H
God is happy to operate in us "both the willing and the working for His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13); the Christian life with the supply of the Body life (1:19) is a happy life; our inward joy is an indication that we are living and walking according to God's good pleasure; since the book of Philippians, written by Paul in prison (v. 13; 4:22), is concerned with the experience and enjoyment of Christ, which issue in joy, it is a book filled with joy and rejoicing (1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17-18, 28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 4).
I
God is happy to have a man of God (Psa. 90, title; Deut. 33:1; Ezra 3:2) who lives God and lives out God in order to gain God by being one with God (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Tim. 6:11-12; Phil. 3:8, 14); Jesus of Nazareth is the standard pattern of a man of God who lived out God (John 6:57; 5:19, 30; 10:30); the Lord said that He did not come to do His own will or to seek His own glory (5:19, 30; 6:38; 7:18); when we take Christ as our crucified life for His manifestation as the resurrection life, we will experience Him as the indwelling and enabling power of resurrection to deny our will and our glory (Phil. 3:10; 2 Cor. 4:5-7; Rom. 14:7-9).
J
God is happy when we eat Christ as our spiritual food in order to live because of Him (John 6:57); to eat Christ is to eat His words by exercising our spirit to both pray-read and muse upon His words so that His words become the gladness and joy of our heart (Jer. 15:16; Psa. 119:15-16; Josh. 1:8-9); to live because of Christ means that the energizing element of Christ becomes the supplying factor for us to live Christ.
K
God is happy when we are daily strengthened into our inner man so that Christ may make His home in our hearts through faith; our inner man is our regenerated spirit, which has God's life as its life (Eph. 3:16-17; John 3:6b; Rom. 8:10).
L
God is happy when we remain in our spirit and pay attention to our spirit (v. 6b); when the Lord says, "Abide in Me" (John 15:4), this wonderful "Me" is in our spirit, and when we are in Him by being in our spirit, in us the ruler of this world has nothing—no ground, no chance, no hope, and no possibility in anything (14:30; cf. 12:31-32).
M
God is happy when we serve Him as a slave by living in the reality of the kingdom of God in the way of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; this is well pleasing to God and approved by men, and it preserves the oneness of the church for the practical Body life—Rom. 14:17-18.
Morning Nourishment
Phil. 2:13 For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.John 5:30 …I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.
Our life, the Christian life and the church life, is according to God’s good pleasure. The Christian life is a happy life. Many times the New Testament exhorts us to be happy. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). We should be rejoicing day after day, not in ourselves but in the Lord. We are a people “singing and psalming with [our] heart to the Lord, giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father” (Eph. 5:19-20).
[We are happy] because we have the very God working within us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure [Phil. 2:13]….When we are happy, we are registering God’s happiness within us. Our inward joy is an indication that we are living and walking according to His good pleasure.
God has predestinated us human beings to be His sons (Eph. 1:5). This is according to His good pleasure.
The most pleasant thing to God is to have some people on this earth who are living Him. This is His heart’s desire. Even if you are young, God wants you to live Him before your family…. Living Him means being one with Him. This is what makes you a man of God. It is not merely that you represent Him. God wants to be lived out of you. In your speaking, He would speak. He would like the work that you do to be what He is doing. You are only a human being, but you can have a divine living. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” pp. 422, 425-426)
Today’s Reading
Paul wrote [the Epistles to Timothy] when the church was in a state of degradation. In such a time “the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17). Would you like to be a man of God? The preceding verse tells us the way: “All Scripture is God-breathed” (v. 16). By breathing in God’s Word, spontaneously you will live God. Take ten minutes every morning to pray-read the Word. By breathing in His Word and eating of Him, you will become a man of God.[Jesus of Nazareth is] the standard pattern of a man of God…. However, He did not live out Himself. He explained His relation to the Father in this way: “As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father…” (John 6:57). He also told the Jews, “Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing, for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (5:19). He could say, “I can do nothing from Myself” (v. 30). In 10:30 He went on to say, “I and the Father are one.” Here was a man who lived out God. This is why the Father delighted in Him. However much you try to do for God, He will not be impressed. Simply live Him, and you will touch His heart.
Since we have within us our own life as well as the divine life, how are we to live out the divine life? We can see from the life of Jesus that there must be a setting aside of our own life. He said, “I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me” (6:38). This verse clearly indicates that the Lord Jesus had a will of His own but that He laid it aside. Problems arise when we seek our own will and glory. These two terms comprise the essence of our human life. Because we feel insignificant, whenever we get a little job,…we get annoyed if anyone interferes with the way we do it. But there will be peace in the family and peace in the church if we have the grace to put aside our will and our glory. “Lord, make me willing to lay aside my will, as You did when You were on this earth. Grant me the grace to live on earth not seeking my own glory. Lord, be the grace within me that I may put aside my will and my glory.” (CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” pp. 426-428)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” ch. 3; Life-study of Matthew, msgs. 65-66