John writes 3 letters to the churches he’s served. He shares with the churches what he has learned from God. If you want to learn who God is, pay attention to what he said about himself.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1:5-7
My pastor’s sermons lead me to scriptures that help me grow into the person God wants me to be. My goal is to help share the sense I have gleaned from his words. I never come away empty.
”God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”
John is writing from a place of walking on the earth in the presence of Jesus. He has a unique perspective, but we have access to Jesus, too. When he left earth and was drawn up to heaven, God sent the Holy Spirit to be with us. This needs to be a relationship where we are in conversation with him in order to hear what he has to say. I went through much of my life as a ”Christian” not really understanding this. I still don’t have it all figured out, but I’m growing daily in my relationship with him. I’m learning to listen for his voice for the direction he wants me to go.
3 And God said, ”Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light ”day,” and the darkness he called ”night.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.
Genesis 1:3-5
The light was good, but notice the omission about darkness. God didn’t say that the darkness was good. For a day though, it takes both light and dark. We are never guaranteed all sunshine! I think that’s the way life on earth is. We have good and what’s not so good. God cannot be in darkness. If we feel like we’re in darkness and we move closer to God, the darkness will flee. Darkness can’t exist in the light.
If there is a problem with our fellowship with God, it is our fault. It’s not God’s fault because there is no sin or darkness in Him at all.
Yes! Staying in relationship with Jesus affords us the opportunity to come out of the dark. We can see our way out of the storms in our lives. We are filled with hope and joy!
A relationship with God doesn’t happen one time and it’s done. We need to fellowship with him daily and ask for his cleansing of our sins. This keeps us close to him and renews us.
Applying this information to the church is important. We all fall short and are sinners but the Spirit of God can lead us in the direction we should go. We can’t expect the church to be perfect, after all it’s made up of sinners. But we can all come together in fellowship with a common goal. We can grow in Christ together, lift each other up when someone stumbles, be there to comfort when there is loss and share joys.
Yes, there are posers out there. Some who say they are a Christian, but there life doesn’t represent the fruits we find in someone who is in relationship with God. Those people need us. They may say they are saved because at one time in their life they experienced conversion. But it’s easy to stray so true fellowship with God is necessary to return to that state daily.
I believe that it takes effort to build the kind of relationships within a church that can lead to fellowship. It doesn’t have to big a big event, but we’ve got to start somewhere. Start by inviting someone to lunch or for a cup of coffee. You’ll be amazed at the way God can work in the little things we do!
In Faith,
Pam
Where God Leads 