Spirit Fellowship Introduction

Before the fall of man, when Adam walked in fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden, he experienced God’s glory with a spiritual connection.  He was alive spiritually. His entire spirit, soul, and body functioned together, as designed by God, on whom he was totally dependent. He had a perfect relationship with God and saw Him face-to-face. God in His vastness was just a breath away.

When Adam disobeyed God and fell, everything changed. He died spiritually and his connection to the spirit realm of God was severed. With his spiritual eyes now closed, he was left with a soul and a body of flesh.  The glory was gone. Not only was Adam’s ability to see into the spirit realm gone, but the glory that had rested upon his physical body was gone as well.

Oh, that old serpent was right when he told Eve that their eyes would be opened to know good and evil, but his deceptive lie did not reveal to them that their spiritual eyes would be closed. The realm of God, yes, even God Himself was darkened to them. They left the presence of the glory of God and entered into a dark world of sin.

Up until then, Adam had lived a sinless life and was destined to live forever, as was his future offspring. However, just as God had warned, on the day that Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he died spiritually and so did all of humanity within him. He became a new creature, a beastly, sinful natured being, and so did we, as we were all in him.

What Granddaddy Adam lost for himself, and all of us, was unfathomable. And for the rest of his life, he must have longed to have it back. What did he want back? He wanted to be as he was, and to walk in fellowship with his Father, our Father. Try as he might, even with all the sacrifices, he would not get it back. It would take a miracle. It would take a savior. It would take the Word of God made flesh to dwell among us, and take upon Himself the blame, the shame, the sin, and the punishment.

The Lord Jesus did just that on Mount Calvary! He died, and then rose from the grave, after leaving our sin behind in hell. He ascended back to Heaven, and reconciled humanity back to Father. Once we, with our free will, repent of our sins, accept Christ Jesus as our savior, and invite Him into our hearts, we are born again into the Spirit, into the kingdom of God, and into God Himself! We are dead in sin no longer. Our spirits are alive unto God as Granddaddy Adam’s was in the beginning. When our bodies die, we will live eternally with Him! Praise God!

But one little thing… Yes we are born again, but our eyes are not open. As the Apostle Paul wrote, we see through a glass darkly.  In order to regain everything that Granddaddy Adam lost for himself and us in the garden, we must regain our sight.

Our spiritual sight must be clear so that we might once again fellowship in the spirit with our Father. In John 17:24, Jesus said, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory.” Jesus wants us to walk in the spirit with Him and see!

Jesus promised immersion in His Holy Spirit. He told His Disciples to wait for this Comforter. They received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and so can we! When we are born again and baptized in His Holy Spirit, we feel and sense His presence, and receive the capability to see in the Spirit.

In Proverbs 29:18, it says that where there is no vision, the people perish. We must have our spiritual eyes opened so that we truly see the Lord! We need to regain the final portion of what Granddaddy Adam lost!  We need spiritual fellowship with the Lord!

The Apostle Paul felt so strongly about this that he wrote to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 1:18, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you.”

In this book you will see what fellowship in the Spirit is, and how God has restored this relationship with His children. God wants us to know Him personally, not just know about Him. He wants a face-to-face relationship with us. You are invited to see and experience what spiritual life in the presence of God can be.

The gift has been given, so let us receive it. God in His vastness is just a breath away. Our prayer is, “Lord, open our spiritual eyes and let us see your glory, and fellowship in the Spirit with you.”

                       

The Mothering Arms of Forgiveness

Yolanda, a mother who carries a deep relationship with God, mindfully raised her family in the love and admonition of the Lord. Her faith sustained her through every trial, but nothing could prepare her for the trial that lay ahead.
One day a young man coming from a college party made a decision that changed her world forever. He was experiencing road rage. A car had innocently pulled out in front of him and he hit the rear end of the car; causing a horrible accident. This car carried two of Yolanda’s young sons. Both tragically lost their lives that day.

The authorities brought the proper charges. However, the guilty young man was given mercy by the court and placed on probation. After five years of an excruciating ordeal, Yolanda received a call from her lawyer. A meeting had been arranged for the young offender to come face to face with her and give an account for his actions on that tragic day.

They met in a conference room, facing each other across a table while the attorneys and staff carefully observed. The young man spoke. Holding his head down to avoid eye contact, he tried to give justification for himself. He complained that her sons had pulled out in front of him. He clumsily fumbled out unacceptable excuses for his actions, blaming her sons for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of the things he said didn’t even make sense. And he did not ask for forgiveness.

The attorneys, the court recorder, and everyone in the room sat in silence, anticipating what Yolanda would say or do. After five years of suffering, she now sat across from the source of her pain, and her heart cried out to the Lord. Like so many times before, the Lord Jesus spoke gently to her and gave her guidance.

“Yolanda,” He said, “That boy is lost. He needs me. He has no one here. His family let him come here alone. He needs me.”

“But Lord,” she asked, “What do I do?”

“Daughter, I have you. I have always had you, and I’ll never let you go. But he needs me. He has nothing, no one. Forgive him Yolanda, forgive him.”

Scripture rang in her ear. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36 NIV).

She asked herself. “How can I forgive him? How can I? Yet I know that Jesus forgave me.”

After a moment of reflection, Yolanda took a deep breath and broke the silence in the room. She looked him square in the face, which was still lowered toward the table, and said, “I love you with the love of the Lord. I forgive you!”

Everyone looked at her. Shocked and stunned, they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Slowly the young man raised his head and for the first time their suffering eyes met. His confused and bewildered expression displayed the inner turmoil that he was struggling to understand.

With grace, which could only come from the Lord Jesus, Yolanda stood to her feet, spread open her arms and said, “I forgive you!”

With that, the young man bolted around the table and into her arms. He buried his face in her chest and covered her with his tears, crying in convulsions. Yolanda held him tight like one of her own. Mothering him, she patted him tenderly on his head and said, “It’s alright baby. It’s alright baby.” He wept uncontrollably.

Then she prayed, “Jesus, take the anointing for ministry that was upon my sons and place it upon him. Give him a double portion! He came in here as a Saul, let him leave as a Paul!”

As she prayed, his knees buckled. Yet she held him up firmly in her mothering arms of forgiveness. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as the miraculous love of Christ was displayed in this incredible act of forgiveness. They were both freed to continue their lives in peace.

Our God, who is love, displayed His forgiveness as He sacrificed His only begotten son for us. Through Christ, we receive His incredible forgiveness that frees us from sin and shame. Jesus said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34 KJV).

Because of Jesus, we too can hold our head up, walk in the love of God, and experience the mothering arms of forgiveness.

No Hamburgers

Do you ever feel like the whole world is out of place except you? I have. The other night I decided to drive over to McDonalds for a hamburger. I knew exactly what I wanted, so I entered the drive thru and without looking at the menu gave my order to the guy through the speaker.

"I’ll have a hamburger, small fries, and a small diet coke" I said.

Then the voice in the speaker spoke words I never expected to hear.

He said, "I'm sorry sir, we have no hamburgers."

"What," I said, "No hamburgers?"

"No Sir," He said.

Filled with frustrating disappointment, I leaned toward the speaker and asked, "How could you possibly not have any hamburgers?"

The voice in the speaker politely said, "This is Chick-Fil-A sir!"

At that moment I realized that the whole world was out of place. Humbly I said to the voice in the speaker, "Never mind." I quickly pulled out of line and drove next door to McDonalds. How could I be so out of touch with where I was? All I had to do was look up and pay attention to the signs.

Today, signs of a changing world are all around us. We go about our day to day routine, assured in our own mind of where we are and what we are doing; yet the world around us has changed. We are no longer living in the world of our youth. It no longer exists. I wanted a hamburger in a place that said, “Eat more chicken.” So no matter how badly I wanted a hamburger, there were none to be had.

We long for the old days, the simple, safe and secure days of our world, but those days and that world, are gone. Sometimes our world changes instantly with the loss of a loved one, a job, a home, or even a church. Other times we wake up to discover a gradual change has happened without our even noticing. So what do we do when our world has been pulled out from under us, and we find our self in this new world? We go to the one who never changes. We go to the rock!

“He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken” (Psalm 62:2 NLT).

Jesus is our rock, and in Him we firmly stand. His word is our guiding light in a changing world. He can reach into a lunch basket and pull out a feast for multitudes. He can calm the stormy sea. He can walk through the fiery volcano's of our life and bring us safely out without our clothes being singed or smelling of ash.

The Bible warns of a changing world with wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places, and social upheaval. All these things must come to pass as the Bible predicted, but as Christians, we have the blessed promise that He, Lord Jesus, is coming back for His people. In this changing world, we are to comfort one another with these words.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17 NLT).

We shall suddenly be in a new and glorious world with the Lord. We believers look forward to that day. Meanwhile, as startling as it is to find our self in a different world here, if we will just look up, we will find that our steps are ordered by the One Who holds us safely in the palm of His hand, our Creator, Our God.

Get in the Closet!

Whatever happened to the prayer closet? If you’ve never heard of one, it’s simply a private place to spend time with the Lord. It can literally be a closet, a private room, or even a chair in the corner of your bedroom. Mine is a stuffed chair in my home office. It’s a place to get alone with the Lord in prayer.


Scripture records the Lord Jesus getting away for solitary prayer, “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray” (Mark 1:35 NLT). This is so important that Jesus tells us, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:6 KJV).

Then three verses later He teaches us how to pray in our prayer closet, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13 KJV).

We call this the Lord’s Prayer, which describes a daily intimate personal relationship with our Father. As you enter your prayer closet, seek the Lord and allow Him to speak to your heart. This will become a habit that you’ll love, and your relationship with God will become personal and powerful. This will quickly become the best part of your day.

Now don’t just go into your prayer closet and ask for this and that. Many of us have made our prayer closet a supply closet. We only go in there for things. We don’t go in there for a relationship with God. Instead of seeking Him, we seek things! We have built shelves in our prayer closets, making it difficult to get inside. So we simply reach in and get what we want. It’s time that we believers take the shelving out of our supply closets and make them our prayer closets again.

We should make it a place where we go in, put our body down and fellowship in the Spirit with the Lord. In the prayer closet we should give ourselves to Him and learn to enjoy the presence of the Lord. This is what He wants. This pleases our Father. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33KJV). When we seek His presence, He sees our need and gives us His presents.

Our Father knows what we need before we even ask, even if we don’t ask. But what does He need? Us! Don’t miss out on the best part of spiritual life, which is being with the Lord. So make a little time, move those shelves, and get in the closet!

Winning

It was the beginning of eighth grade. It was a time full of promise and anticipation of a new school year in a new school. A classmate in gym class invited me to try out for the community league basketball team. I agreed and went to practice. Through the season I worked hard at having fun, and learning the fine points of the game.


Our team performed well enough through the season to earn a place in the final playoff game for the city championship. We faced a team that was known to be bigger, stronger, and faster than all the others. We played our hearts out and scored toe to toe with our opponents. In the final seconds of the game, I stood center court as my teammate Al threw the ball overhand all the way down court, over my head, to swish the basket. The buzzer sounded as the ball went through the net. The place went wild as we won the city championship with an exciting Hollywood movie ending.

Next I joined the high school football team in the midst of a long losing streak. I found that whether you win or lose the big game, playing the game, doing your best, and finishing the season is what real winning is all about.

We read in the Bible where the Apostle Paul wrote, “anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules” (II Timothy 2:5 NIV).

Playing the game well, as a well-lived life, brings a winning reward in itself. There is a saying, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.” In today’s culture, that sentiment has seemingly become “old school” as winning at any cost including the cost of one’s integrity has become everything.

Again, let’s look at the Apostle Paul, whom we respect as one of the greatest Apostles and writer in the New Testament. We know that his was a life of “purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions and sufferings” (II Timothy 3:10).

Yet when he was facing execution he wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day” (II Timothy 4:7-8 KJV).

Most of us would consider a man facing execution a loser. But because of the life he led, fulfilling his calling from God, he was actually a winner! As we live our lives we may also experience hardships, trials, persecution, and loss. But if we will keep our hand in the hand of God and do our best to live according to His will, then we too are winners.

If we will take a moment each day, and just look around, we will see the glorious winning in everyday life. The winning is in the journey. The glory of everyday life holds for you the mystery of happiness and the victory of winning. As a believer of Jesus Christ, a crown of righteousness is laid up for you in heaven. Now that’s winning!

The Surprise Visit

My Wife and I had an experience that was a “first” for us as Parents. On a beautiful Saturday, with nothing to do, we sat around relaxing from a busy week, when suddenly our doorbell rang. Not wanting to be disturbed by a solicitor, my wife peeked out the front window to see who had interrupted our peaceful solitude. Seeing no one, she came back to the den when the doorbell rang again. She went back and looked out of the window again, but the person was standing too close to the door to be seen. Just then her cell phone rang. She answered and heard a familiar voice say, “Mom! Come to the front door!”


With a shriek of joy, Martha ran to the door shouting, Laura’s home! Sure enough, there at the door was our precious Daughter. She had surprised us with her first visit home from college. We enjoyed a group hug and kisses.

We were thrilled, and yes, surprised. After a great day of family time, she returned to the University that night. But the excitement of her first surprise visit is something that we’ll always remember.

Thinking about the experience, I remembered the story that Jesus told about the prodigal son. Though the circumstances were different, we read in the story about a father whose son had left home. This father had no idea if he would ever see his son again. He didn’t know of the calamity his son had gotten into. He only knew that his son was gone, probably forever.

Then one day, one ordinary day when he least expected it, he saw the figure of a man in the distance walking his way. Like us, he couldn’t believe his eyes. His beloved son had come home! In the Bible account of the story it says, “And they began to be merry” (Luke 15:24 KJV).

Why such rejoicing? We rejoice because of love, the love of a parent for a child. As I pondered those things in my heart, my thoughts turned to God, our Father. As great as our love is for our children, it cannot compare to the love our heavenly Father has for us, His children. He proved that by giving His only begotten Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for us. He did it so that all of His children could one day come home.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT).

He loves us so much…why… we ought to pay Him a surprise visit! How do we do that you say? On an ordinary day, not a Sunday morning or a regularly scheduled prayer time, pay Him a surprise visit in the Spirit.

Pray, and talk to him. Spend time in his Word. Praise and worship Him in a song. Do it at a different place and at an unusual time. He’ll love it, and you’ll be blessed as well. Like that old song says, “And the joy we share… when we gather there, none other… has ever… known.”

Pay your heavenly Father a surprise visit. He’ll love it!

Goals and Dreams

As I think back on the past year, and reflect on the years gone by, the goals I had set for myself come to mind. I looked in my notebook where I had written down my goals over the years and made a startling discovery. I had achieved every goal I had set out to accomplish in my life up to this point.

Immediately I thought, “I should have made bigger goals!” It is truly amazing what one can accomplish by just writing it down. Sounds easy, right? No. It’s not. There’s an old saying, “If it was easy, everybody would do it.”

Over the years I’ve probably read most every motivational Author, listened to tapes, etc. and they make success sound so easy. Well I figured out that if enough people buy your motivational books and tapes, success is assured! Good for them.

Now this brings us to this year. What shall we do? What shall we do? I submit that we should turn to the pages of the greatest motivational book ever assembled. You probably already own more than one. Yes, it’s the Bible.

This year as I set out to crystallize my goals my prayer is, “I shall write according to your will Lord.” His words come to mind, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you ... plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

God, the Author and creator of all that exists, has plans for us! Wow, what a thought! Of all the Authors I’ve read, not one can compare with the plan that God has. We know this on a spiritual level, so why do we fail to flesh it out and bring it into the natural? I guess I’m as guilty as the next fellow, but not this year.

No. I will seek His plan for my year and walk it out to the best of my ability. Remember that God doesn’t see things like we do. Unlike us, He sees things perfectly, and has given His wisdom through the ages, recorded in the Bible. So our first goal should be to immerse our selves in the Bible, God’s wisdom of the ages. That’s easy, right?

Sure it is. We can all do that. And if that is all we do this year, I believe that this year will be amazing. One man wrote that he read the entire book of Proverbs every month and became a millionaire! Wow, that’ll make you want to blow the dust off the old book won’t it? Ha. Yes it will.

This brings us to dreams. Have we forgotten how to dream? Have your dreams been crushed and squeezed out of you? It happens. But, that is the beauty of dreams. They are limitless! You can always have more. Do you know that God is the greatest dreamer of all? Yes He is. Before He created everything He dreamed It!

One time while I was praying in the Spirit with the Lord Jesus, He sat me down and told me to dream. So we sat down on a hillside of green grass and lay back, side by side, and looked up at the sky. He said to me, ”Remember when you were a boy and you would look at the sky and dream?”

“Yes Lord,” I replied.

He asked, “Do you remember what you dreamed about?”

“I believed I dreamed of having great adventures, of sailing the ocean, or flying airplanes in battle. Those things,” I said.

“Well, do it again.” He said.

So I spent time in fun light-hearted dreams. The Lord opened my mind to the joy of dreaming. Sometimes dreams come true, but while you are dreaming, they are true. This is just one of many gifts our Holy Father has given us. It’s beautiful. It’s His nature to dream, and He has so many wonderful dreams for all of His children. He really does.

The Bible says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (III John 1:2 KJV).

So seek Him in His word, the Bible. Seek Him in prayer. Seek Him as you walk in the Spirit and He will reveal to you His plans, His desires, and His dreams for you. He will! Then as you write out your goals and dreams for the new year, you will know deep down in your heart, that this year, this time…All things are possible!

Happy New Year!