Scripture Reading: Jer. 15:16; Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4; John 5:39-40; 6:50-51, 57, 63; Col. 3:16

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 & DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 4　DAY 1　»

　　Matt. 4:4 But He answered and said, It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” John It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits

　　6:63 nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　The Bible shows us …God’s speaking, God’s word. Hebrews 1:1-2a says, “God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets, has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son.” Thus, in the Bible we first have God, and then we have God’s speaking, the word that proceeds out of His mouth. (Life-study of Proverbs, p. 39)

　　Christians need to daily contact the Lord, be touched by the Spirit, and receive more life. We can do this by touching the Word….How wonderful that today God in Christ as the Spirit is embodied in the Bible. The divine word in the Bible is the “wire” that embodies and conveys God, Christ, the Spirit, and life. The Bible as God’s breath (2 Tim. 3:16) conveys God, Christ, the Spirit, and life into our being, just as a wire conveys electricity into a building. We need to daily take in the word in the Bible to have it “installed” and “switched on” so that God, Christ, the Spirit, and life may be transmitted into our being.

　　The word of God is actually composed of three elements—Christ, His death, and His resurrection. The basic ingredients of the Bible are not stories or doctrines but Christ, His death, and His resurrection. When we read the Bible, if we pick up only stories or doctrines rather than Christ, His death, and His resurrection, our Bible reading is in vain. Regardless of what chapter or verse we read, we should always take in and enjoy the three basic ingredients—Christ, His all-inclusive death, and His resurrection.

　　The first few verses of the Gospel of John do not mention the death or resurrection of Christ, but if we eat the healthy word by pray-reading these verses, the result will be that the germs within us will be killed, and the weaknesses within us will be swallowed up. This is a killing produced by the killing element of Christ’s death in the word. As we continue pray-reading, we will be supplied with life by the same word, which also contains the nourishing element of Christ’s resurrection. This is the Christian life—a life of receiving killing and nourishing from our God through the Word.

　　The proper reading of the Bible always transmits a killing element into us. If we do not receive any killing when we read the Bible, our reading is in vain. Our physical eating similarly enables our body to kill the germs in us. If we do not eat properly every day, we will quickly become sick from many germs. As long as we eat well and regularly, we do not need to take antibiotics. Through our eating we will naturally have the killing element. In the same principle, every time we read the Word, we receive a killing element. Actually, it is not we ourselves but the negative things within us, such as our natural life and our flesh, that are killed. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “The Healthy Word,” pp. 213-214, 177-178)

　　In John 6:63b the Lord said that His words are spirit and life. Here the “words” follow the Spirit [v. 63a]. The Spirit is living and real but rather mysterious, intangible, and difficult for us to apprehend. However, the Lord’s words are substantial. First, the Lord indicated that for giving life He would become the Spirit. Then He said that the words He speaks are spirit and life. This indicates that His spoken words are the embodiment of the life-giving Spirit. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we receive the Spirit who is life. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” p. 215)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of John, msg. 16; CWWL, 1985, vol. 4, “The Full Knowledge of the Word of God,” chs. 1-3; CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “Speaking for God,” ch. 2

«　WEEK 4　DAY 2　»

　　Jer. 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.

　　John 6:57-58 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven…; he who eats this bread shall live forever.

　　[Jeremiah 15:16] indicates that the word of God is good for us to enjoy. God’s word makes our heart joyful. What is crucial here is the revelation that God’s word is the divine supply as food to nourish us. Every kind of food has a nourishing element. God’s word, the divine supply, surely contains the element of nourishment. This nourishment is related to the divine dispensing, to God’s dispensing Himself into us. Through the word as our food, God is dispensing His riches into our inner being to nourish us that we may be constituted with His element. (Life-study of Jeremiah, p. 116)

　　The divine concept concerning the Word of God is that the word from the Lord is food for us to feed on for our nourishment. Matthew 4:4 says, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” The divine concept concerning God’s Word is that it is food by which we are not only taught but also nourished. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found and I ate them.” Jeremiah took the word as food to eat. First Corinthians 3:1-2a says, “I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food.” The apostle Paul’s concept concerning the Word was that the Word was either milk or solid food. Milk or solid food is something for us to feed on in order to be nourished. Hebrews 5:12-14 says, “When because of the time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you what the rudiments of the beginning of the oracles of God are and have become those who have need of milk and not of solid food. For everyone who partakes of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant; but solid food is for the full-grown, who because of practice have their faculties exercised for discriminating between both good and evil.” The Word is nourishment as milk for the young ones and as solid food for the mature ones. First Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation.” All these passages confirm that we need our concept renewed concerning the Word of God. The natural concept concerning the Word is that it is a certain kind of teaching or doctrine, but the divine concept is that the Word of God is food to nourish our spirit. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 2, “The Tree of Life,” pp. 175-176)

　　In John 6 the Lord Jesus says that He is the heavenly bread for us to eat (vv. 32, 53-54, 56-58). In the same chapter the Lord twice says, “I am the bread of life” (vv. 35, 48). The bread of life is the life supply in the form of food, like the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), which is also the life supply “good for food.” The food we eat eventually is mingled with our being. If the food taken in by us does not mingle with us, we must have poor digestion. The food that we eat and digest is assimilated into our being. The food becomes our tissue, bone, flesh, and skin. This means that the food eaten, digested, and assimilated by us actually becomes us. This surely is a matter of mingling. Therefore, it would certainly be incorrect to say that the food we eat is not mingled with us. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 4)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” chs. 10, 26, 29-30; CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1989, vol. 1, “The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church,” ch. 5

«　WEEK 4　DAY 3　»

　　John 6:48-51 I am the bread of life….This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread which I will give is My flesh, given for the life of the world.

　　The Lord whom we eat as our food is the Spirit. Therefore, which organ do we use to eat Him? We use our spirit to eat Him. The Lord is Spirit, so we must use our spirit to eat Him. How do we eat Him? By calling, “0 Lord! 0 Lord!” To call on the Lord is to eat Him. The Bible clearly shows us that the Lord is our food, and we must eat Him. As the Spirit He is our food. The organ by which we eat Him is also the spirit. Moreover, the way to eat Him is by calling on the Lord’s name. Calling on the Lord is eating the Lord. (CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “Eating the Lord,” p. 26)

　　[John 6 gives] five characteristics of the Lord as the bread of life. He is the heavenly bread (vv. 41, 50, 51, 58), the bread of God (v. 33), the bread of life (vv. 35, 48), the living bread (v. 51), and the true bread (v. 32). As the bread of life, Christ is the bread with eternal life, with zoe. As the true bread, the real bread, He is the reality of the food we eat daily….Therefore, through the Word we need to feed on Christ as the living bread.

　　In chapter 6…there are six sections related to Christ as the bread of life (vv. 32-71). In the first of these sections (vv. 32-51a), we see that Christ, the bread of life, was incarnated. In verse 33 Christ refers to Himself as the bread of God, who came down out of heaven and gives life to the world. Although Christ is the very God, He became flesh in order to be the bread of life for us to eat. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” p. 211)

　　The best digestion occurs when the food that gets into our stomach has a free course to get into our whole system. This affords us the best nourishment. On the other hand, we have indigestion when due to some blockage our food does not have a free course in us. Pray-reading is wonderful, but we also have to pray, “Lord, clear a way within me. O Lord, have a free course within me.” Pray-reading does not help us to obtain mere knowledge; rather, it brings many things of the Lord into us. Therefore, we need to give the things of the Lord a free course within us. This affords us the best spiritual digestion, assimilating what we have pray-read. Never say no to the Lord; learn always to say Amen.

　　Whether or not we understand what we pray-read, it always brings something of the Lord into us. When these things get into us, they need a free course. Thus, we always have to say Amen. The Lord, the Word, and the Spirit are one. The Lord is the Word, the Word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the Lord. When we get the Word into us, we have the Spirit and we have the Lord….If we pray-read for ten minutes, we may not understand much, but we will sense that something is within us. We may say that it is the Word, we may say that it is the Spirit, or we may say that it is the Lord. Whatever term we use, there will be something moving within us and adjusting us.

　　After pray-reading, we may have the intention to go fishing, but something within us indicates that we should not go. Is it the Word, is it the Spirit, or is it the Lord? It is hard to say. It is not even a “gentle, quiet voice” (1 Kings 19:12). In Christianity many like to talk about the gentle, quiet voice, but that is something of the Old Testament. What is within us is not a voice or a clear word such as “don’t” or “do.” There is simply a sensation within us, indicating that we should not go. What should we do at that time? We have to say, “Amen, Lord. Amen.” (CWWL, 1971, vol. 4, “Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ,” p. 39)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “The Lord’s Recovery of Eating,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “Enjoying Christ as the Word and the Spirit through Prayer,” ch. 6

«　WEEK 4　DAY 4　»

　　Jer. 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart…

　　John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you and…your joy may be made full.

　　1 Pet. 1:8 Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.

　　When Jeremiah found God’s words, he not only heard them, but he ate them as food [cf. Jer. 15:16]. After he ate God’s words, he was immediately supplied within and felt glad and joyful. When we eat the Lord’s words, we are spiritually refreshed. There is not one book in the world that has the ability to supply life. Only the Bible has such an ability because the words in the Bible convey the Spirit, and God is embodied in the word. Many believers have been supplied by the word of God. The word of God not only has the ability to supply man but can also change him completely. Just as the food we eat sustains our life, makes us healthy, and changes our constitution, so also the word not only gladdens and satisfies us but also gradually transforms us to the Lord’s image. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 3, “How God Becomes Man’s Enjoyment,” p. 159)

　　If we do not know how to eat the word, how can we enjoy it? How can we have the gladness and joy in our heart for the word and with the word? We have to know how to eat the word. When we find the Lord’s words, we should not only know them but eat them, so that they become both the gladness and the joy. Gladness and joy imply singing; we have joy within and singing as our rejoicing without. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 4, “Practical Lessons on the Experience of Life,” p. 491)

　　The prayer of the sister who asked for patience was wrong because patience was the subject of her prayer. All genuine prayers have God as the subject. There is no need to be concerned with patience. We should simply spend time every day to contact God and to fellowship with Him. The more we enjoy Him, the more we will be filled with Him….Every situation will issue in joy because the God of joy fills our heart. We can endure everything joyfully, and nothing will trouble or irritate us. Inwardly, we will be watered and filled with joy….Patience comes from the God whom we enjoy. As we absorb Him and enjoy Him, He becomes our patience, our life, and our inward constituent. We will be inwardly watered, satisfied, and cheered….This is the wonder of the Christian life. (CWWL, 1958, vol. 1, “How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God,” pp. 381-382)

　　Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This verse indicates that the Spirit is related to joy. When we are in the Spirit, we are joyful, so joyful that we may shout praises to the Lord. At times we may be beside ourselves with joy, and praises spontaneously flow out from within us. (Life-study of Romans, p. 584)

　　[According to 1 Peter 1:8] we love Him whom we have not seen because of believing, because of the very faith which has been infused into us through hearing the living word (Gal. 3:2)…[and] the believers exult with unspeakable and glorified joy. Glorified joy is joy immersed in glory; hence, it is full of glory, that is, full of the Lord expressed….[Peter] speaks of a glorified joy. We exult with a joy that is immersed in glory. This joy is immersed in the Lord as glory; thus, it is full of the expression of the Lord. (Life-study of 1 Peter, p. 50)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1958, vol. 1, “How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God,” chs. 2, 6-7, 10-11, 13; Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 6; CWWL, 1964, vol. 4, “Practical Lessons on the Experience of Life,” ch. 13; CWWL, 1958, vol. 2, p. 29

«　WEEK 4　DAY 5　»

　　Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

　　John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　A way to receive, experience, and enjoy Christ is to eat the word spoken by Christ as spirit and as life….Christ speaks the word, the word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is life [cf. John 6:63]. Thus, the word, the Spirit, and life are three-in-one. The Speaker of the word is the processed Triune God, and His speaking transmits the processed Triune God into us in the form of the word. After entering into us, this word becomes the Spirit, and the Spirit is life. Then, when we utter this Spirit out to others, the Spirit becomes the word to them. When others receive the word into them, it becomes the Spirit again. Then, when they speak the Spirit out to others, He again becomes the word. Hence, when we receive the word into us, the word becomes the Spirit, and the Spirit becomes our very life. This is the transmission of the Triune God into us as our life supply, first in the form of the word, then in the form of the Spirit, and ultimately in the form of life. In this way the Triune God becomes our enjoyment. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” p. 479)

　　[In Colossians 3:16] Paul says that the word of Christ should dwell in us, inhabit us. This implies that the word of Christ is living. In order for something to dwell in us or to inhabit us, it must be living.

　　Paul’s expression in this verse indicates that the word of Christ is very much like a living person. Paul almost personifies the word of Christ; he tells us to let this word inhabit us, as if it were a living person. The word of Christ is actually the living person of Christ. Moreover, according to the New Testament, the living person of Christ is the Spirit. Jesus is the name of this person, and the reality of this person is the Spirit. For this reason, whenever we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, it is the Spirit who comes. We have also pointed out that the Word and the Spirit are one. Hence, when the word of Christ dwells in us, the Spirit inhabits us. (Life-study of Philippians, p. 353)

　　[In Colossians 3:16] we have Christ as our life, then we have His living word personified as His person dwelling in us. The word of Christ is the word spoken by Christ. In His New Testament economy God speaks in the Son, and the Son speaks not only directly in the Gospels but also through His members, the apostles and prophets, in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation. All these may be considered as His word.

　　In this passage the infilling of spiritual life that overflows in praising and singing is related to the Word, whereas in its parallel passage, Ephesians 5:18-20, the infilling of spiritual life is related to the Spirit. This indicates that the Word and the Spirit are identical (John 6:63b). A normal Christian life should be one that is filled with the Word so that the Spirit may bubble from within us in lauding melodies, melodies of praise.

　　The word of Christ includes the entire New Testament. We need to be filled with this word. This means that we should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, to inhabit us, to make home in us. The Greek word rendered “dwell” literally means “to be in a house, to inhabit.” The word of the Lord must have adequate room within us so that it may operate and minister the riches of Christ into our inner being. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 3, “Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles,” p. 531)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” ch. 15; Life-study of Philippians, msg. 41

«　WEEK 4　DAY 6　»

　　Eph. 3:16-17 Be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith…

　　6:17-18 …Receive…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 and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.

　　In Colossians 3:16 Paul charges us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly,…make its home in us. If a certain place is to become our home, we must have the freedom to make all necessary arrangements. If we want to keep a certain item, we may do so. But if we want to throw something else away, we are free to do that as well. If we do not have this kind of freedom, it is not possible for us to make that place our home. In like manner, if the word of Christ is to make its home in us, we must give it the full liberty, freedom, and right. We need to pray, “Lord, I offer my whole being to You and Your word. I give You access to every part of my inner being. Lord, make my inner being a home for Yourself and Your word.” (Life-study of Colossians, p. 574)

　　We all must confess that many times the Lord’s word has come to us, but we did not give it adequate room within us. Instead, we limited the word of God and restricted it. Sometimes we do receive God’s word, but we do not give it the freedom to make its home in us. Let me ask you, in your experience is the word of Christ first, or are you first? I do not believe that anyone can say that first place is always given to God’s word. Sometimes we may give preeminence to the word of Christ and allow it to be first. However, much more often we ourselves are first. In a secret way we keep the first place for the self. Outwardly we may act as if the first place is reserved for the word of God. But secretly the first place is for us.

　　We need the arbitrating peace of Christ to preserve us in oneness that the Lord may speak to us. Then we need to give first place to the word of God. If we do this, we shall experience the functions of the word of God: enlightening, nourishing, quenching our thirst, strengthening, washing, building, perfecting, and edifying. What benefit we receive from the word of God! (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 574-575)

　　If we do not feed on the Word daily, it will not be possible for us to live Christ. I am healthy spiritually because daily I eat, digest, and assimilate the Word and am nourished by it. God has made Christ to be our life and our everything, and He has destined us to live Christ. If we live Christ, we shall be the most blessed people on earth. We shall have joy, satisfaction, and every blessing. As we have pointed out, the way to live Christ is to receive His word into us and be filled with it.

　　In order to receive the Word into our being, we should not merely read the Word, but should mingle our reading with prayer, singing, psalming, and calling on the name of the Lord. Whenever I open the Word of God, either for the work or for my own nourishment, I am immersed in the atmosphere and aspiration of prayer. Often I converse with the Lord by means of the verse I am reading. In this way I am infused and nourished, filled in my spirit with the living Word, which is actually Christ Himself as the Spirit.

　　Someone may hear a message on living Christ and then pray, “Lord, I want to live You. I make up my mind to live Christ from now on. Please help me do this.” This kind of prayer, however, is not effective. It can be compared to asking the Lord to make you healthy when you do not eat properly….Likewise, if we are not nourished by the Word, it will be to no avail to make up our minds to live Christ. Only by eating the Word can we live Christ. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 364-365)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life,” ch. 2; Life-study of Colossians, msg. 64