FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
“We
proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship
with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus
Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” – 1 John 1:3-4
To maintain a daily
fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus, we must first be born again.
Then we must devote quiet time each day to the Word of God and prayers of
praise and petition. As we devote ourselves to such fellowship, we will grow
from a “carnal Christian” into a more “spiritual Christian”. Spiritual maturity
can be achieved only through our fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
We witness
spiritual growth in the apostle Peter. In his younger days Peter displayed
marks of the carnal life. His self-confidence all came to a head when Jesus
said to the disciples at Caesarea Philippi, “The Son of Man must be crucified”.
Peter rebuked Him and said, “Lord, that can never be”. Christ had to say to
him: “Get behind Me, Satan!” It is hard to believe that the apostle was
“carnal” enough that even after confessing Jesus as the Christ, he would rebuke
Him and tell Him He was wrong in His beliefs!
On more
than one occasion Jesus’ disciples demonstrated their carnality when they
quarreled over which of them was the greatest and would have the chief seat in
the Kingdom of God. In his pride Peter assured the Lord that even if all of His
disciples forsook Him, “I am prepared to go to prison and even to death for
you!” There is no question but that Peter loved Jesus. By the Holy Spirit God
had taught him that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, but the
flesh still controlled Peter which is why Jesus declared at Gethsemane, “The
spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. The sad result is that Peter denied
his Lord three times. The flesh was still in control of his life.
On at least seven times Jesus taught Peter
and his fellow disciples of their great need for humility. He took a little
child, set him in their midst & taught them, “he that exalts himself shall be
abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted”. During the last supper
Jesus totally humbled Himself and washed the feet of His disciples. Yet Peter
still had not learned humility through Jesus’ teachings. A man may study God’s
word and spend a lot of time with Jesus, but this will not automatically make
him “spiritual”. Peter and the other disciples first had to experience the
coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost before they could (by the power of God)
become “spiritual men”.
As a
“carnal” disciple, even a woman could frighten Peter into denying Christ, but
after the Holy Spirit came into his life on Pentecost, Peter was bold(!)—bold
enough to confess His Lord at any cost! As a spiritual man, Peter was beaten,
spent time in prison, and according to church history met his death by being crucified
upside down for his Lord! The Holy Spirit changed Peter, and He longs to do the
same for you and me today! When the Spirit is in us we will grow to become more
spiritual. Rather than denying their Lord spiritual men deny themselves daily!
-Ralph Weinhold
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