Shepherding: Fiery Ordeal

 1P 4:12Beloved, do not think that the fiery ordeal among you, coming to you for a trial, is strange, as if it were a strange thing happening to you;

1P 4:13But inasmuch as you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice exultingly.

1P 4:14If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

1P 4:15For let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler into others’ affairs;

1P 4:16But if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this name.

Last Monday, I received an unexpected call from a sister who poured out all her sorrows and pains she has been going through, in a way of fellowship. She was so hurt by her own daughter who she felt had betrayed her. She has already been through an unimaginable turmoil in her life for the past few years and she has still been going through it with higher intensity. As a brother, I patiently listened to everything she had to say and let her pour out her heart. Meanwhile, as I listened I also prayed inwardly turning to Lord to comfort her and also to give me wisdom on how to render a special help in the situation she was in. The fellowship went on for about an hour. When she finally finished whatever she had to say, I fellowshipped with her what the Lord spoke to me the same day morning in the Life-study pursuit from 1 Peter.

I fellowshipped that if we suffer because of our sins or mistakes, we have to learn the spiritual lessons needed and not repeat the same sins or mistakes ever again, looking to the Lord. But if we indeed suffer because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we should glorify God in it. For in such suffering, we are partaking of the sufferings of Christ. In this way of suffering, we will be dealt with in our natural man and be purified gradually through every suffering as gold is purified through fire.

The Greek, for fiery ordeal, purosei, means burning, signifying the burning of a smelting furnace for the purification of gold and silver (Prov. 27:21; Psa. 66:10), like the metaphor used in 1:7.

Pr 27:21The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, And a man is tried by the praise given him.

Ps 66:10For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.

Through the fellowship from my enjoyment of the word of God, she was so nourished and she realized that many of the sufferings she went through were also linked to her mistakes in the past. She also realized that the Lord wanted to gain her fully for Himself so that He is allowing all that she has been going through to strip her of all impurities as gold is refined by fire. The firey ordeal may be difficult to bear now but it is definitely worth the burning for the sake of gaining Christ and be gradually conform to His image. 

She also confessed her mistake in trusting and caring for people other than God Himself. Now that she has been "betrayed" by the very person she loved, she realized that she should trust only the Lord Jesus Christ and no one else. Besides, through all these pains she has been going through she has also changed a lot. Her attitude towards the saints and the church and the Lord Himself, and her attitude toward persons, matters, and things have taken a new turn altogether. Praise the Lord for such a positive result that transpired through her sufferings.

At one point, as she was narrating her ordeals she spitted out the forbidden word "suicide," which she happened to think about. To this, I gave a strong word not to use the word ever again. Such a word is straight from the devil. Satan's tactic is to bring people to despair and eat them up. God's way is to save them and give them new life altogether. 

When I finished fellowshipping what the Lord burdened me with, I prayed for her and she also prayed. But as she prayed, she could not continue further as she started to weep. Then, I encouraged her to take rest and ended the call.

Later in the evening, I was requested to visit a family where this very experience I just had with a sister became a testimony of sharing the need for fellowship and shepherding one another. It became the fresh bread that I enjoyed and shared with another family, while all names and identification of the persons were kept secret.

May the Lord continue to shepherd the saints including me, even if we may go through fiery trials, if He so allows, to be purified and be conformed to His image!

Shepherding: Coordination

Last Monday, I had an appointment with a family and I was prepared to meet them and release my burden concerning the vision of the oneness among God's children. But in the morning, a brother called me up and requested me to go to another family as he was not keeping well and could not visit the family. He felt that I should go as the family has been through some situation and we have coordinated together to shepherd them in the past weeks. Besides, the son and daughter-in-law of the family also came for the meeting last Lord's day very unexpectedly, perhaps, the Lord brought them as they have been shepherded and prayed for by the saints in the church here. Initially, I wanted some other satins to go as I would not like to miss the other family I made an appointment with. But I decided to check if I could cancel or postpone the meeting for some other day so that I could go to the family my brother requested me for.

I made the call and it was sovereign of the Lord that this new brother also was not keeping well and that his doctor had advised him to take rest for at least two days. So, it was apt for me to cancel it. In this way, I discerned that the Lord had led me to go to the family as I was requested to go. So I went.

In the home meeting, I was alone with the family as another family could not make it for some reason. And though the message pursuing was to be on the book The Tree of Life, the leading of the Lord was for a brotherly fellowship.  We began the meeting by singing a hymn of the Spirit mingled with our human spirit. Right after the hymn singing the atmosphere of the meeting took a new turn. The family members wanted to have fellowship on certain points and also wanted to clarify certain doubts about certain truths of the Bible. So the home meeting was a very lively home meeting.

Our fellowship began with how to discern being in the spirit from not being in the spirit. This point helps the entire family to exercise their spirit so as to live in the spirit. Otherwise, by default, we all live in our soul at best or in our flesh at worst. Then, the matter of knowing God's will came up. I was glad to fellowship from the truth points using many relevant Bible verses and also expounded from my experiences.  Later, a question on baptism came up, and I used relevant Bible verses to explain the significance of baptism. Then, we all prayed together.

I really enjoyed the home meeting, and the family too were very glad that that was the sovereignty of the Lord for me to visit them and fellowship on some points they have been wanting to clarify. This is the blessing of coordination. I was shepherded in shepherding in coordination. Had I not coordinated, I would have missed this wonderful shepherding to myself and to the saints. 

What a blessing to serve in coordination! The Lord's timely shepherding is in store for those who serve in coordination.

God's Wisdom: Christ

1K 3:9Give therefore to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?

God gave wisdom to Solomon as he prayed for it. Therefore, he became the wisest man who ever lived on the earth in the Old Testament. However, his wisdom was in the physical realm. It was mostly knowledge full and intellectualism. Perhaps, in today's terms, he was very very smart and had a very high IQ clubbed with much discernment between right and wrong, good or bad, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Perhaps, if he were to be measured in today's educational scale, he must have had multiple Ph.D. degrees and even post-doctoral degrees in various fields of study. The following verses prove what physical wisdom he was endowed with.

1K 3:12I now do according to your words. I now give you a heart of wisdom and understanding, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor will one rise up after you like you.

1K 3:13And I also give you that for which you did not ask, both riches and glory, so that there will be no one among kings like you all your days.

1K 4:29And God gave Solomon wisdom and very much understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore.

1K 4:30And Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.

1K 4:31For he became wiser than all men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame was among all the surrounding nations.

1K 4:32And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

1K 4:33And he discoursed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that shoots forth out of the wall; he also discoursed about animals and about birds and about creeping things and about fish.

1K 4:34And they came from all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

In spite of Solomon's unfathomable wisdom, he had no control over his own flesh. The knowledge of good and evil, right or wrong may be clear to him but he did not have the strength to avoid the evil and embrace the good. Therefore, his wisdom could not save him from his own lust. He became a slave to his own flesh and ended marrying many gentile women, which I believe, according to the wisdom he had, would be discerned as evil and to be avoided. Therefore, the following verse proves his indulgence in lust and his failure in turning away from the very God who gave him wisdom.

1K 11:1But King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter — Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,

1K 11:2From among the nations concerning which Jehovah had said to the children of Israel, You shall not go among them, nor shall they come among you, for they will surely turn your heart after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love.

1K 11:3And he had seven hundred princess wives and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.

1K 11:4And when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect toward Jehovah his God like the heart of David his father.

1K 11:5And Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable thing of the Ammonites.

1K 11:6And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of Jehovah and did not fully follow Jehovah as David his father had done.

1K 11:7Then Solomon built a high place to Chemosh the detestable thing of Moab in the mountain that is before Jerusalem and to Molech the detestable thing of the children of Ammon.

1K 11:8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

1K 11:9So Jehovah became angry with Solomon because his heart turned away from Jehovah the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

In the New Testament, wisdom is of God and in fact, wisdom is God Himself. Or more subjective, wisdom is Christ, the embodiment of God, who is realized as the Spirit in our spirit.

Co 2:9For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,

1Co 1:24But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1Co 1:30But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

Paul's wisdom in the New Testament is very subjective. He prayed for the spirit of wisdom and revelation for the believers to understand the great mystery of God. That wisdom is concerning Christ making His home in the heart of the believers. This is God's wisdom for us, the believers, today.

Ep 1:17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him,

Ep 3:16That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man,

Ep 3:17That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.

To gain wisdom is to gain Christ for Christ is wisdom. When Christ is gained by allowing Him to make His home in our hearts, we are gaining wisdom. Our hearts comprise all the parts of our soul, our mind, our emotion, and our will, and also a part of our spirit, our conscience. When Christ gains our entire psychological hearts, He is making His home in our hearts, He is ruling and reigning as King in our hearts. He is the pre-eminent One.  

He 4:12For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Ac 11:23Who, when he arrived and saw the grace of God, rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain with the Lord with purpose of heart;

Jn 16:6But because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Jn 16:22Therefore you also now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you.

He 10:22Let us come forward to the Holy of Holies with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

The result of gaining God's wisdom is that Christ is making His home in our hearts and is constituting us with Himself, transforming every part of our soul to the extent that we become the same as He is, in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. Thereby, enabling us to live a life according to His wisdom, the living of Christ, which is the meaning and goal of our Christain lives.

Pp 1:21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

This was the living message the Lord gave me last Wednesday in my ministering of the word of God to the brothers and sisters in Madhya Pradesh. Though this was not the burden until I spoke the message, but while I began to minister, the Lord anointed me to speak on this line of God's wisdom, comparing and contrasting the wisdom given to Solomon in the Old Testament with that of the wisdom who is Christ Himself in the New Testament.

Lord, give me wisdom. Make Your home in my heart to live You in daily my living. 

Brotherly Lovefeast: Fellowship

“Be hospitable to one another without murmuring,” (1 Peter 4:9, RecVer)

Yesterday, a brother texted me that he would be visiting us today at about 1 PM. This time being lunchtime, I felt it good to invite him and his family for a brotherly lovefeast and fellowship. So I expressed my feeling to my wife and to my brothers. Then, we planned and prepared for the lovefeast. I also invited another brother's family to join us along. Even for this simple invitation, I prayed and checked with the Lord before taking the decision. Only when I had the peace within, was the decision made.

Today, the brother's family came along with six new friends. By the way, my guest had another business deal to make, signing a house deed with a new tenant to be. After all the businesses were done, we settled down for the brotherly lovefeast.

As the host,  my burden was to serve my guests. I and my family did our best to coordinate and serve our guests. The satisfaction and enjoyment of the guests was our responsibility. With proper care and concern, I served them well, to the extent that I could not eat, caring for their satisfaction. The Lord graced me to learn how to give hospitality which I had not been good at it in the past. I feel now that I am learning this lesson.

Besides the hospitality, there was also some time to share the gospel with the guests who were unbelievers and also prayed for them. The brotherly lovefeast and fellowship seemed to be very beneficial. 

Later, the brother, my host, sent a voice message to say thanks, and also prayed for me and my family. Though I did not expect anything in return for the hospitality, as I felt it was a simple gesture of brotherly love, I felt so unworthy to be showered upon with thanks and prayers.

Thank the Lord that He has been gracing me to fellowship and give hospitality to fellow believers and gospel friends.

Davidic Covenant

“When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will strike him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men;” (2 Samuel 7:12-14, RecVer)

The covenant God made with David reveals God's desire of Him becoming a man and making man becoming Him, in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. But to see this revelation, we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation and be filled unto the full knowledge of Him.

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him,” (Ephesians 1:17, RecVer)

“And to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19, RecVer)

The seed of David as was covenanted to be designated the Son of God implies the deification of the Son of God in His humanity with the intent of making man God as much as He becoming a man. This thought, though clearly revealed in the Bible, has been neglected intentionally or ignorantly by the majority of believers today. Perhaps, under the devil's blinding. In fact, the majority of believers hated this truth to the core. They could easily accept that God became a man, but vehemently deny man becoming God, which is the very goal of God becoming man. Only the spirit of revelation can open the eyes of the spiritually blind believers to see this profound truth. I myself, because of the religious tradition and shallow religious teachings I had been taught, took two years to clearly understand this truth from the Bible, after much prayer and study of the word. Thank God for the Lord’s mercy that finally opened my eyes!

“Concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, Who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord;” (Romans 1:3-4, RecVer)

To see the revelation is one thing and to experience such a revelation is yet another thing. Therefore, to bring us from revelation to experience, God in His sovereignty works all things together for good for those who love Him. In His working of good, He, as the divine essence in the spirit of the believers, tries to gain every opportunity to spread into the soul of the believers, only if they cooperate, using the outward environment and circumstances. In His workings, He sanctifies and saturates the soul of the believers most practically through the breaking of the outer man that the Spirit mingled with the spirit of man may spread and be expressed through the soul with the mingled spirit as the person. In this way, the believers are being led from revelation to experience, gradually, day by day, until fully conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God. This is how God who became man is making man to become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;” (Romans 8:28-29, RecVer)

This is the fulfillment and reality of the Davidic covenant God made with David. Today, we are the beneficiaries of this covenant. This is God’s heart's desire, His divine purpose. 

What a blessing that I, along with many believers, am experiencing the reality of God making us all become like Him, in life and in nature, but not in the Godhead!

Ministry of the Word Journey to Pilibhit

Two years ago, a brother came into the church life in Gurugram. In fellowship with him, he encouraged us to visit his hometown, Pilibhit, where his family has been laboring in the gospel for decades. In fact, we did plan to visit but could not due to the pandemic. 

Now after the pandemic, the Lord opened the door for us to visit. One day, a brother called me up to plan for Pilibhit. I took that as the Lord's leading and immediately called up the brother who first introduced the city to me. Then he asked his brother who actually has been laboring in Pilibhit to call me up.  Therefore, in one phone call, we made the plan for the visit.

Though we never met this brother, by faith, we planned the ministry literature journey. When we actually met him on the 9th of April 2022, I realized that the Lord has already prepared him for His move in that part of India. He has been laboring among the local people of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and has a good number of village "pastors" serving together with him. In fact, his mother and father actually died in Pilibhit as they were serving the Lord in that area. Now, this single yet-to-be-married brother is serving with some coordinators with the burden to evangelize 1200 villages all over Pilibhit. So far, they have only covered 200 of them. For three days, we were together and we had a good time of fellowship with him while he was driving us to different places.  This brother, in fact, is in great need of spiritual companionship and fellowship as most of his coworkers are subordinate to him. No one can actually shepherd him as he already functions in the capacity of a shepherd which he took over from his father who now has gone to be with the Lord.

At least on three occasions, I spent a solid time of fellowship with him on seeking, finding, and doing God's swill in his life, his service, and in his marriage. He testified that he never had such a fellowship and thanked me for the fellowship which he felt was the Lord's speaking to him and that he would consider the matter carefully in doing the will of the Lord in everything.

I also fellowshipped with him about being pure in the Lord's work. Any genuine work of the Lord should have its source in God, be carried out in the power of the Holy Spirt, and the goal of such service will be the glory of God. He testified that he was so helped in the matter of the need for purity in serving the Lord and not to do so with natural human resources and strength, and to purely depend on the Lord.

At another time, I fellowship on my personal testimony of how the Lord led me to seek the truth concerning the church, and through the help of the ministry of brother Watchman Nee and Witness Leed how I was helped and shepherded to see, know, and take the stand of the church.

In all these incidents, I believe the Lord actually has been preparing our dear brother; to gain him and perfect him for His testimony in Pilibhit and even be instrumental in leading many seeking believers in different parts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to take the stand on the ground of oneness for the Lord's testimony as the local churches wherever they are.

To help him pursue the truth I gifted him the New Testament Recovery Version and some crucial books on the church.  I do believe the Lord will continue to work in him. As he has led us to meet him and fellowship with him, He will work in him and gain him to be a useful vessel to Him for His move in Pilibhit and the nearby villages, towns, and cities.

Lord, raise up the church in Pilibhit.

Ministry of the Word Journey to Bareilly

Bareilly is a city not far from Plilibhit in Uttar Pradesh where we planned to visit for the distribution of the ministry literature. While I was planning and considering the best way to reach Pilibhit, it dawned on me that by flight Bareilly has the Airport and it is only through this city that Philibhit could be reached. Therefore, the burden for Bareilly came up.

In fellowship with my brother, we planned for Bareilly as well but did not have any contact in the city. After a few days of waiting and prayer, we decided to book our flight ticket to Bareilly and meanwhile hope for some opening in Bareilly though our intent was to go to Pilibhit. After a few days, through a phone call, we discovered that there actually were some seekers in the city of Bareilly. In fact, I myself received a call from a brother in Bareilly that if we would visit Bareilly we could stay with his family and that he would even come and pick us up from the airport itself. The Lord was faithful in discovering His seeking ones and introducing them to us.

As we landed in Bareilly for the first time, a brother came to pick us up. Since then, our bonding was established and became stronger and stronger. He gave us hospitality in his house and also invited some seeking families to fellowship with us. As we introduced ourselves and let him know the burden the Lord gave us for the ministry literature introduction and distribution, he made himself available for one whole day. He took us to different people. In the evenings, we have a home meeting in his home. In this way, the Lord has marvelously opened the door in Bareilly.

In fellowship with this brother, a burden for conducting a one-day seminar for the Christian leaders and seekers in the city was also conceived. While we were still there, we fellowshipped and planned for a one-day seminar in the month of May, perhaps on the 3rd, being a public holiday. In this way, the Lord opened up the city and also paved the way for the recovery of His chosen ones.

There are at least three families who are open to the ministry and are also seeking the truth. In our fellowship, we did minister on the truth concerning Christ and the church, and the need for believers to take the stand on the ground of oneness for the building up of the Body of Christ. These families were quite open and none of them seems to be satisfied with the denomination they present are in. Our burden is simply to release the truth and make the ministry available to them. May the Lord open their eyes to see His divine economy and gain these ones of the raising up of the church in Bareilly.

Sensing the need for our host to be shepherded further into the truths, I presented him with some crucial books concerning life, truth, the church, and oneness. Life Lessons in Hindi, I encouraged them to read as a family every night in their family prayer time. 

May the Lord grace them to receive the revelation from God and recover his entire family for His testimony. 

Lord, raise up the church in Bareilly!