Unsearchable Riches

No Christ. No peace.
Know Christ. Know peace.

Today we see increasing anxiety, depression, conflict, division, and uncertainty in the world. These outward conditions expose a deeper need within humanity, the need to return to God. The human heart was created for God, and apart from Him, it remains restless.

The world offers temporary comfort.
Christ gives lasting peace.

Which one are we pursuing?

None of us knows how much the blood implies. Only God knows this.
The devil also knows more of what the blood implies than we do…Through experience we have come to see the power and authority of the blood of the Lamb. We must always apply the blood, telling the devil that although we are not perfect, we are under the precious, perfect blood…Whether or not we know all that the blood implies, as long as we apply it, we will have all that it implies. (Lifestudy of Revelation, pp. 408-409)

Who is Christ?

Christ is the living Son of God. He is life, light, love, peace, and everything God desires to be to man. Christ is not merely a doctrine to learn, a teaching to follow, or a historical figure to admire. He is a living Person who desires to be received, experienced, and lived out by His believers.

What is a Christian?

A Christian is not merely someone who belongs to a religion, attends church meetings, or believes certain doctrines. A Christian is a person who has received Christ, possesses Christ as life, and is learning to live by Christ day by day.

What is Christianity?

Christianity, at its best, points people to Christ. Yet throughout the centuries, Christianity has often become a system of teachings, traditions, practices, and outward forms. Many know Christianity, but how many truly know Christ?

Christianity may teach us to pray, but Christ is the One we contact when we pray.

Christianity may teach us to read the Bible, but Christ is the living Word revealed in the Bible.

Christianity may teach us how to live, but Christ Himself is our life.

The tragedy today is not that people reject Christianity; the tragedy is that many know Christianity but do not adequately know Christ. We may be occupied with Christian teachings, Christian works, and Christian activities, yet miss the living Person of Christ.

Therefore, our care should not merely be for Christianity but for Christ Himself. We should ask ourselves:

Do I know Christ, or do I merely know Christianity?

Am I occupied with Christ, or merely with Christian things?

Am I a Christian only in name, or am I a Christian who lives by Christ?

May the Lord recover us from merely practicing Christianity to experiencing Christ. May we be those who care for Christ above all things and who are real Christians, not merely outwardly Christian, but inwardly filled with Christ and living because of Him.

Christianity is not the goal. Christ is the goal.
And a real Christian is one who knows Him, loves Him, experiences Him, and expresses Him.

Christ’s pierced hand reminds us that He was crucified for us.

What greater assurance can we have than this: the Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us. His pierced hand is a timeless testimony that we are never forgotten and never beyond the reach of His mercy. Every mark bears witness to a love that chose the cross so that we might receive life and be brought into fellowship with God.

No matter what today holds, we can look away from our circumstances and unto Christ. The One who was crucified for us is now living in us, supplying us with grace for every need. When our strength fails, His life sustains us. When our heart is troubled, His presence comforts us. May the sight of His pierced hand fill us with fresh appreciation, deeper faith, and a stronger desire to follow Him day by day.

fttmalabon.org/apply

“How about writing a letter to Him?”

In order to give Christ the first place in all things, we must have an affectionate love for Him as our King. Sometimes, one of the sweetest ways to turn our heart to the Lord is simply by writing to Him.

When our heart overflows with a good matter concerning the King, our tongue becomes “the pen of a ready writer” (Psa. 45:1). Writing a letter to the Lord is not merely putting words on paper, it is opening our inner being to Him, expressing our love, our enjoyment, our thanksgiving, and even our longing to gain Him more.

As we write to Him, Christ has the opportunity to write Himself into us. What begins as our speaking to the Lord often becomes His speaking within us. In such a personal fellowship, our affection toward Him is stirred up again, and He regains the first place in our heart.

You do not need eloquent words. The Lord desires reality. Even a simple “Lord Jesus, I love You” offered from a softened heart is precious to Him.

Perhaps today, instead of keeping everything within, you may simply sit before the Lord and write to the One who loves you most.

Eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life. The content of the church life depends on the enjoyment of Christ…But to enjoy Christ requires us to love Him with the first love. The first love will bring us to the tree of life…When we give our first love to the Lord Jesus, He will give us to eat of the tree of life…To love Him with the first love, the best love, is to give the Lord the first place in all things. In order to give Him the preeminence, we must be willing to be adjusted, to be broken, and to be made nothing so that the Lord can have a way in us, through us, and among us for the building up of His organic Body.

We should pray, “O Lord Jesus, I love You first, and I love You best. My first love belongs to you. O Lord Jesus, I give the priority of my love to You.” If we leave our first love toward the Lord, we will miss the enjoyment of Christ and lose the testimony of Jesus; consequently, the lampstand will be removed from us. These three things—loving the Lord, enjoying the Lord, and being the testimony of the Lord—go together

What still moves our heart today?

John wept greatly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll.
But today, do we still weep when we neglect the Lord?

When we miss the meetings, ignore the burden to preach the gospel, neglect to read the Bible, or spend hours on things without eternal value, do we still have the consciousness within? Many times, we become occupied with outward things yet lose our inward feeling toward the Lord’s interest. We all are guilty. Instead of redeeming the time to gain Christ, shepherd the saints, and pursue the truth, we often choose comfort, entertainment, and hidden things that do not minister life. O Lord, forgive us. Recover our heart to care for what You care for.

The Lamb standing as having just been slain has seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits sent forth into all the earth. Nothing is hidden from His shining. Even in secret, His eyes are observing, searching, enlightening, burning, purifying, and transfusing Himself into us. The Lord is not merely looking at our outward doing, He is looking at our heart, our motive, and our hidden living. May His shining bring us to repentance again, that we may treasure His presence more than the world, His speaking more than distractions, and His economy more than ourselves.

“Lord, make us those who weep for Your interest.”

We may complain to God, but our complaining may be the best prayer, the most pleasant prayer to God. While we are complaining, God is rejoicing because He is causing all things to work together for good .

Even in our weakness and honest utterance, the Lord values a heart that turns to Him in simplicity, without any pretense. We learn that even our complaints, when brought before Him, are not wasted, they become a way for His inward life to operate in us, transforming us and gradually conforming us into the image of His beloved Son.

“God disciplines those He loves.”

Miriam’s leprosy is a sober reminder that even those close to the Lord can fall into rebellion. Yet, God’s dealing was not to destroy her, but to correct and restore her. His discipline is not rejection, it is a sign of His love, bringing us back to Himself.

In the Lord’s recovery, we see that every dealing, even painful ones, carries His heart to purify us and align us with His purpose. If we are under His hand today, it simply means He has not given up on us.

May we receive His discipline with a soft heart, knowing that His love is behind it, perfecting, adjusting, and drawing us closer to Him.