Be a Man!

Today's portion of the morning revival is very enjoyable and I was nourished richly. It was on the meal offering Christian life and church life. The light I received through the ministry was so enlightening. I could see myself clearly and my need for a proper humanity, the humanity of Jesus by partaking of His life day by day. All that is required for the building up of the church and also for the overcoming normal Christian life is in this meal offering. The ingredients of the meal offering comprise fine flour, oil, frankincense, and no honey and leaven. The spiritual significances of these items are marvelous. It all points to the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ including His death and resurrection and His denial of the natural man through the cross.

Meal Offering Christian Life 
Excerpt from HWMR Knowing, Experiencing, and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life, msg 2, II

The meal offering typifies our Christian life as a duplication of Christ’s God-man living—Lev. 2:4; Psa. 92:10; 1 Pet. 2:21; Rom. 8:2-3, 11, 13

We need to enjoy Christ as our meal offering day by day for our priestly diet so that He can live again on the earth through us in His divinely enriched humanity; if we eat Christ as the meal offering, we will become what we eat and live by what we eat—Lev. 2:3; John 6:57, 63; cf. Psa. 92:10; 1 Cor. 10:17; Phil. 1:19-21a. 

By exercising our spirit to touch the Spirit consolidated in the Word, we eat the human life and living of Jesus, we are constituted with Jesus, and the human living of Jesus becomes our human living (Eph. 6:17-18; Jer. 15:16; Gal. 6:17) with the following characteristics of His divinely enriched humanity:

1. The humanity of Jesus fulfills all righteousness— Matt. 3:13-15.

2. The humanity of Jesus has no resting place— 8:20.

3. The humanity of Jesus is lowly in heart—11:29.

4. The humanity of Jesus loves the weak ones— 12:19-20.

5. The humanity of Jesus is flexible—17:27.

6. The humanity of Jesus serves others—Mark 10:45; see footnote 1 on 1:10.

7. The humanity of Jesus cherishes people—Luke 4:16-22; 7:34; 19:1-10.

8. The humanity of Jesus is orderly, not sloppy— Mark 6:39-40; John 6:12.

9. The humanity of Jesus is limited by time—7:6.

10. The humanity of Jesus is unique—v. 46.

11. The humanity of Jesus knows when to weep— 11:33, 35.

12. The humanity of Jesus is humble—13:4-5.

It is only in the humanity of Jesus that one can live a meal offering Christian life for the church life. The following excerpts further enlighten me on the humanity of Jesus.

A LIFE WITH THE HIGHEST HUMANITY

Excerpt from The Life-study of Leviticus, msg 16.

“Watch, stand firm in the faith, be full-grown men, be strong.” 

(1 Corinthians 16:13, RecVer)

In order for our Christian life to be a meal offering, it must be a life with the highest humanity. This is the reason Paul charged the Corinthians, saying, “Be a man” (1 Cor. 16:13). According to the context of 1 Corinthians, to be a man means that we should have a high, uplifted humanity.

If we have such a humanity, we will exercise self-control. This is indicated by Paul’s word in 9:26 and 27. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so I box, not as beating the air; but I buffet my body and lead it as a slave.” These verses reveal that Paul had a high humanity and that he had a strong, excellent character. He did not run uncertainly or beat the air but exercised control over himself. He was a real man with a high standard of morality in his human living.

In 16:13 Paul does not say, “Be a hero”; he says, “Be a man.” From every angle and from every side, we should be a man. From the angle of ethics, we should be a man. From the angle of self-control, we should be a man. From the angles of wisdom and love, we should be a man. This is to have an uplifted humanity. In the book of 1 Corinthians, we can see the genuine fine flour. This book surely presents the meal-offering church life.

In the meal-offering church life, the first item is a fine, uplifted humanity. If we would have the proper church life, we all need to have a strong character. This strong character, however, should be balanced, for an unbalanced humanity is a biased humanity. Therefore, we should be strong and also soft. If in the church life we are strong without also being soft, we will offend others. Although we need to be soft as well as strong, we should not be too soft. Those who are too soft are like noodles. There is a proverb which says that we can lift up bamboo but we cannot lift up a noodle. We cannot have a proper church life if the saints are either too strong or too soft. We need to be balanced. For the church life, we need to be a man with a fine, balanced, uplifted humanity.

By enjoying the meal offering day by day, the uplifted high standard humanity of Jesus will become my humanity to live out my Christian life for the church life. I then can be a man, a full-grown man!

Brotherly Fellowship

When brothers requested for fellowship, I always gave time to fellowship with them even as I looked to the Lord for the flow of life and the shining of light that through the fellowship everyone would be cherished and also nourished with the word of God.  In all our meetings, be it a big gathering or a small group meeting, always open to the Lord and to one another to receive life supply and also to be ever ready to supply life to one another. Our meetings are special and cannot be equated with worldly meetings. As the Bible says, everything must be done for the building up.

What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 1 Cor. 14:26

Last Lord's day, I went with a brother to attend a Lord's day meeting conducted by another brother who is not in the church life yet. Since he invited and also requested to share the word of God, I ministered the word on the importance of being the children of God and the meaning of the Christian life.  That was our fellowship to the entire congregation. 

Yesterday, three brothers who just graduated from their full-time training came for fellowship over lunch. I simply encouraged them to look to the Lord for every matter as they have decided to join the third-year training for further training and practical learning in serving the saints. The Lord burdened me to fellowship with them on seeking God's will in every matter of their life and service and shared some testimonies of how the Lord has been faithful to meet all our needs. As they were so encouraged, I pray that they all will become useful vessels to the Lord and become pillars to bear the Lord's testimony wherever they are, one day. In the evening a brother also came, and I encouraged him to be in fellowship with the saints as he will be going abroad. The Lord has prepared all these young brothers to bear His testimony. 

Unless otherwise there is a valid reason for not fellowshipping with the brothers, in some exceptional cases, I will always make myself ready for fellowship and prayer. For the same reason of maintaining the fellowship in the Body, a brother and I started going through the morning revival portion day by day. 

May the Lord continue to work in them, train them, and make them all pillars to be His testimony!

Fourth Day Lights

These days, we have started pursuing the Life-study of Genesis again as the entire church. I also participated in it again though I already completed the entire Life-studies recently. The word of God can be pursued over and over again. Every time I read and pursued the Life-studies, the word is fresh and new. One point of truth that impacted my life these days is the fourth-day lights.

On the fourth day, God created the sun, the moon, and the stars. These are the greater light and very specific for growth in life. The light God created on the first day was generic, it generated life generally but not for growth. But the fourth-day light enabled life to grow from stage to stage, from the grass, herb, and tree to the aquatic animals, birds of the air, and cattle in the field. The fourth-day lights spiritually are the Christ as the sun, the church as the moon, and the overcoming saints as the stars. 

Experientially, I need Christ as my sun, the church as my moon, and the overcoming saints as my shining stars. During this dark age, until the Lord returns, it is the moon that gives out light in the night. Though the moon itself has no light of its own, it receives its light from Christ, the sun. Therefore, it is imperative for me to be in the church to receive light for my life, for my service, and for my going on. This very point of truth I am experiencing these days.

In all my official activities, I had a good fellowship with all my coordinating brothers and only then execute what need to be executed. My thoughts about how to do things were all adjusted by the fellowship with the brothers. I have been learning to live in coordination with my fellow members of the Body. Likewise, in all my church activities too, whatever the brothers fellowshipped, I took the responsibility to carry out the matters of fellowship. Be it in deciding how to take care of the needy saints and their relatives affected by the ongoing riots in Manipur or in taking precautionary measures in shepherding the saints, I experience being in the church life(moon) and living and walking by the moonlight. This kind of church life is very healthy and I have been grace to partake in it. In addition, the fourth-day lights, by their great shining not only dispels the darkness but also shine to make the saints overcomers. 

This experience of the fourth-day lights confirms my need for the church life and my need for the brothers. I simply cannot live my Christian life without my brothers in the church. Praise the Lord for the revelation and experience of the fourth-day lights!

Christ, My Wisdom!

I asked God for wisdom and He gave me problems to solve. That's how God answered my prayer for wisdom. In fact, that's how God answers the prayer for wisdom generally. When Solomon was enthroned as the king of Isreal, he prayed for wisdom and understanding. God promised to answer him and He did so by sending two women contending for their child. Solomon solved the problem because God gave him wisdom.

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

1 Kings 3:12 I now do according to your words. I now give you a heart of wisdom and understanding, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor will one rise up after you like you.
1 Kings 3:16 At that time two harlots came to the king and stood before him.
1 Kings 3:25 And the king said, Divide the live child between the two, and give half to one and half to the other.
1 Kings 3:28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had exercised, and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to execute justice.

Similarly, I have also been praying for wisdom and understanding from God. He answers my prayer for wisdom by giving me problems to solve. Yes problems, not just one and once for all, but many and more to come, I believe. But, the Lord's wisdom will also be given to me to solve all the problems. In fact, in such solving of problems, it should not merely be rendering a solution to the problem, but much more the learning and gaining of Christ by all the persons involved. Otherwise, mere wisdom will not contribute to the growth in life, much less to the fulfillment of God's plan. 

Last month, my father informed me about a situation in Manipur, in my village concerning the ex-communication of the saints in the Lord's recovery who wanted to take a stand for the absoluteness of the truth of the Bible. My dad asked a tough question which really led me to the Lord to consider carefully and then I answered. Later, I received information from other family members about the same complicated issue in my village. Then I fellowshipped with my family members as we also prayed for the situation to be headed up by the Lord who is sovereign over all and the all-wise God. I was very clear in my mind as the Lord enlightened me, I gave them options to consider in order of importance.

The first is to go to the source of the problem, the village authority and their village lawmakers, to request in person, and pay a fine, if need be. The second is quietly and temporarily relocating to other relatives' homes.  If nothing works out, I even offered the land God gave me for use of this temporary need. But I advised strongly against going to the law court and filing a case based on the constitutional rights of India as an Indian citizen. Then, we followed up on the matter in prayer every night at our family prayer meeting. When the D-day came, the Lord sovereignly interfered and the matter was settled at the local police station and at the village court by paying legal fines imposed. 

A few days later, my dad called me up for the same matter. But this time it concerns our family's status of being ex-communicated. He asked me for money to pay some fines and clear off the matter at the village court. But deep within, I knew this was not of the Lord. So, I had to deny the request of my dad. Though good and timely it may seem to him, but for me, there is a better way to handle this. So at my answer, my dad also realized that his suggestions was not the right ones at the present time.

In this way of simple life experiences, the Lord trained me to learn to exercise wisdom who is Christ already in my spirit. For wisdom is Christ.

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

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

Christ is my wisdom! Christ is in me, in my spirit. 

I turn to my spirit where Christ as wisdom is, 

Then, His wisdom becomes my wisdom. 
Be wise, be in Christ! 
Need wisdom? Gain Christ!

A Word of Appreciation

The Lord in His sovereign arrangement blessed me to coordinate and serve together with a few brothers for the literature service in India. This is a service blessed beyond description. From the day I was brought in to serve, I realized this is the portion allotted to me by God. This is indeed my function in the Body. Therefore, I respect the Lord's arrangement, and I honor and treasure it to the uttermost.  

From day one, with this attitude the Lord gave me, I could right away fit in. With whoever I coordinated or have been coordinating so far, I enjoyed the sweet flow of life in one accord. I also learn to blend in and build up with the brothers the Lord has placed me with. And I always consciously exercise to learn, listen, and obey rather than give suggestions and opinions when in meeting or fellowships unless asked for it. I honor my fellow brothers and regard all of them as much better than me. I need them very much, without them I can do nothing. This lesson I have been learning from the ministry of Brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, to deny myself, learn to take up the cross, and follow the Lord by following the brothers.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.
Matthew 16:25

 Doing nothing by way of selfish ambition nor by way of vainglory, but in lowliness of mind considering one another more excellent than yourselves. Not regarding each his own virtues, but each the virtues of others also. Philippians 2:3-4

When one of our fellow coworkers resigned from the official directorship due to practical and personal reasons, I was assigned to write a letter of appreciation for the same. I considered before the Lord for a couple of days to get the thoughts, feelings, and utterances from the Lord. Yesterday, I completed the draft and sent it to the brothers for checking, correction, and confirmation. After my two brothers have read and checked, they both confirmed the letter. To be truthful, this letter expressed exactly how I felt about the brother for whom this was written. This was straight from my heart, and I meant every word I used in the letter. I truly respect and honor a brother who the Lord anoint to pioneer His move in India. May God bless him and all of us. The letter is titled, "A Word of Appreciation" to be signed by the three fellow bondslaves.

 A Word of Appreciation

Remembering unceasingly your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope

 in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.

1 Thessalonians 1:3

Dated: ** July 2023

Dear Brother *********,

We, your co-working brothers, fellow slaves, and officially also the members of the Board of Directors of A**** L**********, express our appreciation and high regard for the faithful service you have rendered to the literature service in India. In fact, we respect and honor the Lord’s anointing upon you in pioneering the literature work in India too. We look to the Lord for grace that we can continue to carry on faithfully and fruitfully the burden that you once bore. We trust the Lord that He will grace us to relay further the ministry literature torch as a beacon of light to the Christians in general, to the saints in the Lord’s recovery in particular, and even unto the next generations until the Lord returns.

We acknowledge your contribution to the literature service and also thank you for your coordination since you came onboard the company in 2010. It was indeed a complete twelve years of serving together in sweet coordination! Thank you, dear Brother *********!

Even though you have resigned from being an official director due to practical and personal reasons, we would encourage you to continue to carry on the burden of Malayalam literature service according to your capacity and the grace the Lord has bestowed upon you, as long as you wish to or as long as your health allows. We assure you of our full cooperation. We will stand in oneness with you and share your burden of Malayalam literature service as we have always been doing so.

We, as you fellow bondslaves, wish to exhort you with the words of the apostle Paul quoted below.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord,

knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58

May we also humbly request your persistent prayer for all of us who will still continue to shoulder the burden you also once bore and also for the Lord’s blessing upon the literature service in India. Your prayers and your blessing, we will dearly cherish and treasure.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.

Your brothers,

Our Lives Matter

Casting all your anxiety on Him because
it matters to Him concerning you. 1 Peter 5:7

The world at large has been fighting for its own rights. Nobody is humble enough to be looked down upon by anybody. Everybody wants to stand and fight for their rights. In the West and now in the East, I believe too, everywhere people are fighting for their rights. The campaign began a few years ago with Black Lives Matter. Then, White Lives Matter. Now, in my own home state, Manipur, as the conflict between two dominant groups is gradually escalating into civil war, propaganda and slogans have been raising wherever they could with the signa, Tribal Lives Matter and Meetei Lives Matter. 

Well, I thought to myself, whatever race or nationality you may belong to. Be it black or white or yellow; be it tribal or non-tribal, all are lives, and all lives matter. Should not the generic propaganda be, "Our Lives Matter?"

To me, life matters. Whichever lives you may interpret for the adjective before "live", they are all living people created equally by God, the Source and Author of life. So, Our Lives Matter!

With the background of the ongoing ethnic clash in Manipur and a few days ago, an ex-classmate of mine lost her husband, I took the opportunity to let all my friends and colleagues know that God loves and cares for us. In fact, our lives matter to Him much more than we matter to ourselves or to anybody. At such a juncture, we simply must trust in the Lord who cares for all equally. We should and must not give heed to the enemy's tactic of causing anxiety, worry, and depression among the "victims." We must always remember, God sees and knows everything. And God does care. And to God, Our Lives Matter.

Such being the case, it is best to simply trust in God. Any human scheming with man's natural wisdom will only lead to chaos, confusion, and complication. The best a believer can do in the midst of such complexity is, to cast all anxieties to God who cares for us. Because our lives matter to Him!

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Those who learn this simple spiritual lesson will be at peace. Our lives matter to God! So, cast all your cares upon Him, and bring all your anxieties to Him in prayer. The God of peace will make the peace of God our peace!

Therefore, the conclusion of the matter is, our lives matter to God.  So, trust in Him only, and cease from all natural maneuvering. For, Our Lives Matter.

Learn from Mistakes

God does not make mistakes, never did He nor will He ever. God is perfect and all He does is always perfect. Whatever God does for me is always the best. I may not understand it now, but time will testify that He always does the best for me.

Recently I made a couple of mistakes. It might sound silly and trivial. Nonetheless, they were still mistakes. I wonder to myself why I made such silly mistakes. I even thought of rectifying the mistakes I committed but ultimately I realized that they were not actually mistakes. It turned out that it was meant to be that way. 

We just had our Board of Directors meeting last Thursday. It was my official duty to preside over the meeting and make necessary official records. It was clearly told during the meeting that certain matters were a fellowship of the brothers not a part of the board meeting per se. But somehow, I recorded one of them into the minutes of the record. A brother pointed out this obvious mistake I committed and I apologized immediately.

Later, I still found that I made a typo in the minutes recording. Again a brother pointed it out. I thought I did it right but still, I made a mistake. And I again had to rectify the report. I thought to myself, what blunder and what oversight had I committed. Nonetheless, I learned that I needed the brothers who would help me find the mistakes I made and correct them. 

Another mistake I made was in filing my IT return. I thought I did everything right until I paid my tax and submitted the online form. First, my payment was not captured in the form I submitted. And later I discovered that I had filed the wrong form altogether. On checking with the official CA, I was told it could be rectified. And it was confirmed later that this was not a big issue and it will be settled. On the CA's advice, I did not try to revise it nor try to file with the new form. In this case, I thought I did not follow the inner leading as I initially intended to wait for a day. But as soon as I received my Form 16, I immediately did the filing, thinking that it was an easy job and it could just be done in a few minutes. I just proved myself wrong.

Nonetheless, I took this as a lesson to learn from and did not regret it. I am a child of God. I may make mistakes. But my Father God does not. Even when I committed a mistake, He turned it for my good to learn a lesson from.