Take Care of Needy Saints

It was on 18th June that a post in a WhatsApp group of the church in Shillong triggered the need to sound the trumpet to care for the needy saints especially during this time of global pandemic. The post reads:

BLESSING UPON THE CHARITABLE 

Isaiah 58:7-8 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 8 Then thy light break forth like the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear guard.

The moment I noticed the post I could fathom the temperament of the bother who posted it. I know him as one who loves the Lord and is in a sweet intimate fellowship with the Lord. For he testified to me when I met him last year December. My innate response was to strengthen the burden he released, I posted the following:

Deuteronomy 15:4-114. However, there shall not be any needy among you (for Jehovah will surely bless you in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess), 5. But only if you carefully listen to the voice of Jehovah your God and are certain to do all this commandment which I am commanding you today. 6. For Jehovah your God will bless you as He has promised you. And you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7. If among you there is a needy one amidst your brothers within any of your gates in your land, which Jehovah your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart and you shall not close up your hand from your needy brother; 8. But you must open your hand to him, and you must lend enough for his need in whatever he lacks. 9. Be careful that there is not within your heart a base thought like this: The seventh year, the year of release, is near; and your eye be evil against your needy brother and you do not give him anything, and he cry against you to Jehovah, and it become sin to you. 10. You must give to him, and your heart shall not be displeased when you give to him; for on account of this matter Jehovah your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. 11. For the needy will not cease being in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, You must open your hand to your brother, to the poor one with you and to the needy one with you in your land.

With these Bible verses on taking care of the needy saints, I also expressed my deep feeling to all the saints in the group where the message was posted. I have been visiting and praying for the saints in that locality and the Lord grace me to understand certain situations the saints have been facing. Some saints were wealthy while others are daily wage earners. With the pandemic in effect, a good number of the saints have been affected. The church's responsibility is to take care of all the saints, the needy ones especially. Therefore, I expressed my opinion below. I think it is biblical as the thought stems from the Bible verses.

Help the Needy Saints

Blessed are those who generously gives to the needy saints. The blessing of God is already reserved for them. 

Helping the needy saints is not an option, nor is it a matter of free will, but to help the needy saints is a command with God's promised blessing in return.

Acts 20:35In all things I have shown you by example that toiling in this way we ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

As I sounded out this truth, the Lord also gave me an opportunity to experience the truth of being blessed to give generously. The brother I have been praying with daily is also like a daily wage earner. He expressed his urgent need to go back to his home town in West Bengal as his tuition job had come to an abrupt end with all the students under his care left due to COVID-19. Many sources of income have been devastated generally. The Lord then burdened me to take care of him to go back home safe. 

As I brought the matter to pray, one night the Lord spoke to me clearly that I should help him out. As usual, I do that in fellowship with my wife, for I am not alone, I have a help-meet, my coordinator. Meanwhile, the Lord also provided my need, and also for the need of this brother I was burdened to help. At the same time, the life-study radio broadcast I have been listening to in the night spoke the same thing about helping the needy saints, and that it must be done generously. Step by step, the Lord confirmed it. First, there was the needy brother. Then, the burden to help. Then, the word of God confirmed with the ministry speaking, and the Lord provided the money needed to help that brother.  Finally, yesterday, in my time with the Lord, He led me to call him, and I transferred the said amount to take care of a needy brother. O what a joy to experience the Lord step by step! O what even greater joy to receive the Lord's blessing and be a blessing to others in need! And that too, a timely blessing.

The Lord is the Lord. Time and again, He does things as He deems best. Praise Him! 

An Honorable and Genuine Leader

A brother messaged me concerning meeting with the young people online and sharing with them the life of Nehemiah. I had shared with them my testimony as was requested last week. The leading brother was so touched and wanted to share with the young people again. This was my second meeting with them last night. This time sharing on the truth of the Bible. These days, I prefer to stay away from public meetings and giving messages, but this one touched me personally and I felt I should share the message, not merely for the young people but for myself as well. The message was so apt and timely. In fact, this is what I need.

The background of the book of Nehemiah was that of the desolation of the holy land. Yet Nehemiah joined himself to the burden concerning the holy land and took all necessary action to rebuild at least the ruined wall of the city of Jerusalem. With a humble beginning of being the King's cupbearer, he displayed such an honorable testimony before whom he served. No wonder he found favor in the eyes of God and in the eyes of man; in the eyes of the King to grant him leave from his official duty to serve his God by serving his people and his land. Later, he took all the burden to initiate the rebuilding of the wall, taking care of all his fellow brethren who took part in the rebuilding work. He also dealt with the opposition and frustration from the outside attack of the enemy. He showed his leadership skill in dealing with them all. And arranged the service of each man and woman for the rebuilding work. Besides, he kept himself pure from the defilement of the worldly enjoyment and fleshly lust. Rather, he sacrificed his rights of entitlement and took care of the people of God. To sum up, here are some points.

1. Care and concern of God's interest and God's people
2. Praying and fasting
3. Pure heart
4. Not Selfish, not seeking his own interest
5. Not indulging in fleshly lust
6. Conducting himself honorably
7. Trusting in God, fearing God, and honoring God
8. Leading by example
9. Depending upon God, knowing God's desire and being constituted with God's word
10. Bringing people to function in coordination

After sharing all these character traits of Nehemiah, I picked up three main points and released my burden to all the young people. These burdens were released for me as well.

Humanity 

A proper character before God and man are of utmost importance if one has to be a useful vessel to God. Proper and humane conduct at home and wherever God has placed us is the first step of training. As children, be obedient children to your parent and elders. As employees, respect and submissive to the authority above you. As students, be a studious student excelling in all academic activities. A proper vessel is needed to be filled with God to become useful. Such a vessel is filled with God, one with God, and faithfully accomplish God's will. The vessel must be sanctified and unto honor.

That each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. 1 Thessalonians 4:4If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21

Prayer and Fasting

And when I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and I mourned for some days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven, Nehemiah 1:4

A sanctified vessel must also be a filled vessel. Otherwise, it would merely be a holy vessel without the holy God as its content. A proper vessel is sanctified and is also filled with the Holy God. There is a need for one to be a man of prayer, to be filled with God so as to be useful to God. Practically, it is best to have a specific time of prayer every day. The lesson of prayer is one of the first lessons a believer has to learn. And it is best to do everything by prayer. Every decision made must be done so in prayer with a confirmation from the Lord.

Coordination

Finally, a proper vessel filled with the Spirit through prayer must also learn how to serve in coordination. In the age of the Body, no single person however pure and holy he or she may be, is out of place. There must be coordination with other members of the Body. ANd must know how to serve with others, and also know how to place and uplift the function of other members too.

With these three burdens, I concluded the meeting with prayer. Though I spoke to the people, I was speaking to myself. These are the burdens I am learning and practicing it myself. 

May the Lord grace me to be an honorable and genuine leader in His move today. 

Silence

Sometimes, silence is the best answer.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him. Proverbs 26:4   

A secular and Biblical proverbs speak the same thing in principle. These days I have been experiencing the power and wisdom of silence. In many cases, silence is the best answer.

A certain unknown person has been trying to contact me over WhatsApp. His texts were abusive to the faith I hold dearly, my Christian faith. He wanted me to put up a verbal fight with him over who is the true God, Jesus Christ, or his mysterious host of deities. I know the answer for sure with experiential proof. But the way he wanted to put a fight or debate over God did not sound good to me. Initially, I read some of his abusive text messages. And once I asked him to identify himself, at least his name, he replied to me with a sarcastic text, "I am a son of God." Then I replied back, "Blessed are you if that was true." After that, I realized there was no need to even read his messages anymore. Though he kept messaging me which I did not read it, and he also knew that I did not read it. Then he tried different phone numbers to text be abusive messages concerning my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I knew the content as I could read the first line even without actually opening the message.it is foolish to reply to fools. So the best way to reply to him is not to reply to him at all, not even bother to read his message. Silence is the best answer for such. 

Another sister who has been an acquaintance of me and my family for a good number of years began speaking negative things about the faith I hold dearly in my Christian life and church life. Some messages sent to her, she would twist it and throw back a question instead. The message meant to supply life, she turned it to be a sarcastic question.  And everything she had to say about the saints or the church life is all negative, though she herself is a professed Christian. I had done my best to visit and shepherd her family regularly in the past. But now I realized that her heart is not right and she has been veiled with so many religious concepts and teachings from her background. Perhaps, I failed in my shepherding to this sister and her family as I could not deliver them from the bondage of religion and usher her to the enjoyment of Christ and the church. I acknowledged it before God and man as my own failure. And I look to the Lord for more grace so that I can be a proper shepherd to so many cases like this. But for now, I felt I should be silent. Give them time for them to reckon who they actually are. So I decided to be silent even when she text me a good number of messages. Silence is my best answer for now. Until the Lord gave me a clear leading to continue shepherding the family again. Until then, silence.

The same goes for five other contacts. I truly have the heart and burden to shepherd them, but since they showed signs of disinterest, I cannot force myself into their lives. I simply pray for them and be silent for the time being in contacting them. Only God knows when I should resume contacting them again. But as for now, silence.

I believe, when the Lord deems best, I will break my silence and continue to take care of all these cases. But for now, silence is the best answer.

Salvation: A Local Brother

I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance. Luke 15:7

Today is indeed a day of joy as one new believer took water baptism. This is the work of the Holy Spirit among the local people of Gurugram, whom the church has been praying for over a decade now. This brother first came to one of our gospel meetings last year. I remember preaching the gospel to him when he exploded with tons of questions in his mind. But at that time, I simply preached the gospel and led him to pray, ignoring the needless questions. 

Later, he opened up on many questions related to life, religion, science, and whatnot. But one of our brothers is his colleague who faithfully prayed for him, preached the gospel to him, and have been shepherding him. Gradually, the Lord began to do His work on him until yesterday I received a message from our brother that this new one wanted to be baptized.

My first question was to confirm if he truly believed into the Lord Jesus Christ. I got the answer in the affirmative. Today, the new one to be baptized and a brother came as appointed. Then I felt good to fellowship with him on some fundamental truth of the Bible concerning God Himself, His creation of man with three parts, the fall of man constituting him sinner, the truth concerning Jesus Christ as the only true and living God, His crucifixion, resurrection, and man's need to believe into the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and be born anew. He confessed that he believed into all these basic truths and also confirmed he believed into the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, we all called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ together and led him to pray the sinner's prayer. Finally, we prayed for him and baptized him.

This new brother is a local brother with a Ph.D. degree and working as an Assistant Professor with a church brother who led him to the Lord. After baptism, over a cup of ginger tea which I made after a long long time, we fellowshipped about the Bible as he wanted to know more. I overviewed the Bible as the word of God and gifted him a copy of the New Testament, Recovery Version, for him to study and be constituted with.

May the Lord save his whole family as well and establish a group meeting in his home in Teekli, Gurugram. May the Lord save and gain many local families for His testimony in Gurugram.

Praise the Lord! There is a joy in heaven and also a joy among the saints in the church in Gurugram over this brother's salvation and baptsim. 

Spiritual Progress

Philippians 1:25 And being confident of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of the faith,

1 Timothy  4:15 Practice these things; be in them, that your progress may be manifest to all.

1 Corinthians  9:26 I therefore run in this way, not as though without a clear aim; I box in this way, not as though beating the air;

The last weekend, in fellowship with a senior and matured brother, the Lord spoke a very definite word to me concerning my spiritual life. If I have to be useful in the hand of the Lord or if I have to be in the building work of God and be intrinsically a part in the building work, I must progress in my spiritual life. I cannot remain the same year after year. I must daily pursue the growth in life. For this, two main burdens were released.

Spiritual progress comes through the ministry of the word through the ministers of the word.

For spiritual progress, the Lord has given me the blueprint, the Holy Bible. This is outward and external. In the Bible, everything needed for my spiritual growth has been written. For me to receive the proper supply from the Bible I also need a proper and accurate understanding of the word. The word of God needs revelations and interpretation to make it applicable to me. For this, there are ministers of the word.

The ministry of the word with the ministers of the word is needed to help me know the word. The ministers may be many, but they minister the life supply I need for my spiritual progress. Paul was one such for the growth of the believers in Phillipi. That's why he could boldly say. "I will remain and continue with you all for your progress"

In this age, we have many brothers who have been perfected to some extent to render me spiritual help. Brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee had done their parts perfectly and left us with the spiritual heritage, the ministry of the word; the collected works, the life-studies, and the ministry books. Now, these are being digested and ministered to me by the brothers who have as well been perfected through the ministry through decades of life experience in the church life. I am blessed that I am one of the recipients of this rich heritage and this rich ministry. I feel I am sitting under the "feet of Gamaliel" like Saul did, learning from the matured brothers. That was my experience whenever I attended the fellowship with a mature brother. 

I have been richly blessed to be under such a rich ministry. I am to declare that I have the blueprint now. A beautiful divine and heavenly scenery have been shown and given to me. In fact, it has been imprinted in my being day by day, month by month, and year by year. Praise the Lord!

Spiritual progress comes through the discipline of the Holy Spirit

All the truths and revelations revealed to me, I must practice them. "Practice these things; be in them, that your progress may be manifest to all." These practicing is on my part, the coordination required from my side to go along with God in His speaking and doing. Then, there will be a gradual manifestation of my spiritual progress.

Whatever the Lord has intended for my spiritual progress, He will sovereignly use my environment, persons, matters, and things to deal with me negatively and work Himself into me positively. This is the discipline of the Holy Spirit, God working behind every situation, to burn the beautifully crafted divine scenery into my being. So that dust, winds, storm, or rain can not erase or deface it ever. In this process, there is the burning fire to solidify the scenery permanently. These are the pressures from my environment for His perfecting work in me.

The brothers serving with me in coordination, the saints in the church life I am in, my family members, the new ones, and the people I am in contact with, are all the objects God uses for the discipline of the Holy Spirit in me. Having seen the invisible hands of God, I dare not complain or murmur even a little bit anymore. Nothing happens by chance; there is no accident or coincidence in my Christian life. Everything has been sovereignly and perfectly arranged for my good. Seeing this vision is a great relief to me. Life is truly at rest and peace ever since I understood the work of God in me in all things. There is nothing to worry about. What a blessed life I am living today! Praise the Lord!

Spiritual progress comes with a definite goal

With the above two crystals of the ministry of the word and the discipline of the Holy Spirit, I can progress with a crystal clear goal in every circumstance to grow, transform, mature, be conformed to His image, and be fitly framed in the building up of the Body to accomplish the Lord's will on the earth even through me. 

Lord, grow in me... 

Blessed Burdens

Since the time I got saved, the Lord has been blessing me with burdens after burdens to pray for people. In fact, I used to maintain a prayer book where I wrote down these names for my prayer. I had been doing that until the past few years when the burdens were too many to handle, and I kind of filter many out. Then gradually, I ignored these burdens and concentrated on something more solid and tangible than praying generally for so many people.

Last week as I was fellowshipping with the young people on prayer, the Lord reminded me again of my need to maintain a proper prayer book to pray for people to be reminded of the burdens the Lord blessed me with.  Since then, I started praying for some of the old burdens the Lord gave me many years ago. One of them was my classmates who were not fully saved yet until today. Then, many other burdens got revived. So night after night I would bring them before the Lord for prayer last week. 

Last night, as I was praying for over an hour, the Lord strongly reminded me again of all the burdens He blessed me over a decade ago. The Lord's speaking was so strong that last night I could not resist the burden anymore. Because I had ignored most of them as the list was too heavy to bear. But the more I tried to ignore the burdens, the burdens became stronger and clearer. In fact, new burdens were added; list after list. I eventually told the Lord, I could not handle these burdens anymore, it's too heavy. But the Lord, enlightened me to see that the burdens are from Him and not for me to bear. I am simply the carrier of the burden. The source is the Lord and He will accomplish it, my only responsibility is to take the Lord's grace and bear these burdens. 

Then I made an excel sheet with different worksheets with categories of prayer burdens and named it "Prayer Book 2020". My prayer burden list has been updated, and now I must maintain the list and continually pray for these ones.

Today, as we were fellowshipping, a brother ministered on the mater of burden. Immediately, I realized the Lord confirmed the burdens He blessed me with these days, especially last night. The Lord clearly confirmed the burdens are His and it is a blessing for me to be able to receive them. Some key points from the brother's fellowship on burdens are below.

Burdens are the Lord's visitation; His commissioning me of a specific task to accomplish His will. These burdens are the speaking of the Lord; the word of God. I must learn to treasure the burdens. He will not speak or give burdens lightly or vainly. So I must not ignore the Lord's blessed burden, lest He take it away, and perhaps it may never come back. Even if it does come back, it must surely be of the Lord's mercy.

In fact, the burdens that I ignored have come back, and it is surely the Lord's mercy upon me. Now, through prayer, I must uphold the burdens. To work out the burden is secondary. The Lord will find a way to do it in His own way and in His own time, but I must be faithful to bear these blessed burdens from the Lord. Sometimes we don't even know where the burdens came from. But surely they are from the Lord, from the ministry of the word, and even from reading the saints. Finally, all these burdens must be brought into fellowship into coordination for the building up of the Body of Christ. 

Having been blessed with the burdens, I now must be faithful to bear them in my prayer, and I must also be faithful to bring these burdens for fellowship with the brothers I am coordinating with. So that these burdens may be established and made solidified. And the carrying out of these burdens must be for the building up of the Body of Christ and for the fulfillment of the Lord's will. Now the blessed burdens the Lord blessed me with is clear, and the way to carry it out is even more clear. 

Praise the Lord for His speaking in the Body! Praise the Lord for the blessed burdens! The will, and in fact, He has already accomplished it by faith! Halleluijah!

Bible Study: Gospel Characters

A study on the resurrection of the Lord in relation to people brought me new lights. God sovereignly used all kinds of people to accomplish His purpose. People who seemed insignificant when the Lord was on the earth became very significant after His death. 

Joseph of Arimathea: He was a hidden disciple of the Lord and provided the tomb for the Lord's dead body to rest. This has become the fundamental asset to prove to the unbelieving world that Jesus Christ died and resurrected. Oftentimes, people who not outrightly follow the Lord are also being used by the Lord; they have their function too.

John 19:38 And after these things Joseph from Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a hidden one for fear of the Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take the body of Jesus away; and Pilate allowed it. He came therefore and took His body away.

Nicodemus: When he met the Lord in John 4 he did not seem so significant or positive towards the Lord. Yet, since then he must have been a secret disciple of the Lord. With his societal standing and stature among the religious Jews and the Pharisees, he was quite a man to steadfastly follow the Lord up to His death. Though he did not openly follow the Lord Jesus as the twelve disciples did, he anointed the Lord's dead body. What the twelve disciples ran away from, he came and did his best to anoint the Lord's dead body which became very significant in spiritual truth.

John 19:39 And Nicodemus, he who had come to Him the first time by night, came also, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes of about a hundred pounds.

The duo, Joseph and Nicodemus, provided the linen cloths that became irrefutable physical proof of the Lord's resurrection.

John 19:40 Therefore they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the custom of the Jews for burying.

20:5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there; however, he did not enter.

20:6 Then Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered into the tomb; and he beheld the linen cloths lying there

20:7 And the handkerchief which had been over His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in one place apart.

Mary:  The Magdalene who loved the Lord was the first person to witness the resurrection of the Lord. She was a living testimony that whosoever loved the Lord dearly would also meet the Lord as well. The secret to meeting the lord is loving Him dearly.

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week, Mary the Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was yet dark and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.

20:11 But Mary stood outside at the tomb weeping. Then as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb

20:12, 14, 18 And beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. When she said these things, she turned backward and beheld Jesus standing there, yet she did not know that it was Jesus. Mary the Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that He had said these things to her. 

Thomas: The doubter finally believed with evidence. But blessed are those who still believe even without any physical evidence, that's faith.

John 20:27  Then He said to Thomas, Bring your finger here and see My hands, and bring your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.

20:28  Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God!

20:29  Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.

These four persons are quite encouraging to me. Some of the people I am shepherding fall into either one of these characters. A brother that I am praying with regularly is like Joseph of Arimathea. He is a strong believer and yet wants to remain in a hidden way owing to his family and peer pressure. I did not force him to do anything either but simply allow the Lord to work in him. Perhaps, one day he will be very useful to bear the Lord's testimony.

With these lights, no one who follows the Lord in some way or the other is useless. They have their worth and it will be manifested in time. Therefore, I should not give up on shepherding, no matter what their conditions maybe today. One day, the Lord will manifest their functions; they all will be useful to the Lord.