BEING FILLED BY THE WORD
Keep coming to the Word. Even if you read it more than a hundred times, you will not be bored. Each time it has a fresh supply for you. This is the place to touch God. The Pentecostalists may say that you can experience Him by speaking in tongues. I tried that way for a year and a half but did not get much result. From my experience I would say that the best way to be filled in spirit is to get into the Word. You may feel like a flat tire, but the Bible is the pump. It will fill you with pneuma! Fasting will not fill you; I have seen people try that. The more they fasted, the flatter they were.
If you “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16), the result will be “singing with grace in your hearts to God.” The parallel passage in Ephesians 5:18-19 tells us, “Be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.” The Word that fills you becomes the Spirit.
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him” (John 14:23). To have the Triune God abide with you, you need to keep His word. It is His word also which is the truth that sanctifies us (17:17).
I encourage you all to read the Word three times a day. If you have been reading it for ten minutes every morning, I am sure you have found how rich it is and that ten minutes is not sufficient. Dear saints, get into the Word. You will see what a difference it makes.
As you read, pray. Pray in a very living way, using what you read as your prayer. In this way you will take the Word into you and receive a life supply. Its riches will satisfy you not just day by day, but year after year as well. All the rich help is here in the Word. Christians all too often are looking for outside help; they want others to come and help them. But all the riches are right in the Word; this is the place to turn for help. Do not expect magical results, though; just come regularly three times a day and you will receive the supply you need.
PREACHING AND TEACHING THE WORD
We have tried different ways of getting an increase, but they have not been successful. The best way is to preach and teach the Word. Have you ever tried teaching your parents for an hour? You have to be prepared to say something reasonable, perhaps like this:
“Dad, you are older and have had more experience than I have had. Can you tell me what the purpose of human life is?” Then, because you are so familiar with the Word and have it always in your pocket, you can tell him what the Bible declares is man’s purpose. He may be impressed and ask you where you learned that. Then you can say, “From the Bible, Dad. Ephesians chapters one and three.”
Another time you may say to your parents, “Dad and Mom, did you know there are three wills in the universe?” When they ask, “What three wills?” you can tell them about the divine will, the satanic will, and the human will. Even if they oppose you, they may find your talk so interesting that they will listen. Whether they will buy your cargo is up to them, but you have to try to sell it! Present it in an attractive brochure, not too short. An hour’s speech is about right.
You need to do this on the campus too. If you try to get people to call on the Lord, if you tell them Christianity is all wrong, or if you say the Lord’s recovery is the only thing that matters, people will think you are mentally off. You need to learn to teach others in an attractive way.
(Life Messages, Vol. 2 (#42-75), Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
