CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RESTRICTING THE MIND
AND EXERCISING THE SPIRIT
IN READING THE BIBLE
Many brothers and sisters are surprised that we have held so many conferences this year. There was a conference in February, and this is our second conference in March. Some may wonder why we are speaking so much concerning enjoying God. This subject is indeed inexhaustible. In fact, the whole Bible is on this subject. In this conference, however, our emphasis will be on how to practice the enjoyment of God.
Although the saints in the church in Taipei are willing to eat, drink, and enjoy God, they feel challenged because they do not know how to eat, drink, and enjoy God. How does one read the Bible in a way that touches God? How does one pray in a way that breathes in God? Many brothers and sisters still do not know the key to these practices. For this reason we will now concentrate on the practice of enjoying God. We will cover some crucial points related to our practice. In the following chapters we will first consider the practice of enjoying God through reading the Bible and then the practice of enjoying God through prayer.
Concerning the practice of reading the Bible, we need to point out a few basic matters.
GOD BEING FOOD
IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH MAN
When we realize that God’s relationship with man is based on His being food to man, our reading of the Bible will be greatly affected. In order to enjoy God when reading the Bible, we need to understand that God’s way is to satisfy man as food. In this way He can be fully mingled with man and be life and everything to man. This is a very basic matter.
We read the Bible in order to pursue God so that we can have a proper relationship with Him. Our reading of the Bible calibrates and adjusts our relationship with God. In His relationship with man, God is food to man. Hence, in our relationship with God, we should receive Him as food. We have said this many times. Strictly speaking, God does not want us to worship Him or to serve Him. He does not want us to do anything for Him. Worshipping Him, serving Him, or doing things for Him are secondary. His primary desire is to be food to us. He wants us to be filled with Him before we do anything for Him. He wants to be our food in order to fill us before we engage in any work. We must understand this point. Many people do not know how to read the Bible because they do not have a proper understanding of this basic concept.
A brother may say that he reads the Bible in order to know God’s desire and walk according to His desire. Even though the brother’s intention is good, and his words are worthy of praise, they reveal that according to his concept, God is looking for people who would please Him. This concept is a problem.
We must remember that God’s way is to be food to man. He has no intention for man to do anything for Him. He gave us the Bible for us to enjoy Him as food. He does not want us to be under any regulations. May every child of God clearly see this matter so that he can boldly say, “I read the Bible in order to eat God. My need is to eat, eat, and eat. I am hungry, and I need to be fed. God is my food, and He is my satisfaction. He has made Himself available through His Word. When I read the Word, I am eating God.” Whenever we read the Bible, we must have a simple and definite understanding that our purpose is to eat, drink, and enjoy God, because God is food.
THE BIBLE AS GOD’S EXPRESSION
BECOMING MAN’S FOOD
We also need to know that the Bible is God’s very expression. The Bible is God’s word, His word is His breath, and His breath is His expression. Hence, whenever we read the Bible, we need to have a clear understanding that it is God’s expression. God is expressed in the Bible. When we touch this book, we should not touch merely doctrines or words; rather, we should touch God Himself. God is Spirit, and He is also the Word. When we pray, we are breathing in God, and when we read, we are eating and drinking God.
The prophet Jeremiah said that he found and ate God’s words (Jer. 15:16). The Lord Jesus said that man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). Hence, eating God’s words is not a new idea invented by us. It is a concept that can be found in the Bible.
If we read the Bible merely as doctrines and facts, we make it a book of letters. Since the Bible is the word of God, and the Lord said that His words are Spirit, if we contact the Bible with our spirit, it becomes spirit, and we eat it. The same Bible can be letter, or it can be spirit to us. Whether it is letter or spirit depends on how we read it. If we read it merely with our mind, it is letter, but if we contact it with our spirit, it is spirit.
The Bible clearly says that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). We should never think that the Bible is always a profitable book. Many people have been harmed by the Bible. This statement seems very bold. Can the Bible truly harm someone? Strictly speaking, the Bible does not harm anyone; a person is harmed by his mind. When a person studies the Bible with his mind, the Bible immediately becomes the letter that kills. This is what harms a person. If we want to receive life, we must use our spirit because only the spirit gives life. We need to contact the Bible with our spirit. It is only in our spirit that the Bible becomes God’s living word. It is only in our spirit that it is spirit and life.
I hope that the brothers and sisters clearly see this basic point. We must understand that the Bible is God’s breath; it is His expression. Therefore, when we read this book, we are touching the expression of God. We should not study it as a book of doctrines. We are contacting God. May we all clearly see this point.