As we learn to enjoy and live by the tree of life, God in Christ as life in our spirit, we realise there are some obstacles that God’s life encounters in us, and we open to the Lord’s shining so that His cross may operate in us and break us for the Lord’s life to flow in and out of us in an unhindered way.
Lord Jesus, we come to eat You as the tree of life today. We open to You. We want to deal with any problems in our being. Shine on us, Lord, and reveal to us what are the obstacles that Your life encounters in us. May we deal with any subjective obstacles to Your life in us so that Your life may flow. We allow Your light to expose, and we pray for Your cross to deal with all these problems so that Your life may flow in us in an unhindered way! Oh, may Your life flow in and out of us today! Amen!
We all need to see our need for the tree of life; so many times, as we live our Christian life, we’re on autopilot, for we do things because we’re used to doing them, without contacting the Lord.
We may even go to the meetings, read the Bible, sing, and care for new ones without contacting the Lord or depending on Him as life.
There’s a great shortage of life in us and among us. We may be full of activities, we may go to a lot of meetings, and we may seem to be ok, but what is the level of growth in life in us, and how much do we depend on the Lord?
We really need to open ourselves to the Lord so that His life can flow in us and even increase in us. Our concept needs to be changed.
If we truly want to enter into the reality of the enjoyment of God, we must see a controlling vision of the tree of life.
If we don’t depend on the Lord in all things, if we do not remain in the organic union with Him in our spirit, everything we do apart from Him – no matter how good and encouraging it may be – is not acceptable to the Lord.
The little we do in the organic union with the Lord amounts to more than the great work we do outside of our organic union with Him.
We truly need the Lord to shine on us and expose the obstacles in our being, the things in us that hinder His life to grow in us, flow in us, and overflow through us.
We may have heard that there are these obstacles to God’s life in us, and we may be even able to list them and describe them, but we need to be before the Lord and pray much before Him so that He may deal with them.
There is only one solution to all the obstacles to God’s life in us: we must pass through the cross and let the cross break us.
If we, believers in Christ, want Christ’s life to be unhindered in us, we must experience the breaking of the cross and allow these obstacles to be dealt with and removed (Matt. 16:24-25).
May we open to the Lord in prayer so that we may not only know the obstacles but also let His cross deal with them so that His life may have an unhindered way in our being.
Realise the Darkness of our Human Concepts and Take Care of the Living Christ in us
The very first problem that God’s life encounters in us is that we don’t realise the darkness of our human concepts. We just don’t see that our concepts are in darkness and spread darkness.
We all have human concepts; we all have our own concepts, and we think we are correct in our concepts. We live according to our concepts.
Our concepts are derived from our education, our family background, the society in which we live and our own disposition and human nature. All these convey a certain kind of concept in our thinking.
According to our concepts, we evaluate things, we do things, and we live in a certain way. Our value system is according to our concepts.
We think that our concepts are quite reasonable, we would not hold on to them. If a concept were crazy or ludicrous, insane, we would not hold it; but we think it’s reasonable to think the way we think.
For example, society today tells us that we should get the best education, get the best job, raise a family, and live a good life in society. There’s nothing wrong with any of these things.
In fact, even in the church life we may speak of getting the best education, but the purpose is not to live a good human life but so that we may be trained by the Lord; there’s a different motivation and goal here.
We go to school, we get certain concepts implanted into us; we go to work, and we are again influenced by others to have certain concepts.
Because of the society and the way of thinking around us, we may think, for example, that it is too much to give the Lord some of our time to be trained for His purpose, for we will miss out on our career or life (Matt. 16:22-23).
We do not realise the darkness of our human concepts. Unless we open to the Lord to shine on us, we are in darkness, in the darkness of our human concepts.
We need to see that the only thing that matters in our Christian life is how we take care of the living Christ in us (Gal. 1:16; 2:20; 4:19; Phil. 1:19-21; Eph. 4:13; 2 Cor. 3:18).
Many times we may make a decision or do something without coming to the Lord, for we know that He will say NO to that thing.
But if we just open to the Lord and allow Him to shine on us, we will realise the darkness of our human concepts and we will let the cross operate to put our concepts to death.
Being a Christian means that we don’t take anything other than Christ as our aim. However, many people have difficulty in their spiritual life after they are saved because they don’t know the pathway of life, and they don’t take Christ as our life.
Our Christian life is a matter of Christ living in us; we need to pay attention to the Christ who lives in us and dwells in us.
In ourselves, we’re a failure, we fail God, and we are full of concepts; when we open to the Lord, He will shine on us. May we let Him shine and may we let Him deal with all the concepts we have!
Lord Jesus, we open to Your shining today. Expose our concepts. Expose the darkness of our human concepts. Grant us the grace to let go of our concepts. May we realise that our concepts are in darkness and they spread darkness. Oh Lord, may we see that the only thing that matters in our Christian life is how we take care of the living Christ in us! We turn to You. We want to contact You and depend on You. May Christ be revealed in us. May Christ live in us. May Christ be formed in us. May we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus. May we be transformed into the image of Christ. Amen, Lord, we take You as our aim! May we know the pathway of life and may we take Christ as our life in all the thigns we do today!
Allow the Lord to Expose our Hypocrisy and No Longer Live or Do Things according to our Disposition or Natural being
The second problem God’s life encounters in us is hypocrisy (see Matt. 6:2, 5; 7:5; 23:13-29). Our Christian life is not a matter of outward appearance or pretence.
It is not trying to be something we are not. It is not a matter of improving ourselves but how we take care of the Christ living in us.
Our spirituality is not determined by how we try our best to behave or speak but how we take care of the indwelling Christ. The truth is that our natural goodness is false spirituality, and it is actually a great hindrance to life.
We may be naturally good and kind; if we live in our natural goodness, though we may think we’re genuine and true, the result is always hypocrisy.
The expression of the divine life involves the rejection of our natural disposition and preference and simply allowing Christ to operate in us and break us so that Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20).
We spend so much time and energy pursuing a kind of natural goodness, even a goodness and kindness according to the “church life standards”, the church-life-culture, if you will.
We may think that this is the way to behave as a good brother or sister, and we attempt to live in this way. But this is a hindrance to God’s life in us.
It is OK to fail; we are not recommending that we seek to fail, but we should not be condemned when we fail, but simply turn to the indwelling Christ.
If we always do things according to our disposition and natural being, the outcome will always be hypocrisy.
But if we allow the Lord to shine on us and expose our natural being and our disposition, if we just say Amen to Him as He exposes us and we fail, the cross is applied to our natural being and our disposition. May the Lord expose our hypocrisy and save us from merely having an outward appearance.
May we not despise our failures but rather, may we come to the Lord again and again so that the self may be crucified, the natural disposition be put to death, and Christ may live in us.
May we allow the Lord as life to grow in us, operate in us, and break us. It is only under His shining and through the cross that our hypocrisy can be dealt with.
Lord Jesus, we open to You: shine on our hypocrisy. Save us from merely having an outward appearance without the living Christ being expressed through us. Oh Lord, may we care more for the indwelling Christ than for trying to improve ourselves or putting on a certain appearance. Have mercy on us, Lord. Save us from any false spirituality. May we be genuine Christians who constantly depend on the Lord and allow the cross to operate in us. Oh Lord, may we be those who reject our natural disposition and preference. May we allow You to operate in us and break us so that we may have Christ living in us. Amen, may Christ live in us. May we no longer live and do things according to our disposition and natural being. Oh Lord, break through in us. Flow in us and out of us as life!
Learn to Obey the Lord’s Feeling and Leading Within and Let the Cross deal with our Rebellion
The third problem that God’s life encounters in us is rebellion. We may think that, as Christians, we’re not rebellious against God but rather, we obey Him; however, if we check with our experience, we are still very rebellious.
Christ operates in us and moves in us in order to make us clear about His will and requirements for us, and about His leading and dealing with us.
However, if we do not obey but go against the feeling within, not accepting His leading or paying the price, this unwillingness and opposition are rebellion.
Yes, we love the Lord, and yes, we are Christians who pursue Him, but if we’re not willing to obey and follow the inner sense of Christ within us, we are rebellious.
If we are honest with ourselves under the Lord’s light, we will realise that we are full of rebellion.
We may say that we don’t sense the Lord’s leading and speaking; however, His presence is always with us, but we may not pay attention to it.
We may be so occupied with the entertainment in the world, the world events, or our mind, emotions, and will, that we miss the Lord’s inward sense.
He operates in us to speak to us and give us a sense in big and small things, but we may not listen to Him.
We may be speaking to a brother, and we have a sense within not to say a certain thing, but we still go ahead and say it; we ignore the Lord’s inner sense.
The sin that we commit the most frequently and most severely is not outward or visible; it is the sin of disobeying the sense of Christ in us.
Christ is living in us, and He is constantly giving us an inward sense of life (Rom. 8:6; 1 John 2:27).
Whenever we turn to our spirit, there’s a sense in our spirit, and the Lord’s leading is made clear to us.
But if we don’t learn to be attuned to this inward sense but rather seek an outward feeling or emotion, we may not sense the Lord’s leading within.
The Lord is within us today, dwelling in us and moving in us; we need to develop the inner sense and be more attuned to the indwelling Christ, and we need to honour the sense of life.
Thank the Lord for His mercy in shining on us and exposing our rebellion; may we learn to obey the Lord’s feeling and leading within and let the cross deal with our rebellion so that His life may flow in us and through us.
Lord Jesus, thank You for being the indwelling Christ in our spirit. We turn to You. We want to pay attention to the living Christ within us. Speak to us. Shine on us. Shine within us. Expose any rebellion in us. Oh Lord, save us from going against Your speaking and leading within us. May we learn to accept Your leading and pay the price to say Amen to Your speaking. Shine on us, Lord, and expose our unwillingness to obey You. May we see how much we disobey the sense of Christ in us and may we allow the cross to deal with our rebellion. Oh Lord, we want to develop the inner sense of listening to You and following Your leading so that You may flow in us as life. May we be more attuned to the living Christ within and follow the inner anointing in all things!
Allow the Cross to break through our Natural Capabilities so that God’s Life may Flow in us
The fourth main problem or obstacle that God’s life encounters in us is our natural capability. This is something we’re born with and we develop throughout our human life.
What prevents God’s life from coming out of us is our natural being, our disposition, and our self; even more, the problem our natural capability and ability is even more serious, for these are strong obstacles to God’s life flowing out of us.
Many brothers and sisters truly love the Lord, are zealous for the Lord, and are very godly; however, they have great natural capabilities and abilities, which are not dealt with by the cross, and Christ has no ground or way in them. Oh Lord!
We may be quite able and capable, and we may think that this is useful to the Lord for His work; however, unless we allow the cross to break through our natural capabilities, God’s life cannot flow through us and in us.
The Lord is faithful to arrange many situations and things to happen in our life so that we may go through failure and disappointment.
We should not despise our failures but rather, allow the Lord to operate in us through the cross in our failures so that He may break our confidence in the self, our self-reliance, and our trust in our natural capabilities.
The reason we’re so self-reliant is that we have certain natural capabilities, and we think that is sufficient for us to function and do things for the Lord.
But the Lord has a way, through the things and events in our human life, in our church life, to bring about many failures and disappointments for Him to break through our natural capabilities and our self-reliance.
He uses many things and situations to deal with our independence of the Lord; we are too confident, so He allows things to happen that are too much for us to handle.
The principle of the tree of life is dependence on the Lord, but we are so independent of the Lord and of the Body, and we are also confident in ourselves. Oh Lord!
How can we be dependent on the Lord? One way is through our failures, through overwhelming circumstances, through tragedy, through sorrow, through heartbreak, and through many disappointments.
These things all operate in us, as we open to the Lord and let Him shine in us and operate through the cross, to cause us to realise that we need the Lord.
When we have such a realisation, we will give the Lord the ground in our being. We may be capable and talented, but we may not consider these things as sin or filthiness; rather, instead of despising our natural capabilities, we may even treasure them. Oh Lord!
If these remain unbroken in us, they will become a problem to Christ’s life and also to the life of the Body (1 Sam. 15:22-23).
May we allow the Lord to operate in us through the cross, even as He arranges many circumstances and things that are too hard for us to bear, so that our natural capabilities are broken and brought into resurrection.
The only solution is that we must pass through the cross and let the cross break us (Matt. 16:24-25).
If we really want the divine life to be unhindered in us, we must experience the breaking of the cross and allow these obstacles to be dealt with and removed.
We may not like the breaking, but the Lord arranges many circumstances and situations where we experience failure and disappointment, and if we turn to Him in these things, He has a way in our being.
He wants to flow through us. But if we can handle things, if we can do this and that, if we don’t need the Lord as our life moment-by-moment, how can He flow in us and through us?
May the Lord have mercy on us in this matter so that He may break through in us through the cross so that He may gain more ground in our being as we begin to open and realise our need for Him.
Lord Jesus, we open to Your shining today. Shine on our natural capability and on our self-reliance. Have mercy on us, Lord, and expose how much we trust our capability and ability. May we see the problem of the greatness of our capabilities and abilities. Oh Lord, even though we love You and are zealous for You, shine on us to expose our independence and our self-reliance! May we consider our capabilities and abilities as something filthy and may we allow the cross to operate in us. Have Your way, Lord, to deal with anything natural and with our independence of You. We just open. May we pass through the cross and may the cross break us. May Your life flow in us in an unhindered way. Oh Lord, grant us the experiences we need for us to have the breaking of the cross for the release of the divine life!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ray Mulligan on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” ch. 3, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4) (2025 December Training), week 41 (msg. 5), The Tree of Life – day 3.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Since it must be thus, I pray, Lord, / Help me go the narrow way; / Deal with pride and make me willing / Thus to suffer, Thee t’obey. / I for greater power pray not, / Deeper death is what I need; / All the meaning of the Cross, Lord, / Work in me—for this I plead. / Through the Cross, O Lord, I pray, / Put my soul-life all away; / Make me any price to pay, / Full anointing to receive. (Hymns #279 stanza 6 and chorus)
– Oh, may Thy Cross within me / Deepen its work and burn / In me enlarge Thy measure, / And me to ashes turn. / Oh, may Thy Spirit fill me / Each day more than before, / And may Thy living water / On me and thru me pour. / Oh, from myself deliver, / From all its misery; / I’d henceforth be forever / Completely filled with Thee. (Hymns #280 stanza 4 and chorus)
– I hardly know myself; / Deceived so much by pride, / I often think I’m right / And am self-satisfied. / I know Thee even less; / In doctrine, shallowly; / True revelation lack / Of Thy reality. / As for Thy life within, / In darkness I mistake— / If spirit or the flesh, / One for the other take. / Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. (Hymns #426 stanzas 2-4 and chorus)
