Daily Portions

Great Searchings of Heart

Morning revival verses

Day 3

Judges 4:6–9 And she sent word and called to Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, Jehovah the God of Israel has indeed commanded: Go and deploy your forces on Mount Tabor; and take with you ten thousand men from the children of Naphtali and from the children of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his throng, toward you at the river Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand. 8 And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go. 9 And she said, I will surely go with you. However there will be no glory for you on the journey you are taking, for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah rose up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Today’s Reading

If we love the Lord and desire to live for Him and please Him, we will choose to [preach the gospel]. This is the type of life that the Lord wants us to live, and this is also the way to please Him. We must be determined….[This] is difficult….[However,] such difficulty is worthwhile. May we be those who look to the Lord for His grace to have such a determination.

Judges 5:15-16 says, “Among the divisions (watercourses, streams) 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.” As Jacob’s firstborn, Reuben should have been preeminent in dignity and power. However, he committed a gross sin when he defiled his father’s concubine (Gen. 49:3-4). His descendants were children of a sinner, but there were watercourses among them. According to Psalm 23:2 and Jeremiah 17:7-8, watercourses signify God and His grace. This means that God’s grace came upon the descendants of Reuben. Some of his descendants were sitting beside the watercourses, beside God, and by the grace of God, they had great resolutions of heart and great searchings of heart for the kingdom of God. Some of Reuben’s descendants, however, enjoyed sitting among the sheepfolds to hear the pipings for the flocks. This means that they rested and did not move, because they desired a life of ease, comfort, and amusement. Likewise, many saints are not willing to receive the grace of God in order to have great resolutions of heart and great searchings of heart, because they desire a life of ease and comfort.

Human life is wicked and corrupt, but we have watercourses of God’s grace by which we can have great resolutions of heart and great searchings of heart. Many saints do not make resolutions, because they yearn for a life of ease and comfort. To settle down is to live a life of ease, comfort, and pleasure, but to migrate is laborious and difficult. However, settling down will not enable us to enjoy God’s grace. Migration is the way for us to enjoy the grace of God. Do we want to ignore God’s grace by settling down to enjoy ease and comfort? Or do we want to be supplied by His grace to go out and enjoy more grace? Do we want to sit restfully among the sheepfolds and listen to pleasant music? Or do we want to be at the watercourses of God’s grace to have great resolutions of heart and great searchings of heart for the Lord? May we be willing to flee the enjoyment of our own ease and comfort in order to draw near to the grace of God. [Serving According to Revelation, chapter 8]

Great Searchings of Heart

Morning revival verses

Day 2

Matthew 24:3 And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, When will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming and of the consummation of the age?

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us? And I said, Here am I; send me.

Today’s Reading

Grasping the Opportunity to Sow Seeds

[We] should grasp the opportunity to preach the gospel to the people around us. The students should grasp the opportunity to preach the gospel to their classmates. This can be compared to sowing seeds. We are bound to have results if we sow many seeds. Even though our sowing may seem ineffective today, after twenty years a classmate or a friend may remember what we said and be saved. Many people have this testimony. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said, “In this the saying is true, One sows and another reaps” (John 4:37). The young saints should sow seeds today, and it may be that twenty years from now someone in Europe will reap the harvest. God will add the ones who are saved to our account. Therefore, we must sow the seeds. Paul says, “Proclaim the word; be ready in season and out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2).

COORDINATING TO PREACH THE GOSPEL [IN THE SCHOOLS]

There is a new arrangement in the church….The young people on the…campuses and the full-timers must work together to fight for the gospel. They can coordinate together to lead [students] to study the Bible or to have meetings in order to be saved. I hope that every [student] can lead two classmates to salvation in one semester. Then they will all have two new ones. The students can bring in four new ones in one year. There are now more than one thousand three hundred students attending the training. According to our calculations, by this time next year there will be more than five thousand students if every student leads four people to salvation in a year. We should not say that this is not easy to achieve; it all depends on us. Some of the young people can lead even twelve people to salvation in a year. We need to make great resolutions in heart and have great searchings of heart (Judg. 5:15-16). [The Fullness of God, chapter 8]

Great Searchings of Heart

(The church is repeating the previous week’s morning revival.)

Morning revival verses

Day 1

Revelation 6:1–8 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying like the sound of thunder, Come. 2 And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Today’s Reading

GOD’S NEED

Those who know the principles in God’s work know that He needs people to work with Him. In order for God to give grace to man or work in man, there must be someone who works and cooperates with God. This is a principle revealed in the Bible. If no one works or cooperates with God, He will not have a way to give grace to man or to work in man. God’s desire for man can be carried out only if He finds someone on earth to cooperate with Him. God’s intention concerning His work in man can be carried out only if He finds someone on earth who will work with Him.

When God wanted to speak to the children of Israel and to work among them, He first asked Isaiah, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” (Isa. 6:8). Although God had already decided to speak to the children of Israel and to work in their midst, He had to find someone on earth who would work with Him according to His mind. God is still calling and looking for people. He wants to preach the gospel unto the uttermost part of the earth so that all the nations could receive His salvation (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8; 13:47). However, He must first find and gain people on the earth who will cooperate with Him and work with Him according to His mind. As long as there are those who are of the same mind as God and who are willing to work with Him, God’s work will be carried out on the earth by them. If God cannot find such ones on the earth, His desire and plan will remain in heaven, but it will not be carried out or fulfilled on the earth. God can carry out on earth what He has planned in heaven only when He finds people who will cooperate with Him.

God’s principle is not that man would wait for God to work but that He would wait for man to work. God has done everything that is necessary to carry out His work. The problem is that man is not ready. It seems as if we are waiting for God to work, but God is waiting for us to cooperate. God wants to save people on the earth, but He needs to find those who will cooperate and work with Him. God is always ready. As soon as He finds someone to cooperate and work with Him, He immediately begins to carry out His work on the earth. This is proved by our experience and by the past centuries of church history.

We often hope that God would come and work on earth. We have the mistaken concept that we need to petition Him to work. God has a desire to work on the earth, but He has been waiting for us to work with Him on the earth. God wants to spread His gospel all over Taiwan. He wants to have a church in every city in Taiwan. There is no need for us to petition Him to be willing to do this. God is willing to spread the gospel unto the uttermost part of the earth and to disciple all the nations (Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:19). “The uttermost part of the earth” and “all the nations” surely include the residents of Taiwan. God has been waiting for a long time to spread His gospel across Taiwan. But whom can He send? Who is willing to go for Him? God still has this question, and He is still eagerly inquiring, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” May we hear His voice and respond to His desperate need.

The problem related to God’s work on the earth is entirely with us, not with Him. God has prepared everything. He is waiting for us to cooperate with Him. The amount of work that He can carry out depends on how much cooperation we render Him. The strength with which He will carry out His work depends on the degree of our cooperation with Him. Whether He will be expressed through us depends on how much we will cooperate with Him. If our cooperation is weak, His expression will be weak, but if our cooperation is strong, His expression will be strong. His work depends on us and is limited by us. The extent to which His desire can be fulfilled on earth depends on how much we cooperate with Him. His desire is limited by whether we are of one mind with Him. How we need to be of one mind with Him and have His desire in order to meet His need and render Him adequate cooperation! May many among us be one with Him in His inward parts to care for His desire. May many among us have great resolutions in heart and great searchings of heart for His work…so that He would have a free way among us. [Serving According to Revelation, chapter 7]

The All-inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man, part 10

Living the Life of the One New Man instead of Our Culture by Learning Christ as the Reality Is in Jesus

Morning revival verses

Day 4 / Thursday

1 John 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.

Day 5 / Friday

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

John 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing, for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner.

Day 6 / Saturday

John 7:18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him, this One is true, and unrighteousness is not in Him.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

Reading portion 2

Life-study of Ephesians, message 48.

Podcast 2

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:00 — 23.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The All-inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man, part 9

Living the Life of the One New Man instead of Our Culture by Learning Christ as the Reality Is in Jesus

Morning revival verses

Day 1 / Monday

Ephesians 4:20-21 But you did not so learn Christ, 21 If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus.

Matthew 14:19 And after commanding the crowds to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.

Day 2 / Tuesday

Ephesians 4:22-24 That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, 23 And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind 24 And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.

Day 3 / Wednesday

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.

John 5:30 I can do nothing from Myself; as I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 8:28 Jesus therefore said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and that I do nothing from Myself, but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things.

Reading portion 1

Life-study of Ephesians, message 46.

Podcast 1

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:00 — 23.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The All-inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man, part 8

Being Renewed Day by Day with the Fresh Supply of the Resurrection Life

Morning revival verses

Day 4 / Thursday

Ephesians 2:15 Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.

Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.

Day 5 / Friday

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

Ephesians 4:22–23 That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man…, 23 And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Day 6 / Saturday

Colossians 3:1–2 If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth.

Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Reading portion 2

Life-study of Ephesians, message 94.

Podcast 2

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:00 — 23.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The All-inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man, part 7

Being Renewed Day by Day with the Fresh Supply of the Resurrection Life

Morning revival verses

Day 1 / Monday

Ephesians 4:22 That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.

Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves.

Day 2 / Tuesday

Colossians 3:10–11 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

Day 3 / Wednesday

Ephesians 4:17 This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind,

Ephesians 4:23–24 And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind 24 And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.

Reading portion 1

Life-study of Colossians, message 33.

Podcast 1

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:00 — 5.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS