God in me!

“Fellowship with him.”

- 1John 1:6 If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth.

I have said it many of times that Christ has changed my life. Some of the people I have said this to I know understand what this means for He has changed their lives also. This morning devotional by Charles Spurgeon has a wonderful way of explaining this meaning.

[When we were united by faith to Christ, we were brought into such complete fellowship with him, that we were made one with him, and his interests and ours became mutual and identical.]

I loved that sentence for the worldly, sinful occurrences in our lives, which are many does not have any interest to us. Why would they, do they for Him? 1John 5:3 We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.


[We have fellowship with Christ in his love. What he loves we love. He loves the saints-so do we. He loves sinners-so do we. He loves the poor perishing race of man, and pants to see earth’s deserts transformed into the garden of the Lord-so do we.]

Every time I am ministering through a God's Love Outreach Ministry program I tell everyone that God loves them and I love them. Because of Christ's love for me and Him living in me I can make that statement. Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; Mark 12:30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." This is the first commandment. Mark 12:31 And the second is like this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

[We have fellowship with him in his desires. He desires the glory of God-we also labour for the same. He desires that the saints may be with him where he is-we desire to be with him there too. He desires to drive out sin-behold we fight under his banner. He desires that his Father’s name may be loved and adored by all his creatures-we pray daily, “Let thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven.”]

In this paragraph the word "desires" repeatedly is used. When you truly give your life to Jesus the understanding becomes more real. The dictionary explains it as 1) to long or hope for ; exhibit or feel desire for 2) to express a wish for. All the month of November in the Seeds of Thanks program I sing The Lord's Prayer. It is one of the slowest versions I have ever heard and you truly can take the time to understand that prayer. "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the Glory, forever! Amen

[We have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. We are not nailed to the cross, nor do we die a cruel death, but when he is reproached, we are reproached; and a very sweet thing it is to be blamed for his sake, to be despised for following the Master, to have the world against us. The disciple should not be above his Lord. In our measure we commune with him in his labours, ministering to men by the word of truth and by deeds of love. Our meat and our drink, like his, is to do the will of him who hath sent us and to finish his work.]

How personal now it is when I hear someone use the Lords name in vain. I am always saying, "Forgive them Father for they know not what they are saying."

[We have also fellowship with Christ in his joys. We are happy in his happiness, we rejoice in his exaltation. Have you ever tasted that joy, believer? There is no purer or more thrilling delight to be known this side heaven than that of having Christ’s joy fulfilled in us, that our joy may be full. His glory awaits us to complete our fellowship, for his Church shall sit with him upon his throne, as his well-beloved bride and queen.]

My friends I have known this joy that Charles Spurgeon speaks of. The same joy I am feeling "this side of Heaven", can only be magnified when I do see Jesus face to face. As in the song "My One Desire", "my one desire to know You in the fullness of Your grace, to hear well done my precious one, when we meet face to face!" Wow!

From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott