Fellowship and Confession
1 John 1:6 and 1 John 1:9 show us what it is to be honest about our fellowship with God. We can say we unite with God and walk with Him, but yet we live in darkness. Well, what does that mean? Living in darkness would be along the lines of 1) understanding what it means to be in unity with God and 2) actually doing it. If I meet someone and I say to them I am a manager of a job I have, knowing that manager is not in my job title or description, yet I give off the impression to others possibly to impress them that I am something that I am now, then I am lying. I might have similar responsibilities to a manager, but I am not the manager. So, when I say I walk with God and seek to be in unison with His will, someone would be able to see it by my actions and my words and compare them up against God's will. In addition, verse 9 isn't as deep with a diagnosis, yet it is just as important. Confession of sins is important as it shows us that our way of handling things, saying things, thinking and behaving isn't always in unison with God's will. Being in God's will is the focus. When we act outside of His will, we express selfishness and we sin. When we confess that we have sinned, we are admitting to God, "hey, I didn't get it right. I messed up, but I wanna be back in your good graces." When you can humble yourself and tell God that you want to try it again and get back on the right track, that shows God that we are willing to be humble and seek His ways over our own.
PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!
Faith in Jesus
Luke 5 has numerous examples of how the faith people had in Jesus was able to bring about what they needed and also what they didn't expect.
The first example was Jesus telling Simon to let down the fishing nets he had just finished cleaning. Simon's response was we tried to catch fish all night but since you said let down the nets, we will do it. They let down the nets and caught a whole bunch of fish. There were so many fish they needed help to lift them up and the weight from the fish started to sink the boat (verses 4-7).
This section of the chapter does not just include faith in Jesus, but also doing what Jesus says. Jesus said to let the nets down into the water. Even though Simon and the others had fished all night, they gave it one more try. It worked. Simon had given up and was gonna move on, but Jesus says give it another chance and it worked with abundant results.
After witnessing all of this Simon Peter (a different Simon, usually known as Peter) fell on his knees humbled by what just happened. Simon Peter knew of the healing of his mother-in-law by Jesus, but this miracle really hit home for him. Jesus told Simon to not be afraid and stated that from now on he would be catching men- that is men to follow Jesus aka making disciples (verses 8-11).
Think about those times you have been praying for someone or something. Or the times you have invited someone to church. Think of a friend or acquaintance that you talk to all the time. You see them out on jogs, hikes, places to eat, the grocery store. Don't stop sharing your story. Don't stop sharing the Good News. Don't stop sharing the life of Christ. You never know the impact it can have on someone's life. I once was also very, very reluctant of attending church, bible studies, and fellowship (spending time with other Christ followers). I did not outwardly or inwardly follow Jesus nor did I read the Bible. People have prayed for me, shared with me and been patient. It is not up to us to change people or force them to follow Christ. Let God use you as a tool to spread his message.
PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE THIS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS.
