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Every day we need to be watchful by paying the price to buy the Spirit as the golden oil so that we may supply the churches with the Spirit for the testimony of Jesus and be rewarded by the Lord to participate in the marriage dinner of the Lamb (Matt. 25:9-10; Rev. 3:18; Zech. 4:6, 12-14; Judg. 9:9):
１
We need to love the Lord above all, having our eyes opened to see His supreme preciousness (Matt. 22:37; Phil. 3:8; 1 Pet. 2:4, 6-7; 1:19).
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We need to count all things as loss on account of Christ that we may gain Him, be found in Him, and know Him (Phil. 3:7-10).
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We need to enjoy the Lord in the Word every day early in the morning to have a new start each day (Psa. 119:147-148).
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We need to deal with sins thoroughly (1 John 1:7, 9).
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We need to abide in the fellowship with the Lord daily and hourly (v. 6; 2 Cor. 13:14).
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We need to redeem our time and spend our energy to be saturated and soaked with God's holy Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Col. 3:16).
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We need to be watchful, on the alert, for our prayer life, redeeming our time to pray (Eph. 6:18; Dan. 6:10; Col. 4:2).
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We need to redeem the time in these evil days to be filled in spirit by speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, by giving thanks to the Lord at all times for all things, and by being subject to one another in the fear of Christ (Eph. 5:14-21).
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 6:18 ...Praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit.
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Every morning we need a time to be with the Lord. We need to pray, “Lord, I take You as my sin offering and trespass offering. I am so thankful to You that Your precious blood still washes me this morning. Lord, I need to be filled up with Yourself, with the all-inclusive Spirit within and without. I need You! I need Your saturation! I need Your soaking!” Could you not pray in this way every morning for a short time? Have you been doing this? This is a serious matter....Are you watching today? We do not have yesterday or tomorrow. We Christians have only today. Every day is a today to us. Are you watching today? (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord's Present Move,” p. 507)
Today's Reading
The Christian life is not a matter of legalities concerning watching television, reading the newspaper, going to sporting events, or indulging in worldly pleasures. It is not a matter of merely whether or not something is scriptural. The Christian life is a matter that concerns our buying of the oil. You may not pray, yet you will watch television. You may not pray, yet you will read the newspaper. You may not pray, yet you will play sports. There are a lot of “yets” in your daily life. You just do not pray. You may not do anything sinful, but this parable of the virgins does not indicate that the Lord will judge us according to how much sin we have committed but according to how much oil we have in our vessel. To receive the Holy Spirit into our spirit, our lamp, is free. But to have the Spirit saturating our soul is not free. If you are going to get the Holy Spirit to saturate your soul, you must pay the price in dealing with your soul.I have had to deal with my soul in many ways to buy the oil. When it seemed like it was a good time for me to joke with a person and I joked with a few sentences, I got condemned. I am not a piece of marble but a living person. Every living person has his opinion, but many times when I tried to express my opinion, I was stopped by the buying of the oil. Many times this view has affected my daily living. Could I get more Spirit by exchanging words with my wife? Could I get more Spirit by going to a certain place? I may want to go to a certain place, but I do not have the peace within me. The point is this—every day should be a day for us to pick up the oil in every way. We need to pray from the time that we wake up every morning, “Lord, I do not like to do anything that is not under my being watchful, that is not under my buying of the oil. I like to buy the oil at any time and in any instance. Otherwise, that will be a waste of my time.” This should be our prayer and even our prayerful attitude. Many nights I regretted that I did not spend all my time to be in the spirit.
In the New Testament watchfulness is wrapped up with prayer. Ephesians 6:18 tells us that we should be those watching unto prayer. We need to be watchful, on the alert for our prayer life. Watching unto this in verse 18 refers to prayer and petition. There is no other way to get the oil except by praying. If you do not pray, it means that you do not pay the price to buy the oil. Through prayer we receive more Spirit. Every time we pray, we have the deep sensation that some amount of the Spirit has been gained by us in our prayer. To spend our time for prayer rather than for so many other things means to pay the price to get the oil.
Our initial receiving of the Spirit at regeneration is not a ticket for us to enter into the wedding feast. The sufficient oil, the adequate oil, will become our entry, our ticket, to the wedding feast....We can never borrow others' spirituality [cf. Matt. 25:8-9]. One's spirituality can qualify only himself. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord's Present Move,” pp. 528-530)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord's Present Move,” ch. 8