One particular aspect I was encouraged with is that a genuine church accepts and welcomes everyone who calls on the name of the Lord – who is THEIRS and OURS! Jesus Christ belongs to and is in all the believers, and He is our all-inclusive portion – we are those who call on the name of the Lord in every place! Oh, Lord Jesus! We flee youthful lusts and pursue with those who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22). Wherever we are – at home, at work, cooking in the kitchen, walking on the street, shopping, driving, traveling, resting, working, playing sports, jogging, etc – we CALL on the name of the Lord, who is OURS! [continue reading online]
seeing what it means to be a genuine church in the focus of the Lord’s recovery
To be in the Lord’s recovery means that we are Christians NOT just for our own need and not just for ourselves (we don’t focus only on, What can God do for me?) – we are Christians for God’s need, God’s pleasure, God’s heart’s desire, and even God’s goal! Yes, we have our needs, we see what we are, but what about God’s need? What about God’s purpose, His goal, and His economy? We are here learning to lift our view from our petty needs and problems, and look to the Lord to be one with Him for His economy, His need. [read more online]
the secret to be content in all things: abiding in Christ (students training, South Africa)
The experience of Christ is in our spirit but the enjoyment of Christ is in our soul. We need to experience Christ in such a full and complete way so that our experience seeps through to our soul to be our enjoyment, joy and delight. How do we do this? In Phil 4:12 Paul says he has learnt the secret to be both abased and to abound and in the previous verse to be content in all circumstances. The secret is simply to be in Christ, to abide in Him. To be content in everything means the good things and the bad things. To be content in all things means to be content in all the ordinary things too! Our Christ does not change, our contentment therefore cannot change. [read more online]
being the captives of Christ in His triumphal procession scattering His fragrance
In our experience we all have to admit that many times Christ is captive to us, and we “defeat Christ” by living in our natural man, in our flesh, and guided by our self. We may not have problems with sin or with the world, but the question is, Who is Whose Captive? This is why we all need to pray, Lord, make me Your captive – never let me win! Defeat me all the time! The Lord doesn’t need “spiritual giants” but He needs little captives, those who have been defeated by Christ and who are subdued by Him. We need to cooperate with the Lord’s defeating work by praying in such a way, so that He may have a gateway to enter in and defeat us all the time. [continue reading online]
being a laboring farmer and an unashamed workman cutting straight the word of truth
The word of God is like a grain of wheat – it dispenses God as life into us to nourish us. Also, the Word of God is like a fire and a hammer to purify us and break down our self, our natural life, our flesh, our lusts, and even our concepts (see Jer. 23:28-29). As laboring farmers, we diligently and patiently minister the Word of God to people for their growth in the divine life. In all our contact with the saints, we should be pure and have only one motive – ministering Christ to them so that they might grow in life in the Lord (1 Tim. 5:1-2). [continue reading online]
being a good soldier of Christ Jesus and an athlete contending in the games
In Rev. 18:13 we see that the cargo of the material Babylon is gold and the souls of men. Babylon deals in the souls of men – even today, men sell their soul to their occupation and they neglect God and His eternal destiny. We need to have a job, we need to earn a living, and we need to take care of all the practical aspects of our human life, but we should not sell our soul to Satan! Our soul was created to enjoy God and express God, and we fight for God’s interest on the earth one in soul with all the saints! [continue reading online]
being an inoculator by teaching and ministering the riches of God’s economy
We all need to shepherd the saints with the teaching of God’s economy (see Eph. 4:11 and 1 Tim. 3:2, 4:11-16). How do we shepherd the saints? It is mainly by dispensing the divine life in the humanity of Jesus to cherish them (to make them happy, comfortable, and open) and by teaching them the divine truths in the divinity of Christ to nourish them (Eph. 5:29). The Lord Jesus was a pattern for us in this by denying His natural human life and living by the divine life in resurrection – He was charming and attracting people in His humanity, and He fed them in His divinity with the words of God! [read more online]