Our Online Meeting

Since the time a virtual reunion started via WhatsApp with my high school classmates, I have been having the thought and the burden to propose an online meeting. I have been waiting and waiting until I felt the leading of the Lord to finally propose it. It was on the 28th of September that I proposed to the group for such an online meeting. Only a few responded positively and one doubtfully replied that such meeting might not be feasible for the group. After a couple of days of waiting, I felt like this was not going to work out. However, I kept praying and committed the matter to the Lord. Then I proposed again for starting an online meeting. This time with more positive responses, and finally through one friend's post, I felt the confirmation to go ahead and start.

Well then, I had to plan the schedule; propose the date and time, and also tentatively suggest what need to be done in the meeting.  Later, I felt the peace to call for volunteers according to the gift and grace given by God to each one. For the opening prayer, testimony sharing, special songs, hymn singing, and the word of God followed by open sharing, prayer, and finally wind up with a  closing prayer. Since nobody volunteered, I myself proposed who should take part in what item as I felt the leading to do so. And later, it was confirmed.

Finally, on the 2nd of Oct at 8:30 PM Saturday night, we had our first online meeting after twenty-seven years! The Lord's presence was with us in our first meeting which I called, "OUR ONLINE MEETING". By the way, I bore the responsibility of creating Zoom link, making and sending invitations, and executing all the practical needs. Since it was the first meeting, I volunteered to host the meeting, I also ministered the word of God on "God's Plan", and also volunteered to pray for the prayer burdens. 

The entire meeting lasted for about an hour and was recorded. It was later uploaded online for all the members to view; the link was made available for one whole week. 

That was a spiritual battle I had to fight in prayer with some friends joining me. And now the group has decided to conduct such online meeting once a month, on every first Saturday of the month. 

In this way, through such an online meeting and through the sharing of messages in the group, I have been doing my best to minister the word of God to all my high school classmates. May the Lord continue to bless this little endeavor for the shepherding of my fellow high school Christians and save those who are yet to be saved.

About Bliss Palmei

Behold, children are the heritage of Jehovah, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalms 127:3

A sweet, simple, and sincere sister, my fiance in 2006, had fellowshipped with me that if I were to marry her I would never become a father for she had been advised by medical doctors that she would have difficulties in childbirth due to certain health issues. My innate reply was, "I am not marrying you to become a father. I am marrying you because you are the one God has chosen for me. If God wants us to have children, He will bless us in His own time." Once I was clear of God's will, nothing bothered me at all. We got married and I never had any expectation that I would become a father. I learned to be content with what God has given and commit every matter to Him who cares. 

Two years later, in 2008, our first child, a baby girl, was born. My joy knew no bound. To the blessing of God, what can I say except to thank Him? To express our feeling with God's blessing we named her Bliss, literally means, perfect happiness; great joy. The name we chose reflects our inward feeling.

Thirteen years later, she has attained her teenage age. Time ran so fast. I felt like I was dreaming; transiting from being a single man to a married man and then to being a father.  Thank God, I was not dreaming. It's true! I have become a father of a teenage daughter!

This is our photo together. Bliss Palmei and her dad!

This is the message I posted on Facebook after many years of opening an account. Perhaps, I will be posting more as the Lord leads, using suitable media outlet for the testimony of Jesus!

Marital Bliss

Three days ago, three of my high school classmates posted their wedding photos. Seeing those, I was inspired to write a message on marriage life, which I call, "Marital Bliss". These are lessons I have been learning from the Lord through my own marriage life He has blessed me with.  My message reads:

The love and joy on our bridal day should continue "until death do us part." In fact, since the day of the marriage, the romance and the love with all its purity should persist. Once the bridal knot was tied before God and men, God reckons it holy. 

Hebrews 13:4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and the bed undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers, God will judge.

To preserve the sanctity of the marriage, much more, to enjoy marital bliss and union, as Christians, there are certain principles we have to strictly keep.

Prayer and the Word of God 

Ephesians 6:17, 18

And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints,

Married couples praying together and always abiding in the word of God is one of the best practices. It is a healthy habit to be in prayer and in the word together. In fact,  they should be a spiritual companion to one another. These will preserve the couple from the subtle attack of the enemy. To fight against Satan's attack, the best way is to put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, by prayer. One of Satan's tools is creating misunderstanding between husband and wife out many petty little things and big things too, concerning health, finance, in-laws, children, clothing, even food, and many others. Guard against the enemy's attacks! 

Love and Romance 

Matthew 22:37-39

And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

This is the great and first commandment.

And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Only God is love. Human love fluctuates with time and situation. Real romance is triggered only by the pure and divine love who is God Himself. Therefore, both husband and wife must love the Lord as their first love to genuinely love one another. Only the divine love can preserve the romance between husband and wife and cause them to be subject to one another. This is the key to enjoy the marriage life. Without this, it will be two strangers under the same roof with two differing hearts as one divided family.

Ephesians 5:21, 22, 25

Being subject to one another in the fear of Christ:

Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord;

Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her

Oneness 

God's ordination in marriage is that the two, husband and wife, become one.

Mattew 19:5, 6; Mark 10:8; Ephesians 5:31

Ephesians 5:31For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.

In the eyes of God, the married couple is one. Therefore, both have to exercise to practice oneness in every matter, as much as possible, especially in money matter, as money is so tangible. Many marital issues can be pinned down to money. All that the husband has, including himself, is his wife's, and all that the wife has, including herself, is her husband's. This is oneness. If this matter can be settled in mutual understanding, especially with those who both have income, many needless troubles can be avoided.

The end of the matter is, as a married couple, learn to pray together with your spouse every day; love God and the love of God will cause the couple to love one another with genuine love, no matter what. And finally, learn to exercise to be one with one another in every matter great or small. Thus, marital bliss and union shall be all yours to enjoy! 

I have been practicing these. And the Lord has been teaching me these life lessons and He has been blessing my marriage and family life too. 

May God bless all our marriages.

Just a sharing with the sole intent for the reader's benefit.

Increase of Christ: At the Cross

On the 22nd of this month, in our Wednesday morning fellowship with a senior brother, I was freshly enlightened on the burden of the fellowship on the increase of Christ that began at the cross based on the following Bible verses.

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.

John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Colossians 2:14 Wiping out the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:15 Stripping off the rulers and the authorities, He made a display of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Revelation 1:2 Who testified the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, even all that he saw.

Revelation 19:10 And I fell before his feet to worship him. And he said to me, Do not do this. I am your fellow slave and a fellow slave of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the prophecy.

These verses being opened up through the fellowship, I was deeply inspired to write a hymn on these truth points. Therefore, as I was still enjoying the fellowship and I started composing line by line, and when the fellowship ended, I also completed the composition with six stanzas and two choruses. As a recollection of what I have been enlightened with, I reviewed the hymn, made some corrections and polishing, and even sang it a couple of times. Later, I prayed over the hymn and considered sending it to the brother from whom and through whom I got the enlightenment of the word.

Increase of Christ: At the Cross

Composed on 22 Sept., 2021

Enlightened through Br. RC's fellowship.

Meter: 8.6.8.6 with Chorus

Time: 4/4 – E major

Tune similar to Hymns # 999

 John 12:32

1   “If I be lifted up from th’ earth,”

     Said the Lord Jesus Christ,

     “I will draw all men to Myself.”

     ‘Tis the increase of Christ!

 

Chorus 1

At the cross, at the cross,

Where the battle was won,

Satan and his angels were defeated!

It was there Christ had won the victory

And now He is reigning triumphantly!

 

John 12:24

2   Unless the Grain of wheat falls down

     Into the ground and dies,

     Alone abides. Yet bears much fruit,

     Only if the Grain dies.

 

Col. 2:14-15

3   Handwriting in ordinances,

     Christ nailed it to the cross;

     Stripped off th’ rulers, authorities,

     Triumphed o’er them at the cross.

 

Rev. 1:2,9; 12:17; 20:4

4   Revelation of Jesus Christ,

     Word of God testify;

     Testimony of Jesus Christ

     Be what we prophesy.

 

 Chorus 2

At the cross, at the cross,

Where Christ was lifted up

Multiplication of life thus began.

Thenceforth, Christ has drawn all men to Himself;

His Body, His increase, thus, He gain.

 

     Rev. 19:10

5   The spirit of the prophecy

     Is the reality

     Of God and man mingled as one-

     Jesus’ testimony!

 

     Eph. 4:11-12; Rev. 19:10, 1 Cor. 14:3

6   The Body of Christ is built up

     By th’ perfected God-man,

     By the spirit of prophecy,

     To fulfill God’s great plan.

Serving God

One of my classmates posted a message on the seven thousand knees that did not bow down to Baal. Reading that message, I was inspired to write a message for all my classmates about the need to serve God as whoever they are or wherever they may be.  This is the burden many Christians have failed to see today, thinking that serving God is only for the so-called "full-timer" who are wholly sanctified for the purpose. This aspect is there, but generally, every saved believer must serve the Lord. My burden shared is thus:

Amen, serve the Lord with joy!

Remember the answer of Jesus to Satan when he was tempted:

Matthew 4:10

Then Jesus said to him, Go away, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”

In fact, serving God is every believer's right and duty. Never think that only the so-called "full-timers" can or should serve the Lord. No, every Christian must serve the living God. One of the issues of our salvation is to serve the living and true God. 

1 Thessalonians 1:9

For they themselves report concerning us what kind of entrance we had toward you and how you turned to God from the idols *to serve a living and true God.

Well, you might ask, how? Serving God is a matter of our daily living. If we live a normal Christian life, our life itself will be a testimony of Jesus which will generate a positive and spiritual vibe to the people around us. By our conduct, words, reaction to situations, even by our appearance itself, people will read Christ, see Christ, and sense Christ in us. 

As a Doctor, as a Nurse, as an Officer, as a Manager, as a Businessman or Businesswomen, as a husband or a house wife, or whatever your profession may be, as Christians you must serve God. You are, indeed, one of the 7000s!

Matthew 5:13-16

13. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become tasteless, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men.

14. You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden. 

15. Nor do men light a lamp and place it under the bushel, but on the lampstand; and it shines to all who are in the house. 

16. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in the heavens.

When your living is set right, then you can preach the word of God. Of course, to be able to share or preach you must know the word, which in turn means, you must read and study your Bible every day.

Therefore, read and study your Bible every day, for yourself, to be constituted with the truths and also for others, to be able to minister the timely word.

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

The truth is, every Christian must serve God. For this, the normal Christian life must be lived out day by day. Without this, any attempt to serve God would be futile and may only end up in hypocrisy. 

May the Lord have mercy on all the believers to be graced day by day to live the normal Christian life to be able to serve normally as one ought to. And serving should be just the outflow of the divine life being enjoyed and lived out day by day.

Shepherding Lesson

In shepherding the new ones, there are ups and downs. Sometimes they are open and indeed, very open, yet other times, they seem to be closed and very closed to the extent that they will not even pick my calls. Some of the new ones have come into the church life and are growing in the Lord, yet others are still on the same level when I first met them.  People change, and it's very hard to predict how one will turn out to be. 

There are many new ones I have been shepherding, though they are from different parts of India. I have been in touch with them at different times of the week. Sometimes they respond positively and yet other times they seem not to be interested at all. Some very promising ones at one point in time suddenly became unapproachable. And the trend is being repeated vice versa. This, sometimes, lead to discouragement. Nevertheless, all these experiences led me to go before the Lord in prayer.

As I was studying my Bible, I came across a couple of verses that described Pauls' experience of opposition. At the first glance, I was shocked, questioning how could that be? How was it possible that people would leave the apostle Paul? I regard him so highly just by reading the epistles he wrote and his testimony as recorded in Acts and his epistles.  How come his own coworkers, the people whom he shepherded left him? This was a paradox to me.

2 Timothy 1:15 This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

2 Timothy 4:10 For Demas has abandoned me, having loved the present age, and has gone to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia; Titus to Dalmatia.

2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did many evil things to me; the Lord will recompense him according to his works.

2 Timothy 4:16 At my first defense no one was with me to support me, but all abandoned me. May it not be counted against them.

These verses were surprisingly discouraging yet very encouraging too. Discouraging, because many left Paul, a spiritual minister and perhaps, a father figure to many. Encouraging, because if such an apostle can be left by his own coworkers and spiritual children, what big deal is that if some of my new ones did not respond to me positively. So far, I have not had the opposition like Paul with his own coworkers leaving him, all in Asia left him, and no one supported him when in need. My experiences are in no way comparable to Paul's. Therefore, this is encouraging news to me. 

All the new ones are the children of God. Whether they open to me or not, at least they are believers and they would not fall back in their faith. Maybe they are not interested in fellowship with me nor with the church now, but still, their faith in the Lord is established. I can continue to pray for them and I believe, the Lord will recover each one of them, one by one, in due time.

Looking at the new ones will either lead to discouragement or pride. The better would be to simply continue the shepherding work to whoever is open for shepherding and the rest pray and wait for the Spirit to move in them.

May the Lord shepherd me to shepherd others in the way He wants me to, and grace me to be faithful in shepherding.

Ministry Journey to Mathura, UP

The Sovereign God in His infinite wisdom does what He deems best for His testimony. I have been graced and blessed to be an unworthy witness to His move recently too and participated in it. While India was struck by the second wave of Covid, the Spirit of God was also moving in the hearts of His lovers and seekers, seeking them out for His testimony in new localities in North India. The chronological record of the Lord's move in Mathur and Gatholi in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur in Rajasthan is below as I reported it to the coworkers serving in India.

2014 Salvation

•A family of three brothers was saved from an idolatrous background in Mathura

•They became very jealous for the gospel and preached the gospel in the nearby cities almost everyday

•They brought many new believers to Christ and also raised up new churches

2017 Came out of the Camp

•Due to conflict of spiritual interest, they came out of the denomination

•Out of much spiritual hunger, the key brother visited New Delhi to purchase the Holy Bible in Hindi and other Christian literature in Hindi

•They began to pursue the books of a famous Christian author in India and listened to some selected TV preachers

•They started meeting as a local church according to their understanding

2020 Discovered the Ministry Books!

• In July 2020 after the first wave of Covid, the key brother visited a Christian bookstore in New Delhi where he found the ministry books! He purchased 14 titles of Hindi ministry books and started pursuing the truths.
• Once he read the ministry books by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, he lost the taste of all other Christian writings and TV preachers’ messages.
• He could now discern between the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

2021 July The Spirit's Move

•In July 2021, the key brother searched for “Living Stream Ministry” online looking for more ministry books. But the address is of USA. Then he searched for “Amana Literature” as mentioned in the printed books; his search landed on a webpage that has the office phone number of Amana Literature, Gurugram.

•He got connected with the serving ones over the phone and requested for books by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. He was then sent a Hindi catalogue via WhatsApp that has 50 titles of the ministry books in Hindi with office address.

•The next day, on the 21 of July 2021, without any prior information, he visited Amana Literature office to purchase more ministry books.

•He was given hospitality at the office guest room and spent the whole day fellowshipping with the serving ones. 

•He also attended the meeting of the Church in Gurugram in the evening.

•Rhema books were introduced to him for his reading and distribution. He later distributed to his coworkers in Rajasthan who also read the books.

•He was introduced to a Hindi speaking brother in the church in New Delhi for the follow-up shepherding morning revival.

2021 September Fellowship in the Body

•Having read the ministry books and having enjoyed the fellowship over the phone, they invited the serving ones to visit them in Mathura.

•In fellowship with the coworkers, from 11 to 13 September, serving ones from the church in New Delhi and Gurugram visited them.

•They were so open to the ministry and to the brothers. Several rounds of fellowship were held. They were helped to enjoy some basic life practices of calling upon the Lord’s name, pray-reading the word, morning revival, prophesying, and hymns singing.

•On the Lord’s day, about 70 believers came together for the meeting where brothers ministered the truth concerning God’s plan, Christ’s redemption, the Spirit’s application, the believers, household salvation, and the need for growth in life for the building up of the Body of Christ.

•These believers are from Mathura and Gatholi in UP, and Bharatpur in Rajasthan, from three localities.

•The 5 leading brothers who attended all the sessions of fellowship testified that they have been so supplied with life and have been transferred to a new realm. They expressed their desire to be visited regularly and also planned to visit the churches in New Delhi and Gurugram for more fellowship and blending.

•In all the fellowship, the brothers testified of the presence of the Lord and the rich supply of life through the ministry of the word. The words of the Lord are spirit and life; the Spirit gives life!

May the Lord continue to strengthen the believers there and fully recover them for His testimony!