Preserve Me, O God!

Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. Psalms 16:1

The Psalmist had prayed for the Lord's preservation, being fully aware of his vulnerability to the attacked of the enemy that came through many channels. The attack could be physical, psychological, and spiritual. 

Today as I was studying the word of God on this Psalm, I was deeply impressed by the same prayer. In fact, this has been my prayer in a very intensified way ever since the pandemic struck last year. Despite all the precautions and SOPs rolled out by the government, the ultimate protection comes only from the Lord.  This, therefore, does not mean that I can be careless in taking care of my health. No. I must do all that I can, and still seek the Lord's protection. This prayer became very real and strong these days, especially in the ongoing second wave of Covid when many children of God have also been infected with it and a good number of them have succumbed to it already. 

Today morning a sister called me to inform me about two new ones, whom I met in one of the home meetings, who were very bothered by Covid as they themselves and their close relatives have been infected with it.  The call was an indirect conveying of a message to me that these ones needed shepherding and that I should shepherd them. This call reiterated and confirmed the need for the Lord's protection.

Observing the situation among the believers who are infected with Covid, one must be saved from any superstitious concept that Christians will all be automatically preserved. Well, that's not quite true. When pandemic struck, it struck all mankind alike as much as the sun shines and the rain falls on the good and the evil, the believers and the unbelievers, and both as men lives and also dies. That said, there is also a special provision for all the children of God. There is a special grace, special protection from harm and danger, even from the present pandemic. For this, one needs to pray for the Lord's protection, "Preserve me, O God!" This is in addition to taking all the precautionary measures, a man's responsibility in human cooperation with the divine protection.

At least twice, to my memory, saints who are serving under the Government of India have called me to check with me about my take on the Covid vaccination. My answere was simply, take it as it is physically needed, but our trust, hope, and faith is inthe Lord, not the vaccine per se. Having done all that are required to do, still our prayer should be, "Preserve me, O God!"

Yes, our body needs to be preserved, much more our soul and our spirit as well. God's purpose must be fulfilled in us and through, for this our body needs to be healthy, our soul transformed, and our spirit exercised. We need the Lord's preservation in our mind to be renewed becoming the mind of Christ, our emotion to love the Lord supremely, and our will becoming one with His will. We also need the Lord's preservation in our spirit, to be ever kept renewed and exercised moment by moment.

Yes, our body, our soul, and our spirit needs the Lord's preservation. For this we need to prayer, "Preserve me, O Lord!"

Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. 

Monthly Ministry of the Word

I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.  John 4:38

The Lord has been sending us out to different parts of India for the introduction and distribution of the ministry of the word. Wherever He led us, He also prepared His chosen remnants who welcomed us and received the ministry books. These are the ones,  I personally believe, the Lord has given us. Though we did not labor on them from the preaching of the gospel up to where they are now in their spiritual growth, still they, as the children of God, are members of the Body of Christ as I am too,  and definitely need to be brought into the fellowship of the Body. Therefore, the verse in John 4:38 I apply to the service the Lord has sovereignly apportioned to the literature service where I am being graced to labor in coordination with other members of the Body. Yes, the Lord indeed has been sending us to reap where we have not labored previously; we entered to their labor and reap them for God's eternal purpose. "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

It was on the 13th of May, Thursday night that we fellowshipped to have a monthly fellowship with the seeking brothers in new localities who have started taking the way of the biblical standing on the ground of oneness as the local church in their localities. They have been first met through the ministry literature distribution. Some of them have been enjoying the ministry books for as long as ten years now. But for some reason, they have not yet been formally declared as established local churches.  Perhaps, the linking fellowship with the established local churches needs to be strengthened, and the oneness of the Body of Christ in fellowship has to be made more firm. This is one burden the Lord gave me, to hold at least a monthly fellowship to shepherd them into the fellowship and oneness of the Body of Christ.

Last weeks participants were the two brothers I have been praying with every Monday night from Dimapur, Nagaland; a brother who has been enjoying the ministry books for over a decade now from Champa, Chattisgarh where around five local churches are in fellowship; three brothers who have taken the stand on the ground of oneness in Khariar Road, Chattisgarh; a brother from Raipur, Chattisgarh; and two brothers who are taking the stand as the church in Shillong, Meghalaya. That was the first meeting we had, and we have agreed to have this every first Thursday of every month. Perhaps, more and more brothers and sisters may be brought into this fellowship.

The nature, standing, constitution, and fellowship of these local churches should be according to the Apostles' teaching in the Bible. For this, the influence of religion and Christianity must be gradually washed out for the sake of the purity of the church life. Prayer and the ministry of the word can do this work of purification. Therefore, the topic for this meeting is named, "Prayer and the Ministry of the Word." 

But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word. Acts 6:4

Our corporate burden is to bring all dear brothers into the up-to-date speaking of the Lord in His recovery. Therefore, we are dwelling on the subject of one of the annual feasts on "The Intrinsic and Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ." 

May the Lord cause the intrinsic and organic building among us and among the churches these brothers are taking the stand for. May the Lord continue His work of recovery intrinsically and organically unto the fulfillment of His eternal economy.

Fearing God in God's Economy

Fearing God

Fearing God is the first principle for a man to live a normal and proper life. Fearing God on the negative aspects are to be in fear of offending Him, losing His presence now, and losing His reward in the coming age. Fearing God on the positive aspects are to trust in Him, to honor Him, to be in His presence, to live long, to be full of joy and rejoicing with His blessings.

Fearing God by Trusting in God 

Proverbs 3 

5. Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, / And do not rely on your own understanding; 6. In all your ways acknowledge Him, / And He will make your paths straight. 

As one who fear God, we will trust God whole heartedly. We will not lean on our own understanding and acknowledge Him in all our ways. In our personal life, family life, and church life, we will be afraid of our self, of our natural man with all its smartness, and turn away from any human wisdom,  but we will fully trust in Jehovah.

Fearing God by Departing from Evil

Proverbs 3

7. Do not be wise in your own eyes; / Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil. 8. It will be healing to your body / And refreshment to your bones. 

A proper fear of God will keep us away from evils; sins, the world, and Satan himself. This reverential fear of God should be inculcated in all of us, especially the children and young people. It is only this that can save us from the temptations and corruption of this world, especially the influence from friends, peers, and colleagues.

Fearing God and Having God's Intimate Counsel

Psalms 25:14

The intimate counsel of Jehovah is to those who fear Him, / And His covenant will He make known to them. 

In fearing God, we would seek God's will with our whole heart and completely submit to Him and obey His counsel. For all things related to us, we would seek His will and be afraid of our self will. In making decision in life, we must fear God and seek and do only His will. This will be a salvation from wrong wills and a reward to receive God's blessings.

Fearing God by Honoring God 

Proverbs 3

9. Honor Jehovah with your substance / And with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10. Then your barns will be filled with plenty, / And your vats will burst open with new wine. 

A proper fear of God would always lead us to honor Him by offering to Him from what He blessed us with. Most practically, honoring Him through our offering of money, by at least one-tenth of all our income. Besides, we must also offer our time, if possible, one-tenth of twenty four hours a day, for prayer, Bible reading, and other spiritual activities specifically. This will be an honor to God and a blessing to us. Many suffer unnecessary,  especially in their finance, because they fail to honor God in money matter. The best investment and saving plan is to offer to God from what He has blessed us with. It is folly to assume that one can get richer by not offering. Rather, in not offering one will end up wasting money after all. The same applies with our time. Any time that we did not spend foe the Lord or on the Lord would literally be a waste. Beware!

Fearing God by Being in Christ 

Isaiah 11:2

And the Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon Him, / The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, / The Spirit of counsel and might, / The Spirit of the knowledge and fear of Jehovah. 

In the Lord Jesus Christ's human living, as prophesied by Isaiah, He was filled with the Spirit of the fear of Jehovah. Today, He as the Life-giving Spirit is now in us. To live a life of fearing God, we must live in Christ who is the Spirit of the fear of Jehovah. For this, day by day, we need to completely and absolutely open to Him to be filled with Him as the Spirit of the fear of Jehovah.

In such a proper fear of God, we would be one with God in fulfilling God's economy. 

Lord, teach me to fear You, reverentially, all the days of my life.

Truth Lesson: Christ's Increase

What is Increase? What is Christ's Increase? Perhaps, this matter of increase is a great concern to many Christians. No increase is a problem, yet an increase is also a problem depending on what causes the increase. An increase in the number of meeting attendance can be brought forth either by the flesh or by life. Lot had an increase by his flesh, even by sinful incest. That is in the principle of Babylon. The increase we are talking about here is the increase of Christ, through the divine dispensing of the divine life into the believers, for the preparation of the Bride of Christ.

The increase begins with regeneration through the redemption accomplished by Christ which resulted in producing the bride, the Body of Christ as Christ's increase.  This also happens by Christ ministering Himself as and through the word which becomes the Spirit in the believers dispensing the divine life and making them grow from within and bearing forth spiritual fruits without. This is Christ's increase. The same is found in John 3, the Lord's conversation with Nicodemus. This conversation began with regeneration accomplished through the believers' believing into the Lord Jesus Christ who was lifted as a bronze serpent and becoming the Bride, the Body Christ, Christ's increase, which also is being carried out by His speaking through the word of God giving the Spirit abundantly.

John 3

3 Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

5 Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.

29a He who has the bride is the bridegroom; 

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for He gives the Spirit not by measure.

Christ's increase and His relationship with the church, the Bride, can be seen  can also be seen in the three aspects of Christ

1. Christ as the Redeemer redeemed the church. This happened in the past through the believers' generation. For this, Christ as the Husband gave Himself up for His Bride, the church. (Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her)
2. Christ as the Life-giving Spirit sanctifying the church. This is going on right now in the present time. Christ as the Husband is sanctifying His Bride, the church. (Ephesians 5:26 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word)
3. Christ as the Bridegroom will present the church. This will happen in the future when Christ, the Bride, will present His Bride to Himself. (Ephesians 5:27 That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.)

In Ephesians, we can also see the two aspects of Christ's increase inwardly, growing up into Him in all things who is the Head, Christ. And Christ's increase outwardly for His expression,  growing from the Head, causing the growth of the Body.

Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ, Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

The Importance of the Word of God for Our Growth

1. John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
2. 2 Timothy 3:15 And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
3. 1 Peter 1:23 Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God.
4. 1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation,
5. Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the full-grown, who because of practice have their faculties exercised for discriminating between both good and evil.
6. 2 Peter 1:19 And we have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
7. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

These are the seven ways in which the word of God can make us grow for Christ's increase.

May we all receive the divine life supply through the word of God that can make us grow day by day for Christ's increase.

A Memorial Message

Covid has struck India and many have lost their lives. It did not even spare the saints in the church life nor the serving ones in the literature service. One of our serving ones, brother Kishor Mane, texted me on 29th April 2021 mentioning his situation as he and his whole family were infected with Covid. His message quoted verbatim:

"Brother, though we were taking treatment of medicine but the symptoms were going and coming even for heavy dosage. So mother father got admitted and after two days i got admitted, and now others also are unable to bear, they also will be coming now to get admitted. Sorry brother i was unable to work tor last few days. Please bear with me."

My reply to him was, "Take care of your health. We have been praying for you and your family."

Since then, in our literature office morning prayer and also in our family prayer, we have been praying for his recovery. As days passed by, his situation became more and more severe. A brother then informed me about his falling into depression and health complications. But we kept praying. A few days later, I was informed that his father went to be with the Lord. And after five days, he also went to be with the Lord. Alas, that text message was our last; he was the first serving one whom the Lord took during this crisis. I pray that no more saints would lose their lives due to this pandemic. May the Lord cover us all!

Before he passed away, I had a deep sense within me that he would need financial help. Therefore, I made arrangements to transfer an offering and also his first full-time support since he came to serve in checking the text translation of the New Testament Recovery Version in Marathi. Later, another offering was arranged; this time it was transferred to a brother who was intimately taking care of him and his family.

Today, a day after he went to be with the Lord on the 9th of May 2021, the church in Miraj had arranged a memorial day meeting in which I need to share a memorial or rather a testimony regarding him and his service as much as I know.  Though another brother was to share, he could not make it. Therefore, I had to share on behalf of the literature service. 

Using his testimony, I encouraged the young people to consecrate themselves to serve the Lord, even to learn Greek and be involved in checking the New Testament text translation to Marathi. In fact, today morning in my time with the Lord, the Lord led me to text a brother concerning filling up the gap this brother has left behind. My text reads:

Brother, please pray and consider: if there could be at least two young educated saints who can consecrate themselves to the Lord fully to learn Greek and come in to do the Marathi text checking of the New Testament Recovery Version. Only then we will be able to release the New Testament Recovery Version in Marathi.

May the Lord gain many abled, burdened, and available young educated saints.

This same text was read out by a brother who is his spiritual father in his memorial speech encouraging and calling out the young people to consecrate themselves for the Lord's service especially for the literature service in Marathi. May the Lord indeed raise up many young saints to fill up the gap our brother had left behind.

The following were the points I shared. In fact, the first section I also shared in the literature WhatsApp group as a loving memorial to our brother.

In Loving Memory of Brother Kishor Mane

22 July 2020: Enrolled for Greek online self study. He completed all the assignments on time and passed all the exams. A very faithful, diligent, and fast learner!

16 March 2021: Completed Greek for New Testament translation with 90% score!

1 April 2021: He started text checking of The New Testament, Recovery Version in Marathi.

A Wonderful Pattern in Character: Diligent, faithful, kept the schedule for the works assigned to him.  Soft in heart yet aggressive in learning.

Romans 4: 7-8 For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself; For whether we live, we live to the Lord, and whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or we die, we are the Lord’s.

Encouragement to the Young People

May the Lord raise up many young educated and consecrated saints to learn Greek and pick up the burden to serve in the literature service to bring out the New Testament Recovery Version in Marathi.

Pray for Kishor’s family, especially his mother, and also for the saints in the church in Miraj

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 For God did not appoint us to wrath but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us in order that whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore comfort one another, and build up each one the other, even as you also do.

Discipline in Love

Discipline your son, for there is hope; But do not set your heart on destroying him. Proverbs 19:18

Train up a child according to the way he should go; Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I love my children, they are God's gift to me and my wife. Since their birth, they have been a blessing to us as a family. In many aspects, they are truly our heart's delight yet not a replacement of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we love the Lord, we also love what the Lord has blessed us with. So, we must be a proper guardian to the blessings of the womb. Children are from the Lord, we are just the guardians to nurture them for the Lord. In our responsibility as guardians, sometimes there is a need for some discipline and correction, whenever the need arises. With my children, mostly they have been doing fairly well. Except sometimes they tend to disobey and need some discipline. There, as a parent, especially as a father, I need to lovingly chastise them.

Some characteristic traits of my children have been manifested in terms of obedience and respect to elders. In this matter, I strongly felt my children need to be taught or disciplined. But I must also be wise in the way I carry this out. I can only recollect how I had been taught when I was young as my children now, ie.., discipline.

Last night, I sensed a very disgusting behavior from my son in terms of attitude and honoring and respecting elders especially his parent. This has been going on for quite some time now. I just could not let the matter go by easily. So I decided to take my son to a task. For a long time, I have not been showing my disciplinary face except for a few words of parental commands, which hardly matters to him. 

Therefore, I wanted to drive deep into my son's heart that I am serious about a proper attitude and respect towards elders which I have been brought up to, all my life. So I disciplined him verbally and with some physical chastisement. Though he could not take it at the moment and tried to fight back, it only strengthened me to intensify the degree of chastisement. Not a physical abuse as such, but a strong verbal correction had brought him to tears. The incident occurred continuously three times in a row as I could not see him subdued but fighting back instead. So each discipline was more intense than the previous one, and I reckoned that as my responsibility towards my son. 

Seriously, I hardly would like to get into this kind of intense discipline, but once I was forced to, I will not give it up until the purpose was met. This may be kind of harsh, but I deeply pray within that this will have a lasting impact on my son and also on my two daughters that they would have a proper attitude and show honor and respect to elders all the days of their lives. For this, I am willing to sacrifice my own face as a "soft father". Let me rather be "hated" for this disciplinary action rather than see my children undisciplined. I was willing to pay the price, and I did pray the price as I felt best. Then, I prayed for all of them that the Lord would also follow my disciplinary actions with His own shepherding. Only physical or verbal discipline without the Lord's following up would lead to nowhere. Therefore, I prayed for all my children.

Perhaps, the action was too tough that my son was deeply hurt and for a considerable length of time, he could not be consoled. My wife and my two daughters went to console him and finally, the matter was settled. But that's not all, I believe, my two daughters also learned the intensity of my action and the magnitude of my intention; I did what I did because I truly love them. I simply want them to be disciplined and be proper in their human character.

The next day, the impact of the discipline was felt. Everybody was serious and the looseness that lingered for quite some time had gone. My children become more serious in their response when matters were addressed concerning them. After my lunch and a short nap time, as I was considering before the Lord about the action I took to discipline my son, I felt good to talk to him and see if there was any grudge between us. Yes, discipline was fine, but how about the father-son relationship after the discipline? Therefore, I went to talk to him and called him to the bedroom for a personal fellowship. I told him that I did what I did because I love him and that I did not want him to harbor any improper attitude towards his parent or elders, and also to learn to honor and respect the elders. He replied to me that he understood my intention. I also asked him if he had any negative feelings against me, yes if any, I asked him to forgive me. To this, he replied, "Maybe." I requested, "Please forgive me, then." And he replied, "Yes." Therefore, we hugged each other; I kissed my beloved son, and we prayed together.

As a sign of comfort and gratitude to him for being able to accept the discipline, I asked him what he would want me to buy. He reminded me that I had forgotten my promise to my elder daughter about ice cream which I promised to treat her with a few weeks ago. Therefore, we both went to purchase a pack of Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream and we enjoyed the ice cream as "our prize for the discipline."

Thus, the matter was settled. I had peace and he does too. I hope and pray that I do not need to repeat the same discipline again ever. Hope this will be the last and that they all will learn the lesson. Right after this incident, my own father called me to check if I and my family were doing alright as he heard of so many cases of Covid in Delhi and NCR. I also could speak to my mom and heard their appreciation for the help, financially, during my dad's sickness a week ago.

May the Lord continue to bless our family. May He make our family a God-man family as I have always prayed for; to fear Him, to love Him, and to serve Him, as a family, all the days of our lives.

Lord, bless our family!

Godly Living

Yesterday, our Lord's table meeting and the prophesying meeting were very special. Though the nature of the meeting was the same as a regular meeting, the content and the feeling of the saints in the meeting took a new turn. I believe it was for the better. The saints' prayers and speakings were very much uplifted in terms of truth and experience. It was not mere empty words but with much feeling and experience behind the words. In other words, it was very genuine. Our praise, worship, thanksgiving, prayer, and prophecy were very genuine; straight from the heart, out of the experiences many have been through these days.

The past few weeks have been intense for many saints as some have been battling with Covid personally or as a family or for some relatives. This second wave surprised the whole country suddenly. Many have been infected with the virus and, alas, many have also lost their lives; thousands and thousands daily, not spacing even the believers.

In the midst of such a pandemic, the Lord has been mercifully preserving all of us. Besides, He has been gracing us to experience Him in a very personal and intimate way. A good number of brothers and sisters testified their experiences during the time they were sick; the new lessons they have learned from the Lord and the new light the Lord has shown to them. A sister even shared with tears, the mercy of the Lord she has experienced concerning her unbelieving mother and father who both were infected with Covicd, and how the Lord miraculously healed them by answering her simple prayer. 

These prophecies of the saints added fuel to the burning fire within me. Therfore, I released my burden on the present pursuit of the truth on "Living a Godly Life" based on selected gems from the book of Proverbs.

To live a godly life, one needs to have the following points experientially:

VISION 

“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint”—Prov. 29:18a

The governing vision of the Bible is the Triune God working Himself into His chosen and redeemed people in order to saturate their entire being with the Divine Trinity for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem—Eph. 4:4-6; Rev. 21:2, 9-10.

One needs to have a clear vision of God's eternal economy and follow it faithfully unto the end. Without this, even the so-called godly life would be meaningless and goalless.

TRUTH

“Buy truth, and do not sell it”—Prov. 23:23a 

The present truth includes the revelation concerning the eternal economy of God (Eph. 1:10; 3:9), the Divine Trinity (2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 1:4-5), the person and work of the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9, 16-17; 3:11), the consummated life-giving Spirit (John 7:39; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 22:17), the eternal life of God (John 3:15-16), the church as the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23), and the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 10-11). 

The Lord's mercy has led all the saints in His recovery to take the way we have been taking. We have faced persecution from families and friends, either from the unbelievers or believers or even both. Some even accused the way we take as "heretic" and even "cultic", but the truth is the truth, no matter what people say or think. To be faithful to the truth, the Lord has graced us to pay the price. This is "the buying of the truth." And we must not sell it at any cost, come what may. The Lord may grace us to be faithful and obedient to the truth unto the end.

Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Acts 26:19

SPIRIT

“The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, / Searching all the innermost parts of the inner being”— Prov. 20:27

When we exercise our spirit to pray properly, there is a lamp shining—Eph. 6:18; 1:17-18; 5:8-9: 1. As we pray, our spirit functions as a shining lamp, searching all the parts of our soul—Prov. 20:27. The more we exercise our spirit in prayer, the more we are enlightened—2 Cor. 4:6.

With the clear and controlling vision clubbed together with the present truth, we must also exercise our spirit to experience the reality of the vision and the truth. Otherwise, it will just be running after an empty dream; professing good vision and truth, but it will all be dead doctrines and fantasy vision if not in the spirit. Therefore, there is an urgent need to exercise our spirits that the Lord as the Lamp may shine in our spirits as the lamps to enlighten our inner being to be luminaries in the world as children of God.

That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world. Philippians 2:15

HEART

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, / For from it are the issues of life”—Prov. 4:23: 

The heart is the entrance and exit to our whole being—Matt. 13:19; 15:18-19: We guard our heart by caring for our heart and having a thorough dealing with our heart before the Lord in the way of life; the more we deal with our heart, the more we guard our heart—Psa. 26:2; 139:23-24; Prov. 4:23; Rom. 8:27; Rev. 2:23; Matt. 13:18-23; 5:8.

Our hearts need to be guarded with all vigilance to not give any ground to the enemy. It is only through this the enemy can intrude into our lives and cause spiritual havoc. Our conscience must be dealt with, cleansed all the time without and condemnation or guilt. Our mind must be renewed day by day, that it even becomes the mind of Christ, clear and sober. Our emotion must be loving the Lord with the first and best love; loving the Lord Jesus only and Him only. Our will must be subdued becoming one with the Lord's will. In this way, our hearts will be guarded and dealt with to become a pure heart to see God and made proper for Christ to make His home.

LOVE

“Love covers all transgressions”—Prov. 10:12b: 

Covering brings in blessing, but uncovering brings in a curse—Gen. 9:22-27 “Love covers all things” (1 Cor. 13:7a), not only the good things but also the bad things.

As children of the Son of God's love, we must be filled with the divine love and let this divine love flow through us to all the people we are in contact with. With such a love, we can cover the shortcomings and weaknesses of our fellow believers. Only love builds up; therefore, we must love one other and build up the church the Body of Christ.

Thus was my burden released. That was one of the best meetings we have ever had this year. I believe more and more such meetings will follow suit. The Lord is sovereign over us all in leading us to live a godly life; arranging even the physical environment to work all things together for our good to gain Him and live Him out as our godly lives.