Blessings: Sabbath Rest

For thus says the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest you will be saved; In quietness and in trust will be your strength; But you were not willing. Isaiah 30:15 

The Sabbath rest was ordained by God in the Old Testament. The principle of Sabbath is still effective today in the New Testament age. It is by this principle of Sabbath that our Christian life and service must go on. Otherwise, there is a danger of either being trapped in the religious bondage of Sabbath of the old or being too loose as to have no regard for the Sabbath rest and end up labouring for the Lord in vain. Both of them have to be avoided.

A brother coming to fellowship with us on the Sabbath rest was a real help to me personally. If I do not know how to rest in the Lord, I would also not know how to labour in the Lord. Only those who know how to rest in the Lord knows how to work for the Lord. Our labour is on resting in the Lord. Resting in the Lord does not mean we should not labour, it only means we rest in the Lord as we labour for Him. We labour by taking the Lord as our Sabbath rest.

The service we are in is too immense and the country we serve too vast unless we rest and labour in the Lord and receive the Lord's blessing we stand a chance of labouring in vain. Rest in the Lord and blessed by the Lord.

In fact, the first commandment for man is to rest in the Lord. Man's first day is a Sabbath day after God created man. The work of God begins by man resting in God. Man's natural man wants to rush and do things for God, but what God wants is man to rest in Him first. Only by resting in God then can we work for God. And when we work for God by resting in Him God blesses our work, not merely meeting the need, but in abundance, even beyond our expectation.

The building work of God also begins by man resting in God. Without man putting his natural man to rest, God has no way to work in him and bless him. We must learn from the life of Isaac who rested and received all the blessings, and we also must learn from Jacob, who laboured and struggled so much, yet, the blessing came only when his natural man was dealt with and put to rest. 

This is a great lesson for me in my service. I must learn to rest in the Lord, and when I do learn to rest, the Lord will pour out His blessings; blessings not merely to meet the need, but blessings in abundance. I must take Christ as my Sabbath and expect the Lord's blessings in abundance. Then, "in returning and rest you will be saved; in quietness and in trust will be your strength;" this will be my testimony.

Dependant Day

It was India's Independence Day, the 15th of August, when a team of serving ones from LSM visited New Delhi.

Initially, I decided to use the day for some spiritual activities for the church as it was a national holiday. Before I could bring it for fellowship, it was learned that there would be a Young Working Saints' Fellowship for which saints from Gurugram would also attend. Then I got a confirmed information that a team of saints from LSM would come to visit New Delhi to look for a possible venue to conduct an ITERO, perhaps, next year or the year following. With the latest information, I thought a brother who is coordinating with me would better take the official lead to accompany the saints from LSM, and  I fellowshipped the matter with that brother. But deep within I nor the brother did not have quite a peace within that I should stay back. He strongly told me that I should be there as this responsibility should be borne officially as the literature serving ones in coordination with LSM. The matter sank deep down into me for a day, and I also took it before the Lord in prayer. It was a good experience of learning to deny my own opinion and take the fellowship of the brother. This lesson is a must learn for all serving ones and even the saints.

After prayer and consideration, I was quite clear within that I should responsibly be there to accompnay the saints who came from LSM. Meanwhile, I also received a confirmation mail from the team about the schedule for the day. The Lord speaking through a brother, in my prayer time, and a mail sent to me, all confirmed the Lord's leading for this day. 

The whole morning I had the opportunity to learn from the team about the requirement for conducting international training and how to do business with the hotel management of five stars standard. The team is very experienced in this matter as they have been doing for decades in different part of the world. What a privilege to be able to learn just by being with them!

Later, we had lunch fellowship in the hotel itself where I learned more detail about conducting international training of this kind, and how this training followed the Lord's move to different parts of the world. The fact that this kind of training can be held in a particular city or country has a great spiritual significance in that city and country. It is indeed a blessing to host such a training where leading brothers from all over the world would come together for training. A brother rightly said that this is like hosting an Olympic or a World Cup in a secular world. That much weight it has for the world, so much the more it has in the spiritual realm too. It's a blessing to be the host nation.

Besides, I could also fellowship with a brother about literature service in person. In fact, through this fellowship a few important items were made clear related to my service. It was indeed a good time of blending and fellowship.

The Lord is supremely wise in leading me step by step in every matter. The day was a dependent day for me; dependent on the Lord and on the brothers. That "Independence Day" was my "Dependence Day", not just for a day or once a while, but all the days of my life.

Depend on the Lord, the Head, and His Body, the church, the fellow members of the Body; this is the key to receive the Lord's blessing!

Prayer and Gospel

The gospel preaching of the church and the prayer ministry of the church go hand in hand. As the church, we have been practising and enjoying both. Every Saturday, we have both gospel and prayer meeting together, to enable the saints to participate in both, as most of the saints are working saints. The day being a holiday, we make use of the day for this two important ministry of the church. 

Two weeks ago, as we were praying, the Spirit led us to pray and pray, as burden after burden was released. All the saints enjoyed the flow of the Spirit to the extent that time was not a concern anymore. We followed the Spirit's anointing and amened the burdens released by different saints. Finally, after we all released the burden the Lord imparted to us, we have had prayed for three hours and ten minutes. Though the schedule of the duration for prayer is just an hour, we tripled the allotted time. By the way, we were supposed to go out after prayer for the gospel preaching, we ended up praying the whole time. Coincidentally, it was also raining the whole time. We just reckoned it was the Lord's sovereignty that He wanted us to pray.

This is also very much in line with the burden of the Lord's speaking these days: God's central work is to work Himself into us to make us one with Him. Though we have to carry out the gospel work, the work of the Lord must never be work oriented but Christ centred. The gospel preaching or any other spiritual activities must be the result of the overflow of the divine life within us. Lest we also end up like the church in Ephesus who left the first love the Lord Jesus and substituted with the works of the Lord Jesus. The Lord led us especially to pray more before we would go out to preach the gospel. After the prayer, all the saints were so released and so joyful. 

These days the Lord's perfecting work has deepened to touch our inward being and our coordination in and as the church. More prayer in the spirit, more prayer individually, and more pray as the church are needed for the Lord's move in and through us. Blessed are we who can learn this lesson now, more blessed shall we be when we pray and preach the gospel, and much more blessed shall we be when the Lord pours out His blessing in the way of gaining many new believers into the church life for His testimony!

Farewell Love-feast

Half a year ago, a family moved to Gurugram, just one floor below a saint's family flat. Since the very first day of meeting and getting to know each other, we established a contact with them and started a home meeting every Friday night. When I first met them, my burden was to shepherd them with the proper and healthy spiritual food through the riches of the Lord's recovery. Besides, I also have a burden to shepherd the saint's family by helping them to learn to take care of a new family. In a way, it was an arrangement of "hitting two birds with one stone."

Week after week for half a year, the Lord has been gracing us to enjoy home meeting together with this family. They themselves testified of how much the Lord blessed them in their Christian life after meeting with us, especially through the home meetings. The material we used was the "Shepherding Materials." They also testified of how their understanding of the Bible was uplifted, their Christian life gained a new height, they started prayer together every night as a family, they started reading the Bible regularly, and their spiritual life has improved quite much.

Now that this family is migrating to New Delhi, we invited them to come over for a dinner love-feast last night. We enjoyed a good time of feasting together, physically and spiritually too. Our burden is to shepherd the new ones as much as we can. As we fellowshipped last night, I also released my burden of presenting to them God's economy of Christ and the church, and our need today to be recovered in our Christian life and church life for the fulfilment of God's economy. Even as we fellowshipped and prayed together over the "farewell love-feast", I have no regret within as this new family had been shepherded when we had the opportunity to do so. Whether they will remain faithful to the vision presented to them or not is up to them and the Lord. But we have done our part of shepherding them with the ministry of the word. I do believe, the Lord will gain this family for His testimony in His recovery one day.

1 Corinthians 4:1,2 A man should account us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here, furthermore, it is sought in stewards that one be found faithful.

According to the Lord's word, we are just servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, and we ought to be faithful. With the grace the Lord bestowed upon us, we have the peace to say that we have done all that we could do faithfully. Therefore, I personally have much peace within as we hosted a farewell love-feast for this family with the hope and faith in the Lord's word that:

1 Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Shepherding Inoculation

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman, cutting straight the word of the truth. 2 Timothy 2:15   

In shepherding the new ones, there is a need for inoculation too. On the one hand spiritual feeding by the rich supply of the divine life through the word of God is a must, yet on the other hand, there is also a need to warn and preserve the saints from wrong and unhealthy teachings, especially the teachings that are extra-biblical and out of the way from God's divine economy.

One such family is under shepherding in the church in Gurugram. This family has veered off to Mormonism through their relative who was a member of the Mormon in Europe. When the family was contacted I presented the truth by answering their questions on the Trinity. Since then our fellowship was off and on. Whenever I visited them, I did my best to shepherd them in life using the word of God. Every visit was a wonderful time of fellowship on the word of God. But I hardly touched this matter of heretical teachings or cultism. My burden was simply to supply life by ministering the word.

Now the Lord has gradually been recovering this family into the church life. And since they have a touch of Mormonism, some of us brothers fellowshipped to help this family. I myself did some personal research on Mormonism or the Latter Day Saints. With much prayer, fellowship, and considering before the Lord, especially the past week, we felt peaceful to present the truth in a way of shepherding. 

Yesterday, in the home meeting with this family, the message we pursued together was on "The Word of Life". As we fellowshipped over the word of God, we read and pray-read the following verse:  

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16   

After our pursuit of the lesson I felt the inward leading to speak a healthy and frank word on the need to avoid any extra-biblical teaching, especially from the Book of Mormon. I also quoted from the Articles of Faith written in 1842 by the Prophet Joseph Smith, 13 statements that explain the basic doctrines and practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Aritcle Number 8 states, "That the Bible and Book of Mormon are both divinely revealed scripture". This is a gross heresy to even dare to equate the Holy Bible with the Book of Mormon. I also pointed out some crucial extra-biblical teachings and practices including the Mormon's view of salvation, their understanding of heavens, the Temple Rituals, to name a few, as researched by other biblical researchers from www.equip.org. 

Having mentioned all these, I made it very clear to the family that my burden was to shepherd them as fellow members in the Body of Christ into the proper and healthy teaching of the Bible with basic and necessary spiritual practices and to avoid anything that deviates from the orthodoxy of the Bible. With these shepherding fellowship, we all prayed together.

By the way, this family enjoyed the weekly home meeting for months altogether now. Both husband and wife also started coming for the Lord's Table Meeting. Therefore, I have the peace to touch this matter now. I also deem it necessary and the time indeed has come. This is like a doctor diagnosing a patient and dealing with things that need to be dealt with for the sake of the health of the patient.

Shepherding also includes a healthy yet painful inoculation. The Lord has been gracing me to learn how to shepherd by feeding as well as by inoculation. I am glad that I am also learning by doing and doing by learning. I need to be diligent to present myself approved to God, an unashamed workman, cutting straight the word of the truth. And this is one such opportunity. 

May the Lord fully recover all these new ones and shepherd them into His flock.

Channel of Blessing

Philippians 1:21-25For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live in the flesh, if this to me is fruit for my work, then I do not know what I will choose. But I am constrained between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for this is far better; But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.  And being confident of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of the faith.

God's central work is to work Himself in Christ into His chosen people, to constituted them with Himself that they may become one with Him. God's desire is to gain us. He is not after our works, He is after us. Once He gains us, we become His works. Our person is more important than our works. What we are is far more important than what we can do. After all, what matters most is our person. If we are proper, whatever we do will also be proper. But to be a proper person, God must gain us first. To gain us, He is working in us by dispensing His life in all possible ways; through His speaking in the Son through the word, through our fellowship with our fellow members in the Body, through us passing through circumstances, through persons, matters and things.

Once our person is gained by the Lord, we become God's works. Whatever we do, wherever we are, whenever we work, God has a way to work through us. Then we can become a channel of blessing. 

Paul's testimony to the church in Philippi is very striking. Though he could have preferred to be with the Lord and rest eternally, his burden for the saints outweigh his personal choice. He would rather remain in the flesh for the sake of the saints for their progress. This proofs his being gained by the Lord and his usefulness to the saints and the churches. In fact, he became a channel of blessing to the saints and to the churches.

Well, this is Paul, the Apostle of the Bible. What about us? What about me? Today, can we say the same as Paul? Are we a blessing to the saints and to the churches? Are we a blessing as we ought to be? These are questions we are poised to ponder upon.

I was so much touched, perhaps, convicted, as I listened to the Lord's speaking through Brother Ron Kangas as I delved into the message of the recent ITERO training. My heart yearned for more grace from the Lord that I could be dealt with in all possible ways to become a channel of blessing to the saints and the churches. As of today, I have no confidence to say if I were a blessing to anyone. Only the Lord knows, who I really am, what I really am, to Him and to the saints. Whether I fall short of the standard of God or not, I do pray desperately, "Lord, gain me! Make me a channel of blessing!"

Hearing testimonies of many brothers, elders and coworkers, not being a channel of blessing scared me to death. Brother Ron was very frank in calling spade a spade and charged the saints to open to the Lord for His divine dispensing and become a channel of blessing, wherever we serve or whoever we serve. Definitely, I do not want to be a burden to anyone nor to any church. Therefore, I must exercise to turn to the Lord desperately and plead for His grace and mercy, that I be trainable, blendable, and buildable in His building work. And become a channel of blessing.

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith,that you, being rooted and grounded in love.

In line with this burden is also the taking of Christ as my person by allowing Him to make His home in my heart, to make my heart His dwelling place where He has the full right to access, touch, and mend every avenue of my inward being. Though I may peculiarly try to reserve some corner in my heart for myself, I must fully open to the Lord that He may gain every inch within me; to let Him work His works into me. Only when He works into me thoroughly and gain me fully, then can He become my person. This is also my need today. 

Lord, make me a channel of blessing! Work into me, gain me, and be my person!

Spiritual Warfare

An important lesson I learned while engaging in the gospel service, was to be faithful and absolute to the Lord's interest first. There has always been a spiritual battle waging between God and His foes. Like it or not, the enemy hates those who are his enemies. Thank God, we are the enemies of the devil as we are enrolled in the army of God.

An appointment was fixed for prayer, but I was distracted by the need in my family to quickly attend to it first before others come for prayer. So I quickly rushed to a market for exchaning a defective ceiling fan in my bedroom as I wanted things to be rectified as soon as it was detected. I could have waited for another day as the time was the time fixed for prayer. My own personal car took over me. What happened later was a big lesson in life.

The shop from which I had to exchange the defective fan squarely told me that I need to wait to get the replacement. What I assumed to be quickly replaced ended up waiting for another week, as each time I enquired, I was told to come the next day. The matter repeated itself until one whole week elapsed. Finally, when I got the replacement, the replacement itself turned out to be defective. Ultimately I had to buy a new ceiling fan altogether after much waiting and bearing the brunt of unrighteous business men.

Put this episode aside, on that day when I rushed to do my own things first when prayer time was already fixed, my car also got punctured in the parking lot. Under the hot sun and humid weather in a crowded marketplace, I had to replace my deflated tyre all alone. Had I just waited for another day and prioritised on prayer I would not have suffered this unwarranted and unsolicited trouble. Thank God for the dealing, and much more for the lesson in life. Never prioritise anything before God!

The following day, the enemy also touch the health of my children. My two younger children felt sick and both had extreme temperature. This time I knew for sure it was the enemy's attack to stop me from going out to preach the gospel or shepherd the new ones. I squarely decided to take care of  God's work first and prayed for my children in faith that the Lord would heal them. 

While I was on a meeting preaching the gospel, my wife called me up expressing her concern for the children and asked if she should go ahead to see the doctor. I told her that she could, but I prefer to take them to the hospital another day when I am available. Later when I got back home, deep within me I just felt the enemy hates the Lord's works so much and attempted thwarts after thwarts to distract me. That night in our family prayer I prayed strongly by faith, "Lord, heal my children. I do not want to depend on doctor and medicines! Lord, heal my children!" 

The Lord is faithful! He answered my prayer. The following day, my two children who were extremely sick the day before with high temperature became extremely healthy with high energy. My wife was also so surprised how things took a sudden turn. In fact, her faith was also strengthened. She even gave her testimony of the Lord's healing the following Lord's day. It was indeed a healing miracle! But I would not be distracted by healing per se. But rather continue to trust in the Lord and follow His leading. 

We have already been engaged in a spiritual warfare. No retreat, no surrender! The battle is raging, and I must continue the good fight until the end. Christ is Victor!