Again

Even our Jesus had to go through this.

Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by devil.  Matt. 4:1

The test was between Jesus and devil, and it was arranged, .. led .. by the Spirit, … to be tempted.

In our spiritual life, or our daily life, we do, sometimes, have to face very serious temptation, like Jesus, such trial is like to put us into wilderness, we have to face it all by ourselves, the loneliness, the stress, really can drive us wild.

No exception for Jesus, He faced it solely by Himself.

And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He became hungry. Matt. 4:2

As Bible says, .. afterward He became hungry .. And the tempter came ..,

And the tempter came and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, speak that these stones may become loaves of bread. Matt. 4:3

Very straight, the devil targeted at our basic need, when He .. became hungry.  When the devil tempted the first man, Adam, he was using the same scheme, eat, because such need is of the uttermost importance to us.  The devil said to Jesus, as Son of God, you can play magic, to change the stones into the loaves of bread.

But He answered and said, It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God ” Matt. 4:4

It is for certain that Jesus was hungry, .. forty days and forty nights.., but He said, .. Man shall not live on .. every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.

We can write down ‘carrot’, and imagine the taste, but whatever we use any special font, bold, or underlined, ‘c a r r o t’ is not carrot.

Same as Jesus, He knew what can really meet His need, .. every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God, because, 

.. the flesh profits nothing, the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.  John 6:63

Meaning, only the word is life, for the word itself .. proceeds out through the mouth of God, every word of Holy Spirit out through the mouth of God gives real life.

The devil continued,

And said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down; for it is written, “To His angels He shall give charge concerning You, and on their hands they shall bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.”  Matt.4:6

Jesus said to him, Again, it is written, “You shall not test the Lord your God.” Matt. 4:7

Devil said, jump, you’ll be saved.  This Jesus only replied, .. You shall not test the Lord your God, or God is watching.

If we trace the origin of this verse, it is in Exodus, when the people of Israel thirsted, they urged Moses to get water, and Jehovah said,

I will be standing before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock and water will come out of it .. Exo. 17:6

And he called the name of the place Massah .. because they tested Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us or not ? Exo. 17:7

So when Jesus said to devil, do not test Lord, what He meant is, when devil, you are testing me, actually you are tempting God Himself.  Do you think the God is not between us ?

The first, and second tests, both aim at our very basic need, the first is the hunger, for the second, though now the level of the test had been escalated by the devil, originally it was also from the handling the thirst of Israelite, so both tests were to challenge the very weakness of Jesus as a man, His need, and by luring Him, to test Lord, so in the second time, Jesus stressed, do no tempt God.

Then the devil repeated his strategy, the first two tests pointed to the need in the flesh, this one was about where the mind centered at, about which part of the thoughts was the center of His interest.

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Matt. 4:8

Again, the devil made it to take Jesus to the peak of a mountain, and showed Him a territory which was in the world, and full of glory, ..a land flowing with milk and honey, and he furthered on,

And he said to Him, All these will I give You if You will fall down and worship me. Matt. 4:9

The devil was saying, .. fall down .., be interested.

Then Jesus said to him, Go away. Satan ! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” Matt. 4:10

Jesus said, .. You shall worship the Lord your God.., and out.  His only interest, only goal was God, not any specific area in world.

In Jesus mind, in His thoughts, the definition of kingdom, the kingdom of the heavens is,

.. The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field..But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares .. Collect first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them up ..  Matt. 13:24-30

and the future for the kingdom of world is … Collect first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them up.  So the devil’s attempt to entice Jesus with the worldly pleasure interested Him not.

From today’s lesson, what we’ve learned, first, the devil’s scheme is never beyond the limit of certain areas in our life, like our need, food, water, our thoughts, second, when we are experiencing such torture, exactly like Jesus, we should realize, it’s from God, ..led .. by the Spirit.., or we can say, God is testing us, if we are weak in this point, the devil will make it to ..test the Lord your God.., but if we hold it tight, keep it firm in our belief, also exactly like Jesus, we will make it to resist the temptation, then, like always, the devil failed, again.

So in this life giving spiritual experience, God keeps testing us, again and again, till fills us up with the word that proceeds out through His mouth, with the life.  And the tempter, the devil will fail, again.

Division

Now I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion  1 Cor. 1:10

Paul exhorted, no divisions, but to one. 

For it has been made clear to me concerning you, my brothers, .. that there are strifes among you. it   1 Cor. 1:11

Because the disparity in the opinion and mind cause the strife, and undermined the belief of the saints.

A typical example is, Newton used to put his watch into boiling water, and thought he was boiling an egg.   His mind and thoughts were saying different things at the same moment, his concentration was on his scientific work, science, science .., while his mind went somewhere else, eat.  So there is division.  And the division causes the strife.  In the case of Newton, the strife is among, his invention work that took his full attention, and the cognition of where the watch was suppose to be at, and lastly, the need, to eat.  The concentration was fulfilling it duty quietly, the ‘eat’ was free-willed, and the watch was like saying to Newton, where I belong to, your wrist, your hand, or elsewhere, like in boiling water.

And the result of the division, incidentally, in Newton’s eyes, becomes a new invention in concept,  the time tastes exactly like the egg especially when the watch is heated.

I thank God that I baptized none of you except .. 1 Cor. 1:14

Paul opened up again, the suggestion is, the less the better, the fewer the minds, the opinions, the higher the level of the concentration.

In a word, focus.

That as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:31

Focus on the belief, on the target of our faith, and set as our goal.

In the example of Newton, as human, Newton can only be either a great scientist but the yolk of the watch will knock his teeth out, or his invention might cause natural disaster, earth quake or famine, while the taste of egg makes sense to him.  We are not beyond our limit.

Let’s boast in Lord.  As long as we keep ourselves in Spirit, if we can, all the time, we really can challenge the limit of switching around freely, and of course in time.  The strength is from we are in the Spirit.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, came not according to excellence of speech or of wisdom, announcing to you the mystery of God. 1 Cor. 2:1

But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which Good predestined before the ages for our glory. 1 Cor. 2:7

So Paul furthered on.

The concentrate in Lord, the focus are truly beyond any human wisdom, it is a status, inexplicably, when we are in it, we are in it, it is a …mystery of God, .. which has been hidden …, as mysterious as God Himself, for we’ve never behold of Him.

But as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart, things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  1 Cor. 2:9

For the things we’ve never seen, heard, come across, but God has arranged for us, who love Him.

But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.  1 Cor. 2:9

Then, the Spirit leads us into this mystery, to search, to discover.  When we are not in the Spirit, like Newton, watch is watch, egg is egg, he is somewhere else doing his task, but whenever we are in the Spirit, we can actually heat the time, and to the point it becomes edible.

For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him ?  In the same way, the things of God also no one has known except the Spirit of God. 1 Cor. 2:10

Which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.  1 Cor. 2:13

This is to reinforce the previous verse, strengthening the point, the things of God also no one has known ex-cept the Spirit of God.., inter-preting spiritual things.

But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.  1 Cor. 2:15

For who has known the mind of the Lord and will instruct Him ?  1 Cor. 2:16

But, such lesson can only be taught by God Himself, through the Spirit, to instruct. The reason is,

And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ. 1 Cor. 3:1

We are fleshy, we have division, we are fleshy, we have strife, we are fleshy, we can’t solely concentrate, we are fleshy, so we have to be in Spirit from time to time, thus to switch freely.  And this lesson has to be taught by God Himself.

And Paul continued,

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. .. 1 Cor. 3:2

If not being taught, how can we eat the solid food, if not being led, how can we learn to always hold the Spirit within.

Then Paul added the weight,

I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.  So then neither is he who plants anything nor he who waters, but God who causes the growth. 1 Cor. 3:6-7

Whatever if there is ‘seed’ I planted, or nutrition watered, only God can cause the growth.

The work of each will become manifest; for the day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire, and the fire itself will prove each one’s work, of what sort it is. 1 Cor. 3:13

By the time, at the end of the day, the work of each will be revealed by the fire from God.  By the time, if this moment we are like Newton, all the points we get are only heated watch.

If anyone’s work is consumed, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1 Cor. 3:15

But if we are losing our piece of work, we would be like going through the fire, being totally consumed, but we will be saved, for the effort we’ve made, sweaters we’ve dropped, and the time we’ve taken.

It is a hard lesson to learn, and it brings a whole set of the challenges of being beyond ourselves, eliminating the division in the belief, attuning in one, while at the same time, keeping the Spirit tightly within us, for all the time.  This can only be learned from God, in time.

The thing

Paul was giving us a huge theme, all things.

I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you Phil. 1:3

All parts of his remembrance, every piece of his mind.

Always in my every petition on behalf of you all, making my petition with joy.  Phil. 1:4

All the prayers, petitions.

For your fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now.  Phil. 1:5

From the first day until now, all of the time.

.. your love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all discernment.  Phil. 1:9

In saints and in him, full knowledge, all discernment, and the abounding love.

For God is my witness how I long after you all in the inward parts of Christ Jesus.  Phil. 1:8

Even all from within himself.

His memory, his mind, his prayer, his knowledge, his love, and his body, all of himself, and then he said,

But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things ..  Phil. 3:8

The ‘All’ Paul, is a sufferer of .. loss of all things, and the ‘nothing’ Paul is talking about all things.

And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith,  Phil. 3:9

For he has found something, not even the .. righteousness which is out of the law …but that which is through faith .., the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith.

And, there is further more,

Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Phil. 3:12

Paul was saying, even as this ‘nothing’ Paul, he .. obtained .. perfected, and still .. pursue, what he had obtained, and what had perfected him was the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith, these were what he had found in his belief.

Then he added,

What then ? Only that in every way, .., Christ is announced; and in this I rejoice; yes I will rejoice;  Phil. 1:18

In every way, he rejoiced, in every way, he had .. suffered the loss of all things .. in every way, he rejoiced, for the word of God was being made known, the truth of God was being revealed, the meaning of His word was being cherished and enjoyed.

Then he continued,

But if I am to live in the flesh, if this to me is fruit for my work, then I do not know what I will choose.  Phil. 1:22

Torture from the dilemma of to be or not to be, for the .. loss of all things .., even his emotion is from the inward parts of Christ Jesus…, not to be, but,

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.  Phil. 1:24

But the need,

And being confident of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of the faith.  Phil. 1:25

The need to be with all, to progress forward together with all, to have the joy of the faith with all, the need from this ‘nothing’ Paul is to be with all, ..to be.

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  Phil. 4:6

With such .. confident of this .., Paul said, .. In nothing be anxious, .. or for him, truly nothing can cause anxiety to him, and accordingly everything can be a prayer and petition with thanksgiving, and let the requests be made known to God

And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:7

For the ‘nothing but all’ Paul, by putting his attention only on his God, and faith, instead of anything in life that can be deprived of, or temporarily, or actually by inwardly attached to, or leaning on the Lord living within, his seeming ‘noneness’ life was actually lived up to one of joy, satisfaction, liveliness, hopefulness, and of all the meanings.

.. God is my witness how I long after you all .. and in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving.

Nothing but everything, to be, not to be, but all.

Faith Establisher

Our salvation is not at all easy, more than just to read or try to recite the verses, or even to understand and to be inscribed in heart, it actually will be a very complicated and entangling experience.

For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established; Rom. 1:11

Paul expressed the urge to make known such knowledge which would lead to an end of ..be established.

That is, that I with you may be encouraged among you through the faith which is in one another, both yours and mine. Rom. 1:12

And the content of the spiritual truth which will be established within the saints, then for them to gain the salvation, is the faith.

For now, the meaning of the salvation has exceeded our understanding toward verses in the textual format.  Yes, the salvation is organic, like for everything, there is a requirement, need, there is a process.

But I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members.  Rom. 7:23

For the law works out wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.  Rom. 4:15

Like we said before there are two laws within us, one is of flesh, one is spiritual, in the above verses, one is ..law in my members .., the law works out wrath.., and the spiritual one is .. the law of my mind …, these two laws are warring against each other, the law of flesh is to capture, the law of spirit is to free, so the problem is .. transgression.

Let’s see it this way.  Everybody is living in a shell, we can call it ..law in my members .. , the law of the flesh, we are moody, it’s a shell, we feel the anguish, we fall in the shall, we are in temper, the shell, when we are in such mood or condition, . we are .. a captive to the law.. of flesh.  And the law of the spirit is about anything abovementioned without, so that is, feel free.  As long as there is any stimulus making us sad, anguished etc., it becomes a transgression that would evoke the operating of the law of flesh within us, and to capture us.  We are living in a shell, and there is a need,

For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man,  Rom. 7:22

To follow the law of spirit, to feel free.

From establishing the faith within us, we are to be free from the shell.

For the righteousness of God is revealed in it out of faith to faith, as it is written, “But the righteous shall have life and live by faith.”  Rom. 1:17

The process is organic and lively ( for it is to free and give new life ), God Himself is to process and be a faith establisher.

As we can imagine, energy transmitting is between generally similar objects, same for the life thing, God is to transmit the righteousness from faith to faith, from His Mighty faith to our mini faith, and after the transmission, the righteousness becomes our life, and the part of His much more stronger, solid, consolidated faith becomes one we live by, throughout the life.

The whole procedure is not as abstract as above description.

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that God’s kindness is leading you to repentance ?  Rom. 2:4

We should use different version of explanation, it helps to have a clearer view of God during the process,

You surely don’t think much of God’s wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don’t you know that the reason God is good to you is because He wants you to turn to Him?

We should remember this is a life giving process from which God is to free us from our shell, and during the time, He is .. wonderfully good.., patient, with all willingness, and the only motion He wants from us, or is needed from us, is .. turn to Him. This is so close, to Him.

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption .. Rom. 3:24

To save our whole life, He is justifying us freely, so as to give a complete, overall redemption, to soundly establish the faith within us.

For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me Rom. 8:2

To be freed from law of our flesh, free from feeling the transgression, because there is no law of flesh, no defence line any more, we are free.

Do we then make the law of no effect through faith ?  Absolutely not !  Rather, we establish the law. Rom. 3:31

Meanwhile with the infiltration of the faith, the delightful law of God within us is not being swallowed into none, but .. established .. firmly.

.. but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.  Rom. 8:6

And the taste of life out of shell, is joyous and peaceful, this is the taste from the Mighty faith within an object of real freedom.

Sounds complicated, can’t be made just by reading one or two verses, there is real need, the need of our effort, to know, to have, and the need for our Faith Establisher.

The Puzzle

Paul plays puzzles very well.

Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain ?  Gal 3:4

This is referring to the previous verse.

.. Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh ?  Gal 3:3

What he meant is, first, in terms of our bodily existence, we started from earthly being, then gained Spirit to be in us and commenced our spiritual life.  Second, in term of faith, we started from the awareness of the Spirit and then its cultivation, to the ends of prevailing over the mere meaning of our physical existence.  This is the right order in the process of our spiritual life, Spirit grows, Spirit prevails.

So what Paul concerned about the saints is, why they started from spirit but ended in flesh, then, there is another puzzlized question, .. Have you suffered so many things in vain ?  Directly, we can understand as Paul was caring about that the endeavors the saints had given in the growth of their spirit would be all in vain.  Or from a different way, considering the retrograding spiritual situation the saints were in, Paul was worrying, .. Have you suffered .. or are you beating the air ?

Disregard the first or second, let’s see what’s between the spirit and flesh.

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these oppose each other that you would not do the things that you desire. Gal. 5:17

It is conflict.  The conflict between the spirit and the flesh, between,

.. but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Rom. 8:6

at the side of spirit, and

You observe days and months and seasons and years; Gal. 4:10

at the side of flesh.

Notice the difference, aside with spirit, .. life and peace.. to enjoy, aside with flesh, .. days and months and seasons and years, counting the time of the life .. to observe.  And the outcome of the conflict is .. would not do the things that you desire, that is, struggling.

For the saints here, this is a double pain.  For they had already experienced the feeling of life and peace, and according to the tone of Paul and the verse .. Have you suffered so many.. , they must have been very much in such a satisfying feeling, and enjoyed it.  So the current stage for them would be like, they were back to the primitive level and to fight against their established spiritual constitution.  It’s just like we are asked to use flint to make fire and have light, while we are so getting used to pushing a button, then the lights are on.

..  the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Gal. 5:22-23

And in the ‘light’.. the fruit of the Spirit is love,.. against such things there is no law.., meaning there is no oppressiveness, compulsion in some beautiful feelings when we are in Spirit, and we can clearly feel its delicacy and spontaneity, sweet, joyful, desirable and satisfying, while the deprivation of such rewarding feelings in the ‘flint stone night’ made the saints the life like, .. days and months and seasons and years .. observe.  They were struggling between the still remembered flavor of liveliness, sweetness in Spirit, and their current reality of hopelessness, .. would not do the things that you desire.

So Paul questioned,

Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain ?

What the answer Paul would expect ?  If we can give the answers in place of the saints, we might also have some reasonable but puzzlised answers,

Have you suffered so many things in vain ?  Yes, because it was against our consolidated inner law, our spiritual law, so all the ‘effort’ was indeed in vain, and became ‘suffer’.

And at the same time, no, it made us to know that it was so painful to be away from such precious, spiritually comfortable, attractive, loving, intimate, pleasant condition of being in the life-giving Spirit. 

Puzzlised answers for the puzzlised question, but on so simple a principal, Paul’s puzzles are just for us to delve deeper into our inner desire, the fruit of the Spirit, only the life and love, to love in love, to be happy.

Hide and find

You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden. Matt. 5:14

Head up and shoulders back ! This is talking about our Christians. Meaning, as Christians, we are the light of the world, the light which is from the understanding of the word of God, and the indwelling life of Him, makes us, like being sanctified unto Him, ..impossible .. to be hidden, noticeable.

But the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptible adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is very costly in the sight of God. 1 Pet. 3:4

These are about some traits of a Christian which are being appreciated by God, such as, meek and quiet spirit, and with another common characteristic which is ..the hidden man of the heart .., meaning they are inward, and invisible.

Let your forbearance be known to all men. The Lord is near. Phil 4.5

This ‘forbearance’ is the gentleness, moderation or patience, similar to the meekness and quietness. This verse is to say, make these attributes of Christian known to all men, they will feel the nearness of the Lord.

If we combine the meaning of the above verses, and completely follow the explanations, can we understand them like, as Christians, we are supposed to be as shinny as light, and so bright that people think of us with no other identity but as Christian, and when the time we’ve won a lot of head turnings, the Lord is not with us. And when we are comfortably holding some unnoticeable characters within, the Lord is near. What is this, hidden or shown ?

But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory. 1 Cor. 2:7

God Himself is a mystery, who can only be known by our Spirit, and He Himself as a mystery, has been hidden from us since the eternity past, until the day we’ve been showered by the Holy Spirit, then we have the chance to know Him more. So all of the questions, contradictions are worth exploring.

Let’s see Christ first, Who has been set as a pattern for us to follow.

In whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. Col. 2:3

Get a hint ? Christ is the theme of everything we’ve been talking about so far, we’ve listed almost all of His virtues, feats, actually we can keep on talking about Him forever and ever, but it says in this verse, He is a hidden one.

By following Christ as a pattern, by learning, understanding of Christ as a person, by delving into, exploring all the principals, teachings related to Christ, and His apostle, we are from just believers, to real Christians, be noted, we are now Christ-ians, meaning, inwardly, we have His word of knowledge and wisdom, and what is most important, His life, so within us, there is a hidden man.

It is this hidden man who is with a life of Jesus, that is so much appreciated by Lord, not us as ourselves, and it is the light and shine from this hidden man that would get lots attention,.. ..impossible .. to be hidden, not us as ourselves. Meanwhile,

.. you life is hidden with Christ in God. Col. 3:3

A labyrinth, and we are the smallest. Our life is hidden with Christ, and we are both in God. Being always with this hidden man, inside and out, we are hidden in God, Lord is near, and always near.

So there is no contradiction, Christ is with and within us, we are shining from within, .. impossible .. to be hidden, and we are comfortably holding some unnoticeable characters within, we are shown and we are hidden, and Lord is near, He is so near that we are hidden in Him.

What would it be like

God is so invisible in sight and so near in the word,

But as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Cor 2:9

this discrepancy between the concrete distance and the abstract nearness, especially the unknowing of what He is ready for us even in the day of nearness, according to this verse, confuse us a lot.

So what would it be like in the way truly getting near to Him, at least we can have some clue of what would be ahead of us.

To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light .. Acts 26:18

This is a very general description, to everyone who believes in God, and receives Himself as his savior, the journey of belief is an eye-opening experience, to see what we haven’t seen before, to know what we’ve never realized before, more of the blind spots in our life have been lit, and our perspective toward our life has been expanded, or, our eyes have been set at a higher latitude, toward a broader horizon, to see different things. We are from the darkness to the light.

This is the stage of, we are getting close to the truth of life, and, unknowingly, to God Himself.

The precepts of Jehovah are right, Making the heart joyous; The commandment of Jehovah is clear, Enlightening the eyes; Psa. 19:8

Getting near now, because the feeling is involved. Whenever the emotion is related, there must be an object. His words bring us near to Him, or more precisely for now, His words bring us to the knowing of Him, which makes our hearts with joy, and our eyes with light.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, For from it are the issues of life. Prov. 4:23

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. Matt. 6:22

Comparing with the time when we are new believers, we see the world from different view, understand our outward life from different angle, but now at this moment, this eye-opening experience has been deepened into a level of knowing our inner life, our horizon is expanding inwardly, and the territory of truth pushes its border within. With the heart felt emotion induced by the word of God, our experience of God enters into.. the issues of life. When heart is filled with the heavenly joy, and the feeling of nearness to God has gradually increased, it starts to be guarded, enclosed, by the holy life which is issued from the life of God. And when the eyes are enlightened, our whole body is full of light, or now, our whole being is surrounded by the life of God.

And keeping the vigilance in our heart, is to be preserved within the life of God, and with the joy in heart is to hold the life of God within, so the affection would be ever close and intimate, and our emotion toward Him ever joyful, and satisfactory.

For my eyes have seen Your salvation. Luke 2:30

No wonder our eyes now can see the salvation, because of the life of God which has been issued within us. Even if He is still intangible to us, but the refreshed feeling of life within is the certainty of the visibility of the salvation.

Let your eyes look directly ahead, And let your gaze be straight in front of you. Prov. 4:25

God is indeed near in the word, He has even instructed us the direction toward Him. Our life has been refreshed and eyes being enlightened, look straight ahead, and go for Him, where the salvation is.

Guard me like the pupil of Your eye; In the shadow of Your wings hid me. Psa. 17:8

And when we reach Him, what He is ready for us, what has confused us, what is the .. which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.., is Himself, is the offset of the distance, is the warmth from the diminishing of the distance, the quietness except the sound of His heartbeat from the enclosure within Himself, and the slightly moist air around us because we are so near to Him. .. In the shadow of Your wings hid me.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life. 1 John. 1:1

This salvation is ready for us from the very beginning, which is a mystery to us then, or even now, because God is so invisible in sight and so attractive in the nearness of the word, but what can be our encouragement is the joy we can currently feel, which is an assurance that we are toward Him, we are getting nearer and nearer to Him, until the day we behold Himself, hear the heartbeat, feel the temperature, touch the air, and in the shadow of His wings.

His heart

We would think God has never revealed Himself to us as much as we have been asked.  We might go for the history to be sure.

.. it grieved Him in His heart. Gen. 6:6

This is the first time in Bible the heart of God has been mentioned, it was grieved because of the man on earth, and then He caused the flood,

..I will blot out the man whom I have created from the surface of the ground, and all living creations …

after this disaster, again, the heart thing,

.. and Jehovah said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground on account of man .. nor will I ever again smite everything living as I have done .. Gen. 8:21

If we are observant, we’ll notice it was men that caused the grievance in God’s heart, also because of men God related to His heart again, but even as such, at the time God thought of man equivalent to all the other living things on earth He had created.

With the passing of the history, God’s genuine purpose in creating men emerges, between God and men, there is a relationship.

I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. Prov. 8:17

.. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  Matt. 22:37 

Not like in the eternity past, this is a mutual love relationship.  We might deem it as a way that God revealed Himself, cause He said, .. I love those who love me.., a way to get close to Him, toward knowing Him, not so clear for us though.  So then,

He who has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. 2 Cor. 1:22

For this is a love thing, so the heart must be involved, and for our hearts to find Him, to discern the direction, not to get lost, God put the Spirit in our hearts, and sealed it.

Heart is to love and is to feel love, by putting the Spirit in our heart, it is like God has set up a divinely programmed preference parameter list into us, so we can first recognize our beloved, for example, as God, His essence, His temperament, then we know how to love and how to feel the love, through the Spirit, so that in this love relationship with God, we won’t get lost.

For with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation. Rom. 10:10

Just like all the love relationship, the heart is to love and to feel love, to believe unto the love with God, and the mouth is for an expression of love.

At this stage, the love with God is still blurry to us, there is a distant image hardly can be seen, and what we felt in heart is too veiled and intangible, not clearly as if it is toward a real person. But we might not realize that the indwelling Spirit is not only for us just to recognize God, to feel the Holy love, but,

The eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope .. Eph. 1:18

Like we’ve known, love is a mutual fondness toward each other, an interaction of emotion, to be actually in this love relationship with God, the Spirit is to open the eyes of our hearts, to draw near God, like in the first time encounter of our beloved, we open our eyes, start the interaction from seeing Him, and then,

And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ. 2 Thes. 3:5

As the object of our affection, from the mighty side, Lord will further enlighten the eyes of our hearts, and under His heat and light of love, direct our hearts into the love of Him, and into the endurance of Christ.

Love is all the same, the emotion, the intimacy, but as learners of the style of love of God, all of us should be make known the functionality of our Spirit, and steps of using it, which God put in us for the purpose of loving Him, for guiding us into love of Him, and in the process, for the revealing Himself to us.

His life

Yearning in this way over you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you become beloved to us. 1 Thes. 2:8

This verse should be framed and hung on the wall. Simply put, with very fond affection toward you, not only the word of God is being made known, but also the life should be instructed, because you are dearing.

The whole Bible is a book, when we are reading, we are reading the text, when we are writing, we are writing the letters.

Reading is to read the words, and then to understand with the revelation, aided by our acquired, accumulated knowledge, our cognition, or by comparison, analysis, etc. Writing is to convey such understanding, by organizing the thoughts, weighing the words, then put them into the text again. This is the meaning of the word ‘impart’, to understand and then to convey, and which is the same word with the same meaning in the verse,

For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established; Rom. 1:11

To gain, to be given some spiritual gift, or to be revealed, to read, to understand the word in the Bible, so that we can be established in our faith and belief.

Very true, we’ve learned a lot from reading and writing, and have had the pleasure in knowing more of the word of God, but, in this life of reading and writing, we sit there.

So in latter part of the verse, it says, .. to impart .. our own souls. The ‘soul’ in this verse means life, our physical existence, as a living being, with breath, which is the same word in,

.. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Matt. 22:37

We shall love the Lord with all our heart, our emotion, all our mind, our thoughts, and with all our soul, this is, our whole being, our life. So the love is in life. Remember the context of the verse 1 Thes. 2:8, it starts with, .. Yearning in this way over you.., or with a craving love, fond affection toward you, because of this love, aside from the gospel, the lesson of life, and the lesson of love, will be imparted. Or if understand from different way, aside from or more than the life of reading and writing, the life of sitting, a Yoga breathing techniques, which would be healthy to life, bring us nearer to real life, and at the same time good for love, should be instructed.

This is very practical, the delving into the word of God can be from the love of the word in Bible, the interest or an urge to know, to learn more of it. But the learning of life, is from the recognition of life, from the love in life. To recognize that, .. only the gospel of God.., the pleasure in the reading and writing, in sitting, is not life, the lesson from .. our own souls.., to breathe the breath of true life, the breath of God, is life, is love, and we would love it

Whatever you do, do from the soul as to the Lord and not to men. Col. 3:23

Or, whatever you do, do from the life as to the Lord .., we can understand as, love is from life, so whatever we do toward Lord, Who is the object of our love, we should do from our life. Life of reading and writing, life of sitting, in which even if pleasure in the love of word can be felt, might be not exactly a life with love toward God, and the pleasure not exactly from the love of the life of God. So a lesson concerning life itself has to be taught, a lesson about loving true God has to be instructed, a breath of real life has to be taken, otherwise we would misread the life of God, misunderstand the pleasure in love of God Himself, delving into the word of God instead of the real life of God Himself.

But, with this love at the very beginning, …Yearning in this way over you, .. we can expect that God will let us touch Him, so from with a love in yearning .. become beloved.

Search

The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, Searching all the innermost parts of the inner being. Prov. 20:27

It’s a curious expression, our spirit is God’s lamp, it is lit within us and through the light from which God is searching the innermost parts of our inner being.

Curious though, not hard to understand, because we are always thinking the Spirit as the receptacle to receive the truth from God, or functioning as an organ to send all our prayer, our thoughts to God, but have never thought of that, through Spirit, as an in-between, God is searching us.

So what God expects to find, or to know about us ?

Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, inward parts of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering; Col. 3:12

To find some clues, this verse is talking about the inward parts, ..inward parts of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering .., and the verse after it is,

And over all these things put on love, which is the uniting bond of perfectness. Col. 3:14

In a word, inward parts of love, which includes all of the soft feelings out from love, compassion, kindness toward others, lowliness, meekness for self, and long-suffering because of love for life, and love for people. With such inward parts of love to induce the counterpart feeling from others, united, and bonded, into perfectness. This is our innermost part, which is of love.

For God is my witness how I long after you all in the inward parts of Christ Jesus. Phil. 1:8

Paul mentioned inner parts, .. in the inward parts of Christ Jesus, missed the saints, what made him saying this is in the previous verse,

Even as it is right for me to think this concerning you all because you have me in your heart, .. Phil. 1:7

It is like an instinctive response toward an affection, for knowing he was being missed, remembered in heart. The being touched of the inward parts is because of heart. This is not contradictory with our understanding of that our inward parts are of love, all the compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness are all from heart, the love is from heart, heart has been touched, love is involved, the inward parts are being moved.

If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any tenderheartedness and compassion, Phil. 2:1

And there is all inclusive explanation of the innermost parts, which is the encouragement, the love, the most tender, soft part of our heart, and the exchanging of all these love, emotion through the fellowship of the spirit. This might what God wants to search, through the Spirit, the motivating, exciting strength from within, the most delicate love from the tenderest part of our inner being, the containing feeling from the compassion, .. all the innermost parts of the inner being.

By such careful and close ‘vivisection’, we are being completely known by God, transparent before Him, without any secret, to let Him see how many components of our innermost parts belong to Him, .. compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering, how many changes we’ve had in the tenderest part of our heart are for Him, because of Him, and how much extent of the perfectness we have when we are bonded and united with Him, from the innermost parts of the inner being.

So now, not the Spirit but ourselves are as the receptacle, to receive God Himself, to let Him see, let Him search, let Him know, meanwhile, meanwhile what we contain and what we absorb is not just the word of life, word of truth, but God Himself, we see, we search, we know.