Great Searchings of Heart
Morning revival verses
Day 4
Judges 5:15–16 And the princes in Issachar were with Deborah; / And Issachar was true to Barak; / Into the valley they were sent behind him. / Among the divisions of Reuben / There were great resolutions in heart. 16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds / Listening to the pipings for the flocks? / In the divisions of Reuben / There were great searchings of heart.
Judges 5:18 Zebulun was a people that despised their own lives even unto death; / And Naphtali, on the heights of the field.
Today’s Reading
Having Great Resolutions of Heart for the Lord
There Being a God in the Universe
Dear young friends and brothers and sisters, may the Lord be with you. With a sincere heart, in great rejoicing, and as an elderly person, I would like to speak a few words to you. First of all, it is a sure thing that God exists in the universe. I am over eighty years old, and since my youth I have known God and the Bible. I have studied the Bible in detail with a pure heart for more than sixty years, and the more I read, the more I believe that there is a God in the universe. It can be said that the Bible bears the strongest testimony of God.
If, in the universe, there were not a God who is the sovereign Lord and the almighty Creator, it would not have been possible for the Bible to be written. In the Bible there are not only words of profundity and wisdom but also prophecies concerning the world situation throughout the ages. The more I read these prophecies and observe the world situation, the more I realize that all the events in the world are fulfilling the prophecies in the Bible. Therefore, the Bible makes it impossible for me not to believe that there is a God in the universe.
God Creating Man that Man Might Express Him
The Bible tells us that God created man and moreover that He created man in His image and according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26-27). Hence, man is the most meaningful of all of God’s creatures. Man is most meaningful in that God wants man to be like Him and to receive Him. God wants to come into man to be his life and content so that man might live for Him and express Him on the earth.
The Meaning and the Purpose of Human Life
As I see thousands of young people here, I deeply feel that while you are still young and promising, you should see clearly what the purpose of human life is and wherein lies the meaning of human life. You all are studying hard, longing for and striving toward successfully completing your education. For this, I ask the Lord to bless you all that each one of you may be successful in completing your education. However, I would ask you, after you have completed your education, what are you going to do? World culture has already been developed to the utmost. For example, in Taiwan education has raised its standards and has been made widely available. Consequently, you all have been fully enlightened in your understanding. Even though you are quite young, you have already started to consider life. I want to tell you that the meaning of human life lies in God. Without God, man is meaningless; without God, human life is without purpose.
Having Great Resolutions in Heart and Great Searchings of Heart—Living for God
The Bible says that among God’s people there were great resolutions in heart, and there were also great searchings of heart (Judg. 5:15-16). For whom did they have great resolutions and great searchings? A person of aspiration, though he lives on the earth, always turns his heart to the Lord. We should have great resolutions in heart and great searchings of heart toward God. May all the young people, starting from today, be willing to have great resolutions and great searchings of heart. To have a great resolve is to make a firm decision, and to have a great searching is to devise a plan. This is not just to have a resolve but to have a great resolve, and not just to make a plan but to make a great plan. May today be the day that you have a great resolve and make a great plan.
Some may ask, “What is the purpose of having a great resolve and a great searching?” It is to live for God on the earth. The meaning of these three words living for God is quite broad. In brief, it means to receive God as your life for your entire life. God will lead you to live on the earth for Him. In other words, God will lead you to express Him on this earth by going to every place, every country, and every nation to testify on His behalf and to lead people to know Him.
Due to the advancement of transportation in recent times, the world has become a smaller place. People all over the earth are able to communicate with each other. The world situation today is surely full of darkness and wickedness, and the primary reason is that men do not know God or receive God. If they knew God, they would get out of darkness and enter into light, staying away from wickedness and drawing near to good. Therefore, all the people on the six major continents of the whole globe need to hear the gospel and know the true God so that they can be saved out of darkness into light and out of corruption into the eternal life. Now who will go and do this? Certainly it is you, the younger generation. You should believe in Jesus and receive Him as your life and Savior. Not only so, you should have a great resolve and make a great plan before Him to live for Him.
Learning Languages to Bear Witness for the Lord
I would advise you to study hard and endeavor to learn some languages, because one day you will all go for God to different parts of the world to bear witness, to preach the gospel, and to lead people to know God. Today the most common languages are Chinese, English, Spanish, German, French, and Japanese. I hope that as young people you can study hard and endeavor to learn some languages, letting no one despise your youth but being patterns to many. You can choose to learn one or two languages besides your mother tongue.
In addition, I would like to ask the young brothers and sisters to put forth an extra effort in studying Greek. This will be a great help in understanding the Bible. Perhaps in the future some of you will labor to study Hebrew, which is a real necessity in studying the Old Testament. If you are willing to devote and equip yourselves in the study of languages and become proficient in them, after your graduation it will be easy for you to find a job in any profession. In this way you can easily earn a living and live for the Lord without much difficulty. Even if you go abroad, because you have a few languages as your tools, you will be able to live conveniently while bearing witness for the Lord.
I hope that in the next ten years Taiwan can produce five hundred thousand young people to go all over the world as the Lord’s witnesses. I believe that because of your testimony of the Lord in all the tribes and nations in the world, people will be led out of darkness into light. This will not only be for your own honor or for God to be glorified; this will also bring great honor to our nation.
A TESTIMONY
I was born and raised in Christianity and educated in Christianity. Before I was twenty, even though I often went to Christian worship services and also listened to the words of the Bible, I was not saved. I had not had personal contact with the Lord, nor had I personally received Him as my Savior. I did not receive the Lord Jesus until I was nineteen years old. Seven years later, the Lord raised up a church in my hometown through my testimony for Him. From the day I was saved, I had a feeling within me: “Lord Jesus, I want to spend my whole life serving You and bearing witness for You.” It can be said that at that moment I had a great resolve and made a great plan to spend my entire life to live for Jesus and to study the Bible.
In the past sixty years, I cannot say that I have had any academic accomplishments, but I can testify that all that I have learned and obtained, as well as my entire heart, are for the Lord Jesus. Initially, I had hoped to stay in my hometown, carrying my Bible bag, preaching Jesus village by village, county by county, and city by city, bearing witness for the Lord. However, in His good pleasure He brought me from northern China to southern China, causing me to travel to many places on both sides of the Yangtze River. He also brought me from mainland China overseas to Taiwan, and then He brought me to Southeast Asia for ten years. Later, He brought me from Taiwan to the United States, and I have been living in the United States for more than twenty years. Today I truly worship the Lord from within my heart, as Judges 5:31 says, “O Jehovah. / …may those who love Him be like the sun / When it rises in its might.”
MAY THOSE WHO LOVE THE LORD
BE LIKE THE SUN WHEN IT RISES IN ITS MIGHT
Young brothers and sisters, I hope that from the days of your youth you will have a great resolve and make a great plan to live for the Lord. May you all travel to all parts of the world and to all the nations, using different languages to bear testimony for the Lord Jesus, glorifying Him so that you may also share in His glory. May your future be, as the Bible says, “Like the sun / When it rises in its might.” May the Lord bless you according to these words you have heard.
[A Blessed Human Life, Chapter 3. A message given in the graduation meeting of the young people’s training in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 2, 1987]
Recent Comments