You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14
A few years ago, our family felt led to leave the church that we had been attending and to seek another place to worship. As we were visiting other churches and no longer had a spiritual family to worship and fellowship with, my husband and I felt very isolated. Although we were still studying and still spending quiet time with the Lord, something was missing.
The danger when we do not have a church home and when we are not fellow shipping with other believers is that we have no accountability.
Eventually we start to say, “Oh, it’s okay if we don’t go to church today”, because not being part of a body, there is no one to miss us and no one to say “hey, we missed you on Sunday”.
We also, begin to slip in our studying. Not being part of a body, we aren’t attending bible studies or small groups, because no one is there to say “hey, we missed you at study the other night”.
Then….before you know it, even our quiet time with God is being compromised and we are not praying, we are not doing our devotions and we drift further and further away.
You may be thinking, “that sounds okay with me”, “I don’t want people holding me accountable anyway”. All I can say to that is, if that is your thinking, please reach out to me so that I can be in prayer for you because the enemy has you right where he wants you.
You see, when we are not worshiping as a family of believers (And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25), we are not experiencing the presences of God (For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 10:20).
As followers of Christ, we will find ourselves pretty alone, spiritually, and the problem with that is that our light begins to dim and we have been called to be a light (For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.” Acts 13:47).
The further we get from the body of Christ and the presence of God, the less we walk with the Lord and heed the spirit, the more we will begin to heed the voice of the flesh/enemy (So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16) and we will slip right back into old sins and behaviors.
Perhaps the old sin/behavior that we begin to exhibit is anger (For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:20), or perhaps it is our foul, cursing, mouth (Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29), maybe we jus begin to slack at work (Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Colossians 3:23), the particular areas that we begin to slip in are irrelevant, what is relevant is that we become a lesser testimony to our co-workers, our family and those around us (“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16), because we have no accountability and we are drifting further and further from God.
And, the further we get from God, the more our light begins to dim (Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. John 8:12). If we are not walking with Him, that light of life is not going to be very bright. It can never be blown out completely (I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:28), but you can become one lone candle with a light that diminishes to the equivalent of one small dim ember.
We need fellowship, we need our brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to be in the presence of God, we need to be in a church.
Are you going to choose to be one lone candle, fading as the storms and winds blow in life, dimming to just an ember? Or will you choose to be in fellowship with other believers, spending time with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and experiencing the presence of God….an inhabitant of a glorious city on a hill, surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ and illuminated by The Light of the World? (You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14).
I pray that today we would understand how important being part of a corporate body of believers is, I pray that we would understand how blessed we are to be able to fellowship with other believers and how incredible it is to have brothers and sisters in Christ be used by God to keep us accountable and walking more closely with Him. I pray that we would thank God for His plan and the lengths at which He has gone to assist us in staying the course and being as connected to Him as possible. Thank you Father!
If you have never experienced thle fellowship that I am speaking of and if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page (forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver) and pray the prayer that is outlined there. Once you have prayed that prayer, please reach out to me at admin@forgiven-n-loved.com and let me know so that I can be in prayer for you and hopefully help you grow in your knowledge of, and love for our precious Savior Jesus Christ.
Luv Ya!
