B
God’s intention in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to satisfy His chosen people for their enjoyment, with the goal of producing the church as God’s increase, God’s enlargement, to be God’s fullness for His expression—Jer. 2:13; Lam. 3:22-24; 1 Cor. 1:9:
１
Our drinking of the one Spirit in resurrection makes us members of the Body, builds us up as the Body, and prepares us to be the bride of Christ—12:13; Rev. 22:17; John 4:14b.
２
We can joyously draw water from the springs of salvation by speaking and singing to the Lord, by the Lord, for the Lord, in the Lord, and with the Lord to exalt the Lord and to rejoice in the Lord in a continuing way—Psa. 46:4; Isa. 12:3-6.
３
We can enjoy the Lord as our spiritual drink by practicing to speak with Him constantly; then spontaneously, we will live Christ—Num. 20:8; Phil. 4:6-7, 12.
C
We can 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 not only by but also “because of” Christ means that the energizing element of Christ becomes the supplying factor for us to live Christ.
Morning Nourishment
Num. 20:8 Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, so that it yields its water. Thus you shall bring forth water for them out of the rock and give the assembly… something to drink.John 6:57 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.
We want to consider the way to draw water from the springs of the divine salvation…. [We] need to be those who are praising Jehovah, calling upon His name (Isa. 12:4a). Furthermore, in order to draw water from the springs of salvation, we should make God’s saving deeds known among the peoples and exalt His name among them (v. 4b). We also need to sing to Him for He has done something majestic, and we must let this be made known in all the earth (v. 5). (Life-study of Isaiah, p. 282)
Today’s Reading
When we have problems in our daily life, we do not have to seek advice from others, because we have a spirit in us and the Lord as the Spirit dwelling in our spirit is very near to us….You can talk with Him and confer with Him in everything. The Lord’s Word says, “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). Hence, if you have some problem, you just need to tell Him. He is right within you, and He is with you face to face. The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—is in us not to trouble us but to be our Paraclete, Comforter, and Supporter. I always pray, “O Lord, now I am going to take a walk. Support me, sustain me, and strengthen me.” This is to drink the Lord….When anxiety comes, you should say, “O Lord, this anxiety is Yours, not mine; I give it to You because You bear it for me.” Thus, you receive the Lord’s element into you, and metabolism will work constantly in you. Consequently, what is expressed through you outwardly is Christ. This is to live Christ. Those who do not know this secret consider that to live Christ is a difficult thing. Actually, you just need to practice speaking with the Lord constantly; then spontaneously, you will live Christ. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The Organic Aspect of God’s Salvation,” p. 418)In John 6:57 the word because implies that there is a factor. The word by (used in the KJV), however, indicates an instrument, not a factor. To walk by Christ implies that Christ is the instrument for walking, as a cane is used for walking. To walk because of Him indicates that He is the factor of our walking. This understanding is also the meaning in the Greek. John 14:19 reveals that we live Christ in His resurrection. After His resurrection He lives, and also we live. We do not merely live by Him but because of Him.
We do not live by Christ, taking Christ as our instrument; rather, we live because of Christ, taking Christ as a factor of our living. The food that we eat is not an instrument but a supplying factor. We live not by food but because of the food. Food supplies us so that we can live because of its supply…. Without eating, food cannot become a factor of our living. We live Christ in His resurrection, and we live Christ by eating Him….The energizing element of Christ is a supply, a factor, for us to live Christ.
Christ has been eaten by us, and now He is within us, living within us [Gal 2:20]….The way Christ lives in us is by being digested by us. He now has become the supply, the very factor, with which we live. We live with Christ as the supplying factor. The clause it is no longer I who live means that we are finished. Yet the later clause the life which I now live indicates that we continue to live….Christ lives within us to be the factor for us to live with Him. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” pp. 17-18)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” ch. 2; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The Organic Aspect of God’s Salvation,” ch. 4