The Mothers in the Lord care for the Saints in Love for the Building of the Church

If we look at the cross, experience being transferred in life, and take some young ones or new ones under our care, we can be real mothers to them by caring for them in love in the Lord to bring them all the way to the New Jerusalem.

The Gospel of John is a gospel of life, and this life is not the human life or the psychological life but the divine life, even a resurrected life, a transferred life.

Christ came to be our life, and He came for us to have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). By this life, when we receive the divine life, many things change in our being.

First, when we receive the divine life, we become children of God, and this is not because of the will of man or the will of the flesh, but because God begets us to be His children in spirit (John 1:12-13).

Through being born again we enter into a new kingdom, a new realm, a new species – the kingdom of God, the realm of the divine life, and the divine species.

Basically, by being begotten of God at the time of our repentance and belief into the Lord, we become a God-man, a man who is born of God, for God Himself is being dispensed into our spirit to grow in us, develop in us, and be formed in us. This is amazing!

By means of this divine life in our spirit we can know God, we can enjoy God, we can contact God, and we can express God.

When we turn to our spirit, when we contact the Lord in spirit, we live in a different realm – we no longer live in the human realm, the outward realm, but in the divine and mystical realm, where God is real to us, and all the things of Christ in His all-inclusiveness are made real to us to be our portion for our experience.

Furthermore, by being born of God, we enter into the family of God; we now have another family, even a worldwide and universal family, which is the family of God composed of all the believers in Christ.

As a result of being born of God, we suddenly have a love and affection for all those who are born of God. Before being regenerated, we loved ourselves, our family, and our close friends and relatives; now, after receiving the divine life, we have a love for all men, and in particular, we love those of the house of the faith.

We all can testify that, even though we have never met certain persons before, and even though they are different from us based on race, culture, background, and ethnicity when we realize that they are believers, we simply love them. This is amazing.

By being born of God we become children of God, and in the family of God we love one another, care for one another, and shepherd one another.

Here and now, in God’s family, there are many brothers and sisters, and there are some fathers and mothers.

In particular, in the church life we all need a mother, someone who cares for us in love, cherishes us, weeps with us, admonishes us, and comforts us, someone who would lovingly care for us so that we may go on.

Sometimes the mother doesn’t know what to say to help us with our problem, but she is there, listening to us and giving us an embrace, and because we are loved and cared for, we go on.

This is what we need in the chuch life – we need more real mothers in spirit, those who care for the saints in love.

This is what Deborah was to the people of Israel in her time, and this is what Rufus’ mother was to Paul.

The need for Sisters to Exercise their Spirit of Prayer and Faith to be Real Mothers to the Saints

By the Lord’s life-imparting through His death and resurrection, John became the son of Mary, and Mary – the mother of Jesus – became John’s mother (John 19:26-27).

By looking at the cross and experiencing a transfer in life, the sisters in the church life can experience being a mother not only to their own children but to the saints around them.

Many sisters could each take care of two or three children in spirit, praying for them, caring for them, and bearing them before the Lord until they mature and become part of the New Jerusalem.

The parents who have teenage children know that their children don’t want to listen to them; however, these children are willing to listen to another parent who comes alongside and befriends them, opening their heart to them.

We need to be such parents who care for one another in the church life. We need to exercise our spirit of prayer and faith to be real mothers to the saints.

The sisters in particular have such a portion to care for others in love, bearing them in prayer, and nurturing them until they grow and arrive at maturity.

Sometimes the saints go through difficulties and encounter problems, they have failures and shrink back; in such situations, they may not be willing to open to other brothers, but they feel comfortable to open to a sister who is like a mother to them in the Lord.

There’s a need for sisters to exercise their spirit of prayer and faith to be real mothers to the saints.

Our first relationship is in the flesh, but the second is in the spirit, that is, in the transferred life; because we have experienced the second birth (John 3:6), we surely have a family relationship in the Lord.

In the church life, we have real sisters and real brothers, and we have real mothers and real fathers.

Even the most troublesome teenagers are willing to listen to the parents of other teenagers, though they may not listen to their own teenagers.

We need to learn to open to the Lord and to one another, realizing that in the church life we are the one family of the Lord, and there’s a great need for some to exercise their spirit of prayer and faith to be real mothers to the saints.

If the sisters would pick up the burden of caring for others by looking at the cross, getting themselves transferred in life, and taking some younger ones to care for, there will be a revival in the church.

The brothers’ care and exhortation are not enough; the speaking in the ministry and the word of God can only go so far, but when the mothers come in and care for the saints, there is an opening there, and much can be accomplished.

Being a mother doesn’t come naturally; we need to look at the cross, allow the cross to operate in us, and experience a transfer in life, realizing that it is only by the divine life that we can do it.

There is the need for us to exercise our spirit of prayer and faith to be real mothers to the saints, caring for them in love.

We thank and praise the Lord that we are here in the church life, going on with the Lord, and we thank Him that we have a few sisters that we can consider to be our mothers in the Lord; may the Lord grant us the grace that many more sisters would rise up to be such mothers to the saints.

Lord Jesus, we look at the cross and we want to experience a transfer in life so that, by the divine life in us, we would care for others in the Lord in the church life. We exercise our spirit of prayer and faith to learn to be a mother in the Lord to those who are new or young in the faith. Amen, Lord, raise up many more mothers in the church life who would care for the saints in love. Raise up many sisters who would exercise their spirit of prayer and faith to be real mothers in the Lord to the saints. Oh, how we need a mother in the Lord to care for us, cherish us, comfort us, weep with us, and tenderly nourish us for our going on with the Lord!

Caring for others in Love as Mothers in the Lord Exposes us and Causes us to Mature in Life

Being a mother in the Lord is not something that can just be assigned to the sisters; there is a need, however, for the sisters to exercise their spirit of prayer and faith and be mothers in the Lord for the saints.

However, when one exercises his spirit of prayer and faith to be a real mother for the saints, he realizes how selfish he is and how much he is in himself.

When we start caring for others and we consider their going on, our own selfishness is exposed, and we realize how much of Christ we still need to enjoy and experience.

Nothing exposes a mother more than caring for her children, for she realizes her own inadequacy and her inability, and her character is exposed also.

Nothing matures a person more than learning to care for others, for they realize how much they still need to grow and experience before they can care for others.

There is much need especially for the sisters to have a heart to pray for the saints; there’s the need for groups of sisters to pray for the brothers, pray for the saints, and pray for the young ones.

There is much need for the prayer related to the health of the saints, their growth in life, their development in the Lord, their human needs, and their protection and their travel.

We all need someone to pray for us. We all need a mother who prays for us, cares for us and supports us in the Lord.

Where will we be today without the sisters who pray for us, care for us in love, and support us in prayer before God?

Being a mother in the Lord to the saints is a great thing, but it is also a costly matter.

The matter of being a mother in the Lord to the saints will bring in many lessons; it will expose us, it will test us, and it will cause us to mature.

When we start to care for others in love, we realize how much we lack of Christ, how little love for the Lord and for others we have, and how much we still need to grow in life and develop our skills in caring for others, especially in caring for their needs.

There is much struggle in prayer before the Lord when we care for others in love, for we really can’t do it in ourselves – we need the Lord!

When we don’t have someone to care for, we may think we are OK, but actually, we are not, for we love ourselves so much, we are selfish, and we care only for ourselves.

When we care for someone, when we exercise our spirit of prayer and faith to minister to the needs of others, we are exposed of our selfishness, our lack of love and faith, and our lack of being constituted with the Word of God and having the experiences of Christ.

On the other hand, our growth in life will be accelerated, for we realize that we need more of Christ so that we may minister Him to others, and our heart will be dealt with, for we realize we can’t love only what we want and desire but we need to love others in the Lord also.

If the sisters love the Lord and mean business to be for the church life in the Lord’s recovery, they need to consider themselves as serving nurses, as church nurses, who give nursing care in the church as the true hospital.

All the sisters need to be serving sisters by prayer and loving mothers by the most excellent way of love in order to help the needy ones and the younger ones in their spiritual life and church life (Rom. 16:1-2, 13; Isa. 66:12-13; 1 Cor. 12:31b; 13:4-7).

This is the best way to receive the blessing, the growth, the spirituality, and the real enjoyment of the Lord.

If the sisters would be serving as Phoebes and as loving mothers in the church life, seventy per cent of the building up of the church will be accomplished right away, for very much depends on the sisters.

When the sisters coordinate in such a way in the church life, the church life is built up in a practical way.

Without such a labor from the sisters, however, no matter how much the brothers are laboring, there will be very little result as far as the building goes. Oh, Lord!

But when the sisters rise up, exercise their spirit of prayer and faith, and serve the saints and are mothers to them in the Lord, right away the church is built up, Satan is defeated, and there will be a strong connection in the spiritual building.

Amen, may the Lord gain this among us today in the church life!

Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit of prayer and faith to learn to care for others in love in the church life. We want to learn to be real mothers to others, caring for them in the Lord. Grant us the experiences we need and the growth in life to minister to others in the Lord. We love You, Lord, and we mean business to be for the church life; we give ourselves to You to care for the saints, the young ones, and the new ones in love for their growth in life and going on with the Lord. Amen, Lord, may there be many sisters raised up to be real mothers to the saints, serving nurses in the church, giving care to the saints in the church today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 51-54, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 7, God’s Raising Up of Deborah as a Judge of Israel and as a Mother in Israel Who Practiced the Female Submission to the Man in Order to Keep God’s Ordination and Bring All of Israel into a Proper Order under God’s Kingship and Headship.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Dear Shepherd of Thy chosen few, / Thy former mercies here renew; / Here, to our waiting hearts, proclaim / The sweetness of Thy saving Name. / Here may we prove the power of prayer / To strengthen faith and sweeten care; / To teach our faint desires to rise, / And bring Thy light before our eyes. (Hymns #862)
  – Foll’wing Thee, Good Shepherd, I would feed, / Shepherd those allotted me, / E’er I’d touch Thy heart’s desire, / Live in Thine economy. / O my Lord, All thanks to Thee! / Goodness, mercy follow me; / I’d ever dwell within Thy house, / As Thy Body glorious! (Song on, Shepherding in Love)
  – Your love constrains, You gently urge, / We are drawn as You adjure, / To go in faith, as mothers, nurse, / Feed, cherish, raise up, mature; / In love pay the price, work gladly. / Praying, bear men to the Lord; / Together tried, fear not defeat; / Your coming is our reward. (Song on, Following the Footsteps of the Flock)