Abiding Fellowship, part 7
Intimacy with Jesus = Spending time in His presence
The habitual exercise (doing), of the Will of God is what increases our capacity. The “doing” of the Word of God increases our ability to grow spiritually. This is why we have people today that have grown up hearing the Gospel, can quote one Bible verse after another, and never miss a church service and yet when something hits them hard, they can’t handle it.
Let’s go back to the Sarah Smiley quote, “Many of the hidden truths of God’s Word require more spiritual-intelligence than most Christians can bring to them. To apprehend them, requires a certain measure of spiritual capacity and habitual exercise in the things of God, which all do not possess for want of abiding fellowship with Jesus.” “Most,” she says, “do not possess this spiritual capacity because they lack a desire for abiding fellowship with Jesus.”
Our opening verses, of this larger study, began by saying,
“Don’t refuse Him who is speaking.”
If we lack a desire for abiding fellowship with Jesus, it’s because we are refusing Him who is speaking. Jesus woos us. His Spirit was sent as a drawing agent into an intimacy with Him. He wants us attached to Him.
Unfortunately, many to most Christians do not possess this type of intimacy with Christ simply because they do not desire it. Why do we lose our passion for Christ? What happens to our first love desires? Why doesn’t our heart pant for the presence of God in the same way the deer pants for the water brook? I am confident, it is because we have learned to refuse Him who is speaking. In so doing, we are on shaky ground, we lack intimacy, we lack closeness. And the result is that any, little, thing can throw us for a loop.
Let’s get back to this issue of abiding fellowship. Abiding fellowship is different from being saved. I realize that being a Christian means we house the Holy Spirit and, subsequently, we take Him wherever we go. But, there is a difference between having the Holy Spirit with you and desiring abiding fellowship with Jesus.
It’s like the difference between being married and having a good marriage. If you are married, you are married whether or not you spend much time with your mate. If you have a good marriage, you have a desire to be with your mate. You want to be in their presence.
Continued tomorrow
