CARING FOR THE INWARD FLOW
To be a Christian is not an outward matter; it is an inward matter. While we are doing something, we should check to see if the inward current is still flowing within us. Many times I have had a certain thought to do something, and I even have spoken with someone about it. After a few words, however, I stopped. Sometimes this surprises people. They say, “Brother Lee, you started to raise a matter, but after two words you just stopped. What happened to you?” I prefer not to explain, but I know I have to stop because the inward flow stopped. I know that I cannot persist.
We must always keep ourselves in the flow of the inward current. There is no need to argue about this. Argument gets us nowhere. Even while we are arguing or doing something else against the Lord, we have the inner sense that the flow within us is stopped. When this happens, we need to stop in order to recover the fellowship. We may have many questions, but to care for the inward flow of life is the one answer which is good for all of them. There is no need to ask about many things. We must simply care for whether or not the current within us is stopped or is flowing.
To be a Christian is very simple, but often people do not believe this. The divine life constantly flows as a current; this is the fellowship of life. To be a Christian with this flow within is simple, but to be a Christian without the inward flow is very complicated. Brothers and sisters, we must practice to be inward Christians, not outward ones. To do this will save us much trouble, and we will understand many things more deeply because we are in the inward flow, the inward fellowship.
We must make the Christian life so simple. We should not check with many persons and talk about many matters. The more we ask and the more we talk, the more we are complicated and confused. We simply lose our direction; we do not know what is “north, south, east, or west,” and our way is foggy. However, if we come back to the inward flow, the sky is clear. We are heavenly clear, eternally clear and transparent. All the “smog” is gone. Try this. Make the Christian life simple in the flow, the fellowship, of life.
We have life. Now we need to be in the fellowship of life. Then we will have the light, we will enjoy the cleansing of the blood, and we will share the anointing. Then the anointing will bring more fellowship, more light, and more cleansing of the blood in a cycle. This is wonderful! This is the way of growth, and this is the proper spiritual way to go on with the Lord. I hope we will not take this message lightly or merely as a doctrine or teaching. May we take this as a direction for our day-by-day exercise.
(Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
