Experience of Death

The Christian life is a life of living Christ. Christ's life on the earth has passed through death which paved the way for resurrection. In fact, without death, there will never be a resurrection. The cross was needed for the divine life to be released. Such is the experience one needs as and when the Lord deems best.

These days I have come across a few saints who have gone through the experience of the cross. I do go through the same now and then, but the ones I wrote here are more on an intense level.

A brother who has been praying with me for the burden on the Lord's move in  North East India once a week gradually decided to withdraw himself from all the burdens and responsibilities he had been bearing. He had his own reasons to do so. Though I tried my best to encourage him to stay one, he simply could not bear the burden any longer and just decided to "quit' from all official responsibilities. To the extent that he even decided to stop participating in the weekly prayer.  I still did not give up on him and still tried to include him in the Wednesday morning prayer, but he simply decided not to answer my call for prayer at all. Well then, I took that as a lesson for me and him, to experience the cross for a moment until the season of refreshing would visit him again. I believe the Lord would minister to him and recover him fully one day in his spiritual function in the Body. 

Another brother also is going through a similar situation. Though the reason behind both withdrawing from their assigned burdens may differ, nonetheless, both pertain to the experience of the cross. This one was more serious and we had two days fellowship in this regard. In all the fellowship many new spiritual lessons were learned. The Lord led us all through this experience of the cross to be brought into the resurrection of life. 

I too went through such a process in the past. The only thing I could do at such times was, I simply looked to the Lord, and prayed and prayed, and prayed. In a similar situation, there seems to have been a "lean season" with some of the saints that I know of. A report has come to me of such a situation and the new ones that I am burdened to shepherd simply decided not to answer my call at all, despite my desperate attempt to fellowship with them. I took that as a lesson from the Lord, to commit all things to Him Who knows best, and continue to pray for all these ones who apparently have gone through a lean season of experiencing the death of Christ.

This reminds me of the incident when the Lord led me to read a book by brother Witness Lee, The All-inclusive Christ in 2003, for the first time of any book by Witness Lee. Since the reading of the portion on  "the valleys and the mountains" from chapter 4, I have never ceased receiving life supply from reading the ministry books by the same brother.

For Jehovah your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains, flowing forth in valleys and in mountains; Deuteronomy 8:7

Whenever God ordains sorrow for you, be assured that rejoicing will follow. “As made sorrowful yet always rejoicing.” “As poor yet enriching many.” “As having nothing and yet possessing all things.” All these are the valleys and the mountains. “I know also,” says the apostle Paul, “how to be abased, and I know how to abound” (Phil. 4:12). He learned the secret (v. 11). He knew how to be filled and how to be hungry (v. 12). What is the secret? The secret is that Christ Himself is flowing within. I have learned; I have been instructed; I have been initiated. I know the living Christ who is within me.

All the valleys are the experiences of the cross, the experiences of the death of Christ, and all the mountains are the experiences of the Lord’s resurrection. A valley is the cross; a mountain is the resurrection. We must be one who always has some trouble, some valley, but also one who is always on the mountains, always in the experience of resurrection. Whenever there is a valley, there is a mountain. Whenever you experience the death of the cross, you will experience the resurrection. The living waters flow forth from all these experiences.

Let us look more closely at the passage in Deuteronomy 8:7. It says there that the water is “flowing forth in valleys and in mountains.” It does not say in the mountains and in the valleys but in the valleys and in the mountains. There are first the valleys and then the mountains. Why? It is because the first place that you contact the flowing water is in the valleys. Then if you trace that stream up to its origin, you find that it springs from the mountains. The stream is in the valley, but the spring is in the mountains. If you would have something flowing out from within you to water others, you must be in the valleys.

If you can experience Christ in times of trouble and trial, how much you will have flowing out to others. How blessedly you will water others. It is not in peaceful times or in happy days that you can do this. It is in the days of sorrow, the days of sickness, the days of trouble. It is by your experience of Christ in these times that you may have the living flow to water others. Each situation of death may bring forth a greater outflow of refreshing water—not only the mountains but also the valleys; not only the valleys but also the mountains. We need many experiences of the Lord’s death and many experiences of the Lord’s resurrection; then we will be full of the springs, the fountains, and the streams.

The Lord will lead all my brothers who have been going through a lean season now, experiencing the death of Jesus,  to enjoy the resurrection of Christ very soon. For Jehovah our God is bringing us to a good land, a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains, flowing forth in valleys and in mountains! 

Fear God, Love God, and Serve God

On the 4th of April, we had a special fellowship for some of the serving ones in India concerning a certain situation that transpired with one of the serving brothers. The situation was serious and a serious fellowship was called for. I had no idea what the fellowship was meant for until a senior brother brought the matter to light. As a preparation for the matter to be dispensed in a wise way, he gave a sober word of love to all those present at the fellowship.

In Matthew 16:16, 18, 19, there was the revelation concerning Christ, the church, and the keys of the kingdom of the heavens. Along with these words, there was also the mentioning of the gates of Hades. Wherever and whenever the church is being builded up, there and then the enemy also tries his best to destroy the builded church. But he will not prevail! This was the situation that has been faced by one of the largest local churches in India. There was an inward attack on a particular serving one through certain brothers who were yet to learn the lesson of the cross. As a result, this brother has been very much weakened. Therefore, in fellowship, he has decided to withdraw from some of his official services in the local church and also in the coordination of the Lord's work. 

From this incident, a senior brother led us to learn some serious lessons about fearing God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the anointed One. So also are many serving ones who have been anointed by the Lord. We must fear God and respect the anointing upon all the ones who are anointed. David had a reverential fear of God regarding Saul, though Saul had lost the kingship, nevertheless, he was the anointed one of God. David respected and honored the anointing and was blessed. So also was with Shem and Japeth, unlike Ham who exposed the nakedness of their father.  When one has been anointed, we must never presume authority, nor overestimate ourselves. One should never think highly of himself. 

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to be sober-minded, as God has apportioned to each a measure of faith. Romans 12:3

Though one might have been anointed, there is a possibility of losing the anointing as a result of not fearing God. We should be fearful of God. There were brothers like Barnaba, Demas, and others who were once anointed, but gradually lost the anointing. This should be a solemn warning and reminder for us who are serving the Lord. Do not assume authority. Authority comes with anointing. In fact, with genuine authority, one fears God the more.

A person who genuinely fears God will love also God as well. Fearing God issues in loving God.  And as we love God, we will be serving God. Therefore, the basic lesson is, fear God, which will issue in loving God, and the result of this will be that one would be anointed, and with it would come authority, and then there will be the serving of God.

This fellowship reminds me of and reconfirm again of the Lord's calling when I received the Lord's call the first time on 1st Jan 2003.

And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God ask of you except that you fear Jehovah your God so that you would walk in all His ways and love Him and serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul; Deuteronomy 10:12

Lord, preserve me in Your mercy that I may be graced to serve You all the days of my life.

Blessed Family: Time Together

Amidst my busy schedule, I time out to spend quality family time together as a whole family.  Last week on my wife's birthday, we visited a new family where we were asked to share testimonies of our salvation, God's call to serve full-time, and how the Lord led us together to be husband and wife. It was no coincidence that we could testify to new ones on my wife's birthday. I bet that is the best way to celebrate a birthday for new ones spiritual births too. After which, we all went to eat out at McDonald's, our children's favorite. Perhaps, this was the first time we ate out as a family after the pandemic struck last year. We had an enjoyable family time.

Yesterday, we decided to paint our house, only the interior walls, though. All my children were so excited to participate in the painting work. Though the house itself needs painting badly as many parts of the wall were stained with painting and drawing from my own children. Now they themselves decided to clean and paint and maintain it clean. I intentionally took the two younger ones to a painting shop and allowed them to choose the color. They decided to go for a lime breeze, light green. In this way, I made them feel important and trust them in their decision-making from the age of 6 and 11. To me, any color is just fine. Yet, through any occasion, I would impart something important to my children and the people around me.

Generally, since we live in a rented house and pay rent, it should have been the house owner's responsibility to do the paint works which is due for years now. But I took that upon myself, pay my own money, and with all my family members took that opportunity to serve and learn together. I could have simply told the house owner to do so, perhaps that was legally correct. Or, I could have simply hired painters to do the work, perhaps, that would be secularly correct too. But, doing it, I would miss all the lessons and opportunities to serve together as a family. 

Though I knew very well that my children could not paint professionally, anyway, I am not looking for professional work. I wanted them to paint their heart out. They were on holiday and wanted to experiment with new things, learn new things, and do new tasks. That itself will give a sense of responsibility and satisfaction. So, I gave full liberty to all my children to paint and work together. We painted the whole afternoon and did the cleaning work of the house. By the way, we also got to deep clean the house and arranged stuff in the house.  It was indeed a wonderful family time together.

I believe such family time will impress them deeply about family values, taking up responsibilities, and learning to serve together as a family. Of course, for all the hard work they have done, today I treated them with their flavors of ice cream. That's a wonderful family life. Praise the Lord for the blessed family!

Lord Jesus, thank You for the family You blessed me with and the time we could psend together!

Serving in Coordination

Last Saturday, we had a day-long meeting, beginning with the brother's fellowship at 6 AM. Later, at 9:30AM we had the church perfecting meeting with the saints in the church in New Delhi. Afterwhich we all ate lunch together, a wonderful time of blending with the saints. And then at 4 PM, we had our church prayer meeting. Then at 6 PM, we had the Christian online seminar. The one-day, full-packed meeting was well coordinated in fellowship in oneness. I personally experienced and enjoyed the Lord's blessing upon all the saints through the coordination.

The meeting could be attended online as it used to be. But we intended that we come together for the sake of blending and uplifting the atmosphere of the meeting. Though it was tiresome for some saints as they had to prepare food and come all the way to be with the saints the whole day, the price they paid yielded the intended result.

The topic was "The Key to Experiencing Christ: the Human Spirit". A brother and I coordinated to release the word of God with translation for 15 minutes each. But within that 7 minutes of releasing the word of God, we enjoyed the Spirit's anointing. The anointing was so rich upon all of us that as we spoke the message, the Lord's speaking was spontaneous. Word by word, there was the strong release of the spirit. As one of the speakers, I could strongly sense the life flowing out by my inner sense within me. There was indeed the ministry of the word. Paise the Lord!.

Behind such a blessed meeting was the prayer of the saints for the meeting, the preparation for the meeting. In fact, we had two rounds of rehearsals, and everything was coordinated so well that the Lord blessed the meeting. 

This is just a model and a picture of how our church life should be coordinated. In prayer, in preparation, in standing together as one, though not all released the word, they stood in oneness with the ones who spoke the word of God. The result is the Lord's commanded blessing upon the brother standing together in oneness, and the building taking place among the saints.

Serving in coordination is the key to the Lord's blessing in the Body. What a wonderful lesson to learn today! Praise the Lord for such a vision and practice in the Body! 

May the Lord grace and preserve us in the Body in oneness to serve in coordination all the days of our lives.

Just As I Am

Today, in my study of the word, I got a light concerning the Lord's choosing of man for His purpose according to His heart's desire, and how He equips His elect for the same. God looks at the heart of man. Whom He has chosen are the ones who have a pure heart before God and man. And the chosen ones always come with a certain character trait. To note a few are "prudent in speech and of good presence and Jehovah is with him."

But Jehovah said to Samuel, Do not regard his appearance and the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For it is not how man sees that matters; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart. And one of the attendants answered and said, I have just seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing and a mighty man of valor and a man of war and prudent in speech and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him. 1 Samuel 16:7-8

The Lord also prepared His chosen ones through their family background, environmental brought up since their childhood. In fact, everything in such a person's life is the training and preparation by the Lord for His use one day. David being a shepherd was no accident. Only by being such, he learned how to deal with lion and bear, protecting his sheep from these fierce predators. That was how he was trained to one day deal with an uncircumcised Goliath. 

Both the lion and the bear did your servant strike; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the ranks of the living God. And David said, Jehovah, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and may Jehovah be with you. 1 Samuel 17:36-37

Since God had already trained such a one in his natural habitat, there was no need to further equip him to deal with Goliath. He already had the experience of killing lion and bear, and it was no difficult task to kill Goliath. Here is the lesson the Lord taught me. 

Often I used to think, to deal with certain matters I need to be equipped for that matter. Meaning, if David was to deal with Goliath, he should have the competence to deal with it. That's what Saul tried to do. Goliath being heavily armed with his warrior armor, Saul tried to arm David with similar armor, but it didn't work for David. His training was on real-life experience in the wilderness, not in a palace with warlords. David should simply meet his opponent as he was. That was the lesson I learned. 

Come just as you are! The Lord has already trained His chosen ones for His chosen tasks. Simply come just as you are! To put on something one is not familiar with, just to be competent, is to carry an unnecessary extra load. Perhaps, this unwarranted extra burden might only lead to a defeat. When the Lord called, come just as you are. the task at hand will be accomplished because Jehovah is with His chosen ones.

And Saul put his own garment on David, and he placed a bronze helmet on his head and put his armor on him. And David girded his sword over his garment and tried to go, for he had not tried the armor. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go in these because I have not tried them. And David took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them into the shepherd’s bag that he had, that is, in his pouch; and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied. Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand. 1 Samuel 17:38, 39, 40, 45, 50

David prevailed over Goliath with just a sling and a stone; no armor needed, no sword, no spear, no shield, no garment, yes, nothing extra was needed. Because he was already trained and equipped by the Lord!

In like manner, I need not bother to get extra "qualification" to do what the Lord called me to do. In fact, I have been considering upgrading my academic qualification to facilitate my service for which the Lord has called me. But the Lord has made it clear to me that He has been equipping me already and that I must come to Him just as I am. If anything extra is needed, He will see to it that I have them too, in time. As of now, I simply must drop the idea or consideration of acquiring extra qualifications with the assumption of meeting extra tasks assigned to me.  

What a light! I am being saved from unnecessary pursuit. To take on whatever is or will be assigned to me, the Lord's presence is all that is needed. The secret to the victory is not what one has or not, but the presence of the Lord. With the Lord's presence, just come as you are. Then, the task is already done!

Lord, I come to You just as I am. All that I need is You and all that You need is me, just as I am. Lord, I come to You just as I am.

Ministry of the Word

I have the privilege of traveling to different parts of India to introduce and distribute the ministry books. While I am not traveling I am still honored to minister the ministry of the word to the saints. Whether I am traveling or not the Lord is gracious to give me the opportunity to participate in the ministry. While I traveled the ministry is to different Christian groups, ministering the word of God, mostly based on my truth constitution as I did not know who I am meeting and what message would be appropriate for them. I followed the inner anointing and minister as the Lord leads inwardly. While I am stationed, I minister mostly to the saints and it's mostly an arrangement in the Body through fellowship that I know what to minister. In fact, I studied first, prayed over, prepared myself, and ministered the word. Either way, I am participating in the ministry of the word. What a blessing!

Once I came back from my ministry literature journey, I was engaged in the local church perfecting meeting, then the Karnataka seekers' meeting, and the church's PSRP meeting. The ministry of the word is so rich that I do not need to produce new teachings per se. I simply have to go through the prepared outlines, pray over, study, enjoy, and minister. In a sense, I need not go to the field to plow, sow, and then reap the harvest. The field has already been plowed, sowed, ripened, and harvested. I simply need to cook the produce of the field and serve it to the saints. I simply inherit from what the brothers have already labored. After all, we are in the same ministry. What my brothers have already worked on, I simply picked it up and reproduced the same thing. The ministry has been attested and approved, it has been experienced by many already, and I am benefiting from the brothers' labor and passing it on to the saints. Praise the Lord!

"Life grows by regulation toward maturity and function" was the message for the perfecting meeting. In this meeting, the regulation was emphasized. The best training is the strictest one. Life grows best in a training environment with strict rules and regulations. 

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

The goal of our growth in life is for our maturity in life and functioning for the building up. Such functioning also depends on our diligence. 

Though I was the one to minister this truth in coordination with a brother, I feel I need this message the most. I am not a teacher though I minister, I am a learner too even as I minister.

Another message I coordinated with a brother is on "THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST", an excerpt from The Basic Elelemtn of the Christian Life Vol. 1.

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

Why do you need the blood of Christ? Because, essentially, fallen man has three basic problems. These three problems involve three parties: God, yourself, and Satan. Toward God, you often sense separation. Within yourself, you often sense guilt. And from Satan, you often sense accusation. These three—separation from God, feelings of guilt, and accusation from Satan—can be three big problems in your Christian life. How can these be overcome? Only by the blood of Christ.

SEPARATION FROM GOD

Because God is righteous, He cannot tolerate sins. God loves you, but He abhors your sins. For God to come, sins must go. There is only one thing in the entire universe that can take away sins—the precious blood of Christ. No amount of prayer, no amount of weeping, no ritual, no penance, no promise to do better, no guilty feeling, no period of waiting—no, nothing but the precious blood of Christ—can remove sins. When you confess your sins, immediately all distance between you and God is gone. If God esteems the blood of Christ sufficient to remove your sins, can you do the same?

GUILT IN YOUR CONSCIENCE

Sins offend God on the one hand and defile us on the other. What is guilt? Guilt is the stain of sins on your conscience. 

Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more will the blood of Christ…purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” 

The blood of Christ is powerful enough to purge, or cleanse, your conscience from every guilty stain. Because Christ’s death has paid the debt of sin, His blood may now wipe out the record of that debt. Remember 

If God forgets your sins, you may forget them also. Don’t remind God of something He has already forgotten. 

ACCUSATION FROM SATAN

Satan, “your adversary…as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). For this warfare, you need the proper weapons. One important weapon which you must utilize is the blood of Christ. Nothing cripples a Christian spiritually more than accusation. 

God’s demand is at once satisfied by the blood. If you confess your sin and claim the precious blood, yet some uneasiness continues to tug at you within, you should stop praying immediately. Do not confess anymore. Rather, turn to the source of the accusation and say something like

this: “Satan, I have confessed my sin to God. He has forgiven my sin, and the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed me from it. The Christian life is a kind of warfare. 

A DAILY LIFE FULL OF GOD’S PRESENCE

By the power of the precious blood of Christ, it is possible for a Christian to live moment by moment in God’s presence.  “Let us come forward…with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” (Heb. 10:22).  “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.” (1 John 1:7)

At the PSRP meeting, I enjoyed ministering on these points which helped me. 

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6

In order to live according to the principle of the tree of life, we need to follow the inner sense of  life—v. 6; Eph. 4:18-19; Isa. 40:31: The sense of life on the negative side is the feeling of death—Rom. 8:6a. The sense of life on the positive side is the feeling of life and peace, with a consciousness of strength, satisfaction, rest, brightness, and comfort—v. 6b.

We learn from Romans 8 that we need to turn our being to the living One who dwells in our spirit and stay one with Him—v. 6b; 1 Cor. 6:17. When we set our mind on the spirit, we have life, peace, light, comfort, and strength; our thirst is quenched, and our hunger is satisfied—Rom. 8:5, 6b; John 4:14; 7:37-38; Matt. 5:6. When we set our mind on the spirit, our mind is full of life and peace—Rom. 8:6b: We have peace because there is no discord between our outward behavior and our inner being—v. 6b; Isa. 9:6-7; 26:3. When we speak with our mind set on the spirit, life is embodied in our words because we are one spirit with the Lord—Prov. 18:21; John 6:63; Eph. 4:29.

A Timely Promise

Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given to you, as I promised Moses. Joshua 1:3

Today, the 20th of March 2021, as I was reading my bible, as usual, a verse caught my attention and upon careful study, it became a Rhema word to me from the Lord. It is the Lord's promise for all the ministry journeys He has been leading me and the brothers in coordination in the Body, with the Body, and for the Body.

In fact, of late I have been reconsidering the ministry literature journey that I had undertaken. Though the burden was to introduce and distribute the ministry literature to different people at different places, there also is a need for considerable sales as it cost money to undertake such journeys. Nothing is free, everything comes with a price, even a big price in terms of finance, time, and energy too. I just expressed my feeling about being more on the propagation of the ministry rather than the sales,  to the brother coordinating with me. Yes, initially there needs to be some investment in terms of money and time. Even as I reckon all the gifts of ministry books to some Christians as a foretaste for them, it was indeed a "time-bomb" spiritually to explode one day for the Lord's testimony through whom these books would sow the seed of the ministry and grow and develop. When in such mood and consideration, the word of God came as a timely reply to my concerns about the recent distribution journey where we gave out more books as gifts rather than sales.

The word of God is plain and clear. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given to you. As I recollected the names of the places that I undertook recently, they are very encouraging. It spans over four north Indian Hindi-speaking states, namely Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Bihar, so far this year. I believe the promise holds true for all the past journeys and the future journeys to happen as He leads on and on. So far the names of the place that we actually trod with the soles of our feet are Bilaspur, Khariar Road, Korba, Raipur, Ranchi, Khunti, Tatanagar, Patna, Dehri On Sone, Itwa, Bahuara, Talimpur, Rajewpur, and Sirhara. The Lord will raise up His testimony in all these localities. That's the promise of God, and He will do it in time!

Besides, the word of God further states:

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall muse upon it day and night so that you may be certain to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. For Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:8, 9

The condition for the fulfillment of the promise is to abide by the word of God, which today is the abiding in the Lord as the Spirit in my spirit, and my obedience to all His words. With such conditions fulfilled, the promised prosperity and success will be fulfilled. His word says, "you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success". Once in obedience I submit to His word, it is I who will make my way prosperous, and then I will have success. This is the principle of incarnation, God working with man, and man working with God. For God to gain what He wants to gain He must first gain man through whom He can gain what He wants to gain.

May the will of the Lord be done. May His promise be fulfilled. May He gain me to gain what He wants to gain through me.