Psalm 73 speaks of a man who does his best to keep the law and God’s commandments, who is puzzled and almost stumbled when he sees that he is in suffering and pain while the evil men prosper and nothing seems to bother them. While the righteous man is being plagued and persecuted, going through all kinds of not-so-pleasant things, the evil men prosper. Why is it like this? The psalmist found the answer when he entered into the sanctuary of God – there he perceived their end, and he realized that God is his unique portion and reward! We also need to see this by coming into the sanctuary of God – here we have the answer! [read more online]
overcoming the loss of the first love by giving the Lord the preeminence in all things
One very simple way to overcome the loss of the first love for the Lord is to give Christ the first place, the preeminence, in all things. The Bible begins with, “In the beginning, God …” (Gen. 1:1), and Colossians tells us that Christ must have the first place, the preeminence, in all things (Col. 1:18). In order for us to love the Lord with the first and best love, we need to consider the Lord Jesus as the first in everything. In God’s eyes and in God’s economy, Christ is the first – but what about in our personal universe, in our decisions, considerations, emotions, living, walking, speaking, attitude, and in all our being? [read more online]
desolation comes in when God’s people do not properly appreciate and exalt Christ
Our failure to give Christ the first place in all things – our failure to love Him with the best love and appreciate Him – brings in desolation and degradation. The problem of desolation can be solved by Christ being appreciated and exalted by God’s people (see Psa. 80:17). When Christ is enjoyed, appreciated, given the first place, given the preeminence in all things – when He is properly appreciated and exalted, the house and the city of God can be maintained, preserved, and built up! Our not giving Christ the preeminence and our not appreciating Him is the cause of our failure and desolation. [read more online]
a genuine church is a meal offering church life with the fine humanity of Christ
Today we were specifically appreciating the wonderful, fine, gentle, balanced humanity of Jesus. The fine flour is the base of the meal offering, and it typifies the fine and balanced humanity of Christ. Our humanity is rough – though outwardly we may seem to be “a nice lady” or “a proper gentleman”, and though we may behave nicely toward the ones around us, our humanity is rough. Only Christ is gentle, fine, balanced, and right in every way. While He was on earth everyone tested Him, from His brothers, His fellow countrymen, the Pharisees, the priests, and even the Roman officials – there was no fault or blemish found in Him! [read more online]
qualifications of a genuine church: the church of God enjoying grace upon grace!
One particular aspect I was encouraged with is that a genuine church accepts and welcomes everyone who calls on the name of the Lord – who is THEIRS and OURS! Jesus Christ belongs to and is in all the believers, and He is our all-inclusive portion – we are those who call on the name of the Lord in every place! Oh, Lord Jesus! We flee youthful lusts and pursue with those who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22). Wherever we are – at home, at work, cooking in the kitchen, walking on the street, shopping, driving, traveling, resting, working, playing sports, jogging, etc – we CALL on the name of the Lord, who is OURS! [continue reading online]
the secret to be content in all things: abiding in Christ (students training, South Africa)
The experience of Christ is in our spirit but the enjoyment of Christ is in our soul. We need to experience Christ in such a full and complete way so that our experience seeps through to our soul to be our enjoyment, joy and delight. How do we do this? In Phil 4:12 Paul says he has learnt the secret to be both abased and to abound and in the previous verse to be content in all circumstances. The secret is simply to be in Christ, to abide in Him. To be content in everything means the good things and the bad things. To be content in all things means to be content in all the ordinary things too! Our Christ does not change, our contentment therefore cannot change. [read more online]
we are earthen vessels containing a priceless treasure, the Christ of glory!
When God shines on us through the speaking of His Word, the glory of God in the face of Christ is being infused into us to become the indwelling treasure in our spirit (see 2 Cor. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 3:4). This is so wonderful! We are earthen vessels – worthless, fragile, temporal, ephemeral, and passing away – but we contain a priceless treasure – the face of Christ, the person of Christ, the image of God Himself – in our spirit (2 Cor. 2:10)! There is nothing more precious and valuable in the whole universe than beholding the face of Jesus [read more online]