… once we are in the wilderness what should we do? We should not start complaining but rather tell the Lord: “Lord, You are the One that led me here. Lord, I am thirsty. Give me a drink!” Some of us have been in the church life for quite a while and our experience of the Lord is just not rich anymore and we do not understand. We have been eating all these years but not drinking enough! We need to drink! [continue reading this sweet sharing from a student in South Africa from his top enjoyment in a recent student camp]
living the divine life by minding the things of the Spirit and being led by the Spirit
We need to mind the things of the Spirit by setting our mind on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5-6; 1 Cor. 2:14) – these things are the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10-11) concerning Christ as our all-inclusive portion. We should not allow our mind to be absent, vacant, empty, wandering around, flying all over the earth – we need to learn to set our mind on the spirit and on the things of the Spirit! Our mind needs to be busy and occupied with the things concerning Christ not only in the meetings but also in our daily life, our family life, our school life, at work, etc. [continue reading this portion of enjoyment from Romans 8 online]
we need to receive God’s call, come together, seek Him, and be Gideon’s army (WST 2011)
We today need to blow the trumpet of the gospel to the other young people around us! Our pitchers (our love of ourselves, our “face”) need to be shattered so that we are no longer bound by worrying about what others think about us, but bold to speak in the name of the Lord. Finally, we need to hold up our “torches” which represent our testimony before the ones we speak to. We are luminaries in the world shining out as children of God (Phil. 2:15). [read more a short sharing from a serving brother from the USA concerning his impression and enjoyment in the last winter school of truth]
being according to the spirit by learning to activate the law of the Spirit of life
How do we activate the law of the Spirit of life in our being? What are the conditions that need to be created and maintained so that the law of the Spirit of life would automatically be switched on and operate? From the moment we wake up in the morning, we need to exercise our spirit by calling on the Lord’s name and worship Him, praise Him, and exalt Him! This organic practice of opening to the Lord will gird our spirit and strengthen it to guard our whole being from any dark thought, excessive emotion, or desire of the flesh! [read more online concerning the need to SWITCH ON the law of the Spirit of life in us by exercising our spirit!]
The Center of Paul’s Gospel – Romans chapter 8, God’s dispensing, and the sonship
The center of Paul’s gospel is Romans chapter 8. Here he unveils the dispensing of the Triune God as life into the tripartite man. This is the focus of God’s economy: God coming into us to be our life so that we may be His corporate expression. This is experiential. The law of the Spirit of life (v. 2) is the Triune God operating in us. He first makes our spirit life (v. 10) then spreads to make our mind life (v. 6), then to impart life to our mortal body (v. 11) and to enable us to put to death all our natural living (v. 13). By this spreading of life within, we mature from children (v. 16) to sons (read more in 8:14, note 3). The goal of this expanding dispensation is our conformation to the image of God’s firstborn Son (v. 29). Lord, daily spread Yourself in our entire being until we fully express You. [guest post as the last part of the series, The Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery, ITERO 2011]
learning to live our human life by the divine life in our mingled spirit (Romans 8)
Many believers and unbelievers alike want to live a perfect life, even “an angel life”, a virtuous life, and they do their best to improve themselves, perfect their living, abstain from certain things, refrain from saying things, etc… Because we fail so many times in doing this, we may ask for the Lord’s help to improve our living, our behavior, and if we succeed, we become proud and selfish about it. O, Lord Jesus, this is such an ensaring matter! It is in our nature as human beings to try to be better, to improve ourselves, and even ask for God’s help to have patience, to be more careful in our speaking, etc. But this is NOT what God desires – God doesn’t want an improved human behavior with an increased self-effort every time. The result of this self-perfecting is pride and a stronger self, which cannot build up the Body! What God desires is that we as human beings would live by the divine life in our spirit. [continue reading concerning this normal divine-human living online]
Question on Facebook: what do you love the most in the home meetings of the church?
what do you LOVE the most in the home meetings? What aspect of the home meeting you really enjoy? – here are some responses from what some saints on facebook have shared. You know, the homes are the God-ordained way for us to be – both humanly and spiritually – born, cared for, cherished, nourished, loved, shepherded, raised up, perfected, blended, trained, and even matured. We need the homes – not just the “home meetings”, but the homes of the saints. [read more online a wonderful sharing about the importance and sweetness of the homes in the church life]