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The God who is our way is Christ; to take Christ as our way is to live Him in what He is, and to live Him is to express Him, to manifest Him, and even to magnify Him—John 14:6; Phil. 1:20-21a.
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In the New Jerusalem the river of water of life proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing in the midst of the street indicates that God is both our life and our way—Rev. 22:1-2.
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We take God as our life, and His life with His nature then becomes the way on which we walk—1 John 5:13; 2 Pet. 1:4.
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The children of Israel went forth in battle to fight against their enemies; today we also are in a war—Deut. 20:1-20:
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In this war we are fighting for Christ and to remain in Christ.
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If we would possess Christ and live in Christ as our land, we need to fight against the spiritual enemies—Col. 1:12; Eph. 3:8; 6:10-18.
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As we are fighting, we need to realize that we are fighting for what God has given us; once the enemies have been defeated, the land will be cleared for our inheritance—Col. 1:12.
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Actually, we are not the ones fighting, for God goes with us and fights for us—Deut. 20:3-4:
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It is our duty to fight, but we cannot fulfill this duty by ourselves; we can fulfill our duty to fight only by faith in the Lord, that is, only by the Lord Himself as our life and life supply.
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We need to believe that the Lord has ordained us to fight and that He will fight for us—vv. 1-4.
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We should simply take His word and obey Him, knowing that the outcome depends on Him—1:30.
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If we thoroughly study all these matters, we will know God better and also know what kind of person we should be, what kind of being we should have, and in what kind of way we should walk—4:20, 40:
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We should walk before God and with God according to what God is—8:6.
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Because we have God’s life, we should learn of Him to be the same as He is; in order to do all the things that God requires, we need the divine life, the life that works with God for His people—John 3:15; 1 John 5:11-13; 2 Pet. 1:4; Matt. 5:48.
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We can fulfill all of the Lord’s requirements only by the divine life, the eternal life, which is the Triune God embodied in Christ (John 14:6; 1 John 5:11), who is realized as the life-giving Spirit—John 14:16-20; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
Morning Nourishment
Deut. 8:6 Therefore keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, walking in His ways and fearing Him.20:3-4 And he shall say to them, Hear, O Israel! You are drawing near to the battle against your enemies today. Do not let your heart fail; do not be afraid or alarmed or terrified of them. For it is Jehovah your God who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6). Since the Lord Jesus is the very God, this word indicates that God Himself is the way. To take what God is as our ways and to walk in these ways is to live God. When we take Christ as our way, we live Him in what He is. He is humble, and we should live in the way of humility. He is the One who always takes the cross, and we should walk in the way of the cross. To take Christ as our way is to live Him, and to live Him is to express Him, to manifest Him, and even to magnify Him. Hence, to walk in God’s ways is to live God, express God, manifest God, and magnify God. We should take God as our way and thus act as He acts. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 61-62)
Today’s Reading
The vision of the New Jerusalem reveals that we should take God as our unique way. In the New Jerusalem there is just one street, which is of pure gold (Rev. 21:21), signifying that the nature of God is our way. The river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb and flows in the midst of the street (Rev. 22:1). This indicates that God is both our life and our way. We take God as our life, and His life with His nature then becomes the way in which we walk. Today we all should fear God and walk in His ways.In ourselves we do not have the strength or the capacity to fight. If we trust in ourselves, we will not have any assurance that we will be victorious in the warfare. As we are fighting, we need to realize that we are fighting for what God has given us. The good land has been given to us by God, but we still need to fight against the enemies. We should not only pray but also fight. Actually, we are not the ones fighting, for God goes with us and fights for us. Once the enemies have been defeated, the land will be cleared for our inheritance.
The principle with this fighting is the same principle that is found throughout the book of Deuteronomy. This principle is that God wants us to do certain things, but He does not want us to do these things by ourselves. It is our duty to fight, but we cannot fulfill this duty by ourselves. We can fulfill our duty to fight only by faith in the Lord. We need to believe that the Lord has ordained us to fight and that He will fight for us. We should simply take His word and obey Him, knowing that the outcome depends on Him. If we fulfill our duty in this way, the Lord will be pleased.
The whole church is an army, but not everyone has to join in the fighting. Whether or not we can participate in the fighting depends on our situation. Only those who do not have any kind of entanglement can join in the fighting. As they are fighting, they should have the assurance to say, “I am not the one fighting. The One who is fighting is the Lord in whom I trust.”
Because we have God’s life, we should learn of Him to be the same as He is. We need to learn to care for the interests of our brothers, the fellow members of the Body of Christ. We must also learn to be without mixture but pure in every way and in every aspect….Moreover, we should love the producing things and be careful not to lose the right to enter the congregation of the Lord. In order to do all these things, we need the divine life, the life that works with God for His people. If we thoroughly study all these matters, we will know God better and also know what kind of person we should be, what kind of being we should have, and in what kind of way we should walk. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 62, 149, 151, 159)
Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msgs. 2-3, 8, 22-23, 28