Month: January 2018

How do we have a genuine revival?

/ livinglywrong

“The only way to have a revival, a new beginning, is to be open. This is the only way to be fresh. We need to open and be released instead of being locked inside the self. It is very simple to open ourselves. For example, instead of being shut within our oppressed self, we can tell a brother that we feel oppressed and old. If we would open to one another whenever we meet together, there would be a revival among us. There are many serving ones in the churches. On the one hand, we know one another because we see one another nearly every day, but on the other hand, we do not know one another, because we are closed. I do not open my inner spiritual condition to you, and you do not reveal your inner spiritual condition to me. How can there be a revival among us under such circumstances?

…We should not think that the revival will come to us from heaven or from the abyss; it simply needs to flow out of us. The impression that we receive from reading the history of revivals in the church is that believers anticipate that revivals would descend from above. However, those who have experience realize that the power they thought would descend from above actually flows out of their inner being. Hence, the key to revival is being open. The power in us is an explosive force. As long as we are willing to open and let it explode from within us, we will have a prevailing revival.

It is right to say that we need to pray in order to have a revival. However, I must repeat that the key, the secret, of having a revival is not in our asking the Lord to give us something from above but in our opening to Him and letting Him flow out. Being open is the basic principle for allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us. The more we are reserved and closed, the less likely we are to receive grace.

…This is where our problem lies. When we come together for fellowship or in the meetings, we are closed. Most of the saints who come to the prayer meeting on Tuesday night come with a closed attitude. They have made up their mind not to open their mouth to pray. How can we have a strong prayer meeting? Perhaps in the prayer meeting and the bread-breaking meeting we should give messages concerning being open in order to encourage the saints to open. Some saints might feel reluctant to speak because they are not “inspired” by the Holy Spirit. However, as long as we are open, inspiration will come. The less we open, the more difficult it will be to open, and the more we wait for inspiration, the less inspiration we will receive.

We have a treasure in us, but it is locked up. It does not matter whether we are weak, strong, cold, or burning. When we are burning, this rich source is in us, and when we are cold, this rich source is still in us. This source never changes. The question is whether we would let it flow out.

When I was young, I liked to play with firecrackers. I would get about a dozen firecrackers and use a pin to open the paper wrapping around the fuse so that the gunpowder was exposed. Then I would set off a couple of firecrackers and let them explode. The sparks from these firecrackers would touch other firecrackers and kindle the gunpowder. As a result, all the firecrackers would explode. This analogy is fitting for Christians. Each of us is a firecracker, and Christ is our gunpowder. Our problem is that Christ is securely wrapped within us, and we are neither willing to be broken nor to open. We pray for a revival, but we keep ourselves tightly closed. Hence, we cannot “explode,” and even our earnest prayer does not avail. If we want to pray, we should pray that the Lord would cause us to open.

We must submit to the Lord and humbly ask Him to give us a vision. We should not merely have enjoyment, satisfaction, and a sense of sweetness in our pursuit of the Lord. We need to see that the Lord is in resurrection. We need a vision of resurrection so that we would be able to leap upon the mountains and skip upon the hills. In spite of the things pressing on our spirit and the difficulties in our environment, we need to see that the Lord is living and strong in us; He is leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills. If we would know resurrection and be open, we would be like unwrapped firecrackers. Once one firecracker explodes, it can kindle the others. If I am open, I can burn someone else until he is open, and then he can burn me. As a result, we will have a genuine revival.”

(The Law of Revival, chapter 2)

How do we draw closer to the Lord?

/ livinglywrong

“…Even though our Lord is great, He does not neglect the small things. We may think that what we tell Him must also be something great, or else He will not listen. Little do we realize that our Lord never neglects the small things. There is nothing that is too small for the Lord to listen to. He is willing to listen to everything. He is willing to listen to everything concerning us. He was willing to listen to His own disciples, and He was willing to listen to John’s disciples. The disciples of John had followed their teacher for a long time. One can imagine the affection there was between them and John. When their teacher was killed, how could they not be brokenhearted? The Bible does not say that they complained about Herod, nor does it say that they cried all day long. They only buried John’s body and then came to tell Jesus.

Some would bury their dead and then say, “Everything with me is over. I have lost all hope. He is dead, and I have lost everything. Everything I had left with him.” Yet these are the times when we should draw near to the Lord. We can tell the Lord our sorrow. He will not rebuke us as being too worldly, too affectionate, or too attached to our dead ones. He knows our emotion, and He sympathizes with our heart. Some may have never experienced the sorrow of losing their parents, wife, brothers, or relatives. Nevertheless, when they lose something, they still feel as if their “John” has died, and they are left in despair and disappointment. They feel that the sky above them is no longer blue and that everything around them has lost its ardor; they find no way out. At such times it is most unprofitable to not bury the corpse, to cry, and to be sorrowful over it all the time. They should bury the corpse, like the disciples of John did, and go and tell the Lord. We should realize that when we have a thorough talk with the Lord and pour out our heart to Him, our intimacy with the Lord is one step further, and we know Him a little more. Intimate contact with Him at these times is hundreds of times better than our ordinary fellowship with Him. By these contacts we advance in life. We should bring our problems to the Lord and tell Him about them. He can comfort us and help us. If a person has never shed tears before the Lord, if he has never shared his joy or sorrow with the Lord, and if he has never talked with the Lord about his private matters, he has never had any intimate fellowship with the Lord; he has never had any deep acquaintance with Him. We are not saying that you cannot ask others to pray for you or ask others to help you. We are saying that one can only be drawn closer to the Lord through telling Him everything.

Once John’s disciples told the Lord of their sorrows, every problem dissolved. No matter what we tell Him, He will listen. No man can sympathize with everyone. But our Lord can sympathize with everyone. He is sympathetic to every one of our problems. He cares for the affairs of us all. In His heart, there seems to be no one else’s affairs but ours. He bears all our sorrows. No matter how weak we are, He will sympathize with us and bear our sorrow for us. Our Lord is willing to bear all our anxieties and patient to listen to our speaking. Do not think that He will not listen. We should never be lazy in bringing our matters to Him. He is waiting for us to tell them to Him, and He is happy to listen to our speaking.”

(Tell Him)

How do we live a life free of anxiety?

/ livinglywrong

“If we would have a life free of anxiety, we need to realize that all our circumstances, good or bad, have been assigned to us by God. We need to have this realization with a full assurance. Suppose a brother is in business as a merchant. His business may prosper, and he may earn a good deal of money. Later his business may fail and he may lose much more than he earned. Both earning money and losing it are God’s assignment to him. If this brother has the full assurance that his circumstances come from God’s assignment, he will be able to worship the Lord for His arrangement. Perhaps losing money will benefit him more than earning money, for through such a loss he may be perfected and built up.

Likewise, both illness and good health come from God as His assignment. We should all aspire to be healthy. But sometimes good health does not perfect us as much as a period of illness. Furthermore, when our health fails, we may be more inclined to pray than when we are in good health.

The first prerequisite to having no anxiety is to have the full assurance that all the sufferings we experience are God’s assignment. What need is there to worry about things? God has assigned them to us. He knows what we need.

When I was very young, I read a story about a conversation between two sparrows who were talking about the sorrows and the worries common among human beings. One sparrow asked the other why people worry so much. The other sparrow answered, “I don’t think they have a Father who cares for them like we do. We don’t need to worry about anything because our Father takes care of us.” Yes, our Father does care for us. But sometimes He sends us hardships and sufferings to serve in fulfilling our destiny to magnify Christ. We can be freed from worry not because God has promised us a life without suffering, but because we know that all our circumstances come to us as God’s assignment. Paul did not care about life or death. He cared only that Christ would be magnified in him. He realized that every circumstance was for his good. This is the way to have no anxiety.”

(Life-Study of Philippians, message 60)