Jewish people, the situation has never been better! Then let's face the world.

Let us remember: All nations or cultures who once tried to destroy us, no longer exist today - while we still live!

Egypt?

The Greeks?

Alexander of Macedonia?

The Romans? (does anyone still speak Latin these days? )

The Third Reich?

And look at us,

>The Bible Nation.

>The slaves of Egypt.

>We are still here.

And we speak the same language! then, and now! Arabs don't know yet, but they will learn that there is a God ....as long as we keep our identity, we are forever.

So forgive us for not worrying.

>Not to cry.

>Not to be afraid.

>Things are fine here.

>They could certainly get better.

However: Don't believe the media, they don't tell you  that parties continue to take place, people continue to live, people keep coming out, people continue to see friends.

Yes, our morale is low. So what? Only because we mourn our deaths, while others rejoice in the blood shed. That is why we will win, in the end.

He never sleeps or will ever sleep.... the guardian of Israel.... Yahweh God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Share on your walls and with all of your friends....

Skilled Scholarly Scribe

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

Generally, I do not care too much for the natural man's birthday, and not mine own nor my family members. But for the sake of humanity and as the Spirit inspires, I do post some birthday wishes. Today morning as I was enjoying the word of God for my need to be skilled scholarly scribe, the Lord reminded me of my younger sister's birthday. On praying for her, the best wish and prayer I could offer is for her to be a skilled scholarly scribe in the word of God, as she and her husband themselves are real academic scholars. 

Spiritually, there is a great need for such a scholarly scribe, constituted and skilled in the word of God. The age we live in today has been indoctrinated with different teachings, wrong teachings, incomplete teachings, improper teachings, unhealthy teachings, and even no teachings at all. Many children of God have grown up with almost little or no healthy teaching of the word of God. Immense knowledge on secular and academic field have been imparted, even humongous amount have been spent for secular education, but what about spiritual education? No wonder, the state of Christianity is what is seen today; a deadly deficiency in spiritual vitamins! Christians are starving for healthy spiritual food, if not, dying for the lack of it. Therefore, the need for the recovery of the children of God by education through skilled scholarly scribe. 

This burden is on par with what God had done with the Israelites when they returned from Babylon to Jerusalem; the reconstitution work is carried out by Ezra, a priestly scribe, skilled in the word of God. 

Therefore, I sent a prayer and wish to NY sister the following:

God’s intention with us (today's Israel) is to have on earth a divinely constituted people to be His testimony. Because of the degradation of today's Christianity, we have been contaminated with various different teachings and practices. Therefore, there is an urgent need for today's Ezra, a priest who serves God, and also a scribe, and a scholar, and who is skilled in the Word of God.  

Wishing and praying for you and your husband to be such Skilled Scholarly Scribes for the Lord's testimony.  

Blessed Birthday!

Lord, grace us and train us to be Your skilled Scholarly scribes.  

Crucial Crisis

Only God is sovereign over all; at times things happen and I have to gradually accept the fact and live along with it. At times, but in fact, things happened beyond human understanding and only God knows why. The mystery lingers on until in His time He revealed it to me what it really means to Him and to me. Such was the case when one night I received a surprise bulk messages from a brother concerning my cousin brother who had been in the training. Immediately I sensed something had gone wrong, or that a serious decision was about to be taken. Though I slept peacefully as usual some reckoning within me about a possible decision was perceived. The next day I received two urgent phone calls: one from my wife, and the other from my coordinator brother in the church, about a strict decision taken to discontinue the said brother from the training. Was it a shock or a surprise, or a shocking surprise? Well, the Lord is sovereign. I reckon it as all good for our perfecting. Sometimes, life lessons are learnt the hard way round. 

Since then, in the midst of the ministry of the word literature journey I had been carrying out, I would pray and consider how to handle this matter as I definitely have to fellowship once I get back home. Every time I tried to come up with some decisions, the Lord shut me up and reminded me with my own words, "Do not do anything without prayer until you are clear it is from the Lord." Therefore, I was saved from my presumptuous thoughts and natural decisions. Only yesterday, when the ministry journey for this time ended, a faint light began to dawn on me, though still not clear. And this morning as I was waiting to board a flight back to Delhi from Kangra, while I was reading my daily portion of the Bible at the Airport's waiting lounge, the Lord’s spoke to me and He made all things clear. 

Ezekiel 34:16I will seek the lost one and bring back the one that was driven away and bind up the broken one and strengthen the sick one; but the fat one and the strong one I will destroy — I will feed them with judgment. 

"Bring back the one that was driven away and bind up the broken one and strengthen the sick one;" the Lord's speaking was loud and clear. Now I know how to deal with this case. Besides, the Lord also promised that if I shepherd the sheep properly, the Lord will shower His blessings. 

Ezekiel 34:26-27And I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing, and I will cause the showers to come down in their season; there will be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field will yield their fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land; then they will know that I am Jehovah, when I break the bars of their yoke and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 

Not only did the Lord showed me how to deal with persons, matters, and things, but He also promised showers of blessings if I would obey His speaking and follow His leading. 

Praise the Lord, my God is a living and speaking God! Even critical crisis is a crucial class for real life lesson learning and perfecting. Thank God for the training, the brothers who faithfully made decision in the training, my wife, my brother in the church coordination, and the faithful God who speaks His timely words. All things indeed works together for good. 

Romans 8:28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Ministry of the Word to Dharamsala, HP

Not knowing where we were going nor who we were meeting, the Lord led us to this city. The contact I had was just a phone number. As instructed over the phone we got done at a bus stand and there we were picked up and taken straight away to a meeting, the day being Lord’s day. The meeting was held at a village near the Airport in Gaggal. 

In the meeting I was requested to share my testimony of salvation, and I did with a burden to impart life to the congregation of about fifty believers. My emphasis was on the need of personal experience of the Lord, prayer life, doing the will of the Lord, studying the word of God, and the importance of growth in the divine life. The Lord richly blessed the testimony as the pastor himself, and the leading ones testified after the meeting to me and said that such speaking was the timely need of the church there. 

My coordinator brother was also requested to share testimony, and with it he shared on the importance of our human spirit and how to touch the Lord's Spirit dwelling in our spirit. There was also an introduction and distribution of the ministry books to all literate believers. 

Later, we were given hospitality in the pastor's house itself. That evening we also meet few other Christian leaders for introduction and distribution of the ministry books. The following day too, a meeting was held for Christian leaders to hear us out. As the Lord led me so, I briefed them on the history of the church, the degradation of the church under Catholicism, the reformation work under Martin Luther, the need for recovery back to the orthodoxy of the church, and the vital and unique role the ministry plays in the recovery of the church. Some Christian leaders purchased the Hindi books in set. 

In the afternoon that day, we visited a brother who has been serving with the campus students in Kangra. The Lord led me to share testimonies of serving among the college students with my own life experiences as an encouragement to him besides introducing the ministry books. Later, in the night we spent time with the pastor who is a dear brother to us by then, on some important truths in the Bible: The genealogy of Jesus as recorded in Mathew and Luke, the place of the golden incense altar as recorded in Hebrews 9:4 and Exodus 30:6 with the spiritual significance and the subjectivity in our prayer life. 

The following day, we had a sight seeing tour at McLeod, passing through the Tibetan market to the headquarter of Dalai Lama, then to a Baghsunag waterfall. 

We also had the burden to meet Christian leaders working among the Tibetans. In our search for such, we were introduced to a sister in Naddi, on the mountain top, after trekking for over three kilometres deep into the village mountain. It was amazing, we ended up meeting a Gujarati brother who is a Gujarati translator for the past ten years and his project would end by coming January 2018. Immediately I offered him a translation assignment after his current assignment, of course, only if he could pass the translation trial checking. He immediately agreed and testified that he has the burden to continue to serve there in the mountain village and continue with translation. I also introduced The Economy of God and gifted him the book as well for His reading, and perhaps for His translation in the future, if the Lord so wills. The sister we met was in the verge of leaving the village as she will get married next year, and I she became a potential contact for Indore, Madhya Pradesh. 

We just marvelled at the way in which the Lord led us to meet these dear seekers in a remote village in Naddi for the Lord's work elsewhere in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. 

In the evening after dinner, brother took me to his house owner where I shared my testimony of salvation and preached the gospel to the whole family using The Mystery of Human Life tract. They were opened to the gospel and we prayed for their family's salvation. May the Lord save this family. I believe it was for their salvation that our brother rented his house and there I was given hospitality. 

Finally, this brother and his family came together and we all had family prayer time. This was how the ministry of the word literature journey came to conclude for the time being.

May the Lord gain His heart's desire in life the cities he led us to. 

Ministry of the Word to Mandi, HP

An elderly pastor welcomed us to the city of Mandi. The moment we arrived, we were given audience by a group of Christian leaders who were waiting for us. We immediately introduced the ministry books and I shared the word of God using the ministry books. 

The word of God we all read together was from Acts 8:26-39, with an emphasis on the need for interpreting the word of God by Philip to the Ethiopian Eunuch. The burden I released was on the need to get help from one another as the Lord gave revelations to many saints in the past; we must learn from one another. Therefore, the need to read, study, and pursue the ministry books, not as a replacement of the Bible but as an opening up of the Bible. Moreover, I also presented the truths from Life Lessons, lesson by lesson in a way of helping the believers see and experience the practical growth in the divine life. The Christian leaders were so impressed with the ministry of the word. After the meeting we were considering whether to stay back or proceed to the next destination, but the pastor who hosted us requested that we stay back a night for more fellowship. We felt good and stayed back. 

A seeking Christian leader spent over three hours of fellowship with us on some crucial truths of the Bible: Christian life, church life, ministry, Body of Christ, etc. He even opened up about his real situation and standing as a serving one; how the Lord led him and blessed him in this city, his burden and vision, and his readiness to carry out his burden if his namesake tie with a mainline church is cut off. My main burden with this brother was to help him in the matter of life and then the truth. I gifted him a book in Hindi, The Tree of Life. This brother was sober and the way we met was noteworthy. He heard about us from our host and called a Pastor in Kullu to confirm what kind of men we are, and what did we teach. With a word of mouth well-speaking about our visit to Kullu, he decided to hear us out. That's how he came to meet us, and later we ended up in his house for more fellowship. May the Lord shine on Him and recover him for His testimony in Mandi. 

In the evening we had dinner fellowship with our host who was from a Gentile background. He shared how the Lord saved him and how he began his ministry in the city. He works in the weekdays and takes care of the believers with him albeit only on the Lord's day. We only hope that he can read the ministry books gifted to him. The next day early morning we left for our next destination. 

May the Lord gain His heart's desire in Mandi.

Ministry of the Word to Kullu, HP

A brother who was instrumental in our planning this ministry journey to Himachal Pradesh welcomed us to Kullu, where he serves and resides. The moment we arrived at the city, we were taken to a meeting hall where Christian leaders were invited to give us an audience. 

As burdened by the Lord, I ministered on the meaning of a Christian life, the need for a proper spiritual education and spiritual growth in the divine life, linking the budens with the importance of healthy spiritual food for the believers to pursue. Then we distributed the books; a Pastor who opened his meeting hall ordered the entire set of books in Hindi. 

When we arrived here we were not sure if we had to stay back or proceed to the next city. But as I was about to minister the word I requested for a translator as I preferred to minister in English and the crowd barely knew English. A sister volunteered to translate for me. She was so touched by the words ministered as her expression in translation proved it. After the meeting she enquired our schedule and immediately requested us to stay back for more fellowship. We just felt that it was like the Lord opening up the heart of Lydia to pay heed to the ministry of the word. We obliged to her request and were thus given hospitality in her house. 

There in the house two batches of Christian leaders came to meet us. They all heard us out and received the ministry books. Thereby, without us needing to go to meet each one of them the Lord led us meet all of them in a sister's house. We marvelled at how the Lord made arrangements beyond our imagination. He is Lord and He is sovereign over all. 

The sister in question is a mother of two sons, who used to serve as women leader and her son as youth leader in Delhi for many years. Because of the burden the Lord gave, they resigned from their previous group and came to this city to serve the Lord by faith in a fresh way, on and of their own, without joining any denomination. We enjoyed a sweet fellowship with this family till late night on the matter of a Christian life, the church, and the ministry. 

The next day morning we continued to fellowship on the importance of eating the Lord Jesus in and through the word of God, using John 6, mostly verses 57 and 63. I also gifted two books in Hindi: The Glorious Church and The Economy of God, with the burden and hope that they would see the heart's desire of God. Then we prayed and departed for our next destination. 

In this city too, the Lord was sovereign in leading all Christian leaders to meet us and be given the opportunity to taste the ministry. Much more, the Lord was also specific in leading us to the home of a sister and her sons who loves the Lord and are waiting upon Him for proper leading to begin serving the Lord in this city. Only the Lord knows who would one day be the pillar for the Lord's testimony in Kullu. 

May the Lord gain His heart's desire in Kullu.

Ministry of the Word to Manali, HP

A beautiful valley surrounded by snow-clad mountain famous for tourist destination welcomed us warmly in a Christian-run school guest house. The story behind this connection, a brother welcoming guarantee to Manali and to the guest house, is worth mentioning. 

Few years ago a brother from Rourkee heard about me and came to meet me along with another brother in Gurgaon who knew my address, since then, we maintain our relationship in Christ. This brother from Gurgaon got married to a sister in Manali and is known to a principal of a school who was given a free Rhema booklet in Hindi when he recently came to visit him in Gurgaon. This principal handed over the Hindi booklet to another brother who is a clerk in the same school who read and was so impressed by the truths. He wanted to order the next set, but his filled-in postcard for next set order was sent to him back wrongly twice instead of being sent to Rhema's office in Bangalore. Then he decided to send SMS instead, and he did it thrice to make sure his complete address was sent with a request for the books in Hindi. This happened when we were praying and considering to visit Manali. He then became the key contact who made all the arrangements in the city. And it was he who welcomed us in the early hour of the morning when the city reeled at about 1 degree Celsius. 

Our first meeting was with the school principal who has been an ardent reader and lover of the ministry of the word. Within few minutes of fellowship our brotherly relation became so sweet and intimate. He invited me to share my testimony and the word of God in their Bible study meeting. I did so as the Lord led me; testifying and ministering on who Jesus is and how to experience and enjoy the Lord moment by moment. The Lord richly blessed the meeting. After the meeting we had long hours of fellowship with the principal on the Lord's recovery, clarifying the misunderstanding some people had of the church life with real life testimonies of our own in coming into the church life. The fellowship continued with lovefeast and went on till late night. We were glad that the Lord led us in all our fellowship. The following day he sent a message, quoted verbatim:

Thanks for the enriching fellowship we had last night. My heart always beats and yearns for the oneness of the church locally and universally. Sometimes I felt that lot of time and resources have been squandered due the lack of understanding of the importance of this oneness among the believers and churches. The man made church systems always hindered the biblical truths. I was always enriched by the writing of brothers Nee and Lee. Thanks for sharing these spiritual riches with us in Manali. Hoping to have many more such meetings with you in future as the Lord permits.

The next day, though we planned to meet various Christian leaders living in the vicinity of the city, the Lord marvelously brought all the pastors together without any pre-plan. These pastors came for different purposes in the premise where we were lodged, some to pick their children after school, and some to meet doctors for medical check up, and through word of mouth among the pastors themselves, we could meet all of them. All the pastors received the ministry books and almost all of them ordered the entire Hindi set of books. That was the Lord's sovereignty. Thus we could meet all the leading Christian leaders in town. 

Then we had a lighter moment of sightseeing tour to Solang, a mountain enveloped with snow; the first time I saw and touched snow with my own hands. We enjoyed God’s creation, appreciating the beauty of nature with a couple of selfies and snapshots. In the evening we were invited for a lovefeast at a brother's house where we also fellowshipped on the experienced of living by faith. 

We thanked and praised the Lord for His sovereignty in the distribution of the ministry of the word in Manali. 

May the ministry seeds sown bear fruits in its own time. Amen.