Some of our sins are more serious than others. We may have problems with our parents. The Lord knows our inward situation much better than we do. However, when we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, He will operate in us, touching our sins and causing us to be conscious of them. Whenever we have a feeling concerning a sin, the Lord is touching us. The Lord is the living Spirit. When we consecrate ourselves to Him, He will touch our sins. When He touches our sins, we should not hide, for it is only then that we realize the value of His blood. As the Lord touches us, we will feel condemned within, and our conscience will not be at peace. Immediately, we should hide under His blood and ask Him to cleanse us with His precious blood. When we confess one sin, we will become conscious of another sin. Then we should ask the Lord to forgive this sin and cleanse us from it. Then we will become conscious of a third sin. We should follow this inner sense to confess and deal with our sins one by one, applying the cleansing of the Lord’s precious blood to each sin. In order to be beside ourselves, we must have a thorough dealing of our sins.

BEING EMPTIED AND ALLOWING THE LORD
 TO OCCUPY US

After we confess our sins, the Lord will empty us. A cup that is full of water cannot contain anything else. In order for the cup to contain juice, the water must be poured out. After we deal with our sins, the Lord will show us that He does not occupy much space within us. Hence, we will need to consecrate ourselves again. This is [159] a continual consecration. Whatever the Lord touches, we should give to Him.

Sometimes we are emptied, but we are still not willing to give Him the ground. This is not doctrine. As we give ourselves to the Lord and fellowship with Him, He will demand more ground within us, and He will occupy us more. He desires to occupy our mind, emotion, and will. We cannot be our own lord. He wants to be the Lord and to occupy every part of our being. If we are willing to consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we will have such experiences.

HAVING PERSONAL TRANSACTIONS WITH THE LORD

In order to consecrate ourselves to the Lord, confess our sins, be emptied, and let the Lord occupy us, we must have transactions with Him. It is good for us to pray together in groups, but sometimes it is necessary for us to go to the Lord individually. Consecration is an individual matter; others cannot consecrate for us. We must go to the Lord ourselves. We must personally take care of consecrating ourselves to the Lord, receiving His shining and dealing, and letting Him occupy our being.

There are advantages to praying or pray-reading with others, and there is some enjoyment. However, in order to consecrate ourselves to the Lord for Him to gain us, we must have personal transactions with the Lord and hand ourselves over to Him. Some may have done this before, but they must do it again. It does not matter how many times we have consecrated ourselves in the past, we need to do it again. In order to be filled with the Lord, who today is the Spirit, we must consecrate ourselves again to Him. This is a very crucial matter. We must consecrate ourselves to the Lord.

BELIEVING THAT WE ARE FILLED

After we consecrate ourselves to the Lord and He touches our sins, we should confess our sins and ask Him to cleanse us with His blood. We should follow His leading to be emptied of improper things so that He can gain ground in us. Then we should believe that the Lord will fill us and not rely on our feelings, expecting something to be poured on us. If we depend on our feelings, we can be deceived by the Lord’s enemy. After we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, confess our sins, are emptied, and give the Lord the ground in us, we should not wait to be filled. Thinking that we need to wait is [160] a mistake. We must walk by faith. Since we have consecrated ourselves to the Lord, confessed our sins, and let the Lord gain ground in us, the Lord will fill us. We should just thank and praise Him. We should believe that we are filled and not depend on our feelings.

SPEAKING, SINGING, AND PRAISING WITH ALL THE SAINTS

If we believe, we will be filled with joy and rejoice such that we can gather with other saints and praise the Lord. To consecrate ourselves to the Lord is to have many transactions with Him. The issue of these transactions is that we can praise Him together with the saints. Ephesians 5:18 speaks of being “filled in spirit,” and verse 19 says, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.” In verse 19 there are not only psalms and hymns but also spiritual songs, and there is not only speaking but also singing. Speaking is mentioned before singing. Speaking stresses mutuality, whereas singing is toward God and for God. The more we speak and sing, the more we are filled with the Lord. Moreover, singing is to drink of the Spirit, that is, to drink of the Lord (1 Cor. 12:13). We have been baptized into one Spirit, and now we have been given to drink of Him. To drink of Him is to be filled with Him. We drink Him by consecrating ourselves, confessing our sins, being emptied, allowing Him to gain ground in us, believing that He has filled us, and praising Him. The more we praise, the more we are filled. At this time we will be beside ourselves in a genuine way.

THOROUGHLY TAKING CARE OF CONSECRATION

The way for us to be beside ourselves begins with consecration. We should go before the Lord personally and take care of our consecration. We should each go to the Lord and consecrate ourselves thoroughly. We should deal with our sins. We should yield to the Lord. We may be able to deceive others, but we can never deceive the Lord. It is only after we have thoroughly consecrated ourselves that we can be genuinely beside ourselves. Otherwise, our actions will be a mere performance. We must spend the time to thoroughly consecrate ourselves to the Lord. We must give ourselves to the Lord.

This is not a matter of being stirred up. If we truly desire to enjoy the Lord as the meaning of our human life, we must take care of our consecration. We cannot avoid consecration. We should never be in [161] a hurry before the Lord and say, “Lord, I give myself to You. Hallelujah! Amen.” We need to spend at least half an hour with Him and thoroughly take care of our consecration, letting Him shine in us, operate in us, and search us. As He touches different items, we should deal with them and give them to Him, allowing Him to occupy us inch by inch. Eventually, we will be unloaded of our burdens, and spontaneously we will say, “Hallelujah! The Lord has gained ground in me. There is no hindrance in me toward the Lord. There is no longer the hindrance of sins or of other things. The Lord has the ground in me.” At this time it will be easy for us to believe that the Lord is filling us, and we will praise Him. Our singing will be different because we will have a craziness that is the issue of our consecration.

We should all have such transactions with the Lord. Our consecration is the beginning of our being searched by the Lord. May all the saints not wait but take care of this critical experience in our spiritual life.