Family Time

My son turned fourteen on the eighteen of this month and my wife turned forty seven on the twenty fourth of this month. This month, we witnessed two birthdays though we do not celebrate birthday as such. As a family, we simply thanked the Lord for adding to our lives one more year and prayed to the Lord that we love Him more, gain Him more, and grow up to Him more. This is what we generally do when we faced our birthdays. Thanking and praying Him for His grace.

For my son, on his birthday I purchased for him a new school bag which can be used for travelling as we have travelling schedules lined up the coming months. For my children, they were happy if I took them out on their birthdays, for a meal at the restaurant of their choice. They did not expect more than that. They were just happy with a time of family eating out on their birthdays. We used those occasions for family time out together. No invitation, no celebration, just a family time together, eating together. Only if I find the need, I used to purchase a gift or two. But very rare was such a need. For my wife, I bought a cake of her choice. We prayed for her and enjoyed the cake together. That made her more than satisfied. In small and big things, we grasped the opportunity to spend time together.

These days, the Lord has blessed us with much time for family bonding. The Lord has been gracious to bind our family together. Gradually, we also established our family prayer and truth pursuing time, personal prayer time, corporate morning revival time, and also corporate prayers with our companions. To me, spiritual life is the most important part of a human life. Once our spiritual life is normal, all the rest will be in good order. So, as a father, I have been doing my best to make sure we all exercise daily for a healthy spiritual life in our family so that we can all become channels of blessing in the church and the community we live in. After all, our lives are for Christ and for the church life.

Lord, bless our family. Gain our daily living for Your testimony, that as Joshua our testimony will indeed be:

And if it seems wrong in your sight to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, either the gods from across the River, whom your fathers served, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah. (Joshua 24:15, RecVer)

Lesson on Wisdom

God chose the wise and prudent and well attested ones to be the leaders over His people. But how to determine who are the wise in heart? They are the ones who keep and do the word of God. 

So, to be wise and prudent, the basic requirement is to keep and do the word of God. Which means, to do and keep the word, one must know the word, and to know the word, one must read the word. This is the only way to be wise and prudent.

Choose for yourselves men who are wise and prudent and well attested, according to your tribes, and I will make them your leaders. (Deuteronomy 1:13, RecVer)

So I took the leaders of your tribes, men who were wise and well attested, and I made them leaders over you, captains over thousands and captains over hundreds and captains over fifties and captains over tens and officials for your tribes. (Deuteronomy 1:15, RecVer)

Keep and do them therefore; for this will be your wisdom and prudence in the sight of the peoples who hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and prudent people. For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as Jehovah our God is whenever we call upon Him? And what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I am setting before you today? But be careful and guard your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; rather, make them known to your children and to your grandchildren. (Deuteronomy 4:6-9, RecVer)

When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong therefore and be a man; And keep the commandment of Jehovah your God by walking in His ways, by keeping His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances and His testimonies as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; (1 Kings 2:1-3, RecVer)

In addition to being wise and prudent by keeping and doing the word, one can also prosper in all what he do. This is a gem that I have discovered. Initially, I used to think that wisdom and prudent is a gift of God. Solomon received God's wisdom as he prayed for it. Yes indeed, it is a gift from God. But much more, it is also by paying heed to the word of God. Though God gifted Solomon wisdom, he did not keep the word of God in the latter part of his life as he married pagan women in disobedience to God’s words who turned his hearts away from God. So, for the longevity of wisdom and prudent in one's life, in addition to the wisdom as a gift of God, one also needs to keep and do the word of God.

These days, I have been spending sufficient time to read the Bible daily. The Lord showed me new things as I read the word of God again and again. I read it not only for wisdom and prudent, but also for my life supply. He gives both. So I find it best to read the word of God as much as possible. I do not limit myself to few chapters anymore. I read as much as I can within the time I have and also alloted for Bible reading. And as I read and read, the Lord also showed me new things here and there, now and then. I pray that the Lord will grace me to continue reading the Bible daily as much as I can and also receive light and life along with wisdom and prudent.

Lord, grant me wisdom and make be prudent

Lesson on Purity

In my reading of the Bible, the Lord impressed me so much about Mephiboseth. I saw an excellent character in him which I never saw before. 

Firstly, he was the son of David's beloved, though crippled, he was honored to eat at the king’s table. Despite his handicap, he need not look done on his crippled feet, but look at the food placed on the dinning table of the king.

And Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem because he ate at the king’s table continually. And he was crippled in both his feet. (2 Samuel 9:13, RecVer)

Secondly, he was deceived by his own servant Ziba who wanted to win David's favour and coveted his inheritance.

And when David was a little past the summit, Ziba, Mephibosheth’s attendant, came to meet him with a pair of saddled asses and upon them two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred clusters of raisins and a hundred summer fruit and a skin of wine. And the king said to Ziba, Why do you have these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king’s household to ride on, and the bread and the summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those who faint in the wilderness to drink. And the king said, And where is your master’s son? And Ziba said to the king, He is now dwelling in Jerusalem, for he said, Today the house of Israel will restore to me the kingdom of my father. And the king said to Ziba, Now all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours. And Ziba said, I bow myself to you. May I find favor in your sight, O my lord the king. And when King David came to Bahurim, a man of the family of the house of Saul came forth from there, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came forth, cursing as he came forth. (2 Samuel 16:1-5, RecVer)

Thirdly, he acknowledged the fact that he and his whole family were worthy of death. And further confessed that he had no right to cry out to the king.

Fourthly, when David said that he and his servant would divide his inheritance by half, he even offered that Ziba can get the whole.

And he said, O my lord the king, my servant deceived me; for your servant said, I will saddle myself a donkey that I may ride on it and go with the king. For your servant is lame. And Ziba slandered your servant before my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God; therefore do what is good in your sight. For all my father’s house were but men worthy of death before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right then do I have to cry out more to the king? And the king said to him, Why speak any more of your affairs? I say that you and Ziba shall divide the land. And Mephibosheth said to the king, Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has arrived at his house in peace. (2 Samuel 19:26-30, RecVer)

Such a character as Mephibosheth impressed me a lot. It reminds me of the purity of heart needed of a believer. I am not sure if I were as pure as him. But I do pray and wish that I be pure in heart too. 

These days, I have also been exercising to deal with my heart of any impurity. I do not want to be double standard and hypocrite. I want to be straight, simple, single, and sincere in my words and deeds. But I am not sure either where I have come upto now. I only hope and pray that the Lord will train me day by day, deal with my heart until it is pure. My motive, intention, attitude, opinion, and thoughts should be pure before God and man concerning anything.

Lord, purify my heart, I pray.

Fellowship of Offering

And my God will fill your every need according to His riches, in glory, in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, RecVer)

A new brother's family in the church in Gurugram has been going through a lot of financial difficulties. He has been working so hard to make ends meet. He even decided to send his wife and child back to his village as he felt he could no longer support them for house rent and school fees. This matter was brought to me recently. As usual, I did not react according to my emotional feeling. Nor did I want to give the poor saints an impression that by being in the church life they can get an easy money through offering. I took the matter before the Lord in prayer and felt to offer according to the Lord’s supply. I also fellowshipped with my wife and we both had the oneness to offer. Incidentally, I withdrew one my FDs and had sufficient money to offer to this family and thus it was done so through the church offering box. Later, I heard a testimony that this family's faith in the Lord has grown much by this experience and they felt very comforted by the love of God expressed through the saints. A few weeks later, their son also got admission in a school meant for the underprivileged. So, the Lord took care of their financial needs and they need not go back to their village. Since they got saved here in the church and are now enjoying the church life, they did not want to go anywhere. 

At the same time, another brother has been going through serious health issue. Though I wanted to visit him, I could not make it due to my busy schedule. Instead, I used to pray with him over the phone. When the Lord provided me sufficient money, I had the burden to offer to this family as well. Then, one Lord’s day, with three other brothers, we went to visit him and transfered the offering. 

These offerings were done at the crucial time when we also need the most for our family's overseas trip. At one time, everything I had almost ran out. I even had to write to a brother who owed us quite an amount of money for a couple of years now. Though I tried my best to not write anything about him paying back, my situation forced me to at least remind him of what he owned and checked with him when he could possibly settle it. Though he could not make it, still the Lord had His way.

Then, the Lord showed me the saving that I could make use of. Which then provided our needs and that of the others in abundance. This was a wonderful experience of fellowship in money matters. The Lord bountifully met out own needs and the needs of other saints. A joyful enjoyment of fellowship in offering. The Lord is the Source, He provides richly and timely!

And my God will fill your every need according to His riches, in glory, in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, RecVer)

Being Responsible

As a father, I have the responsibility of taking of my family's need. This month as my daughter wrote her board exam, I prayed and determined in my heart that I would be with her. For all the past school years exams, I had been mostly out of station for official purposes or for other works. But as she faced her class ten board exam, I felt I must be with her. Therefore, I made my schedule in such a way that during her entire board exam I would not travel anywhere else. 

The Lord also released me for any traveling during this time. In fact, there was a plan to tavel to the South for some official work, but the Lord did not allow it this time. For, He knew my prayer and my heart to be with my daughter. So, I was able to drop and pick my daughter during all her board exams. She also had been working very heard. She worked much much harder than me. Almost every night she would stay up late and sometimes studied the whole night. In fact, I had to even tell her to take more rest and to take it easy. But she would not take it lightly. She was extremely serious. No wonder, she did well in all her exams. Much much better than all her other school exams. She did her best in her final board exam. The subjects she feared most, Hindi and Mathematics, she did the best among all other exams in school. 

I was very satisfied with her attitude towards studies. In fact, I told her again and again, "You have done your best, leave the rest to the Lord and He will give you the best result." She had such a sense of satisfaction as she did her best and I too had the same satisfaction in carrying out my responsibility as her father. I am least worried what her result would be. Whatever result is based on her performance and the Lord’s blessing. 

I had another personal responsibility of taking the video training which I missed due to my official duty, traveling during the actual training in New Delhi. I had no choice. So, after I cam back, I sanctified one week to enter into the messages alone and receive the Lord’s speaking personally as I could not corporately. Even in this, the Lord graced me to be uptodate with His uptodate speaking despite my traveling schedule. 

In this way, the Lord showed me that if I have a heart for anything else He will make a way for it. Especially, if my heart's desire is according to His will. Where there is a will, there indeed is always a way. Praise the Lord!

In a similar way, I fellowshipped with my niece whenever I felt the need. I had to discharge my responsibility even as her uncle. Not just in prayer but also in practical matters.

These are just human responsibilities, but to accomplish them, I need the Lord’s grace. Only by His grace and mercy, I can be what I ought to be, as a father to my children, and as a brother to the saints.

Lesson on Prayer

The Lord has been teaching me a lesson on prayers in a fresh way these days. Though I have been praying daily for many burdens, now He is teaching me to pray for my daily needs too. Even for petty little things. Generally, Christians pray for big things and neglect the simple things. Now, the Lord has been teaching me to even pray for things that could also be done without any prayer. But in my case, even the petty little things I could no longer do without thorough and specific prayers. 

Flight Tickets Bookings

In the past few weeks, I had to pray, fellowship, and consider my family trip to Singapore and Taiwan. After much much prayer and fellowship, the dates of traveling became clear and finally I decided to book. The Lord also provided the money needed for the flight booking. Initially, it sounded kike we could not make it, but the Lord provided the needs gradually. 

Though the fellowship with Singpaore and Taiwan for our visit was done and the dates were clear, still, to do the booking I needed my wife. In fellowship and thorough prayers, I could experience the Lord in flight booking, though the actual booking became a big challenge. The flight charges were very high. I tried to use travel agents thinking that they might be cheaper but they turned out to be the opposite. So I had to search online, and looked for many ways to book the tickets. Finally, one night I went to pray specifically for flight booking and then after the prayer I was able to book the exact flight that I desired at the price affordable to me. Then, I thanked the Lord in leading me through in flight booking. I immediately updated the brothers in Singapore and also a brother from Taiwan about the itinerary.  What a release after this booking! The Lord did not let this simple matter go without first praying to Him and experience His supply, both financial and spiritual. 

Kitchen Sink Blockade 

The house we live in now is pretty old. It's structures, walls, paintings, pipes, etc have been degrading. Nonetheless, it is still liveable. A few weeks ago, the kitchen drainage pipe was blocked and we were not able to wash the vessels for a couple of weeks. I tried my best to solve the problem. I even brought a plumber to check. But it looked like the building need to be broken and the pipe underneath be replaced which will be a costly affair. I tried my best to solve this problem by using acid, chemical to decompose the food material blocking the pipe, and tried many ways. Nothing worked. Finally, I decided to pray specifically for this matter which I usually would not do. By the way, who would pray for the solving of a kitchen sink drainage pipe? Call the plumber and let them do the job. And pay the plumber. Simple, isn't it? Not with me anymore. I used to solve many petty little problems this way. Be it fridge or washing machine or geyser or any plumbing or electrical problems, professional people are there for the job. But now, when with the help of this professional, things did not work out. The Lord did it this way to teach me a lesson on prayer and trusting in Him.

Since the problem persisted for weeks, I prayed desperately for the "healing" of this blockade. The Lord answered my prayer. In a simple way, I had the thought of buying two bottles more of acid and pouring into the sink hole, though I did it already with about 15 bottles of acid. And then leaving it for a night. The next day, I called a plumber to look at it again. This time, he did again physical pumping of air into the the sink hole with a new pump, though it was already done with an old pump. After continual pumping of the decomposed drainage with acid the previous night, it gradually was pumped out and the issue was resolved. 

I had tried the same thing before without prayer assuming it to be simple plumbing issue. It did not work. But after prayer, the same process with even lesser effort, the matter was resolved immediately. It was not at all about the old house or sink pipe, it was all about the Lord training me to pray and trust in Him for every little things. A complete dependence on the Lord is what is what the Lord has been teaching me. I am learning this lesson now. Praise the Lord!

Preparation for God’s Building

Train up a child according to the way he should go; Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6, RecVer)

God has blessed me with the heavenly and spiritual blessings. He also blessed me with children of whom I am His custodian. He has been gracing me to cherish and nourish the children He blessed me with for His purpose. Therefore, trusting in His grace and wisdom, I do my best to prepare the children God blessed me with, for the building up of His house. This is on my personal level as a Christian and as a biological father to my children. This is also my responsibility as a father for which I must be faithful in taking care of what God has bestowed upon my shoulders. In addition to consecration and prayers for my children, I must also train them up in the way they should go according to the wisdom and knowledge God gave me with. There may be many things and many areas that I may not be able to render any help but within my capacity and what in all that I can do, I must be faithful and do my best. Yes, doing my best to train up my children, in giving them the best education, both spiritual and academic, and even character training. David is a good example of one who prepared materials for God’s building. He prepared his son and also all the physical items needed for the building of God’s house.

And David the king rose to his feet and said, Hear me, my brothers and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah and for the footstool of our God, and I prepared materials for building it. (1 Chronicles 28:2, RecVer)

And as much as was in my power I have prepared for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold and the silver for the things of silver and the bronze for the things of bronze and the iron for the things of iron and the wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and variegated stones, and every kind of precious stone and marble stones in abundance. Furthermore, because I set my affection on the house of my God, and since I have a private treasure of gold and silver, I give it for the house of my God over and above all that I have prepared for this holy house: (1 Chronicles 29:2-3, RecVer)

O Jehovah our God, as for all this abundance that we have prepared for building You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours. (1 Chronicles 29:16, RecVer)

And to Solomon my son give a wholeness of heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your statutes, and to do all and build the palace for which I have prepared these things. (1 Chronicles 29:19, RecVer)

On the one hand God blesses and provides, and on the other hand, we must be one with God to prepare whatever is needed within our capacity. In picking up this burden, these days, I paid more attention to the spiritual well being of my children. Everyday, we all have been praying together as a family, pursuing the Life-study messages, reading the Bible personally according to the one year read through the Bible, attending the church meetings, having home meetings, and now more importantly, setting up daily time for personal prayer.

My son and I have been going out in the  evenings in the nearby parks to pray personally and also to pray corporately. We both have been enjoying this time together in prayer. All my burdens for prayer that are common to the family, we pray together day by day. Only on the evenings whenever we went out for group meetings or gospel preaching we skipped our going out together. Otherthan that, the Lord has been faithfully granting us His grace to enjoy time with Him together as father and son.

Similarly, my wife has been going out with my daughters for a time of prayer in the morning. In addition, they both also prays with their vital groups almost daily. In fact, we have also been encouraging them to attend all kinds of meetings for the young people, teenagers, locally or nationally. As a father, I have been doing my best to spend and be spent on them. If I could go with them for the national level training, I did. Otherwise, I still send them, paying whatever price it may be. 

My prayer is that the Lord must gain them fully from their young age and be prepared as useful materials in the Body of Christ for the building work of God.This is the best we can do to prepare our children to be useful vessels to God.