Phil. 3:12 Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. (13) Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before.
The victory at Jericho can never be applied to Ai. Although Ai is very small and Jericho, which is huge, has been taken, if we attack Ai by applying our past experience, we will fail. This means we cannot apply our past victory to tackle our spiritual difficulties today. The past has become history, and new power is needed to deal with new spiritual difficulties. God puts new difficulties before us in order to make us sense new needs. We must never expect to have a once- for-all victory. Our eyes must be opened before God, and we must realize that the only way to have a continual filling is to have the continual working of the cross. Unless the Holy Spirit continues His work in us, we cannot continue to overcome. When any trial confronts us or any difficulty is placed before us, no past history or experience will do any good; we need new strength to go on. Let us bear in mind that everything ordered by the Lord in our circumstances is intended to create a need in us and make us realize that we cannot overcome by past experience. Past victories remain unchanged, but trying to overcome new difficulties by means of past victories never works. Many people look at their past victories and wonder why they cannot overcome now. Brothers and sisters, we have to realize that God does not want us to have yesterday's manna. With each new difficulty there comes a new need which we have never realized before. Brothers and sisters, we cannot go on without new knowledge of the Lord and a new vision of Him. Whenever He brings us to our end and whenever we find ourselves crying, "I cannot make it!", our progress has begun. Then God is able to easily create a desire for Him in us. Thank God that everything we have is the result of His work; even the heart that seeks after Him comes from Him. If it were up to us, I wonder how long we would have to wait before we would seek after Him? Of course, there is a condition: we must be conscious of our weakness and inability as well as the hindrance and pride of the flesh. If we persist in our self-reliance, presume that we are already rich, and do not forget our Jericho victory, it will be impossible for God to give us a seeking heart even if He wants to. If we cannot forget our past victory, we will never make any progress. If we think that we can overcome with our first experience, we have been defeated already. Past victory can never be our present strength. We should remember that God gives difficulties to us in order to dig more deeply in us so that He can fill us more with Himself.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 37, in The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 135-136. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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