DECLARING THAT WE ARE IN THE SPIRIT

Witness Lee 李常受 in special conference

One way to stabilize this condition is to declare that we are in the spirit. Learn to say, “I am in spirit!” In the past I encouraged you to call, “O Lord Jesus.” Now I am encouraging you to say, “I am in spirit.” Sometimes we can contact the Lord simply by saying “O”; it is not always necessary to say, “O Lord Jesus.” In the same principle, we do not always need to say, “I am in spirit,” for it may be adequate simply to say the word “in.” If you are about to lose your temper, exercise yourself to say “O” or “in.” This will help you to remain in the spirit. According to verse 9, we are in the spirit since the Spirit of God dwells in us. Now we can remain in this condition by declaring the fact that we are in the spirit.

read more quotes of life-study of the Bible from living stream ministry online publications Romans chapter 69 

A VESSEL TO CONTAIN GOD

Witness Lee 李常受 in special conference

We are all “gloves” designed to contain God as the divine hand. We were made in a form that is suitable to be the place of God’s dwelling. God has a mind, a will, and emotions, and we do too. As humans, we should not be jellyfish, beings without a strong will. A proper human being must not only have a mind and a will, but also be full of emotion. We should find it easy to laugh or to weep. We should not be like statues incapable of expressing feeling no matter what the situation may be. The Bible reveals that God is rich in emotion. He hates, He loves, and He becomes angry. According to John 11:35, the Lord Jesus, God incarnate, wept. Therefore, to be a vessel to contain God, man was created with emotions. Emotion is extremely important, for God Himself is rich in emotion; He is not a God of stone.

read more quotes of life-study of the Bible from living stream ministry online publications Romans chapter 63 

GOD’S SELECTION

Witness Lee 李常受 in New York

In chapter nine Paul used the case of Jacob and Esau as an illustration of God’s selection. Before they were born, God had told Rebecca, “The greater shall serve the less” (9:12). God’s choice was made before the children were born, before they had done anything good or bad. This was so that the “purpose of God according to selection might remain, not of works, but of Him Who calls” (v. 11). Nevertheless, when he was in the womb, Jacob was struggling to be born first. It was of God’s mercy that Jacob was not successful. If he had succeeded, he would not have received God’s selection.

read more quotes of life-study of the Bible from living stream ministry online publications Romans chapter 58 

RECEIVING ABUNDANCE OF GRACE

Witness Lee 李常受 greeting saints

Do not consider that the experience of reigning in life by grace is an impossibility. I can testify that it is surely possible for us to reign in life. Whenever we are filled with grace, grace overflows and reigns. Then by grace we reign in life over sin, death, and Satan. We are not only set free from the three major enemies, but we reign over them. The principle of reigning in life is revealed in chapter five, but the experience of reigning in life is in chapter eight. Reigning in life is greater and higher than being saved in the life of Christ.

read more quotes of life-study of the Bible from living stream ministry online publications Romans chapter 46 section 2

Loving One Another— the Message Heard from the Beginning

Witness Lee 李常受 with brothers and sisters loving one another.

In verse 11 John goes on to say, “Because this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” The message heard from the beginning was the commandment given by the Lord in John 13:34, which is the word the believers heard and had from the beginning. In verse 11 the phrase “from the beginning” is used in the relative sense. The love spoken of here is a higher condition of the life that abides in the Lord.

read more quotes of life-study of the Bible from living stream ministry online publications First John chapter 27

Allowing Man to Have Free Choice

Witness Lee 李常受 Sitting

Although God wanted man to eat of the tree of life, He did not force him to do it. Neither did God put the tree of life into him. Instead, God gave man free will. He gave him freedom of choice. When mothers feed their infant children, they seem to force the children to take the food. Nevertheless, the baby still has free will, for often he refuses the food that has been put in his mouth. The mother wants her child to eat, but she must recognize that he has a free will.

read more quotes of life-study of the Bible from living stream ministry online publications Genesis chapter 13

THE PROCESSED GOD

Witness Lee 李常受 Speaking

  When Christ was incarnated and born in the manger in Bethlehem, He put humanity on Himself. This humanity included us and all of creation as well. Hence, even before we were born, Christ put us on Himself. As Christ passed through human living, we passed through it with Him. Furthermore, when He went to the cross and was crucified, we were crucified with Him. Then we were buried with Him in the tomb. In fact, all of creation was buried there. Thus, Christ’s tomb was an all-inclusive tomb. We have also resurrected and ascended with Christ. Now, even while we are participating in the church life, we are sitting with Him in the heavenlies. On the one hand, we are in the church on earth; on the other hand, we are in Christ in the heavenlies. There is a great deal of traffic between the heavens and the church, traffic that moves faster than the speed of light. Actually, to refer to such traffic is to speak from a human point of view. From God’s point of view, the heavens and the church are one. Therefore, to be in the church is to be in the heavens.

read more: quotes of life-study of the Bible from living stream ministry online publications  Colossians chapter 27

THREE KINDS OF GIFTS

Witness Lee 李常受

In 1 Corinthians there are three kinds of gifts: the initial gifts in chapter one and the miraculous and the mature gifts in chapters twelve and fourteen. Again and again we have pointed out that the initial gifts, the gifts believers receive at the time they are saved, include the divine life and the Holy Spirit. Miraculous gifts include such things as healing and speaking in tongues. When Balaam’s donkey spoke a human language, that certainly was a miraculous occurrence, a true instance of speaking in tongues. A creature that did not even possess human life actually spoke a human language. The tongues-speaking in chapters twelve and fourteen refers to the speaking of an actual language which a person has not learned. Suddenly, under the divine power, a believer miraculously speaks another language. This is genuine tongues-speaking. This kind of miraculous gift does not require the growth in life as the mature gifts do.

read more  quotes of life-study of the Bible from living stream ministry online publications   1 Corinthians chapter 25