Having Been Made Full in Christ
“That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.” (Col. 2:2)
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you have been made full in Him, who is the Head of all rule and authority.” (Col. 2:9-10)
Because all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ and because we have been put into Him, we have been made full in Him—filled up with the divine riches—and all that He is and all that He has belong to us, and all that He has experienced has become our history. (Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ, Key Statement 3)
Do not believe your feelings about yourself, but look away to Christ. Exercise your faith to realize what He is, what He has passed through, what He has obtained and attained, and where He is today. Since He is in the third heaven and we are one with Him, we are in the third heaven also….We have been placed into the Christ who is unsearchably rich. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 178-179)
Giving Our Money with Blessings
“There is one who scatters and increases yet more, and there is one who withholds what is appropriate but ends up only in want.” (Prov. 11:24)
“He who sows sparingly shall also sparingly reap; and he who sows with blessings shall also with blessings reap.” (2 Cor. 9:6)
All our giving, whether to the church in LA or for Oak Glen or for something farther away, is a sowing. Because God has blessed us with Himself, we are empowered to give with blessings. We give not out of necessity (9:7), but by grace which enables us to abound (9:8).
GTCA—Gospelize, Truthize, Churchize America
The 21 North American and 1 Ethiopian FTTA gospel trips that were active last week have just concluded. Detailed reports are at http://www.gtca.us. Follow-up prayer is needed. Please pray:
- for the strengthening of the core college students in our clubs on every campus;
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for the strengthening of the local saints to care for the positive contacts reached through the various tabling and Bible distributions;
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for those who have received a Bible to read it and receive life; and
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for many people in each city to be gradually brought into the church life.
Malta
Acts 28:1 says, “And having been brought safely through, we recognized then that the island was called Malta.” Malta is an island nation south of Italy with a population of about 460,000. It is a member of the European Union and English is one of the official languages.
Last weekend there was a Bibles for Europe distribution in the city center of the Maltese capital, Valletta. Please pray for the literature distributed to be read with an open heart by seeking ones and for the raising up of the Lord’s testimony in Malta.
Lord’s Move to Asia
The January 2020 LMA newsletter has a report from the church in Islamabad and the recent National Blending Conference in Pakistan, as well as an update on the Lord’s move in Nepal:
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/E-2020-01.pdf (English)
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Asia-2020-01.pdf (Chinese)
Prayer for the Current Situation
The following word of encouragement is excerpted from an open letter dated February 7 to the Chinese-speaking saints from the Chinese-speaking co-workers in Southern California regarding the coronavirus outbreak:
We need to be strong in spirit and take up the whole armor of God to pray for the current situation. When people in the world are panicking and human agencies are unable to solve the problem, we need to stand in the breach (Psa. 106:23) to pray to the sovereign Lord of all “on behalf of kings and all who are in high position” and “on behalf of all men” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). We need to take up the corporate priesthood to stop the pestilence by prayer (Num. 16:44-48). At the same time, while the black horse of pestilence is running rampant, we need to pray to release the white horse to first conquer people’s hearts and bring them to salvation (Rev. 6:1).
We should pray particularly for the saints in China that they will seize this opportunity to preach the good news of the gospel to their friends and relatives. According to the reports we have received, they have done so. In some localities they changed the large gospel meetings during the Chinese New Year into small gospel gatherings in the homes. As a result, the number of baptisms exceeded their expectation, with hundreds being baptized. Although some saints cannot go out, they have been using phone calls and emails to contact over thirty people a day, thereby bringing many to believe in the Lord.
Thus, we hope that the brothers and sisters everywhere will spontaneously gather in each locality to pray. We strongly suggest that the saints in each locality use the weekend that was originally scheduled for the Chinese-speaking Conference to set aside one whole day for prayer at set times. We believe this crisis is the opportunity given by God to His church to proclaim His salvation to the people in the world.
We also hope that the brothers and sisters will seize this opportunity to be laboring priests of the gospel to preach the gospel (Rom. 15:16). Whether we are at home or away from home, whether we contact people by visitation or via the internet, we should all join this battle in groups of twos and threes so that the Lord may gain a great victory in this matter, that His enemies may be put to shame, the church may be built up, and God may be glorified.
May the Lord bless all the churches and all the brothers and sisters so that we will make new progress before the Lord in this new year.
Announcements
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Morning Revival: Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ, week 5.
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International Chinese-speaking Conference from February 14 to 16 has been cancelled.
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Reports on the Lord’s Move in Germany, website in English: http://germanyreports.info.
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http://ShepherdingWords.com addresses certain critical issues facing the Lord’s recovery.
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http://LSMchristianradio.com broadcasts hymns and messages of the ministry 24 hours each day.