Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Discipleship TODAY Ep 3 Need for FELLOWSHIP



Christian believers have been taught to
go to church. They have not been taught to follow Jesus Christ and
that is why they feel guilty if they do not belong to a church or if
they do not fellowship with other believers. But the fellowship that
we truly need is not that with other believers but with Jesus Christ
Himself. If we have fellowship with other people but not with Jesus,
then we are lost. We have to be in fellowship with Jesus Christ
Himself and then we can bring others into fellowship with Him, but if
we are not in fellowship with Him we are in darkness and we will
perish.
I read the testimony of the apostle
John in 1 John 1:1. He talks about KNOWING and FOLLOWING Jesus Christ
and then testifying to the world about Jesus. Verse 1:
“What was from the beginning, what we
have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at
and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— “ He is
talking about him as disciple and the other disciples, walking with
Jesus Christ, they touched Him, they SAW Him, they HEARD Him. Verse 2
”and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and
proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was
manifested to us— 3what we have seen and heard we proclaim to
you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and INDEED OUR
FELLOWSHIP IS WITH THE FATHER, AND WITH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. 4These
things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.”
He tells the world about Jesus Christ.
He testifies because he KNOWS Jesus.
He goes on to say in verse 5: “This
is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God
is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say
that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the
darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7BUT IF WE WALK
IN THE LIGHT AS HE HIMSELF IS IN THE LIGHT, WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH
ONE ANOTHER, AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS HIS SON CLEANSES US FROM ALL
SIN.”
If we WALK WITH GOD, if we are in
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD then the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us of all
unrighteousness.
Verse 8 “If we say that we have no
sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say
that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in
us.”
If we walk in the Light, If we walk
with Jesus then the Light shines on us and He shows up the sin and
impurities in our lives and the Holy Spirit convicts us, we
IMMEDIATELY REPENT and walk in holiness and thus we are PURIFIED, we
are CLEANSED and we have FELLOSHIP WITH HIM. If we are not WALKING IN
THE LIGHT, if we are not walking in holiness and righteousness and
obedience to Jesus Christ then we are in darkness. If we are still IN
SIN then we are not walking in the Light, then we don't come to the
Light, we run away form the Light. If we walk in the Light then we
will be PURE as He is PURE and his blood cleanses us of all
unrighteousness.


We read in John 15:1 Jesus says ”I am
the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser 2“Every
branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and
every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may
bear more fruit. 3“YOU ARE ALREADY CLEAN BECAUSE OF THE WORD
WHICH I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU.”
What is He saying? He is saying that
because they WALK IN THE LIGHT AND THE LIGHT SHINES ON THEM and the
Holy Spirit convicts them, they are CLEANSED because IMMEDIATELY AS
THEY ARE CONVICTED they REPENT and thus they walk in holiness and in
righteousness before Him; because they WALK IN THE LIGHT.
Verse 4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine,
so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5“I am
the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he
bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6“If
anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries
up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are
burned.”
We have to STAY IN FELLOWSHIP with
Jesus Christ. We have to ABIDE IN HIM. We have to WALK IN THE LIGHT.
Our fellowship is with HIM. If we are not in fellowship with Jesus
Christ WALKING IN THE LIGHT then we are in darkness. The fellowship
of the disciples is WITH Jesus Christ. It is only if we are in
fellowship with Him, walking in the Light that we can bring others to
the Light also and it will be OBVIOUS from our DEEDS, the fruit that
we bear, that we ARE walking in the Light because our fruit will
bring glory to God the Father.
Our fellowship is with God, that is the
fellowship that we must be concerned about and then He will use us to
bring others into fellowship with Him. We first need to WALK IN THE
LIGHT and then the Light that is in us will SHINE and draw others
unto Him.
We must not be concerned about our
fellowship with other people, our acceptance by other believers. We
must be concerned about WALKING WITH GOD, WALKING IN THE LIGHT, being
LED by the Holy Spirit and being pleasing to Jesus. That is the
only fellowship that we should be concerned about because if is only
when He is shining through us that we can draw others unto Him.
Are we in fellowship with God, with
Jesus Christ? Are we walking with God? Many people are just in
fellowship with their “church family” but they are far away from
God and they will perish. As disciples of Jesus Christ we must WALK
WITH HIM, day by day, follow Him and be in fellowship with Him until
the very end.


May Jesus bless you.

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