Manipur: Forgive Us As We Also Forgive

The Lord's prayer is the prayer that I prayed or rather recited the most during my school days in Manipur. Growing up in a Christian environment, this prayer has been recited over and over again in almost every Christian meeting. Be it in a family prayer, church meeting, or even in a school assembly, this prayer has been memorized by most Christians and can be recited at any moment in time. This is the only prayer, perhaps, that needs no preparation. It just comes out naturally. Even in the slip of tongue, this prayer will be recited flawlessly. But the sad truth is, it is just a piece of formal and religious prayer. The application and experience of this prayer are the need of the time. This is a very urgent need now in Manipur, especially for those who know and pray the Lord's prayer.

The Manipur mayhem has manifold interpretations depending upon who interprets it. The reasons behind these ethnic clashes are varied. It is hard to fully believe in one party's interpretation. Some political, some religious, some social, and even some economical. Maybe a blend of all. No matter what, at least one of the warring parties is a professing Christian, if not the other. I myself am a "tribal" by Government categorization, and a Christian by faith. I never believed in being a "tribal." I believe in being a man created by God equally like any other human. And more importantly, I am a child of God, a Christian. My belief is purely on the word of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. I stand by my faith in Jesus Christ and the holy word of God. To me, there is only one supreme Authority, God. And only one holy Book, the Holy Bible. Since the Bible taught me the Lord's prayer, I believe in it and I pray that this prayer be my living as well. But what is the content of the prayer? 

Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified;

Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also;

But if you do not forgive men their offenses, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.  Matthew 6:9-15

Your name be sanctified

For the Father's name to be sanctified, the believers who are the children of the Father God must be sanctified. Sanctification is separation from the world outwardly and transformation from the natural man inwardly. For this prayer to be true and real, today's Christians, be it tribal or non-tribal alike, must abstain from anything sinful and worldly. Such as the present civil war, ethnic clashes, mob violence, rioting, looting, burning, and killing.

Your kingdom come

For the Father's kingdom to come, today's Christians, be it tribal or non-tribal alike, must seek the kingdom of the Father, not fight for the kingdom on the earth. God never promised His children an earthly kingdom. On the contrary, He taught His children to pray for His kingdom to come down to the earth, and not build a kingdom on the earth. So this prayer itself annuls the need to fight for the so-called "motherland", for there is none. We only have the Father's kingdom, our Fatherland coming down to the earth.

Your will be done

For the Father's will to be done, today's Christians, be it tribal or non-tribal alike, must seek only the will of the Father, not their tribal or non-tribal's will, not even the natural human good will, nor even the government's will. But only God's will.

Even if the Lord's prayer be only these few phrases, "Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth," there is no need for vengeful retaliation at least from the professing Christians' side.

Furthermore, the prayer says, "Do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Should this prayer be sincerely prayed, all the Christians should overcome the temptation of the enemy to give an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, but be delivered from the indulgence into this temptation. 

Now a very important word of the Lord Jesus from the Holy Bible:

For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also;

But if you do not forgive men their offenses, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.

If we are being wronged and offended, then we must forgive those who wrong us and offended us. If we wrong or offend others, then we must ask for forgiveness from those whom we wronged or offended. Only then the Father will also forgive us our wrongs and offenses.

And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us into temptation. Luke 11:4

My daily prayer for Manipur these days has been for God the Father to bind His enemy who instigated and committed this mayhem through lawless and Godless men. So that, the God of peace may reign over the entire state and bring in mass forgiveness by the Father's divine love. 

Prayer for Christians

I pray for the Christians to pray the Lord's prayer again with all truthfulness that this prayer indeed be their living testimony as well. If wronged, forgive; if wrong, ask forgiveness. And may this turn out to the revival of all the professing Christians.

Prayer for Non-Christians

I pray for the non-Christians to be saved. That the eyes of their darkened mind be enlightened to see and know the living and loving God who desires all men to be saved and for whom the Lord Jesus Christ has died an all-inclusive death for the redemption of all mankind to those who believe.

Lord, bring peace to the people of Manipur! Let love prevail and let there be forgiveness by Your forgiveness. Have mercy on us all, Lord! 

Lord, forgive us our sins as we also forgive those who sin against us!

Lessons from Uzziah

Today, as I was studying the Bible from the book of 2 Chronicles, the Lord taught me some important lessons. I was so much enlightened to see what God did with His people and how He did it. Today, He is still doing His work with the same principle. 

Uzziah was made king at the early age of sixteen. Initially, he did what was right in sight of Jehovah and he set himself to seek after God. But the Bible also says, "As long as he sought after Jehovah, God caused him to prosper." Meaning, if he did not seek God, he may not be prosperous. This was conditional. So, Uzziah sought God and was blessed.

2Ch 26:3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jechiliah, from Jerusalem.
2Ch 26:4And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Amaziah his father had done.
2Ch 26:5And he set himself to seek after God during the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God; and as long as he sought after Jehovah, God caused him to prosper.
2Ch 26:6And he went out and waged war against the Philistines. And he broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the vicinity of Ashdod and among the Philistines.
2Ch 26:7And God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who dwelt in Gur-baal and against the Meunim.
2Ch 26:15And in Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and at the corners for shooting with arrows and great stones. And his fame went out far abroad, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.

But what alarmed me was what happened to Uzziah after he was blessed by God. He became proud and he trespassed against God. No doubt, he was the king but he overstepped his function. He presumed authority over the services in the temple and arrogantly tried to burn incense upon the altar which was ordained only for the designated priests. The result was, he was judged by God and became leprous until the day of his death and was also cut off from the house of Jehovah. What a terrible ending! What a warning we have to pay heed to!

2Ch 26:16But when he had become strong, his heart became uplifted, to his own destruction. And he trespassed against Jehovah his God and went into the temple of Jehovah to burn incense upon the incense altar.
2Ch 26:17And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with Azariah were eighty priests of Jehovah who were valiant men.
2Ch 26:18And they withstood Uzziah the king and said to him, It does not belong to you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Jehovah, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed and there will be no honor for you from Jehovah God.
2Ch 26:19Then Uzziah became angry, and in his hand was a censer for burning incense. And when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of Jehovah beside the incense altar.
2Ch 26:20And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there he was, leprous on his forehead; and they rushed him out of there, and he himself also hurried out to go out, for Jehovah had stricken him.
2Ch 26:21So Uzziah the king was a leper until the day of his death; and he dwelt in a separate house as a leper, for he was cut off from the house of Jehovah. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.

Learning these spiritual lessons from the life of Uzziah, I humble myself before God and pray for His mercy that by His grace, I may be preserved in humility and stay within the boundary God has drawn for my spiritual function. Especially, when there are blessings or successes, I must be much more exercised and walk in humility. I must take the Lord as my grace to not overstep my function nor presume to be somebody at all. I must stay within my limit and just be what He wants me to be. What He graces me, that is the best, and I shall seek for nothing more or nothing less. He knows the best.

Lord, preserve me by Your grace, in success or in failure, at hard times or good times, to always seek after You and never overstep my function. 

Ministry of the Word in Siddipet

After an evening of intense discussion and listening to what all the brother in the Lord had to say about the ministry in the Lord's recovery on the 13th of May, I was inwardly praying as I listened to all the accusations. Though I did not know every word spoken in Telugu, but I sure could discern what they were talking about. It was all about the negative points concerning some of the practices of the church life and the reaction of some brothers, misrepresenting the ministry. While I listened to all the accusations, I knew it was the enemy stirring up the mind of the opposers. I intensely prayed within my being and gave the matter fully to the Lord. After the intense talk, suddenly, the atmosphere changed. The leading brother turned to me and requested me to share my testimony and the word of God on the following Lord's Day in their congregation.

On the Lord's Day, the 14th of May, a brother and I were given the opportunity to share our testimonies. I was given the time to also minister the word of God to fully packed believers in the meeting hall of the local church there. I did so in English and my brother translated it to Telugu. I guestimated the attendance to be about 250-300 believers.  Since the specific request was to share testimony, I shared how the Lord saved me and how the Lord blessed me and called me to serve Him full-time. Then, I shared the burden the Lord gave me the previous day morning on the vision seen by Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9:1-19, the vision of Christ and the church. Along with the vision, I emphasized the calling upon the name of the Lord that saved Saul. And how he later used the calling upon the Lord's name which can actually save sinners in Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:9, 12, 13.  1 Corinthians 12:3 even stated that "no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit." I also explained why the name of the Lord is so powerful by quoting Philippians 2:5-11. Thus, within the given time, I released the burden the Lord gave me.

The saints received the word of God with much thirst and hunger. I could sense it as I was ministering the word, I enjoyed the rich flow of life. By such ministry of the word, I believe the leading brother would be very clear concerning the ministry the Lord has called us for. I leave all in the Lord's hand

A few days later, I received messages from a brother giving feedback on the meetings. The message are quoted verbatim, raw and unedited.

Dear brother, hope you had a safe arrival back home. Several youth shared feedback in writing on the two testimonies they heard last Sunday. Many of them were deeply touched and made key resolutions concerning their faith, education and careers. Thank you once again for your kind visit to Siddipet and the foot prints left behind.

*******

Anna, Praise the Lord. In first testimony, David uncle faced and gone through different temptations like he mentioned that uncle can't  control his eye and little more temptations what the youth mostly face these days. In second testimony, Palmei anna's teenage life seems like smooth, going well in Christ but when anna made a step to get answer from God, experience Him and started praying all the night he got answer through His word. Praying all the night seems like fighting for answer. These all things made me to think more anna.

*******

 1) I love my lord ,  I love my father ,  I love my mom , but if any situation came to me to choose my lord or my mom and dad I will choose only my eternal father

2) I think iam perfect in my life but there are some evil things in my inner ,Iam not perfect so I want to be perfect in my inner life how iam perfect in my out look appearence

*******

Praise the lord uncle,

From Daiva Prasad uncles testimony I learnt something like 'God has more rights on us than our parents'.

I got inspired the most with Palmei uncles testimony, the way uncle seeks God's will in every small part of his life,prayer life,accountability to God,obeying parents only in lord and by uncles prayer whole family is into God.

I decided to know God's will in my life through prayer and word of God and to stay accountable to Christ.

*******

Throughout both testimonies, God spoke to me about confessing what God remembered to confess and sometimes unknowingly taking decisions without surrendering God's authority. To know God's will, I decided to begin every small plan with prayer. After that, I began to pray for God's plan for my life. Lastly, Both testimonials teach me that no matter what the circumstances may be, I want to stand for God at all times.

*******

I'm really very happy to listen that kind of testimonies.I make a decision to serve the lord like them throughout my life

*******

Testimony of bro palmei and bro daiva prasad is really great experience to me. I have norticed that how they are displicned and active towards god word. Mainly Bro. palmei testimony can help me that how to live my daily life, liek we can study by  by teaching god's word everywhere and i thinkl it is a heartful weoktowards God and i feel greatful after listening this testemony Im now can I improve God's word at my cllg.

My reply to the brother for all these was:

Praise the Lord! Glory to God alone.

So also you, when you do all the things which are ordered you, say, We are unprofitable slaves; we have done what we ought to have done. Luke 17:10

May the Lord continue to speak to all the saints there and may He gain His strong testimony and also recover fully the church in Siddipet!

Defense and Confirmation of the Truth

But a

slave of the Lord

ought not to contend but be gentle toward all,

apt to teach,

bearing with wrong; In meekness

correcting those who oppose,

if perhaps God may give them repentance unto the

full knowledge of the truth. 

2 Timothy 2:24-25

As a slave of the Lord, I must always be prepared and equipped with the word of God not merely for nourishment and life supply but also for defense and confirmation of the truth. Satan, the father of lies, has done his best to impute evil thoughts and lies concerning the saints so as to bring enmity between them. To some extent, he has been successful, but ultimately he is the defeated foe. The Lord only uses him (Satan) as an ugly tool to perfect the saints of the living God. I have very much been helped in my searching and seeking for the truth when I heard of the accusations against Brother Watchman Nee and Brother Witness Lee, for in my attempt and effort to verify the accusations I discovered the riches of the revelations of the word that God has bestowed upon these two servants of God. Thereby, I became a direct beneficiary of the false propaganda spread by the enemy. What was intended for bad turned out to be very good for me. 

And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night. Revelations 12:9, 10

This time in my visit to some of the prominent Christan leaders in Hyderabad, I encountered such situations in which I had to boldly proclaim the truth. Perhaps, defending and confirming the truth. Some experiences are here below:

Hebron Fellowship of Brother Bakht Singh is one of the biggest Christian congregations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They love Brother Watchman Nee’s books so much, but completely reject Brother Witness Lee for reasons they themselves cannot define succinctly. The Lord burdened me to fellowship with the top leader at their campus in Hyderabad on the 8th and also with the Bookroom Manager on the 9th of May. Initially, I was rejected but I requested the brothers to hear me out first by at least introducing the Holy Bible Recovery Version which they eventually agreed. And upon proper introduction of the ministry and clarification of their misunderstandings, the Lord came in and settled the matter at least in their thoughts face to face. Later, whatever mindset they hold, they are accountable to the Lord. I have done my part to let them know at least the bare minimum fact. After a brotherly fellowship, presenting the truth, declaring the fact and history of false accusations and CRI’s research findings, they became sober and accepted the ministry finally. In fact, the top leader prayed and blessed me, and the bookroom manager, while praying, confessed and repented his misconception about Brother Witness Lee.

OM (Operation Mobilization) Books is a fully integrated publisher, distributor and retailer of Christian resources in South-East Asia. It is also the largest chain of Christian bookstores in India. They have been accepting Brother Watchman Nee’s books but not Brother Witness Lee’s based on rumors and negative feedback from certain people. The Lord burdened us to fellowship with the Director at their campus in Hyderabad on the 9th of May and also with the Purchase Manager. After about two hours of brotherly fellowship, presenting the truth, declaring the fact and history of false accusations, and CRI’s research findings, the Director understood the matter and requested us to provide the ministry books catalog in all the languages to place an order for their books stores all over India.

Meeting with a Brother: A very prominent Christian leader who loves Brother Watchman Nee’s books and is taking the stand as the “local church in Siddipet” has much to say against Brother Witness Lee as some of his “disciples” have taken the way of the Lord’s recovery a few years ago. Besides, he has heard many rumors and false public accusations against the “Local Church of Witness Lee” from his theologian friend and a famous Telugu Christian preacher.

Listen, Discern, Clarify, Testify, and Not Justify: When we first met on the 13th of May, he brought out all the accusations and negative points about the Lord’s recovery. We patiently listened to all that he had to say. Then, we clarified his misunderstandings of Brother Witness Lee’s teachings and his relationship with Brother Watchman Nee. We testified of the positive testimonies of how we came into the Lord’s recovery. Without justifying ourselves, we simply testified of our experiences and the spiritual help we received through Brother Witness Lee’s ministry despite the many oppositions we ourselves faced.

Dispensing Life through the Ministry of the Word: After a brotherly fellowship and presenting the truth, he changed his attitude towards the ministry and especially Brother Witness Lee. Surprisingly, he invited us to share our testimonies and also to minister the word of God on the following Lord’s Day in his congregation, which we did with much prayer and release of our spirit. Along with our testimonies, we ministered on the vision of Christ and the church Saul saw in Acts 9. Through fellowship and the dispensing of life through the word, he opened up to us and received all the ministry books in Telugu.

Having met with all these dear brothers, I pray that the Lord would put His enemy to open shame and turn the work of His lies for the propagation of the truth. I do believe, the Lord has been working in the hearts and minds of all these dear brothers so that they become channels of blessing for many seekers to have access to the truth concerning God's eternal purpose.

Lord,  open all the channels for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom through the ministry of the word!

Ministry of the Word to Hyderabad

When it came to my notice that we would be having a weekend training in the first week of May in Hyderabad, I prayed before the Lord and made a decision to spend another week visiting the Christian leaders in coordination with the local brothers for the introduction and distribution of the ministry literature. When I actually met a brother checking for the plan just a few days before the distribution began, he was very unsure of how to plan. But I testified to him that we may not necessarily make appointments with the Christian leaders, but we will pray and just visit them as we usually do in many other states. Then, we were clear as to how to go ahead with the week-long distribution. Right after that, I went to meet the manager of the venue where the training was conducted, and as I mentioned my plan he promised to give many Chrtsin contacts, the big ones for visitation. Thereafter, I was clear deep within that the Lord will make all the arrangements for the distribution.

In fact, right after the training ended, the Lord opened the door for us to start meeting Christian leaders and introduce the ministry literature even one day ahead of the actual plan. Throughout the whole week, the Lord led us step by step, one by one, and we all enjoyed the Lord's leading and blessing. After the week of distribution, we all worshipped the sovereign God and testified of how much He blessed us. In fact, the three local brothers who accompanied me testifed again and agin of how much they learn how to conact people and intorduce the ministry literature to Christian leaders. They were overwhelmed by the responses from the leaders. In three cases, we also experienced the defense and confirmation  of the truth and, in addition to sales and purchase orders.

A report I sent to the brothers concerning the Hyderabad distribution is summarised below.

Hyderabad is home to many well-known Christian leaders and big Christian groups. In fact, it is the headquarter of the biggest Christian group in India and the biggest chain of Christian bookstores. Regrettably, many of these Christian leaders have a negative impression of Brother Witness Lee while paradoxically professing to love Brother Watchman Nee when the duo represented just the same and one ministry. Therefore, as serving ones representing the duo's ministry, we took the impromptu initiative to meet some of these Christian leaders as fellow Christian brothers to introduce, distribute, defend, and confirm the ministry. And while doing so, we ended up dispensing life through the ministry of the word in most of the meetings. In all the one-week-long endeavors, the Lord's grace and leading were upon us, intuitively expressed through the verses quoted below.

But a

slave of the Lord

ought not to contend but be gentle toward all,

apt to teach,

bearing with wrong; In meekness

correcting those who oppose,

if perhaps God may give them repentance unto the

full knowledge of the truth.

2 Timothy 2:24-25

Meeting with the Prominent Christian Leaders

• Introduction and Distribution of the Ministry Literature
• Defense and Confirmation of the Truth
• Dispensing Life through the Ministry of the Word

Pray for the literature service in India as we endeavor to bring the riches of the ministry to every state of India. 

Report on meeting with the Christian leaders.

The ministry books introduction to the First Pastor of the Baptist Church Hyderabad

Before meeting us, his assistant pastor met us first. He was a little cautious about us and the “New” Bible. But after he heard from us, he was clear concerning the ministry literature and the Recovery Version Bible. When we met the First Pastor, he was so excited to know the availability of the New Testament Recovery Version in Telugu! As the leaders of the Baptist Church, both the Assistant Pastor and the First Pastor will read the Recovery Version first and then place orders for the entire congregation.

Introduction of the ministry literature and the Holy Bible Recovery Version to the sister pastor of the United People’s Fellowship. She has a large congregation and has many followers on social media. She was so interested in the Recovery Version after we introduced it to her using some verses and footnotes. She immediately purchased a copy for herself. As we continued to introduce the ministry books, she also wanted to know our Christian testimony. Upon hearing our testimony, she was so touched and wanted to offer money for the ministry. When we politely declined, she was even more impressed and ended up purchasing a full box of the New Testament Recovery Version in Telugu for the pastors serving with her. 

Introduction of the ministry literature and the Holy Bible Recovery Version to the chief pastor of a Christian group. He is an ardent lover of Brother Watchman Nee. Since he was not clear about Brother Witness Lee, we explained who Brother Witness Lee was and the ministry God has apportioned him with. After we introduced the Recovery Version and some ministry books, he immediately purchased the Holy Bible and the entire set of ministry books in Telugu including the New Testament.

Introduction of the ministry literature and the Holy Bible Recovery Version to the Chief-Editor of a New Telugu Bible and Pastor of an Assembly of God Telugu Church. As the Chief-Editor of a newly translated Telugu Bible, he appreciated the accurate translation and the in-depth footnotes in the Recovery Version. He purchased the Telugu New Testament Recovery Version and promised to read and introduce it to the believers and also to the Bible seminary students. 

Introduction of the ministry literature and the Holy Bible Recovery Version to the bookroom manager of Calvary Temple, a mega-church with 300,000+ members known as “the world’s second-largest church.” They received all the ministry books in Telugu and will be promoting the New Testament Recovery Version.

Introduction of the ministry literature and the Holy Bible Recovery Version to the Principal of Andhra Christian Theological College. The Principal himself being a Bible translator and a theologian was very interested in the Recovery Version and the ministry books. He invited us to publicly introduce the Recovery Version and ministry books in the college’s Friday Forum once they reopen after summer vacation in the month of July.

We also met a theologian and his family who loves to read the ministry books and spent a time of fellowship over a love feast lunch. 

May the Lord richly bless the sowing of the word of God to many of these dear brothers and sisters who have been serving the Lord that they may all be brough into the full knowlwdge of the truth.

Prayer: Manipur Mayhem

On the 2nd of May morning, I dropped off my daddy at the New Delhi airport after the completion of his medical treatments. On the 3rd of May morning, I boarded a train to attend a weekend training in Hyderabad. Though I intended to do some writeups for my blogs I was so tired and slept most of the time in the train after the completion of my personal Bible study and prayer. I had a very sound sleep in the train. Little was I aware that my hometown was burning while I was peacefully asleep in the train. The following day, I saw the news of the violence and riots in Manipur. 

After I arrived in Hyderabad and attended the fellowship, in the evening I made a couple of phone calls to three brothers in the Lord and my family members and got a first-hand confirmation of what actually happened. Thank God, all my relatives and the brothers I know were all safe in God’s hands!

The internet connection was immediately shut in Manipur, thereby, controlling the spread of information. Still, I got to see some news coverage and video clips from those who still could manage to record videos and send them. Then blame games began, with both parties accusing each other. Who knows who was right and who was wrong. The entire social, political, economic, religious, and political systems completely collapsed in just a few days' time. Helpless, the state government got the central government's help and deployed thousands of Indian army to control the critical situation. But can they really douse the inward-burning flames? The state, since then, has been on fire. Any attempt to control only poured more oil into the flame. This was just the beginning of Manipur mayhem. I can find only one solution, only in God.

This is nothing new to me. I have witnessed the ethnic violence in the past too. Kuki versus Naga, Kuki versus Paite, and now Tribal versus Non-Tribal. Some people tried to paint this as a religious war. If that be the case, what about Kuki versus Naga and Kuki versus Paite, when they all were at least professing Christians? Is it political then? Well, maybe or maybe not. I do agree it must have some political, religious, and whatever elements may be in all those conflicts. But, I do for sure know who is the real culprit behind all this mayhem. It is Satan, the devil. Believe me or not, the source of all these problems lies only in one person, our common enemy, Satan.

I don't know how many Christians have spiritual insight into all these. It takes the knowledge of God’s word and the substantial subjective knowledge of God to understand the real source of all the problems, our defeated foe, Satan. I completely put the entire blame on the Devil, the one and only evil one, who works tirelessly behind these men who knew no God nor the fear of Him. Regrettably, they sold themselves as slaves to Satan, becoming satanic tools.

In any warfare, the first and foremost task is to identify the enemy, his camps, and his tactics. Otherwise, all warfare will be in vain. Therefore, I shared my insight to fellowship with some brothers who also agreed with my findings. So what should we do? Or rather, what should I do? Pray, pray, and pray. Bind the common enemy Satan. That's the only way.

With this deep conviction, I refrain from forwarding any content related to these either pro or against to either party. But I sent out a prayer request to WhatsApp groups where people from the two warring groups are members too.

Prayer Request

Pray for the peace in Manipur

Our common enemy is Satan, not man. We must pray for the God of peace to reign over the situation and turn the hearts of the people to the living God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; for Christians to turn to the living God and not resort to human wisdom and the works of the flesh, and for non-believers to be saved.

“Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.”_

(Ephesians 6:11-12, RecVer)

“For though we walk in flesh, we do not war according to flesh; For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful before God for the overthrowing of strongholds, as we overthrow reasonings and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ.”

(2 Corinthians 10:3-5, RecVer)

May the situation turn out sovereignly to the salvation of many; for the revival of the believers and for the regeneration of the non-believers._

Pray, pray, and pray. This is the only way.

Bless, Give, Help, and Pray

“In all things I have shown you by example that toiling in this way we ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35, RecVer)

I have been experiencing with some people, both Christians and unbelievers alike, trying to get my help just to meet their selfish needs. The Lord has been teaching me not to be selfish nor grap anything by force nor do anything with selfish motive. The Lord has been teaching me to help and give as much as He blesses me. 

A Christian dentist I have been contacting for my father's dental treatment is a good test cae foe me. Though I requested him to consider a good discount as a Christian brother, he seems to simply stick to his own price. I dare not argue with him but decided to go ahead and somehow teach him a lesson of generosity even in professional service. So I gave him all that he asked for. Deep within himself, he was convicted that he charged more than necessary. I could sense this from his behaviour. Later, he called me at least twice to pacify his conscience by trying to offer more free check ups, perhaps, to compensate for the amount he charged for a dental work. I knew it right away from his tone of speech. Instead, I offered to pray for him at least twice now, for the prayer request he made for his wife and himself. I am more than glad to pray for his inward spiritual recovery. It's worth if he realised what he had charged was more than it should from a brother, and he further realised his need for brotherly fellowship. It's worth the price I pay to keep him in want for more fellowship and help that I could possibly render to him. I say this for his recovery into the proper church life soon. He promised to invite me to his home for fellowship. Meanwhile, I would do my best to help him in his request for his wife who recently had gone abroad for further studies. 

Another brother who I have paid for his computer services even though higher than usual, have been in touch with me. He even requested me to pray for him and his family which I did readily. He seems to have taken advantage of me being a Christian brother and began to charge a higher amount than usual. Without any question I paid him all that he asked for without bargaining a bit. I took my brother's word and paid him the full price he demanded. The rest, I left to his conscience. And I know he has been convicted. But my intention is to bless, give, help, and pray that through this, the Lord would show him what a Christian life and church life is.

Another gentile uncle has been receiving my help in his publication of books. So far I have helped him release four books. I gave my time and professional skill to help him freely. I have been doing so with the intention that he would realize I did all that for his spiritual salvation. I had tried preaching the gospel to him at least twice but as he told me he is not interest I did not press it further. Nor did I stop to help him or cut off from being in contact. I still hope, my bit to help him would touch his heart and see the love of the Lord. One day, I pray that he and his family would be saved. For the gospel, I would pay any price as the Lord graces me so.

To me as the Scriptures says, It is more blessed to give than to receive; and the greater blesses the lesser. Therefore, as the Lord graces and provides, I will bless, give, help, and pray.