When I was young, I knew a brother from the Brethren, who once preached in Tibet. He was a man who experienced God. I remembered he said to me, “God’s greatest work is the work in our hearts.” Today, before God does great work, He first works in our hearts. Therefore, if the Lord were to do great work in Hong Kong and the world, or if He were to use you greatly, He would first need to work in your heart greatly. This is also what He wants the most, because He loves you so deeply, with a personal love. God’s will is so glorious, beautiful, vast, unceasing and eternal, with continual impact. His kingdom has no end. But its core is your heart, your spirit. He wants each one of us to be closest to Him and to love Him wholeheartedly. In God’s will, this is the core, the essence of what He wants the most. When our spirit is closest to Him, we will then bear fruits, “for from it [your heart] flow the springs of life” (Prov 4:23). Our heart needs to be affected by Him and His love, so that our heart can love Him the most. With such spirit, we can arise and influence Hong Kong and the world. The work we are doing in Hong Kong does not only affect Hong Kong alone, but it has a chain effect that will affect the world. You can never predict how greatly God will use the people you have saved. Therefore, do not look down on yourself. Each one of us holds the highest position in God’s heart.
Elijah in the Old Testament did not experience death, but God took him up to heaven, with chariots of fire and horses of fire. When the Lord transfigured on a mountain, Elijah also appeared there. But in the book of James, it says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours…” (James 5:17). Then, what sets him apart? I think He had much time alone with God. He faced persecution, but he spent quite a long time being alone with God. This is his personal relationship with God. I am not asking you to isolate yourself from people, but if you do not have a deep personal relationship with the Lord and enjoy a world of two with Him, you could not really help people. Rather, you would be affected by others.
David was a man after God’s heart. Although his job as a shepherd seemed lowly and lonely, he enjoyed much alone time with God. In those times, when he had to fight lions and bears alone, I believe he also cried out “Lord, save me!” or “Lord, help me!” He faced all things with the Lord. No one else was there with him. Paul saw the Lord, who was brighter than the sun when He appeared to him. But he still went to Arabia to draw near to God alone and to receive His words. John the Baptist, the pioneer of Jesus, lived in the wilderness until the age of 30. Then the words of the Lord came upon him and he came out to preach.
The Lord might call you in a different way. This is between you and the Lord. But we should be like the Lord, going to the wilderness, the mountains, and quiet before Him. In those days, the population was not as dense. Air quality was better, with lots of open space. But the Lord still went to the wilderness or the mountains, seeking quiet places. From these examples, we see that this is our great need–if we want to deepen our relationship with God. The Lord said it very clearly. He wants us to enter into the inner chambers. “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:4). Isn’t that very good? Also, “…He rewards those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Your mere action of seeking for a good place to be with Him sweetens His heart. You do it because you want a special place to have deep love interflow with Him. So, He feels delighted. He knows your heart. When we enter into inner chambers, Abba will reward us. You can also read Hosea chapter 2 and see how God would bring Israel into the wilderness and speak to her.
He feels happy that you try to find a good place to spend time with Him. We need to do this often. I cannot live on if I do not spend time alone with God. It would be a great loss. Indeed, it’s the Lord’s grace that since I was a young believer, He has attracted me and I have deeply experienced Him. This is His immense grace. One thing special about me is that I’ve heard and received much from Him firsthand. How else would I be able to share all these precious truths? Moreover, He gave me the spirit of discernment, which required Him opening my eyes and working in me. He let me know what was wrong in the past teachings throughout history. However knowing what’s wrong doesn’t necessarily mean knowing what’s right. For some particular Bible passages, I had prayed over hundreds of times [asking the Lord to open my eyes to understand them]. Such experience of the spirit and of the truth was real. He’s true and living; else all is impossible.
When I write hymns, I rarely sit myself down to purposely compose something. The content of hymns comes from the insights and enlightenment when I draw near to the Lord. I treasure it and want to keep it. And putting it into hymns is a good way to keep it. Just from the amount of love songs I wrote you can see how often I think of the Lord’s love. You will never get bored of His love. Instead, you will be drawn by Him. He’s so good. To this world, I am nobody. However, for over 60 years, the Lord has had fellowship with me. He always desires me deeply. It’s just that sometimes I’m not obedient enough and I find myself not having enough draw near to Him time. After these many years, however, His love is still fresh. I’m not just counting on my past experience with Him. I have true love fellowship and experience with Him. I give thanks for this every day. It’s so precious that He’s indeed my Beloved. “My Beloved is mine and I am His” (Song 2:16). Likewise, He also desires to have fellowship with you. What He gives you may be even greater. I’m the same with you.
Our days are limited. Don’t think that you have more days because you are younger. We actually all have the same number of days remaining on earth before the Lord comes. I deeply believe that nothing is more precious than to love Him. His love is indeed most precious. He loves me unceasingly, even if I ask Him not to. The key is how much we enjoy His love and love Him back. The greatest blessing and treasure is to love Him back. His flame of Jehovah is so wonderful. It’s important that I love Him back.To do so, we must first enjoy Him and His love. I know for sure that there’s nothing more precious in life than to love Him. When you meet the Lord one day, you would feel the same. It’s your treasure that you can love Him and suffer for Him. On the other hand, it’s also very precious that you love HIm in ordinary days. What are the values of doing other things unless you do it out of your love for Him? When you love Him, all the things you do become meaningful.