May the Lord gain us for His plan!

These few days were rewarding as I met up with a lot of brothers and sisters of the church.

Attended a meeting and was encouraged to hear the message that the Lord is moving very fast. What I heard in the meeting corresponds to the messages that the church is currently pursuing.

[We need to] see the three stages, the three sections, of Christ: incarnation - the stage of Christ in the flesh; inclusion - the stage of Christ as the life-giving Spirit; and intensification - the stage of Christ as the sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit. These three stages are the three sections of Christ's history.

We need to do a work of three sections. We should not only be able to do the work of the first section, the section of incarnation, to produce redeemed people, but we should also be able to do a work that can serve the purpose of the second section, the section of inclusion, to produce churches. Furthermore, we should be able to do a work to build up the Body of Christ consummating the New Jerusalem. This is the work of the stage of intensification.
(Excerpt from Incarnation, Inclusion, and Intensification)

I asked myself: What am I doing here? Why am I serving Pharaoh full-time? How long will I work in the secular world? Is my work and living still governed by the vision of God's economy?

God's eternal economy is to make man the same as He is in life and nature but not in the Godhead and to make Himself one with man and man with Him, thus to be enlarged and expanded in His expression that all His divine attributes may be expressed in human virtues. This is the meaning of being a Christian. God is not interested in giving us a smooth life or making us prosperous for the rest of our life. He is not interested to make us good, ethical or spiritual individual Christians. These are too shallow. God wants us to do what He is doing - producing redeemed people and churches to consummate the New Jerusalem! This is God's plan, the truth that the whole Bible reveals to us.

The message touched me deeply but I dared not respond too fast, it may be out of my natural zeal. But I realized one thing: I must get back to the basic. Get back to the church life. Get back into the enjoyment of the Lord's word constantly. Only then, the Lord will lead, whether to stay or to migrate to wherever He leads for the producing of His churches.

Had a quick chat with a young sister who has just started working and we encouraged each other to keep on enjoying the Lord's word in the midst of working in the secular world. I believe the Lord will preserve us, those who have consecrated ourselves to Him. No matter how evil the world is, no one can snatch us from the hand of the Father. This is His promise. "And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand." (John 10:28-29)

Visited a couple and their 6-month old baby just now. Got to know that a lot of the brothers and sisters that we know are getting married recently. Those who are married for a few years are having their second and third kid. May the Lord gain all these families and their children. May the Lord gain and lead us according to His plan and will.

^^