Having Discernment in our Contact with people and not being Defiled by the World

As believers in Christ who live a holy life matching our holy nature and pleasing our holy God, we need to be careful who we associate with, for our contacting people is a kind of eating, a kind of taking in something for our nourishment.

Especially in this age today, many people take darkness for light and light for darkness.

They consider good what is evil, and what is good, they think it is evil. They have a twisted concept of value, and they pay attention to things that are outward and temporary while neglecting the inward and eternal things.

We believers in Christ need to preach the gospel and minister Christ to all men, but when it comes to our taking in what others have to give us, we need to be very careful.

Our contacting people is not just saying words; it is taking in something from what they are, what they eat, and what they are constituted with.

We need to be careful what we take in as we contact others, and especially we need to be careful what our companions are.

As we come out of a pandemic and we relate to people more, meeting in person and being in their homes and them in our homes, our being needs to be protected and covered, and our mouth has to be filled with the riches of Christ to minister to them.

We have seen many cases of believers who loved the Lord and His word, but they were careless in their association with worldly people or backslidden believers.

We cannot and should not trust ourselves, thinking that we are so strong in the Lord that we can associate ourselves with worldly people and not be affected.

Even more, we shouldn’t think that we know how to browse the internet, access the social media websites, and be on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter without contacting the Lord.

Without the Lord, without being in intimate contact with Him, we are nothing and we can do nothing.

We depend on Him. We rely on Him, and we want to remain in the organic union with Him in spirit.

And when it comes to choosing our friends, having companions, and contacting people, we need to beware of the wrong kind of person who can affect our being in a negative way.

Whatever we take in will affect our inward constitution, and the people we spend time with will dispense something of what they are into us.

May we learn to keep our being open to the Lord, eat the tree of life, and close our being to anything of death and of the byproducts of death.

Being those who can Move and Act Freely in the World without being Influenced by it

In Lev. 11:9 we are told that aquatic animals that have fins and scales are good for our diet.

This signifies that we should associate ourselves with those who can move and act freely in the world and at the same time resist its influence.

The fins help the fish move and get out of any death situation, while the scales protect the fish especially from being salted.

Yes, the sea is salty, but the fish are not salty, because they have scales.

Those who don’t have scales, however, become salty even as the sea is salty.

Fins help fish to move, act, and swim in water according to their wishes, and scales protect and keep those fish that live in the sea from being salted.

God’s desire is not that all His believers would sell everything and go to a mountain and await His coming.

Rather, as the Lord prayed in John 17, He knows that we are in the world but we are not of the world; however, in this world we need to live a holy life matching our holy God with His holy nature.

We need to be those who know how to navigate the world and live in the world but not as being of the world, not being touched by the world.

Yes, we have our living in this world, but we need to have fins that help us to follow the Lord in His move, and we need to have scales that protect us from the evil, saltiness, and death in the world.

Whatever is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the love of money, the vainglory of life, etc should not affect us, for we have scales, that is, we are one with the Lord and are protected in Him.

Many young adult saints, however, may begin their careers, and there seems to be a bright future for them in the world.

The Lord may bless them, and they may advance in their job. We need to be careful, however, in our eating.

Daniel in the Old Testament had a top job under many kings, but he was not affected by the job he had; rather, he was a man of preciousness in God’s eyes.

There are many patterns of saints among us who are in different fields, have advanced in their field, and have been blessed by the Lord even with money and possession.

But when you touch them, you don’t touch their status or their career, nor do you touch their money or their love for money. What you touch is their love for the Lord.

We need to be with such ones, those who eat Christ, escape the trend of the world, and follow the Lord wherever He leads them.

May we flee youthful lusts and pursue the Lord with those who call on Him out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22).

On one hand, we need to be such ones and, on the other hand, we need to be with such ones.

Lord Jesus, we love You! We give ourselves to love You more. We want to flee youthful lusts and pursue You with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Thank You for being with us in the world where we are. We open our being to You, Lord, and we close it to what the world entices us with. We want to follow You where You lead us, and we take You as our covering to be protected from the evil and deceit in the world. We are not of this world, Lord, and we do not want to be associated with it. Sanctify us in Your word, in the truth, so that we may be one with You and be with those who truly seek You!

Live and Move in a Life that is Away from and Above the World and take Things of Life as our Supply

Lev. 11:13 speaks of the birds that have wings for flying and that eat the seeds of life; such ones are recommended for the diet of the people of God.

This kind of bird signifies those who live and move in a life that is away from and above the world (having wings for flying) and who take things of life as their life supply (eating seeds).

When we eat Christ as the tree of life, we can soar above the world, and the world does not affect us.

We could be at our job, we may be in meetings and appointments, and we may take care of our responsibilities and do our job, but we are not taking in the negative elements of the world.

We want to be the clean ones, those who eat what is of life and reject anything of death.

The birds that are not recommended for food are those who feed on dead things and on carcases; those birds are not clean.

We should not be those who feed on dead things, gossip, things of the world, and the byproducts of death.

May we be the clean ones, those who feed on things of life and who soar far away from the defiling of the world.

Some people may just talk to us and their speaking may infuse death into us.

Even some saints may want to gossip or tell us what happened here or there, what this or that one did, and how this person did this to that one.

We may be drawn into taking sides, who is right, who is wrong, who did the right thing, and who made a mistake. This is all in the wrong tree.

We need to remain on the line of life, feed on the things of life, and reject anything of death.

This doesn’t mean that we need to not talk to anyone or listen to anything; it means that we need to be persons of life, those feeding on the word of life and ministering life to others, and we need to not take in anything of death.

May we follow the sense of life within us and close our being to anything of death.

And may we not be dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers, for there’s no partnership between righteousness and lawlessness, nor is there any fellowship between light and darkness (2 Cor. 6:14).

Instead of trying to be like them under the cloak of getting them saved, we should come out from their midst and be separated from anything that is unclean (v. 17), and we need to learn to minister life instead of taking in things of death.

We Christians need to be like birds who have wings and who feed on the seeds of life.

When we contact others, even other believers, we need to discern whether they are clean birds (like sparrows, who feed on seeds) or unclean birds (like hawks, which feed on things of death).

If we have regular contact with those who feed on things of death, we may be affected by them and our appetite for the Lord may decrease, our desire to meet with the saints will be small, and the Lord may be so distant to us. Oh, Lord.

May we be before the Lord concerning this and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we want to be persons of life who eat the things of life and minister life to others. Amen, may we live a life that lives and moves far away and above from the world, not being affected by the things in the world or by death. Keep us enjoying You as life both personally and with the saints. Keep us open to You and closed to anything of death. May we be separated from anything that is unclean and remains in the realm of life! Amen, Lord, grant us to have discernment in our contact with others so that we remain in the realm of life and reject anything of death.

Living and Moving in a Life that is Above the World and Keeping Ourselves from the Defilement in the World

Lev. 11:21-22 speaks of insects that have wings and have legs above their feet for leaping on the ground; such ones are good for the diet of God’s holy people.

What do these insects signify? They signify persons who can live and move in a life that is above the world and who can keep themselves from the world.

As we live our lives in the world, sometimes we end up in a situation that is full of death.

Unknowingly and unintentionally, we just end up being surrounded by death and defilement. In such a situation, we need to jump out and stay above anything of death.

The Lord will give us wisdom how to not remain in death but jump out.

When we’re in college among our unbelieving peers or at work among our workmates, some may invite us to a certain place and, when we get there, we realize that it is a party, a situation that the sense of life does not agree with.

The Lord within us may ask us, What are you doing here? This is not a place for a son of God to be in.

As we contact Him inwardly, He will give us the wisdom how to get out of such a situation, and our legs will cause us to spring out of there.

May we be such ones, those who have wings for flying away from anything that is worldly, sinful, or fleshly.

May we be one with the soaring Christ, soaring above the world with its defilement and death.

And may we take the Lord in as our life and life supply to the extent that we have jointed legs with which to jump from the world.

When the Lord within us bothers us concerning a certain situation or environment we’re in, we need to be one with Him to escape any death.

We are holy people, our God is holy, and the divine nature in our spirit is holy.

Therefore, we need to have a holy living, contact the holy ones, and remain in the realm of life.

We need to be those who have discernment in contacting others and take the word of God with much reconsideration in prayer.

We need to be inwardly strengthened to move out of the world with its defilement and death and be protected in the Lord.

We need to have wings for flying away from the defilement and eating the things of life, rejecting anything of death.

And we need to have proper companions who do the same so that we may be preserved in the line of life.

If we intend to live a holy life for the church life, being on the line of life, we need to exercise discernment in our contact with people.

As Christians, we do need to preach the gospel and give others something of Christ as life, but we do not have to form friendships with the people in the world in a careless way.

Careless friendships, as the Bible indicates, will corrupt us.

May we heed the warning in the word of God and eat only of Christ as the tree of life, rejecting anything of death and its byproducts. And may we remain with those who love the Lord and feed on the things of life.

Lord Jesus, we want to live a holy life that matches the holy nature of our holy God. May our daily living be holy, separated unto You and saturated with Your holy life and nature. May we be those who have discernment in our contacting people, not forming friendships in a careless way. Amen, Lord, keep us enjoying You as the tree of life until we have the power to flee any situation of death and remain on the line of life! Hallelujah, we are not of this world: our country is above, our food is life, and our companions are those who pursue Christ and call Him out of a pure heart!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message, and portions from, Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 316-319 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking the Way of Enjoying Christ as the Tree of Life (2022 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 5, entitled, The Secret of Living the Christian Life to be an Overcomer – Taking the Way of Eating and Enjoying Christ as the Tree of Life.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – But flee youthful lusts, / And pursue righteousness, / Faith, love, peace / With those who call / On the Lord out of a pure heart. (Scripture song)
  – Lonely though the pathway, / Cheer it with Thy smile; / Be Thou my companion / Through earth’s little while; / Selfless may I live, Lord, / By Thy grace to be / Just a cleansed channel / For Thy life through me. (Hymns #377)
  – Thou art all my life, Lord, / In me Thou dost live; / With Thee all God’s fulness / Thou to me dost give. / By Thy holy nature / I am sanctified, / By Thy resurrection, / Vict’ry is supplied. (Hymns #841)