聖經經節
路加十41：主回答她說，馬大，馬大，你為許多的事思慮煩擾；42：但是不可少的只有一件，馬利亞已經選擇那美好的分，是不能從她奪去的。
馬太十一29：我心裡柔和謙卑，因此你們要負我的軛，且要跟我學，你們魂裡就必得安息。
職事的話
那麼，我們怎麼能過一個平靜安穩的生活呢﹖我們看主怎麼說。祂並沒有說不要去作工，祂也沒有說一個人半天去作世事，半天專心於屬靈的事。祂並沒有對馬大說，你作許多的事是不對的。馬大可以作許多的事，但是主題醒馬大，千萬不要讓這些事進到她的裏面去，叫她思慮煩擾。主耶穌不是說她作得太多了，主耶穌乃是說她想得太多了﹔主耶穌不是說她辦事情辦得太多了，主耶穌乃是說她的罣慮太多了。事情可以從早起一直作到晚上，但是你不要一天到晚在那裏思慮煩擾。有許多人外面的事情並不忙，但是他裏面卻忙得很。有的人為了五天以後所要作的事，已經先忙了五夜。
弟兄姊妹，基督徒的生活就是這樣。我們應當殷勤作工，不可懶惰。外面勤勞作事是該的，外面忙不要緊，但是裏面是要安靜的，裏面只有一件東西 — 基督。這就是主耶穌在這裏所給我們看見的。主在這裏要求我們一件事，就是要我們在任何的環境中，都不被環境摸著。身體可以勞碌，可以作許多事情，但是裏面只有一件東西，裏面一點都不放鬆。外面可以很忙，但是裏面一直是與神交通著的。感謝神，這裏不只有馬大，這裏還有馬利亞。馬利亞已經揀選了那上好的福分，就是與主交通。主要馬大在裏面的安息上學她的妹妹，不是在辦事情上學她的妹妹。外面儘可以作馬大，但是裏面要學馬利亞，裏面完全是與主聯合的﹔外面雖然很忙，但是裏面是與神交通的，裏面是安靜的。這是一個最寶貴的經歷。
我們每一個人都可以有這一種的生活。這一種生活不是在我們的身體上，這一種生活不是在我們的感覺裏，這一種生活是在我們裏面的深處。我們的深處一直與主有交通，一直活在主的面前，有一個平靜安穩的生活。我們千萬要記得，神沒有叫我們懶惰不作事情。主是要祂自己住在我們的裏面之後，叫我們能受得住外面的忙碌。你從清早一直忙到夜晚，無論多麼忙，總沒有一個人能叫你失去裏面的平安，總沒有一件事能奪去你裏面的安息。忙在外頭忙，裏面是安靜的。在你的裏面只有一個人，就是基督。
(c) Living Stream Ministry。經文取自聖經恢復本，闡釋部份取自倪柝聲文集“一般的信息”(卷一)，第147至149頁。以上著述均由水流職事站發行，職事站位於美國加州安那翰。
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
He Chose Us for His Purpose
Bible Verses
Eph 1:4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love,
2 Thes 2:13 But we ought to thank God always concerning you... because God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth,
Words of Ministry
God's choosing is His first blessing bestowed upon us; it is the first item of God's well-speaking concerning the church. God's choosing is His selection. From among numberless people, He has selected us. Verse 4 says that God chose us before the foundation of the world. This was in eternity past. God chose us according to His infinite foresight before He created us.
God's selection was not made in time, but in eternity. Before the foundation of the world, God chose us. Among millions of people, He foresaw us before we were even born and selected us before the foundation of the world. The expression, before the foundation of the world, implies the entire universe, not only the earth. This indicates that the universe was founded for man's existence to fulfill God's eternal purpose. Without such a universe, it would be impossible for man to exist. Man's existence is for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose. Thus, man is the focal point of God's eternal purpose. The universe was founded so that man could exist to fulfill God's eternal purpose.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Ephesians, pp.20-21. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
Eph 1:4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love,
2 Thes 2:13 But we ought to thank God always concerning you... because God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth,
Words of Ministry
God's choosing is His first blessing bestowed upon us; it is the first item of God's well-speaking concerning the church. God's choosing is His selection. From among numberless people, He has selected us. Verse 4 says that God chose us before the foundation of the world. This was in eternity past. God chose us according to His infinite foresight before He created us.
God's selection was not made in time, but in eternity. Before the foundation of the world, God chose us. Among millions of people, He foresaw us before we were even born and selected us before the foundation of the world. The expression, before the foundation of the world, implies the entire universe, not only the earth. This indicates that the universe was founded for man's existence to fulfill God's eternal purpose. Without such a universe, it would be impossible for man to exist. Man's existence is for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose. Thus, man is the focal point of God's eternal purpose. The universe was founded so that man could exist to fulfill God's eternal purpose.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Ephesians, pp.20-21. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Growth Is the Decrease of Self
Bible Verses
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Rom 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.
Words of Ministry
We have mentioned the positive aspect of spiritual progress, which is the increase of the element of God in us. Now let us look at the negative aspect of spiritual progress. Spiritual progress on the negative side is the shedding of certain things from us, that is, from our inner being. As soon as something is shed from us, we have spiritual progress. When something that usurps God's place is shed from us, we have spiritual progress.
Many Christians are delivered from the pleasures of sin as soon as they are saved. Yet it is not enough to be free from sin alone. Spiritual progress is being free from everything that usurps the place of God. Brothers and sisters, we must not only be clean but also pure; we should not be occupied by anything other than God. Whenever God's work removes something from us other than God, we have spiritual progress. If nothing has been cast off from us for a month or a year, we have had no progress during that month or year. Brothers and sisters, spiritual progress on the positive side means the increase of the element of God, and on the negative side,
it means the decrease of ourselves.
A Christian who makes great progress is one who decreases daily. Today he may see that vanity has no place in him, and he decreases. Two days later, he may see that pride has no place in him, and he decreases some more. After the fifth day, he may see that gossip has no place in him, and he decreases still more. After seven days, he may see that his impatience should not have any place in him, and he will decrease some more. Some people find it very difficult to remove the love of money from themselves. Others find it very difficult to remove their temper. Still others find it very difficult to remove their lethargy. Some things can only be dropped a little at a time. They may need ten years before they are completely dropped. This dropping is a kind of dying. Dying to money means dropping money; dying to temper means dropping our temper. On the positive side, spiritual progress means the increase of God's element within us. On the negative side, it means the dropping of many things from within us little by little.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 143-144. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Rom 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.
Words of Ministry
We have mentioned the positive aspect of spiritual progress, which is the increase of the element of God in us. Now let us look at the negative aspect of spiritual progress. Spiritual progress on the negative side is the shedding of certain things from us, that is, from our inner being. As soon as something is shed from us, we have spiritual progress. When something that usurps God's place is shed from us, we have spiritual progress.
Many Christians are delivered from the pleasures of sin as soon as they are saved. Yet it is not enough to be free from sin alone. Spiritual progress is being free from everything that usurps the place of God. Brothers and sisters, we must not only be clean but also pure; we should not be occupied by anything other than God. Whenever God's work removes something from us other than God, we have spiritual progress. If nothing has been cast off from us for a month or a year, we have had no progress during that month or year. Brothers and sisters, spiritual progress on the positive side means the increase of the element of God, and on the negative side,
it means the decrease of ourselves.
A Christian who makes great progress is one who decreases daily. Today he may see that vanity has no place in him, and he decreases. Two days later, he may see that pride has no place in him, and he decreases some more. After the fifth day, he may see that gossip has no place in him, and he decreases still more. After seven days, he may see that his impatience should not have any place in him, and he will decrease some more. Some people find it very difficult to remove the love of money from themselves. Others find it very difficult to remove their temper. Still others find it very difficult to remove their lethargy. Some things can only be dropped a little at a time. They may need ten years before they are completely dropped. This dropping is a kind of dying. Dying to money means dropping money; dying to temper means dropping our temper. On the positive side, spiritual progress means the increase of God's element within us. On the negative side, it means the dropping of many things from within us little by little.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 143-144. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Experience of Being Fallen
Bible Verses
Rom 9:23 In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory,
2 Tim 2:21 If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work
Words of Ministry
In the beginning when God created man, He made man His vessel. The eternal purpose of God is to enter into man, to mingle Himself with man so that man may be full of Him. The failure of Adam and Eve was that they did not allow God to fulfill this purpose. On the contrary, they were alienated from God. What does it mean to be alienated from God? It means that man does not yield the proper place within himself to God. It means certain things within have occupied a person's being. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God's command did not occupy them; rather, they were occupied with how the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food, how it was pleasing to the eyes, and how it enabled man to have wisdom. These usurped the place of God in them. As a result they fell.
We should ask ourselves what our condition today is. From the day we were saved until now, how many things, events, and people are still occupying us and depriving God of His rightful place? We need to consider ourselves. Dear brothers and sisters, if God's Spirit opens our eyes a little from within, we will immediately see that many items within our whole being are occupying the place that belongs to God alone.
A brother once said that man's heart is like sticky gum; it sticks to anything that comes across its way, whether it is clothing or a table. Sometimes we are stuck to an easy life, and at other times, we are attached to personal ambition. Once we are attached to something, we cannot love God properly anymore. We attach ourselves not only to what we have, but also to what we do not have. We can become attached to our difficulty, imagination, or vainglory. No matter what our heart is attached to, as long as there is one thing usurping God's place in us, we have fallen. Whenever God's place in us is usurped, we become fallen people. A person may have been saved for ten years. During the first five years he may have done well, but during the next five years there was something in his heart usurping the place of God, and he became fallen. Although he continued to come to meetings, pray, and serve God, inwardly he has fallen. Brothers and sisters, God's goal is for man to become His vessel. As long as we are occupied by something other than God, and as long as we do not yield the proper place to God, we are fallen.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 141-142.
Rom 9:23 In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory,
2 Tim 2:21 If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work
Words of Ministry
In the beginning when God created man, He made man His vessel. The eternal purpose of God is to enter into man, to mingle Himself with man so that man may be full of Him. The failure of Adam and Eve was that they did not allow God to fulfill this purpose. On the contrary, they were alienated from God. What does it mean to be alienated from God? It means that man does not yield the proper place within himself to God. It means certain things within have occupied a person's being. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God's command did not occupy them; rather, they were occupied with how the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food, how it was pleasing to the eyes, and how it enabled man to have wisdom. These usurped the place of God in them. As a result they fell.
We should ask ourselves what our condition today is. From the day we were saved until now, how many things, events, and people are still occupying us and depriving God of His rightful place? We need to consider ourselves. Dear brothers and sisters, if God's Spirit opens our eyes a little from within, we will immediately see that many items within our whole being are occupying the place that belongs to God alone.
A brother once said that man's heart is like sticky gum; it sticks to anything that comes across its way, whether it is clothing or a table. Sometimes we are stuck to an easy life, and at other times, we are attached to personal ambition. Once we are attached to something, we cannot love God properly anymore. We attach ourselves not only to what we have, but also to what we do not have. We can become attached to our difficulty, imagination, or vainglory. No matter what our heart is attached to, as long as there is one thing usurping God's place in us, we have fallen. Whenever God's place in us is usurped, we become fallen people. A person may have been saved for ten years. During the first five years he may have done well, but during the next five years there was something in his heart usurping the place of God, and he became fallen. Although he continued to come to meetings, pray, and serve God, inwardly he has fallen. Brothers and sisters, God's goal is for man to become His vessel. As long as we are occupied by something other than God, and as long as we do not yield the proper place to God, we are fallen.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 141-142.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Becoming the word of God
Bible Verses
2 Cor. 4:8 We are pressed on every side but not constricted; unable to find a way out but not utterly without a way out; (9) Persecuted but not abandoned; cast down but not destroyed; (10) Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (12) So then death operates in us, but life in you.
Words of Ministry
The question is: Who are we? Do we preach something that is far away from us in another world, or is it a fact that is present in us? Do we speak directly from a passage of the Scripture, or do we first touch a spiritual reality and then
confirm it with a passage from the Scripture? We have to realize that there is a great difference between these two things. In conveying God's word, it is not a question of how much we can say with our mouth but how much constitution is in our life. Are we merely preaching an objective doctrine, or are we speaking something because we have first acquired the subjective experience of it? Many people can only preach objective doctrines; however, objective doctrines will not produce any effect in others. If, in addition to speaking God's word, we have become the very word ourselves, others will receive help from us.
When God's word comes to us, it must be tested. When a potter paints a picture on porcelain-ware, it must pass through fire before the picture becomes non-erasable by hand. Many have doctrines that are erasable by hand. But if God is gracious to us and if He works in us and does some burning work in us through the environment and through revelation, the result will be something firm and permanent. God may do this once, ten times, dozens of times, and even a few hundred times. One day the words will become words that have passed through the fire; they will be wrought into us. Then our person will become the word. The discipline and revelation of the Holy Spirit will sear a word into a person one, ten, or even a hundred times. In the end, the person will become the word. When others see him, they will not say that this person is capable of speaking the word; they will say that this person is the word itself. He will become the seed of God, and God will be able to propagate such a word. Otherwise, the word will merely be passed on from head to head, and the church will become more and more superficial, lifeless, and void of spiritual reality. The question then is whether or not we can be the seed of God. If God sows us, what will grow up? If the only fruit we bear for others is a greater understanding of doctrine, without any touch of the Lord's life, what we have will be very poor.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 127-128.
2 Cor. 4:8 We are pressed on every side but not constricted; unable to find a way out but not utterly without a way out; (9) Persecuted but not abandoned; cast down but not destroyed; (10) Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (12) So then death operates in us, but life in you.
Words of Ministry
The question is: Who are we? Do we preach something that is far away from us in another world, or is it a fact that is present in us? Do we speak directly from a passage of the Scripture, or do we first touch a spiritual reality and then
confirm it with a passage from the Scripture? We have to realize that there is a great difference between these two things. In conveying God's word, it is not a question of how much we can say with our mouth but how much constitution is in our life. Are we merely preaching an objective doctrine, or are we speaking something because we have first acquired the subjective experience of it? Many people can only preach objective doctrines; however, objective doctrines will not produce any effect in others. If, in addition to speaking God's word, we have become the very word ourselves, others will receive help from us.
When God's word comes to us, it must be tested. When a potter paints a picture on porcelain-ware, it must pass through fire before the picture becomes non-erasable by hand. Many have doctrines that are erasable by hand. But if God is gracious to us and if He works in us and does some burning work in us through the environment and through revelation, the result will be something firm and permanent. God may do this once, ten times, dozens of times, and even a few hundred times. One day the words will become words that have passed through the fire; they will be wrought into us. Then our person will become the word. The discipline and revelation of the Holy Spirit will sear a word into a person one, ten, or even a hundred times. In the end, the person will become the word. When others see him, they will not say that this person is capable of speaking the word; they will say that this person is the word itself. He will become the seed of God, and God will be able to propagate such a word. Otherwise, the word will merely be passed on from head to head, and the church will become more and more superficial, lifeless, and void of spiritual reality. The question then is whether or not we can be the seed of God. If God sows us, what will grow up? If the only fruit we bear for others is a greater understanding of doctrine, without any touch of the Lord's life, what we have will be very poor.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 127-128.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Believers’ Being Seeds of God
Bible Verses
Matt. 13:38 And the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom...
1 Thes. 2:8 Yearning in this way over you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you became beloved to us.
Words of Ministry
Suppose someone invites us to go to preach the gospel. If we have zeal and are for the gospel, we would surely be very willing to go. But we have to realize that it is not enough just to have someone speak the word and preach the gospel. God has to sow us, the person, as a seed among them. Do we see this? God is sowing us; we are the seed that is being sown. God works through His own words within man. When we preach the word to others, we are sowing the word of God into them, and we expect to have a harvest. But if we only see the seed as the words of God, and not as people, we cannot work for God. If we only care for the words we preach and if we presume that as long as we are right in our fundamental belief and pure in our biblical exegesis, we can go forth to sow, we are wrong. God's work often suffers loss because the seed in our hand is merely objective truths. These truths have not brought about a subjective change in our being yet; they have not made us sons of the kingdom yet.
The great question is what kind of person are we? God's seed is not just words but also us as people. The good seed is not just the word of the kingdom; it is people, that is, the sons of the kingdom. I would like to ask how many of us can be God's seed? What a pity that most of our seeds are objective; we lack subjective seeds! Brothers and sisters, whether or not we can be seeds of God is a big question. The Lord has no intention of sending out a group of evangelists or a group of people to teach the Bible. His intention is that some become seeds. The Lord wants to sow those who are His as seeds. If the Lord sows us as seeds, what will be the result of this sowing? Whatever a man sows, he will reap. Those to whom we render some help often become like us. Putting it the other way around, our reaping proves what we sow; it proves the kind of people we are.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp.126-127. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
Matt. 13:38 And the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom...
1 Thes. 2:8 Yearning in this way over you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you became beloved to us.
Words of Ministry
Suppose someone invites us to go to preach the gospel. If we have zeal and are for the gospel, we would surely be very willing to go. But we have to realize that it is not enough just to have someone speak the word and preach the gospel. God has to sow us, the person, as a seed among them. Do we see this? God is sowing us; we are the seed that is being sown. God works through His own words within man. When we preach the word to others, we are sowing the word of God into them, and we expect to have a harvest. But if we only see the seed as the words of God, and not as people, we cannot work for God. If we only care for the words we preach and if we presume that as long as we are right in our fundamental belief and pure in our biblical exegesis, we can go forth to sow, we are wrong. God's work often suffers loss because the seed in our hand is merely objective truths. These truths have not brought about a subjective change in our being yet; they have not made us sons of the kingdom yet.
The great question is what kind of person are we? God's seed is not just words but also us as people. The good seed is not just the word of the kingdom; it is people, that is, the sons of the kingdom. I would like to ask how many of us can be God's seed? What a pity that most of our seeds are objective; we lack subjective seeds! Brothers and sisters, whether or not we can be seeds of God is a big question. The Lord has no intention of sending out a group of evangelists or a group of people to teach the Bible. His intention is that some become seeds. The Lord wants to sow those who are His as seeds. If the Lord sows us as seeds, what will be the result of this sowing? Whatever a man sows, he will reap. Those to whom we render some help often become like us. Putting it the other way around, our reaping proves what we sow; it proves the kind of people we are.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp.126-127. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Forgetting Past Victories: The Examples of Jericho and Ai
Bible Verses
Phil. 3:12 Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. (13) Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before.
Words of Ministry
The victory at Jericho can never be applied to Ai. Although Ai is very small and Jericho, which is huge, has been taken, if we attack Ai by applying our past experience, we will fail. This means we cannot apply our past victory to tackle
our spiritual difficulties today. The past has become history, and new power is needed to deal with new spiritual difficulties. God puts new difficulties before us in order to make us sense new needs. We must never expect to have a once-for-all victory. Our eyes must be opened before God, and we must realize that the only way to have a continual filling is to have the continual working of the cross. Unless the Holy Spirit continues His work in us, we cannot continue to overcome. When any trial confronts us or any difficulty is placed before us, no past history or experience will do any good; we need new strength to go on.
Let us bear in mind that everything ordered by the Lord in our circumstances is intended to create a need in us and make us realize that we cannot overcome by past experience. Past victories remain unchanged, but trying to overcome new
difficulties by means of past victories never works. Many people look at their past victories and wonder why they cannot overcome now. Brothers and sisters, we have to realize that God does not want us to have yesterday's manna. With each new difficulty there comes a new need which we have never realized before. Brothers and sisters, we cannot go on without new knowledge of the Lord and a new vision of Him. Whenever He brings us to our end and whenever we find ourselves crying, “I cannot make it!”, our progress has begun. Then God is able to easily create a desire for Him in us.
Thank God that everything we have is the result of His work; even the heart that seeks after Him comes from Him. If it were up to us, I wonder how long we would have to wait before we would seek after Him? Of course, there is a condition: we must be conscious of our weakness and inability as well as the hindrance and pride of the flesh. If we persist in our self-reliance, presume that we are already rich, and do not forget our Jericho victory, it will be impossible for God to give us a seeking heart even if He wants to. If we cannot forget our past victory, we will never make any progress. If we think that we can overcome with our first experience, we have been defeated already. Past victory can never be our present strength. We should remember that God gives difficulties to us in order to dig more deeply in us so that
He can fill us more with Himself.
(c) Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, in The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 135-136. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
Phil. 3:12 Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. (13) Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before.
Words of Ministry
The victory at Jericho can never be applied to Ai. Although Ai is very small and Jericho, which is huge, has been taken, if we attack Ai by applying our past experience, we will fail. This means we cannot apply our past victory to tackle
our spiritual difficulties today. The past has become history, and new power is needed to deal with new spiritual difficulties. God puts new difficulties before us in order to make us sense new needs. We must never expect to have a once-for-all victory. Our eyes must be opened before God, and we must realize that the only way to have a continual filling is to have the continual working of the cross. Unless the Holy Spirit continues His work in us, we cannot continue to overcome. When any trial confronts us or any difficulty is placed before us, no past history or experience will do any good; we need new strength to go on.
Let us bear in mind that everything ordered by the Lord in our circumstances is intended to create a need in us and make us realize that we cannot overcome by past experience. Past victories remain unchanged, but trying to overcome new
difficulties by means of past victories never works. Many people look at their past victories and wonder why they cannot overcome now. Brothers and sisters, we have to realize that God does not want us to have yesterday's manna. With each new difficulty there comes a new need which we have never realized before. Brothers and sisters, we cannot go on without new knowledge of the Lord and a new vision of Him. Whenever He brings us to our end and whenever we find ourselves crying, “I cannot make it!”, our progress has begun. Then God is able to easily create a desire for Him in us.
Thank God that everything we have is the result of His work; even the heart that seeks after Him comes from Him. If it were up to us, I wonder how long we would have to wait before we would seek after Him? Of course, there is a condition: we must be conscious of our weakness and inability as well as the hindrance and pride of the flesh. If we persist in our self-reliance, presume that we are already rich, and do not forget our Jericho victory, it will be impossible for God to give us a seeking heart even if He wants to. If we cannot forget our past victory, we will never make any progress. If we think that we can overcome with our first experience, we have been defeated already. Past victory can never be our present strength. We should remember that God gives difficulties to us in order to dig more deeply in us so that
He can fill us more with Himself.
(c) Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, in The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 135-136. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
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