Blending Trip

For the first time in our church life in Gurugram, we undertook a blending trip to the South taking advantage of the National Colleger Training held in Chennai. Though I myself had no service in this training, for the sake of blending I registered myself as a serving of the College students from my locality. Likewise, other saints too registered in one service or the other. This blending trip did not come without paying a price as I myself lost my Bible bag on the first day of the trip at New Delhi train station and my daughter fainted due to weakness and car sickness as we reached the train station. In the midst of the crowd and huge pieces of luggage, we paid all the price we could to attend this training and blending. Our sleeper class train journey from Delhi to Chennai took us about 32 hours and from Tirunelveli to Delhi, about 48 hours.  All these hours were also utilized for blending apart from the sleeping time. The train journey itself was the time for blending especially for the children as they all enjoyed so much spending time together playing. Some saints also spent time in fellowshipping, and we had ample time together sharing food and fellowshipping together.

During the training itself, I had the opportunity to blend with a brother with whom I started praying together and we have now become prayer partners. All the saints had their own share of the meeting as each one has their own meeting based on the service they registered for.

After the training, our blending trip started from Chennai itself. We visited  Marina Beach in Chennai, dined together at Sangeetha Restaurant near Egmore Station, and travel overnight to Tenkasi. In Tenkasi, we visited a famous waterfall, Courtralam, had lunch at a famous South Indian cuisine at the border of Tamilnadu and Kerala, and then went sightseeing and shopping. In the evening we had a time of blending with the church in Tenaksi where a specific burden on attending the annual feast was released. Finally, we left for Tirunelveli where we were given hospitality.

The next day, we had a love feast breakfast with some saints at a restaurant and went for an ocean boat ride in the Bay of Bengal, visited a fishing harbor, and had a love feast lunch with the church in Tuticorin. After a few sightseeing at the beach and a boat repairing factory, we had a meeting with the church in Tenkasi where a specific burden for the young people was released.

My Goodland: Fellowship at Tuticorin (palmeichung.blogspot.com)

Then we traveled back to Tirunelveli for the night stay. The following day, after breakfast we had a four-hour-long meeting with the saints in the church in Tirunelveli where a specific burden was again released for the saints in general, followed by a love feast, after which we visited an ice cream factory and got ready to leave.

My Goodland: Fellowship at Tirunelveli (palmeichung.blogspot.com)

The entire blending trip lasted for about eleven days and it did not come without paying a price. Most of the saints got sick either during the training and blending trip or the train journey. Nevertheless, we all gain something of Christ in this trip through the many fellowships on the word of God and meeting with the saints. Blending has a price tag too! Just pay a little price and enjoy all the benefits. Now looking forward to another blending trip to happen again in His time.

 Praise the Lord for the blending in the Body!

Fellowship at Tirunelveli

As the church in Gurugram, we took a church blending trip to Tirunelveli for two days. The saints gave us wonderful love-feast at different places and took us sightseeing too. Two remarkable places were a fishing boat ride in the ocean (Bay of Bengal). In fact, this was our first ocean boat ride. It was such a thrilling experience that all of us may never forget this experience. Then a visit to an ice cream factory where we were briefed on the process of making ice cream and were treated with two types and flavors of ice cream. But the most memorable time was our time of blending at the meeting hall of the church in Tirunelveli where our meeting lasted for over four hours from 10:00 AM till 2:00 PM.

Initially, the local saints shared their practices of the children meeting, young people meeting and some of their new learning in the church life. Then the time was given to the church in guru Gurugram where a couple of us shared some specific burdens. Two sisters shared on taking care of the children meeting and young people meeting, and I was assigned to share the burden of the upcoming video training. As I listened to one of the sisters' sharing her experience of coming from Gurugram to Tirunelveli for her studies, I was inspired by the will of God that led her to do so. Therefore, I had the burden to share on seeking God's will first and released the burden of the training.

I share four points on seeking God's will as I learned from Brother Watchman Nee and also from the experiences I have in seeking God's will in my life for many matters.

1. God's inward leading through the living Holy Spirit by inward peace and life.
2. God's outward leading through the written Holy Bible by the truth revealed in the word of God
3. Fellowship in the Body of Christ to cross-check and confirm the inward and outward leading.
4. Circumstantial evidences to further confirm the leading of the Lord.

Then, I shared from Leviticus 23 on the seven annual feasts and released the burden on preparing oneself to dive into the up-to-date speaking of the Lord through the semiannual training on the book of 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

After all the fellowship, we left the city by train and arrived back home in Gurugram after forty-eight hours of a train journey. Though many of us fell sick on the way, I personally felt it was worth all the prices we were able to pay. This was our first-ever trip as the church by train to the South.

While going I lost my Holy Bible Recovery Version bag along with my Bible inside. But this made me buy five new Holy Bible Recovery Version and gift one to my wife, my niece, myself, one to a brother who completed reading the New Testament Recovery Version with footnotes for which I promised to give a reward, and one extra Bible for whoever may need it.

Praise the Lord for this blending trip! 

Fellowship at Tuticorin

As the church in Gurugram, we took a church blending trip to Tuticorin for one day from Tirunelveli. The saints gave us a love-feast and took us to different places for sightseeing. After all the outings, an evening meeting was arranged for a time of blending and fellowship. There, a brother asked me to share for the young people especially, on behalf of the church. As I considered what to share, the Lord gave me three main points with three sub-points under each main burden. They  are:

Christian Life

1. Be revived daily to live an overcoming life everyday

2. Prayer, especially set time for personal prayer time with the Lord alone

3. Bible Reading and Study

Church Life

1. Participate in all the church meetings, if possible, especially, the young people meeting

2. Preach the gospel to save sinners

3. Perfect the newones through shepherding

Career

1.  Get the best and the highest education and be hard working

2. Consecrate your life to the Lord, even join the two-years full-time training after graduation

3. Warning: Do not be distracted by the world, friends, and affairs

“The younger men likewise exhort to be of a sober mind, Concerning all things presenting yourself as a pattern of good works: in your teaching showing incorruption, gravity,” (Titus 2:6-7, RecVer)

I gave Paul as an example of someone who was highly educated and was used by the Lord to write 14 epistles in contrast to Peter who was a fisherman. 

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city and trained at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are today.” (Acts 22:3, RecVer)

Then, I concluded by reading these verses followed by consecration prayer where a good number of saints prayed and consecrated their lives to the Lord afresh.

“But in a great house there are not only gold and silver vessels but also wooden and earthen; and some are unto honor, and some unto dishonor. If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work. But flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:20-22, RecVer)

I was glad that the Lord gave me burdens and that I could release those burdens with all faithfulness. It was up to the Lord to touch those who need to be touched. I do believe that those burdens were very specific and a good number of the saints especially the young people must have been very impressed as evidenced by the consecration prayer at the end. May the Lord gain all the young people there for His testimony.  

Fellowship: Affairs

Fellowship is the way to deal with issues and problems in life among believers.  When I discovered that things were not right with one of my family members, I considered before the Lord and checked what I should do about it. After much prayer, the Lord gave me a clear sky; to fellowship the matter to the concerned person. Though I would like to avoid getting into other's personal matters, when they affect the testimony of the Lord and affects my family too, I had no choice but to fellowship and sort things out.

One evening for over two hours I had to speak out what was in my heart to a sister who entangled herself in an affair. I dared not touch the brother yet as my responsibility first is to my household members and set my family in order. The affair per se is not the main cause of concern, but the way it was done and the person involved is not proper. The brother had actually been engaged to another sister and that is the main cause of concern.  That engagement became the main problem as this leads to unfaithfulness, unrighteousness, and even unholiness. In the Bible, engagement is the initiation of marriage. It is even reckoned as marriage which eventually will transpire in time.

When a person has an affair, he or she would not mind hiding and lying about it altogether. The affair has caused spiritual blindness and would adamantly not be willing to give up. But I had to reason and beg to give up such an affair as I care for the Lord's testimony above their own feelings whatsoever. Factual evidence cannot be nullified for emotional feelings. Feelings come and go, they keep changing, but facts do not change. Most of these feelings are just natural; out of the fallen flesh and untransformed emotion. As far as I know the truth of human nature and God's words, I strongly disapprove of such improper affair and even I rebuked severely the person I was fellowshipping with, to the point that she was brought to tears. It was hard to deal with such, but I had to do it. 

On the one hand, I pray for the Lord to set things right, and on the other hand, I have to do what I need to do as a man. What I felt best I did with my best and what else I could not I left to the Lord to deal with it. I cannot blindly leave the matter to God and do nothing. I had to be God's mouthpiece to speak according to the truth revealed in the Bible concerning relationships; especially to condemn improper relationships. If the watchman did not sound the warning bell, the judgment will be upon the watchman; but if the watchman did sound the weaning bell and the people did not pay heed, the onus is squarely on the people themselves. That's what I did. And I did it at least ten times already. I would not let things slip by as long as it is in my hands to do so.

Having done all that I could do, I still beg the person I am talking to, to pay heed to the warnings. Meanwhile, I have been all prayers for the Lord to come in and change the heart of the persons involved. I pray that they would be delivered from their blindness and darkness and be brought into the light where all improper affairs are cut-off and relationships would not be beyond being brothers and sisters in the Lord. In this fellowship, I myself learn a lot of lessons. 

May the Lord honor all the fellowship and may the person concerned too honor all the fellowship for her own good. May the Lord gain the victory among us so that His testimony be maintained holy through us, His believers.

Fellowship: Marital Issue (2)

Last Wednesday night, a brother and his wife made an appointment with me for a follow-up fellowship on our previous fellowship. As we began, the couple confessed about their present situation and the fear that gripped them concerning the longevity of their marital relationship. The brother had openly confessed to me how he was not what I would have thought and that he had some past bad experiences that affected his present living. And the sister confessed how she has been fearful if anything bad happen in their marriage life.

Hearing them out first I was glad that there was a genuine progress from our previous fellowship and that the brother had confessed all that he did in the past to the sister which scared her of the future. My fellowship was very much anointed by the Lord as I sensed the sweet flow of life from within my spirit. And the Lord gave me the timely words to address their deep concern.

I began by quoting a verse, which we all read together.

“For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.” (2 Timothy 1:7, RecVer)

According to this verse, the fear that gripped them, especially the sister, is from Satan. For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice or fear. Therefore, I encouraged them to reject such negative thoughts, which are darts thrown at the believers by the enemy. Then I confirmed again and again that 1 John 7,9 confirmed the effectiveness of the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses them from every confessed sins. Any condemnation after confession is of Satan and must be rejected.

“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life even unto death.” (Revelation of John 12:11, RecVer)

Once the blood of Jesus was applied, any further condemnation must be utterly denied by the verbal declaration of the victory in the blood of Jesus, and to not love our soul life even unto death.

Still the question arises, what if one of the partners committed fornication, will that immediately issue in divorce according to the word spoken by the Lord Jesus?

“And it was said, Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries her who has been divorced commits adultery.” (Matthew 5:31-32, RecVer)

But I also quoted the following verses to understand the context on which divorce  seems to be made "permissible" legally. 

“And some Pharisees came to Him, testing Him and saying, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause? And He answered and said, Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, And said, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall be one flesh”? So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has yoked together, let man not separate. They said to Him, Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her? He said to them, Moses, because of your hardness of heart, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her who has been divorced commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:3-9, RecVer)

It was never God's will that there be divorce after marriage because in marriage the two have become one. God’s original intention in marriage is oneness of the married couple, implied by "one flesh." Therefore, any thought of divorce even for "permissible" reason must be avoided as much as possible. 

For this, oneness has to be preserved between husband and wife. I testified of how the Lord has been gracing my marriage and how I have been praying with my wife this prayer:

Lord, cause us to love You and to love one another more and more. Lord, cause us to be one with You and to be one with one another more and more.

And I encouraged them to spend personal time with the Lord and also corporate time with one another every day with the daily reading of the Holy Bible. Only the time spent with the Lord will enable the Lord to dispense His divine love to them that will cause their enjoyment of the Lord issuing in loving one another with the divine love and divine oneness. Then, their marriage will be secured by the divine love, divine life, and divine oneness.

As to the question of getting marriage counsellors' help, I told them that the key issue is not outward control psychologically or medically, by the crucifixion of the flesh. And that, their marital and private matters be kept private as much as possible and not run into the risk of exposing to a third person who has no genuine care and spiritual concern for them. The enemy always search for loopholes to attack marriages.

“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20, RecVer)

This crucifixion can be accomplished only by the Spirit.

“For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.”

Finally, as an addendum, I also fellowshipped on the matter of understanding God's creation of male and female biologically. And that they should enjoy their marital life, God's biological design, within the boundary of marriage.

“Now concerning the things of which you wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife that which is due, and likewise also the wife to the husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise the husband also does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive each other, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and then be together again, that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But this I say by way of concession, not by way of command.” (1 Corinthians 7:1-6, RecVer)

After about one and half hour of fellowship, I sensed that the burden was released. Therefore, we all prayed together and peacefully ended the fellowship for that time.

May the Lord cover my brother and sister and bless their marriage life for the Lord’s testimony.

(Romans 8:13, RecVer)

Fellowship: Marital Issue (1)

The past few days the Lord has been burdening me to pray specifically for some brothers whom the Lord was pleased to use me for their salvation. With one of them, I had a fellowship over the phone last Lord’s day night and prayed together.

Today, I received a surprise call from the same brother requesting for a time of fellowship. My innate reply was on the affirmative and promptly told him that we could fellowship right away. So the fellowship began.

Confession

First, my brother frankly opened up about his situation and the failure he had recently. Then, he requested me to talk to his wife as they both needed an urgent and an impromptu fellowship, to which I readily agreed. I patiently listened to whatever the sister had to say as she even broke down desperately and cried out for help as she did not know what to do and was insecure of her future due to the painful discovery of what her husband had done just confessed. I simply turned to the Lord as I listened and prayed for the Lord’s speaking through my fellowship with both of them.

Marriage is of the Lord

Marriage is of the Lord and unto the Lord

I began with the truth concerning their marriage life that it is from the Lord. There is no question of any separation or divorce for whatever reason. Officially, legally, and biblically, they are married and they are indeed made and meant for each other and that they are one. The church had witnessed it and I myself witnessed their marriage as I attended their marriage meeting. I firmly confirmed and strengthened the fact that they are married and that they should stay married unto eternity. Any thought of "breaking" this God ordained union is of the devil and must be completely rejected. And I made a very strong statement to both of them that their marriage is of the Lord and it will remain so, no matter what. 

Live by the Spirit 

I expounded to them that since man is of three parts, it is possible to live in any one of the parts as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2; soulish, fleshly, or spiritual. 

“But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually. But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15, RecVer)

“And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:1, RecVer)

When one is in the spirit, the world, Satan, sin, and the flesh are overcomed. 1 John 3:9; 5: 4. 

“Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God.” (1 John 3:9, RecVer)

“For everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory which has overcome the world — our faith.” (1 John 5:4, RecVer)

Otherwise, the works of the flesh will be the result of not living by the spirit. So the only solution in not falling into the hands of Satan is to live and walk by the Spirit as in Galatians 5:16, 24. 

“But I say, Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16, RecVer)

“But they who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts.” (Galatians 5:24, RecVer)

For this, human cooperation of putting the practices of the flesh to death is a necessary step one has to take as in Romans 8:13.

“For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13, RecVer)

The Blood of Jesus

In case one falls into sin, though we should not, the Lord has given us the best provision, not an excuse for repeated sinning, the blood of Jesus that can cleanse us from every sin as in 1 John 1:7 with a condition that if we confess our sins as 1 John 1: 9.

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.” (1 John 1:7, RecVer)

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

Prayer 

I requested that we all pray together one by one, starting from the brother, then the sister, and finally me. The brother confessed before the Lord, his sins with tears. The sisters also confessed her desperateness in prayer with tears and asked the Lord for grace and guidance. Then, I prayed for the Lord to cleanse us from all sins and unrighteousness, for His covering grace, and for the forgiveness of one another and that their marriage be preserved and be blessed by the Lord.

Oneness

“I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love,” (Ephesians 4:1-2, RecVer)

I expounded Ephesians 4:1-3 on the prerequisite to keep the oneness and that they should, on their part, keep the oneness even as they trust the Lord to preserve them in oneness. I also gave my testimony of prayers with my wife for us to be one with the Lord and one with one another, love the Lord and love one another.

Exercise

Satan attacks the married believers couples in at least three major points: sex, money, and self. Therefore, to overcome these attacks I encouraged them to exercise to have morning revival together every morning, pray together, spend personal time with the Lord every day, and read the Bible every day. And to also fellowship and meet with the saints as much as possible with those who gathers together in oneness for the Lord’s testimony where there is mutuality and multi-directional fellowship for the building up of the Body of Christ. Besides, I also encouraged them to have a timely family planning which will strengthen their marital union and lead them into new and higher responsibility and commitment towards one another.

After all these fellowship, I prayed for the couple to be preserved by the Lord in oneness and that they would even be a part of His testimony, and become pillars of the church.

After the fellowship, my heart was fully filled with burden, praying for them and a couple of other couples who have similar marital issues.

May the hand of the  Lord follow up on all the points of fellowship, cover the couple from the attack of the enemy, and bless the couple for His testimony!

Fortieth Time Reading the Bible

Today, the 8th of Dec 2022, the Lord graces me to complete my fortieth time reading through the Bible! This is the third time this year and this time is reading with the footnote in the Holy Bible Recovery Version. I just have this one dream that my physical age can be equivalent to the number of times I am reading the Bible.  Since I am forty-four running, I still need to catch up in reading more of the word of God to achieve my personal Bible reading goal.

This kind of reading of the Bible helps me not to waste my time. Whenever I find time I read the Bible as I have the schedule to complete reading three times this year out of which one time with the footnotes, which is almost double the time of reading only the text.  The scheduling that has been done has helped me a lot in reading the word of God.

Thank God for my grandfather who had helped me to read the Bible daily since my childhood days. That habit has been inculcated in my life enabling me to keep reading the Bible. Well, it is one thing to read through the text of the Bible and yet it is another thing to pray-read and study the Bible in depth.  I have been doing both. Even in just reading through the text, the Lord is sovereign in speaking to me now and then. The text of the word itself touched me a lot of times, becoming Rhema word to me, supplying the divine life.

What a blessing it is to be able to read the Bible! My desire is to read as much as I can for as long as I can. I don't know how long the Lord will enable me to be able to read. One day, human eyes may become dim and all kinds of practical difficulties will occur. Until then, I am doing my best to read and eat the word of God as much as I can so that I will not have any regret when I may not be able to read as I can today. 

Likewise, I have been encouraging all my children and the saints in the church life to read the Bible daily. In fact, wherever the Lord opened the door for me to minister the word of God, I would encourage the believers to love the word of God and read the word of God daily.

Thank you, Lord, for the Bible! Thank you, Lord, for the good health to be able to read the Bible!