Pure Pressure

In the world, people have been influenced by their peers for good or for bad. Peer pressure is one directing force that affects people's behaviour. Evil companions do corrupt good moral. Likewise, good companions do correct evil manner.

In the church life, saints are my companions, especially, my brothers with whom I have been coordinating with for many practical and spiritual matters of the church. I definitely have been under pure pressure, in many cases. Often, I had my views on certain matters but I had been gradually adjusted by the pure pressure that emanates from my companion brothers. What a salvation! Where my shortages were, there, my companions filled the gaps. In this way, for a couple of things and decisions, I have been influenced by pure pressure. Thank God, its all for good! Hallelujah!

What a curse it could have been if there were no godly companions! What a shortage it could have been to act as a lone wolf! In the age of the Body, individual spiritual giant meant nothing to God nor to Satan. What a salvation to be in the companionship of the brothers in the church!

The past few days, we have had a good number of fellowships. A group of brothers were "brainstorming" in fellowship for the practical carrying out of the video training in Delhi or Gurugram. From taking decisions to taking actions, we all have learned to take the way of the Lord often practically directed by pure pressure from the brothers' fellowship. Step by step, the Lord trained us; adjusted us, and made us pliable, and all the while, blended us all together!

I believe, this is what it means to be blended in the Body. Of course, through the cross, by the Spirit, for the building up of the Body. 

Pure pressure for perfecting and building up in the Body, through the Body, and by the Body. 

Know God: Personal Relationship with God

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, RecVer)

The Lord’s speaking these days have been to know Him in a subjective way; a way that is personal, private, intimate, and sweet fellowship with Him. In this way of experiencing the Lord, one can know God personally that will issue in the growth in life for the building of the Body corporately. In accordance with the Lord's up-to-date speaking, I have also been graced to experience Him in such a personal and intimate way.

God has sovereignly arranged matter after matter for me to consider before Him in prayer. In the past few weeks, I have had the blessing of bringing my personal matters to the Lord every night during my personal prayer time with Him. What an experience to converse with the Lord in a human level! I was graced and blessed to talk to him as friend with friend, or at times, as a son to his Father. Either way, I experienced much transaction with the Lord. In fact, every night, at least for one matter, I fellowshipped with the Lord. And through such fellowship, the Lord graced me the light to discern His will in those personal matters. Some of these seemed trivial, yet in all those small things I could experience the Lord. Some matters were as simple as when to apply for my daughter's further studies, when to visit Taiwan embassy, and when to apply for test etc. The weight of the matter is not the matter, but the weighty experiences of the Lord in such matters are what matters. I felt very blessed to be graced with so many transactions with the Lord. I believe, the Lord has worked Himself into me much these days. I myself could sense the changes transpiring within me. O what a blessing to know God in such an experiential way!

The Lord knows best for the outward result of all these matters I brought to Him in prayers. No matter what the outcome may be, I actually have already got the results to all the matters I brought to Him in prayers. Or put it simply, the answers to my prayers were the experiences of God in and through those prayers. I had hundreds of conversations with the Lord, one on one. I believe, it will be thousands and ten thousands conversations with the Lord gradually.

This is what it means to know God; the experience of God, the enjoyment of God, and the possession of God, which will ultimately issue in the expression of God! Hallelujah! What a blessed Christian life to know God in such an experiential way!

Having tasted the sweetness of such fellowship with the Lord, I treasure my personal time with the Lord very much these days. In fact, I cannot live without it. Though I have been pursuing the Lord through my daily Bible reading, truth pursuing, corporate pursuing, etc., I cannot pass my day without spending adequate time with the Lord in prayer. This reminds me of a hymn by Fanny Jane Crosby (Hymns 387):

O the pure delight of a single hour

That before Thy throne I spend,

When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,

I commune as friend with friend!

Lord, cause me and all the saints to know You more and more each day. Yes, know You personally, intimately, privately, and sweetly too!

A Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual warfare has been waging throughout the ages between God and Satan with man in between. Though God is the guaranteed Winner, Satan seems to win now and then depending on whose side man takes side with. This has been a normal experience of every normal Christian. Therefore, the experience of victory truly depends on taking side with the victorious God in Christ the Victor.

It has always been my prayer and burden that all the young people be consecrated to the Lord Jesus and be gained by Him for Him. In particular, my burden has been that the graduating college students be shepherded to join the two years full-time training. The Lord has faithfully been answering this prayer and the burden of the church since the very beginning of the church life in Gurugram. Even when we had no college students to send to the training, some from other localities would be supported by the church here. In the recent past, the Lord has recovered and shepherded the young ones in the church life to join the training.

The past few weeks, we had experienced an intense battle of fighting for one brother who wanted to join the training. Though he had been shepherded in this direction he had went through a lot of inward struggles. Until the due date, he still was indecisive concerning joining the training. Even when he decided to join the training finally, he faced some huge hurdles, mostly related to himself. I reckoned this as a part of Satan's strategy to stop him from joining the training.

First, he had a serious health issue which was eventually resolved. Then, a relationship issue, which also was resolved after much, thorough, and serious fellowship. Then, his education of not yet graduating fully became another hurdle. Inspite of all theses issues, the Lord’s mercy was bountiful upon him. All these hurdles could either disqualify him or discourage him from joining the training. In fact, the mood was such; join or don't join or postpone.

Meanwhile, the church prayed strongly and I believe, he and his own family also prayed fervently and desperately. The Lord graced him and us to overcome all these hurdles, one at a time. It was an intense spiritual battle indeed. Even while I was in the USA, I had to deal with this matter in fellowship with the brothers concerning his existing relationship with a classmate, and then, his having back papers in his studies, which prompted a switch to short term training. Every obstacle was overcome and finally he was cleared to go after his application form was submitted. After all these, we all thought the matter was done.

However, on the day he went to join the training he was sent back home to our shocking surprise. Then, we had a couple of rounds of urgent, immediate, and impromptu fellowships to deal with the "rejection." Some misunderstandings crept in, the family was very disappointed, some murmurings were heard, and we had to really exercise our spirit to handle the situation. The Lord was gracious. He used this situation to let us know that we were in a spiritual warfare and we should not take the matter lightly, but in prayers and petition with thanksgiving. Finally, the misunderstanding was chalked out, apologies and clarifications were done, and he eventually was bale to join the training.

Oh what a rough ride we had to send one brother to join the training! Despite the hurdles, I worshipped the ways of God. He used theses "afflictions" to temper each one involved in sending him to the training. First, he himself realised that he desperately needed the Lord’s mercy and grace to be able to join the training. Initially, he took it lightly and took things for granted. The Lord adjusted him. His family also took it for granted, so the Lord showed them that they too need to pay the price of sending their son to the training center. And, we brothers also realised that we must always be on the alert and be warfare-ready for any matter in the church or concerning our spiritual life.

The Lord, the Sovereign One, has led all of  us through, step by step, in matters pertaining to His move on the earth. We have learned, and are learning, and will be learning many spiritual lessons. Yes, learning and learning, all for the fulfillment of His divine economy. 

Jesus is Lord! Christ is the Victor!

Church Life in One Accord

In order to practice the church life in one accord, there are crucial matters that need to be seriously considered and practiced. I was enlightened freshly as I had a time of morning revival with brother on this point of one accord. 

Seeing the One All-inclusive Vision: The Vision of Christ and the Church

Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; / But happy is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18, RecVer)

Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, (Acts 26:19, RecVer)

The disciples witnessed the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. This vision of the all-inclusive Christ burdened them to come together and pray in one accord. Because of this vision, they were able to deny their self, give up the world, their background, and could be blended as one, even to pray with fasting for ten days, which ushered in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

Praying in One Accord

These all continued steadfastly with one accord in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (Acts 1:14, RecVer)

Day by day, we all must be governed by this one vision of Christ as Paul saw along with the vision of the Body of Christ in Acts 9.  This is the motivating factor for continuing steadfastly in one accord.

Pursuing the Apostles' Teaching

And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42

The issue of the one accord led disciples to the practice of the church life, meeting from house to house. Therefore, the pursuit of the Apostles' teaching must be daily; reading the Bible, being revived through the ministry of the word, and pursuing the ministry in the form of Life-studies and the ministry books. For this, a price needs to be paid.

Practicing the Oneness: Meeting

 

As children of God, all genuine believers are one in the Spirit and also one in the universal Body of Christ. This oneness must also be practiced in each locality by gathering together as the local churches on the ground of oneness. Therefore, it is important to meet as the church in the name of the Lord Jesus. Besides, the practical oneness in our inward being must also be prayed for and realised.

Practicing the Oneness: In Harmony

These all continued steadfastly with one accord in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (Acts 1:14, RecVer)

Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens. Matthew 18:19

One accord refers to the harmony in our inner being. The Greek word homothumadon, homo (same) and thumos (mind, will, purpose), denotes a harmony of inward feeling in one's entire being. This is a crucial and deep experience.

Practicing the Oneness: One Spirit With One Soul

Only, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether coming and seeing you or being absent, I may hear of the things concerning you, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together along with the faith of the gospel. (Philippians 1:27, RecVer)

Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing. (Philippians 2:2, RecVer)

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5, RecVer).

I exhort Euodias, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same thing in the Lord. (Philippians 4:2, RecVer)

We should think with the mind of Christ and speak with the mouth of Christ, the Head. In this way, we will think the same thing and speak the same thing. The only way to do this is by allowing Christ to make His home in our hearts. For this, we need to have a personal relationship with the Lord. Our heart has a lot of things in it. It must be dealt with and allow Christ to make His home. Christ must have access to our hearts. In this way, we will be saturated with Christ in our inward being, especially, our soul. In addition to knowing Christ, we must also have the subjective experience and enjoyment of Christ. Then, we will be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion as Christ would be our person, our life, and our living.

Now I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion. 1 Corinthians 1:10

Practicing the Oneness: One Heart and One Way

And I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. (Jeremiah 32:39, RecVer)

One heart to love God, to seek God, to live God, and to be constituted with God for one expression, and one way, the inner law of life, are required for the one accord.

Practicing the Oneness: One Scale in the Church Life 

You shall not have in your bag differing weights, one heavy and one light. You shall not have in your house differing measures, one large and one small. A full and righteous weight you shall have, and a full and righteous measure you shall have, in order that your days may be extended upon the land which Jehovah your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 25:13-15, RecVer)

There should just be one scale to measure myself and others. What I condemn in myself must also be condemned in others, maintaining the one scale. Better not to have any scale, neither for myself nor for others. Only God can judge righteously. Leave every measurement to God. 

Practicing the Oneness: Small Vital Group Living

In practice, the oneness can be realized in the small group meeting of the saints where all the saints are living and functioning.

Small Group meeting and living functions:

1. Retain the existing saints 
2. Recover the dormant saints
3. Reach out to the new ones by preaching the gospel

The Small Group meeting was invented by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The believers met from house to house.

And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart. (Acts 2:46, RecVer)

Five advantages of the small group meetings are:

• It allows the Holy Spirit to move in us.
• It allows the saints to know and care for one another.
• It allows the grace the saints have to be developed.
• It allows everyone to function.
• It allows everyone to lead someone to the Lord and to the church. 

And He appointed twelve, whom He also named apostles, so that they might be with Him and that He might send them to preach And to have the authority to cast out the demons. (Mark 3:14-15, RecVer)

Therefore, this practice of church life in one accord will command the Lord's blessing. For this, we should all voice the same thing, trumpet the same thing, teach the same thing, and be in the same practice.

Lord, gain our one accord and bless Your church!

Ministry Literature Journey to Patiala

I have heard about this city in the past. But this was the first time I came to visit this city. Here, we had a unique experience with a brother who volunteered to take care of our hospitality. From this city, two of our brothers in the team had to go back earlier. So, on the last day, only two of us completed the distribution trip this time in this city.

A young brother, our host, was so natural in the way he behave and spoke with us. He was full of anxiety as he had been through a tough financial difficulties. He did not hesitate to directly mention his financial needs to the extend that he acted like a "coercive beggar" for financial help. I did not have a good feeling about him at all. Yet with the hope that he could be helped through our fellowship, I fellowshipped with him twice, face to face with testimonies of my own in trusting the Lord for all our needs. 

Due to his insistence for where we should stay and his frequent reference to his financial difficulties, we did not feel good to even stay in his house for the night stay. Therefore, about midnight, we shifted to a hotel. The next day morning too, I was not so keen if he should be with us. However, I opened myself and gave myself to the Lord’s sovereignty and waited for how He would lead for the day.

This young brother came to lead us to visit the only Bible seminary in the city. Though he might have spoke things in immaturity, we still decided to offer to him something that could relieve his financial pain. On the one hand, we fellowshipped with him on the need to trust the Lord, yet on the other hand, we also shepherded him by offering to him something. May the Lord shepherd him.

Today, we had a good time of ministry literature introduction to the teachers of the Bible seminary. They were very impressed by the truth. They promised to take the matter of placing order for the seminary to the Pricipal. The teacher we met happened to be a Punjabi translator and he instantly gave us some genuine feedbacks in the Punjabi translationof the ministry books. I believe, he could be a good Punjabi translator. Later, we met two more Pastors for the ministry introduction and distribution and also preached the gospel to the two staffs of the guest rooms we stayed last night. Then, we had our wonderful Mutton-Chicken meal, afterwhich, we winded up the distribution trip this time and boarded the train back to New Delhi.

And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified. (Acts 20:32, RecVer)

Lord, shepherd the believers in Punjab with Your word!

Punjab for Christ and the church!

Ministry Literature Journey to Roopnagar, Fatehgarh, Patiala, Rajpura

Roopnagar, Fatehgarh, Patiala, Rajpura 

On day three, through the contact from Hoshiarpur, we came to meet a family of a Pastor who welcomed us with "heavy breakfast and lunch" in a Punjabi style. Physical, we were fed richly. We reciprocated by faithfully ministering the word, introducing and distributing the ministry literature to these ones.

Just in one home, a few Pastors from the nearby cities came to meet us. So we were able to cover the Pastors in different areas just in one place. In this way, the Lord made the distribution easier and faster. We did our best with what we could, the Lord did the rest.

One Pastor in Patiala was very impressive. Just by fellowshipping with him I could sense the experiences he must have been having with the Lord. Though we was from Jharkhand, the Lord blessed him among the Punjabis in the remote village of Patiala. Through his labor, he was able to build up faithful believers and it was visible when we visited him. Even the kind of questions he asked for clarification and his reaction towards buying the ministry books by first paying what he could and his promise to regularly pay off the books ordered proved his stability in the faith. This was the manifestation of his growth in life and maturity, unlike some others we met. The Lord remembered his heart's longing and He took us to meet with him. May the Lord bless him richly with the riches of His words even unto the recovery of His truth to him for His testimony.

And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified. (Acts 20:32, RecVer)

Lord, shepherd the believers in Punjab with Your word!

Punjab for Christ and the church!

Ministry Literature Journey to Barnala, Sangrur, Dhuri, Malerkotla

Malerkotla, Dhuri, Sangrur, and Barnala

On day three of the ministry literature journey too, we fellowshipped and prayed and set out for the day. As the Lord led us, we went to visit four cities and towns.

In Malerkotla, we were not able to meet any seeking Christians. So we ended up visiting the mainline churches, the Catholic and CNI. That too, we could not meet the priests as they were not available, but only the caretakers. We did not lose hope. We still left some copies of the ministry books for free distribution in Punjabi along with a ministry books catalog. We still believe, the Lord will gain His remnants even through the free books passed on to caretakers. We faithfully sowed the seeds and definitely, some seeds will fall on the good ground to bear remaining fruits one day. Only God knows how many books will fall into the hands of His remnants. And we trust in what God can do. Our labor will not be in vain. With this hope we do not lose heart.

In other cities, as we introduced the ministry literature, the Lord opened the hearts of the believers and the seeking ones purchased the ministry books and Recovery Version Bible. 

In these journey, we spent a lot of time travelling long distance from city to city. Thanks to our local brother whose SUV we used for the ministry literature journey. It was a comfortable ride with ample time for fellowship among ourselves and also for prayer time. The travelling itself was a part of the distribution when we were blended. Praise the Lord for such a wonderful time of fellowship and blending along with the distribution of the ministry of the word. 

And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified. (Acts 20:32, RecVer)

Lord, shepherd the believers in Punjab with Your word!

Punjab for Christ and the church!