HOW TO ENJOY CHRIST AS LIFE
Now He is flowing in resurrection, and the way to receive Him is to drink Him in spirit by calling on His name —"O Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus." The more you say, "Lord Jesus," the more you drink of Him. The more you say, "Lord Jesus," the more He flows in. He flows into us, through us, and out of us to water the whole earth, to quench the thirst of all the needy ones. In the flow the tree of life grows, indicating that when you have this flow, you have the supply of life. The tree of life produces twelve fruits and yields its fruit each month (Rev. 22:2). The fruit is always new and fresh to meet every need.
In John 14:6 the Lord told us that He is the life. Then in verses 7 through 11 He told us that He is one with the Father. Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied." Then the Lord said, "I have been with you for so long a time, and you do not know Me? Don’t you know that I am the Father? I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. I am one with the Father. He who has seen Me has seen the Father." Then in verses 16 through 20 the Lord told us that another person would be sent — the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit, Christ would come to enter into the disciples. Verses 7 through 11 tell us that Christ is one with the Father. Verses 16 through 20 tell us that the Holy Spirit is the reality of Christ. Christ is life to us by being the embodiment of the Father realized as the Spirit. Romans 8:2 speaks of the Spirit of life, and 1 Corinthians 15:45b says that Christ as the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
The key point to receiving Him and containing Him is our human spirit. Romans 8:6 says that the mind set on the spirit is life. If you want to receive the flowing Triune God as your life, you have to open from the depths of your being to say, "O Lord Jesus." If you want to enjoy Him as life all day long, you need to call upon His name continually. The more you say, "O Lord Jesus," the more you will enjoy Him. Do not try to be humble or good. That does not work. Simply call upon the name of the Lord.
How can you control your temper? When you feel like you are going to lose your temper, simply say, "O Lord Jesus." Then you will not lose your temper, but your temper will be lost; in other words, it will go away. It will be lost by your saying, "O Lord Jesus." Do not try to be humble or to love others. The more you try to love someone, the more you will not love him. Just call upon the Lord continually. Then everyone will be so lovable to you. This is the way to enjoy the flowing of the Triune God as life.
Without the real experience of life, there is no practicality or actuality of the church life. Without the real experience of life, we will be divided. We do not need to talk about life in a doctrinal way. We need the real experience of life through the exercise of our spirit. We need to enjoy Christ by drinking Him and giving Him the free way to flow in us, through us, and out of us. Then we have the Father in the Son as the Spirit as our life. Daily and hourly we need to enjoy Him as our life. When we enjoy Him as life, we are humble and love others unconsciously. This life is nothing less than Christ Himself realized as the Spirit, who is flowing in our spirit. We need to exercise our spirit to say, "O Lord Jesus." Then we will enjoy the flowing of the living water in us, through us, and out of us. This is the way that we enjoy all the riches of Christ as the tree of life with the full, abundant, rich supply for the actuality of the church life.
(The Experience of Christ as Life for the Building Up of the Church, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
