This New Year

This new year's day, I was on a train with all my family members returning from our South India blending trip. Generally, on this day, I would be in a new year meeting but this time I was fully confined within the berth of my sleeper class train and spent my day in prayer and the word of God. I was glad that I had sufficient time to read the Bible and sufficient time to pray. In fact, I had the entire day to myself and the Lord alone on a train. This new year was unique.

I made no resolution for I don't believe in them anymore. But I did have a review of the past year and reconsecrated my life to the Lord afresh. I never made up my mind for anything just because it's a new year. I simply open myself to the Lord as I would on any other day, to receive the divine dispensing of the divine Trinity into my tripartite being. This is the best way to spend the new year.

One thing I notice this new year 2023 is, that I began the year with prayer and the word along with something challenging. As the church, I was fully disappointed that we did not gain an increase as we ought to, I mean in terms of the number of saints meeting regularly.  Though we prayed and labored much, the increase did not happen. Perhaps, the Lord had to deal with me and many of us to break the hindrances within our being. This I feel is the biggest discouragement and also the biggest challenge for this new year. 

Personally too, I felt I began the year with a minus point and looking forward to seeing it become plus and keep improving.  For this, I can only pray and hope for the best. May the Lord have mercy on me and grant me a new beginning this new year.

So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new. 2 Co 5:17

In my official service, I selected this Bible verse to pray-read with my brothers who serve with me in sweet coordination. Though we could not really achieve what we intended to achieve last year in terms of our distribution service, we encouraged ourselves in prayer to have a new beginning, forgetting and leaving the old things behind and looking forward to new things in Christ. We all prayed and pray-read together and looked to the Lord for His new beginning in each one of our services.

Even concerning all the new ones that I had been shepherding last year, though they could not really enter into the church life last year itself, with much hope, I pray that the Lord would shepherd them all into the church this new year. This too, I do by faith in Him.

Lord, may You accomplish all that You wish to accomplish this new year in me and through me, in us and through us as the church! In Christ, a new creation, Lord this new year!

Twenty Years of God's Grace

Twenty years have elapsed since the Lord called me to serve Him full-time. It was December 31 night 2002 when in my Selaiyur Hostel I was burdened to pray just for one thing, "Lord, what is Your will for my life?" I had no appetite for food nor for anything else except prayer. At about 5 PM in the afternoon I left my hostel for the prayer hall at Tambaram East. There I attended the evening prayer meeting and after everyone left, I requested the caretaker of the premise to allow me to stay the whole night as I wanted to pray and pray. There, I was the only person in the meeting hall. The whole night I walked through the length and breadth of the campus over and over again, just praying for one thing, God’s will.

I was to graduate from my MCA degree in a few months' time. I need to make a decision for my life. I had three choices before me; job, PhD, or full-time service. As a student of MCA, campus recruitment started and in fact, I got a call letter for interview from two software companies even without my applying for it. But the Lord did not lead me at all for software engineering job. Neither did the Lord lead me for PhD studies though one of my teachers suggested and promised to help me out. Therefore, I was all the more troubled what I was supposed to do. This led me to pray and pray and pray. Thank God, I knew only one way, prayer. Perhaps, that's the best way!

After the whole night prayer on 31st December night 2002, on 1st Jan 2003 the Lord’s call came through my reading of the Bible after my prayer.

“And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God ask of you except that you fear Jehovah your God so that you would walk in all His ways and love Him and serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul;” (Deuteronomy 10:12, RecVer)

As His call was, so His leading has always been the best. Till today, He has been faithfully leading me in His full-time service. What a blessing! What a privilege!

When He called me, I was just 24, stepping out of University with a Master's degree in Computer Science. Now, I am a married man with three blessed children. Still He has been gracing me and blessing me in His service. What else can I say but, "Thank You, Lord Jesus!"

Twenty years of service in His vineyard, twenty years of enjoying His blessing, twenty years of learning and perfecting. Twenty years of God’s grace. Thank You Lord Jesus for all these twenty Years of experiencing and enjoying You!

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)