During the training the Lord touched me with the matters of our personal time with the Lord, vitality, and the gospel. First, I was touched by the matter of morning revival – our need to have time in the morning to be refreshed and renewed (Mark 1:35, Gen. 19:27, Phil. 3:13-14). Just like a spiritual breakfast, we can eat our way into Christ (Jeremiah 15:16). We can eat, we can drink, we can enjoy God! By this we’ll spontaneously live Christ. When we live Christ we can’t help but overflow with Him (John 6:57).
This is what makes us vital, and this is what becomes our preaching of the gospel. The gospel is the person of Christ – to live Him out is actually to live out the gospel. To be vital also is a matter of living. “The vital group” should not be a term or a movement to us. During the university training I was impressed that vital group isn’t anything like that. It is altogether a matter of OUR LIVING which issues from our personal time with the Lord, our ever-increasing contact and fellowship with the Lord, from our ever-increasing prayer, from remaining in the spirit at every time (Eph 6:18).
Oh how we need to spend time to behold our dear Lord Jesus, to build up a personal and affectionate relationship with Him, with so much prayer, to know Him and to know what’s on His heart! In Mark 3:14 we see that the Lord just wants us to be with Him in this way.
During the training I really enjoyed our time of fellowship. We were assigned in groups from the same university or close ones to learn to fellowship and coordinate with each other (1 Cor. 14:26). The time in the training was filled with much fellowship, and after we went back home we were encouraged to continue. After a year of “trying to do something” and then failing at it, we were encouraged to just meet and fellowship. Not to do anything but just to abide in Him, pray ourselves into what the Lord wants (John 15:5).
I even enjoyed that we could pray “Lord we do not know. We just want to pursue You together, pray ourselves into You, and be joined to Your heart’s desire“. We trust that the Lord will lead us in much fellowship and coordination. I just treasure the time with the saints, being build up together as the Body of Christ. This is what satisfies our Lord to the uttermost. “Our realization of the importance of the vital groups must enlarge” – it needs to become a vision that would control our living. Our maturing practice of the vital groups can bring the Lord back. (Acts 2:42, 46, Heb. 10:26) [sharing by sister E. S. (London, UK) from her enjoyment in the recent University Training in London]
