Philippians 3:10 says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection.” The power of resurrection is the content of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The bountiful supply is the power of resurrection. The two are synonyms; both refer to the same thing. Without the resurrection power, the bountiful supply is empty. Then, 4:13 tells us the way to enjoy the bountiful supply. This verse says, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.” Christ is powerful; He has the power of resurrection. You must be in Him to enjoy His bountiful supply in power. However, too often you are not in Him. Although you have believed in the Lord Jesus, you are not in Him but rather in your mind, in your thoughts, and in your flesh. Therefore, it is not possible for you to enjoy His bountiful supply. Christ is the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, dispensing all His riches into us. Hence, we need to remain in our mingled spirit to enjoy all His supply.
Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” The willing is within; the working is without. The willing takes place in our will, indicating that God’s operation begins from our spirit (cf. 4:23) and spreads into our mind, emotion, and will. As a Christian, you have God operating in you. What you need is to cooperate with Him by obeying Him. However He moves, you just obey. Do not make up your mind to not lose your temper again; this is futile. If you do not make up your mind, you probably will not lose your temper. However, once you make up your mind, you can be assured that you will lose your temper. You have to realize that there is no way to reform yourself. God does not want you to reform yourself; He wants you to enjoy Him. Today, God is the life-giving Spirit with a bountiful supply, and He wants to enter into you to operate in you. You must cease all your activities and let Him work in you.
Philippians 4:6 says, “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Prayer is general, having worship and fellowship as its essence; petition is special, being for particular needs. We should tell God of all that we want. Some people might say, “I tell God, but He does not answer.” This is because they want things outside of God. God never answers this kind of prayer. Of course, I cannot represent God to tell you that He will never answer this kind of prayer, but my experience has been that it is irrelevant whether or not He answers this kind of prayer. I can testify that if He desires to give you something, He will give it to you whether or not you pray for it; if He does not want to give it to you, you will never receive it even if you pray for it. This is because the Lord said, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed?...But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:31, 33).
We should pray for such matters as our not having spiritual growth, our being short of the divine life, our not living an overcoming life, our not walking according to the Spirit, and our not living Christ. Moreover, we need to pray with thanksgiving. Instead of begging, we should pray and petition with thanksgiving. To pray with thanksgiving means that although your request has not yet been answered, you believe that you have already received it. You have faith that God will grant you what you have asked for. The result of this kind of fellowship with God in prayer is seen in Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”
The way to experience the subjective salvation of the Triune God is to cooperate with Him. He has the bountiful supply, but you have to allow Him to supply you. He has power, but you have to be in Him. If you are not in Him, even if He has the bountiful supply and the resurrection power, they cannot be your enjoyment. Furthermore, He is operating in you, but you have to cooperate with Him and obey Him. The best expression of obedience is prayer. A proper prayer is always accompanied with thanksgiving. This means you need to pray and petition with thanksgiving. Consequently, God can operate in you to protect your inner man and guard your heart and your thoughts. In this way you will enjoy His peace and presence.
In conclusion, we need to cooperate with God. He has the bountiful supply, but we need to cooperate with Him. In other words, we need to submit to His moving within us, and we also need to pray and petition with thanksgiving. When we do this, immediately we will sense that He is operating within us and guarding us. Not only is He protecting us outwardly, but He is also guarding our hearts and our thoughts. Thus, we enjoy the subjective salvation of the Triune God. When we have this kind of enjoyment, what we live out is Christ being magnified in our body.
You have to go before the Lord and pray, “Lord, I thank You that You are the rich Spirit, who is all-inclusive and supplying bountifully. I thank You also that You are the resurrected Lord with the power of resurrection. Lord, I thank You even more that You are the God of peace who gives me peace. I want to stop all my activities; I will no longer struggle, strive, or expect to change myself. Lord, I do not want to love the world or the things that are outside of You. I just love You; I love You in singleness of heart. Lord, thank You that, as the Triune God, You are operating within me. I desire to cooperate with You to enjoy Your bountiful supply and experience Your resurrection power in me. Much more, every moment I desire to pray and petition with thanksgiving and make known to You all the things that I desire concerning being spiritual, sanctified, and victorious.” Dear brothers and sisters, if you pray in this manner, you will have peace within you, and immediately you will enjoy the presence and the operation of God within you. You will truly sense that there is a power supporting you. This is enjoyment. Do not wait until a prayer time to have this enjoyment; you need to maintain a prayerful spirit the entire day.
This is why the Bible tells us to pray unceasingly. If we remain in a prayerful spirit, then we will continuously enjoy the Triune God. Today, the Triune God-the Father in the Son as the Spirit-has imparted into us all that He has accomplished, all that He is, and all that He can do. Today, we need to cooperate with Him, to obey Him, and to let Him work within us; moreover, we need to pray and petition always with thanksgiving and to speak to Him always in a prayerful spirit. Then, we will enjoy Him as life and peace. This is the enjoyment of the subjective salvation of the Triune God.
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