The Father’s Life Within Us

The Father’s divine life within us is like a lamp already filled with light, waiting to shine unhindered.

Devotional Credit: eManna by Witness Lee
Photo Credit: Unsplash

Witness Lee reminds us in today’s devotional that the high call of Jesus in Matthew 5:48, “You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” is not a demand we meet in our own effort. It is an unveiling of the Father’s life within His children. This new life is not something we earn or grow into naturally, but something given at the moment of new birth. We are begotten of God, and with that new birth comes a new nature, one that reflects the Father Himself.

The words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount were never meant to press us back into striving. Rather, they reveal the surpassing difference between the old law of the flesh and the new life of the Spirit. The commands of the kingdom are not external laws to be imposed upon us, but expressions of the life that now flows within us. They are not goals beyond our reach, but windows into the reality of what the Father’s life can accomplish through His children.

This is why the standards of Matthew 5–7 feel so impossible if approached from the natural man. To turn the other cheek, to love enemies, to be free from lust and anger, to walk without anxiety—these are not achievable in self-effort. Yet through the Father’s indwelling life, they become not only possible, but natural. They are the overflow of His nature being lived out in us.

Lee encourages us to see that God’s commands are revelations of capacity, not condemnations of failure. They show us the divine life within, capable of bearing the likeness of the Father. To rest in this reality is to see perfection not as a distant mountain to climb, but as the natural fruit of abiding in the life of God already planted within.

Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture

My beloved, I have placed My life within you. You are not called to display your own effort, but to express My nature. You have been begotten of Me, not of the will of the flesh or of man, but of God. Therefore, when I say, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” I am not sending you back into striving, I am revealing the power of the life I have already given you.

Do not shrink back in fear at these words. They are not bars of iron to weigh you down, they are invitations to discover the capacity of My Spirit in you. The old man cannot meet these demands, but you are not in the old man any longer. You are alive in Jesus. My life in you is more than enough. As you abide in Him, the fruit of His life will naturally be seen.

Let this truth free you. Where you once thought you must climb higher, you may now rest and yield. My divine life will express itself in love, in forgiveness, in purity, and in peace. The life of the Father is not distant. It is your life now, and it will make you like Him.

Scripture References: Matthew 5:48, John 1:12-13, Romans 6:4, Galatians 2:20, 2 Peter 1:3-4, Ephesians 3:16-19, Philippians 2:13, Colossians 3:3-4, Romans 8:10-11, John 15:5.

Real-Life Analogy

Imagine a lamp plugged into the wall. The switch is turned on, but the bulb is not glowing. You check the bulb, and it is good. You check the power, and it is flowing. Then you notice the shade is covered with a heavy cloth. Once the cloth is removed, the light shines freely, just as it was designed to. The power was always there. The lamp did not need to strain. It only needed nothing to block the light.

In the same way, the Father’s divine life is already within us. The commands of Jesus are not burdens placed on the outside, but revelations of what His life in us can do once it shines unhindered. Today, as I face opportunities to love or forgive, I can say, “Lord, I trust You to live Your life through me in this moment.” His light then shines where mine never could.

Prayer of Confidence

Father, I thank You that I am born of You, not by my own will but by Your life. I rejoice that what You ask of me is what You have already placed within me. I do not fear Your words, for they are invitations to see Your nature lived out in me. I rest today in the truth that Your life makes me able to walk in love, purity, and peace. I am grateful that in Jesus, I am complete, and that Your Spirit within me supplies all that You command.