Build up a Habit of Exercising our Spirit to Live Christ and Speak Christ to Others

For us to be good ministers of Christ Jesus, the primary thing is to exercise our spirit, even build up of exercising our spirit unto godliness to live Christ in our daily life and speak for the Lord both to people and to the things around us so that we may be filled inwardly and clothed outwardly to minister God’s word! Amen!

The Lord wants all His people to be ministers of Christ, those who not only contact the Lord but also contact man, those who bring God to man and man to God, so that He may gain His dwelling place, the church as the manifestation of God in the flesh.

It should be normal that we believers in Christ live a God-man life in our daily life and we are vitalized with the saints that the Lord put us with so that we may be part of the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.

When we come to the Lord in His word and receive a vision of God’s eternal economy, we will be burdened by Him concerning His economy and His people.

When we touch the Lord, He will infuse us with what is on His heart, and our heart will become a duplication of His heart.

Then, we will cooperate with Him for what He wants to do on earth today.

The Lord put each one of us around some saints, in the church life, and He wants us to bring the saints before Him in prayer so that He may burden us concerning what His feeling and word is for the saints.

We are all members of the Body of Christ who are connected both to the fellow members in the Body and to the Head.

Our unique Head who makes all the decisions and initiates all things is Christ, and we need to hold the Head in all things.

When we hold Christ as the Head, something amazing happens: he gives us a feeling for our fellow members of the Body.

He may give us a feeling for our unsaved next-door neighbour, or He may burden us for our workmates who need the Lord.

As the Lord burdens us in this way, we pray; we don’t just go and speak to others but rather, we pray first.

We bring the Lord’s feelings and burden to Him in prayer, and our renewed minds will be enlightened to understand what is the Lord’s burden.

We may think that as soon as the Lord reminds us of a particular person, we should go and speak to them; however, what the Lord wants from us is not our going or speaking but our praying.

Christ intercedes for us before God – He always lives to intercede; He also ministers the element of God into our being for our growth in life and going on with the Lord.

As we pray and bring the Lord’s feeling in us back to Him, He will enlighten us concerning the real need of the ones He burdens us for, and we will have something in us to speak to them from the Lord.

May we be before the Lord concerning our situation and concerning others so that He may burden us and have a way to speak through us to those around us.

To be a Good Minister of Christ, we must Aspire to have these Organic Characteristics

In order for us as believers in Christ to be good ministers of Christ Jesus, we need to aspire to have some particular organic characteristics.

The first one is that we need to love the Lord Jesus to the uttermost to be filled with Him and overflow Him into others with the resurrected Christ as our authority (see Psa. 18:1; 91:14; 97:10; 116:1-2; 119:140; John 21:15-17; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; 1 John 4:16,19; Num. 17:1-10; Matt. 19:26).

We simply need to give ourselves to love the Lord.

The foremost matter in our serving the Lord is loving Him.

Our authority in speaking for the Lord and in speaking the Lord’s word is not our knowledge of the Bible but our love for the Lord.

Even when we fail and we fail miserably, the Lord wants to shepherd us and cause us to love Him so that we may be qualified to shepherd others as His sheep and feed them as His lambs.

No matter how young we are, as long as we love the Lord, we have the authority to speak His word and we can be good ministers of Christ Jesus.

To be a good minister of Christ, we must maintain our victory in Christ by having a revived living and a labour of shepherding (Rev. 3:18-22; Hosea 6:1-3; Rom. 6:4; 7:6; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:1-4).

Day by day we need to contact the Lord, especially in the morning; we need to be revived day by day and labour in shepherding others.

Our shepherding is not sporadic or accidental; it is a labour, and it results from our being revived every day.

To be a good minister of Christ, we must abide in the fellowship with the Lord daily and hourly (1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Cor. 13:14).

Our daily life needs to be in fellowship with the Lord.

We should not only have set times to fellowship with Him but live in fellowship with Him, for the fellowship of the Spirit – which includes the love of God and the grace of Christ – is with our spirit.

To be a good minister of Christ, we must be a praying person; we must not only pray here and there or have set times of prayer but be a praying person (Col. 4:2; Gen. 4:26; Lam. 3:55-56; Rom. 10:12-13).

You may ask, How can I pray all the time when I need to do this and that, go to work, take care of things, etc?

Our unceasing prayer is our calling on the name of the Lord. We need to be those who call on the name of the Lord – both audibly and inwardly – all the time.

We also need to enjoy the Lord in the Word early in the morning to have a new start of each day (Psa. 119:147-148).

Early in the morning, the first thing we need to do is contact the Lord and have a new start with Him. He needs to be our new beginning.

Every morning we need to have a new start with the Lord by contacting Him and reading His word with the exercise of our spirit.

To be a good minister of Christ we must walk by our spirit and walk according to our spirit; our spirit is mingled with the divine Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25; Rom. 8:4, 16; 1 Cor. 6:17).

On one hand, we constantly need to breathe in the Lord for our spiritual existence; on the other hand, in our daily living we need to live in the spirit, by the spirit, and according to the Spirit with our spirit.

Furthermore, we must live Christ for His magnification by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19).

We need His supply. His bountiful supply is with our spirit. We can magnify Him only by this bountiful supply with our spirit.

To be a good minister of Christ we must build a habit of speaking Christ to all kinds of people daily in season and out of season (Acts 5:42; 8:4; 2 Tim. 4:2).

Since we are filled with the Lord and allow His word to abide in us richly, we have His word bubbling up in us.

We need to build up a habit of speaking the word of the Lord to people and to things with the exercise of our spirit.

We must be those who deal with their sins thoroughly, making a thorough confession to the Lord under His shining light (1 John 1:7, 9; Psa. 51:1-9, 17).

This will open the way for us to be filled with the essential Spirit inwardly and with the economical Spirit outwardly (Acts 13:52; Eph. 5:18; Acts 4:31, 8; 13:9). Amen!

May we seek to be filled inwardly and clothed outwardly so that we may be able to speak the word of God and minister Christ to others.

To be a good minister of Christ, we must accumulate the experiences of Christ (Phil. 3:8-10, 12-14) and keep a rich storage of the Lord’s word (Col. 3:16; Psa. 119:11, 15; John 8:31; 15:7; 1 John 2:14).

There must be a rich storage of Christ with His rich word in our being, and this storage will be a constant nourishment and supply to us and will issue in a rich and wonderful speaking toward those around us.

Lord Jesus, we want to be good ministers of Christ Jesus by loving You to the uttermost! Amen, Lord, fill us with Yourself and overflow through us into others! We love You, Lord, and we want to have a revived living today. Revive us and live in us. We want to abide in fellowship with the Lord day by day and hour by hour. Keep us contacting You and praying unceasingly by calling on your name. Oh Lord Jesus, we love You! We want to enjoy You early in the morning in Your word so that we can have a new start each day! We want to walk according to the spirit and in the mingled spirit! Bountifully supply us today with the Spirit so that we may magnify Christ in all things! Amen, Lord, fill us to overflowing so that we may speak to others about the rich Christ we have enjoyed and experienced! Fill us inwardly with the Spirit and clothe us outwardly with the Spirit so that we may flow out God in our speaking and in our daily living! Amen, Lord, make us good ministers of Christ Jesus in an organic way!

Build up a Habit of Exercising our Spirit unto Godliness to Live Christ and Speak Christ

Whenever we minister the word of God to others, the primary thing is that we should exercise our spirit.

A good minister of Christ builds up a habit of exercising his spirit unto godliness to live Christ in his daily life, and he speaks forth Christ (1 Tim. 4:6-8, 15-16; 2 Tim. 1:6-7; Rom. 1:9; 7:6; 12:11; John 4:23-24).

May we build such a habit today, a habit of exercising our spirit unto godliness to live Christ and speak Christ to others.

Sadly, the people in the world not only overlook and neglect their human spirit but even refuse to admit that they have a spirit.

Because of this, they give themselves to all kinds of sins, passions, lusts, and worldly things that damage their entire tripartite being.

The best people in society are those who take care of their conscience, which is a part of their human spirit.

We as believers in Christ have a spirit that has been regenerated by the Spirit of God (John 3:6).

The life of God has come into our spirit to regenerate it and enforce it; our spirit is very strong, for in our spirit the Triune God lives and moves.

We saved ones have the capital to live the Christian life and the church life; this capital is our God-given spirit (1 Tim. 1:6-7; 4:22).

The Lord is with our spirit, and in our spirit we are joined to the Lord as one spirit.

Godliness, a living that is the expression of God, is the issue of the divine dispensing for the divine economy, and this dispensing depends on the exercise of our spirit to live Christ in our daily life for the corporate manifestation of God in the church life (1 Tim. 1:3-4; 3:15-16; 4:7-8; 2 Tim. 1:6-7).

We need to see the importance of our human spirit and exercise our spirit.

It is not easy for us to exercise our spirit all the time, so we need to build up a habit of exercising our spirit.

When we wake up in the morning, we need to call on the name of the Lord, Oh Lord Jesus!

When we call on His name, we exercise our spirit. Every morning we need to call on the name of the Lord, as soon as we wake up.

It makes a big difference whether we call on the name of the Lord early in the morning or not, for when we call on His name, we touch Him by the exercise of our spirit.

To exercise implies forcing; if we believers in Christ want to be strong and want to grow in the Lord, we must force ourselves to use our spirit until we build up a strong habit of exercising our spirit (1 Tim. 4:7).

We need to build up a habit of exercising our spirit by fanning our spirit into flame.

If we exercise our spirit only when we feel like it or when we’re happy, we do not grow in the Lord in a proper way.

May we call on the name of the Lord early in the morning and throughout the day.

May we call on Him again and again, both in good situations and in not-so-good situations.

We need to exercise our spirit to employ and enjoy the entire blessed Trinity by praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God, and awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ on the day of His victorious appearing so that we may become the totality of the eternal life, the New Jerusalem (Jude 19-21). Amen!

We have the capital for us to live the Christian life.

Our spirit is regenerated, enforced, and strong; we simply need to build up a habit of exercising our spirit in our daily life to live Christ and to speak forth Christ.

If we exercise our spirit day by day, we will be inwardly strengthened with power and we will be outwardly filled with the Spirit to speak for the Lord.

To speak for the Lord is not only to speak to people; we can speak to our chair, to our desk, to the plants in our house, to the mountain, and to anything around us.

We need to practice speaking for the Lord to all creation so that we may build up a habit of exercising our spirit to speak for the Lord and to speak the Lord forth. Amen!

May we be such ones today.

May we pick up the burden for the preaching of the gospel to such an extent that we would speak to whatever is around us!

This will strengthen us to speak with power.

And when we meet with the saints, we will be able to speak the word of God with the exercise of our spirit.

When we speak in the meetings, our speaking should be full of the exercise of our spirit.

Lord Jesus, we want to build up a habit of exercising our spirit unto godliness to live Christ in our daily life and to speak forth Christ. Hallelujah, we Christians have the capital to live the Christian life and the church life – our God-given spirit. Thank You, Lord, we can call on Your name. Thank You we can exercise our spirit to contact You and breathe You in. We open to Your divine dispensing. We open to Your flowing into us and out of us. Amen, Lord, we want to be strong and grow in the Lord day by day by exercising our spirit in all things and in all situations! We exercise our spirit right now to employ and enjoy the entire blessed Trinity! Hallelujah, we can pray in the Holy Spirit, keep ourselves in the love of God, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ in the day of His victorious appearing! Praise the Lord for our spirit!

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 the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1988, vol. 1, “Speaking Christ for the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” ch. 8, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living and Serving According to God’s Economy Concerning the Church (2023 fall ITERO), week 6, entitled, A Good Minister of Christ.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Growing by exercising our spirit, a portion from, The Experience and Growth in Life, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – The Course of Our Christian Life, article via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – How to Conduct Ourselves in the House of God—Exercising Ourselves unto Godliness, English – Prophesying Outline ITEROF23 Week 05.
  – Choosing to Exercise our Spirit, article via, Living to Him.
  – To set our mind on the spirit, a portion from, The Spirit with Our Spirit, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee.
  – Do You Know How to Exercise Your Spirit? Read more via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Exercise unto godliness, a portion from, The Two Great Mysteries in God’s Economy, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – 9 Crucial Practices for Building Up a Vital Christian Life, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – O Lord, Thou art the Spirit now / Who in my spirit makes His home; / He mingles with my spirit too, / And both one spirit thus become. / Lord, teach me how to exercise / My spirit now to contact Thee, / That in Thy Spirit I may walk / And live by Thy reality. (Hymns #493 stanzas 4-5)
  – Exercise the spirit / Thus to touch the Lord; / Ever by the spirit / Take Him thru His Word. / It is by the spirit / Christ is testified; / It is by the spirit / Man is satisfied. / Exercise the spirit! / This is what we need! / Exercise the spirit! / May the Lord so lead! (Hymns #866 stanzas 8-10)
  – Most are leaning on the message / And the preaching emphasize, / Yet neglect the priestly praying / And their spirits’ exercise. / Deal with me and make me balanced, / As in preaching, so in prayer; / Leading others oft in praying, / As Thy Word I too declare. / Only serving by our praying / Will our spirits mingled be; / Stressing prayer as much as preaching— / Thus the church is built for Thee. (Hymns #848 stanzas 5-7)