We thank the Lord that He has regenerated us with His life and He is now in the process of transforming us by renewing our mind so that we may think the same way He thinks and have the same concept of values. As believers in Christ we don’t only have God’s life in our spirit but we also have a renewed mind, a mind that is becoming the mind of Christ, a mind that thinks God’s thoughts, takes God’s ways, and accepts God’s values as our values.
The Lord Jesus lived a revolutionary life on earth not by doing many outward things to change society and bring freedom from slavery and such, but by simply expressing God, living out the life of God, and living according to God’s system of values, something that is uplifted and high in morality, humanity, and ethics.
The proper concept of value for us as believers can be seen in our estimation and assessment of the following aspects of Christ and His full salvation:
- Our valuation of the Lord Jesus – He’s the most precious One!
- Our valuation of the word of the cross – it is the power of God unto salvation!
- Our valuation of God’s kingdom and righteousness, considering it above our daily necessities.
- Our valuation of the Lord Jesus in comparison to our relatives, loving Him more than we love them.
- Our valuation of man’s soul, considering that man’s soul is more important than the whole world, and not selling our soul.
- Our valuation of the seriousness and consequences of sin, considering that if a member of our body causes us to sin, it’s better to dispose of it.
- Our valuation of being a slave of the Lord and of one another; being a slave is higher than being a “master”, and we don’t desire to be above others.
- Our valuation of Christ as the treasure of justice, considering Him more precious to us than any earthly unrighteous treasure like gold or silver.
- Our valuation of the unseen reward, causing us to despise shame and pursue the Lord at any cost, not being involved in any temporary enjoyment of sin but
- rather suffering with the Lord.
- Our valuation of the knowledge of Christ in comparison to all things: we consider the excellent knowledge of Christ to be above all things, and everything else is a loss and even dung compared to Him.
Today we want to go on and see what is precious – and even what is preciousness itself. Hallelujah, Christ is the preciousness to His believers! May the Lord grant us the light to have a thorough change in our concept of value so that we may treasure Christ and choose Him as our super-excelling portion!
If you Bring out the Precious from the Worthless, You will be as My Mouth
Jer. 15:19 is a wonderful verse, indicating that, if we as believers in Christ bring out the precious from the worthless, we will be to God as His mouth. God requires of us to bring out the precious from the worthless, that is, to always choose Christ as our super-excelling portion and treasure Him above everything else (Mark. 9:7-8; 2 Cor. 2:10; 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:8).
When we speak the word of God, we speak precious things; our prophesying is our bringing out the precious things of the Triune God for others to enjoy and be edified with, and when we prophesy by speaking forth God we act as God’s oracle, being the mouth of God. But if we don’t bring out the precious things from the worthless, God will reject us and cast us aside.
By our speaking we are building up the church; if we don’t bring out the precious things of God in His word, we will build with wood, grass, and stubble, but if we speak the precious things, we are building with gold, silver, and precious stones. It is very important for us to have a proper system of valuation so that we may be the oracle of God.
How can we find out what is precious from what is worthless? There are many writings, ministries, speaking, and movements out there, but we must treasure the Lord’s words more than our apportioned food, taking in God’s word as our daily supply and tasting the Lord in His word as the reality of the good land flowing with milk and honey (John 23:12; Psa. 119:1-3; Exo. 3:8; Deut. 8:8).
The precious things are in the word of God, and we need to taste and see that the Lord is good in His word! When we are filled with the nourishing milk and the fresh honey in God’s word, we will be ready to dispense the riches of Christ to God’s people for their full salvation (1 Pet. 2:2-5; Song of Songs 4:11).
We need to come to God’s word again and again to eat the Lord, and His word will be sweet to our taste, supplying our whole being with God Himself, and the result is that we will speak the word of God, giving others milk and honey for their nourishment and refreshment.
We must treasure the Lod’s words even more than any earthly riches, so that we can speak the oracles of God to dispense the unsearchable riches of Christ as the varied grace of God (see Psa. 119:72, 9-16; Eph. 3:8; 2 Cor. 6:10; 1 Pet. 4:10-11).
When we exercise our spirit over the word of God through much musing, thoughtful consideration, and with a prayerful attitude, we will bring out the precious things from the worthless, and God will use us as His mouth to dispense the riches of Christ as the varied grace of God to others for their growth in life unto full salvation.
Wow, we can be the oracle of God by spending time with God in His word, letting Him instruct us, being filled with His riches contained in His word, and by speaking forth the riches of Christ, thus “dripping milk and honey” for others to enjoy God, see God, be brought into God’s presence, and receive the element of God! Oh, how we treasure God’s words and how we enjoy our rich Lord in His word!
Lord Jesus, keep us coming to You in Your word day by day until we treasure Your words more than our apportioned food and even more than any earthly riches! Lord, we want to taste You in Your word as the reality of the good land flowing with milk and honey so that we may dispense the riches of God to His people for their full salvation. Oh Lord, how we treasure Your words and how we love to eat You in Your word every day! Fill us with Your riches in Your word so that we may become Your oracle dispensing the unsearchable riches of Christ as the varied grace of God!
Christ is the Preciousness to His Believers!
May the Lord have mercy on us and cause us to really open to Him so that we may see His preciousness and realize that to us, the believers in Christ, He is the preciousness itself (1 Pet. 2:7). Hallelujah, to us who believe Christ is the preciousness itself!
We can see this in the Gospels with Peter: he was just like us, quick in his disposition to do things for the Lord and “protect Him” from dying or going away, and he was much rebuked by the Lord – yet he treasured the Lord, loved Him, and considered Him as the most Precious One (see Luke 5:8-11; Mark 14:67-72; 16:7; John 21:15-22; 2 Pet. 1:14-15).
He had been rebuked by the Lord many times, but he still followed Him. On the night of His betrayal, the Lord said to the disciples, “You will all be stumbled because of Me this night.” Then Peter answered and said to Him, “If all will be stumbled because of You, I will never be stumbled” (Matt. 26:31-33). And the Lord said to him, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked to have you all to sift you as wheat. But I have made petition concerning you that your faith would not fail.” Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.” But the Lord said, “I tell you, Peter, a rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know Me” (Luke 22:31-34). Not only did Peter disbelieve this word, but he even said, “Even if I must die with You, I will by no means deny You” (Matt. 26:35). Later, while Peter was sitting in the courtyard of the high priest, a little servant girl came to question him. Because of her questioning, Peter denied the Lord. At that time the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter, remembering the Lord’s word to him, went outside and wept bitterly (Luke 22:54-62).
After Peter denied the Lord, the Lord could have forgotten about him. However, the Lord did not forget him. On the morning of the Lord’s resurrection, an angel said to several women, “Go, tell His disciples and Peter…” (Mark 16:7). Also, the Lord personally told Mary the Magdalene, “Go to My brothers…” (John 20:17). The Lord called His disciples “brothers” and particularly mentioned Peter’s name. In this way He captivated Peter. (Witness Lee, How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, p. 19)
From our experience we all can testify that, no matter how miserably we fail the Lord, He is still here with us, attracting us and captivating us. We may fail against the Lord and make mistakes, but the Lord doesn’t forget us – He knows us by name, He attracts us, He captivates us, and He is the most Precious One to us.
Christ is the Majestic One (Isa. 33:21) – He is our God and Savior (2 Pet. 1:1) and the Lord of all (1 Pet. 3:22; Acts 2:36) as our Judge, our Lawmaker, and our King in God’s government (Isa. 33:22) to dispense Himself into us to be our enjoyment for our full salvation (Rev. 22:1).
Christ is both the Judge, the Lawmaker, and the King – He is all three branches in God’s government, both the judicial, the legislative, and the executive branch – in order to save us to the uttermost.
Our Christ is the most Precious One, and He’s always there to save us, infuse us with Himself, rule in us, impart the law of life into our being, dispense Himself into us, be our enjoyment, fully save us, and simply attract us and captivate us by His wonderful Person!
Oh, how we love this most precious One, even the preciousness itself!
Lord, thank You for being the preciousness to us, the believers in Christ. You have attracted us and captivate us, and now we just follow You, love You, and open to You. Thank You Lord that, even though we may fail and even deny You, You never forget us but come to us to forgive us, woo us, attract us, and captivate us with Your beauty. Lord Jesus, we love You as the most Precious One, even as preciousness itself. Thank You for being everything to us in order to save us to the uttermost!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, brother Albert Lim’s sharing in the message for this week, and How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, ch. 1 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Crucial Points of the Major Items of the Lord’s Recovery Today (ITERO 2015 fall), week 3 / msg 3, The Supreme Preciousness of the All-inclusive Christ.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Thank You for Your faithfulness. / I have seen Thy preciousness. / Now, Lord, I can’t deny / Your beauty has captured my heart. (Song on Seeing the Lord’s preciousness)
# Lord there’s none in heav’n nor on earth / That I desire but Thee. / Though my heart and flesh faileth, Lord, / Thou ever my portion will be. / All is vanity, all is dung; / I count all other things loss; / Everything else drains my love / But You have captured my heart. / Lord, I’ve seen Thy preciousness, / Thy worth, Thy reality. / Now, my Lord, I must confess / My heart is only for Thee. (Song on Christ’s preciousness)
# Jesus, most precious One to me, / I want to seek You constantly / So you can spread through me. / I would just call upon Your name, / Open to you; I have no shame / Loving You, Jesus Lord. / Jesus, precious One, / Be so real to me. / You are all I want; / I open wide to Thee. (Song on Opening to the Lord)
About aGodMan
Isaiah 33:22 says that He is our Judge, our Lawmaker, and our King to save us. In His divine government, He is such a person of three aspects. The United States government is divided into three sections in a similar way. This government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In the past I thought that the United States invented such a marvelous government with the balance of powers. Eventually, I found out that according to Isaiah 33:22, God had already practiced this. Christ as the King is the executive branch of the divine government. He is also the Lawmaker, the Legislator, as the legislative branch. Finally, He is our Judge as the judicial branch. He is in these three aspects to exercise His divine government in saving His people. In the United States government these three branches are always balancing one another, but many times they fight against one another. The Lord Jesus in His divine government, however, is perfectly balanced in every way. The three sections of the divine government are one person. Our Jesus is the executive, legislative, and judicial branches in His divine government. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Isaiah, p. 307)
Amen! Lord Jesús your beauty does far exeeds all others
Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Your name is precious to us, Jesus; we want to fall in love with you. God we confess that we are uncomfortable at the thought of selling everything for you. We confess that we struggle to have a willingness of heart in following you. Please forgive us. Let us grow deeper and deeper in love with your Son Jesus, that our hearts may be more and more yielded to you. It’s in His precious name we pray, amen!
Lord Jesus Thank You for being everything to us in order to save us to the uttermost! Amen!!
O Lord growth in our, more and more
Lord Jesus we love you.