Saturday, April 24, 2010
oneness of the body
Ephesian 4:3-6 [Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace; One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism; One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.]
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Favourite maxims :)
日子是拿来过的，而不是拿来算的。
别为了过去而放弃现在。：）
什么都可以输，就是不可以输掉信心。
要摸清它，自然就会仲意它!
Discouragement will not be allowed to taint my positive self-image, my desire to succeed or my capacity to love.
Beginning today, I will open my mind and my heart. I will welcome new experience. I will meet new people. I will not expect perfection from myself nor anyone else. Perfection does not exist in an imperfect world. But i will applaud the attempt to overcome human foibles.
Beginning today, I will be responsible for my own happiness and I will do things that make me happy... admire the beautiful wonder of nature, listen to my favourite music, soak in a bubble bath, lay down on the grass, walk by the lake....
Pleasure can be found in the most simple of gestures.
Beginning today, I will learn something different. I will savour all the various flavours life has to offer. I will change what I can and the rest I will let go.
Hebrews 1:9 [You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy above Your partners]
Hebrews 2:1 [Therefore we ought to give heed more abundantly to the things which have been heard lest perhaps we drift away]
Perfect through sufferings~~
Running water does not flow back. So is life, make it happy. :)
Let the doctors handle your body, let God handles your life, but be in charge of your own moods.
Before middle age, DO NOT FEAR. After middle age, DO NOT REGRET.
If worry can cure your sickness, go ahead and worry;
If worry can prolong your life, go ahead and worry;
If worry can exchange for happiness, go ahead and worry.
Matthew 11:22-24 ["Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours]
Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears.
If you wish to succeed, you should use persistence as your good friend, experience as your reference, prudence as your brother and hope as your sentry.
It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do.
Lord, be with me in whatever I am doing now. Thanks for being so available to me that I can simply take you in by a simple turn to the Spirit. :)
别为了过去而放弃现在。：）
什么都可以输，就是不可以输掉信心。
要摸清它，自然就会仲意它!
Discouragement will not be allowed to taint my positive self-image, my desire to succeed or my capacity to love.
Beginning today, I will open my mind and my heart. I will welcome new experience. I will meet new people. I will not expect perfection from myself nor anyone else. Perfection does not exist in an imperfect world. But i will applaud the attempt to overcome human foibles.
Beginning today, I will be responsible for my own happiness and I will do things that make me happy... admire the beautiful wonder of nature, listen to my favourite music, soak in a bubble bath, lay down on the grass, walk by the lake....
Pleasure can be found in the most simple of gestures.
Beginning today, I will learn something different. I will savour all the various flavours life has to offer. I will change what I can and the rest I will let go.
Hebrews 1:9 [You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy above Your partners]
Hebrews 2:1 [Therefore we ought to give heed more abundantly to the things which have been heard lest perhaps we drift away]
Perfect through sufferings~~
Running water does not flow back. So is life, make it happy. :)
Let the doctors handle your body, let God handles your life, but be in charge of your own moods.
Before middle age, DO NOT FEAR. After middle age, DO NOT REGRET.
If worry can cure your sickness, go ahead and worry;
If worry can prolong your life, go ahead and worry;
If worry can exchange for happiness, go ahead and worry.
Matthew 11:22-24 ["Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours]
Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears.
If you wish to succeed, you should use persistence as your good friend, experience as your reference, prudence as your brother and hope as your sentry.
It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do.
Lord, be with me in whatever I am doing now. Thanks for being so available to me that I can simply take you in by a simple turn to the Spirit. :)
Friday, March 12, 2010
Why is there a need for Word to become flesh as mentioned in John 1:14? What is the reason for Christ's incarnation and death?
John 1:14 [And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.]
John 1: 16-17 [For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ. ]
John 1:14 tells us that the Word became flesh. The Word is God Himself. The Word became flesh to dispense God into us. Incarnation is for dispensing. If God had never become incarnated, He would have remained in His divinity, and there would have been no way for Him to dispense Himself into us. Incarnation was the initiation of the divine dispensing; it was the first step of God's dispensing of Himself into us. When God was incarnated, He came full of grace and reality. He did not come empty-handed.
Grace is God enjoyed by us. Reality is God gained by us. In the entire universe, nothing is real. Solomon told us that everything is vanity. Houses and cars are vanity; they are not reality. Only God gained by us is reality. In His incarnation God came to us full of grace and reality for us to receive.
John 1:29 [The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!]
John 19:34 [But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.]
After His incarnation, Christ lived on this earth for more than thirty years. Then He went to the cross and was crucified there. This was the second step of God's dispensing.
Fist, in His crucifixion, Christ as the Lamb of God first took away our sin.
Second, as the brass serpent, Christ destroyed Satan, the source of death and the ruler of this world.
Third, as the grain of wheat, Christ released the divine life within Him for the producing of the many believers by imparting, that is, dispensing, the divine life into them. By this He made all the believers His members and the many grains of wheat.
Many Christian do not realize that Christ's death, like His incarnation, was for His dispensing. He died on the cross to release His divine life for His dispensing.
At the cross, when the soldier pierced the side of Christ, blood and water came out. The blood symbolizes the redeeming aspect of Christ's all-inclusive death, and the water that came out of Christ symbolizes the life-imparting aspect of Christ's all-inclusive death. This one death did two works: it redeemed us from our sins, and it released the divine life of God into believers.
The death on the cross was the release of God and the termination of man and all negative things. In Christ's death God passed through death in man to be released, and man died in God to be terminated.
The cross is not only the center but also the circumference of God's holy building. The cross is implied in the gate, in the eating of the sacrifices, in the boiling houses, and in the tables on which the sacrifices are slain. Thus, the cross spreads in every direction and to every corner of God's building. If we wish to contact God and enjoy his riches in His house, we must pass through the cross.
Chapter twenty of the Gospel of John, tells us after His death, this Christ entered into resurrection, and in resurrection He changed His form and became a life-giving Spirit. In incarnation He changed His form from the form of God to the form of man. In resurrection, He as the last Adam changed His form again, from the form of the human flesh to the life-giving Spirit.
The word life-giving implies dispensing, because to give is to dispense. Christ as the life-giving Spirit is dispensing life as food to His believers. Within our physical food there is medicine; the nourishment in the food kills germs. Within Christ as the food there is the real "medicine" that kills all the spiritual germs.
On the night of His resurrection, the Lord came back to visit His believers. He did not give them a message of any teaching or instruction. He did only one thing: He breathed into them (John 20:22). By breathing into them, He breathed Himself into them. At that time Christ was the life-giving Spirit. Thus, by Christ's breathing, all the disciples received Him as the life-giving Spirit.
Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God.
John 1: 16-17 [For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ. ]
John 1:14 tells us that the Word became flesh. The Word is God Himself. The Word became flesh to dispense God into us. Incarnation is for dispensing. If God had never become incarnated, He would have remained in His divinity, and there would have been no way for Him to dispense Himself into us. Incarnation was the initiation of the divine dispensing; it was the first step of God's dispensing of Himself into us. When God was incarnated, He came full of grace and reality. He did not come empty-handed.
Grace is God enjoyed by us. Reality is God gained by us. In the entire universe, nothing is real. Solomon told us that everything is vanity. Houses and cars are vanity; they are not reality. Only God gained by us is reality. In His incarnation God came to us full of grace and reality for us to receive.
John 1:29 [The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!]
John 19:34 [But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.]
After His incarnation, Christ lived on this earth for more than thirty years. Then He went to the cross and was crucified there. This was the second step of God's dispensing.
Fist, in His crucifixion, Christ as the Lamb of God first took away our sin.
Second, as the brass serpent, Christ destroyed Satan, the source of death and the ruler of this world.
Third, as the grain of wheat, Christ released the divine life within Him for the producing of the many believers by imparting, that is, dispensing, the divine life into them. By this He made all the believers His members and the many grains of wheat.
Many Christian do not realize that Christ's death, like His incarnation, was for His dispensing. He died on the cross to release His divine life for His dispensing.
At the cross, when the soldier pierced the side of Christ, blood and water came out. The blood symbolizes the redeeming aspect of Christ's all-inclusive death, and the water that came out of Christ symbolizes the life-imparting aspect of Christ's all-inclusive death. This one death did two works: it redeemed us from our sins, and it released the divine life of God into believers.
The death on the cross was the release of God and the termination of man and all negative things. In Christ's death God passed through death in man to be released, and man died in God to be terminated.
The cross is not only the center but also the circumference of God's holy building. The cross is implied in the gate, in the eating of the sacrifices, in the boiling houses, and in the tables on which the sacrifices are slain. Thus, the cross spreads in every direction and to every corner of God's building. If we wish to contact God and enjoy his riches in His house, we must pass through the cross.
Chapter twenty of the Gospel of John, tells us after His death, this Christ entered into resurrection, and in resurrection He changed His form and became a life-giving Spirit. In incarnation He changed His form from the form of God to the form of man. In resurrection, He as the last Adam changed His form again, from the form of the human flesh to the life-giving Spirit.
The word life-giving implies dispensing, because to give is to dispense. Christ as the life-giving Spirit is dispensing life as food to His believers. Within our physical food there is medicine; the nourishment in the food kills germs. Within Christ as the food there is the real "medicine" that kills all the spiritual germs.
On the night of His resurrection, the Lord came back to visit His believers. He did not give them a message of any teaching or instruction. He did only one thing: He breathed into them (John 20:22). By breathing into them, He breathed Himself into them. At that time Christ was the life-giving Spirit. Thus, by Christ's breathing, all the disciples received Him as the life-giving Spirit.
Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Why do Christians call on the name of the Lord?
There is the basis, definition, history, purpose and practice of calling on the Lord in the website below:
http://www.callingonthelord.org/index.html
I think it's a really good site to share with our friends who might be wondering why we call on the Lord so much. There is even a chart http://www.callingonthelord.org/basis/ot.html which lists all the instances in the Bible where people called on the Lord's name.
http://www.callingonthelord.org/basis/ot.html -- old testament
http://www.callingonthelord.org/basis/nt.html -- new testament
Praise the Lord for such a simple way, we can turn to Him just by calling on His precious name. O Lord Jesus! :)
http://www.callingonthelord.org/index.html
I think it's a really good site to share with our friends who might be wondering why we call on the Lord so much. There is even a chart http://www.callingonthelord.org/basis/ot.html which lists all the instances in the Bible where people called on the Lord's name.
http://www.callingonthelord.org/basis/ot.html -- old testament
http://www.callingonthelord.org/basis/nt.html -- new testament
Praise the Lord for such a simple way, we can turn to Him just by calling on His precious name. O Lord Jesus! :)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
A Christian's virtues are not superficial
Philippians 1:19-20 [For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.]
A Christian's virtues are not superficial they are not without root. The root of the Christian virtues is Christ. When we believe in Him with our heart and call on Him with our mouth, He enters into our spirit and enlivens our spirit. In this way we are regenerated. Now, this all-inclusive Christ lives in us. When we live Christ and magnify Him, all His human virtues are expressed in our living.
Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." God wants "I" to be crucified in the death of Christ so that in His resurrection Christ may live in us and be the source and everything in our living. This is why Paul said, "As always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ."
God created man according to His image. God's image is all that God is. God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These are what God is; Hence, they are the image of God. Since man was created in the image of God, within man there are human virtues, such as love, light, holiness, and righteousness. But these human virtues are not the reality, they are merely the image of the reality. Man's virtues are a picture of God's image. A picture is not the reality of a man it is not the man himself. When we believe in Christ and receive this pneumatic Christ, He enters into us to be our life within, and He lives Himself out from us. By this we will have the reality of all the virtues of God's attributes, and we can live out the real love, light, holiness, and righteousness, which are the expressions of Christ in us.
When the Lord Jesus lives in us, we can love others in a genuine way. We do not love by our own love; rather, we love by the Christ who is living in us and who is our bountiful supply. This Christ who is living in us is the Spirit with the bountiful supply. He has become on with us. We do not need to do good or to be moral by ourselves. Everything we do and all our living should come about by the bountiful supply of Jesus Christ.
The supply and dispensing of His life cause us to be saved in our living of Christ, so that we may not be put to shame because we have not lived Christ, and may not lose the testimony that we ought to bear for Christ because of our failure to magnify Christ. On the contrary, with all boldness, as always, even now, daily, Christ will be magnified in our bodies, whether through life or through death.
Reference: Life-study of Philippians.
A Christian's virtues are not superficial they are not without root. The root of the Christian virtues is Christ. When we believe in Him with our heart and call on Him with our mouth, He enters into our spirit and enlivens our spirit. In this way we are regenerated. Now, this all-inclusive Christ lives in us. When we live Christ and magnify Him, all His human virtues are expressed in our living.
Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." God wants "I" to be crucified in the death of Christ so that in His resurrection Christ may live in us and be the source and everything in our living. This is why Paul said, "As always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ."
God created man according to His image. God's image is all that God is. God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These are what God is; Hence, they are the image of God. Since man was created in the image of God, within man there are human virtues, such as love, light, holiness, and righteousness. But these human virtues are not the reality, they are merely the image of the reality. Man's virtues are a picture of God's image. A picture is not the reality of a man it is not the man himself. When we believe in Christ and receive this pneumatic Christ, He enters into us to be our life within, and He lives Himself out from us. By this we will have the reality of all the virtues of God's attributes, and we can live out the real love, light, holiness, and righteousness, which are the expressions of Christ in us.
When the Lord Jesus lives in us, we can love others in a genuine way. We do not love by our own love; rather, we love by the Christ who is living in us and who is our bountiful supply. This Christ who is living in us is the Spirit with the bountiful supply. He has become on with us. We do not need to do good or to be moral by ourselves. Everything we do and all our living should come about by the bountiful supply of Jesus Christ.
The supply and dispensing of His life cause us to be saved in our living of Christ, so that we may not be put to shame because we have not lived Christ, and may not lose the testimony that we ought to bear for Christ because of our failure to magnify Christ. On the contrary, with all boldness, as always, even now, daily, Christ will be magnified in our bodies, whether through life or through death.
Reference: Life-study of Philippians.
INdigestion of Christ :(
Jeremiah 15:16 [Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.]
John 6:57 [As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.]
We need to eat Jesus by calling on the name of the Lord. But after we eat, we also need a good digestion. We do not want to have indigestion. Indigestion first causes stomach trouble, and then it may cause a stomach ulcer. When we eat Christ, we also need to spiritually digest Him in a proper way.
The Lord Jesus is real, living, and practical. When you call "Lord Jesus", He gets into you and fills you up. While you are calling "Lord Jesus", this practical and living Jesus will touch your natural being. But many of you would say, "No, Lord. Don't touch me here. Stay where You are. You are my guest and You must stay in the living room. Don't get into my private bedroom. That's for me, not for You." This means "indigestion". There is no way for the Lord as the spiritual food to get through in you. There is no free course for the food to get into your inward parts, so you have indigestion.
But when you respond to and go along with the inner sense, your appetite for the Lord Jesus comes back and your spiritual digestion becomes proper. Then the riches of the Lord Jesus become your cells, and these cells grow into your organic tissues. This causes you to grow in the divine life and makes you strong in the Lord. It is easy for you to stand and not easy for you to backslide, because you are growing in the Lord. It is hard for the grown-up ones to fall down. This is because they have a good digestion to assimilate all the nourishment from the spiritual food they eat.
Reference: The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ; How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God.
John 6:57 [As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.]
We need to eat Jesus by calling on the name of the Lord. But after we eat, we also need a good digestion. We do not want to have indigestion. Indigestion first causes stomach trouble, and then it may cause a stomach ulcer. When we eat Christ, we also need to spiritually digest Him in a proper way.
The Lord Jesus is real, living, and practical. When you call "Lord Jesus", He gets into you and fills you up. While you are calling "Lord Jesus", this practical and living Jesus will touch your natural being. But many of you would say, "No, Lord. Don't touch me here. Stay where You are. You are my guest and You must stay in the living room. Don't get into my private bedroom. That's for me, not for You." This means "indigestion". There is no way for the Lord as the spiritual food to get through in you. There is no free course for the food to get into your inward parts, so you have indigestion.
But when you respond to and go along with the inner sense, your appetite for the Lord Jesus comes back and your spiritual digestion becomes proper. Then the riches of the Lord Jesus become your cells, and these cells grow into your organic tissues. This causes you to grow in the divine life and makes you strong in the Lord. It is easy for you to stand and not easy for you to backslide, because you are growing in the Lord. It is hard for the grown-up ones to fall down. This is because they have a good digestion to assimilate all the nourishment from the spiritual food they eat.
Reference: The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ; How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God.
Christian life is more than just repenting of our sins
Romans 8:10-11 [...If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who indwells you.]
Matthew 6:11 [Give us today our daily bread.]
To be a Christian is more that just repenting of our sins, receiving the forgiveness of sins, being washed by the blood, being justified, and being regenerated. The Christian life also includes growth and maturity. In order to go on from regeneration to maturity, we must eat. Regeneration is the beginning of our spiritual life, but we need to eat after our regeneration. No on can grow without eating. We must eat, digest, and assimilate food daily. Assimilation is the final step of food being dispensed into our being. We need to eat, digest, and assimilate Jesus as our spiritual food day by day.
Reference: The Enjoyment of Christ for His Increase.
To live a life in the divine dispensing in a normal way will make us healthy both physically and spiritually. Whether or not we have good or bad days is not up to us; it is up to His sovereignty. He has already chosen us, and it is too late to turn back. We are blessed because the processed and consummated Triune God is within us. He is in us, not in a spectacular way, but in a very ordinary way.
Matthew 6:11 [Give us today our daily bread.]
To be a Christian is more that just repenting of our sins, receiving the forgiveness of sins, being washed by the blood, being justified, and being regenerated. The Christian life also includes growth and maturity. In order to go on from regeneration to maturity, we must eat. Regeneration is the beginning of our spiritual life, but we need to eat after our regeneration. No on can grow without eating. We must eat, digest, and assimilate food daily. Assimilation is the final step of food being dispensed into our being. We need to eat, digest, and assimilate Jesus as our spiritual food day by day.
Reference: The Enjoyment of Christ for His Increase.
To live a life in the divine dispensing in a normal way will make us healthy both physically and spiritually. Whether or not we have good or bad days is not up to us; it is up to His sovereignty. He has already chosen us, and it is too late to turn back. We are blessed because the processed and consummated Triune God is within us. He is in us, not in a spectacular way, but in a very ordinary way.
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