The Love Feast

According to the book of Joshua, the promised Canaan was both the good land of riches and the terrible land full of Nephilim. Similarly, the book of Ephesians reveals both the unsearchable riches of Christ and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies. Thus, our life today is a matter of enjoying the riches in Christ and of engaging in spiritual warfare!

We must see the necessity of warfare against the invisible layer of demonic forces between us and the awaited rest. But even more, we must see the invisible Captain of Jehovah's army - the Christ, who is the One fighting in us to fulfill God's eternal purpose.

When we deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow the Lord, we, like Israel, remain silent in belief and in trust, listening and walking according to the leading of the Ark, and overcome Satan by our praise. It is then that we find that spiritual victory simply depends on praise.

The reason sorrow and grief comes upon us is that we are not content with receiving the same treatment as the Lord; we are not willing to submit to God's will and His arrangements. If we put the soul-life to death and submit fully to the Lord, our sensitive soul will rest in the Lord, and we will no longer misunderstand the Lord. A soul that is under the control of the Holy Spirit is a soul that is at rest.
(Matthew 11:29)

~Thank you for your potluck!~

In Israel's war against Amalek, Joshua typifies the present practical Christ as the indwelling fighting Spirit - the One who fights against the flesh. Moses never could bring God's people into the promised land. Rather, it is Joshua who typifies the law-replacing grace who is able to bring us into the fulfillment of the promised land. Today, the access to Joshua, or "Jesus" in Greek, is in our spirit. It is in our spirit that we receive the command "be strong and take courage!"

As it was by musing upon the book of the law day and night that the children of Israel were prosperous in taking the land, so also it is by our musing upon God's word in continual fellowship with Him that we are enlivened, nourished and strengthened to take what God has promised to us!

As His people and the nations suffered in the midst of the chastisements and judgements, what was the word of comfort that God gave through His prophets? It was the promise of the Christ.

Today, the realization and manifestation of the Christ is our word of comfort through all the sufferings we go through.

We must realize that what ended the chastisement of Israel and the judgement of the nations, and brought in the age of restoration was the manifestation of Christ! We must not miss this line! What ends our sufferings is not the "fixing" of the environment, the movement of social reforms, or even the vaccine of the pandemic. All these are just curing the symptoms. What the nations actually desire is Christ Himself who will be the Sun of righteousness bringing healing in His wings!

1
I do not know where they have laid Him.
The stone is taken away from the tomb.
Oh! They have taken Him away!
Oh! Where is He?

2
Disciples came and saw the empty tomb
But went away so soon to their own homes.
They’re satisfied with just the facts.
But where’s my Lord?

chorus
Where is He, my Jesus?
Where is He, my Beloved?
Where is He Whom my soul doth love?
Jesus, my Love, I just want You.

3
My heart is broken from my deepest need.
Don’t ask me, angels, why I’m weeping.
Nothing but Jesus fills my inner being.
Oh! Where’s my Love?

4
Someone is standing right behind me.
It’s just the gardener I can barely see.
Sir, if you carried Him away...
Oh! Where is He?

chorus
Where is He my Jesus?
Where is He my Beloved?
Tell me where you have laid Him
And I’ll carry Him away, I’ll carry Him away.

5
And then I heard a voice say, “Mary.“
That sweetest voice that penetrated me.
It is the voice of my Beloved,
Jesus, my Love.

chorus
I have found my Jesus!
I have found my Beloved!
I have found Whom my soul doth love,
Jesus, my love, I just love You!

6
But Jesus told me not to touch Him yet.
He must ascend first to the Father
And to My Father and your Father
To My God and your God.

chorus
Go and tell My brothers,
I ascend to the Father
To My Father and your Father,
And My God and your God, go tell My brothers.

Visa to a better world

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Jesus is our peace during this difficult time, thus our hearts should not be troubled. The release of visas for the better physical world has temporarily been halted but the "visa" to a better heavenly world is available and ready today. This better country is the all-inclusive Christ as the good land. May we avail of this privilege to explore the all-inclusive Christ whose riches are unsearchable. Christ truly is the better world we are longing for.



Thank you for your !

Previously, we talked about "overcoming prayers" according to Mark 11. We discussed how such prayers were in ascension, directed not to God but to the obstacles on our path, commanding, authoritative, answered and miraculous. But in contrast, the widow's prayers in Luke 18 are low prayers, directed to the seemingly unrighteous God, begging rather than commanding, oppressed rather than authoritative, unanswered and in weakness.

James and John, even the prophet Elijah had the overcoming prayers, but they were impetuous and rash. James and John sought to cast fire on the nations. Elijah thrice burned a company of soldiers for no reason. Miraculous, fearful, ascended and authoritative, yet nevertheless impetuous. But Jesus' final prayer before He went to the cross was not a so-called "overcoming prayer" which He had every capacity to "cast the soldiers oppressing Him into the sea". Rather, His prayer was a widow's prayer full of begging, realizing His case with His opponent was not His to bear, but for the Judge to decide...

I was very encouraged that He did not lose heart up to the end. Rather, even as He prayed for the cup to be taken from Him, the Father did not take the cup from Him. What an encouragement that His prayer was "not answered", at least in His lifetime. Just wow. The perfect Man with the perfect heart with the perfect prayer did not get His prayer answered! Was He wrong? When our prayers are unanswered, we often blame our prayers being wrong, our heart being wrong or our person being wrong in sins. And yet Jesus had His prayer unanswered! What an unrighteous judge God was to Him! Yet the end of this charge was that we "ought always to pray and not lose heart". (Luke 18:1)

God did not answer Jesus' prayer yet He did not lose heart, how much more we! We who do not deserve our prayers to be answered should all the more not lose heart also! Jesus took the lead! We follow in His pattern whether our God in whom we serve may answer or not! (Daniel 3:16)

In the end, God will vindicate Himself. He will answer the widow's prayer. (Luke 18:4-6) In fact, it is when all creation enters into the heart of the widow, longing in one accord for the Bridegroom to finally come that the whole universe will pray the final prayer. My friends, that final prayer will be a widow's prayer. "Come, Lord Jesus!" Surely only an oppressed widow's heart longing for her only Joy can pray such a prayer! Actually the final prayer will both be a prayer in ascension, an overcoming prayer, and a widow's prayer at the same time! Just wow! The consummation of all prayers, all creation eagerly awaiting the one unique Desire! Then the Father will vindicate Himself, and finally reveal His Son, the Beloved in whom we all find our delight! The Joy of all the earth, the Desire of the nations, "Lord Jesus, Come!"

“The Bible is the Word of God. It is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). Hence, we should not come to the Bible just merely for knowledge, but to Christ (John 5:39,40) to experience and enjoy Him.”

How to Study, Chapter 6, Key H. Tee

We are much like Balaam.
We bother and ask the Lord for His will, yet we have already made up our mind. We only deceive ourselves. If we have decided already, why do we ask the Lord in the first place? Oh Lord, save us from being selfish! May we be those who have a pure heart and a single intent to know God's will and to do it.

Bible Reference: Numbers 22

The first day of classes is just around the corner! Here are some useful tips on how to improve your study habits taken from the Study Seminar and Workshop 2020.

Do you feel lonely and helpless?

Although we may be in grief and despair, in loneliness and abandonment, even in helplessness and weakness, we can nevertheless experience the good Samaritan in whatever circumstances we are in. He knows and understands what we are going through and He feels what we are feeling. Our Lord Jesus is in the right place and at the right time to help us. He reaches to where we are and meets our needs. But we need to allow Him. Allowing Him is our need and our only hope.



Thank you for your !

Above all, you have to practice. There is no shortcut. It is like playing piano. Practice makes perfect.

"A very famous musician once said, “If I skip practicing for one day, I will notice it. If I skip practicing for two days, my friends will notice it. If I skip practicing for three days, my audience will notice it.” If this is true for practicing music, it is even more true for the spiritual lesson of rising up early..."

Watchman Nee, Messages for Building Up New Believers,
Volume 1, Chapter 11, LSM, Anaheim

“...Do not make spirituality an excuse for not studying. Rather, study more diligently...You must both study earnestly and read the life-study messages.
Otherwise...the Lord would put no trust in you...But after you gain your
education, you must put [it] in a coffin and bury [it]...Then you will...be
useful in resurrection for God’s building.”

Life-study of Genesis, Message 85, Witness Lee, LSM, Anaheim

When you graduate with honors,
When you get a well-paying job,
When you buy yourself your first house,
When you are capable of putting food on the table,

Don't forget!

Deuteronomy 8:18 says, "... it is He who gives you strength to gain wealth, so that He may establish His covenant..." All these provisions given to you are for a greater purpose!

"He said to them, But you, who do you say that I am?"
Matthew 16:15

It is not the objective knowing of Him that matters or what others may say of Him. Regardless, we must follow what He has personally revealed of Himself to us. This knowing of who He is must become our life's final goal. In the end, when He manifests Himself before all, all mysteries will be revealed, and we all will confess with their tongue, bow with their knees and render to Him the praise He deserves. But who will know Him in this way today?

Jesus is the One reality of all the shadows. Perhaps we know Him as our Savior, but have we known Him as our Lord? Perhaps we know Him as our Friend, but have we known Him as our King?

We must be perfected until we all arrive at the full knowledge of the Son of God. (Eph 4:13)

The Lord is the greatest insurance provider and the best financial advisor. No insurance company on earth can compare with the assurance we can receive from Him. We are the beneficiaries of the best insurance plan. The Lord Jesus paid for our premium in full. All we have to do is enjoy the benefits of Christ becoming our life. What a glorious destiny to become His heirs!



Thank you for your potluck!

Christ the Head Through the Church
Therefore although Satan is under God's sovereignty, he's still in rebellion against God's government! He has brought all of God's creation on earth piled up into a heap of collapse. How about us? Yes, everything we do is according to the sovereignty of Christ, the Man on the throne of God in the heavens! But how many of us are subjected to the Christ in our spirit? For this heap of collapse must be headed up unto Christ who is the Head through His Body the church! Needless to worry John has seen it - the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ!

God's Government on Earth
God began His theocratic government on earth in the establishment of the Holy of Holies, above the expiation cover, between the two cherubim! (Isa 37:16) There was His speaking and ruling and governing! But at the last of these days He now speaks to us in the Son! (Heb. 1:2) Thus we must see that Christ is not just the One in the heavens sovereignly arranging all things, He's also the One enthroned in our spirit on earth!

Satan's Rebellion
Although all things in the heavens are under God's throne, not all things on the earth are submitting to His throne, thus the Lord's ministry was a ministry to bring in the kingdom of God on earth just as it is in heaven! The earth, under Satan's instigation is in rebellion to God's throne in the heavens! "Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth." (Matt 6:10)

Who will enthrone Christ in his heart to bring in God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven?

God's Sovereignty in the Heavens
Behind the scene, God has always been sovereignly arranging all things. The heavens do rule. We may intend things for evil, but God intends it for good, all things work together for good. Everything, everyone and every event happens under God's throne in the heavens. Nothing happens outside of His throne - even Satan is under God's sovereignty.

Genesis 11:5-9
"And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built... Come, let Us go down and there confound their language... So Jehovah scattered them from there over the surface of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel..."

In the rebellion of mankind at Babel, man fell to the uttermost, causing God to eventually forsake the created race of Adam and to call one man, Abraham, out of that race that He might still have a way to fulfill His purpose in creating man!

When God created man, there was a beginning. But that man was corrupted and spoiled. The man whom God created for Himself fell and forsook Him. But God did not forsake the man He created. Instead, God came in to call man that He might have a new beginning with the fallen man. God’s calling of Abraham was a transfer of race and a transfer of life.

Abraham being a pattern for us to have a transfer of race and life left the old creation and had a new beginning with God as a new creation.

Each one of us are facing our own unknowns, our own situation and our own circumstances. We may be worrying for our health or the health of a loved-one. We may be worrying for our job security, our career, our businesses. We may be filled with fear, anxiety and hopelessness. There are so many questions that we do not have answers. We do not know what is ahead, we do not know the future and there is really nothing that we can do to know. Only the Lord holds tomorrow. And this One who holds tomorrow, He is the One who holds our hand. We just need to trust and obey Him.

Thank you for your !

"But Jesus, knowing it, said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? She has done a noble deed to Me."
Matthew 26:10

Because we do not value Him as much, we trouble those who love Him absolutely.

Although we may be the Lord's disciples, we still may actually be causing "trouble" to His genuine lovers. This is because we still have different levels of valuation of our Lord. The disciples did have a good intent on how the flask was to be used. Yet this revealed how they valued the good work and the poor more than their King. To them, the pouring of such ointment was a "waste". Many genuine lovers throughout the years have also "wasted" their lives on the Lord. But to those who value Him in such a way, these are never a "waste", but a noble deed to our Lord Jesus. But even worse, Matthew 26 also tells us about Judas who valued the King less than thirty pieces of silver.

Yes, we may be His disciple. But to what degree do we really value Him? How much are we willing to waste and to be wasted on Him?

Actually, when all creation sees Him as He truly is, everyone will bow and confess and render their all. Yet who will see Him by faith before He is revealed in plain sight?

Bonus track:
NS 309 - A Noble Deed

Throughout the past twenty centuries
Tens of thousands of precious lives,
Heart treasures, high positions,
And golden futures have been “wasted”
Upon the Lord Jesus.
To the ones who love Him in such a way
He is altogether lovely and worthy of their offering.
What they have poured upon the Lord is not a waste
But a fragrant testimony of His sweetness.
What they have poured upon the Lord is not a waste
But a fragrant testimony of His sweetness.

A little spiritual pursuit or a little godly living before the Lord is not enough to be used by Him to turn the age!

Thank you for your potluck!

A christian life is not an anxious life. However it seems as though we are still anxious with many things. So, we are encouraged to:

1. Live the life of God

2. Tell Him

3. Enjoy singing hymns

4. Seek to fellowship

5. Get enough sleep 😴

Reference verses:
Heb. 4:15-16
Matt. 6:25-30
Matt. 11:28
1 Pet. 5:7
Phil. 4:6
Rom. 10:13
2 Thes. 2:16-17

The true value of man is not measured by what he has, how much money he earns, how successful he is in life, or how many accomplishments he's had. A man becomes valuable according to what he is. If we are vessels who contain God in our spirit, though we are worthless and earthen, He is our treasure within! He makes us valuable!

The apostle John emphasized that being born again by believing into the Christ, was the only way to know God. He realized that being begotten of God was a beginning that had to continue in our knowing Him!

He points out how the goal of God's children is not to "love" or to "do good" or to "live righteously", but to know God! Furthermore, it is by our knowing God that God's children spontaneously, instinctively, organically learn to love, do good and live a righteous life, even to the point of perfection as He is perfect!

Perhaps, we may already know so much about God, yet how much do we really know God? Today, we may know so much about the birds, but unless we are born of birds, we cannot fully comprehend the kingdom of birds. (John 3:3) Although he lived his life with the top theology, the apostle Paul realized that until he was born again, he didn't know God in a real subjective way. Thus when he believed and was born of God, this became his entire life's quest - "to know Him". (Phil 3:10)

Further Readings:
"He was in the world... yet the world did not know Him."
John 1:10

"Children of God... those who believe into His name, who were begotten... of God."
John 1:12-13

"Love is of God, and everyone who loves has been begotten of God and knows God. He who does not love has not known God, because God is love."
1 John 4:7-8

When man lost God, there began to be a void within him. To fill the emptiness up, we search for a lot of things besides God to make ourselves happy. But these things give only temporary happiness. Only God can fill the gap. Thus, when we find God, we find true and lasting happiness. Only God can satisfy the deep lack of purpose in man's heart.

Thank you for your potluck!

It is a miracle that we love Him today.

You and I are both the sheep and the shepherd, shepherding and being shepherded in MUTUALITY! Yes, I need you and your portion!