Take Time to Absorb Christ in our Personal Time with Him to Grow in Him for the Body

As believers in Christ, we have been rooted in Christ as the rich soil so that we may grow with the elements that we absorb from Him; therefore, we need to take time to absorb Christ by having an adequate and considerable amount of time with the Lord personally and privately so that we spontaneously walk in Christ and live out Christ for His corporate expression. Amen!

And the best part is that we don’t need to do anything to improve ourselves or become better, to fix our situation or improve our condition, before we come to the Lord. He knows where we are and what we are, and we can simply come to Him as we are.

We can come to the Lord through His precious blood that cleanses us from every sin.

As we open to Him and confess our shortcomings and sins, His blood cleanses us and ushers us into fellowship with God.

God is not looking for super-spiritual or perfect Christians who never sin and never commit anything evil; He wants us to be those who keep coming forward to Him so that He may infuse us with Himself.

When we come to the Lord, even if we just utter a short prayer, He infuses Himself into us.

We take some time, let’s say, as we walk to the bus stop or take a walk outside for exercise, and we may simply talk to the Lord in a genuine way with what is on our hearts.

As we open our heart to Him and tell Him everything, He releases us of our problems inwardly, He bears our burdens, and He has an opening in us to infuse us with Himself.

Sometimes, however, the enemy may accuse us and tell us that we’re not worthy, we can’t come to God right now as we are, for we have done this and that, and we are so bad and so sinful.

To him we need to say that we stand on the blood of Christ, the precious blood that cleanses us from every sin, and based on this precious blood we come forward, for our merit is not in and of ourselves but of Christ.

Christ is acceptable to God; He satisfies God, and His life, living, and sacrifice fully meet God’s need. We lay our hands on Him.

Actually, even if we don’t claim the blood of Christ, as long as we open to the Lord, even by sighing and groaning before Him, He has a way to spread a little more out of our spirit and into every part of our being.

We could even say that God’s agenda is different from our agenda; we may come to God to get solutions to our problems and to ask Him for things, but He answers our prayers according to His will.

Our needs may seem so great, our problems may be so impossible to solve, and our situation may be so complicated and inter-mixed, but when we open to the Lord, though He may not do anything outwardly to change the situation, He infuses us with Himself.

God’s desire is first to infuse Himself into us, that is, that we absorb God in our contact with Him through prayer; all the other things, He takes care of them in His way and in His time.

We are Rooted in Christ to Absorb Christ and Grow in Christ for the Building up of the Body of Christ

Col. 2:6-7 reveals that we believers in Christ are rooted in Christ, the good land, the rich soil, so that we may grow with the elements that we absorb from that rich soil (see 1 Cor. 3:6, 9; Col. 2:19).

In the Old Testament, we see how the good land was allotted to the children of Israel according to their tribe, family, and individual; everyone had an allotted portion; this is a type.

In the New Testament we have the reality, which is much more subjective than just having an allotted portion: we don’t just get the land but we are planted in the land, we are planted in Christ, and we send our roots in this rich Christ.

According to Col. 2:9-15, this soil that we’re planted in and absorb includes the fullness of the Godhead that dwells in Christ bodily (v. 9), the Head of all rule and authority (v. 19), circumcision (v. 11), being buried together with Christ (v. 12), being made alive with Him in resurrection (v. 13), the wiping out of the handwriting in ordinances (v. 14), the stripping off of the rulers and authorities (v. 15), and in Him we are being made full (v. 10). This soil into which we’re rooted is so rich!

By working together with God, the apostle Paul planted the believers as the living plants into Christ as the soil.

We believers in Christ have been put by Christ as living plants into Christ as the soil (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 6:4-5) so that we may grow in Christ as life (Eph. 4:15-16) and be transformed in life to become precious materials for God’s building (1 Cor. 3:12).

The Bible is quite amazing in showing us these organic illustrations of planting and grafting when it comes to our regeneration and faith in Christ, these are agricultural terms indicating an organic process. Our relationship with the Lord is absolutely organic.

Our prayer and contacting the Lord is not merely bringing our needs to Him and listening to His word; it is for us to develop our organic relationship with Him, for we are rooted in Christ to absorb Christ and grow in Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ.

God, Christ, and the Spirit are no longer objective to us; we are in Him, we are rooted in Christ, we are growing in Christ, and we are absorbing Christ.

According to God’s economy, the one who trusts in the Lord is like a tree planted by water, signifying God as the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13; 17:7-8).

A tree grows beside a river by absorbing all the riches of the water; this shows us a picture of God’s economy, which is carried out by His divine dispensing (see Isa. 57:20-21; 55:7; 12:1-6; John 4:10, 14; 7:37-38; 1 Cor. 12:13).

As believers in Christ are like a tree transplanted from where we were before and into Christ, by a stream of living water.

We simply need to send roots deep down in this rich soil and absorb the rich Christ; we need to receive and grow by the rich nutrients.

We do this by coming to the Lord to contact Him, to take Him, to receive Him, to taste Him, and to enjoy Him; this is what pleases Him and this is what satisfies our need.

In order for us to receive the divine dispensing, we as trees must absorb God as the water; the riches of the supplying God dispensed into us as the trees constitute us with God’s divinity and cause us to grow with the growth of God (Col. 2:19).

By holding the Head, we are richly supplied and knit together, and we grow with the growth of God; in this way we and God become one, having the same element, essence, constitution, and appearance (Rev. 4:3; 21:11).

If a plant doesn’t absorb the rich nutrients from the soil, it can’t grow; similarly, if we don’t receive what comes out of Christ as the Head, the Body can’t grow.

We hold the Head by remaining in Christ, abiding in Christ, being rooted in Him, and staying intimately connected to Him without any insulation between us and Him.

On one hand, we as plants are rooted in Christ individually; on the other hand, we grow into Him as the Head by absorbing Christ, and this is for the building up of the Body.

The growth of the Body depends on the growth of God within us; in Himself, God can’t grow, but in us, He has to grow and increase.

As we absorb the riches of Christ, God’s building is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, and we are built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit (Eph. 2:21-22).

Amen, the actual building of the house of God is by the believers’ growth in life.

Our individual growth in life becomes corporate growth, collective growth; if we all as members of the Body of Christ grow in life individually with the growth of God, the Body of Christ will be built up corporately.

Our being rooted into Christ is for our growth in life, and our growth with the growth of God is genuine building (Eph. 4:15-16; 1 Cor. 3:6, 9).

Thank You Lord for rooting us into Christ, our rich soil, so that we may absorb all the riches of God for our growth in life to build up the Body! Hallelujah, we are like trees transplanted by the river of living water to absorb the rich dispensing of God and grow with the growth of God! We open to You, dear Lord, and we hold to You as the Head, receiving what comes out from You for our growth in life and for the building up of the church. Keep us intimately connected to You without any insulation between us; keep us remaining in You, abiding in You, to absorb all Your riches. Grow in us, Lord, for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ, so that You may gain Your corporate expression!

Take Time to Absorb Christ daily by having Personal Time with Him in His Word to Walk in Christ and Live Christ

It is interesting that Col. 2:7 puts being rooted in Christ together with being built up.

This shows us that our being rooted in Christ is for our growth in life, and our growth in life is the genuine building. the only way that we can be deeply rooted in Christ is by contacting Him as the soil in order to daily absorb the water in the Word (Eph. 5:26).

In this way, we take root downward in Christ and we bear fruit upward by expressing Him (Isa. 37:31).

For us to absorb Christ daily we need to take time to spend personal and private time with Him (Matt. 6:6; 14:22-23; Mark 1:35); we need to set aside time every day to just be with the Lord in prayer and in the Word.

As we take time to absorb Christ daily, we will spontaneously walk in Christ and live out Christ for His corporate expression.

How do we spend time with Christ? How can we absorb Him? It is by allowing adequate time for prayer day by day; such times of prayer will enable us to absorb more of the riches of our God.

We may open the Bible or the morning revival in the morning to spend time with the Lord, but we may not absorb much of His riches because we’re in too much of a hurry.

We cannot and should not rush our time with the Lord. If we are in a hurry in our time with the Lord, we cannot absorb the riches of Christ into us as our nourishment (Psa. 119:48, 97).

It takes time – much time, adequate time, a good amount of time with the Lord, in order to send roots deep down into Him as the rich soil.

We need to send many roots into Him to absorb Christ daily in our time with Him.

We must spend more personal and private time with the Lord in order to absorb Him; we cannot rely on 5 minutes with Him in the morning, nor can we think it is enough to just go to the meetings or call a brother to pray.

We need to exercise our spirit to spend more time in our spirit to adore the Lord and praise Him, to thank Him and to speak to Him freely.

As we do this, God will give us the growth and we will enjoy Him as our banquet (Matt. 22:4; Rev. 3:20).

The addition of God into us by receiving Him as our new nourishment through His words of spirit, life, gladness, and joy (John 6:57, 63; Jer. 15:16) is the growth that He gives (Josh. 1:8-9; Psa. 119:15, 48).

We need to not only pray but also pray over and with the Word of God; the element of God is contained as the Spirit in the Word, and when we take time to absorb Christ by being in the Word in a prayerful way, we gain more of God.

If we spend a considerable amount of personal and private time with the Lord day by day in order to absorb God, our inner being will be reconstituted with Him, and even our countenance will be saved.

As Psa. 42:5, 11 says, the salvation of His countenance becomes the salvation of our countenance by our being with the Lord in His word daily.

Our Christ is so rich, so substantial, and so full of nutrients, and we need to take time to absorb Christ daily in His word by exercising our spirit to stay in His presence and praying over His word to gain more of Him.

We shouldn’t spend so much time in our mind with its thoughts, in our emotion with its feelings, and in our will with its decisions, but spend more time in our spirit to just adore the Lord, praise Him, offer thanks to Him, and speak to Him freely.

This will inwardly reconstitute us and cause us to walk in Christ and live out Christ for the corporate expression of Christ.

Lord Jesus, we give You our time: we want to take time to absorb Christ day by day by having personal and private time with Him! Amen, Lord, may we be those who allow adequate time for prayer so that we may absorb more of the riches of our God. Save us from rushing our time with You. Save us from being in a hurry when we spend time with the Lord in His word. We want to exercise our spirit to spend more time in our spirit to adore You, praise You, offer thanks to You, and speak to You freely. Amen, Lord, may more of God be added to us day by day as we receive Him as our new nourishment and fresh enjoyment through His words of spirit, life, gladness and joy!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a message by bro. Mark Raabe on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 44, 52-53, 56-57 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Meeting God’s Need and Present needs in the Lord’s Recovery, week 4, entitled, Prayer to Absorb God and to Express God by Praying to God as a Friend So That We Can Co-work with God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Take time to behold Him, / Let Him be thy guide; / And run not before Him / Whatever betide; / In joy or in sorrow / Still follow thy Lord, / And, looking to Jesus, / Still trust in His Word. (Hymns #643)
  – Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / In the spirit seek His face; / Ask and listen in His presence, / Waiting in the secret place. (Hymns #784)
  – Take time to receive Him—the blessing’s outpoured, / And we may obtain it by reading His Word; / We bask in the splendour of His healing light, / And light becomes life, as in Him we delight. (Song on, Take time to absorb Him)