For Young Believers in Christ

>> To the Young Lions of Christ

Be Confident, not Shameless

Young people in Christ - know the difference between being shameless and being confident.  You are the children of God, so be confident and modest in all your ways.  God predestined you before He laid the foundation of the world.  He knew you before you were even born.  Thus, you are not born by accident, nor by the will of your parents, but you are born by the will of the Father God. Hallelujah.  I encourage you to face the world with confidence knowing that you are beautiful in the Lord because you are created by the perfect Creator.  Hence, don’t worry about your hair, or your nose or height; all these worries are for the Gentiles, not for you.

Enjoy Life, but Be Careful

The will of the Father for you who are His chosen ones is to lead a happy and free life;  Young age is to enjoy and appreciate life.  However, there is a small rule for you as Christians with regard to the earthly enjoyment, i.e., you can do everything keeping in Mind that God will bring every activity under his judgment.  Such God conscious engagement with the world is possible when you had right godly nourishment in your childhood. 

A Time to commence your life with God 

This will be the time that you will be on your own, maybe traveling to different parts of the world and meeting new people from diverse religious backgrounds.  You need to get your basics clear about your faith, Lord Jesus Christ, and about Christian life as a whole because this will also be the time when Satan will craftily feed different baseless doubts and lies to you.  If you don’t know the Bible, you will shame the Lord when you engage with unbelievers.  Don’t blame the Lord, if you get confused by some cooked up lies which will be presented to you in attractive wrappers, because it is you who don’t know the Bible which has everything for you to succeed.  Some of the lies that I confronted in my younger days were ‘Jesus never told that He was God’, ‘He is not part of the Trinity’, ‘Bible is not perfectly preserved book’, ‘God has the power to forgive sins without dying because He is the Almighty’ and so on.  Remember, these lies are fed to you by people with such confidence and aggression that you will be shaken if you don’t know the truth as stated in the Holy Bible.  The only result of such an entanglement with lies is wastage of your precious time.  Children, do not get swayed by lies, rather defend them with the truth.  Jesus has clearly told that He is the Father and the Creator from the beginning in the Bible; learn the scriptures.  Cover your basics and get your doubts quelled at the earliest and learn to live a blessed Christian life (Read 'Your rightful freedom in Christ' by Johnny Yo)

What you should do now?

What you should be mindful is that young age is the time to start your relationship with God in a strong and meaningful way (Psa 71:5).  Open your hearts to the teaching of the Lord (Psa 71:17) and be like wind flowing where the Lord wants you to go.  This is the time to find examples in Christ to learn how to live in blessedness (1 Tim 4:12).  Be patient and obedient to the elders who train you in spirituality (Prov 22:6).  Much time can be saved and much sorrow can be thwarted from life with the above simple approach in life.  If you walk as the world walks today in carelessness, ungratefulness without the message of Christ, you will face evil days.  This is not because God doesn’t love you, on the contrary, God’s love is manifested in the days of evil, where you will learn the preciousness of God and you will tarry in the pool of lies until you are weary enough to find that no pleasures in the wicked world are worth more than God.  However, this period of turmoil is totally avoidable by remembering the Creator in the days of your youth (Ecc 12:1).

Forget the shame of your youth

Remember one of the strategies that Satan employs is to introduce stigma, embarrassments and shame in your young days of your life.  Mostly, such bitter situations are a big dark blemish in your lives which can affect you for a lifetime.  Now, here is the good news for you young people in Christ.  Your Father in God is powerful than any situation in life and He is the Healer.  Moreover, our Lord Jesus Christ has suffered greater embarrassment for us in which He, as a human was mocked, tortured and later killed like a petty criminal in front of the angels in the Heavenlies.  What more can I say to comfort you than this?  Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore. (Isa 54:4).  Hence, surrender every situation in your life to the Lord for Him to deal with; He will sort your every mess.

You are supposed to be Overcomers already

The Bible clearly says that you as youth can overcome the wicked one and it is your duty to do so.  You can be strong and the word of God lives in you (1 Joh 2:13-14).  And greater is the expectation from the Father for the young ones in Christ in these last days.  The young people will receive the outpouring of the Spirit from God and they will prophesy and see visions along with the old men who shall dream dreams (Acts 2:17).  How will you see visions and prophesy, if you don’t grow in the Lord?  How can you grow without guides and mentors in Christ?  You are still babes in Christ when you ought to live an overcoming life.  You have so many doubts in your hearts and yet are foolish not doing anything about it.  I advise you to go find your mentors, speak to the elders, read books of the saints, read the Holy Bible and meditate upon the word (Psa 119:9-17).  Don’t follow weak patterns of worship set by weak worldly Christians around you, but find good mentors in Christ (read ‘Your rightful freedom in Christ’ by Johnny Yo).  The word of God should abide in you and grow in you.  You ought to cross the line that never exists, to find your faith and serve the Lord with the gifts that He has given you.  Do not make Christianity a Sunday morning affair, rather a lifelong meaning relationship with Jesus Christ who alone can give you eternal life.  May God bless you, strengthen you and may you grow in Christ and find your true rest in Christ.  Remember you have a lot to learn in Christ and time is short.  God bless you abundantly.

download (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blogspot.the1resurrected)

(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.blogspot.theascended1)

Your feedback and reviews in the store are much appreciated.  Have a blessed time in Christ.

Beyond Idols and Rebirths

>> The purpose of God's creation

     If God created the universe, then surely He has a purpose that should be related to Him.  I will not build a beautiful villa or the house of my dreams just to be left uninhabited.  So, the whole creation must be of great purpose to God the creator.  It is just shallow to say that a soul is caught up in a cycle of birth and rebirth and receive salvation by one's deed finally when they become human after of gamut of existence as different creatures.

     Since God created us, then why is there so much struggle of continual birth and rebirth cycles without any purpose relating to Him?  Can a person's deed save him?  Let us understand deeds in a more elaborate way.  Every law is subject to change over the period of years.  It may not have been a sin to do certain things a few decades back, but it might be now.  In India, a couple of decades back a girl talking to a boy was a big sin, but today if you even say such things, people will laugh at you.  Further, certain crimes are punishable by death in some countries, whereas, there is no capital punishment in few other countries.  To understand it better, look at the way the gay marriage issue is tossed around in the world over the period of years.

     From the above passage, we can understand that deeds securing salvation is ambiguous as it is not universal and specific.  On the other hand, when we believe that only God by His mercy, for His purpose, secures our salvation, it makes a lot of sense and gives glory to God.  I asked a person who believes in the birth and rebirth into various creatures, 'does any creature today suffer because it is existing as it is?  does a rat is suffering because it is a rat?  do try to ask a rat next time about this?'  It is stupidity to say that other creatures are suffering while they are happily adapting and following nature's orders with earnestness.  It seems to be a suffering because we are seeing with our human eyes, while the animal's condition is in the lowest consciousness to experience any suffering.  I remember a comedy play where two characters had to get into a big buffalo's costume to play a role of a buffalo onstage.  The two had to bend and carry the big costume for some time.  Then one person told the other, "friend, buffaloes are poor animals.  Look at us we are tired within ten minutes playing one and yet the poor animals are like this throughout their lifetime."  Now, that is a suffering being a buffalo with your human self inside.  If I was a man and got trapped in an animal's body with the realization of my previous life, then there would be suffering.  One person told me in this context that the Lord by His great mercy takes away the consciousness to help it not to feel the sufferings.  I laugh at it even now when I think about the person's answer.  A man even in this sinful age does not do such a gruesome thing as told by this person.  Is any person anywhere in the world today, who had committed a crime punished if he or she is not in his or her full consciousness at the time of trial.  Even people who had committed murder is preserved if he becomes insane after the act of crime.  He is taken care of until he regains his full realization of the crime.  Moreover, the person is not punished even to set an example for others.  Will you retaliate if a mentally handicapped person accidentally or playfully stamp your feet? You would forgive the person because he or she is not in a fully conscious state to understand what your retaliatory act means.  It would be like beating a wall.

      In simple words, if a person is born with the consciousness of his previous birth then there would be suffering.  It would be perfectly justified for a theology which proposes such theories.  After millions of birth later, a person in the twentieth century suddenly believes in the ideology of birth and rebirth but he or she doesn't remember their previous birth, what is the meaning? What is the benefit such a theory?  As far as you don't remember your previous birth it is as good as saying that this is your only birth and what significance is there if you haven't carried any lesson or teaching or memories from your last birth.

     Then, there is one more school of thoughts which propounds that God is unsearchable, unimaginable, infinite, and un-understandable and hence they don't ponder too much about God; we call them agnostics.  This is discouraging because all kinds of people have sought, found and understood God throughout the centuries.  I am sorry for the agnostics for I have to tell them that they haven't tried hard.  Let us look at an illustration: 'I own a big house and I am a broadminded lover of humanity.  I allowed a few homeless blind people to stay in my house.  Naturally, the blind people being grateful and started talking about me to each other.  In between, they called out to me and spoke to me, glorified me and praised me.  See, I am in that same room with them listening to their conversations.  As time passed by, they started giving me shapes.  Later, they discussed about my likes and dislikes.  They formed a clay idol and started addressing that idol with my name.  Look I was not annoyed till then because I am a lover of humanity.  But, the moment they spoke to each other about my likes and dislikes without asking me, I will be annoyed.  Then they burdened other blind people coming to me with rules and criteria, forgetting how freely they had received access to my home.  There were no rituals and traditions when they found entry into my home.  Slowly the idol took my place, slowly the rituals became valuable than me.  Initially, they just had to talk to me but now there were procedures and laws.  Further, any person trying to talk to me directly were beaten up badly by the others.' 
  

     One lady who had visited my house told me, 'don't feel bad but I didn't get any godly feeling when I entered your house, as I didn't see any idols or pictures.'  A few days later, I met the same person in the marketplace.  I asked her, ' Now this is a market place, you don't have an idol here nor a picture.  If something happened to you right now in this market place will you not call the name of God?  And if you call, will not the merciful Lord hear your pleas?  If you say He will hear then what is the significance of the idol or picture because you don't have any in the marketplace?'  My message to you is to pursue and talk to the Lord who is present everywhere and He is right next to you in the same room.  Do not reduce God to a mere photograph and an idol.  He is the Super-Soul, the great Father, present every where, in the market place, in your office and even places where there are no idols or pictures.  And He is equally powerful and mighty not only in the temple but everywhere alike.

     A myth can grow powerful swiftly and can handicap you if you give slight room to it.  One so called fake baba, a self proclaimed alleged religious specialist  spoke to a few acquaintances of mine.  Soon, the baba was threatening them with mantras and everybody seemed to be fearful by his talks.  When I interrupted, he warned me that if he utter some mantra then all my hairs would fall away right away.  I challenged him and told him that if he had the guts then let him do it and prove it to everyone.  My belief was that if he succeeds in doing that to me with some mantras then the Lord of the universe is not powerful as He claims to be and He can lose control of situations and become helpless when some mantras are uttered by anyone.  The fear of my friends were broken within seconds seeing the reaction of the fraudster.  They were out of the spell from the alleged tantrik as I spoke to him more, and soon, his hypocrisy was revealed.

     There is only one birth and everything happens in it.  This one life is so beautiful and wonderful that you have to answer for every second of your life to the mighty Father one day.  He had brought us, homeless blind people, into His own house.  Now, He is everywhere.  It is not He who will grow but we will grow slowly to know Him more and more.  If you see Him in an idol its time to see Him in your home, work place and until one day we will all see Him everywhere.  That day we will not be blind but stronger and powerful like the angels.  Do not be deceived by evil spirits but be enlightened.  Ask and it shall be given to you; knock and it shall be opened.  Be a seeker, you will be satisfied.  Praise the Lord.  God bless you and keep you.  

HOW TO BE SPIRITUAL? HOW CAN WE GROW SPIRITUALLY?

Mind of Christ >>

These are a couple of wise questions a person can ask oneself in order to have a discernment of all things.

I Cor 2:11 – 16

The spirit of man is apart from God’s Spirit and is the deepest part of a man’s being.  The spirit of the man knows the things of a man, whereas, the mind of the man knows things superficially and has knowledge of certain things.  Thus, the human spirit which is God conscious is also a solution giver to man’s real needs.  Similarly, the Holy Spirit knows the things of God and therefore, to understand God with human intellect is foolishness. 

In this portion of the scriptures, we know as believers, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God through whom we know the things that we have been given graciously by God.  Since, we don’t have the spirit of the world; we should not try to speak with human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.  Hallelujah.  The verse I Cor 2:14, clearly states that a Soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God because for him it will seem foolishness and neither can he understand them as he lacks spiritual discernment.

Soulish Man

A soulish man is a natural man who has a dominant soul over his spirit.  A human soul is nothing but the combination of mind, will, and emotions as explained inthe Bible.  The mind is the human intellect, the will is the faculty to decide and an intention to perform certain actions, and the emotional faculty which gives rise to various emotions in a person.  So, a soulish person, having given the reigns of his life to the soul, sees his spirit which knows all things of a man suppressed, therefore preventing the fulfillment of the real needs of a man.  This kind of a living seems very fine to a soulish person as he is not using his spirit to know the things of the Holy Spirit which seems foolishness to his worldly mind. 

In order for man to receive the things of the Spirit, first, he has to acknowledge that he has received the Spirit of God.  With this belief, he can be spiritual by denying the soul, and give the control to the spirit (which knows the things of the man) over his soul (i.e., mind, will and emotions).  This is not easy; what the Bible says in a subtle way is for you to have a highly energized and a highly fruitful spiritual living.  With such a fine spiritual life, a person can keep aside his intellect, will and all the emotions that govern him and think spiritually by discerning the things of the Spirit with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Being in the Spirit

Being in the Spirit is living in the presence of God, I mean literally.  Our living should be in the knowledge that the Lord is a living God, dwelling in us as the Spirit and is also Omnipresent.  The more degree of our belief in the literal presence of God, the more we are in the Spirit (Read Your Rightful Freedom in Christ by Johnny Yo).  Such a living will push back the soul, along with its inferior knowledge of the things of man and give control to the real part that will give us true freedom and peace in our living.   

I am not proposing this as some sort of mental exercise, rather something that you have to experience in reality.  We, as believers have received the Spirit of God in our spirit and under this setup, we have to live in the reality of the Christ, believing in Him always.  Hallelujah, such a living is possible because we have the mind of Christ (I Cor 2:16).  This is the secret brothers and sisters; the crux of this message - to know the power that is in you.  Just for a few minutes, pray to the Lord to show His mind and try to meditate what the Lord’s mind would be.  ‘He is the second Person of the Trinity, the Word of God, who is the owner of everything.  He is connected to the Father, and He and the Father are one.  He came down to Earth, dwelt among us.  Further, He died, resurrected and ascended to the right hand of God.  Such a Person’s mind is in me.  Hallelujah.’  I already feel like a King and my thinking is broadening because of the Lord’s mind and I know my life is in the hands of the Almighty and absolutely nothing can touch me.  Amen.

Triumphant Gospel

An Effective Method to Dispel Lies of Satan from your lives >>

     The day I started reading the Bible and the books that were written by God-inspired writers, my time became blessed (Psalms 143:5).  Among the writers, God used books of Saints like Watchman Nee and Witness Lee to speak to me more clearly.  Further, my fellowship with the Lord through prayers and my fellowship with other believers had wiped away many lies.  The noises in my head were replaced with the sweet name of Jesus.  This was also the time when I was convinced that there was not an iota of truth in the arguments against the Bible being the word of God (Read ‘The Case for Christ’ by Lee Strobel).  The case for Bible which is a perfectly preserved Holy book is strong.  This is the written word of God that explains to us the living Word of God.  Right from Genesis to Revelation, the central point of God, Lord Jesus, is steadfastly expressed, explained and glorified to the believers who draw near to Him in faith.  

     The Holy Spirit took about 1400 years and several authors with different backgrounds and status to complete the Holy Bible.  This is a massive and impossible project if we speak in terms of human beings; something that could only be achieved through the cooperation of persons not only separated geographically but by eras.  Right from the beginning of the Bible, we hear the gospel of Christ which is the master plan of God.  This triumphant gospel was only possible by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In the future, every knee will bow before God and every mouth will praise Him for His victory.  There will not be dissenting voices, rebelling hearts, but souls that have come together to worship God not by force but by their own will in spirit and truth.  

     The Lord taught me the effective method to counter the lies and doubts regarding Him and His kingdom.  This is to approach every matter by having an undisputed belief that the Word of God is the ultimate truth.  Such an approach will quell all your doubts about God (James 4:8) and help you understand the truth.  Having this foundational believing mindset is the best way to removing stumbling blocks from our way (Joh 16:13).  There is no other storehouse of Philosophy and spiritual knowledge that is so exhaustive and inclusive than the Bible.  Hence, the word of God is more than capable of answering all your queries to your satisfaction.

(Read further 'Your Rightful Freedom in Christ by Johnny Yo' available on Amazon Kindle)

O Father Thou Art Evergreen

O Father Thou art evergreen >>

Praise the Father for His everlasting love.  He is ever new; ever fresh.
Hallelujah He lives forever. Amen.

1.  Our Father, as the evergreen,
Thou art forever new;
Thou art the ever-living Lord,
Thy freshness as the dew.

O Father, Thou art unchanging,
Thou never hast grown old;
Thru countless ages, ever fresh,
Thy newness doth unfold.

2.  O Thou art God, and Thou art "new";
Without Thee all is worn,
But all with Thee is ever fresh,
Though many years have gone.

3.  Each blessing Thou hast given us
Thy newness doth contain;
Thy covenant, Thy ways are new,
And ever thus remain.

4.  Now we Thy new creation are
New spirit and new heart;
We're daily from the old renewed,
New life Thou dost impart.

5.  The earth and heavens will be new
And Thy new city share;
New fruits each month will be supplied,
For all is newness there.

6.  O Father, Thou art ever new,
And all is new in Thee;
We sing the new eternal song,
New praise we give to Thee.

Jesus - God's Salvation

History of man's fall >>

     The creation was glorious when it was formed out of nothing by the Word of God.  During the seven days of creation, after each day, God saw that it was good (Gen 1:10, 1:12).  For perfect God, to see something as good meant that it was good indeed.  His good is man’s unimaginable high standard of perfection (1 Chron 29:11-13).  At this peak of perfection, Satan, entered the scene (Gen 3:1) and corrupted the rich and glorious creation.  The tragedy was that he had partners in this crime, human beings (Gen 3:1-7).  As for us today, we are yet to know to what depths our mingling with Satan had destroyed us, especially with no clarity of man's pre-fall glorious state.  As a result, Sin received a free pass and entered the world.  A few aftereffects due to this was that man lost God’s presence (Gen 3:24), riches, rest(Gen 3:17), and brought upon him pain(Gen 3:16), sicknesses and ‘death’ (Gen 3:19).  Not just man, but the entire creation was dragged into the curse and bondage.  One life became meat to another (Rom 8:19-22).  In addition, God cursed the land also which began giving out thorns and thistles (Gen 3:18).  Oh, what a fall! 

God’s plan after man’s fall

God saw Adam and Eve’s disobedience (Gen 3:1-7).  He didn't press the reset button by wiping out the disobedient creatures and create new ones in their places, but instead, the Creator chose to demonstrate His utmost love by planning to uplift the fallen man (Gen 3:21).  He sent the Spirit of the Son Jesus Christ (Gal 4:6) in the likeness of flesh to make sons (Heb 2:10) out of the fallen man.  For the righteous God, it was the grandest thing to do.  He as revealed in the Bible chose to teach the serpent a lesson, prior to His great judgment reserved for all evilness.  God cursed Satan and said to him, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between they seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Gen 3:15).

Let us summarize the situation so far.  When man fell, he brought upon himself the wrath of God and Sin entered the world through him and death began to rule over him (Rom 5:12).  As the result, the mighty Adam was reduced to a perishable man.  The extent of doom was gruesome.  Even before a person's actual death, the knowledge of his inevitable death killed him already by instigating fear in him.  This led to the reign of death.  The entry of sin into the world brought a constitutional change in all creatures.  Thus, the basic constituent of man became sin (Rom 5:19).  This meant that we are sinners not because we sinned but we sinned because we are born sinners (Psalms 51:5).  In other words, we are a building made of bricks and mortar of sin.  May God grant us mercy to understand this matter further.

Why God hates outwardly-ness?

The utmost need of man is to address this grave issue of the corrupted inward constitution.  On God's part, He chose to reconstitute man back to his old self in His Son's righteousness.  On our part, we need to pray and walk in the spirit, because every moment of our being in the spirit gives room and time to God to work Himself into our inward parts.  

Sin is a sickness which had enslaved man and is leading him to death (Rom 6:14).  So, if a sick person puts on makeup and outward adornments, will it make him any better?  On the contrary, he is deceiving himself and this is what the Lord hates, the pretension and ignorance of Man of his actual sinful state.  Consequently, Religion, Nicolaitans (Rev 2:6), teachings of Balaam (Rev 2:14), Judaizers (Rev 2:9, Mat 12:34) are all the fruits of this pretension and hypocrisy of the partnership of flesh and Satan. 

The Lord’s focus

Praise God, for the Lord is restoring the creation back to its actual condition before the fall of man (Col 1:17).   He is focused to enter us and reconstitute us that we may not only be rescued but also reign in life (Rome 5:17).  This reigning will continue in the New Jerusalem for the overcomers in New Jerusalem as a reward from the Lord (Rev 1:6, 5:10). 

This is the Truth which Satan doesn't want you to Know

Those who believe in the Lord will not perish but shall have eternal life (John 3:16) irrespective of their works (Ro 11:6 Eph 2:8).  The good works are not securing salvation for the believers and hence by their works, they will not be condemned either (Joh 10:27-28).   But there is an issue of the inward constitution. To understand this with clarity let us read the following illustration:

   "If you happen to visit a rich and beautiful bungalow, what will you do if your shoes and feet were covered with mud and dirt?  Will you not ask the master of the rich mansion to provide some water to clean up, or will not the master help you out in your cleaning process?  Yes, Brothers and Sisters, we are welcome to the mansion of the Lord  in faith irrespective of our filth and sin, but before entering the mansion there is a cleaning process which is the dealings of the Lord in our lives to transform us today."

The Lord is very clear that no unclean thing will enter heaven again (Rev 21:8). Today by the Lord’s mercy the constitution-restoration work is carried out by Him like a loving Shepherd in patience (Psalms 23:1, Joh 10:3, 1Pet 2:25).  But, if we are not transformed in this age, then this work will continue in the outer darkness (Mat 22:13, Mat 25:30).  There is not much description about this outer darkness in the scriptures except that it will be a period of extreme tribulation and grief, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The Bible gives us several hints that the transformation work of the sons of the kingdom (Mat 8:12), Christians without the wedding garment (Mat 22:13), unprofitable servants (Mat 25:30), wicked servants (Mat 18:34), foolish virgins will continue to take place during the millennium age in the outer darkness.  Meanwhile, the Lord will enter the new glorious millennial age with the saints who were watchful with full of oil for their lamps (Mat 25:1-13). But, before that,  He will judge the believers and the worthy ones will receive the reward from Him (Rev 22:12, Rev 1:7, 1:11, 1:17, 1:26, 2:5, 2:12, 2:21) to enter the Heavenly feast.  The careless believers who were thus punished by the true Judge of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, will not leave the outer darkness until they pay the last farthing (Mat 5:26); until they are fully transformed.  After the millennial age, the old heaven and earth will pass away (2 Pet 3:10) and every one will enter the eternal life as promised by the Lord in John 3:16.  Hallelujah.  

What we can do today?

Let us cooperate with the Lord in truth and spirit.  This cooperation with Him is the confession of all our sins and repenting for it and joining the church.  The Lord is merciful and His love is abundant.  Live, worship, fellowship, converse, pray, praise and walk with Him while He transforms you into His image today.  Have a fresh start with the Lord.  Find a local church and start living a blessed church life which is a foretaste of the future Heavenly kingdom.  Blessings are upon you.  Hallelujah.    

Have you experienced such a salvation?

If you have not experienced such a salvation yet, then do understand that the Almighty God is trying to enter you as the overcoming Seed who will crush the serpent head in you and add joy to your life.  Everything (Col 3:11) is for the Lord and in the Lord and hence He in His sovereignty has arranged everything around us for this sole purpose of entering you and gather you into His household (Joh 10:1-13).  Amen.

Let us Pray

Lord Jesus, I love you because you loved me first.  Even when I was an enemy you died for me and reconciled me to You.  Thank You for dying on the cross in my place.  Lord, I repent for my sins now.  I pray unto You, Oh Mighty and loving Holy Spirit to bring to my mind all the un-confessed sins of my life that I may confess and repent for it.  Lord, I don’t know how to follow You or how to pray or how to read the Bible.  Please guide me and equip me that I may have this joy of Your presence inside me as the overcoming Seed.  Oh Lord Jesus, please guide me to the blessed church life and help me enjoy you corporately with other believers.  Thank You for listening to my prayers.  In Jesus most precious name I pray,  Amen.

I welcome your comments, suggestions etc..  Please do write to me. 

May the Lord’s name be glorified, Amen.  

Suffering Releases Divine Life

>>
Living in Christ

Christ as life

Christ living in us.

What wonderful expressions!!  Even before we touch the reality of these 3 beautiful statuses, there is joy in just uttering it or hearing it.

But will the Lord wish that we know these truths outwardly?  Shouldn't we yearn to know the meaning of these expressions inwardly, as true experiences that lead to true happiness? (Psalms 19:14, Psalms 26:2, Deu 30:6, Psalms 7:10,)

The Lord is in us (2 Tim 1:14, Jam 4:5, 1John 4:12)

The Lord is the life in us (John 1:4, John 5:21, John 5:40, John 14:6, 1 Cor 15:45) and

We are living in the Lord (John 17:21, 1 Cor 1:30, Eph 2:6, 1 John 3:24).

If we say that we are living in Christ, then absolutely nothing can give us a heartbreak (1 Pet 4:12).  Grief, joy, trouble, success, will not be sudden surprises to us but everything will be for the glory of the Lord (1Pet 4:12).  Rather than being surprised and grieving during troubles and tribulations, the residents are blessed in Christ and are partakers in His sufferings (Phil 1:29, 2Tim 1:8). 

The Lord knows our heart (Isa 1:20, 29:13), our inward parts more than we do?( Psalms 19:14, Psalms 26:2, Deu 30:6, Psalms 7:10,).  If He sees a problem in our hearts, what will He do?  Say, if we have a problem in forgiving someone, will He not arrange all things for us to learn and forgive someone with His forgiveness (Rom 8:28).  Indeed, He will.  Hallelujah.

Recently, the Lord taught me a lesson of forgiveness through an incident arranged by Him.  I was offended by a person at my workplace and I was furious at him.  Many verses from the Bible came to my mind at that fuming moment in my mind, but it was futile.  I prayed but could not bring my heart to peace regarding that bitter incident.  I asked Lord Jesus, “Lord, I don’t understand, why such a bitter thing happened?”  I continuously conversed with the Lord and walked with Him, though more like a grumbling kid. 

I may have thought that everything was going fine with me, but clearly, I lacked forgiveness which was exposed by this bitter incident that happened with me.  It was like a disease being exposed after some tests.  The Lord exposed it and then proceeded to quarantine it.  I was trying to forgive the person who offended me with my own natural ability which was impossible for me.  Even if I am able to forgive the person this time, what will happen if the same person does the same offence again?  It was not as easy as I thought.  I learnt that my forgiveness should be replaced by Christ Himself that I may forgive a person seven times seventy (Mat 18:22).  This is truly achievable when I am living in the Lord, He is living in me and the Lord is the life in me.  Amen.  Then I produced the right forgiveness which God desired. 

That is our Loving Lord.  He will not give up on us.  He is a conqueror and will not rest until He makes all His overcomers (1Jn 5:4) more than conquerors in life (Rom 8:37).  Amen.

A couple of days later, I visited a blood bank to donate blood to an acquaintance.  For the first time, I understood that there was an eligibility test before the blood donation.  My blood passed the eligibility test.  Right in that crowded blood bank, I received the dispensation of the Lord.  The whole test procedure turned out to be a pure gospel session which was directly ministered by the Holy Spirit to me.  The test conductor mercilessly pierced my finger and pressed it hard to collect a few drops of blood.  The finger pained for a couple of days after that. 

Not long, I understood the great spiritual truth behind it.  What an awesome message it was and is still for me!  

The finger was a member of the body, just as I am a member of the Body of Christ (Eph 1:22-23, Eph 5:30).  When something pierced me, I cried and complained to the Lord.  I was stuck with the Lord who is the Head of the Body which is His church today.  Though the pain was in the finger, it was the head which calculated and felt the pain and planned the future course of action to comfort the troubled part.  In the same way Christ knows the future course of remedial actions for the piercings that we suffer in Him. 

The needle which was used to prick my finger was for a single use.  It was lifeless and its place after its purpose is in the dust bin.  Today, the Lord uses many needles of the world (unbelievers) for our own good and our being increased with Him.  The people of world may think that they are doing something against you, but it is the Lord who is using all the things for good to those who love Him and walk according to Him (Rom 8:28).  Poor unbelievers, they are already dead without the salvation offered by God in Lord Jesus Christ and yet they are laboring hard, so that the Lord’s believers may receive an increase in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Without a piercing, the blood will not flow out of body.  And the world needs only the blood of Christ for their salvation, so this is the standard to qualify.  When the lovers of the Lord suffer and glorify the Lord in the sufferings, they are partakers of the Lord’s cross which is producing life in them.  The world desperately needs this outflow of life, so they test a believer whether he or she really has the life of the Lord inside them.  Our Lord’s blood has passed the test of the righteous requirement of Father God on the cross and now it needs to flow out into the dying people of the world.  So let us not complain, think that something strange has happened when we receive the piercings or sufferings in the world (Rom 8:17, 2Tim 3:12).  It is for the life of the Lord to flow out of us.  Thank God that we are qualified and passed the eligibility by the blood of the Lord as life in us.  Let us abide in Him to allow the Lord’s life to flow out of us, though for a short while we may suffer if need be.  Endure such sufferings as the soldier of Christ (2Tim 2:3).  Amen. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus we believe You.  We have passed the eligibility test because of Your work on the cross for sinners like me.  Lord, Your life is in us as the life- giving Spirit and the world around me needs this flow of Your life.  Lord we pray for Your mighty grace to sustain us as means of Your outflow of divine life.  Lord, we were the highway people but now You have chosen us to be Your children.  We thank You so much for the divine life.  Amen.  

Jesus Christ - Pattern of our Living

One living all the time >>

God's word should work in us that His life may increase in us (Col 2:19, Joh 3:30).  His word to mankind is His Christ (Joh 1:1) who put on flesh and dwelt among us(Joh 1:14).  For this incarnated Word, doing the Father's will was His priority in His living (Mat 26:39, Gal 1:4).  He thus set a pattern for all His followers to lead a divine life pleasing to the Father.

All the riches of God are available in Christ (Eph 2:7, Rom 11:33) and when we are in Christ, these riches are available to us in abundance.  May God teach us the true meaning of being in Christ and enjoying His riches.  Let His grace pour into our lives, so that we may lead a life that is in Christ filled.  When we are in Christ, doing the Father's Will will become our priority which is our the bread (Joh 4:34).  Thus, we need to have this kind of unique living all the time.

God's unique work today

God's unique work in this age is to work Himself into man (Eph 3:17), so that He may produce a sanctified corporate entity which is the church, God's dwelling place (Acts 14:27, 20:28, 1 Cor 12:28, Eph 1:4, 22-23).  This dwelling place in its consummation will become the New Jerusalem, adorned as the bride of Christ (Eph 5:25-27, Rev 21:2).  So, God is working for such a bride for His Son, adorned and spotless. Hallelujah.

Grace

God working into man is called grace (2 Cor 12:9).  It also means, experiencing God to produce God (Joh 1:17).  Often we hear people say that by the grace of God, they are doing fine.  They actually should mean that in their particular situation, they experienced something of God's working which was beyond their ability to produce any logical explanation.  Grace is something we received freely without deserving it (Rom 3:24, 5:15) and is a free gift which doesn't have anything to do with our efforts, talents and not even our own righteousness(Gal 4:31).  Hallelujah, what a gift!

What should be our attitude towards this work of the Triune God?  

Christ has set a pattern for us to live today by His life, death, resurrection and ascension (John 1:4, 5:40, 6:33, 8:12, 12:25, Rom 8:10, Gal 2:20, 2 Thess 3:9, Eph 5:1) .  During the Lord's earthly days, His life was His work and His work was His living (Eph 5:2).  In other words, He practiced what He preached.  Our living should be like that of the Lord's living (John 15:4).  We should take His living as the pattern today for our living.  This is grace in an updated state, in an unlimited way.  Christ is grace.  When we live like Christ, we are living the life of grace.

Christ's silent years was His living

Our Lord Jesus began His ministry when He was about 30 and then continued for 3 1/2 years.  Majority of the Bible scholars would describe the Lord's lifespan from 12 years to 30 years as 'silent years'.  Was it really silent? Did the years never existed?  Hallelujah, the living God was living in the world in the so-called silent years(Mat 16:16).  We have a window of just one verse spoken by the Lord which might enlighten us further about the Lord's absent years.

And he said unto them, "How is that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"

The Lord was found in the temple doing the Father's business at the age of 12.  His interest and His living were doing the Father's business, building His temple.  We can now know how He must have progressed in the subsequent years to do the Father's will.  Hallelujah.

Meditating on the life of the Lord.

We can meditate upon this living of the Lord.  His living was His working.  His working was His living.  With Him, there were no dual standards, but always single.  How often we stumble and are tossed around with our dual standards.  We have a standard in the church and another when we are in the world.  When there is a problem in our life, we forget or not believe that faith can move mountains (Mat 17:20).  One standard while we are praying and another when faced with some demanding situations.  A great man of God, Watchman Nee during his visit to Kulangsu in the Fukien province to do Lord's work.  His money was stolen and he didn't have sufficient money to buy a return ticket.  To his dismay, he also had rejected money from a believer he met at that place earlier.  The co-workers were unaware of Brother Nee's financial condition.  Though he didn't have money, he stepped out in faith at that time rejecting many suggestions from the devil.  His eyes were filled with tears when he saw the Lord's providence.  The same person from whom Brother Nee had refused earlier returned to give him a packet of food and a cover containing 4 dollars just enough to buy a ticket to return.  This time Brother Nee accepted.  (The Third Testimony, Watchman Nee's Testimony) Here is an incident where a person is single minded without having dual standards, living for the Lord, in the Lord.  Hallelujah.

The Lord's earthly life

There is an account of the  Lord's earthly life in Hebrew 5:7 in which it is described that He offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.  What an amazing report this is!  The Lord who is the heir of all the riches in the universe (Col 1:16,18) offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.  Though He is the Son of God, He learned obedience by the things He suffered (Mat 16:21, Rom 8:17).  We today who are in Christ need to learn such obedience by all the things we suffer.  We are the sons of God (Rom 8:14,19 Gal 3:26) and we are in Christ and it is God's desire that we may learn obedience through all things we suffer under His sovereign authority.

The Lord's living is His shining

The Lord is light (Mat 4:16, Joh 1:8-9, 3:19).  He is life (Joh 1:4).  His life is the true light in us.  So, the Lord's living is light shining.  Therefore, when we have the Lord as the life-giving Spirit in us, it simply means that Lord is shining in us.  Amen, Hallelujah.

In Phil 2:5-11, we see the Lord who is in the form God, yet did not consider equal to Him as He had a purpose to fulfill.  He humbled Himself and became obedient unto the death on the cross.  He was humble and meek and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.  Later, the outcome of such a life before God on earth is His highly exalted position in the universe in His ascension today.  His name rose above all names.  Hallelujah.

'Every knee will bow at His name.  Every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.'

The Pattern set by the Lord for us

The greatest worker lived silently for 30 years and then ministered for 3 1/2 years.  He was silent till God's appointed time when He began His work.  Today we need to learn to wait for the Lord's appointed time to express the Father and do His will according to His leading.  We need to pray for much grace regarding this matter.

The Lord Jesus says that on His own He does nothing (Joh 5:30, 6:38).  He seeks the will of the Father who sent Him.  This is an exact life which the Triune God desires for us today (Rom 6:11, 8:9).  We too should be allowing the Lord to live in us and through us.

Father and the Son are working to this day (Joh 5:17).  The Son is the life-giving Spirit in us.  The Son is living in us (Rom 8:9).  The Father is living in us (Rom 8:9).  Their living is Their working.  Their working is Their living.  Amen, Hallelujah.

One Living all the time

We have one living for God in faith and another living in the world according to its standards.  When both these lives converge in the reality of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, we will be living a divine life that is a godly life.  This is possible when we take the Lord Jesus Christ as our pattern. 

This one living should be in the Spirit and all the time.  Let us pray for such a godly life by the Lord's rich mercy and grace.

Amen.  

Every Word Spoken

The Abundance of Good Treasure >>

Mat 12:33-37

Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words, thou shalt be condemned.



     The written Word of God is piercing and is capable of dividing soul and the spirit (Heb 4:12).  The living Word of God is the incarnated Christ who came down from the heaven and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The Lord who is the Truth,  (John 14:6) warns us that man shall give an account for every idle word spoken.  'Idle' in the Greek language means 'non-working'.  These non-working, unfruitful, unedifying words spoken has the power to condemn the speaker.  This condemnation will occur on the day of judgment.  The written Word confirms us today that the Living Word of God will sit upon the judgment seat and all men will render Him an account in the day of the Lord. Mat 12:37 says, 'for by your word you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned.'  The Lord's intention for men is for them to be justified in the first place and not condemned (2 Peter 3:9). So Let us watch and restrict our vain gossips and speak edifying, encouraging and life building words. Our words will determine our destiny.

     For escaping vain speaking, we need to have GOOD TREASURES in our hearts.  For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Mat 12:34).  So, here we come to the crux of this message that is to have an ABUNDANCE of good things in our heart, which is the good treasure and not just an outward practicing of speaking or not speaking which we will fail eventually if we don't have the abundance of good things in our heart.

     Our words will expose what is abundant in our hearts.  On one hand, we speak, and on the other, we hear others speak.  When we hear others speak, we will know the abundance of their hearts.  When we speak, what words that come out of our mouths is what we are inside. When I hear myself speaking naturally the things of God, it is an encouragement that I have something good in me.  This good is the good treasure that is God Himself living in us.  Amen.


When Christ lives in me, He is the good treasure that is in me.  Then out of the abundance of Christ in my heart, I will speak forth good things.  This good speaking justifies me and gives life to others.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, after the Resurrection and the Ascension, You have become a life-giving Spirit in the believers who have received You.  Today I pray believing that You are in me, to grow in me.  Lord Jesus, when You grow in me, Your measure in me will increase and when I speak, I will speak forth You.  Lord, You are life, When You grow in me, You life increases in me and there will be an outflow of good things from my life.  Lord, Thank You for these words.  Thank You for the good treasure.  Hallelujah, Amen.

The Smitten Rock of God

The Smitten Rock of God >>

The Smitten Rock

I wondered earlier why the Lord Almighty commanded Moses to smite the rock during the exodus when the Israelites thirsted for water in the wilderness. When I read the portion of the Holy Word in the spirit, I was nourished greatly understanding the intended divine meaning.  Exodus 17:3 says, that the Israelites thirsted for water which made Moses cried out to the Lord regarding the grave need. The Lord in reply commanded Moses to take the same staff with which he stretched out to divide the sea and smite the rock at the Mount of Horeb.  We know that it was the mighty God whose power had divided the seas and held it back with strong east wind all the night.  His power made the sea dry land for the Israelites to pass through when the Egyptians were in pursuit.  Exodus 14:3, says that the crossing of the sea was for the Israelites to 'stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord'.  While they stood still, the Lord Almighty, Jehovah, the all-inclusive One, fought for them.

Dry Land

     The Dry Land that appeared signifies the Lord Jesus Christ who is our Salvation. He is the way that separated us from the sinful world represented by Egypt. The Lord became our bridge of salvation. Hallelujah. Sea represents the world and the Exodus signifies the journey of church TODAY through the timeline towards the Promised Land, The New Jerusalem. Hallelujah.

The Promised Land

      In Duet 9: 1-7, we read that God gave the Promised Land to Israel, not because that they did extraordinary things and nor did they deserve it but,
     1) Purely out of Grace,
     2) There was great wickedness in Canaan and
     3) The Lord's promise to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

 Hallelujah!! The same way, our Lord Jesus Christ is the real promised land.  He is given to the church purely out of His good will.  This He accomplished by His work on the cross which was according to the eternal plan of God, the Father. Amen.

     In Joshua 3:11, we see that the Ark of Covenant of the Lord crossing over before the Israelites into the Jordan. The Ark of Covenant is again in reality, a type of Christ given to the Israelites. The priests crossing the Jordan carrying the Ark signifies the Lord as the forerunner of the church traversing through the timeline towards Eternity. When the feet of the priest touched Jordan, the water was cut off and the water from upstream stood in heap. What a sight! Hallelujah. The Lord is the river of life and Jordan represents the worldly flow that is separating the Promised Land from the church. The Lord's flow is unstoppable. The flow of the world that comes in His path is cut off and divided. We see this in the history of the church, how the flow of the Lord became more turbulent when the world tried to hinder it throughout the ages. Hallelujah.

     On one hand, the Lord is the dry pathway through death waters and on the other, He is also the life passing through it. Hallelujah.  In addition, He is the destination, our Promised Land.  A similar pattern can be observed in the smitten Rock episode.  When we meditate deeply we will understand that the Rock that is smitten signifies Jesus Christ who was crucified for us, today's Israelites.  Not only is He the smitten rock but also the water that is flowing out of it.

     The separated death waters signify the flow of the world that hinders the flow of life, but the flow of the living water led by the Lord as the forerunner will flow to increase life in the thirsting ones. This flow begins from the throne of God Almighty and is flowing throughout the eternity. The Flowing God from the throne of God has become our all. This flow is uninterrupted, relentless and powerful. And this is His move today in the world today through His members.

The Rock

     God is 'The Rock' (Duet 32:4) and this Rock begot us. While the Lord is the Living water of life, He is also the Rock (Duet 32:18).  (Exodus 17:6) Why the Lord had arranged the Smitten Rock scene before the Israelites? While we know that neither Moses nor his staff had any hidden magical powers, it is the Lord who tore apart the rock and caused the water to come out of it. It is also significant to note that the Lord Almighty stood upon the rock before Moses. While the Lord could just bring forth water out of the ground without Moses smiting the rock, Nevertheless He did it through Moses for certain reason.  Many centuries later, a similar scene unfolded on the mount of Calvary, where the Lord Almighty stood and the Israelites smote the Rock, the Lord Jesus.  They crucified the all-inclusive embodiment of God on the cross.  It was according to the eternal plan of the Lord that he may become a life-giving spirit flowing out of Him into the believers. The Lord Almighty's wisdom baffles us that He proved His steadfastness about His great plan. Three thousand or so years before, the Almighty had clearly shown Christ even before He was yet to be revealed. The Rock had to be smitten for the water to come out of it. The whole Bible is perfectly inline. Hallelujah. Just like neither Moses nor His staff had the power to smite the rock, neither men nor the crucifixion had the power to smite the Lord. It was the power of the Lord that smote the living Rock of Ages. His intention was that there would be a release of an outflow of living waters for thirsting ones.

The Lord is our Rock.
The Lord is our Smitten Rock.
The Lord is an outflow of water of life to the thirsty men.

Hallelujah.