Week 2, second companion meeting
Song: Jesus, O Living Word of God ( https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/74 )
- Jesus, O living Word of God,
Wash me and cleanse me with Your blood
So You can speak to me.
Just let me hear Your words of grace,
Just let me see Your radiant face,
Beholding constantly.
Jesus, living Word,
My heart thirsts for Thee;
Of Thee I’d eat and drink,
Enjoy Thee thoroughly. - Jesus, most precious One to me,
I want to seek You constantly
So you can spread through me.
I would just call upon Your name,
Open to you; I have no shame
Loving You, Jesus Lord.
Jesus, precious One,
Be so real to me.
You are all I want;
I open wide to Thee. - Jesus, Oh living One in me,
Open my eyes that I might see
All that You are to me.
Just let me enter in Your heart,
Never from You would I depart,
Loving You constantly.
Jesus, living One,
Flood me thoroughly;
Take my willing heart
And overcome in me. - Lord I want You to have Your way,
Save me from being Satan’s prey,
I am believing You.
All I can give to You, my Lord,
Is my whole being, love outpoured;
Lord, I belong to You.
Jesus, faithful God,
Gain us through and through;
Use us thoroughly
To see Your purpose through.
John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
Reading the Word to Contact God Himself
When we contact the Word, we need to be clear that we are contacting God Himself. Whenever we open the Bible, our first thought should be to contact the living God. The living God has breathed out all that is within Himself as the Word. All the riches within Him are breathed out in the form of the word. Every word of the Bible, from the first to the last, is the breath of God. The Bible is not for us to study philosophy or literature. It is for us to contact what God has breathed out, what He has exhaled.
Brothers and sisters, this is not a light matter. Unless we have the concept that we are coming to God and contacting Him, our focus will be wrong. The first thought we should have, the first step we should take, when we open the Scriptures is to prepare ourselves to contact God. We are reading what God has breathed out. God has breathed His breath upon these words. We should not have the thought that we are reading teachings or literature. Rather, we are altogether contacting the manifested God, the God who has revealed Himself through His speaking. The God who dwells in unapproachable light, who cannot be touched or known, has revealed Himself through the Word. In fact He Himself is the Word, and He is embodied in the Word. Now He has put the Word, which is His breath, before us. When we study the Word, contact the Word, we are actually contacting God Himself.
Many people ask why they do not receive anything when they read the Word. I would like to ask, “When you read the Word, do you have the thought that you are coming to a book of letters, or do you have the thought that you are coming to the living word that has been breathed out from God?” This thought is very crucial. Many brothers and sisters do not have this thought when they come to the Word. They think that they are reading merely words printed on paper. At the most they think that they are studying teachings, commandments, or doctrines. It is no wonder that they do not receive a living supply. We need a consciousness that the Bible is the Word of God; it is God’s speaking. God has released Himself through His speaking. He is embodied in the Bible. Hence, when we come to the Bible, we should have the consciousness that we are contacting the revealed and released God. We are not touching merely letters; we are touching the living God. We are not touching merely teachings; we are touching a God who has breathed Himself out. In order to properly approach the Word, we must have this thought and prepare ourselves accordingly.
God’s children need to see that whenever we come to His Word, we should be convicted in our heart that this Word is the speaking forth of the living God. We should not study it with our mind; instead, we should contact it with our spirit. There is no need to understand the Bible too much. Please give me the liberty to say that for many people, the more they understand the Bible, the worse their spiritual life becomes. This is not a matter of “understanding” the Bible but a matter of “contacting” the Bible. The Bible is indeed a wonderful book. The way to approach it is not to understand it but to contact it, touch it, and enjoy it.
Once a young brother asked me whether reading the Bible was useful since he did not understand much of what he read. He said, “I read the second half of the book of Exodus, and all I saw was the materials, the construction, and the dimensions of the tabernacle. The more I read, the more confused I am. What is the purpose of reading?” I answered, “Dear brother, let me suggest an experiment. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, change the way that you read, and see if there is a difference.” The next day he came to me and said, “Brother Lee, there is a difference. This morning when I opened up the book of Exodus, I still did not understand much of what I read, but I had the intention of coming to God and putting myself under His shining.” I said, “Brother, this is very precious. This is the right way.” When we read the Word, we should place ourselves under the shining of God’s light. We may read twenty-five chapters of Exodus, and our mind may lack understanding and be totally confused. However, after fifteen minutes of coming to the Word in this way, we feel as if we have passed under God’s shining. We will be inwardly refreshed, cleansed, and enlightened. This is the most valuable kind of reading.
This does not mean that we do not need to understand or remember anything when we read the Word, but understanding and memorization are secondary. Our primary need is to pass through God’s shining whenever we read the Word. The Bible is a book for us to contact rather than to understand. We contact sunshine every day even though we do not understand it. We do not understand water, but we contact it every day. To contact is one thing, and to understand is another. Similarly, to receive is one thing, and to comprehend is another. The Bible is not primarily for comprehension but for communication and reception. Whenever we read God’s Word, if we acknowledge that it is His very speaking and contact it with our spirit, our inner being will touch God and receive Him. (How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, Chapter 6)
Questions
- Share one thing you enjoyed from today’s group time or from this week’s Spring Pursuit.
- Has your morning time and Bible reading improved since the Spring Pursuit? Share with the others in what ways.
- What things or persons are on your heart that you would like your companions to pray for?
- If your friend were to ask you what you get out of reading the Bible, how would you answer them?
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