In another post, we provide a very brief biography of Witness Lee. Lee is the author of the outlines and extensive notes in the Holy Bible Recovery Version, a unique study Bible that helps people understand the Word of God. Bibles for America gives away copies of the New Testament Recovery Version to people who live in the US.

In addition to composing the notes, outlines, and cross-references in the Recovery Version, Witness Lee is also the author of hundreds of books that minister Christ as life to people so they may know and experience Him for God’s purpose. Christians all over the world can testify how Lee’s books convey the riches of Christ, the supply of life, and practical help to know the Lord.

We at Bibles for America are happy to offer six free ebooks by Witness Lee. You can download them for free from anywhere in the world.

In this post, we’re highlighting an excerpt from each of these books to give you a taste of their rich, helpful content.

The All-inclusive Christ

In The All-inclusive Christ, Lee presents a detailed study of some of the unsearchable riches of the good land as seen in Deuteronomy, applying them to our experience as believers today. This book encourages God’s seekers to daily experience and enjoy Christ as the good land for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. 

On page 79, we read of the significance of stones in the good land:

“We must not only be saved, but also transformed into the living stones for the building of God. Originally we are not stones; we are pieces of clay. But when we accepted Christ, He came into our spirit and has been continually working to transform us. By the renewing of the Holy Spirit, we are transformed from a piece of clay to a stone that we may be material for the building of God.”

Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vols. 1-3

This set of booklets helps believers in Christ establish a firm foundation for a rich and meaningful Christian life. It covers experiences that are crucial for all believers, including experiencing Christ in our human spirit, contacting Him daily, being nourished and growing spiritually, and living according to the life of God within us.

Page 41 in Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vol. 1 shows us the importance of knowing where Christ lives in us—our human spirit:

“Christ is in our spirit, and if we would meet Christ, we must turn to our spirit. Before we do anything, go anywhere, or say anything, we must turn to our spirit. If we would learn to do this, what a change we would see in our lives. This is indeed wonderful! Christ is the Spirit, we have a spirit, and these two spirits are joined as one. Now by turning to our spirit and exercising or using our spirit, we have the way to experience the reality of all that Christ is to us.”

We see the significance of calling on the name of the Lord on page 15 of Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vol. 2:

“In Romans 10:12b-13 the Bible says, ‘For the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him; for “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”’ In the past we may have had the concept that these verses were only applicable to an initial salvation experience; however, every Christian also needs a daily salvation from sin, self, human weakness, and other negative things. On the positive side, he also needs a bountiful supply of the Lord to nourish and strengthen him in order that he may grow up into Christ in all things. The way into the realization of this is simply by calling on the Lord.” 

Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vol. 3, page 33 reveals a wonderful aspect of Jesus in the Gospels:

“In the Gospels, the Lord Jesus presents Himself as a feast for us to drink and eat. He says in John 4 that He is the living water for us to drink. In the sixth chapter of the same book, He says that He is the bread of life to be eaten. Then the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12 that we ‘were all given to drink one Spirit.’ We drink Him, we eat Him, and thereby enjoy Him and receive Him as our spiritual nourishment. We have to praise the Lord that Jesus Christ has presented Himself to us as a feast to meet all our needs and to be all our supply.”

The Economy of God

The Economy of God shows from the Scriptures God’s eternal purpose and the way God is carrying out this purpose through His relationship with man. Lee uses many practical and helpful illustrations to guide believers into the deeper dimensions of the Christian life.

On page 209, we read the following about God’s economy:

“We have pointed out that the word ‘economy’ in the Greek means administration, stewardship, government, arrangement, dispensation. The word dispensation is used without any thought of periods of time, but with the meaning of the dispensing of God into us. Again, we repeat, God’s intention is to dispense Himself into us. This plan is the center of His creation and redemption. God created and redeemed man for this purpose, that man might be the container into which He could dispense Himself. In the whole universe—time, space, and eternity—the center of God’s economy is to dispense Himself into humanity.”

The Knowledge of Life

The Knowledge of Life looks at the believer’s need to know, possess and experience God’s divine life in order to fulfill God’s purpose. This book reveals the path that leads to life, beginning with regeneration and advancing to knowing the inward sense of life.

Here’s an illuminating excerpt from pages 141-142:

“God is our Father because we have His life. Since His life has entered into us, it also brings the law of this life into us. When the law is working, it regulates God Himself out of us. Thus, God intends to be our God in this law of life…Whenever we allow His life to work within us and the law of His life to regulate within us, our service is the service of life, spiritual service, or living service. When we thus allow God to be our God in the law of His life, then the God we worship is not a God in doctrine or imagination, but a living God, a practical God, a God who can be touched. In our experiences of life, in our daily living, and in the activities of our work, our God is indeed a living God, a God whom we can touch and whom we can meet.” 

Each of these quotes touches a profound matter related to our growth in the life of God and our experience as believers in Jesus Christ. We encourage you to read them in their full context for a deeper understanding of their meaning. You can download these books by Witness Lee for free here.

As Christians, we can sincerely say that we love our Savior Jesus Christ, the One who gave His life for us. Without question, we acknowledge that He is worthy of our love.

But have we ever asked ourselves whether we love Him the way He desires to be loved? Today we’ll read verses from Revelation 2 and accompanying notes in the New Testament Recovery Version to see how the Lord Jesus wants us to love Him.

The Lord’s speaking to the church in Ephesus

In Revelation 2 and 3, the Lord’s speaking to seven churches in Asia shows us what pleases Him and what troubles Him regarding His people. The first church He addressed in this section was the church in Ephesus. 

Revelation 2:1–3 says: 

“To the messenger of the church in Ephesus write: These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, He who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works and your labor and your endurance and that you cannot bear evil men; and you have tried those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false; And you have endurance and have borne all things because of My name and have not grown weary.”

The Lord began by acknowledging the many good points of the church in Ephesus, such as their works, their endurance, and much more. It seems their condition before the Lord was quite positive. But then in verses 4 and 5, He says:

“But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore where you have fallen from and repent.”

Their labor and faithfulness couldn’t offset the one thing the Lord had against them: they had left their first love.

What is our “first love”?

The Lord specifically said the church in Ephesus had left its first love. What does the phrase first love mean?

Let’s read note 1 on first in the New Testament Recovery Version to find out:

“The Greek word for first is the same as that translated best in Luke 15:22. Our first love toward the Lord must be our best love for Him.”

Luke 15:22 says:

“But the father said to his slaves, Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.”

Here, the father didn’t call for just any robe, but the best robe he had, the finest robe.

In Greek, the original language of the New Testament, the word used for best in Luke 15:22 is the same word used for first in Revelation 2:4. This shows us that the first love the Lord desired from the church in Ephesus was their best love.

But was the Lord’s speaking applicable only to the believers in Ephesus then? No! Since it’s included in the Word of God, it applies to all believers and is a warning to us today. The Lord longs for us to love Him with our first, best love. This means that we give Him the first place in our heart and our life, loving Him above all else.

The importance of maintaining our first love for the Lord

The defining characteristic of our relationship with the Lord Jesus is love. And this love is like that between a bridegroom and his beloved bride. In fact, the book of Revelation reveals that the Lord Jesus is our Bridegroom who will one day be married to His bride, composed of His believers. And the end of Revelation shows us that for all eternity, Christ will be the Husband to His people. Together, they’ll be a loving couple living in complete oneness with each other.

Since this is the ultimate conclusion of the whole Bible, no wonder the Lord Jesus wants us to love Him with our first love today. He loves us purely, with a deep, unchanging love. But what about us? Has our love for Him diminished? Is our love for Him what’s left over after loving the world, our career, or other things? 

Let’s read Revelation 2:4–5 again:

“But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore where you have fallen from and repent.”

At one time, the church in Ephesus had loved the Lord as their first love, but they left that love. This is the one thing that the Lord Jesus had against them, and what they needed to repent of.

Now let’s read the the second half of note 2 on Revelation 2:4 in the New Testament Recovery Version:

“Now this second epistle to the Ephesians reveals that the degradation of the church begins with our leaving the first love toward the Lord. Nothing but love can keep us in a proper relationship with the Lord. The church in Ephesus had good works, labored for the Lord, endured suffering, and tried the false apostles (vv. 2-3), but she left her first love toward the Lord. The leaving of the first love is the source of all the degradation in the succeeding stages of the church.”

This note strongly points out that “nothing but love can keep us in a proper relationship with the Lord.”

Although the church in Ephesus had good works, labored for the Lord, endured suffering, and tried the false apostles, the Lord wasn’t satisfied with these things because she left her first love. 

No matter how much scriptural knowledge we obtain or how many good works and activities we carry out, only loving Christ with our first love can keep us in a proper relationship with Him. Loving the Lord with our first, best love should be the top priority of our Christian life. Only this love can keep us in a proper relationship with the Lord. 

Today, it’s possible for us believers to think that serving the Lord is the primary thing He wants from us. We can become occupied with serving Him, yet neglect our personal fellowship with Him. This isn’t what He wants. He yearns for us to love Him with our whole heart, more than anything else. While the Lord certainly wants us to serve Him, anything we do for Him should be the issue of our love for Him.

And it’s not only good works we do for the Lord that can take His place in our heart. Anything can distract us and diminish our love for the Lord, including our job, education, or friends. These things can become more important to us than the Lord and cause us to leave the Lord as our first, best love. The Lord wants to have the first place in every facet of our lives.

Repenting for leaving our first love

We all have to ask ourselves about our relationship with the Lord. Do we love Him with our best love? Does He have the first place in our hearts?

The Lord told the church in Ephesus to repent for leaving their first love. We should all spend some time in prayer to open our hearts to the Lord. We can pray something like this:

“Lord Jesus, I do love You. But show me anything that I love more than You. I want to love You with my first and best love. I repent of the things that have taken Your place in my heart. Lord Jesus, I want to love You above all else.”

As we pray this way, He will show us the things that we love more than Him. Under His shining, we can repent. Our hearts will be unloaded, and we can begin to love Him with our first love again.

Spending time with the One we love

So how can we maintain our first love for the Lord? 

Spending time with the people we love is indispensable. Two people can say that they love one another, but if they seldom talk or spend time with each other, their love isn’t very real. When it comes to love, time together is everything. 

It’s the same when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. The more time we spend in fellowship with Him, the more our appreciation and love for Him grows.

How we spend our time every day reveals what occupies us, what our priorities are, and what we love. All day long, we’re presented with choices related to our time. For instance, how do we begin our day? Do we immediately reach for our device, scrolling or reading through our emails? Or do we put everything aside to spend time in fellowship with the Lord to behold Him first? This is a very practical choice.

There is something special about being with the Lord first thing in the morning, before we’re weighed down or filled with other things. In the unsullied freshness of a new day, we can spend time with Him in fellowship, prayer, and the Word. Opening our hearts to Him, we can bask in His presence and let Him draw us more to Himself. By spending time with the Lord this way, we nurture our love for Him. 

Then throughout the day, we can maintain our love for the Lord by telling Him we love Him. He delights in hearing us declare our love to Him. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, we can quietly say, “Lord Jesus, I love You. I love You with all my heart.”  Telling the Lord again and again that we love Him keeps our love for Him fresh, and fills our hearts with appreciation for Him.

We can also express our love to the Lord Jesus by singing to Him. For instance, we can sing a song like this that encourages us to love the Lord with our best love:

Jesus Lord, You’re our first love;
You’re the One we love the best.
When our heart is loving You,
How we’re filled with Your sweet rest!

Lord, we love You for Yourself,
Not for what You give or do.
Nothing else could e’er compare
With the joy of loving you.

Lord, we’ve been drawn off by many things;
Now we turn our heart back—how it sings!
We repent of loving other things—
Jesus, Lord, You’re our first love.

Never more could we desire
Anything that’s less than You,
And to this we would aspire—
Simply to be filled with You.

Jesus Lord, You’re our first love;
You’re the One we love the best.
When our heart is loving You,
How we’re filled with Your sweet rest!

You can hear the tune to this song here.

We hope this post has helped you see that the Lord wants us to love Him with our first and best love, and that this is what keeps us in a proper relationship with Him.

If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here.

Have you ever felt like God seemed far away and out of reach, even after you were saved?

Over the course of our Christian life, we sometimes experience the Lord’s presence with us in a clear and definite way. Maybe we’re in a difficult situation and when we pray to the Lord, He feels so near. But after the crisis passes, it seems like that experience of His presence was a mysterious, even accidental occurrence—like we were stumbling around in a dark room, inadvertently hit a light switch, and the lights came on.

As believers in Jesus, we long to know Him and be close to Him. Here’s the good news: the Lord wants that too. He wants us to experience Him intentionally, not accidentally. He wants us to enjoy His presence every day, not just occasionally or only when we have a pressing need. But how can we regularly and consistently experience Him if we feel like He’s so far away? 

In this post, we’ll get some help by reading a few excerpts from the book The Economy of God by Witness Lee, which you can download for free here.

What happened when we were saved

Actually, for believers, the Lord Jesus is not distant at all. He’s closer to us than anyone else ever could be. 

When we believed in Jesus, some wonderful things happened: we were redeemed through His death on the cross, our sins were forgiven, and we were saved from eternal judgment.

But this isn’t all. Redemption solved the problem of our sins before God, but God’s full salvation includes more than this. According to His eternal purpose, God wants to live in us so we can have His life and know and experience Him subjectively.   

So after dying for us, 1 Corinthians 15:45 tells us that in resurrection, “the last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving Spirit.” And when we believed in Christ, He as the Spirit entered into us.

The Holy Spirit and the human spirit

In The Economy of God, Witness Lee devotes chapter 3, titled “The Residence of the Divine Spirit,” to the wonderful fact that the Spirit is now living in us.

Let’s read this excerpt on page 27. Here, Lee begins by pointing out three verses in the Bible that show us the Holy Spirit and the human spirit together:

“In John 3:6 we read, ‘That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ This verse speaks of two distinct spirits—one is capitalized, and the other is not. The first occurrence of the word refers to the Holy Spirit of God, and the second, to the human spirit of man. That which is born of the Holy Spirit is the human spirit. Another verse showing these two spirits is John 4:24: ‘God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.’ Again, the first Spirit is capitalized, and the second is not. We must worship God, who is the Spirit, in our human spirit. Romans 8:16 further confirms the existence of two spirits: ‘The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.’ The pronoun our definitely designates the human spirit and removes any ground to doubt the reality of both the divine Spirit and the human spirit.”

Notice that all three of these verses mention the divine Spirit and the human spirit. All of us need to know, understand, and appreciate these three crucial verses: John 3:6, John 4:24, and Romans 8:16. They’re worth remembering, and even memorizing.

In the following paragraph on page 27, Lee explains why we must know the human spirit in addition to the Holy Spirit:

“Why do we point this out? It is because Christians have very little knowledge about man’s spirit. Much attention is given to the Holy Spirit, but the human spirit, the residence and dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, is almost entirely neglected.”

We might know something about the divine Spirit of God, but we may not have known that we have a human spirit and that the divine Spirit resides in our spirit. Without knowing this, we can’t intentionally experience Christ because we wouldn’t know where to locate Him.

Lee continues:

“Suppose someone wants to visit me. He must first find where I live. If he cannot locate my home, he will have to forfeit his visit.” 

This illustration drives the point home.

If we don’t know the Lord’s “address” other than a vague “He lives in me,” no matter how much we want to be close to the Lord Jesus and enjoy His companionship, He will continue to seem far away. 

But once we know that Christ lives in our human spirit, we know where to find Him! This is the secret to experiencing Him every day. We can turn to Him in our spirit to contact Him any time and enjoy fellowship with Him. We can consistently experience Him personally and subjectively. We no longer need to hope that somehow, we’ll experience Him; we know where He is and can “visit” Him anytime!

The Spirit’s exact address

Thank the Lord that His Word is specific and clear about this. The three important verses pointed out in the first excerpt we read show the wonderful relationship of the Holy Spirit and our human spirit.

We also have 2 Timothy 4:22:

“The Lord be with your spirit.” 

This verse underlines the fact that our spirit is where we need to go to meet Him and experience Him! That’s why striving to think about the Lord more or depending on our feelings doesn’t help us experience Him. We need to go to Him in our spirit. 

By turning to our spirit, our deepest part, we can contact the Lord Jesus and enjoy Him. And this is something we can do anywhere, anytime, under any circumstance, in good times and bad times. We can experience Him in all the situations of our life.

A few simple ways we can practice turning to our spirit include calling on the name of the Lord, praying to fellowship with Him, and praying with the Word of God. By turning to our spirit, we’ll realize that the Lord is so near and available to us all the time. 

Seeing that the Lord Jesus lives in our spirit will revolutionize our Christian life. We’ll know exactly where to go to find Him at any moment. As we learn to live according to our spirit, contacting the Lord and talking to Him throughout the day, we’ll enjoy His dear presence more and more. Our human spirit is truly the secret to experiencing Him.

We encourage you to download a free copy of The Economy of God here to read chapter 3 in its entirety, along with all its included scriptural references. And if you live in the US, you can order a free New Testament Recovery Version here and read the insightful notes that accompany the verses mentioned in this post.

What is mercy? The dictionary defines it as “clemency and compassion shown to a person who is in a position of powerlessness or subjection, or to a person with no right or claim to receive kindness; kind and compassionate treatment in a case where severity is merited or expected.”

This definition describes every fallen human being before God. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Powerless and under righteous judgment, we had no right to receive any kindness or compassionate treatment from God.

But God had tremendous mercy on us in our fallen, sinful condition and opened a way for us to be saved through believing in Jesus Christ.

Today, we’ll read a few verses and notes in the New Testament Recovery Version to gain a fresh appreciation of God’s mercy. We’ll also see how we can continue to experience God’s mercy throughout our Christian life.

The source of God’s mercy

Since fallen human beings are utterly undeserving and powerless to claim anything from God, why does He extend His mercy to us?

First, to see how much we needed God’s mercy, let’s read Ephesians 2:1-3:

“And you, though dead in your offenses and sins, in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit which is now operating in the sons of disobedience; among whom we also all conducted ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

This was our situation before we were saved. Our condition was truly wretched before God. We were dead in our offenses and sins, walked according to the evil age of this world and according to the evil ruler of the air (Satan), conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, and, by nature, we were children of wrath! 

The very next verse begins with “But God.” Ephesians 2:4-5 says:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

This passage shows us it’s because of God’s greatlove for us that He is rich in mercy to us. Despite our awful condition, God greatly loved us, and in His mercy, He caused us to be saved by grace.

Paul’s experience of God’s mercy

Paul, who was formerly known as Saul, could write these words in Ephesians 2 because he himself had experienced God’s rich mercy. 

In 1 Timothy 1:12-13, Paul testified:

“I give thanks to Him who empowers me, Christ Jesus our Lord, that He has counted me faithful, appointing me to the ministry, who formerly was a blasphemer and a persecutor and an insulting person; but I was shown mercy because, being ignorant, I acted in unbelief.”

This was Paul’s testimony: “I was shown mercy.”

In the New Testament Recovery Version, note 3 on mercy in verse 13 says:

“Saul, a blasphemer and a persecutor, first was shown mercy and then received grace (v. 14). Mercy reaches farther toward the unworthy one than grace does. Because Saul was one who blasphemed God and persecuted man, God’s mercy reached him before the Lord’s grace did.”

God’s mercy was able to reach even a person like Saul, one who blasphemed God and persecuted the believers of Jesus! This shows how rich God’s mercy is. It extends to even the most unworthy and seemingly unreachable.

God had mercy on Saul, not just to turn him from being a blasphemer and insulting person, but also to bring him into a position where he could receive and enjoy God’s marvelous grace.

We can continue to experience God’s mercy and grace

We all experienced the mercy of God when we were saved, and we can continue to enjoy His mercy throughout our lives. 

As we go on in our Christian life, we may try our best not to make mistakes. But although we’re born again and eternally saved, we still have our sinful nature. This causes us to fail and commit sins, even though we don’t want to. When this happens, we must repent and confess that sin to the Lord. This is essential. Confessing is how we’re forgiven and cleansed. 

But after we’ve confessed our sins, we still might feel quite low because of our failures, disgusted with ourselves, and even completely defeated. But we don’t have to stay in such a disheartened state. We need to remember that God is always rich in mercy.

At such times, we can be encouraged by Hebrews 4:15-16: 

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin. Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.”

Jesus, our High Priest, is touched with the feeling of our weaknesses. So even when we’re feeling weak and low, we can come forward boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace.

The first part of note 2 on mercy explains:

“Both God’s mercy and God’s grace are the expression of His love. When we are in a pitiful condition, first God’s mercy reaches us and brings us into a situation in which He is able to favor us with His grace. Luke 15:20-24 tells us that when the father saw the prodigal son returning, he had compassion on him. That was mercy, which expressed the father’s love. Then the father clothed him with the best robe and fed him with the fattened calf. That was grace, which again manifested the father’s love. God’s mercy reaches farther and bridges the gap between us and God’s grace.”

In Luke 15, the prodigal son had utterly failed his father, having squandered his entire inheritance, and was reduced to a pitiful condition. He was in no position to receive anything from his father. But when he returned home, his father’s compassion bridged the gap and reached him. Affectionately receiving his son, the father then clothed him and fed him with the fattened calf.

At times, we also may be in a pitiful condition, and the gap between us and God’s grace seems insurmountable to us. But God’s mercy can bridge that gap and bring us into a situation where we can once again enjoy His grace.

How we can enjoy God’s mercy

The second part of note 2 on mercy gives us a way to experience God’s mercy and grace again and again:

“God’s mercy and grace are always available to us. However, we need to receive and find them by exercising our spirit to come to the throne of grace and contact our High Priest [Jesus], who is touched with the feeling of all our weaknesses. By this word the writer of this book encouraged the wearied Hebrew believers to receive mercy and find grace for timely help, that they might be set upright (12:12).”

On God’s side, His mercy and grace are available to us all the time, but on our side, we must come forward to the throne of grace in order to freshly receive mercy and find grace. We do this by exercising our spirit.

A simple way to exercise our spirit is by calling on the name of Jesus. Romans 10:12 tells us the Lord is “rich to all who call upon Him,” and Psalm 86:5 says, “You, O Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.” We can call quietly or out loud; sometimes when we’re desperate, we may even cry out to the Lord. 

When we exercise our spirit by calling upon His name, we come forward to the throne of grace and are able to receive God’s rich mercy and enjoy His grace again. This is something we can practice every day. 

Besides calling on the Lord, we can also exercise our spirit by praying and singing to Him. For instance, we can sing a hymn such as the one below, which was written by Witness Lee, the author of the notes and outlines in the Recovery Version. This hymn praises God for His rich mercy. As we sing hymns like this, we enjoy His mercy afresh and are brought into thanks and praise to the Lord for it. You can hear the tune here:

God, we praise Thee for Thy mercy,
 ’Tis so great and so profound!
In our weakness and our failures;
  With its greatness it abounds.
We adore Thee! we adore Thee!
  With such mercy we’ve been crowned!
  With such mercy we’ve been crowned!

How we marvel at this mercy
  So far-reaching and so vast!
It has reached us, e’en the sinners,
  And will ever hold us fast.
From this mercy, from this mercy,
  What can cause us to be cast?

For Thy mercy we are grateful,
  ’Tis so rich, so plenteous!
Thru Thy mercy in redemption,
  Thou hast richly favored us.
If without this, if without this,
  How could we be favored thus?

Oh, Thy mercy, so inspiring!
  Gentle, tender, dear and sweet!
With Thy patience and Thy kindness,
  Us in all our need it meets.
It we treasure, it we treasure,
  Nothing can with it compete.

Father, we enjoy Thy mercy,
  Ever fresh and ever new;
Every morning shed upon us,
  It refreshes as the dew.
How we taste it! how we taste it!
  Giving Thee the praises due.

We can never cease to praise Thee,
  As Thy mercy e’er endures;
All Thy grace and all Thy favor,
  Ever for us it secures.
Trusting in it, trusting in it,
  Thy sure mercy us assures.

(Hymns, number 26, published by Living Stream Ministry)

The Bible reveals so much about God’s mercy; we could only touch on it briefly in this post. But we hope you’ve seen something of how rich God’s mercy is to us and are encouraged to continue experiencing it daily. 

If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here. In it, you’ll find many verse cross-references on mercy and notes on those verses that will enrich your appreciation of God’s rich mercy.

We probably all have some ideas about what the Christian life is supposed to be. For instance, we might think it’s about imitating Jesus, behaving ethically, performing charitable works for God’s glory, or being a good person.

God certainly doesn’t want us to live in an immoral or unethical way. But even if we are upstanding people living according to excellent moral principles, does that make God happy? What kind of living truly pleases God?

In order to answer these questions, we need to see what the Christian life is according to the Bible, not according to what we may have picked up from religious traditions or our own concepts. In this post, we’ll address this subject in a brief way by reading verses and notes in the New Testament Recovery Version.

What happened when we were saved

When we repented and believed in Jesus, we received God’s forgiveness. But that’s not all. We were also born again with the divine life of God. That’s why John 3:6 says:

“That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

And 1 Corinthians 15:45 tells us that when Jesus resurrected from the dead, “The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving Spirit.”

As the life-giving Spirit, Christ enters all those who believe in Him to live in them, that is, in their human spirit. This is the meaning of regeneration: our spirit was born of the Spirit, and now Christ as the Spirit is with us all the time. Second Timothy 4:22 clearly says:

“The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.”

It’s an astounding fact that Christ as the life-giving Spirit is now in our spirit!

But what do these verses about being born of the Spirit and Christ being the life-giving Spirit have to do with our Christian life? Everything! 

Simply put, Christ came into us so He could be our life and so we could live by Him. This is what the New Testament reveals to us, especially in the epistles of Paul.

To live is Christ

Before the apostle Paul was saved, he was zealous for the law of God given through Moses. As a Pharisee, he belonged to the strictest sect of the Jewish religion. The four Gospels record the Pharisees’ hostility toward Jesus throughout His ministry. Even after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, the Pharisees, including Paul, continued to persecute His believers. But one day, the resurrected Jesus appeared to Paul, and he was saved. From that day on, Christ lived in Paul.

In Philippians 1:21, Paul said something striking: 

“To me to live is Christ.” 

Paul didn’t say that he was living according to the law of God, or even according to a new religion. He said that for him, to live is Christ. But what does this mean?

The first part of note 1 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version explains: 

“Paul’s life was to live Christ. To him, to live was Christ, not the law or circumcision. He would not live the law but would live Christ, not be found in the law but be found in Christ (3:9). Christ was not only his life but also his living. He lived Christ because Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20). He was one with Christ in both life and living. He and Christ had one life and one living. They lived together as one person.” 

After Paul was born again, his life radically changed. He was no longer interested in striving to live according to the law or having a good, upright life. He realized Christ was in him as his life, which meant He could be his living. Actually, as the note states, Christ and Paul lived together as one person.

To live Christ is to magnify Him

The last part of this note says:

“Christ lived within Paul as Paul’s life, and Paul lived Christ without as Christ’s living. The normal experience of Christ is to live Him, and to live Him is to magnify Him always, regardless of the circumstances.”

So the normal experience of Christ isn’t striving to be like Him. It’s also not trying to remember everything Jesus said and did or asking ourselves what Jesus would do in any given situation.

Rather, our normal experience of Christ is to live Him, which is to magnify Him, regardless of our circumstances. 

The concept of magnifying Christ appears in Paul’s own writing in Philippians 1:20, where he says: “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.” 

To magnify something is to make it appear larger and more visible. As Paul lived Christ, Christ was expressed and even magnified through him; He was made visible for all to see.

When Paul wrote to the Philippian believers about magnifying Christ, he wasn’t in the easiest of circumstances. In fact, he was a prisoner in Rome. But regardless of his outward situation, Paul aspired to live Christ and magnify Him, through life or even through death, so that others could see Christ.

The effect of Paul’s living and magnifying Christ

At the end of Paul’s epistle, we get a glimpse of the effect his living had on those around him. In Philippians 4:22, he wrote:

“All the saints greet you, and especially those of Caesar’s household.”

Here, Paul sent greetings to the Philippian believers from the saints—that is, the believers—in Rome, and especially from those of Caesar’s household.

Nero was the Roman emperor at the time of Paul’s writing, and history tells us he was exceedingly immoral, cruel, and evil. Yet some in his household believed in Christ! How could such a thing have happened?

Note 1 on those of Caesar’s household in this verse explains:

“Caesar’s household comprised all who were attached to the palace of Nero. Some of these were converted through contact with Paul and became believers in Christ in Rome.”

Paul was seemingly just a lowly prisoner suffering in a fearful situation. Yet even in those circumstances, he lived and magnified Christ, the One who was his life and could endure any kind of suffering. What people saw was not Paul behaving as a good or admirable man, but the peerless Jesus living and being expressed through him. Because Paul magnified Christ, even some of Caesar’s household became believers.

Our living today

Paul truly is a pattern for all believers today. He realized that since Christ as the life-giving Spirit was within him, he and Christ had one life and one living, even living together as one person. This is the way God desires all of us to live. Only this kind of living results in us expressing Christ and magnifying Him.

So every day we must turn to Christ in our spirit, again and again. We need to contact Him by calling on His name and praying short prayers throughout the day. We can talk to Him about anything and everything. 

For example, no matter where we are, we can pray something like this:

“Oh, Lord Jesus. I don’t know how to respond to this person. Thank You, You’re with me right now. I don’t want to express myself. Lord, I want to live You and magnify You in this situation.”

As we contact the Lord in our spirit, we allow Him to be our life. Then in a practical way, we can be one with Him and live Him. Spontaneously, we’ll express His feelings, words, and actions, and not our own. Like those of Caesar’s household saw in Paul, others will see in us something more excellent than a good person living an upright life. They’ll see the beauty of Jesus Christ in His virtues such as patience, love, endurance, and kindness being expressed through us. This is the living that pleases God and fulfills His eternal purpose.

We could only give a basic introduction to the matter of living Christ in this post. If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here so you can read all the verses cited with their accompanying notes and cross-references.

Prayer is one of the greatest blessings believers enjoy. Through prayer, we can contact the Lord to fellowship with Him in a personal way. 

There are many kinds of prayer mentioned throughout the Bible that we believers can and should practice to sustain our Christian life. In a previous post, we discussed how important it is for us to have dedicated times for prayer in a private place so we can pray without any interruptions. Today, we’ll discuss another kind of prayer using verses and notes from the New Testament Recovery Version.

Paul’s exhortation

The apostle Paul exhorts us to do something seemingly impossible in two verses in the New Testament.

In 1 Timothy 2:8, he says:

“I desire therefore that men pray in every place.”

And 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says:

“Unceasingly pray.”

How is it possible to carry out Paul’s exhortation to pray everywhere and even without ceasing? After all, we have to work, go to school, tend to our children, and take care of a multitude of tasks every day. Did Paul mean we should drop our responsibilities and spend all our time in prayer in some secluded place? Surely not. But Paul also wouldn’t have exhorted the believers to do something that wasn’t possible. 

How can we pray in every place unceasingly?

Physically speaking, the one thing we all do everywhere without ceasing is breathing. No matter where or how busy we are, we’re constantly breathing. We don’t need to go somewhere private or stop our activity to breathe. We’d never say, “I don’t have time to take a breath.” 

Breathing is a good analogy for the kind of prayer Paul is referring to in these two verses. It’s constant, automatic, and life-sustaining.

But practically speaking, how can we pray like this?

In Lamentations 3:55-56, the prophet Jeremiah equates calling on the name of the Lord to breathing. He says: 

“I called upon Your name, O Jehovah, from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice; do not hide Your ear at my breathing, at my cry.” 

The simplest prayer we can utter is calling on the Lord’s name: “Oh, Lord Jesus!” We can call audibly or silently, wherever we are. We can also pray short prayers like, “Lord Jesus, I need You. Be my patience right now.”

Persevering to pray without ceasing

Of course, physical breathing is something we do naturally and automatically. But praying without ceasing takes some exercise on our part.

In the New Testament Recovery Version, note 1 on 1 Thessalonians 5:17 explains what it means to pray unceasingly:

“This is to have uninterrupted fellowship with God in our spirit. It requires perseverance (Rom. 12:12; Col 4:2) with a strong spirit (Eph. 6:18).”

 Romans 12:12, which is cited in the note above, says:

“Rejoice in hope; endure in tribulation; persevere in prayer.”

We’d all like to experience having uninterrupted fellowship with God in our spirit. But we need to realize that this takes perseverance. 

Day by day, we need to build up a habit of praying without ceasing. Any habit requires time and perseverance, and this is no different. 

Each day is full of new opportunities to exercise our spirit to call on the Lord, regardless of where we are or what we’re doing. We can call on Him while we’re driving, taking a test, working, or doing mundane chores. And we can also practice praying short prayers as we go about our day.

As we learn to persevere in prayer, practicing to call on the name of the Lord Jesus more often and at all times and places, this spiritual breathing will become more spontaneous and regular throughout our day.

Eventually, we’ll begin to pray in every place without ceasing. We hope you’ll be encouraged and strengthened in your prayer life by reading some of our other posts on prayer. And if you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version to read more notes on the verses we cited in this post.

Faith is essential to our Christian life. After all, 2 Corinthians 5:7 states that we believers “walk by faith, not by appearance”—that is, not by what we see in our environment or circumstances. 

But when we’re facing difficulties, we may find it hard to put our trust in God and feel we don’t have enough faith to sustain us. When we find ourselves in this condition, what do we do? How can we practically walk by faith?

Today, we’ll focus on Matthew 14 with some accompanying footnotes in the New Testament Recovery Version to see what it means to walk by faith.

Peter’s experience

The Bible doesn’t just speak about faith in general terms. It shows us what faith looks like in real life. For example, one of the clearest accounts is found in Peter’s experience of walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-33.

After the miracle of feeding the five thousand, Jesus compelled His disciples to get into a boat and go before Him to the other side of the sea. Then He went up to the mountain alone to pray to the Father. During the night, strong winds blew, and waves battered the boat the disciples were in. That’s when Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost, and they became fearful. But in verse 27, Jesus said:

“Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Peter responded in verse 28:

“Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

In verse 29, Jesus simply said to Peter:

“Come.”

At the Lord’s command, Peter stepped out of the boat and, incredibly, he also began to walk on the water toward Jesus.

This shows an important principle: faith comes from the Lord’s speaking. Peter didn’t walk on the water because of a special gift or power he had; he simply responded to the Lord’s command.

Then verse 30 says:

“But seeing the strong wind, he [Peter] became frightened; and as he began to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me!”

 Note 1 on seeing the strong wind in the Recovery Version explains:

“Peter came down from the boat and walked on the water by faith in the Lord’s word (v. 29); however, when he saw the strong wind, his faith vanished. He should have walked by faith in the Lord’s word, not by looking at the circumstances (i.e., by sight). In following the Lord we should walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).”

The wind and battering waves had been there the whole time Peter was walking on the water. But the problem was that his focus suddenly shifted from the Lord and His word to the stormy environment around him. As a result, his faith disappeared, he became frightened, and he began to sink. 

Of course, Jesus didn’t leave Peter to sink in the sea. Verse 31 says:

“And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

In the Recovery Version, note 1 on doubt in verse 31 explains:             

“Since the Lord said to Peter, ‘Come’ (v. 29), Peter should have stood on that word and should not have doubted. Hence, the Lord rebuked him. Faith comes from the Lord’s word and stands on the Lord’s word. As long as we have the Lord’s word, we should simply believe in His word and not doubt.”

Faith comes from the Lord’s word

Peter began walking on water by faith in the Lord’s word. But the moment he looked at the strong wind, his faith vanished. He no longer stood on the Lord’s word. This shows us that focusing on our environment instead of looking at the Lord and His word causes our faith to disappear.  

Peter’s story matches our experience. Like Peter, we may begin our day with the Lord, enjoying His Word and standing on it. But as the day goes on, we become occupied with looking at and considering the “waves and winds” of our troubling circumstances. That’s when our faith seems to disappear, and we begin to sink in doubt. 

At such times, we shouldn’t be discouraged about our seeming lack of faith. Instead, we need to remember that faith comes from the Lord’s word. We should exercise to turn our eyes from our environment, look at the Lord Jesus, and stand on His word. We can do this by calling on the name of the Lord, asking Him to speak to us, or opening our Bible to read a verse or two. The Bible is full of God’s speaking to us, and we’re saved from doubt by simply believing His word. Then we can walk by faith, not by sight, even in the midst of our stormy situation.

If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here so you can read all of the notes on the verses mentioned in this post.

It’s nearly impossible to ignore the many distressing issues confronting us today. While health crises, violence, war, environmental disasters, and economic instability have always existed, because of modern technology, we’re constantly inundated by a continuous stream of anxiety-inducing updates. In the midst of this endless barrage, having anything resembling peace of mind can seem impossible, even for Christians. 

But the Bible tells us that even in the face of the world’s trying circumstances, we believers can experience genuine peace. Today, we’ll discover the source of that peace by looking at key verses from the New Testament Recovery Version. We’ll also see how we can experience this peace all the time.

The unique source of peace

The crucial thing we need to realize is that real peace can only be found in the Lord Jesus. Two verses in the Gospel of John reveal that Jesus is the unique source of peace.

1. John 14:27

In John 14:27, Jesus said to His disciples: 

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

In this comforting verse, the Lord Jesus told His disciples not to be troubled or afraid because the peace He gives us is His peace. 

Jesus makes a contrast here between the peace of the world and His peace. It’s obvious that the peace the world gives is temporary at best. Even the most well-intentioned efforts to establish lasting peace among people and nations fail miserably, leading to more unsolvable problems.

But the peace the Lord Jesus gives us is real and lasting. He said, “My peace I give to you.” Only the Lord’s peace is true peace, and He has imparted it to us. So we shouldn’t let our hearts be troubled or afraid. Instead, we should cling to this precious promise and experience and enjoy His peace. 

2. John 16:33

In John 16:33, Jesus said:

“These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

In this verse, we see another contrast. In the world we have affliction, but in Jesus we have peace. Although we have been saved and regenerated, we still live in this world, which is full of turmoil and suffering. But Jesus assures us, “In Me you may have peace.”

Where is peace? It’s in Jesus. Looking for lasting peace in anything or in anyone else is futile. We must come to Jesus to have true peace.

Enjoying real peace daily

It’s easy for us to get overwhelmed by the many distressing things going on around us in the world today. But one practical way to help us experience the Lord’s peace is to first be aware of what we’re filling ourselves with. The Lord frankly told us that in the world we have affliction. This means when we fill ourselves with the world and the things of the world, our hearts will be troubled and even afraid. 

We’ve all experienced feeling this way after we’ve spent time on our phones getting caught up on breaking news, scrolling endlessly on social media, and reading people’s opinions about everything. Being informed about current events is one thing, but being completely absorbed with them is another. More and more, the things we see online are designed to grab our attention and stir up strong emotions, usually negative ones.

When we feel unsettled, disturbed, and fearful, we should realize we’ve been focusing on the world and filling ourselves with the things of the world. In that moment, our need is to turn to the Lord in our spirit and contact Him, the source of peace.

The world is full of affliction, but Jesus also said that He has overcome the world. Instead of spending so much time on our phones occupied with the insurmountable problems of the world, we can focus on Jesus and be filled with the One who has overcome the world. We can do this by calling on His name, singing to Him, talking to Him in prayer, or reading His Word. This is how we can experience and enjoy Him as our real peace.

If you live in the United States, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version to help you experience genuine peace in the Lord Jesus.

Did you know that in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, two different words are used to refer to God’s speaking? They are logos and rhema. Understanding the meaning of these words can help us know and experience God in a deeper way.

Today we’ll read verses and notes from the New Testament Recovery Version to see the importance of both logos and rhema in our Christian life.

The Greek word logos

In Greek, logos is used to refer to the constant, objective word. It generally refers to the word of God recorded in the Bible. It’s truly amazing that God’s speaking was written down and preserved, and because of this, we can read it today.

God’s Word reveals who God is to us. It reveals His acts, His ways, what He desires, what He loves, and what He hates. By reading the Bible, we can learn about God’s way of salvation and His plan for mankind.

Without the logos, mankind would be in utter darkness, unable to know what God wants and what the meaning of human life is. So if we want to know God, we must read the Bible, the logos.

The Greek word rhema

Rhema is the other Greek word used in the New Testament to refer to the word of God. Rhema refers to the instant, direct speaking of God to us. God’s personal speaking to us is precious. It’s by this speaking that we can know Him, not just objectively, but subjectively.

We all want God to speak to us personally. But how does that happen? Does God speak only to a particular class of Christians? No! God wants to have a personal relationship with every one of us, and a great part of that relationship depends on His speaking to us.

Now let’s take a closer look at how we can experience the word of God as rhema.

We need logos to experience rhema

So how does God personally speak to us? How can we be sure we have God’s genuine speaking? It would be easy for anyone to say, “Oh, God told me to do this or that.” But did He really?

We don’t want to be misled. It’s vitally important for us to realize that God uses the logos to speak rhema to us. God’s instant word always corresponds with and never contradicts His written Word. 

For example, God’s Word clearly says that lying and stealing are sins. So any genuine speaking from God would never tell us to lie to someone or steal from them. 

So if we want God’s instant speaking, we need to read the written Word. The more we read the written Word, even storing it up within us by praying with it, musing over it, and memorizing it, the more God can speak His rhema word to us in our daily life. 

The rhema, the instant speaking of God, does many things in us. Let’s look at three of these—it guides us, imparts life to us, and washes us inwardly. 

Rhema guides us in specific situations

Now that we’ve seen how we can have God’s instant speaking, let’s look at an illustration of how that speaking can guide us in a particular situation. Let’s say you’re at work or school and something happens that makes you very upset. The more you think about it, the more bothered you are. As thoughts about it swirl in your mind, you begin to feel spiritually deadened.

Then Romans 8:6, a verse you had previously read, comes to you: “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” Immediately you realize why you feel so dead and have no peace: you’ve been setting your mind on the flesh.

So you turn to the Lord and pray, “Lord Jesus, I don’t want to set my mind on the flesh. I set my mind on the spirit right now. Thank You, Lord, when my mind is set on my spirit, I have life and peace!”

As you set your mind on the spirit, you’re saved from being consumed by your negative thoughts, and you’re ushered into enjoying life and peace from God. The Lord used the constant word (logos) that you had previously read in Romans 8 to speak an instant, personal word to you (rhema) in your particular situation. The Lord’s instant speaking strengthened you to turn to Him, and you experienced life and peace.

Rhema imparts life to us 

In addition to guiding us in particular situations, the rhema word of God also imparts life into us. In John 6:63, the Lord Jesus says:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Note 3 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version explains:

“The Greek word for words, here and in v. 68, is rhema, which denotes the instant and present spoken word. It differs from logos (used for Word in 1:1), which denotes the constant word. Here the words follows the Spirit. The Spirit is living and real, yet He is very mysterious, intangible, and difficult for people to apprehend; the words, however, are substantial. First, the Lord indicated that for giving life He would become the Spirit. Then He said that the words He speaks are spirit and life. This shows that His spoken words are the embodiment of the Spirit of life. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we get the Spirit, who is life.”

The Lord said in this verse that the very rhema words He had spoken are spirit and life. So how can we experience this? We need to exercise our spirit, our deepest part, when we read the Word of God.

Apparently, the written words in the Bible are just letters on a page. But actually, when we receive them by exercising, or using, our spirit, we contact and get the Spirit, who is life.

The best way to exercise our spirit is by prayer. By praying with the Word, the words on the page become rhema, imparting spirit and life to us. 

Rhema washes us inwardly

The Greek word rhema is also mentioned in Ephesians 5:26, which says: 

“That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word.”

This verse doesn’t speak of the washing away of sin by the blood of Jesus. It says, “the washing of the water in the word,” and here, “word” is rhema. Note 4 on word in the Recovery Version explains:

“The Greek word denotes an instant word. The indwelling Christ as the life-giving Spirit is always speaking an instant, present, living word to metabolically cleanse away the old and replace it with the new, causing an inward transformation. The cleansing by the washing of the water of life is in the word of Christ. This indicates that in the word of Christ there is the water of life.”

The instant, present, living rhema washes us, cleansing away the old things of our natural life and replacing it with the new. This cleansing is carried out by the water in the rhema, which is the water of life. As we receive the word of Christ and experience this cleansing, we’re inwardly changed, or transformed. 

We need to receive the Word of God daily 

Spending time to read the Word of God is essential in our Christian life. We can know God and His purpose by reading His Word. And by praying and reading His written Word, we give the Lord a way to speak directly and instantly to us in our daily lives. His rhema can then guide us, impart life into us, and wash us so His marvelous purpose can be fulfilled. Let’s make time each day to read God’s precious written Word.

If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here and discover more about logos and rhema.

In God’s arrangement of the universe, the passage of time is marked by days, months, seasons, and years. We experience each interval of twenty-four hours a day, around thirty days a month, and several months a season, without interruption. 

Yet when the year begins to wind down, we often feel surprised at how quickly the time has gone by and wonder where the past 365 days went.

In the busyness of our lives, it would be easy to just let the year come to an end without thinking too much about it. But the end of the year is a unique opportunity to set aside a special time for personal prayer and fellowship with the Lord about the year we just lived through. As we open our hearts to Him, we can conclude the year in a meaningful way and prepare ourselves for the new year ahead.

Letting the Lord shine on us

As we begin our dedicated time with the Lord and open our hearts to Him, He has the opportunity to shine on us and make us aware of any sins we haven’t yet dealt with. 

Since the sins we commit disrupt our fellowship with the Lord, we can’t afford to let them go. We need to confess our sins to Him. 

1 John 1:9 says:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

When we confess our sins, we experience God’s forgiveness and cleansing. It’s good to keep short accounts with the Lord and not let unconfessed sins accumulate. We don’t want to carry anything that negatively affects our walk with the Lord into the new year. By dealing with any unresolved sins, we can begin the new year in a positive way.

Appreciating the Lord’s care for us

In our time with the Lord, we can consider how He has cared for us, both materially and spiritually, during this past year. This inspires in us a sense of thankfulness as we recall how the Lord has been our Shepherd, caring for us without fail during both our difficult circumstances and joyous occasions.

As we recall instances of God’s faithfulness, we can testify as the prophet Jeremiah did in Lamentations 3:22-23:

“It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness that we are not consumed, for His compassions do not fail; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Every morning during this past year, whatever condition we were in, we were met with God’s tender compassions. Reflecting on the details of our year causes us to see His great faithfulness toward us, in matters big and small. Surely thanksgiving and praises to Him will fill our hearts.

Being refreshed in the Lord’s love

If we spend time to consider the Lord’s lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness, we’ll surely realize again how great His love is for us. His love even caused Him to die for us so we can be forgiven and washed from our sins and enjoy fellowship with Him.

Through all the ups and downs of our year, whether we realized it or not, God never stopped loving us. As Romans 8:38-39 tells us:

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We can rest securely knowing that God will always love us, and that nothing will ever be able to separate us from His love. As we consider God’s great love for us, our hearts are filled with love for Him. We can thank Him for loving us and tell Him again and again that we love Him.

Offering a fresh consecration to the Lord

During this time of fellowship with the Lord, we can also offer a fresh consecration to Him. This simply means that we give every aspect of ourselves and our lives to Him. Consecrating ourselves to the Lord keeps us walking in His way and gives Him the room to grow in us and work in us. Our consecration also brings us into a fresh enjoyment of all that God is.

Romans 12:1 says:

“I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.”

On the cusp of a new year, we can be reminded of the compassions of God and consecrate ourselves to the Lord. We can pray something simple like this:

“Lord Jesus, thank You for Your faithfulness, Your love, and Your compassions. Lord, I love You. I offer myself to You again. I give this new year to You. Lord, I allow You the freedom to work in me.”

Learning to number our days

In Psalm 90, Moses spoke of the brevity of human life. In verse 12, he asked God: 

“Teach us then to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

It’s healthy to consider how long we might have on this earth, and how fleeting human life truly is. Verse 10 of this Psalm says, “The days of our years are seventy years, or, if because of strength, eighty years.” We should ask the Lord to grant us mercy that each of our days would count in His eyes.  

Our fellowship with the Lord on this matter should cause us to realize the preciousness of each day. Each day of the new year before us is full of fresh opportunities to know Him, grow in His life, enjoy Him in His Word, and experience Him as the One who lives in us. By spending this time in fellowship with Him, we can be reminded anew that we’re living on this earth for God’s purpose.

We pray that each of us would have a good conclusion to this year by setting aside a special time with the Lord, and that we would all start the new year with a fresh consecration to Him. 

An excellent way to begin the new year is to start reading the Bible consistently. If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here.