11 January 2023 - Daily fellowship with God

Fellowship is the most important thing God wants from us. He wants us to come to know Him, to be with Him, to spend time with Him.

1 John 1:5-10 (NLT) “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

In his book Fellowship with God, Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes the point that we must always start with God. He argues that our main problem is our self-centeredness, and so we come to the Christian faith looking to have our needs met. I’m not happy; can God make me happy? I’m looking for something that I don’t have; can God give it to me? How can Christianity help me with my problems and needs? But to approach the Christian faith in that manner is to cater to our main problem, which is self! He says, “The first answer of the gospel can always, in effect, be put in this way: ‘Forget yourself and contemplate God.’” He adds, “The way to be delivered from self-centeredness is to stand in the presence of God.”

The Greek word translated as fellowship in the New Testament is koinonia, meaning partnership, sharing in common, or communion; and the essence of partnership is agreement or unity of purpose. Fellowship with God is, at its most basic, agreement with Him in all things. The New Testament assures believers of this partnership.

It is important to know that fellowship with God comes exclusively through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way to the Father.

John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

God has called us so we can come to know him.

John 17:3 (NIV) Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

It is possible to be so busy with God’s work that we neglect to come to know him. Luke tells us that when Jesus visited the home of Martha and Mary, Martha was preoccupied by all the preparations that had to be done.

Luke 10:40 (NIV) But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!

There was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing, but Mary chose to do the most important thing – to spend time with Jesus, to get to know Him and to listen to Him.

As we mature in our relationship with God, the more important our quiet time with God become. We realise the importance of fellowship with Him, that we need to listen to Him for comfort and direction in our lives.

When we make fellowship with God a priority, all the urgent issues in our lives seem to fall into place. When we focus on God, He helps us understand the priorities of everything else. Jesus told us to seek the Kingdom first and that all the other things in life would be taken care of.

In this new year, make up your minds to take time to fellowship with God.