A Noble Deed

But Jesus, knowing it, said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? She has done a noble deed to Me. (Matthew 26:10, RecVer)

Today, a graduation meeting for the full-time trainees who graduated this year was held after the Lord’s Table meeting in the National Serving Ones Training in Hyderabad. This was the first ever graduation meeting held for India. Though I had the opportunity to attend the graduation meeting in Anaheim USA and Taipei Taiwan, this was was the first for India. It was a very precious meeting as the Lord has blessed India richly with the ministry of the word and the progression of the saints in the church life are being confired through this graduation meeting. Throughout the graduation meeting I was moved to tears witnessing the manifestation of Christ through the saints who have consecrated their lives for the Lord. O what precious lives have been offered to the Lord!

There are many saints who have finished the training throughout the years since 1997 in India and I have been blessed to be one of them, a 2003-2005 batch. It surely is the mercy of the Lord that graced all these dear ones to be trained in the ministry of the word under the ministry of the age. For, without the Lord’s mercy, it is impossible to pass through such a training for two years. To have passed through this training is the Lord’s mercy and blessing. And with this beginning, not the end, the Lord would continue to grace them all to go on in the Lord until the Lord comes back that they all would be normal functioning members of the Body of Christ. 

What moved me to tears was the testimony of the trainees especially those two sisters who had the the privilege and honor of being persecuted for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and went through imprisonment. Despite the injustice meted out to them, they stood firm in their faith and decided not to shed even a drop of tears taking the pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ and that of brother Watchman Nee who was imprisoned for twenty years and then eventually martyred. I was also moved by the testimony of a brother who consecrated his only begotten daughter to the Lord as a burnt offering and who also graduated from the training this time. This was such an encouragement to all the parents even as I now stand on the side of the parents being blessed with three children. And the testimony of a trainee and his father whom the Lord used the son to usher his whole family into the church-life. 

Witnessing all these, I wept tears of joy and thanksgiving to God for what He has done in India. These were the openly manifested ones as this was the first such meeting. Since 1997, there have been many who passed through the same training yet whose testimonies have never been shared. I believe, hundreds of trainees have similar testimony, still to be heard. Life is truly worth the living when it is lived out in Christ, through Christ, and for Christ.

To me, this is a noble deed. Mary poured out the best she had upon the Lord Jesus. Today, we also have the same opportunity to pour out our best for the Lord, our whole life itself, unto the Lord as a living sacrifice. This is a noble deed.

The Lord Jesus is worthy of the best. The best that we can offer is our very life; a life of martyrdom in living or in dying, psychologically or physically, a life of denying our natural man and taking Christ as our life and living, all for Christ and His church, a life to live an overcoming life to be raptured or martyred. This kind if life is a noble deed. 

Lord, grace me to live a life of noble deed.

Gracious Giving and Lending

As far as my conviction goes, I pray that I should never borrow but circumstances, sometimes, may turn things differently. Still I pray that the Lord would provide all my needs that I should never be in a situation to borrow. Though this is my conviction, I am flexible according to the need. Though I profess this, I would not impose it in others but I would definitely, as I have already done, would discourage saints from borrowing. Nevertheless, if the saints genuinely express their urgent needs and if the Lord gives me the provision, I would willingly lend a helping hand to the saints in need. In a good number of cases, I have done this already as long as the peace in my spirit allows and while doing so, I must also be in fellowship with my better half. In the recent past, I have categorically denied lending to two people as I did not have the peace at all though I had the provision. I felt the Lord did not lead me to lend and I apologised for not being able to lend money to them. But a few days back, I lend to a brother as I had the inward peace when he called me.

Today, I was freshly enlightened by my Scriptures reading portion.

The wicked borrow but do not repay, / But the righteous is gracious and gives. (Psalms 37:21, RecVer)

He is always gracious and lends, / And his seed becomes a blessing. Turn away from evil and do good, / And abide forever. (Psalms 37:26-27, RecVer)

Though I had propagated the "doctrine" of lending and borrowing, I am not legalistic and rigid either. Surely,  according to the need, and most importantly, the peace within me and with my beloved wife, I would graciously lend. Even lend to the extent of not excepting to receive it back, should the need be to such a degree that the debtor is in genuine need and cannot repay back at all. But, by and large, I would, for the sake of righteousness and maintaining peace between borrower and lender, desire that what was lent be paid back in time. Seemingly good human nature should not overlook the righteousness required of every believer. Moreover, this is a matter of testimony. In everything we do, there must be the testimony of the Lord.

In this, there indeed is a lesson to learn. The lesson of following the Lord’s leading case by case. No hard and fast rule, but the inward peace and harmonious oneness with my wife would be the deciding factor. With this condition, as the Lord leads and provides, I pray that the Lord would grace me to gracious give and graciously need to His children in genuine need. O what a blessing this is, as promised by the Lord!

He is always gracious and lends, 

And his seed becomes a blessing.

And according to Deuteronomy, the blessing of God entails lending and not borrowing. 

6. For Jehovah your God will bless you as He has promised you. And you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 

7. If among you there is a needy one amidst your brothers within any of your gates in your land, which Jehovah your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart and you shall not close up your hand from your needy brother; 

8. But you must open your hand to him, and you must lend enough for his need in whatever he lacks. (Deuteronomy 15:6-8, RecVer)

Jehovah will open up to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give rain for your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. And you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. (Deuteronomy 28:12, RecVer)

Lord, bless me that I may never borrow but be gracious to give and lend to those in need. Amen.

Warm Doors

For a door is opened to me, great and efficacious, and there are many opposers. (1 Corinthians 16:9, RecVer)

With the changing political situation in the country, the gospel door seems to have closed down especially in the North. But no one can fully close the doors the Lord Jesus has kept open. No matter what the enemy has tried and may still try to do, the door of the gospel cannot be closed. For the Lord Jesus already prophesied that the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it, the church built by Christ.

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, RecVer)

This prophecy holds true today. Though there may be outward restrictions, the Lord still opnes the door for the gospel as there are seekers of the truth and the true and living God whom the Lord has preserved. The past three weeks, I was able to visit a family whom the Lord preserved as open door for the gospel and a warm door to the church.

The Lord opened the hearts of the seekers and we have been enjoying regular home meeting. Last three weeks, in my visit, the Spirit of the Lord led us to call upon the Lord’s name, sing hymn, read the word of God, read the ministry portion, share the word of God, and pray together. At least, the Lord gives the church some warm doors for the gospelisation and truthisation. I do believe, the Lord in time will save the whole household, their neighbors, and even raise up a district meeting in that area. 

Our responsibility now is to simply be faithful to what the Lord has given to us. For what He has not given, we need not pursue until He leads us to do so. But for what He has given and open the door, we must be faithful to visit for fellowship and shepherding.

Lord, open up more and.more warn doors.

Hyderabad Visit

The Hyderabad visit for the training under the fellowship of a senior and mature brother was to me like a training Br. Watchman Nee conducted in Kuling mountain about a hundred year ago in China, at lease in principle, I believe. The Lord's speaking and shining and enlivening was spectacular and marvelous. It was like passing through God’s surgical operation in my inward being. Praise the Lord such a training and such a visit!

Along side this Hyderabad visit, I was able to meet two families and two brothers. With one family where we were hosted for two nights, I received a health benefit of getting a Scoby for making Kombucha, a fermented tea drink. A SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) was obtained from a sister and brought to Gurugram. Now, at least, thee families are daily making Kombucha now.

The other family we visited was a newly married couple, the husband is a full-time serving one in the literature service. A brotherly family visit was made to encourage the married couple in their newly married life with some testimonies of encouragement. We also prayed for the family.

Two brothers that I could meet this time are my ex-classmates in MCA MCC Chennai and brothers in Christ. One of them.have been gained by the Lord to even bear a responsibility in a local church in the South. 

Everytime I visited Hyderabad, the Lord accomplished something spectacular in my Christian experience. All these blessings are because of the church life in the Lord’s recovery and the rich speaking of the Lord through the ministry of the word. Praise the Lord!

Oneness in Psalms 133

Psalms 133

1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity! 

"Behold," is the first word mentioned in this verse. The word, behold, has a connotation of perception, something visible, recognizable, or atleast spiritually discernible. 

That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me. (John 17:21, RecVer)

The oneness of the believers must be visible that the "world may believe." For the world to believe, the world must see the believers in oneness. This is the testimony of Jesus. The one new man the Lord created at the cross is the church, the Body of Christ, where there is no distinction between believers. For all are one in Christ.

Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace, (Ephesians 2:15, RecVer) 

In this one new man, there is only one Person, Jesus Christ. This implies that the oneness of the believers is the living out of Christ. No more of the old man, old creation, flesh, world, Satan, sin, sins, culture, religion, concepts, etc., but only Christ and Christ alone. 

Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all. (Colossians 3:11, RecVer)

Today, this oneness is recovering among the believers. And one day, the Lord will fully recover the oneness that He prayed for in John 17. And the world will see it. Behold!

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity! 

Psalms 133

2. It is like the fine oil upon the head that ran down upon the beard, Upon Aaron’s beard, That ran down upon the hem of his garments; 

The fine oil is the Spirit of God, the consummation of the processed Triune God, inclusive of all that God has passed through in His incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descencion in His infilling and outpouring Spirit into the spirit of the believers. This Spirit of Christ, the anointed One, is the reality of the anointing ointment in Exodus 30. 

23. You also take the finest spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred fifty shekels, and of fragrant calamus two hundred fifty shekels, 

24. And of cassia five hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. 

25. And you shall make it a holy anointing oil, a fragrant ointment compounded according to the work of a compounder; it shall be a holy anointing oil. 

Today, all the genuine believers have received this anointing Spirit by virtue of the divine birth. Therefore, one has to proactively abide in Christ, the anointed One, to live and walk by the anointing Spirit Who will bring in the reality of oneness among the believers.

And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know. (1 John 2:20, RecVer)

And as for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him. (1 John 2:27, RecVer)

In this anointing, no flesh has a part in it. The flesh is the root cause of division. Anything of the flesh and anything done in the flesh is an anti-testimony of oneness. Everything of the anointing Spirit and everything done in the anointing Spirit is a testimony of oneness.

Upon the flesh of man it shall not be poured, nor shall you make any like it, according to its composition; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. (Exodus 30:32, RecVer)

Therefore, from Christ the Head and the Anointed One, the anointing Spirit flows to all the members of the Body, the church, and testifies the oneness that the world can behold. 

Psalms 133

3. Like the dew of Hermon that came down upon the mountains of Zion. 

For there Jehovah commanded the blessing: Life forever. 

The dew is the fresh and refreshing grace of Christ that the believers enjoys day by day by being in oneness in the local churches. The mountains of Zion are the many local churches of the one unique universal church with Christ as the unique Head of the church. When in oneness in the local churches, the believers enjoys the grace of Christ that enables them to be in oneness, and this oneness in turn enables them to enjoy the grace of Christ. This is a cycle of grace and oneness, the dew upon the mountains of Zion. On the mountains of Zion is the dew and the dew is on the mountains of Zion. More grace more oneness, more oneness more grace!

Praise the Lord for this revelation of oneness, based on the anointing Spirit that the children of God can enjoy as grace enabling them to be one. And this oneness of the builded Body of Christ is visible that the world may behold. And upon this Body of Christ, the believers in oneness, God commands the blessing, life forever!

Continuing Acts

Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered. (Acts 28:31, RecVer)

The book of Acts still continues with the believers carrying out the proclaimation of the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered. For over the past two thousands years, this proclamation has been continuing as the "continuing Acts of the believers" today. In this continuation, all the genuine believers who are one with Christ in His heavenly ministry are proactively participating in writing the divine history within the human history. As we live, we are writing our history. The question is, is the history that one writes a part of the divine history? To be a part of the divine history, the human history must be in sync with the Lord's move to carry out God’s divine purpose on the earth. For this, one's living must be Christ's living again on the earth, one's doing must be the Holy Spirit's act in him and through him, and the goal of such a living is the doing of the will of God on the earth unto the glory of God. Such a living is a living in the oneness of the Body of Christ and a move in the Body of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ for the preparation of the Bride of Christ to usher in the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ!

For such a divine move, one must take action in time and not be passive any longer. There is no more time to waste. More than two thousand years have passed, and I believe, our brethren in the past had done their best. Now, the baton has been passed on to us, and believers of this generation must proactively take action by offering themselves up willingly for the Lord’s move today. The need of the hour is to take action.

Your people will offer themselves willingly in the day of Your warfare, In the splendor of their consecration. Your young men will be to You like the dew from the womb of the dawn. (Psalms 110:3, RecVer)

First, by consecration, consecrating our lives to the Lord. Only then, the Lord will have a free way to work Himself into and and work through us. Following this consecration, all the practical details of daily living, gospel move, shepherding, perfecting, and building will follow suit. Then, the churches will witness revival not only of the outward manifestation but also the inward reviving, enlightening, enlivening, and energizing and proactively continue the book of Acts, chapter by chapter, verse by verse; year by year, day by day; and continuing till the Lord’s coming again in carrying out the great commission.

Lord this, I have consecrated my life to the Lord, my family, and all that the Lord blessed me with, to continue the book Acts, proactively writing the divine history in my human history. 

Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

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 28:19-20, RecVer)

Complicated Cases

The Christian life is a complicated and complex life as God is leading His children into perfection to be the same like Him in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. By human birth we are sinners yet by divine birth we are children of God. Now, as we are living and walking the Christian path ordained by God, we pass through many complicated cases and complex situations for our learning, training, and perfection. As students have to pass through normal attending of classes, doing home works, studying, and writing examinations, and be promoted to the next level of education, so also we, as children of God in the school of divine-human incorporation, pass through many complexities and complications. These are all for the shedding of the fleshly and natural constitution and the gaining of God through the cross by the Spirit until we are conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God. Therefore, all the complications are complements from God, His caring us to comply to His Christ, culminating in Christ-likeness.

Today, I was enlightened concerning this complicated case while pursuing the ministry portion as quoter below.

PAYING ATTENTION TO THE LINE OF LIFE AND THE HIDDEN FLOW OF LIFE

The growth of any kind of life toward maturity always involves complicated situations. These complicated situations are not a hindrance; instead, they are helpful. Outward situations do not matter. What matters is whether there is a hidden flow of life.

In the church we must have a pure motive and grow properly. We should never become old quickly or wither away early. We must make sure that we do not have any impure motives. If we have an impure motive, we will wither early, decay early, and fall off early. This is to give up on ourselves. If we grow properly, we will age slowly. Furthermore, we will spontaneously become a proper older saint who nourishes and takes care of the younger saints in the church.

Excerpt from The History and Revelation of the Lord's Recovery CWWL, 1981, vol. 2

In the evening, a brother and I fellowshipped on this matter that how we, as children of God, are going through complicated cases. It takes a revelation to see the wise hands of God in our situations; work life, family life, and church life. The sovereign God used people at the office, perhaps the boss or peers or subordinates; at home, the wife or children; and at the church, the brothers and sisters. From all angles, through all kinds of people, God is leading us through difficult and complicated cases to perfect us day by day. This is the fulfilment of the checker works and wreath of chain works in the design of the temple on the top of the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz. Through all these complications, we turn to the Lord desperately,  trust in Him in simple faith, and enjoy His grace day by day, and be beautified to conform to His image for His expression.

May the God of glory daily conform us to Christ His Son through all complicated cases He caringly allow us to pass through.