Laboring in Shepherding

Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox.
Proverbs 14:23 In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

These verses in the Bible were a shot in my arm as I read them yesterday. There has been much labor in taking care of the new ones. In all the cases, the Lord has been gracing me to pay the price to shepherd them. Shepherding comes with a price; even a heavy price. Time, money, and energy is involved. 

Of course, all shepherding will produce a result. The result is always a battle between God and Satan. The more the new ones are shepherded, the more they grow in life, the more their eyes are open, and the more the desire to blend with the saints in the church. But this produces conflict within their being; there is a struggle between their spirit and soul. The soul reasons and being captivated by Satan, confuse them. Yet their spirits being enlightened wants to take the way of the cross to come into the church life. This is a definite spiritual battle.

Many of the new ones I have been shepherding are struggling with this matter. Some families and saints have fully come into the church-life. Yet some are really struggling. On the one hand, they enjoy the shepherding through the word, yet on the other hand, they were bound in where they have been in their religious or social background. This is a genuine struggle.

Often, when I consider the situation of the new ones I have been shepherding, I used to question myself: Am I laboring in vain? Why haven't the new ones fully blend into the church life? Should I continue this shepherding? Or, am I being fooled? Yet on careful and detail analysis, I realized that the Lord is working on them, and also on me. I should not give up shepherding, at the same time, I should discern how much time I spent on them and how frequently. And list them on a priority basis, besides, raising up more saints to carry out the work of shepherding.

Looking at the result, quantitatively speaking, on how many of these ones have attended the Lord's Table Meeting regularly, I felt discouraged. Often, I graded the result of my service as "Zero." But the Lord reminded me with these verses, "much increase comes by the strength of the ox" and "In all labor there is profit." Therefore, with the grace of the Lord, I continue to labor on the new ones; keep feeding them without proselyting them. Whether they follow the way of the Lord's recovery or not, my responsibility is to keep feeding them. As they are being fed, my responsibility is fulfilled. And the Lord will lead them into the flock in His own time.

Lord, grace me to labor like an ox.

Family Time: Three Events

Three events that have transpired are noteworthy as it pertains to the experience of Christ in His humanity in my family life. The fine humanity of Christ is the perfect pattern for believers to follow; it is the mold to which I have to be molded in. I am learning to really take Christ as my pattern.

My children were just given a summer break. The weather is so hot here. The longing to spend a day playing in the cool water was quite justifiable. Their dream of playing in the water park became very reasonable. Therefore, I took them for an afternoon water play time. If not for the sake of my children I would have never visited such a theme park. Now that I am a father of three, my desire has to be aligned to their desires and dreams. As long as it within the peaceful feeling within and within my financial budget, I would love to take them around and enjoy spending time with them. That was what I just did; a day with the children in the water park. The quality fun-time spent was quite human and the family bonding became sweeter and more intimate. An enjoyable family time!     

My children were waiting for a family day out on the 6th of June as it was also our wedding anniversary. Though the plan was made, my beloved wife put a condition to the children that they need to follow a schedule and finished the tasks assigned to each one.  Alas, none of them followed the schedule nor fulfilled their assigned tasks which upset my wife. As a punishment, she wanted to change the plan. But sensing the mood of the family, I wanted all of them to be cheerful and happy despite the failed truce. To cheer all of them up, I used my authority as the father and decided to still accomplish the plan though the conditions were not met. Finally, everyone forgot all about what failures they had, instead, we all spent a joyful day of eating out, shopping, and spending wonderful family time together. On that day, I felt good to buy each of them the best school bag of their choice, which I did. Their happiness is my happiness. An enjoyable family time!

A family eye check-up was due for all of us. We all went to an eye specialist who we knew for a decade now. As she checked all of our eyes, my daughter was diagnosed with shortsightedness and we immediately got a spectacle for her. She got new eyesight with a brand new pair of glass. The reason for my wife's eyes irritation was also discovered as the glasses she wore had a .5 each difference in the glasses and her eyes.  The matter was rectified as well. And mine too, I needed a new glass and new one was ordered. The other two children have no eyesight issue. Even in this family medical check-up, we enjoyed blending together. A memorable event indeed. By the way, on my next visit to the eye specialist, I preached the gospel and led her to call on the name of the Lord. An enjoyable family time!

Praise the Lord for God's blessed family! May the Lord gain us all to be a God-man family and make us all useful and fruitful vessels, dispensational instruments, and living overcomers in this age!

Wisdom and Grace

Luke 2:40, 52And the little child grew and became strong, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature and in the grace manifested in Him before God and men.

Wisdom is to know what the perfect will of the Lord is, and grace is to know how to do the perfect will of the Lord. This is my personal understanding and learning from the experiences of Christ I have been blessed with. The Lord Jesus Christ grew up in wisdom and grace. His physical growth was proportional to His spiritual growth. As He grew up into manhood, He was the perfect man and the complete God, the God-man. As such, He was and is and ever will be Wisdom and Grace. Experiencing Him is to experience Him as the Wisdom and the Grace.

In all walks of life, wisdom is what I need; the Lord Jesus Christ as my wisdom and grace. Though I have been experiencing Him in many ways, I still need to experience Him more; the more the better. Till today, my prayer has been, "Lord, I need Your wisdom," in all matters. If not to trust the Lord, I would have been the top fool. In making petty little decisions too, I look to the Lord, and pray for His wisdom in discerning things and taking the final call. The more I experience Him as my wisdom, the more I realize my foolishness. I simply cannot go ahead in any matter any longer if the Lord's leading is not present with me. His leading is His revealing of things and ways as my wisdom and also as my grace to accomplish what He revealed. 

Proverbs 3:13; 2:4-7Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.If you seek her like silver and search for her like hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God. For Jehovah gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.

The Apostle Paul lived out Christ and displayed the wisdom of Christ in his fouth ministry journey in Acts 27 and 28. In the midst of life-threatening storms, he was full of wisdom as he lived out the ascendency of Christ; to the extent that he was literally "the king" in the voyage of 276 souls. He could boldly declare that no lives would be lost when all were expecting to be drowned in the deadly hurricane.  He was neither the owner of the ship, nor the captain, nor a sailor, nor a sea navigator; he knew nothing about the ship and the sea, but he was full of wisdom as he lived out Christ and he turned out to know exactly what to do when situation demanded, and that too, confidently, with the right words and deeds. In fact, he was 'god' to the souls there and then to the islanders of Malta where they landed.

Christ is the Wisdom and Grace; the Apostles, especially Paul experienced and lived out Christ, and now it is our turn to experience the same Christ and be full of wisdom and grace.

Lord, fill me with Your wisdom and grace!

Trust in Jehovah

Proverbs 3:5,63:5 Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

Trusting in Jehovah is not a one time matter nor is it a special incidental trust when something spectacular, miraculous, and impossible has to happen. Trusting in Jehovah is for all matters; great and small, spiritual or physical or even psychological. Trusting in Jehovah must be present continuous all days of my life. This matter of trusting in Jehovah has been very subjective to me these days, and it is the grace of God to experience Him in such a way.

Officially, I had to file a very important document related to our company's allotment of shares to the directors. As I was about to file, a huge blockage came in between and was told that the law had changed and I could not do it. My only reaction was not to reason with anyone but to simply call on the Lord inwardly and trust the Lord that He would come in to accomplish it. Within twenty-four hours, the very accountant who told me it was not possible retracted his words and said it was possible. Later, the entire process of shares allotment were done. Trust in Jehovah!

Another series of official documents need to be filed to the government authority. For this, a dateline was given. Until the due date, I could not file the document. I literally gave up hope of meeting the dateline as receiving documents involves a direction who is a foreign national. It was impossible to do the task in a few days time. But I still looked to the Lord and prayed that all official matters are related to His move in India, and everything must be done on time. On the last day for filing, I received the news that the government of India had extended the filing dateline. O what a release!

Even with the new dateline, I need to receive documents from one of the directors who is a foreign national. His documents were delayed as he had a traveling plan already lined up. Later when I did get the documents I just got two weeks to file. Though I gave the documents to our CA immediately, for the first one week he was busy and could file it. Therefore I was left with just one week, and three steps of filing had to be done. I simply looked to the Lord that all filings could be done on time. Those days were a good time to exercise and look to the Lord. Finally, just three days before the due date, all processes were completed in time. Trust in Jehovah!

In my upcoming foreign trip to Dubai, USA, and Canada, I had to make all the travel plans with visas application for Dubai and Canada, as I already got for USA a few years ago. I spent quite an amount of time to make planning and booking flight tickets. Before all the planning, I went through rounds of fellowship with the brothers concerned for this journey. Then, the itinerary finalization with flight tickets booking. And finally the application for Visa to Canada which was a very detailed and lengthy process. Then, finally waiting for the response from the government of Canada which came in a sequence of emails and never once mentioning anything about approval until I was asked to submit my passport and got it back a few days later with the actual Canada visa! The same experience was with that of Dubai. Finally, all that needs to be done officially were done. Trust in Jehovah!

In matters related to my family as well, I have been graced to trust the Lord and not to rely on my own understanding. In offering for the Chennai Land Project, a blending center for the churches in India, in taking care of needy saints, in meeting the family's needs, in paying children's school fees, and many other day-to-day matters, I have been trusting in Jehovah and never taking things for granted. This life of trusting Jehovah is very thrilling. The very experience of waiting and turning to the Lord is worth it; as in the process, there was a definite experience of Christ and Christ has been gained indeed. Bit by bit, day by day, such experience causes growth in life. Trust in Jehovah!

Trust in Jehovah! Never rely on your own understanding and always acknowledge Him in all your way!

The Spirit of Reality

As we have been pursuing the truth on the reality of the Body of Christ, I have been very impressed with the ministry of the word unveiling the mystery of this reality and how we can be in that reality. The truths that I have been appreciating in the Gospel of John has now become more and more clear and more and more subjective. The revelation of the Body of Christ in John 14, 15, and 16 with the Spirit of reality as the reality of the Body is marvelous.

  

God has an eternal economy, whose goal is to produce the reality of the Body of Christ. This reality of the Body of Christ is the Spirit of reality who is now in our Spirit as the reality. In the Gospel of John, the Lord unveiled His crucifixion and resurrection, and revealed His coming and abiding with and in the believers as the Spirit of reality. This Spirit of reality is the reality of the universal Body of Christ revealed in three aspects in John 14, 15, and 16.

The Father's House as the Body of Christ, the church, in John 14 has many abodes. The many abodes are the many members of the Body of Christ, the believers into whose spirits the Father and the Son would come to make an abode as the Spirit of reality.

John 14:17Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.

John 14:26But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and remind you of all the things which I have said to you.

The Son's Vine as the Body of Christ, the church, in John 15 has many branches, The many branches are the believers who abide in the Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. The branches lives because of the life supply from the Vine who is the Spirit of reality. 

John 15:26But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of reality, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify concerning Me;

The Spirit's Child as the Body of Christ, the church, in John 16 has many children. The many children are the believers who are the composition of the one New Man. These many believers who are born of the Spirit have the Spirit as the reality in them. 

John 16:13But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but what He hears He will speak; and He will declare to you the things that are coming. 

The manifestation of the reality of the Body of Christ in all the above three aspects depends on the Spirit of reality. This Spirit of reality is the reality of the Body of Christ. Therefore, for us to be in the reality of the Body of Christ we must be in the Spirit who is now mingled with our spirit. By exercising, living, and walking according to the mingled spirit we can be in the reality of the Body of Christ. This is the Lord's heart's desire, and this must be our heart's desire and our goal.

Lord, may I live in this reality day by day...

Experience of Christ: Official Shepherding

In the literature service, the Lord has placed me in a position where many decisions concerning the serving ones need to be taken. I fear and tremble before God as case after case of the serving ones were brought to me. My greatest fear was to misrepresent God in taking any decision whether in favor or against them. Handling people needs a lot of prayers and the Lord's wisdom to discern rightly what decision needs to be taken at the right time.

A brother's serious health issue was brought for fellowship. He had nowhere to look for help financially except to come for fellowship. He has already been suffering from a life-threatening disease. It took me a good while to pray about the matter and fellowship with a few other brothers until I was very clear what decision to take. In this way, I was also helped to trust the Lord, learn to fellowship, and also learn to coordinate in critical issues related to the serving ones. 

One big difference in the company I serve from the rest is, here, the serving ones are all saints and I don't treat them as "employees" who were hired and can be fired at any time. Instead, I reckon all the serving ones as my own brothers and sisters in the Lord and also in the company. 

Another brother brought his family matters for fellowship, and another two brothers brought their children's schooling matters and they were in need of urgent financial help, and yet another brother had been struggling in taking care of his family. Some serving ones were sick for months, and two serving sisters had issues with childbirth, a sister with serious health issues, and another sister with heavy pressure in her family life that she could not serve as she ought to. All these cases were brought to me, one by one. Thank God, I know only one thing, to simply relay their problems to the Lord and fellowship with my coordinator what to do. 

In all the above cases, the Lord gave me a clear leading in helping them financially or fellowshipping with them in a way of shepherding. And all of them were well taken care of, and are now continuing to serve. 

It was an amazing experience indeed! Case by case, the Lord led me in sweet coordination with other serving brothers to decide on what steps to take. Through all these, we have been experiencing and enjoying the Lord's shepherding. The serving ones were shepherded, and I too am shepherded. Praise the Lord for this official shepherding! 

Experience of Christ: Official Duty

Bearing responsibilities of the company the Lord has placed me into is my main official duty. The past two months had been a precious time of looking to the Lord and trusting Him, step by step, for the many official works that needed to be done on time. Though the works were done by others, it was my responsibility to make sure that they had been done. There were datelines to meet, and the workers did not bother a bit about the due dates. The onus was entirely on me to make sure that everything that needed to be done was done indeed.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs came up with a new law of filing INC-22A for all private companies registered in India. This is to filter out all bogus and fake companies operating within the country and are involved in a fraudulent transaction and money laundering. Though ours is a legal entity abiding by the law of the land, still we need to prove legally our authenticity by filing this form. Filing this form entails that all directors of the company have their DIN(director index number) verified and updated by applying for DSC(digital signature), KYC of the directors, with legal proofs of the company's premises. Since one of our directors is a US citizen, the process became even more complicated and time-consuming. For this reason, I have to bear the brunt of "official anxiety" by closely following up on getting all legal documents of all the directors on time. These processes were a great learning for me, to first of all trust in the Lord, and coordinate with the directors, and also with the accounts who would do the filing. Therefore, I am glad, the Lord shepherded me and led me all the way until it was done finally yesterday, the 13th June 2019. O what a relief! I simply thanked the Lord in mercies and faithfulness.

Before this, shares allocation procedure of the company gave me wonderful experiences of the Lord. After working on all the legal documents need for shares increase and allocation, which took me about three months, the CA blatantly told me that the laws have changed and that share allocation could not be done if the transaction for shares purchases exceeded six months. It was a shocking experience. I did not insist on my point nor did I argued with the CA for not updating me properly. But I simply looked to the Lord and that, if this proposal was for share allocation was from the Lord it would be done. Later, in the evening, I received a call from the CA that it could be done. A few days later, all shares allocations were done. This too was another precious experience of Christ in carrying out my official responsibility.   

Praise the Lord for all these experiences of Christ in carrying out official responsibilities!