The word of the Lord Jesus in Matt. 7:21-23 is very sobering and exposing – many people do works of power in His name, cast out demons in His name, prophesied in His name, but the Lord does not recognize them or know them… We can do a lot of good and great things for the Lord – even miraculous things, with the help of the power of God – but if we do things independently of the Lord, He does not approve or recognize it. How much we need the Lord to shine on us and expose our self in all its good or bad intentions and doings, so that we may deny our self and exercise our spirit to be one with the Lord! [continue reading online]
the Lord Jesus regards our dependence on Him and not what we can do for Him in our self
Filed Under: Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, His heart's desire, O Lord Jesus!, the Body of Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the Lord's recovery Tagged With: a vision of the Body, a vision of the self, depending on the Body, depending on the Lord, genuine peace, man-made peace, real dependence on God, the four great pillars, the independent self, the Lord's recovery, the organic union, the self opposes the Body, the soul declaring independence, we need to deny the self
exercising the key of denying the self to shut the gates of Hades and build the church
We need the Lord to shine on us and show us a vision of the self. From the very beginning in the garden of Eden we see that the self is the soul declaring its independence from God. When we are no longer dependent on God but “take matters into our own hands”, we are in the self. The self is the greatest problem to the building up of the Body, and the self is opposing the Body. The principle of the Body is depending on the Lord and depending on the brothers and the sisters… To be independent of the brothers and sisters equals being independent of Christ, but when we are dependent, the self is gone, and instead of the self, we have the Lord’s presence and are full of peace. [continue reading online]
Filed Under: Christ lives in me, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, our birthright, the Body of Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the Lord's recovery Tagged With: build up the church, denying the self, depending on the Lord, depending on the saints, exercise our spirit, it is serious to be offended, learn to deny ourselves, shut the gates of Hades, the four great pillars, the keys of the kingdom, the kingdom of the Son of His love, the Lord's recovery, the self is the embodiment of Satan, the soul declaring independence
using the keys of the kingdom to lock the subjective gates of Hades and build up the church
Matt. 16:21-26 shows us not only the subjective gates of Hades coming in to frustrate the building up of the church but also the keys of the kingdom of the heavens which lock these doors and release the building up! We need to use the keys of denying our self, losing our soul life, and taking up our cross! Denying the self mainly relates to our mind, since the self is expressed through the mind with its opinions. Taking up the cross is related to taking up the will of God and not our own will. Losing our soul life is related to the enjoyment of the soul, the pleasure – we need to seek God’s pleasure and His enjoyment!
Filed Under: Christ lives in me, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, our birthright, the Body of Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the Lord's recovery Tagged With: build up the church, denying our self, exercise our spirit, frustrate the building, get behind Me Satan!, lock the gates of Hades, losing our soul life, taking up our cross, the four great pillars, the keys of the kingdom, the Lord's recovery, the self is one with Satan, the subjective gates of Hades, turn to our spirit
the way to build up the church as the kingdom of God is death and resurrection
What is the way to build up the church? As revealed by the Lord in Matt. 16:16-18 and then in 21-26, the way the church is built up in a practical way is through death and resurrection. The Lord Jesus builds up the church through His death and resurrection – if He would have not died on the cross for us and if He would have not resurrected, there would be no church. It is the same with us today – if we do not die to ourselves and if we don’t live the resurrection life in the church life, we do not build up the church. [continue reading this article online]
Filed Under: Christ lives in me, Enjoying Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, His heart's desire, O Lord Jesus!, our birthright, the Body of Christ, the church life, the Lord's recovery Tagged With: build up God's kingdom, build up the church, death and resurrection, denying our self, die to ourselves, live the resurrection life, lock the gates of Hades, losing our soul life, open the windows of heaven, taking up our cross, the four great pillars, the kingdom of God, the Lord wants to return, the Lord's recovery
a trainee’s testimony – learning to put myself aside and enjoy the Lord with the saints!
In my individual dealing with my ‘self’ I have been learning to put myself aside, especially when we go out on the campus to preach the gospel or to nourish our contacts. Many times I have been busy with my own things, I felt tired, and I didn’t even have any willingness to go out; however, the Lord has been reminding me to seek first His Kingdom (Matt. 6:33) and put Him first in any kinds of situation. I must exercise my will to choose what the Lord wants and rather forget about myself, my own feelings, and my own needs. It’s a privilege to be out on the campus and speak to people and take care of those that have already been captured by the Lord! It’s wonderful to be with the saints and the students. Plus I loved going to Uxbridge where sister Gloria bakes the most delicious cakes for every Friday night meeting! [continue reading this sweet testimony from a sister who just finished her first semester in the Full Time Training in London, UK]
Filed Under: consecration, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, love the Lord, serving the saints, the Christian Life, the church life, the high peak, the Lord's recovery, yp sharing Tagged With: choose the Lord, enjoying Christ with students, enjoying the Lord, get into the mingled spirit, praying and singing, preaching the gospel, put myself aside, reading the ministry, seek first His kingdom, the FTTL, the full time training, the full time training in London, trainee testimony, two years to be trained, useful in God's hands, we're on the campus for the Lord
The Flow of Life with the Ministry of Life out of and for the Magnificent House of God (2)
The ministry of life involves feeding, which is a supply for living. Paul told the Corinthians “I gave you milk to drink” (v. 3:2). Had they been mature enough to receive it, he would have given them solid food. This ministry is nourishment, not knowledge. We are ministers “not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). The Spirit nourishes. This nourishment comes from healthy words (1 Tim. 6:3) which are according to godliness, a life lived one with Christ to express God (1 Tim. 3:16). [continue reading online, a review of message 5 in the recent ITERO]
Filed Under: Christ became the Spirit, Enjoying Christ, expounding the truth, feeding on the Lord, God's economy, O Lord Jesus!, serving the saints, the Body of Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the high peak, the Lord's recovery, the Word of God Tagged With: a proper builder, builders, feeding others with Christ, gold silver precious stones, imparting life, ITERO 2011, planting and watering, sowers planters waterers, the flow of life, the flow of life increases, the four great pillars, the Lord's recovery, the magnificent house of God, the ministry of life
the reality of the church life today is the kingdom of God in this age
Praise the Lord, the church life today has as its reality the kingdom of God, but by simply “being in the genuine church life” we may not necessarily be in the kingdom of God. We are in the kingdom in reality only when we live and walk by the spirit (Gal. 5:25). If we live, walk, behave, and have our being in ourselves as the old creation, we are not in reality in the kingdom of God even though outwardly we may be in the church life. Only when we live, walk, behave, and have our entire being altogether in our spirit are we in the church as the kingdom of God! [continue reading online]
Filed Under: Christ lives in me, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, our birthright, the Body of Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the Lord's recovery, the Word of God Tagged With: have our being in our spirit, in the kingdom of God, live by the spirit, repent for the kingdom, the church is the kingdom, the church is the kingdom of God, the church life, the four great pillars, the genuine church life, the kingdom of God, the Lord's recovery, the reality of the church, walk by the spirit, we are made a kingdom
