"Right Enjoyment vs. Correct Stance"

 

"Right Enjoyment vs. Correct Stance" 

This is from Genesis Life-Study, Chapter 64, "Rest and Enjoyment," which discusses the existence of legitimate enjoyment and the existence of incorrect stances. Combined with Chapters 42 and 43 (Abraham and Lot), it is summarized below.

Core Principles (Message 64)

• Enjoyment is the destiny of God’s children; whether or not their standing is right, there is always “a well.”
• Enjoyment cannot verify one’s standing. Whether the standing is right is determined by whether the Lord appears.
• God’s eternal purpose can be accomplished only in the right standing, not in a wrong one.

Scene (Scripture)	Proper Enjoyment	Standing (Right / Wrong)	The Lord’s Appearing and Outcome	Lesson
Hagar (Gen. 16:7-14)	Met God’s visitation in the wilderness amid suffering and found Beer-lahai-roi (the well of the Living One who sees me)	Wrong: she had left the standing of grace represented by Sarah	Visitation, but her standing was still off	Having enjoyment does not mean one’s standing is right
Abraham going down to Egypt (Gen. 12:10-20; 13:1-4)	Received God’s preserving grace and even gained possessions	Wrong: he left the place between Bethel and Ai, with no altar, tent, or calling on the Lord’s name	No appearing of God in Egypt; after he returned to that place, God appeared and reaffirmed His promise (13:14-15)	Preserving grace is not proof of a right standing; one must return to the original place
Isaac’s wells in various places (Gen. 25:11; 26:19-22)	Wells at Beer-lahai-roi, Esek, Sitnah, and Rehoboth, even a “well of living water” and “room”	Wrong: he had drifted from Beer-sheba	No appearing of Jehovah at these places; God used strife in the circumstances to drive him back	However good the well or wide the land, it cannot accomplish God’s purpose
Isaac’s hundredfold harvest (Gen. 26:12-14)	He prospered and became a very rich man (God’s blessing)	Wrong: he had settled in the wrong place	God did not approve of this standing and raised up circumstances to force him to leave	Riches and blessings do not justify one’s standing
Isaac returning to Beer-sheba (Gen. 26:23-25)	Enjoyment continued	Right: he returned to the place of Abraham’s tamarisk tree and the well of the oath	That very night the Lord appeared and reaffirmed His promise; Isaac built an altar, called on the Lord’s name, and pitched his tent	A testimony and the accomplishing of God’s eternal purpose
Lot (Gen. 13:10-13; ch. 14)	The fertile plain; he gradually moved into Sodom and lived securely	Wrong: leaving Abraham, the called one, meant leaving God’s goal and protection	He may have felt at peace inside, but God was not at peace; the war of the kings arose and Lot was taken captive	Fertile surroundings and security are not God’s approval
Abraham refusing the goods of the king of Sodom (Gen. 14:22-24)	His wealth came only from the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth	Right: he would not take even a thread, testifying to the whole universe that his wealth was not from man	Melchizedek nourished the overcomer with bread and wine	A pure standing makes the source of enjoyment clear

Points of Integration

1.      Enjoyment is God’s provision; standing is where God’s purpose lies. The former comes from grace; the latter determines whether we can inherit the promise and have a testimony.

2.      Do not take enjoyment as verification. Message 64 warns that we may have enjoyment at Beer-lahai-roi (the place where one flees from grace) and wrongly think it proves we are right.

3.      Test the standing by the Lord’s appearing, the altar, the tent, and the calling on His name. Beer-sheba is the opposite of Egypt and Sodom.

4.      God uses circumstances to bring us back to the right standing, such as the wells of strife for Isaac or the war of the four kings for Lot.

 

*Please refer to the 2026 Autumn Training for Elders and Responsible Brothers, General Topic: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Part Five: Living a Life of Enjoying Grace to Please God.