Fresh Speaking
The following is a compilation of the testimonies of some of the saints at the beginning of the second meeting on May 23, 2010:
I appreciated 2 Cor 4:12 – "So then, death operates in us but life in you" and that out of the darkness light shall shine. A sister's testimony from a couple of weeks ago touched me. In her sharing she told of one day when she was in the midst of worries, she was with the sisters, and though the worries were still there, she felt so strengthened by being with them. I too have worries. I realize that it really is precious not to be so prevailing. In His wisdom, God, in the book of Genisis, first brought forth the evening, and then the morning (not the other way around). This is God's wisdom, and it is our experience. Christ is gained as we go through these "evening" experiences, and we should treasure them. (Paul O'Brien)
From one angle, the Bible is mysterious. The first verse of Genisis, says, "In the beginning God". In this verse, it is God alone who is speaking, but in the end of the Bible, in Revelation 22:17, it is the Spirit and the Bride who together who speak, "And the Spirit and the bride say come...".
When I was in 7th grade, I needed to read biographies in order to get extra credit, so I would read the first and last chapter of the book. I was able to figure out what happened in the middle, and I was able to get an easy extra credit. In the Bible, you can read the first and the last chapter and realize that God desires a relationship – first it was God alone, and then it is God with us. How did this happen? Unlike what I did in 7th grade, if you read everything in between these first and last chapters of the Bible, you realize that God desires a relationship with man, then, as you realize this, both the Bible and our lives make so much more sense! (Dann Stapp)
You could spend eternity or one day in the Bible. This week we enjoyed Eph. 1:4 ("Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love") and verses 22-23 (And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all."). So, what happened in between these two sets of verses? It is just like, what has happened in between Genisis and Revelation. In the beginning of Ephesians, in chapter 2, we read that we were dead in our sins and offenses, but then, in Eph. 2: 10 and 19, we read that we are God's masterpiece, and in the end of this chapter, we have become the household of God. Eph. is a miniature of the Bible! Pick up any chapter of the Bible, you can read it at any level and you can enjoy such a miniature of the Bible and see this progression! You can enjoy the unsearchable riches of Christ whether you read the Bible for five minutes, for five days or for all of eternity! (Mike Li)
Economy encompasses everything related to the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services . It is a social gathering of goods and services to distribute and redistribute. In God's economy there is no need, no greed, just come to Him for the distributions, just come to Him for the riches. (Mike Peda)
Eph. 3:9, "And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things". God has put us in the church according to His eternal purpose. First He chose us and now He is showing us, enlightening us, breathing into us that we may soak up and enjoy His riches. (Tony Baugh)
What are the unsearchable riches of Christ? They are not listed in the Bible. We need to experience Christ that His riches would become our enjoyment, and that they would become our treasure. This is like the householder in Matthew 13:52 who brings forth out his treasure things new and old. For years, Paul, after his salvation, had such an experience of God's pouring out His riches when he was in Arabia. These riches became his treasure. We too should have experiences of God's pouring out to us, which will become our treasure. (Jim Faulk)
The matter of God's economy, His dispensation, has opened my eyes! I need to have a revelation to see God's economy, otherwise these are just terms and there is no change in my life. God's focus is towards the church. If I don't turn toward this dispensation, then there is no meaning to my life. I might as well still be a sinner and die in my offenses and sins, but if I turn, to His dispensation, then I will be united to the saints! To be part of His bride is to be united with the saints. (Joseph Lee)
I was helping my granddaughter, who is in third grade. She had a workbook about economics, which defined economy as the distribution of good and services. This was just a term to her, but when an example of having a lemonade stand and selling the lemonade was used as an example, the term, economy, began to make sense. God's economy can be a term to us. The only way to understand God's economy is not by studying terms, it takes an insight by revelation. Sometimes the Spirit allows us to "see" when our mind is open to Him, or when our heart is soft to Him. Then there is a "click" – I see it! Then God's economy makes sense, it all "clicks" together. (Linda Stapp)
In the end, it's not all about you. (Bonnie Gaerttner)
The footnotes in Eph. affected me. It's easy to loose sight of God's economy and His body and to make my own concerns my focus rather than what He wants. God's economy is according to His desire. What He wants to accomplish is through the dispensing of the abundant life supply, the Triune God, as the life factor into all the members of the church. Each day I need a "life factor". This requires me to open to the Lord and to the Body. It causes me to rise up from death situations. Without God's economy, everything is meaningless. I need to think, "What about God's purpose?". I need to be headed up, you need to be headed up! To be willing to be headed up in the church life, is to be headed up by God's life. The biggest problem is me! I need to be renewed every day that God can accomplish His purpose. (Dave Barker)