Fellowship and Truth

I have not been writing in this blog for very long, so I sincerely appreciate the comments. The New Testament read by James Earl Jones is starting to prove to be very handy. I am getting to where when a pastor or Sunday School teacher talks about a particular passage, I already know where they are going. It is definitely a great experience, and I hope that you are all finding creative ways to get into the Word...especially if you are finding it hard to have the time to stop and do it. I have roughly 2 hours of commuting, so it gives me a nice beginning and end to the work day.

The topic of the day is Fellowship.

1 John 1:5-10 (ESV)
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. [6] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. [7] 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 cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Immediately when I read this passage written by John, my mind goes to the Full Armor of God that I have written about. John is hitting on 2 very important topics: 1. Fellowship and 2. Honesty. Keep in mind that I am just writing on opinion here, and not necessarily from an educated theology standpoint (haven't made it into seminary yet).

Fellowship and Honesty go hand in hand. They relate both to the Shoes of Readiness and the Belt of Truth. Fellowship helps us be honest, and being honest helps us in fellowship. This passage seems to be specifically talking about fellowship with Christ, but the idea definitely branches out to our need to be with other Christians as well. I think that this concept of being honest and asking for forgiveness in our sins is of paramount that separates a believer from a non-believer. A person that truly believes in Christ knows when they have committed sin and feels the need to ask for forgiveness. The lack guilt would in fact then have to stem from lack of belief in what the Word says. If you do not feel the desire to repent, then the old you has not died.

Let's step back now and go back to the relationship of honesty and fellowship. We all need to have much fellowship with other believers. Consider yourselves addicts. You are addicted to the old you. Whether you are a new Christian who has just made the decision to follow Christ, or a 40 year veteran, your Earthly desires and temptations are still present. We can find great comfort in fellowship to help fight these temptations. Do not try to fight the War against evil on your own. While you have the potential in yourself to do it, it would be wise to fight it as a team.

If you are not going to a church, find one. If you are already going to a church but are not plugged in, find a group. If you are already in a Sunday school class, start to find ways to have fellowship outside of that class. As I said earlier, if you only do the Sunday meeting, you are only covering yourself less then 2% of the time.

My goal for this week is to start meeting with my class outside of church. After the bible study on Wednesday night, I am going to meet them for dinner. That will work for a short term goal, but my long term goal is to start a bible study. Maybe I will bring that up this week when I meet with the group. We shall see!

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. I hope to have a complete application in after next week, and then I can start thinking about my classes / schedule! I would like to add to my prayer list here, and that is for the people who are unable to find jobs in this economy. Times are tough, and despite the fact that work is rough right now, I do still have a job that pays the mortgage. I have also been praying more on my calling, and I am not sure if this is how it is working, but I get the feeling that God is not showing me yet what the next step will be. This is as if He is telling me, "Take care of seminary first, prepare yourself financially, do the work for what is planned for you now. Then, I will move you on to the next stage."

God Bless