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Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:13, 16; John 15:5
In the Bible there is a very important principle related to the first mention of a matter that sets an eternal governing principle for that matter throughout the rest of the Bible. The way a matter is spoken of the first time determines the meaning of similar matters that are mentioned subsequently. In the first reference to God’s relationship with man in the Bible, God presents Himself to man as food. This shows that God wants man to enjoy Him. After God created man, He placed him in front of the tree of life so that man would enjoy the fruit of that tree. The tree of life signifies God Himself. This shows that God wants to be man’s enjoyment. God’s first thought after creating man was for man to eat and drink, and the object of this eating and drinking was God Himself.
How can we prove this? When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He repeatedly revealed that He was food for man to eat and enjoy. Regrettably, when the Lord contacted man, no one had the concept that God could be man’s enjoyment. Man’s concept was that God should be worshipped and served. If we read the four Gospels carefully, we will see that the people who came to the Lord had many different opinions concerning Him. Some asked what they should do to inherit eternal life. Others asked which of the commandments was the greatest. Those who came to the Lord had different concepts, but no one had the correct view that man should come to God with the thought of enjoying Him.
One day the Lord performed a miracle. He fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish, and there was much left over. When people saw this, they thought that He was the greatest prophet. They had hoped for such a prophet who would perform miracles among them and take care of all their needs. This concept was absolutely wrong; hence, the Lord spoke a word to change their concept. He pointed out that they were seeking for food that perishes, food that is of no eternal value. He did not come to give man corruptible food, but He came to give man incorruptible food from heaven. When they heard this, they did not understand what type of food the Lord wanted to give them. The Lord explained that He is the food; He wanted to give Himself to them as their food for their enjoyment. It was as if He were saying, “It is not enough to know Me as the sovereign Lord who performs miracles. It is not enough to expect miracles and works of wonder from Me. I am much more than these things. I will not only perform outward things, but I will also be your food and enter into you to be your enjoyment. It is not enough to know Me as a great Prophet or even as the Creator. You need to know Me as the Creator who has come to be your food. I have given My flesh to you for food and My blood to you for drink so that I can enter into you. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, because this eternal life is just Me. If you eat Me and drink Me, I will enter into you, and spontaneously you will have eternal life.” Those who heard this word thought that it was a hard word and could not receive it. Here was a wonderful person who told others that He was the bread who came down from heaven, that His flesh and blood could be their food and drink, and that He would enter into them so that they would receive eternal life. When they heard this word, they were baffled (John 6).
Although we should understand the Lord’s words when we read the Word, I would dare say that even today many Christians do not have the right concept concerning God. For example, we may have been saved for many years, but we might not have given much consideration to the matter of enjoying God. We might not have the concept that God has given Himself to us for our enjoyment. Perhaps, while we were contacting God and praying this morning, we still held the common religious concept that we should worship Him in a pious way. We may have considered what we should do today, and what we should not do today. Based on these dos and don’ts, we may have prayed, “God, be merciful to me so that I can please You by doing this and that.” This kind of prayer is absolutely the result of our religious concepts. God does not want us to pray this way. Whenever we draw near to God, He presents Himself to us as the fatness, the food for our satisfaction. He does not bargain with us whenever He fellowships and communes with us; rather, He presents Himself for our enjoyment. Fallen man, however, is incapable of recognizing this.
All of God’s children should focus on this matter. According to the Bible, after creating Adam, God did not say, “You must worship Me in this way,” or “You must serve Me in that way.” On the contrary, after creating Adam, God placed him in front of the tree of life. God seemed to be saying, “Adam, come here. Just enjoy. I am the tree of life, and I am here for you to enjoy Me. I have no intention for you to do this or that for Me. I have no desire for you to serve or worship Me in this or that way. I only want to present Myself to you as food. My only desire is for you to enjoy Me.”
In the four Gospels we see the same story. One day the tree of life came as the Word who became flesh, who tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality (John 1:14). Again He was placed in front of man as the tree of life so that man could “pick” the fruit from this tree. No one, however, knew that they could pick from this tree. In the four Gospels those who came to Him asked what they should do and which was the great commandment in the law (Matt. 19:16; 22:36). This was all they asked. But His answer was always the same: “I am the bread that came down from heaven. I do not intend that you do this or that for Me or that you serve and worship Me in this or that way. I want you to receive Me, to enjoy Me. I am the tree of life. Life is in Me. I am life, and I have come that men may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). I am like the tree of life that was in the garden of Eden. I have been placed before you as the tree of life so that you can stretch forth your hand in faith to receive Me. I want to dispense Myself into you. I want to be your food to enter into you and be your very life. My thought is simply that you would enjoy Me.”
Man’s natural concept has dominated Christianity for two thousand years, and we are still not set free from its influence today. Even many servants of the Lord are unable to change their concept. We often think of how we should worship and serve God and of how we should do this or that for God, and it never occurs to us that the Lord Jesus does not care about this. The Lord simply wants man to enjoy Him. He was incarnated to put Himself in front of us as the tree of life. He said that He is life and that He came that we might have life. He did not come to ask us to do anything. He came with the intention that we would open to Him and receive Him. He wants us to receive Him every day and not just on the day of our salvation. Daily we should learn to abide in Him, and we should give Him room to abide in us. God has no intention for us to do anything for Him, and He has no desire for us to accomplish anything for Him. Rather, He desires to abide in us. The Lord desires all of us to open up to Him, to allow Him to abide in us, and to not turn Him away. If He can remain and abide in us, His riches and elements will become our enjoyment and blessing. When we enjoy Him and allow Him to become our blessed portion, all His riches become our supply and inwardly fill us. His riches even flow through us and bear rich fruit.
Although the branches of a fruit-bearing tree may bear much fruit, none of the fruit is the result of the work of the branches. The branches simply absorb the sap, the riches of the tree, and fruit grows. If we say to the branches, “You have worked too hard,” they will respond, “This is not true; we are simply bearing fruit.” Actually, they are enjoying. They do not contribute anything or perform any work. They simply absorb the riches of the tree. The more they absorb, the more fruit they bear. The more they experience this inward enjoyment, the more they bear outward fruit. Fruit does not come from the branches. Fruit comes from the tree, and the branches are merely channels through which the sap flows. This process of life passing through the branches is an enjoyment. This is the Christian life.
God has no intention for us to do anything for Him. He has no intention for us to worship Him or serve Him in a certain way. I hope we understand this word and not misunderstand it. God desires to be only one thing to us. He presents Himself to us and places Himself within us for the purpose of being our enjoyment. The more we enjoy Him, the more blessed we are. The more we enjoy Him, the more we know Him and are able to bear fruit. The more the branches abide in the tree, the more they allow the elements of the tree to abide in them. The sap and riches of the tree flow through the branches and from them bear much fruit. This is what God desires from us.
We must change our concept. We need to see a vision. I have met many children of God in different places, and the more I spoke with them, the more I shook my head. It is difficult to find a person who knows God. It is almost impossible to find a person who knows God’s grace. When we meet a child of God, we may feel that he is a pious, God-fearing man who seeks God. However, it is not easy to find a man who knows that God desires man to enjoy Him.
A sister once complained to me that although she had been trying to exercise patience for many years, she still found it difficult. She said that she had been trying by praying. When I asked her how she prayed, she responded, “My patience is sufficient for only five trials. After that my patience runs out. Hence, I tell the Lord that I have no patience, and I ask Him to grant me patience. I can only ask the Lord to help me.” This is the prayer of a novice. An experienced person would tell others not to pray such a prayer. The more we pray this way, the less patience we will have. When I asked if it was possible to forget about being patient when praying, she said, “But my problem is a lack of patience. I have to go to God to deal with my lack of patience. If I do not pray for patience, what should I pray for? Are you saying that if I lose my temper and am short of patience, it is wrong to pray? If I pray, should I not pray for patience?” I smiled and said, “Sister, it is right to pray, but some kinds of prayer are not really prayer. This can be compared to trying to eat with our nose rather than our mouth.” This sister’s problem was not a shortage of patience but a shortage of God. She did not need patience; she needed God. She needed to forget about patience and seize God instead. Some may consider seize to be a strong word. But she needed to spend time before the Lord and enjoy Him. She needed to absorb God. If God was added to her, she would have patience.
My word confused the sister, however, and she asked, “How can I enjoy God? How do I absorb Him?” This sister’s confusion is typical of many Christians who are unclear about enjoying God. Even we are not clear; we are novices in knowing God, enjoying Him, touching Him, and fellowshipping with Him. While we want God, our way is often wrong and to no avail. We try to fellowship with God, but our way of fellowshipping is wrong. Many of our prayers are offered in a wrong way. We are wrong because we focus on things rather than on God; we lay hold of things rather than of God; we pray for things rather than for God. For this reason we do not enjoy or absorb God.
Let me use myself as an example. When I began serving the Lord, the most difficult thing for me to do was to minister the word. I had difficulty selecting a subject from the sixty-six books of the Bible. I did not know which subject to choose. Should I speak on Adam and Eve or on Peter and James? Should I speak on love and humility or on light and holiness? There were too many subjects, and this was a real problem to me. Even after I selected a subject, I worried about the content. How should I begin, and how should I end? How should each section be developed, and what examples should I use? I struggled with these points. When I could not come up with the right idea, I would pray. This seemed to be the Christian thing to do. However, as soon as I knelt down and asked the Lord about a subject, my mind started to spin. Should the subject be heaven or hell, the cross or the manger, Jerusalem or Samaria? Such thoughts came all at once. Should I speak from Genesis, Exodus, Revelation, the Gospel of John, or Acts? My mind was full of subjects, but the Lord could not be found. I was often unclear even after half an hour. In the end, I would simply select a subject. But once I had the subject, I started worrying about the content and would pray again, saying, “Lord, what should the first sentence be? What should the last word be? How should I divide the message into various parts?” Since I was afraid of forgetting the points, I also prayed, “Lord, help me to remember all the points.” While I was praying, I was occupied with these things; hence, I did not touch the Lord at all. When it was time to deliver the message, I was in fear and trembling. The result was often complete failure, and I would be totally devastated. Later, I would wonder why the Lord did not answer my prayer. I suffered this agony for many years, but no one was there to help me find the right way.
After painfully searching for approximately ten years, I gradually found the key in the course of my Christian life. I found out that my experience of prayer was not prayer. Prayer is to absorb God and to enjoy Him. Let us again consider the matter of ministering the word. When praying concerning giving a message, there is no need to worry whether the message should be on Genesis, Revelation, the manger, or the cross. There is also no need to worry about what to say first and what to say second. There is no need to worry about any of these things. We need to go to the Lord to contact Him. We should forget about the message and the subject. We should simply contact and touch Him. As we contact Him, He will give us a sense that there may be problems, obstacles, and barriers between us and Him. We might be blaming others, holding grudges, or jealous of others. There may be other barriers between us and the Lord. We should deal with these barriers and remove them item by item through the blood. Then we can worship Him and, beholding His beauty in His presence, we can pray: “Lord, You are altogether lovely and sweet. You are my life and my strength. You are my word and my subject. You are everything to me.” As we fellowship with Him this way, we not only stop praying for the message, but we also forget about the message. We are fully enjoying the Lord Himself. We are connected to Him in the same way that a light bulb is connected to the power source. As soon as we are connected, “electricity” flows into us. This is the way to pray for our speaking. There is no need to worry about the subject or the content. As soon as we are connected to the Lord, touch Him, and have His presence within, we can stand because the Lord is in us as our enjoyment and our everything. Ministering the word in this way can be compared to branches of a tree bearing fruit. Inwardly, we are absorbing the Lord, and outwardly, we are speaking the message. This is what it means to give a message.
The prayer of the sister who asked for patience was wrong because patience was the subject of her prayer. All genuine prayers have God as the subject. There is no need to be concerned with patience. We should simply spend time every day to contact God and to fellowship with Him. The more we enjoy Him, the more we will be filled with Him. When we are filled with Him in this way, we may not think of the word patience at any time but nevertheless experience patience in our living. Every situation will issue in joy because the God of joy fills our heart. We can endure everything joyfully, and nothing will trouble or irritate us. Inwardly, we will be watered and filled with joy. We will not even think of patience. Although the word patience is not in our thoughts, and we do not speak of it, our daily life will be filled with patience. This patience comes from the God whom we enjoy. As we absorb Him and enjoy Him, He becomes our patience, our life, and our inward constituent. We will be inwardly watered, satisfied, and cheered. In whatever situation we encounter, there will be no need for us to exert any effort to be patient. On the contrary, patience will spontaneously be within us. This patience will not be the issue of our work; rather, it will be the living out of the God who lives within us. We might not say anything concerning patience, but everyone will say that we are full of patience. This is the wonder of the Christian life.
Regrettably, most of our prayers are not prayers in which we absorb God; instead, they are religious prayers. We may pray, “O God, I am going to preach the gospel today. Be with me. Give me eloquence.” While we pray, we are thinking of eloquence. “What should I say to the chemistry professor? What should be the topic of the conversation? Should I speak concerning atomic power or satellites?” Even though we may pray for half an hour, we are thinking only about eloquence and utterance. In fact, we have not really prayed. Such prayers are useless because they do not touch God, contact Him, or absorb Him.
If we want to preach the gospel, we should first spend half an hour or an hour contacting the Lord, beholding His glory, fellowshipping with Him, and praising Him. We should say, “Lord, You are too lovely. You are our Savior, and You are the Savior of all men. We come to enjoy You, to absorb You, and to live in the presence of Your countenance. We want to dwell in the house of the Lord.” There is no need for us to think about preaching the gospel. There is no need to worry about our utterance or what we should say. We can forget about all of that. After absorbing the Lord and being filled with Him, we will not be the one speaking when we contact our professor. Rather, the Lord whom we have absorbed will be the One who is speaking through us. The words that we speak will be the very Lord whom we have absorbed, and it will be impossible for others not to be blessed.
Moses spent forty days and forty nights on the mountain before Jehovah, doing nothing other than absorbing Him. He did not feel anything when he came down from the mountain, but the children of Israel saw the shining of his face. Why was his face shining? God did not do anything for him. Moses merely spent forty days before the Lord, fellowshipping with Him and absorbing Him. He forgot about everything and was fully occupied with the Lord. For forty days and forty nights, Moses was fully absorbed with God and filled with Him. As a result, his face shone. When he presented himself before men, he did not need to say anything concerning God; they saw God’s glory in his face. This is the wonder of the Christian life. The more we ask for power, the more power eludes us. But if we forget about power and instead fellowship with God, absorb Him, and enjoy Him, we will have power without being conscious of it.
I have often heard the brothers and sisters speak of receiving the Lord’s leading. They do not understand how to receive the Lord’s leading. Some have said, “Brother Lee, the more we seek the Lord’s leading, the more confused we are, and the easier it is for us to make mistakes. Once we say that something is the Lord’s leading, we discover that it is not. How can we know the Lord’s leading?” Whenever I hear this, I ask, “Have you prayed in your seeking for His leading?” They usually respond that they have, and then I ask how they prayed. I typically find that they pray to receive leading instead of to enjoy the Lord. They pray, “Lord, should I go here, or should I go there?” While they pray, their mind is busy with these questions. They are not actually praying to the Lord; they are praying for things. After praying, they consider the options and then decide which option is according to the Lord’s will and leading. This is the way many people pray. Hence, it is not surprising that they do not receive the Lord’s leading. If we know what fellowship with the Lord is, we do not need to pray this way. We can forget about all these things and simply contact the Lord, absorb Him, and enjoy Him. This is the shortcut, the expeditious way. As we absorb Him and enjoy Him, we will have His presence, which is His leading. As long as we do not have His presence, we do not have His leading. His leading is His presence.
Let us consider the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud. Their presence led the children of Israel. The pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud are simply God Himself. Do we have God’s presence as we go to preach the gospel? Do we have His presence as we speak on a particular subject? If we are the only one active in preaching the gospel, and God neither moves nor gives us His presence, what we are doing is not under His leading. We do not have the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud if we are the only one speaking and God is not speaking. This is not His leading. He must speak in our speaking. Outwardly, we may be speaking, but inwardly, He must be speaking. Both He and we need to speak. This kind of speaking is full of the Lord’s presence, and this kind of speaking constitutes His leading. This is not a matter of right or wrong, correct or incorrect, or good or evil. Everything depends on whether we have God’s presence. With His presence, everything is right. Without His presence, everything is wrong.
God does not intend for us to do anything for Him. As God’s children, we need to change our concept and see that God’s only desire is to give Himself to us to be our enjoyment. The secret of the Christian life is not how much we work for Him, but how much we enjoy Him. It is not what we do for Him, but how we enjoy Him. We must learn this secret. There is no need for us to worry about doing this or that. We need to learn to simply turn our inner being to enjoy God. When we pray, there is no need for us to be concerned about our difficulties and burdens, such as a seriously ill child. We need to learn to come to God to enjoy and absorb Him, and forget about everything, even a child’s illness. If we forget, the Lord will not forget, but if we remember, the Lord often seems to ignore the situation. Even when we say, “My brother Lazarus is sick,” the Lord does not move faster for our sake. The more we want Him to come and take care of a matter, the more He does not come. He knows our “Lazarus” is sick, but He does not answer our prayer. Only when we stop does He come. The more we insist, the more He waits until “Lazarus” finally dies, is buried, and begins to stink. This is the Lord. He has no intention for us to do anything for Him. His only intention is that we learn to absorb and enjoy Him.
Martha was always busy for the Lord. She did not know how to stop and absorb the Lord. We must learn to stop ourselves. In particular, when we pray, we must learn to stop our involvement in so many affairs. We should not be busy with so many matters when we pray. Whether our prayer is for half an hour or only ten minutes, we should absorb and enjoy the Lord. We should feed on Him until we are full. Let the children be sick. Let the difficulties remain. Let the burdens take care of themselves. The Lord knows all about these things. We should enjoy Him and be fed by Him. We should simply enjoy and absorb the Lord again and again. If we do this, we will be filled with God, and our face will shine. We will be full of the Lord’s presence. What a glory this will be!
Sadly, the opposite is true today. Many brothers and sisters are like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. They are filled with sorrow. They preach the gospel with wrinkles on their foreheads. They visit people with sullen faces. They go with their sorrows, not with the Lord. As a result, the ones whom they visit have more sorrow. Some elders are sorrowful elders. When they consider hall twenty-eight, they shake their heads. When they look at hall two, they bemoan the situation. When praying in the morning, they say, “Lord, remember hall twenty-eight, and do not forget hall two.” This is not praying to the Lord; this is praying about halls. The elders should forget about the halls. When they come to the Lord in the morning, they should behold His beauty, absorb Him, receive Him, and enjoy Him. As they are fed by Him and are filled with Him, their faces will shine. Then when they visit hall twenty-eight in the evening, all the brothers and sisters will say that “Moses” has come. They will marvel at the shining face and say, “The countenance of this elder has changed. His face is no longer sad but shining. When he stands up to speak, the Lord is expressed.” This is the secret. This is what it means to be a Christian.
There is no need for us to pray for so many matters. We simply need to touch the Lord, to contact Him. Our relationship with the Lord is not based on matters. He has no intention for us to do anything for Him, nor does He have any intention of doing anything for us. Our relationship with the Lord is not based on doing things but on enjoying Him. He said, “Take, eat” (Matt. 26:26). This means that He wants us to remember Him, to take and drink Him. He has given Himself to us for our enjoyment. He has no desire to do anything for us. He simply desires to be our enjoyment. He does not want us to do anything for Him. He desires us to enjoy Him. That is all He desires, and this is all that matters. He has become our enjoyment. We simply need to enjoy Him, and His glory will be expressed through us. This is the Christian life. This is the meaning of being a Christian. Brothers and sisters, only in this way will we find light, power, victory, and holiness. This is how we will find the Lord of glory Himself.
