Only If God Gives

And command the people, saying, You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Take careful heed to yourselves therefore; Do not engage them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as much as a footstep; for I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. (Deuteronomy 2:4-5, RecVer)

Then Jehovah spoke to me, saying, You are to pass through the territory of Moab, through Ar, today. And when you come near to the children of Ammon, do not harass them, nor engage them, for I will not give any of the land of the children of Ammon to you as a possession; for I have given it to the children of Lot as a possession. (Deuteronomy 2:17-19, RecVer)

These days I have been going through an inward searching and careful consideration of seeking the Lord for everything especially in the matter of shepherding the new ones. Definitely, as a serving one, I do not serve aimlessly. I have a goal in my service. If I were to invest my time and energy on anyone, I definitely would desire to see them in the church life. I do believe, if the new ones were appointed by the Lord for the practical church life, the Lord will definitely bring them in, as we cooperate with Him in laboring on them in shepherding. However, not all that I wish to take this way of the church may not necessary be of the Lord. For those, I need a clear discernment from the Lord. That's why, these days I also put a break on my enthusiasm to call these ones regularly. Not that I gave them up, but that I wait for them to realise by themselves the way they need to take as Christians. I pray for them earnestly and wait for a sign of their willingness to take this way. I cease to take the way of coercing them through my shepherding. Yes, I will carry out my responsibility but I will not overstep my function in trying to bring people into the church life. I pray and am eagerly waiting for them to exercise their free will and pay the price to take the way of life, the way of the church. So, I temporary withhold all my weekly regular calls for prayer with the new ones. Yet I Intensify praying for them in the church prayer meeting weekly and in the family prayer meeting daily. May the Lord lead them to the church life,  if His will be so. I wait for them to take the final call. I feel, I have done all that I could do. 

Today, the Lord impressed me deeply about this burden going on within me from my reading of the Scriptures. 

God specifically told the children of Israel that He would not give the land alloted for Esau and Lot. And that they should not fight with them like they did with the other heathen tribes. Certain portions were already allotted for certain people. It would be disobedience and rebellion to try to conquer these lands which the Lord alloted for others. 

I am learning this lesson now. If certain new ones are not meant for the church life, I must not have any hope on them to be in the church life. I must discern who are ordained for the what purpose. Not every Christian will take the way of the church. I must respect and discern God’s ordination.  What a lesson! I must not unnecessarily put my hope on someone who may never take the way of the church. It is best to leave them where they are. What a release to learn lesson!

Grow in Grace and Advance

And the little child grew and became strong, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:40

And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature and in the grace manifested in Him before God and men. Luke 2:52

Today, our son, Amana, turned fifteen. All these fourteen years the Lord has been gracing him to grow in life. It has been our prayer that all our children grow in grace, in the love of God, and in the reverential fear of God. That they be open vessels to the Lord to be filled and constituted with the word of God and the Spirit that they become useful vessels to the Master God. With this view, we have been doing our best to pray for them and nurture them with a family environment conducive to the growth of all our children. In the sphere of secular academics, in the truth constitution and experience of life, and even in a proper human character, we have been doing our best to provide them with the best we can. We trust the living God Who only can fulfill all that we pray and desire for our children. Having done our best, we commit them to God and for His divine purpose on the earth. 

This morning, my Bible reading portion was from Luke 2. It was just apt for me to wish what has been written of the Lord Jesus Christ as for my son. Therefore, I made a card with some select photos and these two Bible verses to remind him of our prayers and wishes for him to grow and advance as the Lord Jesus was. That, he be filled with wisdom and the grace of God, and advance in wisdom and stature, and in the grace manifested before God and men. This exactly summed up my prayer as his earthly father as God for His Son Jesus Christ.

As usual, as a family, we went to eat at the same favorite restaurant, cherishing and celebrating the occasion as the grace of God abounded with us. This was all that we could do, and the rest we leave it to God. May the perfect will of the Lord be done in his life.

As an earthly father and a guardian of the Lord's bestowed children, I have been doing my best to inculcate in all my children, the practice of Bible reading, prayer, trusting in the Lord for everything, and living by faith. I have been doing so not as a teaching but by way of setting up a pattern that they can see and follow. Since many months ago, we have been practicing as a family going out to spend time with the Lord in prayer at a nearby park. Oftentimes, I and my son, go together and pray personally and then corporately together walking hand in hand. That's how I felt the Lord led me to lead my son in prayer life.  There may yet be many other things that I need to lead him to, but what I felt best and can practically do now, I have been doing my best I also enjoyed spending time with my son in prayer. What a blessing to pray together with my son! Meanwhile, I could also fellowship with him on some practical matters related to his life and future plans. May the Lord's perfect will be done in his life.

Lord, by Your grace, may all my children grow and advance!

Trusting God in the Body

Trusting in God is a thrilling experience. In the age of the church, trusting in God is even more practical and detailed. It is one thing to individually trust God and yet another thing to trust in God through the fellowship in the Body. Without a proper vision of the Body of Christ, it is easy to simply trust in God just by oneself, but with the vision of the Body and living in the reality of the body, it is even more experiecnable and practical to trust in God and walk step by step in fellowship with the Body. Christ, the Head of the Body, is one with the Body. What the Head Christ feels and says is what the Body feels and says. This lesson is revealed in the epistle of Paul, especially from the time he was saved in Acts 9.

But rise up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what you must do. Acts 9:6

The Lord has been gracing me to learn to trust in God through the fellowship in the Body these days in many practical matters that I have been involved in. Recently, we have been in fellowship with the brothers for the practical ways to take care of the building facility which was used for the training purposes. Due to the circumstances pertaining to North India, the building has been lying vacant for a couple of months, which even led to the luring of theives to steal whatever could be stolen to the extent that minor destruction of the property began to happen. Therefore, to take care of this facility, we have had a good number of fellowships over the past few weeks. We had considered together multiple options to take care of this matter. Even a couple of families have been considered to hire them as guardians of the facility. One after the other, the ones suggested haves opted out one by one due to reasons of their own. In fact, in all these experiences, we also prayed that the will of the Lord be done. Quite unexpectedly, a family expressed voluntarily their desire to be caretaker of the building. This was followed by a couple of fellowships, and finally, it was decided that this family would be the caretaker temporarily for at least half a year. 

Well, what impressed me the most in all these fellowships was the way the Lord led us in considering this matter together. He led us to trust in Him by trusting in the fellowship of the Body. He spoke to us in the fellowship of the Body. And we had the confirmation of His speaking through the fellowship of the Body. If not for the Body, some personal decisions would have been taken and that may even be of the Lord's will. But the lesson of coordination in the fellowship of the Body would have been missed. Now that it has passed through so many rounds of fellowship, I have learned one important lesson. Trust in the Lord by the Body. What a lesson in the Body! Not simply to trust in the Lord by oneself and let the Body know about it, but together with the Body, we trust in the Lord. What a precious lesson!

In addition to this lesson of trusting in the Lord in and through the Body, I also learned the lesson of committing every matter to the Lord. Ultimately, what the Lord decides from the throne will be what we will decide on the earth. Anxiety and worry should have no place in the lives of Christians. Only what the Lord decides will come to pass. We simply need to learn the lesson of committing everything to the all-sovereign God. 

Now, I have learned to give up my opinion or feelings. Though the Lord may be the one who gave me such feelings and opinions, I should not trust that they are truly from the Lord. I am still a man in the flesh, and it is very possible that my feelings may still be natural. Therefore, though I may still have my own feelings and opinions, I must learn to commit everything to the Lord and let His perfect will be done. And once His will is clear, I must deny my feelings or opinions whatsoever; I must deny myself, drop everything, and amen the Lord's will revealed through the fellowship the Body of Christ.

Lord, preserve me in the fellowship of the Body for every matter in my life and in the church. Trusting in God by trusting in the Body is a mysterious yet wonderful lesson!

Silence Is Sometimes the Solution

But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to Him, I charge You to swear by the living God to tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God. (Matthew 26:63, RecVer)

And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Then Pilate said to Him, Do You not hear how many things they testify against You? And He did not answer him, not even to one word, so that the governor marveled greatly. (Matthew 27:12-14, RecVer)

Sometimes, silence is the solution to situations. These days I have been through certain situations not of my own nor my family nor my making, but in caring for the saints, the church, and the service I am involved in. In the midst of vagueness without and the absence of peace within, my only reaction has been just to remain silent. Silence is the solution.

While reading my Bible today too, I was impressed at the silence of the Lord Jesus Christ in facing serious allegations against Him. He just remained silent. When He was accused by the chief priests and elders, and even Pilate, He did not answer them, not even one word. In fact, He answered them by not answering at all. Silence was His answer.

Officially, I have also been dealing with some serving ones concerning their services. Though I could have exercised official authority to take action, I chose to pray and commit the matters to the Lord. Then, the Lord led me to say nothing and do nothing. So, I remain silent. Let the Holy Spirit work. And He did, as we pursue the truth portion, the message that I considered to speak, the Lord spoke through the ministry of the word. The Lord kept me in silent mode so that He could speak succinctly at the right time. With this, my job was done. Yes, just by remaining  silent. 

Certain other fellowships concerning marriage for a couple of saints also have been going on. Like it or not, I was involved as a brother and a serving one. Though I had my feeling and opinion, I was just led to swallow up my own feeling and thoughts and just be silent. The only unique answer to all the puzzling questions is silence. I just prayed for the Lord’s perfect will to be done in all the cases under consideration. What a release, what a rest, to commit all these complicated cases to the Commander-in-chief, Christ!

Even when the situation of the saints and the church are getting complicated, I and a brother would only bow our heads to the Lord and plead for the Lord’s mercy. We can do nothing. We may fellowship but only the Lord has to work in the lives of the saints. We can warn and fellowship, but it is the Lord’s who can change people's heart and save them from the tactic of the enemy. Therefore, we can only commit them to the Lord and just be silent. 

Silence, sometimes, is the solution. In just being silent, we give room to God to come and do His work.

Marital Fellowship

One burden I have been praying for is for all the married couples to be one with God and one with one another, to love God and to love one another by the divine love of God in Christ. I have learned this lesson from my marriage life. And I believe, this is the lesson every married couple should learn. Otherwise, there is a grave danger of turning away from the grace of God. Of course, for such a marriage testimony, the source of marriage and the foundation of marriage must also be God Himself. With God as the source of marriage with the grace of God to keep the marriage enjoyable, brothers and sisters must take grace day by day, honoring the Headship of Christ and honoring one another as co-heirs of the grace of life.

Husbands, in like manner dwell together with them according to knowledge, as with the weaker, female vessel, assigning honor to them as also to fellow heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7, RecVer)

Recently, a brother and I have been through a couple of times of fellowship related to two couples. One case has been so serious that we know not what to do except to cry out to God for mercy. We cannot act in the flesh as it will only lead to destruction. We can only pray and pray for God to deal with the couples involved. The cases are so complicated that it cannot be even discussed with any other saints nor can we speak to the couples involved directly. These cases are fit only to commit them to the Lord, cry out to God, plead for the Lord’s mercy, and pray and pray. No physical action can be taken in the flesh. Only should the Lord lead, then can we consider to take action according to the Spirit. 

Sometimes, I wonder why I have to face all these complicated situations among the saints, especially among the married couples in the church life. I now expect all these couples to grow in life to the extend of shepehrding other needy couples. Yet now, their marriages are in a complicated situation, I hope not in a limbo. May God be merciful to us. This is a sure sign that we have been very much lacking in the enjoyment of Christ as our life and life supply. This is also a reminder to not take the church life for granted but to exercise daily to enjoy Christ as life. Spiritual exercise is a daily matter. 

Inspite of all the complicated marriages, I have a strong and confirmed feeling within me that Christ is still the Victor in the church and in the lives of the couples in complication. Deep within, I have the assurance that these marriages will be preserved and the Lord will heal the situations among the saints. Though outwardly I am concerned, but inwardly, the Lord’s peace confirmed to me that He will shepherd His children and recover all of them.

I also believe that the Lord allows these complicated couples to come to our lives as serving brothers for us to turn to the Lord and take Christ as our wisdom and discernment in dealing with problems to find the solution in Christ. Praise the Lord!

Lord, preserve all the married couples in the church for Your testimony. 

Marriage Fellowship

These days, there has been fellowship after fellowship related to the marriages of the saints. It is indeed a good sign that marriages are happening among the saints. We have been barren for many years concerning our saints getting married. We have made a couple of proposals in the past and most of them did not work out. But, this year we got one marriage done, and now three more couples are in the process of fellowship. 

Yes, this definitely is a good news that young saints are getting married. But at the same time, these fellowships are not without complications. The past few weeks and still ongoing, I have been involving in a couple of fellowships on the upcoming marriages of three couples. Some are smooth and sweet, while others are complicated and confused. But I am sure about one thing, God's perfect will will be accomplished and in the process we are being perfected. 

Sometimes, I wonder why things are not so easy as it would seem to be. In referring to my own marriage, to me, it should be very simple once it is clear that it is from the Lord. But the cases I am involved in right now, seems to go through tough water. I do not doubt the will of God, but the timing and the way some of these couples have taken are questionable. I only pray that the will of the Lord be done even in the timing and the way the marriages will be carried out. 

As for me, though I personally did not voluntarily get involved in these upcoming marriages, I have no choice but to be with the brothers and be one with them in the fellowship. While attending the fellowships, my best contribution was, to keep praying silently and inwardly while the matters were being fellowshipped. Only when asked to speak, I just spoke what I felt I should speak. But I made it always clear that, despite all the fellowships, the perfect will of the Lord be done.

I am being trained and perfected to serve the saints in this regard. And I am learning this lesson through all the fellowships. One day, my own children will have to face the same situation. I pray that the Lord will preserve all of us just to be one with Him without any opinion other than the perfect will of the Lord. Now, I am in the process of learning to serve in shepherding the saints in leading them to do the perfect will of the Lord.

Lord, head up all the fellowships. Lord, let Your perfect will be done in the lives of all these young couples!

Christ Is Victor!

Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and, when some war occurs, they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and go up from the land. So they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built storage cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out so that they came to dread the children of Israel. (Exodus 1:10-12, RecVer)

God created man to fulfill His divine purpose on the earth and for which He blessed man to be fruitful and multiply (Gen.1:26, 23). Since the fall of man, there has always been a battle between God and His enemy. God carries out His purpose while His enemy opposes in all possible ways. And this spiritual battle that began has been continuing. In all the records of the Bible and in the history of mankind, this has been the fate of man. Today, we have been facing the same spiritual battle even in a so call free democratic land.

While I read these verses, the Lord reminded me of the strategy the enemy had deceptively taken. He "dealt wisely" with the Christians with the intention to persuaded them and destroy them all. For this very reason, the believers in the true and living God Jesus Christ have been under all kinds of afflictions and persecution. Nevertheless, the hand of God was upon the believers for perfection and also upon the non-believers for perdition. God is God and He wants perfectly how to be God.

Inspite of all the afflictions and persecution the believers are forcefully subjected to, God sovereignly turns around the works of His enemy for the manifestation of His multifarious wisdom. He uses all the works of persecution for the multiplication of His believers. First, by multiplying His grace for the believers' enjoyment and second for the multiplication of the believers in numbers. Throughout the church history, persecution has always multiplied the number of believers worldwide. The more the persecution the more the multiplication. The same is being manifested in North India these days. Hallelujah!

These days, in the church life in North India,  we have also been undergoing various trials and tribulation, but the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ has been multiplied to us day by day. The tactic of attacks are in variety. I personally have been an eyewitness to Satanic attacks. But one thing to me is solidly clear, Christ is the Victor! And the victory of Christ is our victory! Though I have been undergoing many fellowship related to the enemy's attack, deep within I was very clear, Christ is Victor and we are on the triumphant procession of the victorious Jesus General. Therefore, I am not afraid by the enemy's attack and his threatenings. To me, it is like facing a roaring Lion face to face but the Lion is caged. To me, this is a sign of progress and spiritual growth. The fiercer the battle, the more triumphant the victory will be. Hallelujah!

Christ is Victor!

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ and manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14, RecVer)