Deep Calls Unto Deep

Deep calls unto deep. Psalm 42:7 

A week ago a brother enquired from me about my availability to share the concluding word in an online seminar for Telugu speaking seekers on the topic "Deep Calls Unto Deep." My innate response within was, "O Lord, I am not qualified to speak this message. I know myself, I am not that deep to speak on the depth of the experiences of God." Nevertheless, whenever an opportunity comes, or rather an assignment is given, I reckon it as from the Lord and simply say "Amen," trusting in the speaking God.

The burden and the truths I am clear.  Even with the experience, I cannot deny that I have some. But to present this truth, I only fully depend on the Lord. My presentation of the truth should also match my experience of the truth. Therefore, this message is apt for me.  

Only a call from the depths can provoke a response from the depths. Nothing shallow can ever touch the depths, nor can anything superficial touch the inward parts. Only the deep will respond to the deep. 

We can minister to people only to the extent to which we ourselves have experienced. For this, we need to have deep roots in the Lord. 

What is a root? It is growth that occurs beneath the soil. What are the leaves? They are growth that occur above the soil. In other words, roots are the hidden life, whereas leaves are the manifest life.

Two seeming contrasting verses are presented in the gospel of Matthew:

"You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden" (Matt. 5:14). 

"When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; ...when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret" (Matt. 6:3-4, 6). 

Yes, we are the light of the world. But the extent to which we can shine forth the light depends on the extent to which we have been rooted in Christ. The deeper our roots are, the better our leaves will be. There are two examples in the Bible of a superficial living and a deep experience of the Lord. 

Example of Hezekiah: Superficial and Shallow

"And Hezekiah was glad for them and showed them his treasury, the silver and the gold, and the spices and the precious oil, and his whole armory and everything which was found among his treasures" (Isaiah 39: 2). 

Hezekiah could not overcome the temptation to display everything after he had just been wonderfully healed of his sickness. In his selfish joy, he displayed all his treasures foolishly. Then what followed must serve as a warning to all. 

"Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts: Behold, the days are coming when everything which is in your house and which your fathers have laid up as a treasure unto this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left, says Jehovah" (39:5-6). 

This proves that the measure in which we display things to others will be the measure of our own loss. The measure in our life that we exhibit before others will be the measure we give up in ourselves.  This is a negative example we have to pay heed to.

Testimony of Paul: Spiritual Depth

Paul was the exact opposite of Hezekiah. Instead of boasting of his experiences, he tried his best to keep them secret. Yet because he was questioned of his apostleship, he was forced to testify of his spiritual experience. And that too, he did it only fourteen years after, not immediate at all. He told the Corinthians, "To boast is necessary, though indeed not expedient" (2 Cor. 12:1). He admitted that it was "not profitable" for himself to write what he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12. But for the sake of others, he had to do it; he was obliged to speak of "visions and revelations of the Lord." Even when he spoke about his experiences, he vaguely said, "I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body I do not know, or outside the body I do not know; God knows) such a one was caught away to the third heaven" (v. 2). He did not divulge any detail of what he saw or what he heard; he simply mentioned it vaguely for the sake of the doubting and critical believers in Corinthians. He maintained his deep spiritual roots and did not expose them to be dried away.  That was Pauls's secret of spirituality.

O what a grief to see many fellow Christians openly testifying and making news of their petty little spiritual experiences of healings and miracles!  In fact, I fear for such ones, they exposed themselves to the enemy's attack. No depth, no roots, only shallow and empty vessels making much noise. No wonder, the state of Christian is in such a shamble today. No stability and is very vulnerable to the enemy's attack from all angles. May the Lord preserve us to preserve our roots in Him.

Brothers and sisters, this matter of root is a matter of extreme importance. If you want to have Paul's work, then you need to have Paul's "root"; if you want to have Paul's outward conduct, then you need to have Paul's inner life; if you want to have Paul's manifest power, then you need to have Paul's secret experience.

We must testify only for the glory of God according to His leading. There may have been many deeper spiritual experiences, but they must be hidden. This is vital for the Christian life. Many spiritual experiences need to be hidden as our secret treasure before the Lord. We must avoid too much exposure and drawing men's attention and stealing God's glory. Yes, there is an aspect of giving testimony. But at the Lord's command only.

"Go to your house, to your own people, and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you" (Mark 5:19).

Lest our roots are exposed and dried up to death, may we live a hidden life before the Lord, a deep root in Christ. To be without root is to be without any treasure; it is to be without any hidden life or hidden experiences. It is essential that some of our experiences remain covered; to uncover everything is to lose everything.

Death and exposure go together, and spiritual dryness and exposure also go together.  God covers those who cover their roots, and God does not protect those who disclose their roots; they will be exposed to attacks. 

Whatever secrets we have with the Lord must be preserved. We can only move according to God's instruction within us. Only if He moves within us to reveal something, dare we reveal it. If He wants us to share some experience with a brother, we dare not withhold it, for that would be violating a law of the members of the Body of Christ. One law of the members of the Body of Christ is fellowship. 

The Lord has indeed graced me to minister the word as the concluding and strengthening word. I have discharged my duty, and now I must pursue Christ to have a deeper root in the Lord. That what I had ministered must also be what was ministered to me. 

May the Lord grace me to have the depth of the riches of Christ stored secretly hidden within as my depth that I may be able to minister when the need so arises. Deep call s unto deep.

Labor of Love

Remembering unceasingly your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father. 1 Thessalonians 1:3

The past week the Lord has been gracious to me in reviving the hope I have in shepherding. One morning, our Life-study pursuit was on First Thessalonians concerning the work of faith and labor of love and I came to realize that all the shepherding I have been carrying out are works of faith and labor of love. The Lord has blessed me with saints and new ones that I can labor on. And He has been gracing me to continue shepherding them despite their responses. 

In fact, for a couple of months, I have given up four families as I felt that there was no point in continuing further in shepherding. For some reason or the others, there was no response from my side and their side as far as shepherding was concerned. Perhaps, the Lord was working on me in caring for those who are "troublesome". When I sense "troubles" in caring for these ones, I kind of backed off and prayed for them continually. I believe that was also the Lord's leading at that time to give them a lean season and also for me to learn to trust in the Lord and not in what I think I can do. Therefore, for months altogether, no contact, no fellowship, but only prayers for them.

Last week, the Lord burdened me to call one of the families and recovered the fellowship. In spite of the gap, his family was still very open to me and even requested for more fellowship and prayer. So after a considerable gap, the Lord has restored our fellowship again.

Another brother's family was to do with his vision and work. Because of his mixed situation in Christian service and experience, I intentionally did not feel good to follow him up for a couple of months. Last week the Lord prompted me to call and fellowship with him during my prayer time. When I called him, it was indeed the right time. In fact, he has also gone through some "misunderstanding" with the organization he has been working with, and besides, the Lord also revealed to him that he should follow His call. He had veered away from the calling to labor in the city by going to remote places carrying out an organization's burden. This affected his family life and his function as a gospel preaching. After the recovered fellowship, he began to open up about his real situation and I discovered that it was the right time to call him.

In the second call, he further shared his feeling concerning his need for the Body's fellowship and that he could not go on doing his own independent works. He confessed his need for the Body's support. I was glad to hear that from him. Today many successful evangelists are independent and they love to be independent, not willing to coordinate with anyone nor be adjusted in any way. But my brother has the sense and consciousness of the Body. This was joyful news to me. He also realized his mistakes in the past in our coordination. Now he feels the Lord has been dealing with him in bringing him back to the fellowship of the Body. Immediately, I assured him that I would bring the matter to fellowship with the brothers serving in the work in India.

The following day I fellowshipped with the brothers and they also felt good to bring him into fellowship. Therefore, he was introduced to the brothers in New Delhi for his church life for the time being as the church has not yet been raised up in his locality.

Another family was being recovered back into the fellowship and they turned up for the Lord's table meeting yesterday, surprisingly though. In fact, a home meeting has also started in their homes. I was glad to see them. In fact, the debt this family had due to the pandemic was somehow paid off through the offerings. It was made clear to them that they need not worry but learn to fellowship in the Body. 

Finally, with another brother's family, we started a home meeting every Lord's day night. In the first two meetings, I had a personal fellowship with the brother. Since last Lord's day-night we started pursuing Life Lessons with everyone functioning in pursuing the truth and speaking the truth. 

In this way, the Lord has been recovering back the families He has blessed the church in Gurugram. May the Lord continue to grace the shepherding work, the labor of love, until all become function members in the Body to bear the Lord's testimony together here in this city  Gurugram.

Be in Health

Beloved, concerning all things I wish that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. 3 John 2

Serving the Lord is practical and possible only when one is in good health and strength. Without this, spirituality in a weak body will not be of much use. Therefore, brothers have been speaking again and again of the need to maintain good health and even live long life until the Lord comes back. This is not merely for selfish long-living, but for the Lord's testimony. And within this span of life, one can learn and gain more of Christ to the extent that he becomes mature and be an overcomer.  Good health is a necessity in serving the Lord.

Though our lives are in the Lord's hand, and our longevity also depends on His sovereignty and blessing, and yet certain factors also contribute to how one takes care of his health. A proper view concerning health is needed. Extremity is dangerous. In the name of the Lord's work, one cannot neglect his health. Within the capacity the Lord has given us, we must take good care of our health; eat healthy food, exercise normally, and maintain the God-given body.

When I was much younger, I wish to be an overcomer and die soon to meet the Lord. In fact, in my late twenties, I used to pray that if the Lord so will, He could take me and I would not want to live a life of facing many hurdles. As long as the Lord would deem me fit to be with Him unto eternity, I would choose the easier path of being with Him; the sooner the better. But the Lord has renewed my concept and not I wish to take good care of my health and live long for the Lord's testimony unless the Lord feels it otherwise. Paul also had this conversation with the Lord about his wish to live on the earth for the sake of the believers though he would personally prefer to be with the Lord unto eternity. 

Last week the Lord has given me and my wife a strong feeling to check up on our health. Now we are in our early forties, middle age, and it's a crucial time to pay heed to our health so that we can live long and serve the Lord better with the view of having sufficient time to mature in life. In fellowship with a sister who is a doctor in a hospital in New Delhi, we went for a Neurologist consultation. Then based on the doctor's advice we also did a complete health check-up.

Once the result came, we came to know what we need to care for. For me, I am deficient in Vitamin D and my bad cholesterol is above the normal level. These are the two things I need to take care of. Immediately, I had a sense within me to take care of this. I adjusted my diet and modified my living style. This change happened organically. The revelation of my true body condition enabled me to take the necessary steps before it is too late. 

In a similar manner, I have also been enlightened about my true spiritual condition. I need a proper God-man living, a normal Christian life, eating and drinking the Lord in and through the word and prayer. These days I have been hungry and eating the Lord through the word daily. Should the Lord wish so, I desire to complete my ongoing personal project of completing my Life-study pursuing by 2022 including listening to all the Radio programs of the Life-study of the Bible.  The Lord has been gracing me to pursue the Life-studies by reading and also by listening. I have been utilizing every break time to listen to the brothers' speaking in addition to my daily Bible studies, reading the Bible text, and other corporate pursuing of the ministry. All these are for my spiritual health.

May the Lord grace me to continue to have a good spiritual appetite to continually enjoy Him in the word and through the ministry of the word, and also take care of my physical health, to have good health and long life for His testimony. 

Yes, concerning all things I wish that I may prosper and be in health, even as my soul prospers. Lord, grace me good health.

Graciously Lend

The Lord has been faithfully providing all our needs and He will continue to do so as He cares for His children. As a loving Father, He meets the needs of all His children in His own way and at His own time. His provision to all His children has always been because He is the sovereign God and much more, a loving Father. Despite the failures and weaknesses of His children, His love towards them never fails. I am blessed to be one of the many children of God whom He has been faithfully caring for. His supply has always been timely, sufficient, and in abundance. Whenever our expenses go up, His supplies become higher and still meet all the needs. His supplies are not merely according to my need, but according to His riches. Hallelujah!

And my God will fill your every need according to His riches, in glory, in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

A week ago, a brother texted me if he could open up on some matters which he would like to keep it confidential. He was asking for my persmission if he could let me know what he really needed at the moment. Without any hesitiation I replied in the affirmative. Then, he opened up his situation mentioning his urgent need to borrow money. After a second thought, I replied that I would pray over and fellowship with my wife and let him know our decision later.

Later in the evening as I spent time with the Lord asking if we should help our needy brother, the reply I received in fellowship with the Lord was spontenous, "Why not?" On careful consideration, the Lord aslo provided the necessary financial blessing to be able to help him. Actually, one of our FDs got matured recently and I didn't even have time to withdraw or do anything about it. The bank atutmoctially created a new FD. This is the same amount my brother had asked for loan. Then I fellowshipped with my wife and she readily agreed to helping our brothe in need. Therefore, the following day, without any further delay, I went to the bank, closed the said FD, and transferred the amount to our bnroher in need. 

A few dasy later, the Lord spoke to me during my Bible study time, the following verse from Psalms.

It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment. He has scattered abroad; he has given to the needy; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor. Psalms 112:5, 9

What a joy and peace I have within in cooperating with the moving Triune God in caring for the need of His chidlren! He has been caring for me all this while, and now I can co-work with Him in caring for the needs of my fellow brothers. 

Praise the Lord for His wonderful, loving, and timely care!

Independence Day

Today is the 75th Independence Day, the 15th of August. 75 years ago India got its independence from the British's rule. This day did not come without a heavy price of martyrs' blood and freedom struggles. This is the day of freedom for secular India. But is this the real freedom  for an individual, an Indian? 

Surely, man has fallen and is under the bondage of Satan, sin, and the world. Outward freedom could be achieved with struggles, hardships, and martyrdoms. But none can achieve freedom from Satan without the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only the redeeming blood of the Son of God can bring  full freedom to the fallen humanity. Therefore, the real freedom, in the strictest sense, is possible only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, as the country celebrated its 75th Independence Day, I was addressing an online meeting and released the burden the Lord gave me on Dependence Day.  Every human being needs God. God is the Creator of the universe and the source of all lives in the universe. This God, in His creation, has a definite plan in creating man. The plan of God is to create man in His image and likeness that man may express Him. He also gave man His dominion over all the other created things to represent Him on the earth. But for this, man needs to receive the life God. And to be able to receive that divine life, God created man with three part; body, soul, and spirit. 

Genesis 2:7Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

1 Thessalonians 5:23And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 9:23In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory.

Once man receives God, God as the Spirit (John 4:24) comes into him and dwells in him to be his content, to express Him and represent Him. This is the plan of God.

For man to continually express and represent God and fulfil God's plan, he need to be dependent on God all the time. Therefore, every day of a Christian's life must be a "Dependence Day." This was message for today God gave me on Independence Day, a Dependence Day.

The practical way to be depend on God is by daily coming to the Lord at least on three things. Firstly, to breathe Him in, moment by moment by calling upon the Lord's name and be in the spirit of prayer as much as man physically needs to breathe air to live.  Secondly, to eat Him in the word of God as spiritual food day by day as much as man eats three meals a day for his physical health. And thirdly, to pray and drink the Lord as the Spirit in prayer as man drinks water to quench his thirst and live. By these three practical ways, man can depend on God and live by Him moment by moment, and day by day.

On the 75th Indian Independence Day, the word of God is on the urgent and perpetual need to depend on God. An Independence Day to a Dependence Day; from secular to spiritual, is the need of the day. This was the message God gave me today. This was also the first meeting I addressed a group of Hindi speaking believers whose main "leader" I have been in fellowship with for the past one year or so. A new beginning indeed for the Lord move among the local Hindi speaking people in Gurugram and North India!

God bless India! God save and bless the people of India. Independence day for a dependence day on God. Jai Jesus!

A Tale of Two Athletes

My home state Manipur has been famous for sports. For the entire country, there are two popular ladies who have gone to compete at the Olympics and won medals for the entire country, India. While I rejoice in the fact that there is some development coming up from the state and also in the country in a global scenario, I also observe the situation of these athletes and draw a life lesson from them.

A very seasoned boxer, who has become an international icon in her field of sport and obtained a celebrity status, has been appreciated by all. In the eyes of society, all about her is appreciable. I also see something that needs to be learned from her mistake. As her name suggests and the place she hails from, she definitely must be a Christian. In fact, she has a wonderful opportunity to magnify Christ boldly and openly should she wish to. Except for what her name suggests, I do not see anything Christian, as far as I know, and hear about her. 

No offense to her nor anyone, it is just my personal lesson I derive from what I have been observing. There is an element of pride and arrogance which I do not approve of at all. Last year, when her qualification for representing India in the Olympics was challenged by another junior boxer, the way she reacted has nothing to show Christlikeness. Sadly enough, she reacted frankly and openly in herself; self-justification, boasting, pride, and even arrogance. When I read about her reaction in the newspaper, I thought to myself, "Pride goes before a fall." Though I wish her all success in her career, no one can defeat the truth-lesson God has set for each one. I feel very disappointed at the way she reacted. How I wish she would be more gracious and handle the matter in a mature and graceful way. Well, no one can pretend what one is not. A spade is a spade, pride is pride, and arrogance is arrogance. But, there is a price for all these. 

So, when the same lady could not live up to the must hype created around her winning of Gold Medal for India with all the media and well-wishers' pouring in their supports, I stood in awe as I feared that pride would surely be humbled. In fact, what I expected had actually happened. She did not win the medal which the entire country was hopeful of. I have nothing against her as such, but God is righteous and He deals with everyone equally. As much as no one is above the law, so much more, no one is above God. I was deeply reminded of the need to learn the lesson of humility and be graceful to others.

While there is another lady from my home state who was not even heard of at all until she won a Silver Medal for the country, the first-ever for this year's Olympics. She was the opposite of the former as far as I know. This lady is so humble, at least in the ways she deals with things. I was full of appreciation for this young and humble athlete. Though she may not even be a believer unlike the former, she displayed more proper conduct. On top of that, she searched for the trucks drivers who used to give her a lift when she was training for the sport she was contending for. Them she honored some 150 truck drivers and gave them gifts as a token of thank. That was very heart-touching. She did the best thing she could.

I draw from these two athletes and present my observation on the lessons of life, I feel, all can learn from. Pride goes before a fall. Be warned! Humble yourself in the hand of God. This is a tale of two athletes from my hometown. May we all learn a proper lesson before it is too late.

But He gives greater grace; therefore it says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

In like manner, younger men, be subject to elders; and all of you gird yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5

Learning to Deal with Goodness

The Lord began to shine on me to see myself in the light of His word and through His speaking through the members of the Body. I have been more and more exposed to the light and could see myself more clearly as I also grow in age and in grace. I have been embracing my goodness and often appreciated it so much. Often I compared myself to others and sunk myself in self-glorification and self gratitude. But in the light of the Lord's word, whether it's my natural goodness or badness, all are from the same source, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. How goodness has been so subtle as it is "good"? But the fact, is, nothing is truly good for only God is good.

Naturally, I have a few good things to boast of. In my way of dealing with people, I have been very soft and full of grace. In fact, many have taken advantage of my "goodness" and robbed me of my time, energy, and money. Even to these "robbings", I reckon them as good deeds, thereby adding to my self-made treasure of "good-bank." 

Well then, I began to see who I really am even in my so-called "goodness". I am afraid I am just groping in darkness under the cloak of goodness. The Lord began to shine on me that my goodness which I reckon as my strong points are actually my weak points. I need to learn to deal with my goodness too. As much as I hated the evil in me and have been dealing with it, I must also deal with my goodness too. After all, they both belong to the same source, the same tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now, I find nothing good in me in a very real sense. The good in me is as evil, if not more, as the evil in me. As long as the source is not the Lord, the Spirit in my spirit, everything is of the self at best and of Satan at worst. Now, I am in fear and trembling even in doing good things. When people come for help, my natural tendency is to always help. But I must not end up like Joshua being cheated by the Gideobnites. I must learn to bring every matter to the Lord and treasure the presence of the Lord more than anything else.

God should replace my "goodness." I should check with the Lord even for any good deed to be done. I need to overcome the temptation of doing good naturally. I must seek the Lord's presence in all the things I am doing, especially in the good things. If the Lord is not in my good deeds, it is as evil as any evil deed. The presence or absence of the Lord makes all the difference. This lesson I am beginning to learn. I pray that I may learn this lesson thoroughly well.

Within my capacity, I have been doing good to help others whenever they come for help. Now I am learning to check with the Lord first even before rendering any help. The past few days, some new ones and saints also sought help from me. I started reconsidering before I actually render them any help. And I ended my not helping some of these ones as I felt it was not of the Lord. Perhaps, by not helping when they come for help, I am helping them and myself too. 

Praise the Lord for this lesson of dealing with my goodness that the only goodness I display must be of the Lord and His alone.