This morning I was again so exposed by the Lord in His Word, and also encouraged to draw closer to Him and just spend time with Him! The only way we can go on in our Christian life and the way we can become the overcoming ones that bring the Lord back is by spending secret, hidden, personal time with the Lord!
In this way – by going to the Father in the secret (Matt. 6) – we develop a root-system with the Lord, where we absorb Him and take Him as the One who meets all our needs.
We open to Him and talk to Him about our situations, problems, the people around us – about everything… and we get in His Word in a prayerful way, waiting on Him to speak to us and infuse us with His intentions…. as we do this, the Lord also speaks to us by dispensing Himself into us and making us more one with Him – until His heart’s desire becomes our heart’s desire, His intention becomes our intention, and His will becomes what we also want.
When we seek the Lord in secret, He who sees in secret will repay us in secret! Just like a tree planted besides streams of water – we send roots deep down into Christ to be nourished, to be mingled with Him, and to absorb all His rich nutrients into us!
To do this, as we see in Matt. 13, we need to deal with our heart:
- we need to deal with the thorns and weeds that can choke the word – the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches, which utterly choke the word, preventing it from growing in the heart and causing it to become unfruitful;
- we need to deal with the worldly traffic that hardens our heart – the soil besides the way typifies the heart that is hardened by worldly traffic and cannot open to understand, to comprehend, the word of the kingdom;
- we need to take care of any hidden rocks in our heart – Deep within our heart can be rocks — hidden sins, personal desires, self-seeking, and self-pity — which hinder the seed from taking root in the depths of the heart;
When the sun comes – persecutions, temptations, a harsh environment, or testings – may this scorching heat be not a death-blow to the small plant but a growing and maturing factor! When we take care of our heart and confess our sins, agree with the Lord as He shines on us and exposes us, our heart becomes the good soil for the Lord to grow and develop in our being! Lord, we want to be those who take root downward and bear fruit upward! May we both grow in life and bear fruit organically!
On the other hand, we need to beware of “exposing our roots” – beware of making an outward display of what you have between you and the Lord. This doesn’t mean you should not talk about it at all – it means that we need to have a consistently growing number of experiences with the Lord that are “just between us and Him”, and check with Him what He allows us to share with others NOT for display, but for the building up of the Body.
The measure in which we display things to others can be the measure of our loss – no one “shows off” the roots of the plant when someone comes to visit him, but rather it is the plant, the fruit, that is being seen. Never show people the root system of your life with the Lord, but just enjoy the Lord and allow Him to live in you and be expressed in you!
Actually, God covers those who cover their roots, and He doesn’t protect those who don’t protect their roots. We need to treasure our time with the Lord, our secret time in which we leave all other things behind to just spend time with Him – BUT at the same time not brag about it or make a public display of it. This is what King Hezekiah did when the envoys from Babylon came to “congratulate him” – he showed off the riches he had, and everything was exposed!
All that this brought about is just stirring up the Babylonians lust for these riches(a little over 100 years later, they came, defeated Judah, and took all these riches away into Babylon).
On the other hand, as a positive example, the apostle Paul had some amazing experiences with the Lord but he never talked about these for 14 years! And even when he mentioned about having them, he never told anyone what these experiences/revelations were.
O, Lord, draw us to spend more personal time with You! We want to be those who develop a root system where we absorb You and take You in daily! Lord, may we fight for this secret hidden time with You! We give You our heart, Lord! May our heat be the good soil for Your Word to grow, develop, and bear fruit! And, Lord, save us from not being watchful – not praying – regarding exposing our roots to others! Lord, save us from not considering the results of our actions! We care not just for ourselves, Lord, but for Your interest, Your Body, Your expression!
Introductory paragraph of Book "Deep Calls unto Deep" __by Watchman Nee
Psalm 42:7 says, "Deep calls unto deep." Only a call from the depths can provoke a response from the depths. Nothing shallow can ever touch the depths, nor can anything superficial touch the inward parts. Only the deep will respond to the deep. Anything that does not issue from the depths cannot touch the depths. Others can respond deep within to only what issues from deep within us. When we go to a certain place and listen to a message, the only thing that touches us is something that has issued from the depths of others. If nothing comes from the depths, the help we receive is just superficial. We have to see the importance of the depths. Anything that is not from the depths will never reach the depths of others. If we have never received help or benefit in our depths, we will never have anything issuing from our depths. If we want to render spiritual help to others, something must issue from our depths. If we do not dig deep, we can never gain others. Unless our utterance is from the depths, we will not touch the depths in others, even though we gain their emotions and thoughts and make them cry or be happy or excited for a while. Only deep calls unto deep. Superficial expressions will not touch the depths of others.
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Brothers and sisters, this matter of root is a matter of extreme importance. If you want to have Paul's work, then you need to have Paul's "root"; if you want to have Paul's outward conduct, then you need to have Paul's inner life; if you want to have Paul's manifest power, then you need to have Paul's secret experience……………………………………………………….
Whatever secrets we have with the Lord must be preserved. We can only move according to God's instruction within us. Only if He moves within us to reveal something, dare we reveal it. If He wants us to share some experience with a brother, we dare not withhold it, for that would be violating a law of the members of the Body of Christ. One law of the members of the Body of Christ is fellowship. Once we suppress this law, the flow stops…….
Conclusion of Book "Deep Calls unto Deep"
As we extend ourselves deeper and take root downward, we will discover that "deep calls unto deep." When we can bring forth riches from the depths of our inner life, we will find that other lives will be deeply affected. The minute our inner being is touched, others will receive help and be enlightened. They will know that there is something beyond their knowledge. When deep touches deep, deep will respond to deep. If our life has no depth, our superficial work will only affect other lives superficially. We repeat yet again—only "deep calls unto deep."
Amen, dear saints!
Here is a hymn that has deeply touched me translated from Watchman Nee: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/635.
"This hymn indicates that Watchman Nee was continually under hardships and dealings in order to produce spiritual fruit for cheering others. After that long winter, he prepared himself to bear fruit, not murmuring or complaining about anyone's abuse nor desiring to reduce his fresh contribution. Yet he was still willing to face any sacrifice by being pruned once more, as if he had never suffered any strokes before. He told those of us who were his close co-workers that when criticized in our behavior and character, we should not vindicate ourselves, although we must without hesitation contend for the truth"
(Source: Watchman Nee-A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, chapter 10. (LSM)
from: hymnal.net
Amen! This summer, I really enjoyed this portion about developing a personal time with the Lord, even in the closet, away from the eyes of others. We really need to spend the time to develop our root system so that no matter the outward circumstances, we are hidden in Christ!
The Lord has taught me that this is the giving of the real gospel, Living Him
Beautiful, timely, necessary.
Amen