Denying Our Self and Turning to Our Spirit for God’s Desire
“The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.” (2 Tim. 4:22)
“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” (Rom. 8:6)
We must see that God does not want anything other than Christ Himself. God’s goal in His recovery is to recover Christ as everything to us. In order to take Christ as everything and gain Him in all things, we must learn to continually deny our self and turn to our spirit. The way to follow the Lord, enjoy the Lord’s riches, live in the reality of the Body of Christ, and function in the New Testament ministry is to continually exercise to reject our self, lose our soul-life and turn to our spirit.
Prayer is the real denial of the self. Actually, we do not need to pray in a lengthy way. It is sufficient simply to call “O Lord Jesus.” Even such a short prayer means “no longer I but Christ.” Our prayer testifies that we do not exercise our self-effort to deal with the situation….Instead, we apply Christ. To pray is to practice the vision concerning Christ with His death and resurrection being our replacement so that we may be fully “Christified” to satisfy the desire of God’s heart. (Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians, msg. 1, I.D, IV, C, I, 1-3)
LA Truth School Follow-up
Our 2023 Truth School concluded this past Saturday with a rich overflow from the young people as they shared their enjoyment from the previous week on “The Bible.” Although the Truth School has concluded, our young people are pressing on as they begin their academic school year.
Please continue to pray for our YP to guard the good deposit by letting the word of Christ dwell in them richly (Col. 3:16) so that they might further enter into the experience of enjoying the Word of God as a Person. Furthermore, through their enjoyment, may the Lord release opportunities for them to overflow to their friends and classmates as fruit-bearing branches abiding in the vine (John 15:4).
FTTA
The Fall 2023 term of the Full-time Training in Anaheim as well as the Boston Extension (XB) begins this week on August 13. Please pray for the perfecting of these young saints—especially for the larger incoming FTTA class—in truth, life, and service for the advancement of the Lord’s move on the earth.
Ukraine
Please continue to pray that:
- The Lord will keep all the saints in the involved countries open to Him for His divine dispensing.
- The Lord will meet the practical needs of the saints and preserve their tripartite being for His interests.
- The brothers who are fighting in the war will be preserved in their tripartite being.
- The Lord will comfort and sustain those who have lost loved ones in the war.
- The enemy will be bound in his attack on the Lord’s interests in Russia, Ukraine, and Europe.
Malaga Meeting Hall
The current financial need for purchasing the last available commercial block on the same floor as the meeting hall in Malaga, Spain is for 81,000 euros by the end of September to close the purchase and for an estimated 335,000 euros for remodeling.
Please pray for this need to be met for the furtherance of the Lord’s move in Europe. A report concerning this property is available at lme.org/reports.html. Saints in LA who are burdened to contribute may give through the Church in Los Angeles designated for ‘Malaga Meeting Hall’.
Iceland
Situated in the far north Atlantic between North America and Europe, Iceland is an island nation with a population of approximately 375,000 people and is one of the few European countries without a lampstand. Currently there are no Recovery Version, ministry books, or literature available in the Icelandic language. However, up to 98% of the country can speak English, making the way open for the vast riches in the ministry to reach the Icelandic people.
In the last few years, saints from the UK, the US, and Finland have visited Iceland to distribute the English NT Recovery Version as well as shepherd two couples who live in Iceland that have been reading and enjoying the ministry.
In March 2023, over 140 English NTs and a few ministry books were distributed in the capital city of Reykjavik, including in the city center and the campus of the University of Iceland. Not only did many stop by our Bible table to pick up a Bible, but there were also many meaningful conversations with Icelanders who are seeking reality. After sharing from the footnotes and speaking of their experiences of the Lord, the visiting saints testified of an unprecedented openness, especially among the young people. Surely there is an urgent need to bring the gospel of the kingdom to the Icelandic people.
We continue to look to the Lord that He would gain this nation!
Announcements
- Morning Revival: Week 1 of Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians (Memorial Day Conference).
- Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The ministry meeting will resume next week, August 23.
- Bibles for America‘s recent posts “Author Spotlight: Who Is Witness Lee?” and “What It Means to Have a Good Conscience and Why It’s So Important” are available at blog.bfa.org.
- LSM Digital Resources: Living Stream Ministry has consolidated many of its helpful digital resources, including apps and free booklets, at lsm.org/daily. The July 2023 newsletter contains an interview with Brother Ron Kangas concerning the history of the Life-study publication work.
- Germany Gospel Trips: October 8 to 22. For more information and blending opportunities, go to bit.ly/GermanyGospelTrips.
- A Timely Speaking of Supply: Enjoy a free weekly video from messages given by Brother Lee at lsm.org/timely-speaking.html.
- Living to Him has a podcast series particularly helpful to working saints, available on all major podcasting services at livingtohim.com/the-living-to-him-podcast.
- GTCA: To learn more about the burden for migration within North America, please visit gtca.us.
- Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.