Godly Living

Yesterday, our Lord's table meeting and the prophesying meeting were very special. Though the nature of the meeting was the same as a regular meeting, the content and the feeling of the saints in the meeting took a new turn. I believe it was for the better. The saints' prayers and speakings were very much uplifted in terms of truth and experience. It was not mere empty words but with much feeling and experience behind the words. In other words, it was very genuine. Our praise, worship, thanksgiving, prayer, and prophecy were very genuine; straight from the heart, out of the experiences many have been through these days.

The past few weeks have been intense for many saints as some have been battling with Covid personally or as a family or for some relatives. This second wave surprised the whole country suddenly. Many have been infected with the virus and, alas, many have also lost their lives; thousands and thousands daily, not spacing even the believers.

In the midst of such a pandemic, the Lord has been mercifully preserving all of us. Besides, He has been gracing us to experience Him in a very personal and intimate way. A good number of brothers and sisters testified their experiences during the time they were sick; the new lessons they have learned from the Lord and the new light the Lord has shown to them. A sister even shared with tears, the mercy of the Lord she has experienced concerning her unbelieving mother and father who both were infected with Covicd, and how the Lord miraculously healed them by answering her simple prayer. 

These prophecies of the saints added fuel to the burning fire within me. Therfore, I released my burden on the present pursuit of the truth on "Living a Godly Life" based on selected gems from the book of Proverbs.

To live a godly life, one needs to have the following points experientially:

VISION 

“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint”—Prov. 29:18a

The governing vision of the Bible is the Triune God working Himself into His chosen and redeemed people in order to saturate their entire being with the Divine Trinity for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem—Eph. 4:4-6; Rev. 21:2, 9-10.

One needs to have a clear vision of God's eternal economy and follow it faithfully unto the end. Without this, even the so-called godly life would be meaningless and goalless.

TRUTH

“Buy truth, and do not sell it”—Prov. 23:23a 

The present truth includes the revelation concerning the eternal economy of God (Eph. 1:10; 3:9), the Divine Trinity (2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 1:4-5), the person and work of the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9, 16-17; 3:11), the consummated life-giving Spirit (John 7:39; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 22:17), the eternal life of God (John 3:15-16), the church as the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23), and the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 10-11). 

The Lord's mercy has led all the saints in His recovery to take the way we have been taking. We have faced persecution from families and friends, either from the unbelievers or believers or even both. Some even accused the way we take as "heretic" and even "cultic", but the truth is the truth, no matter what people say or think. To be faithful to the truth, the Lord has graced us to pay the price. This is "the buying of the truth." And we must not sell it at any cost, come what may. The Lord may grace us to be faithful and obedient to the truth unto the end.

Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Acts 26:19

SPIRIT

“The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, / Searching all the innermost parts of the inner being”— Prov. 20:27

When we exercise our spirit to pray properly, there is a lamp shining—Eph. 6:18; 1:17-18; 5:8-9: 1. As we pray, our spirit functions as a shining lamp, searching all the parts of our soul—Prov. 20:27. The more we exercise our spirit in prayer, the more we are enlightened—2 Cor. 4:6.

With the clear and controlling vision clubbed together with the present truth, we must also exercise our spirit to experience the reality of the vision and the truth. Otherwise, it will just be running after an empty dream; professing good vision and truth, but it will all be dead doctrines and fantasy vision if not in the spirit. Therefore, there is an urgent need to exercise our spirits that the Lord as the Lamp may shine in our spirits as the lamps to enlighten our inner being to be luminaries in the world as children of God.

That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world. Philippians 2:15

HEART

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, / For from it are the issues of life”—Prov. 4:23: 

The heart is the entrance and exit to our whole being—Matt. 13:19; 15:18-19: We guard our heart by caring for our heart and having a thorough dealing with our heart before the Lord in the way of life; the more we deal with our heart, the more we guard our heart—Psa. 26:2; 139:23-24; Prov. 4:23; Rom. 8:27; Rev. 2:23; Matt. 13:18-23; 5:8.

Our hearts need to be guarded with all vigilance to not give any ground to the enemy. It is only through this the enemy can intrude into our lives and cause spiritual havoc. Our conscience must be dealt with, cleansed all the time without and condemnation or guilt. Our mind must be renewed day by day, that it even becomes the mind of Christ, clear and sober. Our emotion must be loving the Lord with the first and best love; loving the Lord Jesus only and Him only. Our will must be subdued becoming one with the Lord's will. In this way, our hearts will be guarded and dealt with to become a pure heart to see God and made proper for Christ to make His home.

LOVE

“Love covers all transgressions”—Prov. 10:12b: 

Covering brings in blessing, but uncovering brings in a curse—Gen. 9:22-27 “Love covers all things” (1 Cor. 13:7a), not only the good things but also the bad things.

As children of the Son of God's love, we must be filled with the divine love and let this divine love flow through us to all the people we are in contact with. With such a love, we can cover the shortcomings and weaknesses of our fellow believers. Only love builds up; therefore, we must love one other and build up the church the Body of Christ.

Thus was my burden released. That was one of the best meetings we have ever had this year. I believe more and more such meetings will follow suit. The Lord is sovereign over us all in leading us to live a godly life; arranging even the physical environment to work all things together for our good to gain Him and live Him out as our godly lives.