Be Angry, But Do Not Sin

Be angry, yet do not sin; Consider in your heart upon your bed, And be silent. Selah (Psalms 4:4, RecVer)

This verse excatly described my experience recently. I was so much provoked to anger by one of my family members with whom I have had fellowship ample number of times. Still then, I felt the matter was not resolved despite my continual persuasion. I was taught an important lesson in self control. Whenever the matter of concern came up, I was disturbed and wanted to stop the ongoing matter. But I learned an important lesson, to leave the matter to the Lord and trust in Him fully. I was just enlightened to see how much I lacked in trusting the Lord. Definitely, what He did not plan will ever come to pass. I must simply put my whole trust in the Lord.

A few weeks ago, I was very much tempted to burst out in anger. I even schemed and planned for some actions to be taken in case of disobedience. In fact, when I lay down to sleep, the matter bothered me and I planned for some actions. But after much consideration and praying over the matter again and again, I realised that the Lord was in control and I need not take the place of God in taking any decision. Therefore, I did not bring the matter further and decided not to bring it again unless the Lord leads me so.

It was a tough lesson to learn. I thought I was patient and could control my temper but when I was provoked I found myself struggling. Gradually, the Lord has been training me and perfecting me. Thank God, that I did not burst out in anger but subdued my temper by turning to the Spirit indwelling my spirit. And now I have perfect peace and the matter did not bother me again. What a life lesson! Be angry, yet do not sin; Consider in your heart upon your bed, and be silent.

When the need arises to express the genuine feeling within, it may be expressed but with a reminder, "Be angry, but do not sin." This I learned from the Pslamist concerning God expressing His anger towards His rebellious and disobedient children. 

“Therefore Jehovah heard and was angry. And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And also anger went up against Israel; Because they did not believe in God, And they did not trust in His salvation.” (Psalms 78:21-22, RecVer)

“When the anger of God went up against them and slew some of their fattest ones and struck down the choice men of Israel.” (Psalms 78:31, RecVer)

This experience reminds me of the letter to the church in Ephesus. In anger, the devil can be easily given a ground. Which means, it is he who provokes and instigates. He will use whatever and whoever to accomplish his mission. We must turn it into mission impossible by not sinning, rather trusting in the Lord and leaving the matter to Him in prayer. Therefore, first consider carefully and be silent, and shut up the mouth of the devil. 

Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your indignation, Neither give place to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26-27, RecVer)

Thank you, Lord for this precious and powerful life lesson!

Cheating and Complaining

When cheated or felt cheated I usually brushed it aside and took no hurt feelings. But recently I realized that by doing so I am giving an unnecessary message to the cheater that their cheating is OK, at least with me. Though I did not mind being cheated as I trust in the God of righteousness, I have a new realization that for the sake of the ones who have cheated me, I should let them know that what they did was not right and that they should not do it any further. In that way, I can render help to them, at least morally.

Recently, I experienced a series of being cheated in a few cases. The first two were related to food pricing in my recent trip to Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the purchasing of souvenirs in Port Blair at double the price of the original price. In both cases, I decided not to complain or get a refund. I should be more careful before I place an order and made a payment. In these cases, since I already placed the order and made the payments, I decided not to complain.

But as I came back to New Delhi, an Uber driver cheated me by showing me a taxi fare of Rs. 1121 from his mobile at almost double the rate of the actual Uber ride price. Since he did not close the ride, I never received the fare, instead, he showed me his own calculation on his mobile, I guess it was not an Uber App. It was almost midnight and I had to pay him anyway. Finally, I had no option but to pay by cash as he said his PhonePe did not work. Right after the payment, I received a mail from Uber that my ride was only Rs. 681. Then, I realized I was cheated. As usual, I thought to just leave it, but I strongly felt that this time I should complain to the Uber via App, which I did. And also gave just a 1-star rating to the driver with a note on him charging a higher fare. Then, I received a message stating that my fare was only Rs. 331 and that part of my payment failed. What a fraud! I decided not to let things go this time. Not for my sake, but for others' sake, so I pursued the matter.

The other case was an order made online for a bag of rice from JioMart which was never delivered. I kept waiting and waiting, instead, I received a message that the order will be delayed and then a message on shipment, but was never delivered without any status update. Finally, I wrote to the Support Team. But the reply I received was very strange; the order was returned and to be refunded yet never refunded. So I had to write an email again requesting for my order to be delivered or else the money refunded, though I did not cancel the order at all. I even visited the JioStore to verify, only to find out that my order was not even in their record. Perhaps, the order was placed with another store. Therefore, I ordered from another store, a bag of rice, and this too was never delivered. After the repeated call, finally, the delivery was made, but with a price higher than I was promised. Later, I discovered that the rice I order and the rice bag did not match. So I texted the seller and got clarification.

In all these cases of cheating and complaining, I learn one important lesson. I can either ignore it as I did many times, but in some cases, I must pursue the matter for the sake of teaching a lesson to the cheater. In this way, I can at least render some help.

That said, I am least bothered as I am under the sovereign hand of the living and righteous God who knows all things and does all things best for me.

Gospel Friend Visit

Two weeks ago,  a gospel friend came to visit me at the office. I was his client when he worked for one of the biggest printing press in India in Okhla New Delhi. After he left for a new printing press he still keep the friendly rapport with me though I have never given him any print job till date as I would not easily change the printer. Initially, I thought that he has been visiting me now and then to try to get business from me. Of course, there may be some element of this, but I began to realise that he was also genuinely seeking God.

One day as he visited me, I decided to turn the business meeting into a gospel meeting. I preached the gospel using The Mystery of Human Life. And to my surprise, he willing listened to the gospel and prayed to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as His Saviour.

Whenever he had appointment in Gurugram he would call me if he could drop by. If I were in town, I always obliged to his request. This time, he came again and gifted me a 2023 diary which has now become very useful to me. One thing he said about maintaining a relationship in business meant a lot to me. Business may not be forthcoming through the rapport but when the need so arises, the good rapport will transpire into business transaction. I can apply the same to my official duty and in my spiritual service of shepherding. Therefore, always maintain a good relationship with people as much as possible.

When he was about to leave, he requested for prayer. I was so happy that he initiated. Therefore, I led him to pray, calling upon the Lord’s name, and leading him to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. 

What a wonderful gospel friend visit and what a marvelous way of sharing the gospel through business relationship!

Father-Son Prayer

The Lord has been blessing my family in leading me and my children and all who are living together with me to a new height in our Christian life and in our pursuit of Christ. Having been saved and baptised my daughter and son, now the Lord is gradually letting then grow in their Christian life. Their prayers became more and more subjective and mature in content. And even our family time spent improved by the day. 

The Lord has now led us to spend time together in calling upon His name, pray-read the Bible verses on the daily portion of the morning revival, and then pray the specific burden the Lord gave us to pray. In this way, our family prayer time has improved a lot in content and in the participation of all the family members. In fact, it became more enjoyable as we all exercise our spirits together to pray.

For my children, I felt the need to lead them in their personal prayer life daily. On the one hand I have been reminding them to spend time in personal prayer everyday at least thirty minutes and on the other hand, I personally led them to pray by leading them out to the playground nearby and pray.

With my son, I exercised to go out after lunch and led him to pray personally for about twenty minutes as I also did the same. Then, we prayed together for about ten to fifteen minutes. In this way, he learned to pray personally and also corporately. It has now been our Father-Son prayers. 

Praise the Lord for leading us practically to spend time with Him in prayer. The best way to help others pray is by showing them pattern and leading them to pray, and even pray with them.

May the Lord grace us to continue our prayer life all the days of our lives.

Impromptu Gospel Meeting

On the 20th February I was busy planning for official trip to the South when I received a surprise call from a brother who used to pray with me for the salvation of his whole family. I was invited for the gospel preaching to his unsaved grandparents who just called them for prayer. Though I could have said no but I decided to prioritise this shepherding visit over my other works. Therefore, I agreed to visit the family for the gospel sake. 

When I actually arrived at the home of the family the scene was very wonderful. The grandfather was on his sick bed and grandmother sitting beside him. On one side, the two married daughters and on the other side, myself with the grandsons. This was in the bedroom of the grandfather on his sick bed. 

As the stage was set and the opportunity given to me, I preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to the grandparent especially letting them know their need to receive the divine and eternal life of God and showed them the vanity of this world. The world can only break humanity and deprive people of peace and joy that comes only from God. I also testified to them how the devil cannot harm the children of God though he may be able to tempt them, as the life of God is in the believers. After the gospel preaching and testimony, I gave an option to them if they would like to receive the life of God by believing into the Lord Jesus Christ, the only true and living God. To this they agreed, and I led them to pray the sinner's prayer to believe into the Lord Jesus Christ and receive the divine and eternal life. O what a joy to lead sinners to salvation! 

After the gospel preaching and meeting,  it was time for the church in Gurugram weekly perfecting meeting. Since the two responsible brothers were busy, I had to take the lead to help the saints dive into the truth. Since I was already in the family's room and the time for the meeting had come, I decided to host the church perfecting meeting online via Zoom meeting from the same room. The truth lesson we pursued was on "God’s Economy." It was an apt lesson to be learned from the bedroom of new believers.

After the meeting, I left good to pray for the family, for the grandparents' health, and for their experience and enjoyment of the full salvation of God. Therefore, the saints prayed for the family and all the saved members of the family also prayer afterwhich I did the concluding prayer.

When I was driven back by the brother who picked me up, I testified to him how the Lord was so faithful to answer our prayers for the family's salvation which we started praying since  the last National College Students Training in Chennai.

What a home meeting! What a joy to see prayer answered!

The word of God on being ready all the time for the gospel had become so subjective to me.

“Proclaim the word; be ready in season and out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2, RecVer)

Dental Fellowship

I have been in search of a trustworthy dentist who I could consult with peace and satisfaction. Though there are a good number of dentists in and around my home I could not trust anyone of them as I had already visited them. There was one lady dentist they I consulted for my wife but that too was not truly satisfactory. I never had the peace to do my dental works with her though I did it for my wife.

Two weeks ago, I came across a dental clinic with a Christian dentist name. It caught my attention and I decided to visit him. The next day my wife informed me of the pain on her teeth and immediately I took her to this Christian dentist.

As we visited him, he enquired if we had any appointment with him which I replied in the negative. Then, we waited for about 15 minutes as he was busy with some people. The moment our turn came to consult him I was not ashamed to ask him directly if he was a Christian to which he replied in the affirmative.  Then, he did the treatment for my wife.

On our second visit, I also did my dental work that has been pending for years. I was glad that he could do what I needed it to be done. What I had been waiting for years, he did it in half an hour's time. And I was quite satisfied with it. Even when I made the payment I did so with satisfaction unlike the other dentists. On top of it, I felt happy to pay to a believer than to a gentile.

In our second vist as he was doing the dental work, I fellowshipped with him as Christian brother and we became good friends. To me, the brotherly fellowship we had was more precious than anything else. As we fellowshipped, I realised that he was in need of proper Christian fellowship where He can be helped to read the word and enjoy the Lord in prayer. I did not shy away from telling him to spend time in prayer daily and study the word of God daily. After the "dental fellowship" at his clinic I invited him home for dinner as he told he was alone at the moment as his wife and child had gone to the South.

After his dental work for the day he came over for dinner fellowship where we spent a few hours together fellowshipping. I did my best to shepherd him by not withholding back what I felt I should tell him concerning a daily Christian living. Then, we prayed together and encouraged one another in the Lord.

Thank the Lord  for such a dental fellowship in his clinic and at my home. 

Perfecting: Repair and Recover

“For we rejoice whenever we are weak and you are powerful; this also we pray for, your perfecting.” (2 Corinthians 13:9, RecVer)

Footnote from the Holy Bible, Recovery Version: Or, restoring. Implying repairing, adjusting, putting in order again, mending; perfectly joining together (cf. 1 Cor. 1:10 and note 4), thoroughly equipping, well furnishing; thus, perfecting, completing, educating. The apostles prayed for the Corinthians that they might be restored, put in order again, and thoroughly equipped and edified to grow in life for the building up of the Body of Christ.

And they delivered it into the hand of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and those who did the work, who worked in the house of Jehovah, used it to mend and repair the house. 2 Chronicles 34:10

During the reign of Josiah, the people under his kingship collected offering and delviered it to the people who did the repair work of the house of Jehovah that was in ruin. In this, the principle of repair can be seen whenever the need arises. The ruins of the house of Jehovah was not torn down for new building, but the remains and ruins were repaird instead.  Herein I learned the lesson and apply it in my family life and personal life too. Repairing whatever needs to be repaired and not letting things go when they can actually be reapired. 

The Lord in His mercy has been preserving all of us despite the "ruins" the enemy has done since our human birth. Yet the Lord comes in did the "reparing" works spiritually, psychologically, and physically. These days I also have been feeling the Lord's repairing works in my personal Christian life and the lives of a good number of saints I know. He knows excatly what to repair and when and how to repair. Subjectively in many cases, he does the reparing work by first reviving us inwardly through His speaking or through the members of His Body. Then, He renews the mind of the people He has been "repairing", gradually restoring their soul and finally recovering their normal function in the Body. All these, He does for the sake of fulfilling His purpose through man. He has been faithfully and skillfully carrying out His repairing works. I am still under His divine repairing work day by day.

However, this must not be misunderstood with the truth in Galatian 2:20.

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.

As He does the repairing works, He brings us into an identification with Himself in His death, and brings us into His resurrection. The result of such repairing work is, "no longer I but Christ." What was useless has now become useful to the Lord. What was worth wasting has now become worthy. The Lord never gives upon on anyone. He can turn the worst to the best.

This spiritual lesson I learnt from the broken utensils in my kitchen that needed repairing.  In fact, they could have been discarded as garbage and new vessels could have been brought.  But I still wanted to give them a second chance and tried my best to repair them and somehow make them useful. Therefore, I paid the price to search for a repair shop in Sikanderpur and Chakkarpur market one evening. After Lee than an hour of search I found a shop that could repair most of my broken utensils. Therefore, I repaired whatever could be repaired. 

I did the same for my wife's phone whose charging jack created problem in charging for many weeks which I finally got it repaired. In this way, instead of discarding what can be used I still repaired and made them usable. These experiences led me to the spiritual application in my Christian life, the need for repairing the ruins of the house of God which further applies to the need for experiencing the cross of Christ in "repairing work" and live Christ as the "repaired" person.

This repairing work is the work of recovering which includes reviving, restoring, and renewing to make me a new person in Christ as His organically recovered person.

Praise the Lord for such a repairing work!