Dear Friend, How are you? Hope you had or are having a good day, today? In February this year, I read a CBN news article about Watchman Nee: The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. is honoring the life and legacy of world-changing church leader Watchman Nee to commemorate the 50th anniversary since his death. And it also mentioned his book, The Normal Christian Life. When I read that, I was reminded of the days back in 2020 or 2021. While I was listening to the late Pastor Neville Johnson’s teaching, I heard him endorse Watchman Nee’s book, The Normal Christian Life to the audience. It was the first time that I heard of him so that I googled him and his books at that time. And I’m sharing a little bit of his background written on the back cover of the book, The Normal Christian Life: Watchman Nee (1903-1972) is remembered for his leadership of an indigenous church movement in China, as well as for his books, which continue to enrich Christians throughout the world. Beginning in the 1930’s, Nee helped establish local churches in China that were independent of foreign missionary organizations and were used to bring many into the Kingdom of God. From these roots sprang many of the house churches that continued to meet after Western missionaries were forced to leave the country during the Culture Revolution. Arrested in 1952 and found guilty of a large number of false charges, Watchman Nee was imprisoned until his death in 1972. Until I happened to read the CBN news on Watchman Nee this February, I didn’t really think about buying his books. This year, I wanted to re-read the books I read rather than read new books. But after reading the news, I read a few books of his. The first book I chose was “Changed into His Likeness”, which gave me an interesting insight on Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Then, I read “Sit, Walk, Stand” and it’s about the book of Ephesians. And finally, I read “The Normal Christian Life”, which is about the book of Romans. Actually, after reading my first choice, “Changed into His Likeness,” I became kind of a fan of Watchman Nee. And after reading through his books, I think I've found out a precious gem. When I read Watchman Nee’s books, I realized that his teaching is very much in line with Pastor John Fenn’s. Both of them emphasized that we already have everything in Christ, quoting Ephesians 1:17~21. Pastor John always prays with Ephesians 1:17~18 before he starts his teachings and I started to pray that for others and myself. From the teachings of the two, I got to learn how important it is to have the revelation from the Lord that we already have everything in Christ and Christ is in us. I’m grateful that He let me realize the truth Paul wrote, through them. In all honesty, I do not fully live up to the Word in Ephesians 1~2 in every area yet, but I know I got hold of it and I have peace from the Lord. And I also think that due to this truth and revelation in the book of Ephesians, both Watchman Nee and Pastor John Fenn was and is able to teach people to gather together in home and do house church, as God is in us, not in the building. We already have open heaven in us. Friend, I don’t know about you, but I once longed for open heaven over me. But now I realize I already have it in me. Christ is in me. And the Father God already made you and me sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). I think I would share more on this later, but for now I would like to close my writing, sharing part of Pastor John’s weekly thought “The Way the Father & Lord Think 3.” I actually searched his teachings on Ephesians 1~2 while reading Watchman Nee’s book and found it posted back in 2014. I hope this would give you revelation and bless you more. Have a bliss! Yunee “Believing His Word and Spirit instead of popular church culture And so it was I was telling a class at the World Prayer Center in Colorado Springs they already have an open heaven, and the then-current fad teaching was error and not what the Father thinks about it. At first they sat in stunned silence when I told them the Father says we already have an open heaven. I told them – You have peace with God the Father! He is at peace with you. He not only loves you, He likes you. He recreated you, birthed you, then adopted you all in one motion. He thinks He is at peace with you and you have full access to Him, why do you think otherwise? I quoted this passage: “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…by whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” Romans 5:1-2 … I insisted they follow me through the pages of the New Testament, and as we read verse after verse one lady got angry as if the B-1 had just flown by and she got blind sided by the shock wave. She took it personally, saying, “Are you telling me I’m wrong!?” as she stood up with a ‘You want to fight?’ stance and all the finger pointing you would expect. “That I’ve spent thousands of dollars going to conferences and airfare and hotel bills and offerings and cd’s and you are saying you are right and all of them are wrong? No offense, but who are you?” I told her it wasn’t that I was right and they were wrong: “I am telling you what your Father thinks on the subject, and you are unknowingly committing idolatry by elevating man’s teaching above His thoughts and His ways as revealed in balance of the Word.” That didn’t go over real well with her. I can’t imagine why. What He thinks As long as I was offending religious spirits masquerading as cutting edge charismatic revelation, I thought why not continue. “You think you have to yell and scream and gather thousands to convince God to open the heavens for you because that’s what you’ve been taught, making Him your adversary. Imagine His surprise that He has been wrong this whole time and ____ _____ is right.” “Funny Father God! He thinks He has blessed you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. He thinks He has adopted you by Jesus so that you are His kids and part of a royal family, having full access to all that is His. He thinks He has seated you together with Him in heavenly places in Christ. He thinks you are a new creation in Christ and you now have access into this grace.” (Ephesians 1:3-6, 2:6, I Peter 2:9, II Corinthians 5:17, Romans 5:1-2) “All you have to do is just turn a thought towards ‘Father’ and you have His ear. He is in you. So who do you believe, your favorite teacher and church culture, or what our Father thinks and says on the subject?” What really bothered her After a coffee break she calmed down and returned to class. She told me what bothered her is that I was speaking with authority, as if I really knew what I was talking about. She said I wasn’t talking about Him like the others, I was talking from Him. She felt fooled by the hype, but now she could see the truth in the verses. She ‘got it’ – A light dawned, and for the first time she knew she had been believing doctrines of demons and/or man, and now she had great peace and joy, “The Father really likes me, not just loves me, but likes me, and He lives in me as proof…wow. I can rest in what I have in Him. I know now I live in an open heaven.” Lighten up – the art of knowing In the same way Jesus turned water into wine but said nothing about it to draw attention to Himself, so too is He working today, humbly, meekly, with a lowly heart – but people’s flesh want the spectacular so they tune out His thoughts as they run for the spectacular. His thoughts are just that – thoughts – unseen, quiet, revealed to us personally in our spirit – so that is where we must look for them. Hebrews 4:6 lists several elements of Christian life, the first 2 being: – “…enlightened (Had the revelation from the Father that Jesus is Lord), have tasted the heavenly gift (born again)…” Enlightened. Also translated as illuminate, in Greek this is ‘photizo’, from ‘phos’, meaning “light”. It means down inside a person ‘a light goes on’ to shine revelation into their spirit and soul. This happens before we are born again and leads us to Christ, and it should be a way of life after we are in Christ. My life revolves around enlightenment – this is where communion with the Holy Spirit is found. Peter’s exclamation in Matthew 16:16 that “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, was the result Jesus said, of the Father showing Him that fact. Revelation came first, then the act of confessing it. Jesus spoke of ‘enlightenment’ in John 6:40: “And this is the will of Him who sent me; That all who (1) sees the Son and (2) believes on Him, will have eternal life.” First you see Him inside, then you act on it, believing. That ‘seeing’ takes place in your spirit & soul, and we all went through that time of enlightenment. Jesus continued in verse 45 saying, “Everyone (1) who has heard, and learned of the Father (2) comes to me.” The Father first starts dealing with you inside – enlightenment – and THEN you believe. I live for and in illumination – revelation. It is the single most important element in my walk with the Father. I want to know His thoughts on all things. Paul prayed for ‘enlightenment’ for the Ephesians and Colossians: “For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would grant you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him, that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened to know…” and “That you be filled with spiritual wisdom and spiritual knowledge…” (Ephesians 1:15-18, Colossians 1:9) These are the 2nd most common prayers I pray for myself, the 1st being: “Who or what do you want me to pray for Father?” and “What do you think about it (anything in my life) Father?” and/or “What are your thoughts Father?” (When someone expresses an opinion). These are by far the most common ‘thing’ I pray. Forsaking our ways and thoughts and accepting His invitation to come up to His higher ways and thoughts in Isaiah 55, means enlightenment and then taking that revelation and changing our thoughts to His. It means change, rearrangement of what we believed and why. It means going against the grain of popular church culture if that culture thinks contrary to His thoughts. This cannot happen as a matter of just book knowledge. Knowing His ways and thoughts comes from personal revelation – actually knowing Him, letting His Life change us from the inside out…” But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4~10) Comments are closed.
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