Nourishment November — Week 5 (Day 29 of 30)
November 29, 2021
Dear saint,
Praise the Lord! We believe the Lord has been faithful in nourishing us with spiritual food during this month of November. “Blessed be the Lord, who day by day loads us with good” (Psa. 68:19a). He has loaded us day by day with good, which is simply Christ Himself and all of His unsearchable riches. Hallelujah! We have gained more Christ!
There are some important announcements below but first, we would like to share some enjoyments from the saints during this past week:
As a working saint, there’s many temptations and times of poverty or abundance, but throughout we can live a normal Christian life of enjoying the riches of God. “This kind of human life is normal yet miraculous because it is not something that we can live by ourselves, but God must enter into us to be our life in order for us to live out this kind of life.” “A Christian's normal living should be one that is fitting in every situation and every place; to a certain point, he is neither poor nor rich. In the process of his entire human living, Paul had learned the secret in everything. His secret is mentioned in the following verse, where he says, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (v. 13). The secret of our normal Christian life is a person, Christ Himself.” (Messages Given to the Working Saints, Chapter 4)
“Judges 5:15-16 speaks of “great resolutions in heart” and “great searchings of heart.” In Israel's miserable situation, no one was searching his heart. But the people needed a great searching of their hearts, and they needed to make great resolutions in their hearts to rise up and follow the others to fight for God's kingdom.” (Life-study of Judges, Message 4) And later: “Judges 5:31b says, “May those who love Him be like the sun / When it rises in its might.” For the sun to rise in its might means that it shines brightly, brilliantly, and gloriously. We need the searchings, the resolutions, and the rising up to shine like the sun. If all the churches would be like this, they surely would enjoy the victory. May all the dear saints in the Lord's recovery have great searchings and make great resolutions, and may they all, by loving the Lord, rise up like the sun to shine brightly.” (Life-study of Judges, Message 4) Lord Jesus grant me to have great searchings of heart, great resolutions of heart, and to love You that I might rise up like the sun to shine brightly!
I spent this month reading the verses and footnotes for the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. This was an opportunity to be washed in the Word, as well as be refreshed in the passages that will be covered in the upcoming December semiannual training. I especially enjoyed the principle of incarnation in the example of Samuel. God needed to recover the priesthood, which had become degraded, but He needed to do so through man's cooperation (first by Hannah and then Samuel). In the same way, there are many things that the Lord wants to accomplish in this age, but He needs our cooperation in order to carry them out.
A time to minister Christ Jesus
Having been fed by the Lord through His word and the ministry, we now have an opportunity to function as ministers of Christ Jesus! There will be a time to minister the very Christ we have enjoyed to one another on Lord’s Day, December 12th, 2021 from 1:30 to 2:30 PM at the turf (2430 Dana St.).
Please come and be encouraged to speak what the Lord has nourished you with. No portion of Christ is too small. In fact, it is through each saint’s sharing that we can corporately apprehend the vast dimensions of our wonderful, vast, and rich Christ. And so we need your portion of Christ! You are a member of the Body of Christ who can function to minister Christ and thereby build up the Body of Christ.
Claim your voucher
To claim your $5 or $10 voucher, please fill out the following Google form: bit.ly/2021NNReward. As a reminder, you may receive a $5 voucher for completing 80 pages of ministry and a $10 voucher for completing 150 pages of ministry. 1 & 2 Samuel with all of their footnotes count for 97 pages of ministry.
We look forward to the overflow from the saints on December 12th!
The Books Serving Saints
“If you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.” — 1 Timothy 4:6