Life Lesson: Follow the Lord

In the age of the Body today, the Lord Jesus Christ is carrying our His heavenly ministry from the throne through His Body on the earth. He has become the Life-giving Spirit  (1 Cor. 15:45b) today, and as such He is also joined to the members of His Body as one Spirit(1 Cor. 6:17). The Head, Christ, and the Body, His build up body of believers are one with Him in His move on the earth. The apostle Paul saw this vision in Acts 9 on the day of his conversion. The spiritual fact today is that all His genuine believers are the members of His Body. Thereby, being one with the Body is being one with the Lord. It is indeed spiritual wisdom to see, know, and realize this, and thereby live and serve according to this principle, the principle of the Body.

Beginning this year, the Lord has taught me this spiritual lesson; to follow the Lord in the principle of the Body. Young, old, senior, junior, does not really matter in the Body. All who are one with the Lord have the same leading as from the Lord. To follow the living members is to follow the living Lord. These days, I am just doing that in my church life, in my official service, and also in my family and personal life. I may not necessarily have a direct leading from the Lord, but once the Lord leads His members, it is sufficient and wise for me to simply follow my fellow members. It would be spiritual stupidity for me to try to verify or otherwise directly get another leading from the Lord concerning the same matter for which the Lord has already spent or led or done. Herein lies the test if one knows the Body and lives in the Body life. This is far more deeper than one's own individual personal leading of the ancient past that always looks for "Thus Saith the Lord!" 

In the age of the Body, I simply learn to be in my spirit where the Spirit of the Lord dwells and I simply must be one with my fellow members in the Body. What rest, what peace, what joy to learn this precious lesson!

In the church life here in my locality, as my spirit discerns the anointing and leading of the Lord in a saint or a group of saints, I submit myself to the Lord's speaking and leading in and through them. Whatever they fellowship and decide, I simply say amen, as I am sure they are one with the Lord. In the gospel propagation, all the practical, physical, and spiritual arrangements are done by my brothers. I am very exercised to discern the Lord's anointing in my brothers and also very exercised not to interfere in what the Lord is leading my brothers. Though I have my opinion on things, if that's my natural mind's opinion, it is best to deny it. 

What a salvation to learn to deny my soul life and follow the Lord's leading in and through my fellow members in the Body. By doing this, I discover the blessing that issue in oneness and the Lord's blessing in all that we do. Practically, I simply learn to say amen and amen to the Lord's leading in and through the brothers. Praise the Lord for the Body!

Gospel Feast

The church in Gurugram is very much blessed with the saints from abroad visiting now and then for the propagation of the gospel. For the year 2020, a team of saints from Hsinchu, Taiwan came at the last week of the first month of the year. Initially we were a little reluctant wondering if we could really take care of the propagation. But in course of time, and through fellowship and prayer, we could finally say amen to the proposal. The saints coming to visit us for propagation gave us two great blessings:

Saints' Hospitality

This time the saints who came are accommodated in various homes of the saints. This is the first time different homes, including the new ones, could open their homes, not just for meetings but also for hospitality. This itself is a blessing and a breakthrough in our church life.

Saints' Participation

This time too, many saints participated in the gospel preaching. In fact, this is the first time I feel I should not get directly involved. Otherwise, I might replace the function of the younger saints. The saints themselves, especially the young ones are the most active ones in the gospel preaching and shepherding. This is another blessing and breakthrough.

Though the duration of the propagation is just a week, we still maintain the goal of gaining at least one baptism in each gospel team. The saints desperately prayed and preached the gospel. I intentionally did not get myself involved in the way the gospel preaching is being carried out. I wanted all the saints to fellowship and coordinate among themselves. I want to completely do away with the concept of looking up to "elder brothers." Rather, I want all the young saints to exercise and duplicate the same work the "elder brothers" used to do. In this way, all the saints can function. 

The Lord indeed honored the burden, prayer, and coordination of the saints, and gained baptisms as per our goal. This is also in line with the burden the Lord blessed us for the increase and multiplication this year 2020.

Praise the Lord for the gospel feast!

Bible Reading and Truth Pursuing

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God. 2 Timothy 3:16

The year 2020 blessed me with a new beginning on my Bible reading and pursuing of the truths. Every year I have been graced to read the Bible daily and I encouraged the saints in the church to do the same. Last year, 2019, many in the church in my locality could read through the Bible at least once, and some of them did it for the first time in their life. I was enthralled to witness the joy of the saints reading the Bible and the special joy of an accomplishment in reading it through in a year. For 2020 too, I designed a reading schedule and encouraged the saints to read through it again. 

This Bible reading habit has even affected my children. My son and daughet are planning to read through the Bible this year. Especially my son decided to compete with me in reading the Bible. In fact, he has started of by reading as many chapters as he could. Though I know my children will not understand what they have been reading now, but my burden was to inculcate in them the habit of Bible reading. Now myself am encouraged by my son who tried to compete with me in reading the Bible. He has decided to read through the Bible three times this year. I calculated carefully again and I discovered that if I could spend at least an hour every day reading the Bible, I actually could complete reading the Bible three times in a year. Therefore, I am reading in this manner of completing it thrice this year. This practice made me very strict with my time. I could not waste any time; every free time I get, I use it for reading the Bible. I reckon this as a blessing. 

In the truth pursuing as well, this year the first burden is on pursuing the Life-study of Deuteronomy. As a church, we decided to read through the Life-study before we entered into the video training. As such I personally took this opportunity to pursue the Life-study on Deuteronomy of thirty messages with listening through the radio programs of twenty five messages and the entire book. This burden encouraged me to redeem my time all the more and pursue the truth by all means, either by reading or listening. I have also imparted the same burden to the saints and some saints are doing the same. May the Lord grace us to enjoy His word, pursue them, and be constitued with the truths.

May the word of Christ dwell in us richly that we may be complete and be fully equipped for every good work!

A Day at Bokaro

The opening of Your words gives light, imparting understanding to the simple. Psalms 119:130

After the ministry of the word distribution at Bokaro, I had one whole day preplanned to meet some Christian leaders for the introduction of the ministry books. But I had no idea whom to meet and who would take me around. I only planned for a day and left the rest to the Lord.

It was last Monday, after all the distribution, I fellowshipped with the local brother who helped us to take me around to meet the Christian leaders. Then, he himself decided to take me around by his bike to meet some Pastors. Through one of the seeking contacts, an appointment was made with one Christian leader. The meeting with this brother was amazing.

A Pastor who was saved from a Hindu background, very highly educated, an engineer from one of the prestigious engineering colleges in Delhi, and who got saved through one of his college friends from the North East. He is currently one of the GMs of Bokaro Steel Plant. He used to be meeting with a Pentecostal group until he deiced to start his own Christian group which grew since its very inception and rose to be one of the largest independent Christian groups in Bokaro. 

As I introduced the ministry books one by one, our fellowship became sweeter and deeper, and in between, he interjected to echo the same burden I presented from the ministry. He testified of the importance of the ministry of the word and the way the Lord led him from one stage to another stage. Last year the Lord first led him to minister on the Anointing and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, then on the Holy Spirit, and then on the revelation of the word of God. Since the Lord's leading at present was on the word of God, he testified that our meeting was very timely and the ministry books we distributed were very rich in revelation and filled with truths. Thus far, among all the Christian leaders that I have met for the past decade, he is one of the most genuine seekers of the truth with a very specific leading from the Lord, and yet a working one with a high post job and serving the Lord as pastor. I personally am very impressed by his testimony. May the Lord bless him with the riches of the ministry of the word.

Our fellowship continued over a love-feast meal when I shared my testimony of salvation, family salvation, and how the Lord led me in my life, in serving full-time, and in marriage. The brother was so supplied through the fellowship. I believe the Lord made us meet so that he can pursue the truth and take a stand for the truth one day. May the Lord continue to speak to him and grant him the revelation of the word of God for his testimony in Bokaro.

After the fellowship, another brother who meets with this brother took me to see the 10 acres of land they purchased for the ministry they are involved in. I had no idea why I need to see the land and pray there in the land. Anyway, since the brother wanted me to do so, I obliged to it. Perhaps, the Lord must have his own plan for the future.

Overall, I was so impressed by the way the Lord led me to meet all these seekers and lovers of the Lord in Bokaro. I truly believe the Lord is gaining North India for his testimony, and He is gathering His chosen ones for the ministry of the building up of the Body of Christ.

The Ministry of the Word Literature Journey to Bokaro

The four days in Bokaro city was initiated due to a big Christian meeting called Prayer Festival of the Jesus Calls. We attended such a meeting for displaying the ministry books. Such meetings are crucial to introduce the ministry books to thousands of seeking believers who thronged the meeting. This time, the attendance ranged from about 10,000 on the first day to 30,000 on the final day. Though majority of the attendants were seeking for healing and some miraculous blessings, there were also a minority group of believers who sincerely sought for the truth of the word of God. For this small group of seekers, it was worth the price we paid to come to attend this meeting.

Initially we had no one who could help us in this city, not even an address to send the ministry books first, as all the contacts at hand turned down the request for help. But as a brother was googling online for "church in Bokaro," a name and a phone number was listed. On contacting that number, the brother surprisingly was very cooperative and took all the pain to receive the books and made arrangement for us in the city.

This brother has become a key contact and helper to make all the practical arrangements for our distribution. His testimony too was very impressive. He was saved while contemplating suicide due to his kidney and liver problem which cost his family their ancestral property and many other expenses. But all the pains and troubles led him to the Lord and now he is serving the Lord according to his capacity. On the Lord's day, he invited us for a breakfast at his home, then to the Lord's day meeting at his home too where he requested me to minister the word. Looking at the believers, the Lord burdened me to share on three burdens:

Loving God

And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God ask of you except that you fear Jehovah your God so that you would walk in all His ways and love Him and serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul; Deuteronomy 10:12

As I ministered the word on loving the Lord, I also shared how the Lord attracted and charmed me with His love that caused me to love Him and consecrate my life to Him. Then, I gave an example from Matthew 26:6-13 of loving the Lord and pouring out the best and all that we have to the Lord who is worthy of such noble deed from His lovers.

Loving God's Word

As one who loves the Lord, he will also love His word. Reading the Bible is not a thing of duty but a thing of beauty to enjoy our beloved's words of love. Using the gospel of John, chapter 6, I expounded that the word of God is the bread of life who is the Lord Himself good for food as the reality of the ancient Manna. Then I encouraged all the saints to read the Bible everyday, even to read through the Bible at least once a year.

Believing and Claiming God's Word

In my fellowship with them I also discovered that all of the saints present there have unsaved family members. Therefore, I fellowshipped with them on believing and claiming the Lord's word in Acts 16:31.

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.

Dhanbad
I also planned to visit a nearby city Dhanbad, but due to the upcoming propagation in my locality I had to cut short my trip by omitting Dhanbad. But during the exhibition, the Lord brought a seeking brother who is also an Asst. Professor in Dhanbad. When I introduced the Recovery Version to him he was so impressed and purchased a copy right away. Besides, he was very attracted by the truths presented in the ministry books which he purchased them. The following two evenings he also brought his friends and sister to come and purchase the Bible and books. He became a key contact in Dhanbad.

Besides, some seekers from Rourkela, Odisha and Kolkatta, West Bengal were also gained through the ministry books exhibition. Praise the Lord for His move in Jharkahnd and other parts of North India!  

The Ministry of the Word Literature Journey to Ranchi

A brother who has been working in Bokaro has been so burdened for the raising up of the Lord's testimony in the city. He has done his bit by contacting different Christian groups and identifying the seekers. It was through his invitation last year that a plan was made to visit him alongside our distribution trip nearby his city. Out of his own burden he hosted us in his house and took us around to meet some of the people he had already marked out.

A Pastor who was also from a Brahmin background was so interested as we introduced the ministry books. Out of his hunger and thirst he asked questions which opened the door for our fellowship. Book by book, we introduced the ministry books, and every book we introduced he requested them for purchase. He was so happy that we met him as he was seriously seeking the truth. 

Another Pastor was also so impressed when we fellowshipped on a note from the gospel of Luke from the Recovery Version. With that as an opening, we introduced a couple of other books which attracted him. After the introduction, he placed order to purchase all the books we have selected and grouped them in sets, both by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee in English,  and 15 titles of Hindi books, with the Holy Bible, Recovery Version.

Fishermen Bible Study

We were invited to minister the word to a group of seekers who meets weekly as "Fishermen Bible Study" group. We ministered the truth concerning the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ and the need for growth in life by breathing, drinking, and eating the Lord through the word. Since some young students were present, I was personally asked to share on my testimony which I did willingly and encouraged all the young people to love the Lord and pursue Him in the word.

Another group meeting was arranged with the house owner and his family at our host's home. As we began the meeting with singing a hymn on the experience of Christ, the burden within was to minster a basic truth to help them touch and experience the Lord by breathing, drinking, and eating the Lord. 

Another informal meeting with a Pastor and a brother was also arranged where I was asked to expound on the church as revealed in the Bible. I spend over an hour's time to use relevant scripture verses to give a clear picture of Christ and the church. I also had an open and frank fellowship with a brother who is living separately from his wife due to differences in lifestyle, opinion, and belief. Overall, the Lord blessed the visit to Ranchi. 

In my understanding, there are five family that have been contacted regularly. May the Lord raise up the church in Ranchi soon! 

Life Lessons: Missed Train

On the 20th January I was to board a train from Delhi to Ranchi for the first ministry of the word literature journey for the year. Peacefully I was preparing for the trip but I could not accomplish a very important official task of preparing and submitting office budget for the year 2020. For some reasons or the other, the different serving ones could not submit their work report and plan on time so I could not compile together the final budget. My plan B was to take a laptop in my trip and finalise the budget while on the tour. So I made all preparation ready for the journey.

I stared from home well on time, but the cab I booked took me on a round about way besides the traffic snarl due to the Republic Day celebration in the capital city in a week's time. When I finally reached the train station, Hazrat Nizammudin, I could not find my train number displayed on the board. As I rechecked my ticket, I discovered to my surprise that my train would depart from another station nearby, New Delhi station. I just had 30 minutes then, to catch the train at the other station. An auto driver agreed to drive me within the time available. He did his best to drive as fast as he could except that he could not jump the traffic light nor could he drive through the heavy traffic due to re-routing of traffic for the upcoming national event at the national capital. Finally, when I arrived at the train station, the train had left as I was late by 15 minutes. I had not choice but to return back home and book a flight ticket for the next day.

This incident was quite enlightening in at least two aspects. Firstly, I got to be careful and clear about my travel plan in timing and stations as there are about five stations in New Delhi itself. Secondly, I cannot keep it on hold an important office task and I must not take the risk of doing such an important task with some other tasks while on a tour. I believe that for these two reasons the Lord interfered in my schedule and set me right.

With the new itinerary, I could very well and wonderfully compiled and submitted the office budget for 2020, and at the same time I could still accomplish the literature tour on time as I took a flight the next day afternoon itself. The time that would have been spent on the train was now saved just by taking a flight of less 2 hours journey which otherwise would be about 17 hours. Even in this missed train, the Lord worked out the best for me. What a lesson! The Lord is sovereign in all things seen and unseen.