Experiencing Christ in Home Meeting

A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from a sister whom I visited about five years ago. It was a surprise call from her after a long long time. And over the phone, she seemed to be desperate for fellowship and invited me to visit their family in Gurugram. Since I was caught up with many pending works I could not visit her family as I should earlier. But on the following Saturday, I was praying if I should visit her family. In fact, I also brought the family matter for prayer in the church prayer meeting. Then, I felt I should visit her as the matter seemed to be urgent. Therefore, with two sisters and a brother, we went to visit this family.

As expected, they have been in a very desperate situation mostly related to money. But we were very careful not to touch money matters in our dealing with people. As we listened to all the couple had to pour out, their needs seemed to be very genuine but a very big need.  Instead of dwelling on the outward objective money need, I felt led by the lord to preach the gospel to the husband and his sister as they were not yet saved though they professed to believe into Jesus through the many difficult circumstances that have been going through. 

The words the Lord gave me were from John 3 on the life of Nicodemus on the need for a person to be born anew. 

But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This one came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.
Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?
Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born anew.John 3:1-7 

These verses were very apt for the family. They were good and religious, but what God needs is a God-man born of God. Using these Bible verses, especially vv. 3 and 5, I led them to pray to receive the Lord as the husband gave me his consent with all willingness. I was surprised that he willingly prayed to receive the Lord by praying the sinners' prayer along with his sister and the whole family. Then, to help them further, I also explained the truth concerning baptism as the need for genuine believers. No matter what their decision may be, I must be faithful to the truth of the Bible. I must not withhold anything good from those who seek to know God and the truth. Nevertheless, the choice was entirely left to them. I preached, prayed, led them to pray, and presented the truth of the Bible concerning believing and baptism. The decision is theirs completely to take. Then, a brother who came with me also shared on the need to take Jesus into their boat. After which we all prayed together and left. 

Since we all had the feeling to invite them for a meeting, we invited them and also helped them to pay for their transportation as they expressed their helplessness in financial matters. The whole family came for the meeting and they all enjoyed it very much, especially their two daughters. A few days later, they came to visit us and we had further fellowshipped on experiencing the true and living in meeting all our needs. This time, the husband testified of how he had been experiencing God and how his faith had grown so much. But due to the present situation they were in, they decided to wait for baptism. 

Thank God that somehow we were able to visit them and had fellowshipped with them. From our side, we had done our best to minister Christ to them and it is up to them to decide when they would willingly take water baptism. 

May the Lord supply all their genuine and legitimate needs.

College Campus for Christ

Eight years ago, my elder sister sent her only beloved daughter to stay with our family for her academic pursuit and church life. Once she graduated from college, the Lord led her to attend the two-year of spiritual training that has been highly recommended for all the college graduate students in the church life.  After which she further prepared for a much coveted competitive exam. And this year, the Lord opened the door for her master's degree at Delhi University. As she began her college life again, the distance between her college and home in Gurugram was quite a challenge. Just the up and down journeys take about three to four hours of the day, which would be spent just for traveling. To me, this time could be better utilized. As she came for fellowship about hostel application, we considered together the pros and cons of staying in the hostel and being a day scholar. To me, time and energy are a big factor, that too, 5 days a week, and about 20 days a month, which means about 60 hours would just be spent for traveling. These could be used for something much more productive, either for studies or any other productive work. Nevertheless, I fellowshipped with her to pray and see how the Lord would lead. A few weeks later, I was informed that she was selected for one of the Government university hotels. I took that as the Lord's leading, which I mentioned to her even when she appeared for the interview. 

Yesterday, the 26th of October, my wife and I went to drop her off at her college hostel. After eight years of staying together as a family, the Lord has led her to move on to her next phase of life. As far as I am concerned, I felt I had done my best to take care of her in every possible aspect, including her physical and spiritual well-being. Time and again I had fellowshipped with her for hours some of the burden the Lord imparted to me concerning her life. I believe the Lord has made this arrangement for her further learning more lessons on life. In fact, I encouraged her to pay very much attention to her spiritual function on the college campus and her hotel so that she could become a channel of blessing to many of her friends and classmates. With the present situation for the Lord's move in North India, things were not like before. Therefore, I encouraged her to be a pillar for the Lord's move in the college campus. I do believe the Lord will bless her studies and use her to gain many students for the Lord. My fellowship to her was, to gain at least one student for the Lord and for the church life before she graduated from her master's degree. I also share my experiences and testimonies when I was on college campuses some twenty-five years ago. 

In a similar manner, when the time comes, and if the Lord wills, I would prefer all my children to also move into college and university campuses, learn lessons on life, and be useful vessels to the Lord. As the Lord saved me and gained me while on the college campus, may the Lord gain all my children too from their young age. The Lord's will be done.

There is indeed, time for everything. There must be progression in one's life in all aspects. Be it spiritual, academic, or physical. There must always be progression in line with God's divine purpose in man. Daily, as a family, we pray for her well-being. 

May the Lord bless her in her studies and in her testimony on the campus for the Lord's move in Delhi. May all the colleges and universities that the saints are in become campuses for Christ and ultimately for the church!

Experience of Christ in Not Meeting

For the first time in the history of my church life, the normal regular Lord's Table Meeting was canceled due to a purported threat perceived from a brother's sms alert. A group of saints were taken into prison for meeting as Christians and a charge was leveled against them of "conversion". The alert was received from a brother through an unknown number. I took it seriously and brought it to the attention of my brothers in the church. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, we decided to pay heed to the brother's alert. Therefore, we called off the meeting for the last Lord’s Day.

Besides, I also brought the matter to the brothers serving in the Lord’s move in the country and we took necessary action immediately. Though it was not a pleasant move, definitely it was a precautious move. Timely action was called for to deal with emergency situations. The Lord led us to do what needed to be done in a timely manner. Once in a while, such action was needed. I believe the Lord has been training us to meet the needs of the time.

Throughout the Lord’s Day, I was just sitting in my office chair, praying, reading the word, and communicating with the saints for some timely actions. My experience was like sitting in a war room and controlling "air traffic". This was my first experience of such an incident on the Lord’s Day.

I made use of the day which generally would be a very busy day with meetings and fellowship to accomplish something that I could not for quite a while. I was able to enter into the recent semiannual training that I missed due to the proofreading project in Bengaluru. I took four messages and the following day two more messages. With those, half of the training on the ministry of the word was accomplished. No matter what the outward environment may be, the Lord turns it for good all the time, if we love Him and cooperate with Him in His move.

In the coming days, I know not what will we face. But, I do believe the Lord will continue to work good for His move in this country especially in the North. For a moment, the enemy may seem to hinder the Lord's move and His testimony, but Jesus is Lord in North India and Christ is Victor in North India! Despite all these incidents, I still believe in the greatest prophecy of the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ Himself prophesied:

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock 

I will build My church, 

and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 

 Matthew 16:18

Experiencing God Who Hides

A brother from Madhya Pradesh has been running after me to address an online meeting on Wednesdays. The past few months I had been traveling abroad and within India, so I was not able to minister to the seekers in MP. Even yesterday I wanted to skip the meeting as I other things to do. But since he insisted, I felt I should comply to it. But still I was not clear what to minister.

At about 5:30 PM, we had an urgent fellowship of the brothers in the church in Gurugram. A brother mentioned about the God who hides Himself. Then, that became the message for my online meeting. The burden was clear. And as I considered on the subject, the Lord gave me all the necessary Bible verses.

Surely You are a God who hides Himself, / O God of Israel, the Savior. (Isaiah 45:15, RecVer)

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age. (Matthew 28:20, RecVer)

Because I Myself am with you, and no one will assail you to harm you, because I have many people in this city. (Acts 18:10, RecVer)

For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst. (Matthew 18:20, RecVer)

As I began to minister the word of God, I enjoyed the Lord's anointing richly. Sentence by sentence, the words were ministered. I sensed life flowing through me. In fact, the online saints too received much life supply.

This message on the hiding God was also what we experienced the last few days. There were difficult circumstances outwardly, but surely God was with us. Five of our brothers were imprisoned for being in a Christian meeting that sent shocking surprise among the saints and the family members. But God was sovereign over all. Despite the situation, He was behind the scene.

First, I confirmed and reconfirmed the fact that God as the Spirit is in our human spirit (2 Timothy 4:22, Romans 8:16) as a believer since we were born of God (John 3:3,5). Second, despite our outward circumstances seemingly contradicting our inward reality, God is still with us. Prayers may not be answered. Things may not be in our favor. God seemed to be nowhere. But, God is there behind all the dead, dark, and dry situations. Third, God will work in the environment, ultimately to fulfill His eternal purpose. Fourth, since such being the case, we must never be discouraged but stand firm in the faith believe in the unfailing word of God that He is with us all the time.

I used the example of how God delivered His people from being killed by the Jewish haters led by Haman. However, through Queen Esther who replaced Vashti under the leadership of the Jewish leader Mordecai and through King Ahaseurus, God secretly paved the way for salvation of the jews. God worked secretly at the right time with the right people. Though the word God was never mentioned in the book of Esther, God was the hiding God working to fulfill His divine economy. One Bible verse that really struck me is:

On that night the king could not sleep, so he gave orders to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. (Esther 6:1, RecVer)

God even took away the king’s sleep at the night to work out His heart's desire. God may not be mentioned at all nor be manifested outwardly, but He was very much present in among His people. Similarly, God as the Spirit is in our spirit today and He is working in the lives of every saint to work out His divine purpose. 

Later, I thanked the Lord that the brother insisted on me ministering the word. I was supplied and the saints were supplied too.

Praise the God who hides Himself!

Experiencing Chirst in Reproach

In the midst of my tight schedule with personal and official works pending, I received an indirect call to attend a theological conference in Bengaluru. At first I was not prepared at all to attend this conference, given the circumstances I was in. I still had to dive into the ministry speaking of twelve messages which I missed due to the Bible proofreading project while the church in my locality had all gone through. I still had a couple of blogs to write for which I needed time. And I was just about to embarked on a one year Hebrew course. But I weighed the benefits of attending the conference against the price I needed to pay. I considered before the Lord and prayed an intensive prayer as I needed to make an urgent and important decision. I brought this to fellowship with my fellow brethren and finally just two days before the actual conference began, the matter was decided that I should attend. The monetary price was heavy and much more  the manpower cost, counting the value of my time amidst tight schedule. 

As planned, I arrived Bengaluru and was lodged in a guest house of a family ministry. I attended the first meeting of this theological consultancy, and believe me, there was hardly any life supply in the meeting as it was all outward objective talks. I thought to myself, "Why am I here?" After the first session, I was literally and spiritually dried. But as I went to my lodging place, a brother who came to lead me to the room asked me a few questions about myself and the ministry. This opened up a floodgate of life supply as I fellowshipped with him about the ministry by introducing the Holy Bible Recovery Version and shared how the Lord had called me into the ministry. O I was so supplied by my own sharing to a brother. Thank God, I was salvaged from the dryness of objective talks. At least, my day ended well.

The next day, I had no interest to attend any of the meeting in sessions where theological papers were presented and talks on various topics were held. But one session where we had to present the ministry, we attended. I fellowshipped with my brother and prepared in prayer. In fact, that session of ten minutes alloted to "partners' corner" was the only point of interest to me. That was what I was there for. Therefore, when our turn came, a brother and I took the stage and introduced the ministry as the Lord led, not missing any point.

Well, right after that session, there was a break when many scholars who heard the introduction came and enquired about the ministry books. As we were busy introducing the ministry further to scholars, the organiser came and spoke negatively about the warning he received purportedly from three scholars who objected to the ministry of Witness Lee, which he asserted was not welcomed by an evangelical Christian organization. I was completely taken aback by such an arrogant attitude towards a dear brother. But the Lord graced me to be in my spirit and with a meek and quite spirit I listened to all that he had to rant against brother Witness Lee and his ministry. I was completely aware about the accusations some evangelical Christians in the West had levelled against the ministry a few years ago. And I was also aware about theise allegations being refuted point by point. Since I was not given any opportunity to speak nor defend nor clariy, I did not insist on talking back. Nevertheless, I was not bogged down by all the allegation as it was not new to me. I was aware about the enemy's attack in trying to hamper the spread of the truth. In fact, such incident only testify to the veracity and authenticity of the ministry of the New Testament. Paul was attacked too, so was Jesus by the Jews and the Pharisees. So what difference it made if I was attacked because of the truth of the Bible! I would rather count it all joy!

But this incident was like a sword pierced into my heart for taking the stand to represent the ministry, no matter what. I shall not me ashamed of the ministry nor the minister of the age. I shall continue to spread the ministry as this is the need of the time. I only prayed for those blind in religion that the Lord may open their eyes one day and see the ministry of the New Testament. But I don't fight back the flesh with the flesh. I fight in prayer and in the spirit. Perhaps, at the opportune time, I will only minister the truth to opposers. Until then, I accept the shaming and opposition, and leave the matter to God who vindicates. 

Though I met the same brother a couple of times after his allegations against the ministry, I greeted him with a brotherly smile. In fact, I tried to find time to fellowship or give him two magazines for clarification, but since his attitude was not friendly at all, I left the matter to the Lord. Let the will of the Lord be done.

But as I prayed and considered the matter, I felt I paid too heavy a price for rejection. The monetary value involved in attending this conference in addition to the time and energy invested, I somehow felt, "Why this waste?" Yet, I experienced the Lord a lot in bearing reproach for the sake of the truth. 

On the positive side, I was able to visit the church in Hosur and fellowship with the saints. Then, the church in Chennai and participated in the Lord’s Table meeting with the gospel meeting and home meeting. And most importantly, I was able to spend time with the literature serving ones in Chennai just for fellowship and took some important decision for the benefit of them all.

Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you, and while speaking lies, say every evil thing against you because of Me. Rejoice and exult, for your reward is great in the heavens; for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12, RecVer)

Experience of Christ in Prayer

Prayer is according to the burden the Lord has bestowed upon His children who would cooperatewith Him to pray the prayer He would burden them. For months now, I have been praying daily according to the burden the Lord gave me. Everyday, I would go before the Lord and release these burdens one by one. It is no more a generic prayer for someone or something. But a very specific prayer, even with naming the persons and the burdens associated with it. With such burden, I have no choice, but to cooperate with God and simply pray His prayer as my prayer.

Whether at home or abroad, I tried my best to find time to release thses burdens to the Lord on a daily basis. By so doing, I also enjoyed my prayer life very much. I did not need to make up prayer or compose a prayer. Since the burden came from the Lord, my prayer has been very spontaneous. Point by point, burden by burden, I enjoyed releaseing my prayers to God. And I do believe, all these prayers have already been answered. It's only a matter of time for the Lord to execute and for me to see the answers to all the prayers.

The burden the Lord bestowed upon me ranges from prayer for the salvation of all the main and key political leaders of India and the world. I faithfully have been praying for each leader whose names the Lord revealed to me. I prayed mostly for their salvation and for them to make policies and govern the country according to God’s economy. The burden for the world leaders is according to God's move on the earth today, even as He prepares His children to be the Bride. The burden also extends to the famous people in India, the corporate tycoons, the movies stars, the news anchors, sport persons, and many well known people in India and abroad. I have no special interest in any if these ones except that the Lord burdened me to pray for them earnestly.

My responsibility right now is to just pray and pray. In this way, I also experienced the Lord a lot. Sometimes, as I prayed I asked myself why I was praying for all these ones. Then I realised, I was not praying according to my own desire or interest, but praying according to the Lord’s desire.

Lord, continue to grace me to cooperate with You and pray and pray according to Your burden.

Gospel in Gurugram

Gospel is the good news for all for their forgiveness of sins and receiving of the eternal and divine life of God. I was saved by this gospel and I am being saved by this gospel and I will also be saved by his gospel. Since this is the only gospel that can save sinners in the whole universe, the gospel must be announced to all sinners. Our responsibility is to announce the goodness. Whether sinners receive it or not, it's up to them. Some may receive and others may oppose. However, opposition should not hinder the spread of the gospel because God loves all mankind alike. He wants to save all  Nothing can save sinners from sins and give them God's divine and eternal life except God Himself who sacrificed His Son for the salvation of many who would believe into His Name.

Acts 4:12And there is salvation in no other, for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved.

Because God loves me and saves me, I must share this good news with others so that the love of God may be received by others as well. For this reason, any saved person will have the innate responsibility and burden to share the good news with whoever the Lord may lead them to. Since I live in my city, I have been endeavoring to share the good news with whoever I feel led by the Lord.

In the local church here, we encourage all the saints to pick up this burden of the gospel. This is the one thing the enemy Satan attacks the most, which only proves that he is the defeated foe. Time and time, we have been reviving this burden and reminding the saints to announce the good news to whoever the Lord leads them to and wherever He placed them. 

The enemy has been trying his best to stop the spread of the gospel in whatever way he can, but ultimately the Lord prevails and turns his subtle scheme into the sovereign display of His multifarious wisdom.

I have been blessed to experience and enjoy the announcing of the good news to the people in my locality. These days, the way I announce the gospel is first by making friends and sharing them in a friendly way. The word of God was ministered from my spirit through my mouth. No outward objects, but the word of God spoken in spirit to the sons of peace. A new way, and a new learning. All the gospel materials and the necessary word of God were already constituted into my being and memorized into my memory. I just processed them when needed in my spirit, and spoke them out through my mouth in Hindi mostly and in Englsih sometimes. Praise the Lord for this new way of announcing the gospel!  

Lord, save the people of my city Gurugam, and fulfill the purpose for which You have placed us here in this city.