Being in the Living Move of the Holy Spirit by having a Personal Contact with the Lord

The Lord today has an ultimate move in this world’s ultimate situation, and we in the church life in the Lord’s recovery need to realize that we should not be in a movement but rather we need to allow the Spirit to take the lead, do the work and the speaking, and we should be in the living move of the Holy Spirit.

If we read the book of Acts we realize that none of the gospel trips taken by the brothers were planned by a council or in a conference, neither did Peter purpose to go to the house of Cornelius and preach the gospel of himself. Rather, in everything it was the Spirit who took the lead, and the disciples merely prayed in one accord and sought to be filled with the Spirit.

Everything that we do today must be according to the leading of the Spirit, everything that we work must be the working of the Spirit, and everything we speak must be the speaking of the Spirit.

If we are not freshly filled by the Spirit when we do something for the Lord, no matter how good a thing we do, it might be just a religious activity. For example, our prayer to the Lord may be just religion if we don’t touch the Lord as the Spirit in our spirit.

Our reading of the Bible may be just a religious thing to do unless we first come to the Lord and contact Him to receive Him as the Spirit contained in the word of God.

Our meeting with the saints may be just a social gathering with good and honest people unless we first contact the Lord and let the Spirit fill us and lead us in everything.

Whenever we stand up to speak for the Lord, we need to ask Him first, Lord, fill me with Your Spirit! And then, when we speak for Him, we need to speak in the principle of the Body, being one with the saints and being supplied in the Body.

Everything in the book of Acts that relates to the Lord’s move to spread the gospel through man was initiated by the Spirit and carried out by the Spirit, having the full cooperation of the disciples, who were praying to be filled in spirit.

Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and was filled with the Spirit, speaking the word of God. Stephen, a deacon – a serving one in practical matters – was full of the Spirit and power.

Philip was led by the Spirit to speak the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, and after he baptized him, he was caught by the Spirit again. May we be those who give the Lord our ultimate cooperation by contacting the Lord in spirit to be filled in spirit and let the Spirit initiate and carry out everything!

Not being in a Movement but in the Living Move of the Holy Spirit by Contacting the Lord

We need to realize that we are not a movement – which people can join, register, and sign up for if they are convinced of its good cause; rather, we are in the living move of the Holy Spirit. We should not become a movement but be in the genuine move of the Holy Spirit.

God works in a personal way, and not in the way of a movement; the concept of having a movement for God or in God’s name is wrong.

In the Lord’s recovery we don’t want to have a movement; a person can be moved to join a movement, and yet have no personal contact with the Lord to be in the living move of the Holy Spirit.

We all need to have a personal contact with the Lord concerning His move; as we hear and realize that the Lord has an ultimate move, we need to have a personal and affectionate contact with the Lord to check with Him about it.

If we are going to be in the living move of the Holy Spirit, we need a personal and affectionate contact with the Lord as the Head of the Body. He is the One who directs the members of the Body – it is not us or the pastor, the priest, the reverend, or the elders that direct the members of the Body.

We need to have a personal and affectionate relationship with the Lord, being in a constant contact with Him, and out of this contact we can be one with Him in His move. May everything we do for the Lord come out of our personal and affectionate contact with Him.

All of us – especially those who are young – must be impressed that in the Spirit there’s no such thing as a movement; the Spirit must be the one who takes the lead, does the work, does the speaking, and even does the living.

We as believers in Christ and members of the Body need to be those who are absolutely saturated with the Spirit and absolutely one with the Spirit to be in the living move of the Holy Spirit and not in any movement initiated by man.

If we are filled and saturated with the Spirit, then whatever we say is the Spirit’s speaking, whatever we do is the Spirit’s doing, and whatever we work is the Spirit’s working.

Some say that in the church history there has been many movements initiated by the Holy Spirit, such as the Reformation, etc; but these were not a movement but rather the living move of the Holy Spirit, and because those who were used by the Spirit and their followers didn’t continue to be filled in spirit and remain in a personal touch with the Lord, they became a movement.

We need to stay away from any man-made, man-originated, and man-initiated things and remain in a personal, intimate, and affectionate contact with the Lord concerning His desire to have an ultimate move; then, we need to stay in fellowship with the Body, remaining in the one accord, so that the Lord as the Spirit would have a way to initiate and carry out everything in His move.

Lord Jesus, impress us that in the Spirit there’s no such thing as a movement. May the Spirit take the lead, may the Spirit do the work, may the Spirit do the speaking, and may the Spirit be the One living in us. Lord, we just want to be filled and saturated with the Spirit by remaining in a personal and affectionate contact with You. Save us from “joining a movement”. Keep us in the living move of the Holy Spirit toward Europe, a move that carries out Your economy by saving man, bringing them to the full knowledge of the truth, and establishing local churches as golden lampstands for Your testimony!

Ministering to the Lord, Waiting on Him, and letting the Spirit Initiate the Move

In the book of Acts we don’t see any kind of movement; rather, what we see in this book is the leading of the Spirit, the working of the Spirit, and the speaking of the Spirit.

Everything that took place in the book of Acts was according to the living Spirit; nothing in this book took place according to man-made decisions or as a result of conference, councils, or leading ones deciding things.

In Acts 13, for example, there were some prophets and teachers who were ministering to the Lord and fasting, and the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them (Acts 13:1-4).

They didn’t call a conference or special gathering to discuss things and decide matters; rather, as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Spirit initiated the move. Everything that we do should come out of our ministering to the Lord.

To minister to the Lord means that, whatever we do in our service to the Lord should be for His sake, His satisfaction, His heart’s desire, His happiness, His pleasure, and His glory.

To minister to the Lord in the Holy of Holies – that is, in our spirit – we must spend time before the Lord and pray more. We need to draw near to Him, stand before Him, and wait for His will.

This is what the brothers did in Acts 13; they ministered to the Lord, prayed, and fasted, and the Spirit initiated the Lord’s move, setting apart two for the work to which He has called them.

This was absolutely a move by the Spirit, in the Spirit, and with the Spirit through the coordination of the faithful and seeking members of the Body of Christ on earth with the Head in the heavens.

What the Lord wants today is not a religious movement with a human schedule as a result of many hours of debates and decisions; He desires a group of members of His Body to give the Head an opportunity through their ministering to Him that He, as the Spirit, may initiate something and carry out something for His move to spread His kingdom on earth.

The Lord wants to move in Europe, starting with Germany, but He needs the cooperation of some faithful and seeking members of His Body who would spend time with Him, minister to Him, pray more, and thus give Him the cooperation He needs for Him to initiate something and for them to be in the living move of the Holy Spirit on earth.

We all need to have a personal and affectionate contact with the Lord and corporately minister to Him with fellow faithful and seeking members of the Body to afford Him as the Spirit a way to initiate something for the Lord’s move, carry out His move, and be the One living in us for His move.

Lord Jesus, we want to have a personal and affectionate contact with You and minister to You together with the fellow faithful and seeking members of the Body to give You as the Head of the Body the opportunity to initiate and carry out Your move! Save us from a religious movement with a human schedule and bring us fully into the living move of the Holy Spirit. Keep us touching You, Lord, in a personal and affectionate way. May everything we do be out of our personal contact with You and for Your satisfaction, pleasure, sake, desire, happiness, and glory!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 2, “The Spirit and the Body,” p. 283, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Special Fellowship concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Move, msg. 5 (week 5), Doing Everything according to the Leading, Working, and Speaking of the Spirit, Honoring the Lord as the Head of the Body for His Unique Move, and Being Balanced by the Body to Be Kept in Its Unique Oneness.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Not just by the outward teachings, / But by His anointing moved; / Not just by the outward pattern, / But by inward vision proved. / Not by human rules or rituals, / But by heaven’s rule within; / Not by human-made decisions, / But by guidance giv’n of Him. (Hymns #908)
  # Pray to labor with the Lord; / Let the Lord initiate / All the plan and all the work; / Then thru us He’ll operate. (Hymns #786)
  # We give ourselves to follow the churches, / Oneness in Christ display; / Follow His move in all of the churches, / Stand fast as one this way. / We must follow the Spirit / In all simplicity. / In our spirit is Jesus— / He follows perfectly! (Hymns #1246)