April 28

"Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.” Genesis 32:29

After his struggle at Jabbok Jacob wanted to know who “touched him,” but he was not told. Jacob did not know who the Wrestler was when he came, and he knew no more when he went, Jacob just knew that his own name had been changed—and that he limped! This is the only time in Scripture when God declined to reveal his name to a servant of his.

Those touched by God do not know what has happened. That is why the touch is so difficult to define, for God does not want us to wait for an experience. If we do, we shall not get it. God wants our eye fixed on him, not on experiences. Jacob only knew that somehow God had met him, and that now he was crippled. The limp is the evidence. When God does his work in us in his own way, the result will be evident in us, and there will be no need to talk about it. 

April 27

“Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us . . .” Ephesians 3:20

God’s glory for endless ages is to be “in the church and in Christ Jesus” (verse 21). But God’s glory now, in the exercise of that exceedingly abundant power of his, is to be dependent on the Church, for here we see it measured according to the power that now works in us.

His people are thus the gateway of the power of God. What God wants to do here in time is narrowed down to limits set by their cooperation. Must we not therefore revive our ministry of prayer? The purpose of God here in Shanghai and throughout China—indeed worldwide—depends on the Church’s prayer ministry today. “Ask,” said Jesus, “and ye shall receive.” If we fail in this simple task, what use are we to God at all?

April 26

“And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us . . . let us give ourselves to our ministry.” Romans 12:6-7

The calling of God is a distinctive calling. Moreover, its object is always precise, never merely haphazard or undefined. By this I mean that when God commits to you or to me a ministry he does so, not merely to occupy us in his service, but always to accomplish through each of us something definite toward the attaining of his goal. It is of course true that there is a general commission to his Church to “make disciples of all the nations”: but to any one of us, God’s charge represents, and must always represent, a personal trust.

It follows from this that since God does not call each of his servants to precisely identical tasks, neither does he use precisely identical means for their preparation. As the Lord of all operations, God retains the right to use particular forms of discipline or training and often, too, the added test of suffering, as means to his end. God understands clearly what he is doing with you. 

April 25

“The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them.” Proverbs 20:12

Alas, very few Christians are good listeners! We shall have to take ourselves rigorously in hand if we are to acquire hearing ears. Our ears must be trained to listen. It is possible to pay scant attention to what people say to us, because we are so impressed with the importance of what we wish to communicate to them. We are just waiting for an opportunity to break in and take up the role of speaker again, assuming, naturally, that they will meekly accept the role of good listeners!

Let us not consider this a trifling matter. If we do not learn to listen, and listen understandingly, although we may become prominent preachers or Bible expositors we shall be useless at helping people to deal with their practical difficulties. There are far more times when we need to learn to use our ears than to open our mouths.

April 24

“Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise).” Ephesians 6:2

When I was a young man at college, God showed me I was to go on my vacation to an island which was infested with pirates, to preach the gospel. I visited the island and found the people willing, and after much difficulty I rented a house there.

All this time my parents had said nothing and then, five days before I was to go, they suddenly stepped in and forbade it! What was I to do? The will of God was burning in my heart, but my parents, God-fearing folk, said “No.” I was still a student. I sought light from God and felt it right to submit to my parents, though deeply wounded.

In God’s time the way to that island was opened, and his will that souls should be won there came wonderfully to pass. But this experience had taught me an important lesson. If a thing is written in the Word of God, we dare not cast it aside—we have to submit.

April 23

“Who were born not . . . of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:13

The recurring phrase “after its kind” in Genesis 1 represents a law of reproduction that governs the whole realm of biological nature. It does not, however, govern the realm of the Spirit.

For generation after generation, human parents can beget children after their kind, but one thing is certain: Christians cannot beget Christians! Not even when both parents are Christians will the children born to them automatically be Christians, no, not even in the first generation.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. It will take a fresh act of God every time to produce someone who is truly a child of his.

April 22

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:11

             

(From Watchman Nee’s lost letter, dated April 22, 1972, in his sixty-ninth year, after twenty years in confinement and shortly before his

death.)

You know my physical condition. It is chronic illness—it is always with me. When strikes, it causes pain. Even if it should be dormant, it is nonetheless there. The difference is whether it strikes or not. Recovery is out of the question. In summer the sun can add some color to my skin, but it cannot cure my illness. But I maintain the joy in me.

Please don‘t be anxious. I hope you will also take good care of yourself, and be filled with joy! All the best to you.