Blessing in Disguise

Many good virtues of a Christian life are praise worthy; safe for the practice of possessing such virtues. Recently the Lord taught me a lesson on hospitality. This matter has always been our weak point as a family, as we are busy-laden with three blessed kids. Moreover, our capacity and heart are not large enough to accommodate in reality what we know in theory. But we do have intense longing to be enlarged. Thank God for the God of opportunity, gracing us with opportunities, now and then.

Just a month ago, a brother called me up and made an impromptu decision to visit us and stay with us for few days. My innate reply was "welcome," as it should be. Later, in fellowship with my wife, we prepared for their visit, and it was really a blessing to us. I believe our guests were very blessed too as they testified it and the ensuing result proved it. It was a blessing in disguise. Were we to give a second thought on all practical matters of arrangement, our probable answer could be "not this time." But by faith we said "welcome," and that was the key to blessing.

Again, a sister just called me one day and asked if she could stay with us for few months until she could proceed on, in her academic career. My innate reply was also, "yes." Later, as I thought about all the practical detail, I regretted saying "yes" too soon. Any way, I already said it so I would not retract it. My wife had no problem with her coming and we prepared ourselves to give hospitality.

When she did come, things were all in the right order, and she became a real blessing to our family. She helped us in many daily chore of our family, in cooking, cleaning and caring for the children. It was more like receiving hospitality rather than giving it. This too is again a blessing in disguise. She was blessed, so were we. 

This is how the Lord answered my simple prayer for enlarging my capacity, especially in the matter of hospitality. And all these comes in disguise; mostly impromptu arrangements and decisions- a blessing in disguise.

Lord, enlarge us further more!

Church Perfecting Training

The objective truths of the Bible need to be experienced subjectively to complete the very purpose for which the truth exists. Otherwise, it will all rot as dead doctrines; at best, it will be good teaching and at worst, dead knowledge. This can easily affect the believers today even with the recovered church life. For this reason, there is a need to be reminded again and again of the precious truths the Lord has blessed us with. At some point of time I was inwardly concerned about myself and the saints in my locality; and looking to the Lord that we may not fall into the degradation of Sardis.

Beginning this month, the Lord has arranged regular perfecting training for the church in my locality. Though the subjects of the training were very common and well known, the practical reality needs a reminder again and again. It were on simple and basic truths of "exercising the spirit, morning revival and prayer." Truth-wise, almost all the saints knows and some can even give good messages on these topics. But in living out its reality, the sure mercy of the Lord is needed. In the principle of incarnation, a gentle and constant reminder is needed now and then. Thus, the training really helps.

Since this training, many new things started in the church-life. Two new group meetings were recovered with much vigor and vitality. Almost all the saints are revived as manifested in their countenances and functions in the meetings. Besides, the participation in the gospel preaching, prayer meeting, group meeting and Lord's table meeting have increased. Even the last weekend family training also help very much in the burden for all families to have a normal God-man family living. Personally, I myself and my family's living has improved spiritually. Praise the Lord for His mercy and blessing. Training really helps.

Just as Jehovah commanded the prophets and priests to remind the Israelite of His commandments again and again, generation after generation, we also need to be reminded again and again of the high-peak truths and revelations the Lord has blessed us with; both in knowledge, experience and practices.

The church perfecting training is a blessing to the whole church indeed, as the Lord leads us forward step by step. 

Lord, continue to train and perfect us.

Marriage : Becoming One Flesh

Genesis 2:

21 And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place.

22 And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.

23 And the man said, This time this is bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called Woman Because out of Man this one was taken.

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

The ordination of God from the very beginning in creation of man, and building woman out of man's rib; bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh; and the two shall become one flesh, is an eternal universal truth. There is tremendous yet mysterious wisdom behind this ordination. Anyone one who dare to break this suffer the harsh consequences. What God had said, obedience to it will bear blessed results. This is what I have been witnessing with my own eyes.

In my marriage life, the Lord in His sovereignty graces me to live out what He said concerning the married ones. Though our parents may all be believers, even ardent lovers and seekers of the Lord with much spiritual maturity, still as long as they are in flesh and blood, the fallen element of humanity cannot be fully nullified. In some way or the other, there will be an instance of parental interference in children's marital affair, intentionally or unintentionally. This intrusion, the enemy utilizes it to sow the seed of discord and doubts, yielding into family turbulence.  

Recently, I have come across at least two real-life cases in which because of the parental interference, the marriage life of two precious brothers are in deep trouble. Not that they don't love one another, not that they are not made for each other, but their parental interference made their marriage lives a "too many cooks spoil the broth." One of them have already been divorced legally, even ensuing in bitter hatred towards one another when it should have been a sweet love for one another. The other one is on the process of filing a divorce case. What a shame that this should befall on a Christian home! These two families have never been into the church-life nor fully enjoyed the riches of Christ though presented to them. In both cases, brothers in their localities have tried their best to shepherd them, but they just stick themselves to their degraded denominational church membership without any subjective experiences of the crucified Christ nor the resurrected Christ.   

Last weekend, my portion of sharing was on "the building up between husband and wife." When it was informed to me about this message, I was at awe and wonder how I could share on this message; I am still too young to speak on this subject, I have not had enough experience as yet. Anyway, I took as it was from the Lord and prayed over it. And the Lord blessed the speaking. I myself was enlightened to see some deeper truths concerning a marriage life on sharing the message. My wife echoed right after the sharing and two couples followed suit with their marriage-life testimonies. Then, later I realized it was the Lord's ordination too for me to share on this message.

"The two shall become one flesh; she is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh" is a perfect picture of the building up between husband and wife. The more couples are builded up, the more they become one; yes one in every matter concerning their marriage lives. This however does not mean that they should be cut off from their natural relation completely. That natural relationship will still remain by default, but the point here is the "unnecessary interference," which must be avoided at all cost. Honoring, respecting and obeying the parents still holds true and must be strictly adhered too; but not at the cost of breaking God's ordination of "the two shall become one." This divine wisdom, only those who live it out will experience and enjoy the blessing associated with it.

O what a blessing to learn this lesson! For a God-man family life for the Lord's testimony.

Lord, grace us to be built up in our marriage life as a type and testimony of Christ and the church.

Bochim

Judges 2 :

1 Then the Angel of Jehovah went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, I caused you to go up out from Egypt, and I brought you into the land that I swore to your fathers. And I said, I will never break My covenant with you,

2 And you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars. But you did not listen to My voice. What is this that you have done?

3 Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they will be like thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.

4 And when the Angel of Jehovah had spoken these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept.

5 And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they offered to Jehovah there.

In my study of the Bible, the Lord's speaking was a divine warning concerning my living. Just as the Israelite were warned by Jehovah, so as His child, I am being warned too, especially in dealing with the thing of Egypt, the world. The stupendous effect of the world is inevitable, yet resistible. Time and again, the Lord's heralding of His care and concern preserves me from many untoward incidents. Not that I have resisted each and every temptation that comes my way, but at least the consciousness and conviction itself is a salvation to me. I sure would not love to see God leaving me alone in a sorry state of rebellion and disobedience. May the Lord have mercy on me.

The Lord's love in warning me is to be absolutely for Him. As His redeemed child bought with His own precious blood, He would not see me rot in vain. He would do all that He should to guide me and protect me. He does this through His speaking, as the case was in Bochim.

Bochim means "weepers." The place where the Angel of Jehovah rebuked His people for their disobedience and as a result they cried out to Jehovah and wept. This should not be the case with me nor with any children of God. For this, the Lord spoke through the word as a reminder. 

As a man still in flesh and blood, I do confess there were times of being like the Israelite, not dealing with the sinful things of the world thoroughly. As a result, the very thing not dealt with, keeps haunting as thorns in my side and becomes a snare to me. Unheeded divine warning will always be a hindrance and a stumbling block in one's spiritual journey of life. But for this, much grace from the Lord is needed. In fact, paradoxically, it helps in turning to the Lord for mercy and grace and be delivered from such snares. But always with a price; often of weeping as in Bochim.   

Similar cases are with many seekers of the Lord. With much regret and remorse, some saints have come for fellowship. They all acknowledge their disobedience and rebellion to the word of God. But not too late, they still are shown mercy to turn to God again and have a new beginning altogether. Praise the Lord for His mercy!

May the experience at Bochim be a reminder to all, to heed to the Lord's divine warning in love and turn to Him. May Bochim be a reminder, not an experience, to us all, lovers and seekers of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Being Nothing

These days the dealing of the Lord is sour yet sweet. He has been stripping me off, bit by bit, of my natural disposition. All the things that I used to be confident in, and in fact, boast of, are all being torn away layer by layer. I used to be a "giant" in my own eyes on many aspects of life. In matter of discipline, character, spiritual activities, self-control etc. But all these were of me and not of the Lord. Perhaps, these are my good flesh in my good natural man. To the Lord these "goods" are as bad as the evil of the tree of good and evil. O what a mercy to be able to see myself in the light of the Lord! But for this, I would be a religious zealot. Thank God for His moulding Hands!

Even the saints who regularly came for fellowship also are going through the same experience of being stripped. At one point of time they were all "high" in their eyes, not caring for the things of God nor God Himself. But through the many experiences of stripping off and now reduced to zero, they were humbled to the core of confessing that "only God is and they are not." To come to this realization is not a small matter; it is the sure mercy of the Lord. 

Same with me too. Thank God, I lost all my self-confidence in my natural man. I dare not even talk about the "goodness" of my old-man. In fact, it has been crucified already. Its not even worth remembrance except for the remembrance as a reminder for never trusting in the old natural good man. All these are dung as Paul rightly termed it. I should not pursue any of these dungs, but purse Christ Jesus the Lord only.

Once upon a time I was dreaming of being "so and so" or "such and such," all a self display of a "good man." Now after learning some lessons of life in the Lord, the things that I dreamed of, are all a nightmare now; the person that I used to love to be, is now what I loathe the most. This drastic turn is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in me. My views, my goal, my ways are all changed. Hallelujah for the mercy of the Lord!

Paradoxically, when I come to this understanding, the way the Lord uses, in His mercy, is all against my natural concept. What I thought was not my portion nor my function was exactly what the Lord gave me as my portion and function. This experience humbled me all the more. If at all there is anything that I can comment on, it is all by the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15:10a.  

Now I can somewhat understand what I found it difficult to understand about brother J N Darby's hymn, "The Joy of Having Nothing, Being Nothing..."

O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothingBut a living Christ in glory,And being careful for nothing but His interests down here.Whom have I in heaven but Thee?And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside Thee.O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothingBut a living Christ in glory,And being careful for nothing but His interests down here.

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/26

These experiences have brought me to nothing and felt as if I have hit the rock bottom. The only progress to make further is to grow upward in Christ. O what a joy indeed to be in this state; no competition,no comparison but just the compassion of Christ.

O the joy of having nothing and being nothing indeed, in Christ. May I be graced to be such, all the days of my life.

All Came To Pass

Joshua 21:

43 So Jehovah gave Israel all the land that He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and dwelt in it.

44 And Jehovah gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And no one among all their enemies could stand before them; Jehovah delivered all their enemies into their hand.

45 Not a word failed of all the good things that Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.

The promises of Jehovah will always be fulfilled. As proven by the history of Israel, as in the history of the children of God in the past generation and so also will be in our generation. The Lord spoke to me these verse few weeks ago, and He spoke to me today again. All the promises of God will come to pass! 

At times, we wonder if God really spoke to us and promised us something that we have been desperately waiting for, now knowing when it will come to pass. Similarly, in my life too, there were many promises of the Lord that have already come to pass and still there are more promises that will come to pass. I was so encouraged when I read these verses again. It really strengthened my faith and trust in the Lord. For they will all come to pass.

For instance, I have been praying for my family since the day of my salvation. Now they all are saved. I further prayed that they all will enjoy the riches of Christ in the church-life, and that too is being fulfilled. And I still pray that they all will be normal, vital, functioning members of the Body of Christ, and this also is beginning to be fulfilled. 

In my family, the one who was on my heart and pains me oftentimes was my own younger brother. He was not as healthy in the Lord as he should have been. In fact, I used to receive a prayer feedback for him. The only thing I could do was, just commit the matter to the Lord and only the Lord can fully recover His child. Last week, on Lord's day morning I received a surprise message from him about his turning back to the Lord and his experience of being recovered by the Lord through one of the church's perfecting meeting on the matter of vital groups. It was a very pleasant surprise and immediately I shared the good news to my younger sister and my wife. It was indeed a moment of rejoicing, as a shepherd finds a lost sheep. Actually, this is the fulfillment of the Lord's promise. It came to pass, of what the Lord promised concerning my physical family.

Following this is the recovery of our fellowship and led me to create a family chat group called "Our Family" where all the close relations are members. Subsequently we started enjoying a wonderful fellowship via chat messages and family photo posts. Our relationship in blood and fellowship in the Lord got much sweeter, dearer and enjoyable. This is also the promises of the Lord coming to pass.

And similarly with the church life here in Gurgaon. The close-knit fellowship among the saints are becoming sweeter by the day. Each saint experiencing and enjoying the Lord more and more each day. And more will come to pass in the matter of increase in the church life. Our burden and goal as promised by the Lord is to gain twenty five families this year for the vital church life. And this also will come to pass. And many more on the prayer list will come to pass. for the word of God say it so.  

Not a word failed of all the good things that Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Family Training

The first time in my church-life I had joined a training called, "family training" last weekend. It was a glorious training indeed. The burden was very glorious too, "to have a God-man family living." What a blessing!

Through all the messages the Lord brought me into a new aura of a Christian life in the church life. My whole view of a family life was re-focused. And the importance of children for the next generation of the Lord's testimony and move was imparted. In the matter of daily living, family atmosphere, relationship and building up between parents and children, and also between husband and wife. All items of training were so practical and involves day to day affair of a human life on this earth. Me and my wife were so blessed.

The Lord also opened my eyes to see the importance and blessing of the children the Lord blessed us with; though we are the physical parent, actually they are God's and we are only the custodians of the Lord's "little lambs." We must be serious in nurturing our children and shepherding them for the Lord. The Lord also exposed me of my failures in many areas of my family life, and my need to amend them, not to give room to the enemy to intrude into our family life. It was a timely message- the speaking of the Lord. 

In the children's exhibition I could see how my children were so precious and how blessed they are. My love and appreciation for my children grew a lot more. And I am reprimanded of the way I mishandled them in their disobedience sometimes. I am learning and am still learning. My prayer is that the Lord be the parent of my children and that they all may be preserved by the Lord in His mercy and grace to be what they should be according to God's ordination for the Lord's testimony and economy. 

Lord, shepherd us to live a God-man family life.