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Question: When I open to the Lord in the morning and turn to the Word, I usually find it easy to pray and tell Him I love Him. But then doubts and extraneous thoughts will sometimes come in, and I do not seem to be able to go back and get into the Word with an open spirit. What should I do when this happens?
Answer: Do not do anything. The psalmist tells us to “be still” (Psa. 4:4; 46:10). Strength lies in being still and restful. Human beings, even the most slothful, are active, busily engaged in this or that. Even lazy people are busy being lazy. Before we were saved, we were busily engaged in worldly pursuits and entertainments. Afterward, we became busy in another way. Then we may have backslid and been busy in that realm. After being restored, we became busy in seeking holiness, victory, or spirituality.
All such busyness cuts off the way for the Lord to come in to work Himself into us. Consider how busy Saul of Tarsus was as he traveled that day toward Damascus. Out of his desire to serve the God of his fathers and to protect the law of Moses, he was scheming to wipe out those devilish followers of Jesus of Nazareth. As he was busily pursuing his concept of a godly life, the Lord came in and called a halt. Later, he spent a period of time in Arabia. By such seasons of enforced quiet the Lord reminded him to cease from his activities and just pray, leaving the work in the Lord’s hands.
Every seeking Christian needs such a balance. The Lord would put a stop sign on your busy street. The heavenly vision arrests you in whatever you are doing. You are left with nothing to do, because you realize that what you do in yourself is rebellion, even if it is seeking the Lord. God’s intention is to have Christ thoroughly worked into your being, but in your spiritual seeking, you have no concern about this. Your spiritual seeking is going in the opposite direction, only considering your intention.
I have spoken much about this matter of God’s intention in recent months because I am burdened that most of the saints in the Lord’s recovery do not see it. If they did, the recovery could not have gotten off the track the way it did these past few years. The saints were deceived because the heavenly vision was not strong and clear. The vision not only extricates us from the world; it stops our spiritual seeking as well. When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they were cut off from everything Egyptian and restricted to what was heavenly. After the leeks, garlic, and onions of Egypt, they now had nothing to eat but manna from the heavens. We must be on this same restricted diet today. Our one food is Christ; our one work, to build the tabernacle and carry it day by day.
Please do not feel that I have given you too profound an answer to a simple question. We all need to be stopped, even from our spiritual seeking, by this heavenly vision.
Question: Sometimes I find myself striving after some aspect of Christ I have heard about in a message instead of being content to keep feeding on the manna.
Answer: We need the church to sustain us. To keep enjoying and experiencing Christ, we need encouragement. If some among the children of Israel had proposed other ways to eat and live, that would have been rebellion. Is not this the state of Christianity today? In the eyes of man it may be doing many good works, but those very works, in God’s eyes, are rebellion. Where can God find a people feeding on Christ and building up His dwelling place? He must have such a people, for His purpose to be fulfilled and for Him to have the ground to come back. Otherwise, He has nothing to come back to.
Question: How can we know if what we are doing to please God is from ourselves?
Answer: First of all, we must see that God wants only Christ, not our good works or our good behavior or even our spirituality. All the veils of our concepts must be taken away. Then we must unceasingly pray, breathing Christ in as the air, the pneuma. However well we eat, if we do not breathe the proper air into every part of our being, we will not have good health. Christ is likened to the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. As we receive Him into us in all these ways, we are living by Him, and He is constituted into our being. What we do then pleases God because it comes from His life in us.
Question: In our daily living some of us have jobs that keep our minds occupied the whole day; others have work that does not require concentration. If our minds are free, should we exercise to memorize verses and pray?
Answer: By exercise and by practice we must learn to abide in the Lord. If we think in terms of turning back to the Lord, we are indicating that we do not abide in Him. However busy we are in our work, however concentrated we must be, we should still be abiding. This is not easy, for we were not born this way. But we have been reborn as branches of the vine. The vine today is the life-giving Spirit. Even while we keep using our mentality to do our work, we still can remain in the life-giving Spirit. Do not think that after you do your work you will come back to abide. There should be no need to return. Practice abiding. Begin in the morning by opening the Word. Memorizing Bible verses is good, but it is better to have that happen in a spontaneous way, while you are praying over them. As you pray-read, some sentences or verses will be impressed upon your mind, and these will be your daily nourishment, helping you to keep abiding. Coming to the Word throughout the day is like recharging your battery so that it does not run out of electricity. Do this at specific times during the day, besides constantly opening to the Lord in unceasing prayer, whether you are away at work or home tending to household duties.
It is not easy to explain how to enjoy Christ and how to take Him as our life. Mankind has been on the earth for thousands of years, yet the matter of diet is still being investigated. Some of the substances in our food are still unknown or not understood. I often consider how I can best help the saints in the matter of enjoying Christ. It is only since 1958 that we have been using this term. Now, enjoying Christ and practicing the church life — another term we introduced — have come into common usage. I believe that other Christians have also begun using these terms.
Question: How can we know what kind of testimonies are suitable for the meetings?
Answer: In the denominations the terms worship and service are used instead of meetings. They have a Sunday morning worship service and an evening service. It is in the recovery that the word meeting is used. The whole concept of Christian meetings, in denominational thinking, is off. If we want to know what the proper meetings should be, we can consider the Old Testament type.
The Israelites gathered together seasonally, seven times a year. The main gatherings were three times a year: for the Passover, for the Feast of Weeks, and for the Feast of Tabernacles. Three times a year all the males had to appear before the Lord in the place of His choosing (Deut. 16:16). That place was Mount Zion, where the city of Jerusalem was built.
How did they gather? They first labored on the land until the harvest time arrived. Then they came together with the rich produce, not to kneel down, prostrate themselves, sing a hymn, or offer a prayer. Rather, they offered the top ten percent of their increase to God and then ate together what they had offered to God in His presence. What then was the nature of their coming together? They met to feast on the produce of the good land. Their eating together in the presence of God was their worship and their service.
For us today it is the same. We come together at certain times appointed by God. Before that we must labor on Christ, our good land, so that we have a harvest of experiences of Him. Daily we experience Him. These experiences become the surplus of His riches, which we bring to the meetings. No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed (v. 16). We must be full of the rich experience of Christ. This Christ we then offer to God and enjoy Him together.
The testimonies are part of our enjoyment of Christ. We offer these experiences to God as food to satisfy Him and one another as well. The testimonies must come out of our daily walk. Our living is what determines how rich a meeting we will have.
Question: I experience Christ and I do like to be in the meetings, but sometimes I get tired of having so much preaching.
Answer: Let me say something further regarding the Old Testament type. In addition to the eating of the offering, there was always the teaching of the law. The feasts lasted seven days, and part of the time was spent hearing the teaching of the law, which corresponds to today’s ministry.
If we met together only for praying, praising, and testifying the year round, with no ministry, we would be without the proper knowledge of God’s regulation and intention. The males of the children of Israel had to appear before God three times a year not only to feast but also to be educated and infused with the knowledge of God.
If we have five meetings a week, at least two should be for the ministry. This gives three meetings for all the saints to share. For the ministry, when the church is strong, there should be some local teachers, just as there were in Antioch (cf. Acts 13:1). If the church here had no one who could teach, how poor the church would be. Our meetings need the balance between the eating in fellowship by the offering of our experiences and the teaching. These two go together like husband and wife. Without the sharing, the church is a widower; without the teaching, a widow! It is the balance of these two that makes the church life normal.
Suppose that over these past five years the church had had no ministry. You just came together, sang some hymns, and had some sharing. I wonder if the church would still be here. If you say that you have had enough of the life messages and enough of the ministry, that they are all stored within you and that you have reached your capacity like a camel, then I would propose that we suspend the life supply for four years or so. What do you think would become of the church?
For an adequately balanced church we must have the eating as the wife and the ministry as the husband. This is included in the heavenly vision.
Question: I have been separated from my husband for two years, and when he comes to visit our two boys, I do not know how to handle the situation. Sometimes his worldly ways and plans harden my heart. Other times I feel sorrowful and want to pray for him, because he is really good with the boys.
Answer: It is very sorrowful to be separated and have two children, but I trust you can learn to take your environment from the Lord. I have never been in a situation like yours, but still I do have my problems. Possibly mine are deeper and heavier than yours. Do not think that my situation is so excellent and that everyone appreciates my ministry. If my sufferings are not greater than yours, at least they equal them. The Lord has a measure for all of us. According to the Bible, sufferings are not as bad as they seem; rather, they are a great blessing under a poor cloak. A favorable environment can be a good cloak to cheat us. The sufferings are the real dealings. Romans 8:28 reminds us that, for those who love God, all things work together for good. Whatever our environment may be, it is under the Lord’s sovereignty. I believe that the good is that we may gain more of Christ. Our circumstances open the way. Instead of thinking that you are suffering, change your concept and thank the Lord for your environment. It is a good opportunity for you to receive more of Him.
As to the outcome of your married life, just trust in the Lord. He knows. Give up your expectations. Be content with whatever the Lord has given you and rest assured that He has your situation in His hand. The Lord may after a while recover your marriage. I do not know, but He knows what you really need.
We all need to understand these principles. Take every circumstance from the Lord’s hand, believing that it was ordered by Him. Day by day receive grace and be satisfied with whatever the day brings forth. Do not expect your situation to improve. With us no circumstance is bad; even the worst environment is good, because God causes all things to work together for our good. Take every occasion to experience the Lord, and you will gain more Christ.
Question: How can we be kept from repeating the mistakes of the past two years?
Answer: The primary safeguard is that you have no particular fellowship with certain ones. In your body every part is common to every other part. The blood circulates throughout the whole body, supplying every cell, not a special few. The sisters’ fellowship must be in common with all the sisters. The brothers too must be common in their fellowship with one another. To have preferences for certain ones damages the Body. Be careful that your fellowship does not become friendship. You must regard all the brothers and sisters as equally lovable. This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Philippians, “Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love” (Phil. 2:2). Having the same love means that your love for everyone is on the same level. You have no particular love for a few. You do not contact certain ones for the purpose of having special fellowship with them. Try to have just one level of fellowship, including all the saints equally.
Question: Since you encouraged us to eat the manna by regularly spending time in the morning with the Lord and His Word, I have been doing this, and it has had a real effect on my relationship with the Lord, though I have not sensed anything special. But how can I, practically speaking, keep this up during the day?
Answer: Just continue in the Word. In addition to your ten minutes in the morning, read a chapter at noontime and three chapters in the evening. Also, keep praying throughout the day, “Lord, take away any veils. Keep my whole being open to You.” Do not try to analyze your situation. If you will eat the Word faithfully three times a day and keep opening to the Lord by praying unceasingly, coming to Him just as you are, you will find that your life will be changed and that when you come to the meetings you will not be empty-handed.
