Colossians 3:4 When Christ our life is manifested... John 20:31 But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name.
Suppose a temptation comes and stirs you up. You know that you have to be patient. But where does this patience come from? Your life supplies you with patience. You need to have life before you can exercise your patience.... We are dealing with things, and every moment we have reactions. We deal with the demands of the outward world moment by moment with our life. God has not given us Christ so that He could just die for us on the cross; He has given Christ to us to be our life. Originally, we react to all the demands that are outside of us by exercising our own life; we act according to our own life. If our own life is strong enough, we make it. If our own life is not strong enough, we do not make it, or worse, we collapse. We react with our own life and deal with outward matters with our own life. But God has given Christ to us to be our life [and He is strong, vigorous, buoyant, and glorious] . Before we received the Lord Jesus, we lived by ourselves. After we receive the Lord Jesus, God wants Him to live inside of us and live for us. It is not a matter of the Lord Jesus giving us commands, suggestions, or teachings and then us carrying them out. Rather, He becomes our life within and carries things out for us. Formerly, we responded to outward demands with our own life. Now we should allow Christ's life to respond to them.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, Central Messages, pp. 171-172. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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