Existing for Existence.

Do I live to exist or exist to live? I would say most people live to exist. We work, we eat, we drink, we breathe for the sake our existence. Without these things we simply couldn't exist. But then what? More work, more eating, more drinking...? What is the purpose of our existence? Is it just to exist or is there something more?

That's a lot of questions that I won't attempt to answer in completion, but am thinking about. It's this paragraph from the Life Study of Exodus, written by Witness Lee...

For us to live for Christ, we need to exist. Without our human existence we cannot live Christ. But today those in the fallen world care for nothing but their existence; they do not care for the purpose of their existence. To exist is one thing, but to exist for the divine purpose is another thing. The purpose ordained by God for our existence is to live Christ, to live God out, and to have God's testimony. But the people of this world have only their existence; they have no purpose. Eventually they make their existence itself the purpose of their existence. They know nothing but existence. Satan picks up the existence of human beings or of human living and uses this existence to usurp people so that today the whole world cares only for existence, not for God's purpose in existence.

Wow! To say that we exist for our existence is quite enlightening, rather deep and pretty bold. Not sure how to respond, except that I would like to declare that I don't want to exist just for existence sake, but to exist for the divine purpose. How about you?

A link to my heritage

China : A Fight For Faith

I am thankful for the Lord's sovereign arrangement.

Sometimes, I wonder how my life would (or more like wouldn't) be if my grandparents were not able to leave China for Taiwan during the communist revolution. Or if my great grand father hadn't met the Lord and His recovery in a dynamic way in the Shandong province of China, (where they live off of noodles and dumplings...YUM), the same hometown province as Witness Lee. (Thought I'd mention this since, for whatever reason, Chinese people are big on hometowns.) Or if he hadn't given his life to follow the ministry of the age. Would I even exist? Probably not.

For whatever reason, the Lord's sovereignty, mercy, and love towards me, I was born at the right time in the right place to a family that loves the Lord. Praise Him!

Stiff Neck..:(

Yup that's right. For the 5th time within the last two years I have managed to some how give myself what most people would call a stiff neck, also known as a major pain in my neck in the physical and literal sense of the terms. It's a muscle spasm that won't away, limits your peripheral vision, makes you a robot of sorts and drives you absolutely crazy. So needless to say having a stiff neck in the physical sense is at minimum not fun at all and at the opposite extreme completely debilitating and demoralizing. 


So how can this be applied to us spiritually, after all the purpose of this blog is to offer some spiritual refreshment in the middle of the day no matter what the season, even a stiff necked season. 


What better way to find out the spiritual significance than to look to the Bible... so I did a search for verses in the Bible reference a stiff neck. Depending on the translation, you get roughly 15-20 results of verses that reference a stiff neck in relation to to rebelliousness and stubbornness of God's people, the children of Israel. Actually though, we are the same in nature as they are and we should have no trust in ourselves. Rather we need to continually come to the Lord and receive Him into our being. And for this we need some flexible, pliable, supportive necks that match our Head. 


So what exactly are the functions of the neck anyway? We don't really think about these things until it it stops functioning in the proper way. But for the most part the neck...

• Attaches the head to the trunk, or the rest of the body. (Wow...very significant if you look at in from the perspective of the Body of Christ. The neck is what connects the head, Christ, to the body, the church.)
• Supports the head and facilitates its movements (also significant, since without the neck the body can't move or support the head. God needs us for His move.)
• It is a conduit for: the respiratory, digestive and nervous system (That means our neck can affect our breathing, eating, feeling/sensitivity.)
• It accommodates the larynx, endocrine glands (It also affects our speaking and proper growth.)
• Conducts arteries, veins and lymphatics to/from the body to/from the head (Finally, it affects the circulation and fellowship of the body to the head and the head to the body)

I know I could be totally off in these things, but I think there may be something here. (The Lord cover me. I'm not preaching this as a doctrine or anything.) However, it does seem to me that our spiritual "neck" so to speak is very much related to our relationship with Christ our head and the His body, all the other believers on the earth. What we need in our spiritual life is a neck that is beautiful and flexible. This is a matter of our transformed (or our being transformed as we speak) will, which is submissive and obedient to the Lord. If we have such a will, there will be no pain for the Head or the Body...and wouldn't that be nice? I can't really remember, where I got this stuff, but I'm hoping that it is something that has been constituted into me from the ministry of our dear brother Witness Lee. Anyway...may the Lord soften our "necks" for His purpose and my physical neck also, unless it is working out something for His purpose. 

I'm just a thorn bush... but a thorn bush in resurrection!

So as I continue my journey through Exodus with the Church in Irvine, I've discovered that my capacity for reading CAN be increased, especially reading concerning the ministry of Witness Lee. Actually, growing up I hated reading, but after 4 years of college and 2 years post college at a Bible school with an intense assigned reading requirement, I've really learned to love it. You might even say it is a daily nourishment to me :) I guess that the Lord meant when he said "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4 His Word really does nourish us, but I digress...

Ok back to Exodus, according to message 7 of the Life Study of Exodus, the very God in the thorn-bush, the One who called Moses, was the God of resurrection and because this is the God that indwells us, we can declare that we are in resurrection. I know, I know, you may think that this sounds crazy but if a = b and b = c, then doesn't a = c. Follow me here... so if the God of resurrection dwelt in the thorn bush as typified by the burning bush that was not consumed and we are the thorn bush, then that means the God of resurrection dwells in me. And if this is the case, then that means that I too am in resurrection with Him. Therefore, I can declare boldly in faith that I am in resurrection because my God is the God of resurrection.

The more we speak this in faith, the more this will become our experience. My God is living, is yours? My God is in resurrection, is yours? I am in resurrection, are you? Declare it and it'll become yours too! I love my God of resurrection. :)

My personal goal... having a mid-day refreshment.

So... I've set some personal goals for myself related to being and staying refreshed the best I can. One of the best ways, I've found to do so is by taking some time in the middle of my work day to do some personal reading for spiritual enlightenment and refreshment. This is how I figure... since I work for a non-profit that distributes the Bible and Christian literature for free, the best thing I could do was read all of the stuff that we offer...imagine that.

Current reading list from two of my favorite Christian authors, Witness Lee & Watchman Nee (Yes, that is really their names, and yes these are pretty legit.) Oh and a clarification... By current reading list I mean books that I am currently in the middle of. How often I touch them and how long I have been in them vary quite a bit. But let's face it, some books, like the Bible are always going to be on my current reading list:
-How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God - Witness Lee
-Life-Study of Exodus - Witness Lee
-Life Study of Isaiah - Witness Lee
-Basic Elements of the Christian Life, Vol. 1 - Witness Lee & Watchman Nee
-oh and the Bible of course. - God, with the help of some divinely inspired men, God-breathed, Inspired by the Holy Spirit

A couple other books I've been wanting to sink my teeth into:
-Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies - Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff
-Domino: The Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy
-The Song of Songs - Watchman Nee
-The Prayer Ministry of the Church - Watchman Nee

I know this sounds like a completely random mix of things, but well I think we are all kind of mixed up sometimes. But coming back to the refreshing part of it, well a refreshment is by principle just a little bit here and there.

Dictionary.com
re·fresh·ment (rĭ-frěsh'mənt) n.

The act of refreshing or the state of being refreshed.
Something, such as food or drink, that refreshes.
refreshments A snack or light meal and drinks.

and Google search - define refreshment turns back:
- snacks and drinks served as a light meal
- activity that refreshes and recreates; activity that renews your health and spirits by enjoyment and relaxation; "time for rest and refreshment by the pool"; "days of joyous recreation with his friends"
- The action of refreshing; a means of restoring strength, energy or vigour; A light snack or fresh drink without alcohol

Regardless...I do feel a bit more refreshed. Don't you? Alcohol free, but spirits high. :)

P.S. If anyone out there is actually reading any of this, please let me know if you would like a copy of any of the titles above and I'll try my best to get one to you.