Morning Dew Revival Word: Recent Episodes
Pastor Denis Matovu
Enjoying the dew and the manna from the Lord to be revived every morning. The Lord promises in Hosea 14:5, “I will be like the dew to Israel“. If you read the context of this chapter in Hosea you will see that the people of Israel have left God, going after idols, and they committed adultery. Yet God will still be to them like the dew, refreshing in the morning. Every time God visits us, especially in the morning, He comes to us like the dew – in a calm way, almost unnoticeable, so mystical… Even when we are not faithful to God and we depart from Him, as long as we set some time aside to spend with Him in His Word, we enjoy the refreshing dew and the nourishing manna.
The rocky places that do not have much earth signify the heart that is shallow in receiving the word of the kingdom, because deep within are rocks--hidden sins, personal desires, self- seeking, and self-pity--which frustrate the seed from gaining root in the depth of the heart. The good earth [Matt. 13:23] signifies the good heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic, that is without hidden sins, and that is without the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches.
In this parable we see that Christ establishes the kingdom of the heavens not by fighting or teaching, but by sowing Himself as the seed of life into believing people so that the kingdom of the heavens may grow up. The establishment of the kingdom of the heavens is absolutely a matter of growth in life. Beside the way [Matthew 13:4] is the place close to the way. Because it is hardened by the traffic of the way, it is difficult for the seeds to penetrate it. This kind of wayside signifies the heart that is hardened by the worldly traffic and does not open to understand, to comprehend, the word of the kingdom.
It is important to understand accurately the meaning of stewardship. The Greek word rendered stewardship here, oikonomia, is the same word rendered economy [dispensation Day by day we need to fulfill our stewardship by dispensing the Triune God into Other
We do not need regulations or teachings-we need to be infused and saturated with Christ as the all-inclusive One. This Christ is already in us, but we need to see Him, know Him, be filled with Him, be saturated with Him, and become absolutely one with Him.
Through Christ, God has been brought into us, and we have been brought into God. Praise Him for such a mingling! When we were born again, simultaneously Christ was born into us, and we were brought into God.
As the Son of God, Christ has passed through two births. The first birth took place at His incarnation, and the second, in His resurrection. Through the two births of Christ, divinity has been brought into humanity, and humanity has been brought into divinity. Now, through Christ's resurrection, man has been brought into God. What a transaction! What marvelous two-way traffic!
Christ is the firstborn of all creation. This means that in creation Christ is the first. Christ as God is the Creator. However, as man, sharing the created blood and flesh (Heb. 2:14), He is part of the creation.
How long will the light of a candle last? Of course, the light will go out when the candle burns out. But if we light another candle with this one, the light will double in intensity. When the Son of God was on earth, he lit the first candle. After that, more candles were lit one after another Until today more candles more shining.
The mystery concerning Christ and the church had been hidden from eternity and from all times until the New Testament age, when it was manifested to the saints, the believers in Christ. Today we focus our attention upon Christ as the mystery of God and upon the church as the mystery of Christ.
We need to have Our Lives According to the Spirit, This is the Highest Peak Of God's Revelation in Several Scriptures. we should by the Grace endeavor to Turn from our Self, and Soul Life to the Mingled Spirit. Two Spirits Are Now Mingled as One for Our Spiritual Experience and Enjoyment. God's Righteousness is with those who walk According to the Spirit. Even today the Spirit Says Come!! Remain in the Mingling.
Although we cannot participate in Christ's suffering for redemption, if we are faithful to Him, we must share in His suffering for the producing and building up of His Body. Paul was a pattern for us in this matter
In Colossians...of all the negative things that [Paul] deals with, one stands out as especially serious--The worship of angels, which is a form of idolatry. To worship anything other than God, including such creatures as angels, is idolatry. There Is One God and One Mediator Between God and Man, The Man Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Just as the good land was the portion of the children of Israel, so Christ today is the portion of the saints. Colossians 1:13 reminds us of the way the children of Israel were delivered out of Egypt and transferred into the good land.
We have seen that the authority of darkness is the kingdom of Satan and that Satan himself is darkness. The kingdom of Satan is a system. Not everything in this system is evil. On the contrary, many things are good, or at least are considered good by society. Satan uses various things, both good and evil, to systematize people and to keep them in his system. We may still be under the authority of darkness in our married life. When a brother is exchanging words with his wife, both he and his wife are in darkness. Because they are in darkness, they accuse and blame each other.
In Christ, the Son of God's love, we have redemption and forgiveness. When we believed in Christ as our Redeemer, God immediately delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of light. Here in the light we are qualified for a share of the portion of the saints.
In contrast to many Christians today, Paul did not give thanks for things such as healing, health, housing, family life, or a job. Rather, he gave thanks to the Father for qualifying us "for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light."
Within us we have Christ as a dynamo that continually empowers us "according to the might of His glory." This is the might that expresses God's glory; it glorifies God in His might.
From Autobiography of George Muller, the Life of Trust "...it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is, to obtain food for his inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man.
The Full Knowledge of the will of God here in Colossians 1:9 is not focused on things such as marriage, jobs, prosperity or housing; it is concerned with the all-inclusive Christ as our portion. The will of God for us is that we know the all- inclusive Christ, experience Him, and live Him as our life.
The truth of the gospel is the reality, the real facts, not the doctrine of the gospel. The word, not the truth, may be considered the doctrine of the gospel. In our preaching of the gospel there must be not only the word of the gospel, but also the truth of the gospel, which is Christ Himself. Christ, the reality of the gospel, must be the reality in our preaching.
The grace of God is what God is to us and what God gives to us in Christ. Actually, grace is Christ Himself. Truth is Christ as reality, and grace is Christ as our enjoyment. As we experience Christ and enjoy Him, Christ as the truth becomes our grace
God wants us to sing in the midst of our trials and to praise and bless His name in the midst of our pain because all these are expressions of fine feelings. God uses many hardships, difficulties, and slanders to create praises in His people. He causes them to learn through difficult circumstances to become praising persons before the Lord.
Why should we not abandon the assembling together? Because God dispenses His grace to us through the assembling together. God's grace to man can be divided into two categories--personal and corporate. God gives us not only personal grace but also corporate grace. This corporate grace can be found only in the assembling together or the meetings
Christians often make the mistake of separating believe from its base you have received. They place it before the expression you will have them. They pray to the Lord thinking that it is a matter of great faith to "believe...and you will have them." However, this is to move believe away from you have received and to place it before you will have them
Faith is to realize and receive what is in Christ, love is to experience and enjoy what we have received of Christ, and hope is to expect and wait for the glorification in Christ. Every genuine Christian has faith in the Lord Jesus and love toward all the saints [all believers].
The early morning is the time for us to gather the manna (which is Christ). What does it mean to eat the manna? It means to enjoy Christ, to enjoy God's Word, and to enjoy His truth early in the morning every day. After we eat the manna, we have the strength to journey in the wilderness
In the morning period or the first half of the early morning reading, we should meditate, praise, and pray as we read the Word, mixing our reading with meditation, praise, and prayer. This period of reading is for receiving spiritual food and for strengthening our spirit. Do not read too much during this time; three or four verses is sufficient.
Every Christian should read the Bible. It shows us many things that God has done for us and the way He has led men in the past. If we want to know the riches and vastness of God's provision for us, we must read the Bible. If we want to see God's step-by-step guidance for men, we must read the Bible as well.
...please remember that immediately after being redeemed by the blood, we must move and go out. Do not think that we can buy a house and dwell in Egypt after we are redeemed by the blood. Those who are redeemed by the blood must set out that very night.
we see that all believers are one in Christ, and all of their distinctions have been abolished. This is the basis upon which the church is built. If we bring all our earthly distinctions into the church and into the Lord, we will corrupt the church and spoil the relationships among the brothers and sisters.
In the eyes of God, we all have become serpents. Like the ancient Israelites who became serpents and needed a brass serpent to be lifted up as their substitute, we also needed Christ to die on the cross as our substitute. On the cross Christ was not only the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world (1:29), but He was also in the form of the serpent that He might deal with our serpentine nature and destroy the old serpent. When Christ was lifted up on the cross, the serpentine nature within fallen man was dealt with.
When God poured His Spirit upon Christ and endued Him with the Spirit, God did not pour the Spirit upon Him individually. He poured it upon Him as the Head of the Body. God's anointing is on the Head.
When we were saved, we had a sense of the sweetness of Christ. Deep within, we realized how enjoyable Christ is. Then...many of us were distracted and led away from the enjoyment of Christ. We turned from the inner sense of the sweetness of Christ to religious duty. This brought us into darkness again, and the inward shining ceased.
Many things in our environment of daily living are also shadows of Christ. For example, the food we eat is a shadow, not the real food. The real food is Christ. Christ is also the real drink. The clothing we wear to cover us, to beautify us, and to keep us warm is also a shadow of Christ. Christ is the One who truly covers our nakedness, who keeps us warm, and who imparts beauty to us
In eternity past God existed alone. Then, in time, He created all things. At a certain point in history, this creating God, the Creator of all, became a man. This crucial step is called incarnation. By means of incarnation, God put on man with all of creation, for man is the head of creation. The Lord Jesus, God incarnate, lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years. When He was crucified, all creation was crucified with Him. This means that not only did Christ go to the cross, but the very man God had put on Himself with the entire creation went to the cross with Him.
Concerning the new man, our mind needs to be renewed unto such a full knowledge according to the Christ who is the expression of the invisible God. Our mind needs to be renewed to such an extent that we have a clear view of Christ as the image of God.
THE DISTRIBUTING OF THE FATHER'S RICHES. At the time of Paul, many rich families had stewards whose responsibility was to distribute food and other necessities to members of the household. Our Father has a great family, a divine household. Because our Father has such vast riches, there is the need in His household for many stewards to dispense these riches to His children. This dispensing is the stewardship. Hence, a stewardship is a dispensation...
PEACEMAKERS BEING CALLED THE SONS OF GOD If we are peacemakers, we shall be called the sons of God. The sons of the Devil make trouble, but the sons of God make peace. As the Son of God, the Lord Jesus made peace with God and man. (the Sign of the Cross) Now, as the sons of God, we must follow Him to make peace. Then we shall be called the sons of God.
A dove is gentle, and its eyes can see only one thing at a time. Hence, it signifies gentleness and singleness in sight and purpose. By the Spirit of God descending upon Him as the dove, the Lord Jesus ministered in gentleness and singleness, focusing solely on the will of God.
THE LOVE OF MONEY...A ROOT OF ALL EVILS. The thing that touches us the most is money. Hence, we must first learn righteousness in the way we deal with money. We cannot spend other people's money, much less can we steal money from others. We cannot turn other people's money into our own by improper means. Turning what is not ours into something that is ours through any improper means or in any subconscious way is unrighteousness.
A NEW WINE SKIN NEEDED FOR THE NEW WINE Old wineskins signify religious practices, such as the fasting held by the Pharisees in the old religion and the disciples of John in the new religion. All religions are old wineskins.
In order to live up to a moral standard higher than that of the old law, you must overcome your temper and your lusts. You may say that this is not easy to do. Right, it is not easy. This is why you need Christ. This is why you need another life. Gal 2:20 How we need to stay with Christ! We must contact Him not only day by day, but even hour by hour.
The Lord tells us that the Bridegroom is with us. But look at yourself--do you deserve His presence? Do you think that your real condition in the eyes of God is worthy of the presence of the Bridegroom? We must all answer, "No." All we have and all we are does not deserve the Lord's presence. To enjoy the Lord's presence we need certain qualifications;
"I go to prepare a place for you," means that the Lord will prepare a place, accomplish redemption, open up the way, and make a standing for man to get into God. It means that the Lord will pave the way for us to be in God. But how can sinful people like us get into God? How can we get into the righteous and holy God? We are far, far away from God. How can we be brought into Him?
The new wine here [Matt. 9:17] signifies Christ as the new life, full of vigor, stirring people to excitement. The new wine is Christ's cheering life. The divine life is likened to wine that has cheering strength. When we receive His life, it works within us all day long to stir us up and to excite us.
If we would stand firm, we must be in one spirit. If we would strive together, we need to be with one soul. In our experience we realize that there is a great difference between being in one spirit and being with one soul. Whenever the church is attacked and opposed, we need to stand firm.
God has to sow us, the person, as a seed among them. Do we see this? God is sowing us; we are the seed that is being sown. God works through His own words within man. When we preach the word to others, we are sowing the word of God into them, and we expect to have a harvest. But if we only see the seed as the words of God, and not as people, we cannot work for God. If we only care for the words we preach and if we presume that as long as we are right in our fundamental belief and pure in our biblical exegesis, we can go forth to sow, we are wrong
"This world" [in v. 2 above] refers to the satanic system composed of many ages. The word "age" here refers to a part, a section, an aspect, of the system of Satan, particularly the present and modern appearance of that system, which is used by him to usurp and occupy people and keep them away from God and His purpose. When we were dead in offenses and sins, we walked according to the age, the modern appearance, the present course, of the world, the satanic system.
The disciples were backsliding from the Lord's call to their old occupation. The Lord had told His disciples to wait in heavenly power from on high. But the disciples had left that position, giving up that ground. By leaving Jerusalem and coming to Galilee, they gave up their position. They had decided to go to the sea to fish. Peter and the other disciples went fishing because of their living. They might have lacked a sufficient supply of food and were very concerned about it.
First, the fish are mentioned, the animal life with the lowest consciousness. We have all had some experience of this. Suppose there are some goldfish swimming in the water and we come near them. They will be frightened away. However, if we scatter some food into the water and keep away, all the fish will return. This life is higher than the tree life, higher than the plant life (Ezek. 47:7, 9). Although it is not very high, it is higher. This is the first step of the growth of life.
These people go along with the Lord, and to them He turns to speak. The purport of what He will next say is this: Yes, you are saved; but if you want to follow Me, you will now have to fulfill certain conditions. He thus raises the standard of truth, for He will not lower God’s ordained yardstick on account of the great multitudes.
All the blessings, benefits, and bounties in the universe are of three categories. The first category is God's creation, the second is God's redemption, and the third is God's regeneration. In God's creation we enjoy so many good things: air, sunshine, minerals, animal life, vegetable life. All these are good things of God's creation, and we are qualified to partake of them because we are God's creatures. Furthermore, as the redeemed ones, we enjoy forgiveness of sins, justification by faith, reconciliation in God's grace, and sanctification. Because we are redeemed, all the benefits in God's redemption are ours.
Our hope is singly and uniquely Christ. Every aspect of our hope is related to Him. What a Christ we have within us. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn from among the dead, the reality of all positive things... If we see the vision that the all- inclusive Christ who indwells us is our hope of glory, our living will be revolutionized.
The riches of God's glory are the many different items of His divine attributes, such as light, life, power, love, humility, patience, righteousness, and holiness, expressed in different degrees. Since glory is God's expression, the riches of glory are the riches of God's expression. I specifically use the word "divine" because we were made in such a way as to have the form of the divine things.
My burden in this message is to relate the exaltation of Christ to our spiritual experience. God has already exalted Christ, but have you exalted Him? Christ has been exalted in the universe, but has He been exalted in you? The problem is that Christ has been exalted everywhere except in you
We have mentioned the positive aspect of spiritual progress, which is the increase of the element of God in us. Now let us look at the negative aspect of spiritual progress. Spiritual progress on the negative side is the shedding of certain things from us, that is, from our inner being. As soon as something is shed from us, we have spiritual progress. When something that usurps God's place is shed from us, we have spiritual progress.