Devotions

***I originally posted this on May 18th***

In the past, I have blogged about my emotions, my negative thoughts, and my silly little take on this broken world we live in. Some of you might be disappointed but I’m going to start blogging and writing about what God is doing in my life and others’ lives around me. But I will primarily be focusing on myself. I’m sorry if this isn’t what you wanted to be reading but I hope you can take something away from it. I feel like I’m learning so much right now and realizing all the key components to a spiritual walk that has an upward and forward movement, I just had to share it.

This first one is going to be about fellowship and the incredible importance of being around other Believers. (I’m horrible with Bible references but I’m going to try and work on this).

1 John 1:6-7 says “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

My NIV study Bible goes on to explain that Fellowship (Greek koinonia) is the spiritual union of the believer with Christ – as described in the figures of the vine and branches (Jn 15:1-5) and the body and the head (1Co 12:12; Col 1:18) – as well as communion with the Father and with fellow believers.

This is definitely something that I have taken for granted in the past. I was working two jobs, one of them taking up a fairly big chunk of my weekends so I was unable to attend church. My main job was a good one with decent pay. I had a girlfriend and was pretty busy. I had started hanging out with some friends on Wednesday nights and going to Lifeline on Tuesdays, the young career/singles group at my church. Since I hardly had any free time to myself, I decided to cut something out and, of course, I chose Lifeline.

Now, my wrong decision wasn’t cutting out Lifeline. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes life makes us busy and we can’t make it to some groups or events or whatever. It was a bad choice because I had no other substantial spiritual input in my life. I wasn’t meeting with anybody for accountability, I wasn't going to any Bible studies, and I wasn’t going to church. I had let go of most of those important connections to God that he gives us here on earth.

We have not been designed to make it through this life alone. God gave us people for encouragement, advice, wisdom, leadership, counsel, and understanding. I can’t even begin to list the incalculable benefits from having other Believers to walk alongside.

God has been showing me how invaluable this can be in our lives. 1 Peter 5:8-9 says “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” In the study section it goes on to mention that they are not isolated; they belong to a fellowship of suffering. This has been immensely encouraging to me!

When life hits you hard, it can be so encouraging and uplifting to hear what is going on in other people’s lives. You are not alone in your suffering. God is there for you, through thick and thin, of course, but this is something that is hard to “feel” at times. We need these other people in our lives. Not to mention that it is so comforting to know that there are countless other Believers going through similar things.

God has been bringing so many people into my life that have been such a blessing. We can’t finish this race without these people. Non-Christians and even Christians who are lukewarm can’t do much for us in this aspect. Though these do have a place in our lives, we need the positive atmosphere and benefit from fellowship with other Believers. Even Jesus had this with his disciples.

Ok, I’m going to go watch this Indiana Jones marathon in preparation for the new one coming out!

God loves you and he is always there for you. Never forget that. Until next time…