TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE CHURCH

SERIES FOUR
SHEPHERDING PEOPLE ACCORDING TO GOD
TO BRING IN A NEW REVIVAL

Message One
Expecting the God’s Blessing

Scripture Reading:

Mark 6:38-44     And He said to them, how many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they found out, they said, Five, and two fish. And He ordered them to have all recline by companies on the green grass. And they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fish and, looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve full handbaskets of the broken pieces of bread and of the fish. And those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men.

RECEIVING THE LORD’S BURDEN AND ALSO HIS BLESSING

When we go to lead a home meeting, we are not just attending a meeting but are leading and taking care of the new ones. In other words, they are our children, so we must feed and nurse them as a mother and also teach and exhort them as a father. We must bear all their problems. Some might refuse to do this, saying, “I cannot bear the problems even in my own family, so how can I bear the problems of two other families?” I dare not speak about any other matter, but concerning this matter I have much experience. When I was young, the Lord uprooted me from the world and gave me a heavy burden every day. It has been fifty-four years now. We may think that we would be able to relax if we could lay our burden down, but we are wrong. If we reject the Lord’s burden, then Satan, the king of the world, will put his burden on us. If you ask me what you should do, my answer is this: The Lord is the way. You should go to Him to seek and rely on Him.

Furthermore, the more burdens we receive from the Lord, the more blessings we will have. When our burdens are gone, the Lord’s blessing will stop.…When the Lord gives us a burden, He also gives us a blessing. The question is whether or not we are willing to receive the burden. When we receive the Lord’s burden, we will also receive His blessing. If we wish to not be busy, to have no burdens, or to spend our days in a leisurely way, then we will live our days without the Lord’s blessing. Our attitude should be that we are not afraid of being busy. We only fear not having “children.” Bearing children is a heavy burden, yet it also brings much blessing. Therefore, we should not be afraid; rather, we should pick up the burden to care for our “children.” (The Furtherance of the New Way for the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 6)

ALL THE WORK BEING DEPENDENT ON GOD’S BLESSING

All the work is dependent on God’s blessing. Often we are faithful, but despite our faithfulness there is no blessing and no fruit. Often we are diligent, but despite our diligence there is no blessing and no fruit.…Sooner or later, we who serve God must be brought to the point of expecting God’s blessing. Without God’s blessing, our faithfulness, diligence, faith, and prayers will be to no avail. However, if we have God’s blessing, there will be fruit even if we seem to be wrong or hopeless. Therefore, all problems are a matter of God’s blessing.

WHEN WE SEE GOD’S BLESSING,
THE WORK HAVING A BASIC CHANGE

If God brings us to the point of seeing that everything in God’s work depends upon His blessing, it will bring about a basic change in our labor for God. We would not consider how many people, how much money, or how much bread we have. We would say we do not have enough, but the blessing is sufficient. The blessing meets the need that we cannot meet. Although we cannot measure up to the size of the need, the blessing is greater than our lack. When we see this, the work will have a basic change. In every matter we must look at the blessing more than we consider the situation. Methods, considerations, human wisdom, and clever words are all useless. In God’s work we should believe in and expect His blessing. Many times we are careless and damage the work, but this is not a problem. If the Lord gives us a small blessing, we can get through any problem.

LEARNING TO LIVE IN A WAY
THAT DOES NOT HINDER GOD’S BLESSING

The basic concern today is that we must learn to live in a way that does not hinder God’s blessing. Some habits force God to withhold His blessing, and these must be eliminated. Some temperaments keep God from blessing, and these must be done away with. We must learn to believe in God’s blessing, rely on it, and eliminate the barriers which prevent us from receiving it.

We must see that the Lord withholds no good thing from us. If the work is not going well, if the brothers and sisters are in a poor condition, or if the number of saved ones is not increasing, we should not use the environment or certain people as an excuse. We cannot blame the brothers. I am afraid that the real reason lies with our harboring of some frustrations to the blessing. If the Lord can get through in us, the Lord’s blessing will be greater than our capacity.…If we do not receive blessing, we should say, “Lord, perhaps I am the problem.”

There are definite requirements for receiving the Lord’s blessing.…If a person does not receive God’s blessing, there is a reason for it. If we do not receive God’s blessing, we should not push the responsibility for it onto the situation or environment. There is always a reason for not being blessed. If we could be brought to the point in which we wholeheartedly hope for His blessing and wholeheartedly ask Him to show us the reason for not being blessed, God’s work would have a great future.

NOT ASKING WHETHER OUR EVERY ACTION IS RIGHT OR WRONG,
BUT WHETHER WE HAVE GOD’S BLESSING

We should not ask whether our every action is right or wrong. Instead, we should ask whether we have God’s blessing. We are not here to argue about right and wrong; we are here to ask God to bless us. Seeking God’s blessing on our work will limit us much in our speaking and in our daily living. We may be right, but will God bless us? It is very easy for us to cut off our blessing. It is also very easy to cut off the blessing of others as well. Our standard is not right or wrong. We look for God’s blessing. Both may be right, but can God bless such a work? Our lives must be governed by God’s blessing.

LEARNING TO LIVE IN GOD’S BLESSING

The entire future of the work depends on God’s blessing, not on being right. If God blesses, then many sinners will be saved. If God blesses, we will be able to send people out to the remote regions. If there is no blessing, people will not get saved. If there is no blessing, workers will not be produced. If there is no blessing, no one will offer anything. If there is no blessing, no one will migrate. When the blessing is here, even things that seem wrong are right. When God blesses, we cannot go wrong even if we try.…God said, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom. 9:13). God blesses whom He likes. This is a very serious matter. We should not think that the blessing is a small thing. The blessing is souls and consecrated people. Behind the word blessing perhaps there are fifty souls or one hundred consecrations. The words, attitudes, and opinions of certain people can stop the Lord’s blessing. We must ask the Lord to prick us inwardly until we obtain His blessing. If we do not do this, our sin of losing the Lord’s blessing will be greater than any other sin. The blessing could be hundreds or thousands of souls. We must look to God for the blessing and not let it escape. We must beg God to give us grace.

We must learn to live in God’s blessing. It is good to work and do things, but we must have our capacity increased. We must ask God to keep us in His blessing in our work and actions. If we do not resolve this problem, our work will be severely damaged.…We must come before God to see that we do not expect the results of our labor, but expect God’s blessing. (CWWN, vol. 56, “The Open Door & The Present Testimony,” Issue No. 38)