Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 3:16; Matt. 4:4; 1 Pet. 2:2; John 6:63; 4:24; Eph. 6:17-18a; Isa. 55:2b; Jer. 15:16; Rev. 2:7; Col. 3:16

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 3　DAY 1　»

　　John 6:63b …. the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　5:39 You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me.

　　Life is the focus of the whole Bible. But what is life, or who is life? The answer is in the word of the Lord Jesus. He says, "I am life," and "I am come that you may have life." The Bible is a revelation of Christ as life. Whenever we come to the Bible, we must realize that we are coming to contact Christ as our life.

　　The whole Bible is a book of life, and this life is nothing less than the divine and living Person of Christ Jesus Himself, Who is our portion. When we come to the Bible, we must come to contact Him. We should not repeat the pitiful history of the Jewish people who researched the Scriptures because they thought there was life in them, yet would not come to the Lord Jesus (John 5:39-40). We should not contact the Bible without contacting the Lord. Whenever we open the Bible we have to say, "Lord Jesus, You have to be here. This is not merely a book, this is Your revelation. I don't like to read this book without contacting You. I don't like to hear something from this book without hearing You. I don't like to read this book without seeing You. I like to see Your face. I like to see what You are from the printed page. O Lord Jesus, enlighten Your Word and anoint every line that I may touch You." We need such a spirit to contact this living Word. (Life-Study of Genesis)

　　We should have faith in God's faithfulness. We may change, but God does not change. As James 1:17 says, there is no shadow of turning with Him. Furthermore, He cannot lie (Titus 1:2), but is always faithful to His word. God is not only faithful, but also able. Therefore, we need to have faith in God's ability. In 3:20 Paul declares that God “is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think.”

　　still another aspect of our faith is faith in God's word. God is bound to fulfill all that He has spoken. The more He speaks, the more responsible He becomes to fulfill His own word. We can tell Him, “God, You have spoken, and Your written Word is in our hand. Lord, You are bound to fulfill Your word.” Hallelujah for God's faithful word! (Life-Study of Ephesians, message 65)

　　To “search the Scriptures” may be separated from “come to Me.” The Jewish religionists searched the Scriptures, but were not willing to come to the Lord. These two should be kept together. Since the Scriptures testify concerning the Lord, they should not be separated from Him. We may contact the Scriptures and yet not contact the Lord. Only the Lord can give life. We should never separate the Scriptures from the Lord Himself. Whenever we search the Word, we must come to the Lord Himself. We must make searching the Word and touching the Lord one thing. Whenever we study the Bible, we must open our spirit to the Lord. While our eyes are reading the words and our mind is understanding them, our spirit must be exercised to contact the Lord through the Scriptures. Then we shall not only have the understanding of the black and white letters in our mentality, but also have the life in our spirit. (Life-Study of Gospel of John)

«　WEEK 3　DAY 2　»

　　John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

　　2 Tim. 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

　　(According to John 1:1) The Word is the definition, explanation, and expression of God; hence, it is God defined, explained, and expressed. God is mysterious. He needs the Word to express Him. If you want to appear mysterious, the best way to do it is to be silent, for the more silent you are, the more mysterious you become. However, the more you talk, the more you expose yourself. All that is deep within you is revealed by your words. This is the meaning of the Word. Although God is a mystery, Christ as the Word of God defines, explains, and expresses Him. Thus, this Word is the definition, explanation, and expression of God. Eventually, this Word is God Himself, not God hidden, concealed, and mysterious, but God defined, explained, and expressed. The Word is not the invisible God, but the very God who is visible. In the beginning this Word was with God; it was not separate from God, but always had God in Him. (Life-Study of Gospel of John)

　　The Bible is God's words. First, these words explain God Himself. All words are for explanation and expression. The words of the Bible are for the expression and explanation of God Himself. If one does not read or understand the Bible, he will not understand or know God. For example, today, if you do not understand Chinese, you will not know me as a person. You may hear my voice, but you will not know what I am expressing. The Bible as God's word firstly explains and expresses God Himself.

　　The Bible is also God's breath. It is the breathing out of God Himself....... The Bible is the word of God. It is not only the breathing out of God, but is God Himself breathed into the word. Thus, there is the element of God in this breathing out. Once you touch this breathing, you touch the element of God. For this reason, many times when we read the Bible, not only do we feel the presence of God, but we feel that we contact and touch God within. (On Knowing the Bible)

　　The Word of God is the Bible. Its essence is......God's Word is God's breathing out (2 Tim. 3:16). The Bible is God's breathing out; that is, it is the breath breathed out by God. The Bible is God's breathing. To God it is a matter of breathing out; to us it is a matter of breathing in. Through God's breathing out and our breathing in, God's word enters into us and becomes our life and life supply. Therefore, when we read the Bible, we must understand that the Bible is not merely black words on white paper, but it is the breathing out of God. It is full of spiritual breath. Therefore, we must not only understand the Bible with our mind, but we also must contact the word of the Bible with our spirit. Whenever we read the Bible we come to contact God. (Full Knowledge of the Word of God)

　　We do not read the Bible only for enlightenment, teaching, or instruction. There is something higher and deeper than all these. It is to touch God Himself in our inward parts……. We must learn to use our spirit to contact these words; we must touch God's breathing out in the words and must touch His element in the words. When we have such a contact, not only will we feel that we are in the presence of God, and not only will we have touched God, but we also will feel that we have tasted God; God will become our enjoyment within. Whenever we have a good Bible reading, we have a good eating and drinking. It will satisfy us within, and we will truly have tasted the sweetness of God Himself. (On Knowing the Bible)

«　WEEK 3　DAY 3　»

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

　　1 Pet. 2:2 As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation,

　　We need a drastic change in our concept concerning the Bible. We need to see that the Bible is the food God has given us. We read the Bible with the purpose of eating, drinking, absorbing, and breathing in God, because we know that the Bible is the Word of God. John 1 says that the Word of God is God Himself. God's Word is God's coming forth. When God is expressed and presented to us, we have the Word, the Bible. Since God wants to be our food, His expression and manifestation to man as the Word means that the Word is man's food.

　　Prayer is to breathe in the Lord's Spirit, and reading is to receive the Lord as the Word. The Lord as the Word is our food. Man does not live by bread alone, because he is not composed of only a body; within man there is also a spirit. The physical body requires physical food, but man's spirit requires a different type of food…….Hence, the Lord says that man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). All the words that proceed out through the mouth of God are man's spiritual food. For this reason, the prophet Jeremiah said, “Your words were found and I ate them” (Jer. 15:16).

　　We will realize that since God is food to man, the Bible as His breathed-out word must also be food to man. When we come to the Bible, we must eat and drink God as our food; we must breathe in God Himself and enjoy Him. If we read the Bible this way, …… We will receive nourishment, supply, and life from every word. (How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, chapter 13)

　　When a baby is born, his most immediate need is to take some milk for nourishment. Without nourishment the new babe will not only fail to grow properly, but will soon become very weak and eventually even die. After we are saved and born again, our most immediate need also is that we learn how to take in the Lord as our spiritual milk and nourishment. Without this spiritual nourishment, we also have no way to grow properly and will in a short time be spiritually dead.

　　In 1 Peter 2:2-3 we have a most important passage. “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.” These verses are important to us because they tell us clearly how to taste the Lord: drink “the guileless [pure] milk of the Word.” If we would taste Christ, we must take into us the milk of the word. Then we will be nourished for spiritual growth.……When we drink the milk of the Word, we are actually tasting the Lord. Therefore, the way for us to taste the Lord is simply by drinking the milk of the Word. If we desire to enjoy the Lord and be nourished by the Lord, we must come to the Word to taste the Lord. (Pray-Reading the Word)

«　WEEK 3　DAY 4　»

　　John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life…the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　 3:6 ….and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

　　In John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit.” The words of the Bible are not only letters but spirit……Since the Lord's words are spirit, we have to read them in spirit. In other words, we can only touch spiritual things with the spirit.

　　The Bible is not only a book with words or letters printed on pages of paper. The very nature of the Bible is spirit. For this reason, everyone who reads this book must approach it with his spirit; it must be read with the spirit. The spirit that we are referring to is the spirit of every regenerated person. We call this spirit the “regenerated spirit.” ……Perhaps we were born into a Christian family. Before we were regenerated, we probably had read the Bible already, but we did not understand it…... When can a man begin to understand the Bible? On the day he receives the Lord, he can begin to understand the Bible..….Although he may not understand everything in it, he will begin to love it. He will read it daily and yearly…… When he reads God's word this way, he will begin to understand it. He can understand it because he is now regenerated. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6)……. “The words which I have spoken…are spirit,” and “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The words in the Bible are spirit. The life which a man receives at the time of regeneration is spirit, and it takes a man with a spirit to read the words of spirit. Only then will the Bible shine within him, and only then will it become useful to him.

　　No matter how clever and well educated a man is, as long as he is not regenerated, this book is a mystery to him. A regenerated person may not be that cultivated, but he is more qualified to read the Bible than an unregenerated college professor. The former has a regenerated spirit, while the latter does not have such a spirit. The Bible is not understood by talent, research, or intelligence. Since God's word is spirit, only a man with a regenerated spirit can understand it. The root, the very nature, of the Bible is spiritual. If a man does not have a regenerated spirit, he cannot understand this book; it will be a closed book to him.

　　God is Spirit. We know God today because we have a spirit. When some unbelievers argue with us, we may not match them in eloquence or wisdom, and we may not be able to tell them profound teachings, but we have the confidence that we know God because we are regenerated. We have a regenerated spirit, and we can touch God with this spirit…… In order to study the Bible, a man must have a regenerated spirit, in the same way that he must have a regenerated spirit to touch God. Suppose a man has installed an electric lamp in his house. He wants to connect the lamp to the power source, but the only materials he has ……No matter how much cloth, bamboo, and wood he has, he cannot tap into the electricity. Another man may not have any cloth, bamboo, or wood, but he has a little piece of wire. With that little wire he can light up the lamp because the wire transmits electricity. In the same way, a man must have a regenerated spirit before he can touch God. He must have a regenerated spirit before he can touch God's word. (How to Study the Bible)

«　WEEK 3　DAY 5　»

　　Eph. 6:17-18 And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit ….

　　When we contact the Word, we need to be clear that we are contacting God Himself. Whenever we open the Bible, our first thought should be to contact the living God. The living God has breathed out all that is within Himself as the Word. All the riches within Him are breathed out in the form of the word. Every word of the Bible, from the first to the last, is the breath of God. The Bible is not for us to study philosophy or literature. It is for us to contact what God has breathed out, what He has exhaled. (How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, chapter 6)

　　When I was a young man, I loved the Word of God and was ambitious to know it thoroughly. However, I only knew to read the Bible with my eyes and my mind. Then someone encouraged me not only to read the Word, but also to meditate on it. I began to spend time to ponder the Word, to consider it, to dwell on it. This was somewhat helpful. I was also helped by reading George Mueller's autobiography. According to Mueller, we should not only read the Bible and meditate on it, but also pray over it. In his autobiography Mueller does not say that we should pray the Word; however, he does say that after reading a certain portion we should pray. (Life-Study of Philippians, message 45)

　　In Ephesians 6:17 and 18 Paul tells us to receive the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition. Here Paul covers the aspects both of the Word and of the Spirit. Furthermore, he tells us to receive the Word of God by means of all prayer, praying at every time in spirit. We may receive the Word of God by means of all kinds of prayer: audible prayer and silent prayer, long prayer and short prayer, quick prayer and slow prayer, private prayer and public prayer. (Life-Study of Philippians, message 35)

　　He is our food. He is everything to us. In order to become our life, He is food to us as the Spirit and the Word. The Spirit is invisible and inside of us, and the Word is visible and outside of us. We exercise our spirit to touch God through praying and reading, reading and praying. We touch both the Word and the Spirit. (How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, chapter 14)

　　If we take even as little as ten minutes to pray-read a portion of the Word, we shall receive nourishment. Furthermore, we shall experience the various elements of Christ's riches. On the one hand, the food we eat each day nourishes us; on the other hand, it contains elements that kill germs……. In like manner, through pray-reading the Word, we experience both nourishment and the putting to death of the negative things within us. As we pray-read, we unconsciously and automatically partake of the basic elements of Christ's riches: divinity, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification. On the one hand, the element of Christ's all-inclusive death kills the negative things within us. On the other hand, His resurrection strengthens us and builds us up. This does not come from outward teaching, but from inward nourishing. (Life-Study of Philippians, message 36)

«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Psa. 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste! Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

　　Eph. 3:18 May be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth and length and height and depth are.

　　Another simple, spiritual, and most beneficial way to read the Bible is pray-reading. We take the Bible text as prayer and pray-read with it. Not only do we read and pray simultaneously, or pray and read, read and pray; but also we directly turn the text we are reading into the very words of prayer to pray with. At times we may apply the text to ourselves through prayer. The more we repeat this kind of pray-reading, the more uplifted and released our spirit becomes and the greater, deeper, and richer the benefit is which we receive. (Life Lesson Vol. 1)

　　 (When we read the Word of God,)To comprehend the Word literally we first need to read the black and white letters with our eyes as well as with our mind. Second, we need to pray-read, converting all that we see and all that we comprehend into prayer. When we pray, we use our spirit. At first, we may use our mind to pray, but after three to five sentences our spirit will rise up. This is a definite fact…The Word of God is spirit and life. Our mind cannot touch the Spirit; only our spirit can touch the Spirit. If we do not touch the Spirit, we do not have life. Only by touching the Spirit can we have life. Ultimately, this life is Christ, and it is also God Himself. (Full Knowledge of the Word of God)

　　For more enjoyment and nourishment and to pray-read the Word properly and adequately, we need the Body, the church…if we try it with a group of other Christians, we will be in the third heavens! The explanation of this is that food is for the whole Body, not merely for one member alone. ……Therefore, the best way to pray-read is with other members of the Body.

　　When we come together to pray-read with other brothers and sisters, there are four words we must remember: quick, short, real, and fresh. First we need to pray quickly, without hesitating. When we are quick to pray, we have no time to use our mind and to consider. Then our prayers must be short, because long prayers need some composition. We must forget about composing a long prayer and just utter a phrase or a sentence. Do it in a quick and short way. And we also need to be real, not pretending. Say something in a real way. Finally, our prayers must be fresh, not old. The best way to be fresh is not to pray with our own words, but with the words of the Bible. Every part and every line of this book can be used as a prayer, and it will be the freshest prayer!

　　If you will try this both privately and corporately, you will be able to testify of the riches of Christ that have been imparted to you by pray-reading the Word of God. You will see blessing and growth in your spiritual life. There will be a great change. By contacting the Word in this way to enjoy Christ and be nourished by Him, you will be a person growing to maturity, full of life and saturated with this living One. (Pray-Reading the Word)