This daily revival brings transformation with it. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” This shows us that transformation comes from beholding the Lord. We are like mirrors beholding the Lord with an unveiled face. The more we behold Him, the more we reflect the glory of the Lord and the more we are transformed into the image of the Lord from one stage of glory to another. This transformation is from the Lord Spirit. There is not just a revival, but a transformation as well. Hence, to have a revival that is renewed daily is to have a transformation that is fresh daily. If we remain in this transformation our whole life, we will grow in the life of the Lord until we are matured. This kind of revival, renewal, and transformation is what we all need today.
After such a revival, we should live a life of consecration daily. In such a living, we fellowship with the Lord, walk with Him, and abide in Him, and thus become one spirit with Him and live Him out. This is an overcoming living. By this, we will be able to consecrate everything for the Lord. Our whole being will be for the Lord. Our time, energy, family, and business will all be for the Lord. We all have to consecrate ourselves in such a reckless way, not giving up until we reach our goal. We must be like a mother nursing her baby. Whether she is healthy or not does not matter. Whether she has problems or not, she has to consecrate everything for the care of her child. The same is true for athletes in the field; they forget everything and are desperate for the goal. All our co-workers must have such a desperate spirit to assist the elders in the different places. They must perfect the saints in the same way that a mother who nurses her baby casts aside all her needs to take care of the results of her work. The elders should also be like this. First Peter 5:1-2 says, “...the elders... shepherd the flock of God.” This shows us that the church is the flock of God. It is entrusted to the shepherding of the elders. An elder is a shepherd. He cannot care for the sheep according to his mood, enthusiastic today, negligent tomorrow. The care for the flock is a daily matter. We have to care for the flock daily and unceasingly, until the Chief Shepherd is manifested (1 Pet. 5:4). This means that there is no end to the care for the saints. We do not know on what day the Lord will come. We only know to labor in care for the flock. If we do not have this spirit, it will be impossible for any of us to be a co-worker or an elder.
In order to take care of the church properly, the elders have to receive this charge from the Lord. They must shepherd the saints conscientiously. The Lord asked Peter in John chapter twenty-one, “Do you love Me more than these?” Peter answered the Lord, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Then Jesus said to him, “Feed My lambs” (v. 15). To feed is to nourish others with the riches of the inner life. This is a mouth-to-mouth feeding. The second time, the Lord said to Peter, “Shepherd My sheep” (v. 16). To shepherd the sheep is to take care of all the needs of the sheep. The third time, the Lord said to him, “Feed My sheep” (v. 17). At the time the Lord said this to Peter, Peter had been following the Lord for over three years. After His resurrection, the Lord charged him especially with this matter of shepherding the sheep. This shows how important it is to shepherd the sheep. Later, when Peter wrote his first Epistle, he entreated the elders to shepherd the flock of God (1 Pet. 5:1-2).
Shepherding refers to caring for all of the needs of the sheep, whether the need is grass, water, or shelter. All the sheep are to be well provided for and well tended to. Of all the needs, the most important one is the feeding, that is, the mouth-to-mouth feeding. This is the duty of the elders. If all the elders in the various localities would do this, the saints would receive the suitable care. In the past, we baptized many but brought in few. The reason for this was the lack of feeding and care. Our messages were high and deep, but after the messages there was not much care. In the end, the flock was without shepherds. There was preaching without shepherding and teaching without feeding. This was our shortcoming in the past. Among us there is the begetting and the teaching, but there is a lack of feeding. As soon as a baby is born, what he needs most is feeding. A baby will not grow just by teaching him.