Exercising Our Spirit to Feed on the Tree of Life
“And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow…the tree of life in the middle of the garden…” (Gen. 2:9)
“Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst.” (John 6:35)
God created the stomach as the organ for us to receive food and water. In a similar way, He created the spirit as the organ for us to contact Him and receive Him. We would emphasize the fact that to sense and substantiate anything requires the right organ. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 2, “The Living That Fulfills God’s Eternal Purpose,” ch. 2, p. 232)
The tree of life is the center of the universe. According to the purpose of God, the earth is the center of the universe, the garden of Eden is the center of the earth, and the tree of life is the center of the garden of Eden. We must realize that the whole universe is centered on this tree of life: nothing is more central and crucial to both God and man than this tree. It is very meaningful to see man in the garden standing before the tree of life.
Every morning you should take Christ as your breakfast, every noon you should take Him as your lunch, and every evening you should eat Him as your dinner. You need to feed on Christ at least three times a day. If you do this, the water of life will water you inwardly. You will never be dry. (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 11, pp. 140, 142)
A New Beginning Together in the Word
This week the church in Los Angeles begins seven weeks of getting into the book of Genesis for our morning revival material. There are many opportunities for the Lord to move in special ways among us as we dive into this material together, and this needs much prayer. Please pray that:
- All the saints will be strengthened to read the word and the ministry in a regular way, making use of various resources such as Life-study messages and radio programs that are freely available.
- Newer and younger ones among us, including those who may not regularly have morning revival, will be encouraged to participate more.
- Families will take advantage of this opportunity to get into Genesis together—for example, reading a chapter of the Bible together or memorizing verses together during the week.
- Many saints would invite co-workers, classmates, and friends to join with us in getting into Genesis and warmly invite them to come to our Lord’s Day morning meetings to hear more about this.
A New Term for Our Students
LAUSD, UCLA, USC, and most schools and campuses throughout LA begin their new terms this week. Please pray that:
- All our students would have a new beginning in the Lord, with the Lord, and unto the Lord!
- The Lord would protect and keep our next generation from the evil one and cause them to grow humanly and spiritually in a healthy way.
- The Lord would flow out through our students to water those around them and flow these ones into the church life!
- That we can immediately reconnect with many contacts from previous terms for face-to-face fellowship and continued shepherding.
SoCal Spanish-speaking and YP Blending Conferences
The Southern California Spanish-speaking conference is this weekend, January 12 to 14 at the Ministry Conference Center (1200 N Hubbell Way, Anaheim). Simultaneously, there will be the Southern California Young People’s Blending Conference.
Meetings are Friday 7:30 pm, Saturday 4:00 and 7:00 pm, and Lord’s Day 10:00 am. Child care for K–6 will be provided only at the Church in Anaheim District 2 meeting hall; no child care will be provided at the MCC. English-speaking and Spanish-speaking saints are invited to attend all the meetings at the MCC; Chinese and Korean translation at the MCC will be provided only on Lord’s Day.
Please pray for the Lord to release some “Marthas” for all the practical services needed during the conference and many “Marys” to attend the meetings with open hearts just to listen to the Lord’s speaking and hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches. May the Lord bless this weekend with His presence, His smile, and His fresh speaking full of life and light!
Bibles for America
BfA has continued giving away physical copies of Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vols. 1-3 to people across the United States. In 2023, we sent out nearly 16,000 sets to people in all 50 states. We continue to hear from recipients how these books have helped them know the Lord Jesus in a more personal way and advance in their Christian life.
For people who live outside the US, 7 of the titles we give away are available to download for free on our website. In 2023, these e-books were downloaded over 313,000 times by people all over the world. Besides the US, the countries with the most number of downloads were India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nigeria. These e-books have also reached many other places including Iraq, where they were downloaded nearly 4,000 times.
Praise the Lord for all He has done and will continue to do! May God’s Word run as never before throughout the US and over the whole earth. Please pray that more people would order Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vols. 1-3 and be helped to progress in their Christian life.
To read the full year-in-review report, go to bfa.org/2023.
Bible Distribution in France
Bible distributions in France will take place May 8 to September 10 in many cities associated with the Olympic torch relay and the Olympic games. The goal is to raise up golden lampstands in at least ten key cities. Please petition the Lord concerning:
- His wisdom to the brothers planning these distributions.
- His administration of the earth to bring forth the best environment for our activities in every city.
- Many French people to be open to the gospel, the truth, and fellowship.
- Praying and going from churches around the earth, including from Los Angeles.
For a revised information letter and an application form (due by February 28), please visit www.amanatrust.org.uk/page/2024Paris.
India
Pray for the 50 current trainees in the FTT New Delhi, that the Lord can continue to perfect them for their usefulness. Pray also for the January 2024 term of the training, that the Lord would release 21 new trainees for the 2 years of full-time training.
Announcements
- Morning Revival: Week 1 of our guided reading through Genesis.
- Upcoming Feasts: The schedule of 2024 conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry is available at www.lsm.org/announcements/events.html.
- LSM Radio Programs: Life-study of the Bible with Witness Lee is a 30-minute radio broadcast composed of excerpts from Brother Lee’s spoken ministry that focuses on the enjoyment of the divine life as revealed in the Scriptures. The ministry portions are followed by a discussion of the portion presented, including questions and answers. All 134 episodes on Genesis are available for free at www.lsmradio.com/programs/genesis.
- 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.
- Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.