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The God of Elijah - Part Two

9/19/2013

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I was awakened by the direct ray of the sun through the single window of our attic.  "This isn't rain!"  I said.  It was already past seven o'clock.  I got up knelt down and prayed.  "Lord," I said, "please send the rain!"  But once again, ringing in my ears came the word:  "Where is the God of Elijah?"  Humbled, I walked downstairs before God in silence.  We sat down to breakfast -- eight of us together, including our host -- all very quiet.  There was no cloud in the sky, but we knew God was committed.  As we bowed to say grace before the food, I said, "I think the time is up.  Rain must come now.  We can bring it to the Lord's remembrance."  Quietly we did so, and this time the answer came with no hint whatsoever of rebuke in it.

"Where is the God of Elijah?"  Even before our Amen, we heard a few drops on the tiles.  There was a steady shower as we ate our rice and were served with a second bowl.  "Let us give thanks again," I said, and now we asked God for heavier rain.  As we began on that second bowl of rice, the rain was coming down in buckets-full.  By the time we had finished, the street outside was already deep in water and the three steps at the door of house were covered.

Soon we heard what had happened in the village.  Already, at the first drop of rain, a few of the younger generation had begun to say openly:  "There is God there is no more Ta-wang!  He is kept in by the rain!"  But he wasn't.  They carried him out on a sedan chair.  Surely he would stop the shower!  Then came the downpour.  After only some 10 or 12 yards, three of the coolies stumbled and fell.  Down went the chair and Ta-wang with it, fracturing his jaw and his left arm.  Still determined, they carried out emergency repairs and put him back in the chair.  Somehow, slipping and stumbling, they dragged or carried him half-way around the village.  Then the floods defeated them.  Some of the village elders, old men of 60 to 80 years, bareheaded and without umbrellas as their faith in Ta-wang's weather required, had fallen and were in serious difficulties.  The procession was stopped and the idol was taken into the house.  Divination was made.  "Today was the wrong day," came the answer.  "The festival is to be on the 14th with the procession at six in the evening."

Immediately when we heard this, there came the assurance in our hearts:  "God will send rain on the 14th."  We went to prayer:  "Lord, send rain on the 14th at 6.00 pm and give us four good days until then."  That afternoon the sky cleared, and now we had a good hearing for the Gospel.  The Lord gave us over thirty converts -- real ones -- in the village and in the island during those three short days.  The 14th broke, another perfect day, and we had good meetings.  As the evening approached we met, and again, at the appointed hour, we quietly brought the matter to the Lord's remembrance.  Not a minute later, His answer came with torrential rains and floods as before.

The next day, our time was up and we had to leave.  For us, the essential point was that satan's power in that idol had been broken, and that is an eternal thing.  Ta-wang was no more "an effective god."  The salvation of souls would follow, but was in itself secondary to this vital and unchanging fact.

The impression on us was a lasting one.  God had committed Himself.  We had tasted the authority of the name that is above every name -- the name that has power in heaven and earth and hell. In those few days we had known what it is to be, as we say, "in the center of God's will."


This is an excerpt from the book, SIT, WALK, STAND by Watchman Nee.  For the first part of this story, click here.  

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


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The God of Elijah - Part one

9/18/2013

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On January 9th, we were outside preaching.  Brother Wu with some others were in one part of the village and suddenly asked publicly:  "Why will none of you believe?"  Someone in the crowd replied at once, "What have a god -- one god -- Ta-wang (Great King), and he has never failed us.  He is an effective god."  

"How do you know you can trust him?" asked Wu.  "We have held his festival procession every January for 286 years.  The chosen day is revealed by divination beforehand, and every year without fail, his day is a perfect one without rain or cloud," was the reply.  "When is the procession this year?"  "It is fixed for January 11th at eight in the morning."  "Then," said brother Wu impetuously, "I promise you that it will certainly rain on the 11th."  At once there was an outburst of cries from the crowd:  "That is enough!  We don't want to hear anymore preaching.  IF there is rain on the 11th, then your God is God!"

I was elsewhere in the village when this occurred.  As soon as I heard of it, I saw that it was most serious.  The news had spread like wildfire, and before long, over 20,000 people would know about it.  What were we to do?  We stopped our preaching at once, and gave ourselves to prayer.  We asked the Lord to forgive us if we had overstepped ourselves.  I tell you, we were in deadly earnest.  What had we done?  Had we made a terrible mistake, or dare we ask God for a miracle?

The more you want an answer to prayer from God, the more you desire to be clear with Him.  There must be not doubt about fellowship--no shadow between.  If your faith were in coincidence you could afford to have a controversy with Him, but not otherwise.  We did not mind being thrown out if we had done something wrong.  After all, you can't drag God into a thing that is against His will!  But, we reflected, this would mean an end to the Gospel testimony in this island, and Ta-wang would reign supreme forever.  What should we do?  Should we leave now?  

Up to this point, we had feared to pray for rain.  Then like a flash, there came the word to me:  "Where is the God of Elijah?"  It came with such clarity and power that I knew that it was from God.  Confidently, I announced to the brothers, "I have an answer.  The Lord will send rain on the 11th."  Together we thanked Him, and then, full of praise, we went out--all seven of us--and told everyone.  We could accept the devil's challenge in the name of the Lord, and we would broadcast our acceptance.

As we went to our evening prayer, we all began once more to pray for rain -- now!  That it was that there came to us a stern rebuke from the Lord:  "Where is the God of Elijah?"  Were we going to fight our way thru this battle, or were we going to rest in the finished victory of Christ?  What had Elisha done when he spoke those words?  He had laid claim in his own personal experience to the very miracle that that his lord Elijah, now in the glory, had himself performed.  In New Testament terms, he had taken his stand by faith on the ground of a finished work.

We confessed our sins again.  "Lord," we said, "we don't need rain until the 11th morning."  We went to bed and the next morning (the 10th) we set off for a neighboring island for a day's preaching.  The Lord was very gracious, and that day three families turned to Him, confessing Him publicly and burning their idols.  We returned late, tired out but rejoicing.  We could afford to sleep late tomorrow.


This is an excerpt from the book, SIT, WALK, STAND by Watchman Nee.  Tomorrow, we will see the result of Brother Wu's bold faith in the God of Elijah.


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Neighboring

9/24/2012

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Do all that you can to live at peace with everyone.  

We have settled into our new home.  Having terrific neighbors at our last home, I think that we are a little spoiled.  

Now we have a new house, new neighborhood and a new neighbors.  That means making new friends and experiencing life differently.

But, I have a confession.  

This post is written selfishly. 

 We need your prayers.  

I don't know what to do about our neighbors on one side.  

They have an automatic sprinkler system.  The sprinkler keeps our side yard wet, making it hard to catch a dry time to mow.  Also, one sprinkler hits one of our windows, causing it to be water spotted and needing to be cleaned often.  

Karyn asked them (very nicely)  to contact their sprinkler guy and have the one sprinkler adjusted.  The next day, the neighbor returned our house key (we had previously asked them to hold a key for us in an emergency).  I could be reading that behavior all wrong but it appeared that they didn't appreciate us asking them to adjust the sprinkler and expressed that by returning our house key.    We want to be good ambassadors for Christ and don't want to come across as nit picky but we just got tired of looking thru a water  spotted window.

What do we do?

I am reminded of a story in the book, Sit Walk Stand by Watchman Nee:

 "A brother in South China had a rice field in the middle of the hill.  In time of drought he used a water-wheel, worked by a tread-mill, to lift water from the irrigation stream into his field.  His neighbor had two fields before his, and, one night, make a breach in the dividing bank and drained all his water.  When the brother repaired the breach and pumped in more water his neighbor did the same thing again, and this was repeated three or four more times.  So he consulted his brethren. 'I have tried to be patient and not retaliate,' he said, 'but is it right?'  After they had prayed together about it, one of them replied, 'If we only try to do the right thing, surely we are very poor Christians.  We have to do something more than what is right.'  The brother was much impressed.  Next morning he pumped water for the two fields below, and in the afternoon pumped water for his own field.  After that the water stayed in his own field.  His neighbor was so amazed as the action that he began to inquire the reason and in course of time he too became a Christian."  

I think about that story because it involves water and there is a principle there that applies to our situation.  

Is it right to ask for a wrong to be righted?  

What behavior honors Christ and our neighbors?  

Our current plan is to continue to be nice to them and continue to strike up conversations when we are outside.  Also, we will continue to pray how to resolve this situation.

I know that there are plenty of world issues that are much bigger than this small little issue but we want to represent Christ well.  

So, when you read this today, would you take a few moments to pray for us?  

Ask that God would work so that our neighbors see Jesus in this situation.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Our Attitude to the Enemy - STAND

9/7/2012

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Each Christian must be prepared for conflict.  Paul calls this wrestling with wicked spirits (Eph 6:10-20).   No Christian can hope to enter the warfare of the ages without first learning to sit with Christ and rest in what He has done, and then, thru the power of the Holy Spirit within, to follow Him in a practical , holy life here on earth.  If the Christian is deficient in either of these, he will find that all the talk about spiritual warfare remains only talk; he will never know its reality. We sat and rested with Christ and are learning how to walk with Him before the world but how are we to conduct ourselves in the presence of God's adversary (and ours)?  

God's word is STAND.  Put on the whole armor of God that may be able to STAND against the schemes of the devil.  The Greek verb STAND with its following preposition AGAINST really means HOLD YOUR GROUND.

This is a truth found in God's Word.  It is not a command to invade a foreign territory.  Warfare would imply a command to march.  Armies march into other countries to occupy and to subdue.  However, God has not told us to do this.  

We are not to march but STAND.  

The word STAND implies that the ground disputed by the enemy is really God's and therefore ours.  We need not struggle to gain a foothold of it.  Jesus' victory on the cross was offensive.  He won us back from satan.  That mean's our warfare is, in essence, defensive.  We war against satan only to maintain and consolidate the victory which Jesus has already gained. 

In Christ, we are more than conquerors.  

In Jesus, we STAND.  Thus, we do not fight for victory; we fight from victory.

We must not ask the LORD to enable us to overcome the enemy, nor even look to Him to overcome, but praise Him because He has already done so.  


He is Victor.  

It is all a matter of faith in Him.  If we believe the LORD, we shall not pray so much but rather we shall praise Him more.  The simpler and clearer our faith in Him, the less we shall pray in such situations and the more we shall praise.  In Christ, we are already conquerors.

Do you see what it means to STAND?  We do not try to gain ground; we merely stand on the ground which the Lord Jesus has gained for us, and resolutely refuse to be moved from it.  

The Christian life then, consists of sitting with Christ, walking by Him and standing in Him.  We begin our spiritual life by resting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus.  That rest is the source of our strength for a consistent and unfaltering walk in this world.  And at the end of a grueling warfare with the hosts of darkness we are found standing with Him at last in triumphant possession of the field.

This post is adapted from the book, SIT, WALK, STAND by Watchman Nee.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Our Life in the World - WALK

9/6/2012

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Yesterday, we talked about the word SIT.  But the Christian life does not end there.  After sitting, we must next WALK.  

Once we have found our strength in sitting down, then we have to begin to walk.  Walking is the practical outworking of our Christianity as we deal with others.  The Body of Christ is not something remote and unreal.  It is very practical and present, finding the real test of our conduct in our relations with others.  

Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony that our trying to be right and demanding right of others.  We have become preoccupied with what is and what is not right.  The principle of the Cross is not of right or wrong but of God's grace.  We are to forgive each other just as in Christ, God forgave us.  

If we only try to do the right thing, surely we are very poor Christians.  We have to do something more than what is right.  The question is, "is it better to be right or be Christian?"  These options are not always mutually exclusive but when they are, do we place our rights ahead of grace?  Jesus did not die on the cross to defend our rights.  It was GRACE that took Him to the cross.

So we sit with Christ so that we can walk continuously before humanity.  Our conduct depends fundamentally upon our inward rest, our ability to sit with Christ.  Ultimately, our walking is not based upon our efforts but upon God's mighty inward working.  

Nothing is so hurtful to the life of a Christian as acting.  Nothing is so blessed as when our outward efforts cease and our attitudes become natural -- when our words, our prayers, our very life, all become a spontaneous and unforced expression of the life within.  

The whole principle of the Christian life is this:  we need to go beyond what is right  and focus on what is well-pleasing to God, understanding His will.  

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."


Click here for part three of this post.

This post is adapted from the book, SIT, WALK, STAND by Watchman Nee.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Our Position in Christ - SIT

9/5/2012

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To SIT reveals a secret of the Christian life.  The Christian life does not begin with walking, it begins with sitting.  Christianity began when Jesus provided purification of sins and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  The individual Christian's life begins when we SIT with Christ.

Many Christians make the mistake of trying to walk in order to sit.  But that is a reversal of what is found in Ephesians.  Our reasoning tells us if we do not walk, how will we ever reach our goal?  What can we attain without effort?  How can we ever get anywhere if we do not move?  Christianity does not begin with a big DO, but with a big DONE.  We are invited to sit down and enjoy what God has done for us; not to set out to try and attain it for ourselves.  

The Christian life from start to finish is based upon the principle of utter dependence on Jesus.  He will give us everything we need but we can receive none of it except as we sit with Him.  The work has been finished.  We take on an attitude of rest.  We only advance in the Christian life as we learn first of all to sit down.  

This was God's principle from the beginning.  In the creation, God worked from the first to the sixth day and rested on the seventh.  The seventh day became the sabbath of God; it was God's rest.  Adam was created at the end of the sixth day. So, that means Adam began his life with the sabbath; for God works before He rests, while man must first enter into God's rest, and then he can work.    

And here is the gospel:  that God has gone one stage further and has completed also the work of redemption, and that we need do nothing whatever to merit it, but can enter by faith directly into His finished work.

And here is the secret, the point of today's post:  deliverance from sin is NOT to do something, but to sit, to rest in what God has done.  Once you have ceased your struggle with sin, once you have reached despair, sitting helps you to realize that Jesus has already done everything.

Jesus longs that we will just let Him do and do and do.  He wants to be the Giver eternally, and He wants to be the Doer eternally.  If only we saw how rich and how great He is, we would leave all the giving and all the doing to Him.  

"God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love for us... made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus."   

This post is adapted from the book, SIT, WALK, STAND by Watchman Nee.

Click here for part two of this post.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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