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Nuggets and Gems to Build Up Our New Man

“And I will lift up my hand to Your commandments, which I love…” (Psa. 119:48)

“All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

“It is the Spirit who gives life;…the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (John 6:63)

To lift up our hand unto the word of God is to indicate that we receive it warmly and gladly and that we say Amen to it. (Psa. 119:48, footnote 1)

According to God’s economy, the big proverbs, like nuggets, and the small ones, like gems, are not for us to build up our old man; rather, they are for us to build up our new man to strengthen our life of pursuing Christ for the fulfillment of God’s economy in producing and building up the Body of Christ, which consummates the New Jerusalem as God’s heart’s desire and ultimate goal.

Apart from pray-reading, the book of Proverbs is merely a collection of proverbs, but when we read Proverbs prayerfully, that is, when we pray-read Proverbs, our pray-reading causes all the proverbs to become words of spirit and life to us.

We should not come to Proverbs as a letter-keeper but as a God-seeker; we should be those who seek God with all our heart, who seek God’s favor by entreating His countenance, who ask God to cause His face to shine upon us, and who walk in God’s presence. (CS Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, msg. 9, III.A, A.5, B)

Being Desperate to Be Made Vital

To be vital means to be living and active. If a group of people are meeting together and are a real vital group—living and active—whoever comes in and sees this will be convinced. If we are so vital, and some seeking ones come in among us, they will be caught by the Lord. Vitality is the most convincing factor… (Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, ch. 25)

Pray that the saints would become desperate to be made vital—living and active—to produce believers who are Christ’s increase and who live in His Body, the church. (Beseeching.org, Day 316)

GTCA

Let us continue to intercede for the Lord’s move in this country. The burden to “gospelize, truthize, churchize” America, including the need for 300 saints to migrate to 10 cities, has not diminished. For short videos and updates from the 2020 GTCA cities, including Orlando, Richmond, Pittsburgh, Lexington, and Minneapolis, visit http://gtca.us/updates.

Bibles for America

BfA is active on social media in order to reach people with our free offers in a widespread way. Over the years, our audience has grown tremendously on Facebook, and now we’re applying to have our Instagram profile become “verified.” This will lend credibility to our account and give us access to new features. Once we’re verified, people will be able to easily order a Bible from within the Instagram app.

Please pray that BfA would find favor with Instagram as our profile and application for verification are reviewed, and that we would be verified in a timely way. Pray also that the Lord would continue to use our social media channels to reach many hungry seekers with God’s Word.

Italy

There will be an online conference in Italy this weekend, May 8 to 9, which will cover messages on “The All-inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man.” Please pray for the Lord to release many Italian-speaking saints and invitees to participate so that they may become lovers of Christ and His return to prepare His bride for the consummation of this age.

India

The second wave of pandemic is much more severe in India than the first. The country was not prepared but had begun to open up and have large gatherings. Now there is an immense shortage of oxygen and hospital beds. The situation is grim and is expected to peak by the second week of May.

This time more saints have been affected. We have lost six brothers and one sister (all above 50 years old). Others have recovered or are recovering with mild to moderate symptoms. The saints are still coming together on Skype, Google Meet or Zoom.

In this situation the Lord is gaining His saints and churches through the Lord’s speaking in the ministry. Also, through the supply and prayer of the Body the saints are strengthened in the midst of the difficult situation. We are encouraged by the Lord to continue praying persistently, to spread the gospel and the ministry, and to strengthen the mutual care and shepherding for the building up of the churches.

We need much prayer at this critical time. Please pray for:

  1. The second wave of COVID to be under control without further spreading, that the Lord of all can come in to withstand the work of the enemy and to control the worsening situation;
  2. God’s sovereign arrangement in the environment as the Leader, that many people can be open to Him as the Savior, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins;
  3. The rising up of the spirit and the burden for the spreading of the gospel to friends, relatives, and neighbors so that many more can be brought unto salvation;
  4. Those who are in high position to have the wisdom to handle the current outbreak properly;
  5. The strengthening of all the saints in India (192 churches; 8,000 saints), and for the strengthening of the church life with mutual love, mutual care, mutual shepherding for the building up.

Lord’s Move to Asia

The April 2021 newsletter of the Lord’s Move to Asia contains reports on Azerbaijan and Bangladesh:

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Week 9 of Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Vol. 2.

  2. FTTA Short-term: The final session this term for college students and young working saints to visit the FTTA is May 17 to 19. Application deadline is May 10.

  3. LA Joint Meeting: Lord’s Day, May 23, we will have a meeting on Zoom of the whole church in LA.

  4. Memorial Day Conference Webcast: May 28 to 31. No registration needed; all are welcome!

  5. Summer School of Truth: June 12 to 26 on Zoom for junior high and high school students.

  6. Words of Fellowship to the Church in LA: The most recent video entitled Meeting Together is posted on YouTube and in our church app, with translations in Chinese, Korean and Spanish.

  7. Bibles for America continues to produce impactful videos, both to spread the good news of the gospel and to convey the truths in the Bible. Watch and share at http://www.youtube.com/biblesforamerica.

  8. Ways to Give: Information on setting up online giving through Subsplash, as well as where to mail checks, are at http://www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.