The Grace Received When Gathered with Others

You never truly appreciate something until after you experience what it's like living without it. Last week I was able to go home for spring break and was really looking forward to it because I hadn't been home in a long time. And much like my first experience of going home after leaving for college,  being home has become such a sweet and enjoyable time (more on why I love going home!). This time was no exception. However, there was something different about this visit for me. I felt like I was missing something that I had become accustomed to throughout my semesters at college. It turned out that this something was the necessity of gathering with other believers as a normal part of my daily Christian life.

At UT, I had become so used to gathering with believers on a regular basis at various Christians on Campus events that it hadn't occurred to me how much I needed those times. So when I went home for the break and didn't have the convenience of meeting and fellowshipping with other believers between classes or for lunch on campus, I realized how much those times really meant to me.

a meeting of believers is an exhibition of their enjoyment of Christ

Last night, at the Christians on Campus Thursday night lecture series, the topic was on The Importance of Meeting. This topic really impressed me because it clearly answered what I had experienced over my break. There were times during my break where I struggled to read the Bible by myself or to pray alone, however, when I was able to meet with other believers, I felt so refreshed and enlivened. I felt like I really experienced Matthew 18:20,

"For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst."

This caused me to begin to consider, what will happen to my "meeting life" after I finish college? At last night's meeting, the matter of establishing the habit of meeting with other believers while in college was emphasized. From one of the speaker's personal experience, he developed this habit of gathering with other believers while in college and believes that this is the reason why, still today, he continues this practice. This created a desire within me to pray to the Lord to establish this habit in me now, so that wherever I may find myself later in life, this habit of meeting with other believers will always be a part of my normal Christian life.

"Not abandoning our own assembling together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as you see the day drawing near." - Hebrews 10:25

What it means to Present Ourselves to the Lord

     When I first came to college I prayed to the Lord that I wanted to consecrate my college years to Him. At the time I didn't really know what this consecration really meant, but I bring this up now, because while reading more of The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee, this matter of presenting ourselves to the Lord or consecration was discussed. This matter really impressed me for many reasons.

     One point that touched me was that if we give ourselves to the Lord, He will little by little touch anything of ourselves that is not of Him and say, "This must go. Are you willing?" He desires that nothing of ourselves would remain. It mentioned that it may seem easier to resist or get out of the Lord's will, but it is blessed to just give up our struggling and fighting against God's will and allow Him to have His way in us and in our lives.

     This reminds me of a verse that I really enjoyed, "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matt. 11:28-30)

     In my experience, when I've tried to resist the Lord in something He is doing in my being and in my life, I have no peace nor rest. Even though I didn't agree with or particularly like what He was doing, I realized that resisting Him was just a lost cause. It was only when I came to the Lord and surrendered my resistance to His will that I found real peace and rest. Like Matthew 11:30 says, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. To do the will of the Father, though outwardly may seem tiresome and impossible, inwardly, it is actually easy and light.

There was so much more in this 2 page section that I enjoyed. I will save the rest for another day :)

The Definition of Faith

     As I was continuing to read The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee, I came across this section in the chapter, The Path of Progress: Reckoning, that really made an impression on me. So up until this point, what had been presented were the awesome Divine facts about Christ's death and how His Blood and the Cross dealt not only with the sins that we commit but also with our very nature as sinners. So what happens after we believe these facts to be true but we still experience old desires and temptations?

     What really impressed me in this section was the choice presented: Are we to believe in the intangible Divine facts of the spiritual realm... or in the tangible facts of the natural realm? A good point mentioned is that there is no mention in the Bible of sin being removed from man or eradicated. So naturally, sin will be something that man will have to deal with his entire natural life. So how can we make real in our experience what is true in Divine fact?

     "Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) To substantiate is to make a substance real in experience. Just as sight and hearing are faculties that make colors and sounds real to us, faith is the manner in which intangible Divine facts are made real in our experience. But what exactly is an experience? It mentions that God does not give individuals, individual experiences. Rather, all spiritual experiences are just us entering into what God has already accomplished through the process Christ went through. This may seem very deep and abstract, and it is! But it's really cool! Our spiritual experiences don't come from our own effort or something we need to do, but they are in Christ! God has done everything in Christ and we too are in Him! So to experience the Lord is to realize in time the eternal things. Wow!

 Please feel free to expound on this point! I feel like it is so enjoyable, but I can't fully explain it. :)

The Normal Christian Life

     So I've started reading this book called The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. I've always heard that this was a really good book, but after reading the first two chapters myself, I am convinced that this will, in fact, be a truly amazing book! The first two chapters, entitled The Blood of Christ and The Cross of Christ literally blew me away.

     Something that really impressed me was seeing that the Blood and the Cross dealt with two different aspects. The Blood dealt with the issue of the forgiveness of our sins and justifying us in the sight of God. When man fell in the garden of Eden, the nature of sin entered into man and created a separation between man and God. The Blood, therefore, was needed to redeem us and bring us back into the fellowship with God. I never realized how important the Blood was, not only for man, but also in the eyes of God and toward Satan. Toward God, the Blood is primarily for the atonement in our standing before God and wholly satisfies God. Toward man, the Blood cleanses his conscience. Toward Satan, the Blood puts God on man's side, and in favor of man, against the accusations of Satan.

     So while the Blood deals with the sins that we commit, the Cross deals with the fact that we are sinners by nature. A good point that was made was that we aren't sinners because we sin, rather we sin because we are sinners. The Blood, then, deals with what we have done, while the Cross deals with what we are. This verse, "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous." (Romans 5:19), was referenced to show that "in Adam" we became sinners, but "in Christ" we were made righteous. What it means to be "in Christ" was illustrated with a piece of paper in a book. The piece of paper is separate from the book and has its own identity, however, when placed into the book, it goes where the book goes. In like manner, if we are "in Christ," His death, is our death, and His resurrection is our resurrection.  The verse, "Of him are ye in Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 1:30), shows us that God placed us "in Christ," and not anything we, ourselves, did. God transferred us from Adam into Christ!

Wow! I can't wait to continue reading and see more of what is means to live a normal Christian life! :)