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Maintaining a Personal and Affectionate Seeking After Christ

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine. Your anointing oils have a pleasant fragrance; your name is like ointment poured forth; therefore the virgins love you. Draw me; we will run after you—the king has brought me into his chambers—we will be glad and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you.” (S.S. 1:2-4)

Song of Songs is a history of love in an excellent marriage, a story of the love between the wise King Solomon, the writer of this book, and the Shulammite (6:13), a girl of the countryside…Song of Songs stresses not the Body of Christ corporately but the believer in Christ individually, unveiling the progressive experience of an individual believer’s loving fellowship with Christ in…stages… (Song of Songs 1:1, footnote 1)

After you have received Christ as your life, you must have a very personal seeking after Christ. No one can represent you or do anything for you in this matter. It must be personal.

We all need this kind of personal, affectionate, intimate contact with the Lord every day…We all need to take heed to what the seeker says: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” Right away her tone changes: “Your love is better than wine.” This is a personal, intimate prayer. “Draw me; we will run after you.”…We need to build up such a relationship with Him that is so personal and affectionate. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-study of Songs of Songs,” pp. 257, 260)

2024 LA Truth School

Our Truth School for the young people started Friday, July 26 and concludes this Saturday, August 3. This week, please pray:

  • For our weeklong truth pursuit of judicial and organic salvation, that our YP would be impressed with and enter into the experience of these truths;
  • For our YP to enjoy the gatherings and be companionized during the planned outings and activities;
  • For our concluding meeting of the 2024 LA Truth School this coming Saturday.

Bibles for America

In June, Bibles for America announced a new title available for saints to order and give away: a 90-day version of Spiritual Nourishment, which can be obtained at materials.bfa.org. This booklet includes ninety days of Bible verses and short excerpts from the ministry. The burden is for this booklet to serve as an entry point into the rich ministry of these two servants of the Lord. The bite-sized portions emphasize Christ as life and are intended to give people a taste for healthy spiritual food.

So far, over 500 copies have been ordered. Pray that all those who receive a copy would be nourished spiritually and enter into the life practice of spending time with the Lord in His Word and the ministry.

European Young People’s Conference & Family Conference

The annual European Young People’s Conference (EYPC) and European Family Conference (EFC) are taking place this week from July 28 to August 3 in Małe Ciche, Poland. The burden of the EYPC is to constitute the young people in Europe with the truth in the Bible so that they are encouraged to love the Lord and the Word of God, to pursue Him with one another, and to be built up together in His Body that they may become pillars for the Lord’s move in Europe and for His coming back. The burden of the EFC is to raise up families from across Europe for the church life. Please pray:

  • That the Lord will once again speak a clear and definite word to each young person that will touch each heart and call each one for His purpose in Europe.
  • That there will be a cleansed and sanctified environment for the Lord to freely move among our young generation to gain a group of consecrated young people in Europe for His testimony and expression.
  • For the fellowship and blending among the young people and serving saints from the many different countries and languages to realize the Body, even while they are still so young.
  • For the covering and protection of the saints in their travels and throughout the entire week of the conference, and for the health and safety of all in attendance.

2024 Paris Olympics Gospel Trips

The first set of gospel trips (OL1) started July 21 and concludes July 30. This marks the beginning of 50 days of continuous Bible distributions and visiting people with the good news during this year’s Olympic Games. The second set of gospel trips during the Olympics (OL2) are July 31 to August 9 and will be in Rouen, Mertzig (Luxembourg), Geneva (Switzerland), and Strasbourg.

We expect that the day-by-day and house-to-house church life among the local and visiting saints would open the way for the Lord to add to the churches, even raising up new districts and lampstands. May our praying spirit be so strong to stand with the Lord in what He is doing among the French people!

Please pray:

  • For the the 50 days of continuous Bible distributions and visitations during the Olympics.
  • That the day-by-day and house-to-house church life among the local and visiting saints will open the way for the Lord to add to the churches, even raising up new districts and lampstands.
  • That the existing churches in French-speaking Europe will be strengthened by the gospel teams.
  • For the Lord to raise up new lampstands in Marseilles, Montpellier, Toulouse, Caen, Nantes, Lille, Rouen, Versailles, Mertzig, and Geneva.
  • That the Lord will cover and rule over any disturbances or hindrances from the enemy.

A special report on the Lord’s move in France and a presentation on migration to serve in France given at the recent July Semiannual Training are at lme.org/reports.html. Subscribe to receive trip reports and testimonies at courantdevie.myflodesk.com; archived reports are at tinyurl.com/2024gospeltrips.

Saints in LA burdened to give for the distribution can do so through the Church in Los Angeles designated for “Paris Olympics.”

Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste, or East Timor, is a Southeast Asian nation with fewer than 1.5 million inhabitants, most of whom are Catholic. The two official languages are Portuguese and Tetum, with English and Indonesian designated as working languages. Please pray for the students at the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e, located in Dili, the capital city, to be open to the truth and for the home meetings and group meetings for Bible reading to be established.

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Week 4 of Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing in Order to Receive the Reward of Christ as the Crown of Righteousness.
  2. SoCal Labor Day Blending Conference: Saturday afternoon, August 31 to Lord’s Day morning, September 1, at the Ministry Conference Center in Anaheim. In-person attendance is encouraged. More details to be announced.
  3. Free e-Booklets: Living Stream Ministry offers free e-booklets to read and share. For example, sixty nuggets and gems have been extracted from the Life-study of Philippians with timely topics such as “Pursue toward the Goal for the Prize of the High Calling” and “The Way to Be Freed from Anxiety.” These e-booklets may be accessed for free at www.lsm.org/life-study-philippians.
  4. The LA Years: Chapter 6: Visiting Seekers Throughout America is published at www.layears.org, an oral history project documenting the early years of the church life in Los Angeles from 1958–1974, including written history, photos, and first-hand accounts.
  5. Bibles for America‘s recent blog post “How Should Christians Respond to the World Situation?” is available to read and share at blog.bfa.org.
  6. Shepherding Words: Seven new articles concerning Israel in God’s economy have been posted to shepherdingwords.com, a helpful resource in ushering the saints into a view of the present situation in the Middle East according to God’s view in His eternal economy.
  7. Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.