In Prison for a Lie
I met Alkesh several years ago at a bible college in Trivandrum, India. He responded with great conviction to the message of LoveDefined and has been a disciple now for several years. Here is where I met Alkesh in India.
He married after I met him and now has two children. About 5 years ago, Alkesh was arrested and falsely accused of “forcible conversion”. While he does share the Gospel and invite people to embrace Christ, it is never under compulsion or forced. He was in prison for 3 months and released. His wife lived in great distress during that time of not knowing what will happen to him or to her and the children. Much prayer and the practice of trust was happening!! Alkesh could guide and encourage his wife through the way we discipled him - abide in Christ’s love and trust patiently while in the midst of hardship. He showed his wife what the true Kingdom of God was - “righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit."
Alkesh was released from prison but the government has not stopped oppressing him. He has been in a legal battle with the court system for 5 years! But on August 23 he won his battle against the false accusations. Oh what a day of rejoicing this is for Alkesh and his family - and us!! Alkesh won a battle against the Indian court system, but greater than that, Alkesh and his wife won a battle against their own flesh. They stood faithful to Christ!!
During these last 5 years, Alkesh has needed much encouragement and guidance from God’s Word. He has needed so much comfort from the Holy Spirit and hope to not give up. To encourage Alkesh, my own heart needed to be still and be encouraged in Christ in the reality of the way life will be for those who follow Christ. “In this life you will have trouble”, this is what Jesus tells us as His disciples. Oh we really don’t want to hear these words!! We want Christ to tell us that no trouble will come to us, but that is not what He says. Instead, He prepares us for reality! He wants us to be ready. There is opposition and hatred and persecution for those who follow Christ.
IN the trouble, Jesus tells us to “be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” This is really a provoking command from Jesus, to “be of good cheer". It takes us to the edge of our own heart and mind. Do we find that Christ is enough? Or do we find that it must be Christ and…..? Is there something you must have in order to be content in this life? Is there something you must have in order to be happy or secure other than Christ? We are afraid to look here at our own heart. We don’t want to expose that we are possibly lovers of money instead of lovers of God. We don’t want to expose the possible reality that Christ is not our first love but something else is.
Alkesh and his wife were truly pressed in this way. What did they discover about their own hearts? Did they want to stop following Christ because of persecution and false accusations? Did they give up because it left them penniless and at times hungry? No! They found that their hearts were FAITHFUL TO CHRIST and that He was what they desired above all else. They discovered that if Christ could suffer for them, then they could also suffer for Christ. This is the truest battle that each follower of Jesus must face and win. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.” 2Timothy 2:12
What are you facing today that is creating trouble in your life? Can you breathe deeply and find peace and joy even if this trouble in your life does not go away? Can you declare that GOD IS GOOD in the midst of your trouble and need? Or is God’s goodness contingent on you getting what you want? Is your heart and mind only filled with joy and peace when your circumstance is pleasant or do you stand in that joy and peace because it comes from Christ alone? What is true about you?
Never before has the Church been in such shaking!! Globally there is a shaking going on and many people are falling away. Weekly we are hearing of people “DECONSTRUCTING” their faith. We see today that many no longer even know what the authentic Kingdom of God is and they are pursuing the very things that God despises - and they do it in the name of Jesus.
Beloved Family, remember the words of Christ regarding the last days. “Because of an increase in lawlessness, the love of most will grow cold.”
That is where you must focus your heart and mind. Abide in the Love of Christ and practice giving it away at every opportunity!! Show that Christ is alive in you and that He is your life!!
Alkesh is only one story of many. LoveDefined has disciples all over the world and it is our privilege to encourage them, strengthen them, and support them financially as we are able. Love makes us family. Love bonds our hearts in Christ and these bonds are eternal.
As a ministry, we need partners; Partners who have a passion to see the Gospel of Christ’s love brought to the nations through actual discipleship. Partners who find joy in the opportunity to serve others and to lay their lives down because Christ laid his life down for us. LoveDefined actually makes disciples not just converts. We raise up people who know the power of Christ’s love and who are actually willing to lay their lives down for Christ by loving others, even sacrificially.
Will you financially partner with us? It is the way of the Kingdom to share the work together. This is how the Kingdom works - together. No one person is to do the work alone. And yet many try, and many others like to see the “one man show”. But that is not us. We wait to grow and move as others join us and help us. “I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power TOGETHER…”
TOGETHER. We need people to join us for the purpose of making disciples TOGETHER.
Today. Join us: www.lovedefinedministry.org
Gratefully, as a ministry, we have chosen to grow only through bonds of love, not through the schemes of man.
Thank you,
Weyman and Sue
