Know who you are in fellowship with!

As I study the Word, I am enthralled at the immensity of God's love expressed to us in calling us unto a fellowship with himself! Truly, fellowship is defining; it reveals who we are. Today, my mind is on something special. It's understanding what we have become having been called unto fellowship with God! I believe it's because many believers do not know who they are in fellowship with! In Luke 9:51-56, Jesus got a cold shoulder reception from a village. With righteous indignation, James and John asks the Lord for them to call down fire from heaven. Verse 55 gives the Lord's response: 'But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of'. This meant that they acted the way they did because they lacked understand of what manner of Spirit they were of or as I like to put it: Who they were in fellowship with! But bless God, John knew later on. In 1 John 1:3, he says  '.. and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' This was his claim to walking in love! By recognizing who he was in fellowship with, he that was fierce, became the Apostle of Love!

My point is, we have been taught to see ourselves apart from God and Christ, and see ourselves as unworthy, depraved and destitute of good! This is why many still struggle with sin. Yet, God has created us in Christ, and we are: HOLY, RIGHTEOUS AND IRREPROACHABLE! We see ourselves apart from God rather than in God! How wrong we have been! We are in fellowship with God! Therefore, we are righteous because he is righteous! Holy because he is Holy! Our lives and natures are in resonance with him! This is the beauty of fellowship! Look into God's mirror today! Call yourself what he calls you! See yourself as his reflection in the World! Glory to God for this! #Fellowship #GreaterGlory

Elements of Fellowship - Part 2.

In the first part of this teaching, we discussed the elements of Fellowship. We focused on Sameness. Today, we move over to a second element; Language.

Language.

Every Society and fraternity has it's unique language. By this language, there is effective participation and communication! Our heavenly society has a language; a language inspired by the mystery of the Gospel! 1 Corinthians 2:6,  ' Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect:..' It further goes on to say, this wisdom is spoken in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained to our glory! Isaiah 33:24, ' And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick..' As children of God, there is what we are to say or not to say. Language is a tool of expression; we express our character through it! Therefore, since we have a Character of limitlessness, we declare words consistent with same! By looking into God's mirror, we see who we really are, and this influences our language! Therefore, we are able to have fellowship with God functionally! #Fellowship #GreaterGlory

Elements of Fellowship - Part 1

There are elements of fellowship; Sameness, Language, Partnership, Participation etc. These are the defining character of Fellowship as a relationship! The First element to consider is Sameness.

Sameness

We have established that Fellowship is between equals, those with same nature. Hebrews 2:11 tells us, ' For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,'. This is powerful! We are all of one! We are of SAME stock! Based on this, Jesus can call us brethren! The Word, 'Brethren' is 'adelphos' in the Greek. It means brethren, associates, partners. All because, 'WE ARE ALL OF ONE'. We are same as he is! Romans 8:29. Glory to God for this! #Fellowship #GreaterGlory

The Two dimensions to Fellowship - Part 2

In the first part of this teaching, we looked at the first dimension: Positional Fellowship. We learnt that our positions in Christ have brought us fellowship with God! Now, I'd like us to consider the functional aspect of Fellowship.

Functional Fellowship.

You know, it's one thing to be born a human being and it's another to act accordingly. Based on our new natures in Christ, we are associates with God in the divine nature. But, we also have to 'Function' in the divine nature. By so doing, we come to maximum utilization  of our new natures in Christ. How do we function in the divine nature? 1 John 1:7, ' 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.' By walking in the light, we enjoy functional fellowship with the Lord! But, what's this light? 1 John 2:10, ' He that loveth his brother abideth in the light...' Walking in love is enjoying fellowship with God in light! You see, Jesus came to reveal two things. He came to reveal the life of God; Zoe. He also came to reveal the lifestyle of God; Agape! Jesus revealed Zoe, which is eternal life. He also revealed Agape, the God kind of love! We have been fitted by Grace to walk in love! All we need to do is to acknowledge it's presence in us and walk accordingly! Glory to God! #Fellowship #GreaterGlory

The Two dimensions to Fellowship - Part 1

We have been called unto a unique relationship with God, it's called FELLOWSHIP. As we have made clear, a fellowship is a relationship between equals; those with a commonness of Sameness. To fully participate in Fellowship, there is need to understand the two dimensions to Fellowship. They are the  Positional and Functional dimensions. In this part, we would be considering the positional aspect of Fellowship.

Positional Fellowship

This is the underlying premise of our divine Fellowship. It's Fellowship based on our position in Christ. It's got nothing to do with our actions. It's about God's declarations unto whosoever believes in Christ Jesus! John 1:12 tells,  ' But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:' This Scripture tells us by believing in Christ, we became Sons of God; literal reproductions of God! Let's look at another Scripture in 2 Peter 1:4, ' Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,...' We have been granted exceeding Great and precious promises that have become the reasons why we are in  Fellowship with God!  An example is found in 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 tells us, ' And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.' See? He called us sons! Based on these, we are in Fellowship with God!

Meditate on these today and always! #Fellowship #GreaterGlory

Seperated from sin!

Sin is NOT the believer's problem. Rather, the
fact that believers are not aware that sin has been dealt with is the challenge with many believers. Does God hate sin? Sure, he does! But what a lot of Christians have not realized is that God so hated sin he decided to do something about it; he made Jesus sin and killed him-Romans 8:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21! Now, we are dead to sin, slaves to righteousness and alive unto God. If you do not know this, you'd live as if you were a sinner. The problem of immature, offending believers is found in 2 Peter 1:9, ' But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.'(NIV) This fellow forgets he is righteous and he has been SEPARATED from his sins. You are NO LONGER a sinner. Awake (come conscious) to the realities of righteousness you have been granted in Christ; it's the power to live right! Declare you are righteous today! #GreaterGlory

How to resist the devil.

The Word of God tells us, 'Resist the Devil, and he shall flee from you'- James 4:7. The Word, 'flee', means in the Greek, to, 'escape safely out of danger'. This is what happens to the devil when you resist him! But, how do we resist him? 1 Peter 5:9, '..whom ye resist steadfast in the faith..' Therefore, being steadfast in the faith is how to resist the devil. The word, 'steadfast', means, 'strong'. How do I get strong in the faith? Romans 4:19, ' He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;..' Giving glory to God is how to be strong in faith, which is how to resist the devil. So today, in that dastardly situation, give glory to God! Give glory to God exuberantly! This is your time for victory! #GreatVictories #GreaterGlory