THE FELLOWSHIP OF GATHERING TOGETHER

05/06/2023

"Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day, there shall be a sacred assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work on it." (Deuteronomy 16:8)

Attending church was not man's idea. It was God's. And you have no choice in the matter. For most, the provenance or answers you need are in attending church meetings, not the relentless vigils or marathon fasts that you put yourself through to try to get God to respond, even though vigils and fasts are equally important. 

The deception that the enemy has touted for so long has been that God is everywhere and you can reach Him from anywhere via your spirit. Indeed, God is everywhere but His manifest presence is not everywhere. In Deuteronomy 16:7, the Bible says, " And you shall roast and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents." The Lord was calling His elect to fellowship with Him in the place of His choice and in this case, it was in fellowship with others. 

Perhaps, you are one with a rebuttal about the body being God's temple and how you can fellowship with Him anywhere without attending church. To this, the Bible would correct you, that yes, you can fellowship with God on your own but there are many types of fellowships. The one requiring you to be in church is the fellowship of gathering together. 

The Bible says, "How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together [as in church], each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification" (1 Corinthians 14:26). The Bible doesn't say, "If you come together..." Rather, it says, "Whenever you come together..." Meaning, you are supposed to gather in church whenever a call to gather is given. 

This is the fellowship that the Lord would not have you miss or forsake because of its immense value to your spiritual edification. Hebrews 10:25 says, "...  not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

Your attitude to God's call to gather to fellowship with Him and others should be like David who said, "...I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD” (Psalm 122:1). Why was he glad and why should you be glad about the opportunity? Because God's glory and power are in the fellowship of gathering. In Psalm 63:2, David says, "So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory."

So when next you go to church, anticipate seeing God's power and glory that will upgrade you. Don't go with the attitude that you are going to church as a custom, go with anticipation. 

Have a beautiful day!

Faith-Filled Confession

I rejoice in my heart to be in the gathering of the saints as we fellowship together with the Lord. And as I fellowship, I behold the power and glory of God so that I am irreversibly upgraded from one level of glory to another. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

One-Year Reading Plan:  1 Kings 10-11; Luke 24:1-35