Devotion: Fellowship With God

It is amazing how many so-called Christians do not actually know God.  We all have relied on traditional teachings to provide us with spiritual knowledge, the kind of knowledge that supposedly brings us closer to God.  We have put our faith and our trust in these teachings because that was and always has been the accepted practice.  We have been taught to never question the things of God or anything that we did not understand.  Over the years, we have either forgotten or just plain ignored the laws of God.  Man has even forgotten or misinterpreted the teachings and sayings of Jesus Christ.  And to beat it all, man does not truly seek to know God much anymore, forgetting how to walk and to talk with God.  Man has become totally dependent upon the church leaders, television, books, the Internet, and other various mediums to teach them the truth about God, Jesus Christ, salvation, and the word of God.  We currently have a belief system full of contrary beliefs, misguided values, unethical practices, and overstated theologies.  This belief system has made it hard for many to take hold of the truth, especially when one does not recognize the truth.  The truth has become so distorted that it is easy to see why man has a hard time identifying with the things of God and even God himself.

But, is going to church on Sunday good enough to make it through this life?  Is that truly all the religion we need?  Will this give us all the spiritual nourishment we need?  Should we feel comfortable, have contentment, and be completely satisfied with only getting our “feel-good on” in church on Sunday?  What about the rest of the time from one Sunday’s “feel-good” experience to next Sunday’s “feel-good” experience?”  Is this all there is?  Shouldn’t we desire more, want more, or even seek more?  Shouldn’t we simply demand more?  Are we to just seek the easy way out of our bad situations and expect quick fixes to all our problems?  Is our relationship with God such that we expect God to instantly fix whatever problems we have?  Do we expect God to do whatever we want, whenever we want?

Even though we claim to be a society of church going, Bible toting, praying Christians, how many of us really know God?  Even with our current belief system, many strive to find that one on one relationship they have heard about most of their lives although it appears to elude them.  Is God behind or at the bottom of this elusive act?  Or, is there something else that is responsible for our inability to connect with God on a personal basis?  How many of us spend time alone with God?  How many of us spend time truly studying the word of God?  How many of us spend time praying or talking to God?  How many of us spend time being in fellowship or walking with God?

Here is a thought for you.  Scripture tells us that for us to worship God, we “must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), but if our truth is distorted by contrary beliefs, misguided values, unethical practices, and overstated theologies, then which god are we actually worshipping?  If we do not really know God, then how can we spend time doing any of these things with God?  Is it possible that whom we spend our time with is someone other than God, since we might not know who God really is?  These are just a few things for you to think about.

God desires to have fellowship with us.  God wants to have a relationship with us.  The problem does not lie with God, but with us.  We have constantly misrepresented God and because of this misrepresentation, our relationship with God has been adversely affected, “to our detriment” (Hosea 4:6), to say the least.  It is not possible to have a personal relationship when the person you are trying to have a relationship with is foreign or unknown to you.  It is completely impossible to please someone when you have no idea what his or her likes and dislikes are or much less knowing what pleases and makes that person happy.  Contrary to popular thought, it works the same way in our relationship with God.  You cannot please God if you truly have no idea who God is or what he is truly like.  It is time for us to find “the true nature of God” so that we can have “a true relationship with God” and start truly “worshipping him in spirit and in truth.”

As always, we give thanks and glory to God for his wisdom and understanding.  We are so blessed to be able to share with you, those things that God has placed in our hearts.  We continue to pray that our inspirational message will be a blessing to each of you and that you will be the better for having read this.  If you are blessed by what has been provided, please feel free to share so that others may be blessed as well; for as freely as our Father has given this to us, we freely give so that others may share in the love and be blessed.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW