«　WEEK 1　DAY 1　»

　　John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.

　　Zech. 12:1 …. Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him,

　　Rom. 8:16 The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.

　　A Christian is one who has God mingled with him. Hence, the normal Christian living is not a living that is independent or outside of God. It is a living that submits to the ruling of God, is under the direction of God, and is mingled with God. How can man live a life that is mingled with God? God is Spirit, and when we are saved, God as the Spirit enters into our spirit, interacts with our spirit, and is joined to our spirit as one spirit. Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit and are in our spirit, we meet Him because He has been mingled with our spirit to become one spirit. When we turn to our spirit, we actually turn to Him as the Spirit. Our entire Christian living should be one that is lived out from the spirit. (Spiritual Reality Ch 7)

　　The innermost part of our being is our spirit. Our spirit as the center of our entire being is our reality. When we were saved, everything regarding salvation happened in our spirit. After we have been saved, our progress in life before the Lord is also a matter in the spirit. Thus, the progress of a Christian is the growth of a Christian in the spirit. Christian living, work, and even prayer all depend on the spirit. In short, God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the center of man, the reality of salvation, spiritual living, spiritual work, and even prayer are all in the spiritual realm. Only when we touch the spirit can we touch God, Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the genuineness of man, the center of man, the salvation of God, and Christian progress. Hence, Christian living and function must be in the spirit in order to have reality. Without the spirit, all things are empty and are nothing but knowledge and doctrines (Spiritual Reality Ch 1)

　　The spirit of man was created by God, in a particular sense, to complete God's purpose in the creation of the heavens and the earth (Zech. 12:1; Isa. 42:5; Job 32:8). Zechariah 12:1 says that God stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him. Zechariah put these three things together: the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. The heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man has a spirit for God. Thus, man is the center of God's creation, and the center of man is his spirit (the Spirit and Our Spirit Ch 1)

　　Zechariah 12:1 shows us that in the eyes of God there are three great things in this universe: the heavens, the earth, and man. In the universe God pays attention to the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. Therefore, do not despise yourself. You have a spirit within you, and your spirit is ranked with the heavens and the earth. God needs the heavens and the earth, and even more He needs your spirit. If we see how important our human spirit is, we will be very excited.

　　Why does God consider the human spirit as important as the heavens and the earth? It is because the human spirit is a vessel to contain God. The heavens are for the earth. Without the heavens, the earth could not survive. The things we enjoy on earth, such as sunshine and rain, come from the heavens. Furthermore, the earth is for man. Things brought forth by the earth, such as crops, are suitable to meet man's needs for his survival. But the most precious thing in man is his spirit. The human spirit is for God; it is used to contain God. The heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man is for God.

　　What really is the spirit? It is hard for the mind to understand; we can know the spirit only by experience. For instance, many times our mind reasons out a certain matter and our will is also in agreement, but deep within us there is something troubling us. That something is a mysterious thing, which is unexplainable, and that is the story of the spirit. Take another case: When a man is poor, all he needs is clothing, food, and shelter, and all he thinks about is how to make money. After he becomes rich and all these material necessities are fully supplied, then he feels the need for recreation and amusement, such as music and sports. Yet after all these needs have been met, he still feels an emptiness deep within him. Then one day he calls, “O Lord Jesus!” It is then that he is satisfied within. This deepest need is neither physical nor psychological but spiritual. Only God can satisfy this need. This need is evidence that we have a spirit within us.

　　The Lord said that He is the bread of life and that we have to eat Him. How do we eat Him? It is not by considering Him with our mind but by calling “O Lord!” with our spirit. Suppose your husband or your wife or a brother or a sister insults you, provoking you to anger. This will stir up your mind to think, “How unreasonable this is! How can he do this to me?” Then your whole being will be usurped by the mind, and even though you pray, you will not be able to touch the Lord. Therefore, we must learn how to contact the Lord with our spirit. The Lord is Spirit. To contact Him, who is Spirit, we must use our spirit. He as the Spirit is in our spirit. In our spirit there is a mutual fellowship and a mingling of the two spirits. (The Lord's Recovery of Eating, Ch 2)