OUR NEED OF CONSECRATION FOR ALL THE DEALINGS AND FOR CARING FOR THE INNER ANOINTING
The fellowship, the cross, and the blood are all related to the anointing. In all things we need to care for the inner anointing and always go along with the inner anointing. To go along with the inner anointing is simply to follow the Lord, obey the Lord, submit to the Lord, and always keep ourselves in the presence of the Lord. It also means that we are walking according to the spirit and in the spirit. This is the Christian walk and the Christian life, and it is a requirement for Christian service and work. We have no freedom, no liberty, to act by what we feel. We have only the liberty, the freedom, in full to act by what we sense of the inner anointing.
This lesson of the anointing goes along with all the dealings that we have seen: dealing with the flesh, dealing with the self, dealing with the conscience, dealing with the world, and dealing with the spirit. It would be wonderful if we would learn the lessons of these dealings and take care of the inner anointing! There is no need of great numbers. If only a small number of brothers and sisters would learn the lessons of the dealings and care for the inner anointing, the whole world will be turned upside down. The almighty, omnipotent God will have a free way to get through. Those who learn the lessons of the dealings and learn how to care for the inner anointing will be the fire that burns in our current situation. The power, the impact, and even the authority depend upon these dealings and the inner anointing.
May the Lord be merciful to us. Let us have a real consecration, telling the Lord, “Lord, in these days I consecrate myself to You to learn all the lessons of the dealings with the flesh, the self, the conscience, the world, and the spirit. Moreover, I wish to pay any price to go along with the inner anointing.” If we do this, we cannot tell how far the Lord will go through us, and we do not know what wondrous things will come out through us in these last days.
(Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, Chapter 16, by Witness Lee)
