Bible Reading: Ezekiel 42, 43, 44, 1 John 1
Memory Verse “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (KJVS).
Fellowship is doing things together with those you share general beliefs. Fellowship with God, therefore, means spending time with God, in whom you believe. For this to happen, God must have accepted you as someone with whom he can relate and you must accept God that you can relate with Him (Amos 3:3). This also implies that you understand each other’s language. You cannot effectively relate with anyone you do not understand his or her language because it will be difficult to communicate with each other.
For effective fellowship, there should be ground rules which may or may not be written but both parties understand them. So, with God, the rule book is the Bible. All rules of engagement can be read from it. For example: 1 John 1:6 (KJV) says, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” is one of such rules. That is to fellowship with God, you must walk in the light. This means you must live a life of holiness, which is obedience to the word of God. This is why you must accept Him as your lord and Saviour before He can fellowship with you. When you accept Him, He will forgive your sins and give you the grace to live a life of holiness such that whenever you fall into sin, you will run to Him quickly for cleansing. Thus 1 John 1:9 (KJV) says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” His words are clear that you need to walk in holiness to see God. Hebrews 12:14 (KJV) tells us, “Follow peace with all men , and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”
It is also interesting that once you obey the ground rules, God himself will call you into the fellowship because your light will show. 1 John 1:7 (KJV) confirms this, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” So to get more intimate with God, you need to spend more time with Him praising and worshipping Him, praying to Him and studying more of His word.
When you do this, you become more joyous because you know that every challenge that comes your way will be brought to the Almighty who will then show you the way out of it. This, in itself, gives you confidence and further helps you to fulfill destiny.
Prayer: Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, give me the grace to live in obedience to your word at all times.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero