This week we are enjoying the wonderful Psalm 133 concerning the Lord’s commanded blessing on the brothers dwelling in oneness. Our church life is not an individual life but a corporate life, a collective life, and our experience of the church life has at least four aspects: it is a corporate experience, an ascending experience, […]
treasuring being in the house of God: here we’re enjoying all the blessings of God
From our experience we can testify that one single day in the house of God is better than a thousand anywhere else. We may be away from God and we may think “we have the time of our life”, but when we come into the house of God and we aspire to have the highways to Zion in our heart, taking the way of the church internally, we will realize how good it is to be here! We would rather “stand at the threshold of the house of God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (Psa. 84:10). It is much better to be at the door, on the threshold, of the house of God, than to be in the house / tent of the wicked. [continue reading online]
turning our tears of weeping into springs of blessings by setting our eyes on Zion
The highways to Zion is not superficial or cheap; the way of the church life demands a price that we need to pay. It is not external, superficial, or cheap. If we wouldn’t care for Christ and the church that much, we wouldn’t suffer; but as we care for the church life, we will partake of the sufferings needed for the building up of the Body of Christ. We will have sufferings related to the church, related to God’s economy, some misunderstandings from your family because you stand for the church, etc – and you may shed tears…. But the Lord turns those tears to be the Spirit! You will be all the more filled with the Spirit and released in your spirit that you may flow! [read more online]
everything is clear when we exercise our spirit and we come to the church meetings
In the Holy Place in the tabernacle there was no natural light – there was only the light of the lampstand, the light of the Holy Place. In the natural light (the light of the sun and the moon) we can see the natural and outward things, but in the light of the Holy Place we can see God’s economy and His administration. In God’s presence, in His shining, in His light, we don’t need any natural light or man-made light. In the church life we do not need any natural light – in the church life as the Holy Place in the tabernacle we have the lampstand shining with God as the light! [continue reading online]
the meal offering church life with no leaven and no honey is for God’s satisfaction
With the Lord Jesus there was no leaven (no sinful or negative thing) and no honey (no natural affection, attachment, or preference). Rather, He lived a life of the highest and finest humanity (fine flour) oiled with the Holy Spirit (mingled with oil), having the fragrance of resurrection (frankincense), and living under the cross every day (being salted). This One is our daily food and our supply, our sustenance, and by eating of Him we become His corporate reproduction! We also live a life of the highest humanity mingled with the Spirit, with the fragrance of resurrection, and being daily under the cross. Also, as we eat this One, we will reject any sinful thing or any good aspect of our natural man. [read more online]
Question on Facebook: what do you love the most in the home meetings of the church?
what do you LOVE the most in the home meetings? What aspect of the home meeting you really enjoy? – here are some responses from what some saints on facebook have shared. You know, the homes are the God-ordained way for us to be – both humanly and spiritually – born, cared for, cherished, nourished, loved, shepherded, raised up, perfected, blended, trained, and even matured. We need the homes – not just the “home meetings”, but the homes of the saints. [read more online a wonderful sharing about the importance and sweetness of the homes in the church life]
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in oneness!
What is is so good about the church life? What is it so good about brothers living together? It is the Triune God! Here we are fellow partakers, joint partakers, of the grace of life! We don’t insist on being right, but we obey the teaching of the anointing within (1 John 2:27) which teaches us to abide in Him! No matter what you say / what happens, the Triune God paints you with all the elements that are compounded in the Spirit! You may insist on something – as long as you’re in the church life, you are painted, and the ingredients of the processed and consummated Triune God are applied to you! [continue reading this portion online – inspired from message 10 in the 2011 winter training]