From The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life, Chapter 12.
THE SECRET TO EXPERIENCING FREEDOM IN THE SPIRIT—
HAVING OUR HEART OPEN TO THE LORD
The Lord is in us, and if we let Him move freely in us and obey Him more, He will have the ground in us and will expand in us. The Spirit of the Lord will also be able to operate, for the Lord is the Spirit. Once that Spirit operates, moves, and enters into our mind, our mind is free. When He enters into our emotion, our emotion is released. When He enters into our entire being, our entire being is released and free. For example, there is a brother in the church life who is fresh and living. Twenty years ago he was fresh and living, and twenty years later he is still fresh and living. When you see him in Shanghai, he is fresh and living. When you see him in Hong Kong, he is fresh and living. And when you see him in Taiwan, he is still fresh and living. It seems that he has never been depressed. His secret is that his spirit is free and fresh. Once there is even a small amount of bondage in his spirit, he kneels down and prays to the Lord. He asks the Lord for forgiveness and the cleansing of His blood. His heart is always toward the Lord. Therefore, his spirit is free. Once his spirit is free, he is free—his mind, emotion, and will are all free.
Is this kind of person free from having any burdens, difficulties, or pain? If we were to ask him, he would tell us that his burdens, difficulties, and pain are by no means lighter than ours. The difference is that he always allows the Spirit to be free and endeavors to always keep his heart toward the Lord. Every time that a burden or a difficulty comes, he simply turns to the Lord and says to Him, “O Lord, I give this to You.” Satan does not stop working, so burdens and difficulties still come to him one after another, but he keeps turning to the Lord and saying to Him, “O Lord, I give this to You.” Again and again, he allows the Spirit to be free in this way.
We should never say that we can sing praises to the Lord only when we do not have any difficulty or burden. Freedom depends upon the Spirit’s being able to spread out of us. The Spirit is in us, and in order for Him to spread out of us, our heart must be open. We should not be afraid of burdens and difficulties. When the burdens and difficulties come, we must turn our heart to the Lord. Regardless of what the environments may be, what troublesome matters there are, what the desires of our heart are, what decisions or determinations there are to be made, our heart must be open to the Lord. This is the secret.
In John 3:8 the Holy Spirit is likened to the wind, and everyone who is born of the Spirit is likened to the blowing wind. Once we open the windows, the wind comes into the house and fills it. Similarly, once our heart opens, the Spirit comes out and enters into our mind, emotion, and will. The Spirit is freedom, and where the Spirit is, there is freedom. Once the Spirit gets into our mind, emotion, and will, we are released, transcendent, and free. Outwardly, the environment does not change, and we still have difficulties upon us. Yet our heart within us is full of freedom. There are many burdens upon us, yet our heart is released. This freedom, this release, is the Spirit. We all have had this kind of experience. We have difficulties, burdens, problems, and pains, yet whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the Spirit within us comes out and enters into our emotion, mind, and will, causing our entire being to be free and released.
WHEREVER THERE IS FREEDOM, THERE BEING GLORY
Whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Then we with unveiled face are able to meet the Lord face to face and behold His glory. The Lord is the Spirit, the Spirit is freedom, and freedom is glory, which is God expressed. How do we know that we are experiencing glory? It is the same as freedom. Whenever we feel released, comfortable, and easy, that is freedom. Whenever we feel noble, honorable, and transcendent, that is glory. When the saints are going to a movie, they have a feeling within them that they should not go. However, some of them struggle within, do not obey, and still go. Then when they arrive at the theater, they have no peace, so they look around to see if there are any other brothers or sisters there. Then they quickly go into the theater. When they go home after the movie, they feel that they are so low and cannot stand upright. When they come to the meeting, they surely will not lift up their head. Their spirit will not be able to rise up. What kind of feeling is this? Is this glory? It is not. In fact, this kind of feeling is the opposite of glory.
Suppose you want to go to the movies, but because you do not have peace within, you say to the Lord, “O Lord, I love You. I want to please You.” Then after saying this, you do not go. As a result, you will be a transcendent Christian, and when you go to the meeting, you will be soaring inside. This is not pride; it is a bright, shining, and transcendent feeling that comes from having the presence of the Lord and the beauty and joy of the Lord. This is glory. Such an experience cannot be described. It is clear, shining, and glorious, and it causes you to feel comfortable. This is the experience of glory. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom, and where there is freedom, there is glory.
Even if he does not go to the movies, if a normal Christian loses his temper a little at home, when he sees the saints, he will feel cowardly and will be afraid of seeing their faces. Why is this? It is because he feels low and lacking within. He is not released. However, if he overcomes at home and allows the Lord to have the ground, when he sees a saint in the distance, he will immediately catch up with him and greet him. In addition, others will see that his face is shining just like Moses’ face shone with glory. Such a condition is the result of seeing the glory of the Lord face to face.
BEING TRANSFORMED INTO THE IMAGE OF THE LORD FROM GLORY TO GLORY
Second Corinthians 3:18 also includes the phrase reflecting like a mirror. If we have our face covered with a veil, there will be a barrier between the light and us. It is not until we have the veil taken away that our face and the light can be face to face. Then we can see the light. This is like the reflecting of a mirror. Because the Spirit is in us, we have freedom, our face is unveiled to the Lord, and we are face to face with Him. His glory shines upon our face, and we reflect His glory like a mirror. We cannot pretend to do this. Only when we meet a brother who has God’s shining and glory on his face, will we immediately feel God’s presence and sense that God is being expressed.
Many times when we meet one of the saints, we groan within and are sad. Although this one is a believer, he seems to have fallen down to the ground. He is unable to get up and cannot move. On the other hand, sometimes when we meet one of the saints, we bow down and worship the Lord, realizing that this is a man who is ascendant and standing upright. He is a man who is standing on the ground and reaching to the heavens. He is active and is able to fight. We sense that this man has glory—the glory of God is on his face. This is glory. Where does this glory come from? It comes from having freedom. What is freedom? Freedom is the Spirit. And who is the Spirit? The Spirit is the Lord. The four—the Lord, the Spirit, freedom, and glory—are actually one.
When our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Then our entire being is set free, and we reflect like a mirror. Eventually, we see the glory of the Lord, and from this glory to the ultimate glory, we are being transformed into the image of the Lord. This very image is glory. People will be able to see the Lord, the image of the Lord, in us. Where does this image come from? It comes from glory, and this glory comes from freedom, freedom comes from the Spirit, and the Spirit is the Lord Himself. Where is this Spirit? This Spirit is in our spirit. The Lord is the Spirit, and He is in our spirit. When our heart loves Him and opens to Him, He comes out. And when He comes out, when He moves, He is the Spirit. Whenever the Lord moves and acts, He is the Spirit; and whenever the Spirit comes out and enters into our mind, emotion, and will, He is freedom. Then the Spirit of the Lord is in our entire being, and our entire being is set free. This freedom is glory, which is the presence of God and the expression of God. This makes us feel noble, honorable, and glorious. This is glory, and this is the image of the Lord.
If day by day we love the Lord and give Him the opportunities, day by day the Lord will spread out from within us. Then we will grow and be transformed day by day. Ultimately, we will be transformed into the image of the Lord. Originally, we had only the Lord within us, but through transformation we will have the image of the Lord within us. This image is the Lord Himself. People will realize that we have a certain condition. This condition is the image of the Lord. We can also call this a condition of having glory, freedom, release, the presence of the Lord, and the Lord’s Spirit. These five things are actually one. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. When we have freedom, our face is unveiled to see the glory of the Lord. Then, from glory to glory, we are transformed into the image of the Lord.
When the Lord lives out from within us, we grow and become mature. Therefore, we need to open our heart to the Lord and let Him spread out from our spirit into our mind, emotion, and will. Once He enters into these parts of us, we are free, we have glory, and we are honorable. At this time we have His image. When our mind is like His mind, our desires are like His desires, and our decisions are like His decisions, we will have His image.
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