Fellowship with the Father

[Jn 15:14-15]



Can you and I really enjoy fellowship with the Father? Most people live in dread or fear of God. They think He is an angry tyrant. I recall talking to a man several months ago who told me he was “cool” with Jesus but did not know what to think about God the Father. Old Testament passages come to mind where God smote this group or that individual for some wrong doing. God often poured out His fury and righteous indignation on people. He is a God to be revered and even feared.
God is a God of wrath on occasion. He is perfectly just and judges accordingly. “He judges the world with righteousness; He executes judgment on the peoples with fairness.” [Ps 9:8] “Then the people will say, ‘Yes, there is a reward for the righteous! There is a God who judges on earth.’” God is not unwilling to spill wrath out where there is defiance of His laws and rebellion against His ways. [Eph 2:3] [Rom 2:4-6]
We totally miss out on the truth that God desires friendship with us though when we only focus on God has judge. He desires for us to know Him and to fellowship with Him. [Hosea 6:1-3]
You and I can walk in friendship with God if we are willing to follow His commands. “You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what is master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My father I have made to know you.” The word friend in those two verses means to be fond of, dear, or loved. We are loved by our Lord beyond measure. Look at the great lengths He went through to redeem us and to reconcile us from His wrath.
We are invited to walk intimately and commune with our God. He is not some far off distant deity but a loving and gracious Father who desires to relate to His children. If this is really the case, why are there so many believers who feel so distant and so disconnected with God?
No one answer will suffice but can we not at least admit that one reason we often feel so distant from God goes back to our shame from our inconsistent behavior and our lack of time spent with the Him. I have four boys and often they are asked to go and spend the night with friends from church and school. There are times when I have say to no to these requests because selfishly I want to spend time with my boys. I want to talk with them, laugh with them, teach them, make memories with them. I enjoy being with them. It really does not matter what we are doing at the time. We might be working on some project. Working out. Worshipping together. Watching a movie. Praying. It doesn’t matter what we are doing. I just enjoy being with them.
There are times when their disobedience reveals a whole different side of me though. There is a side where justice is required and there are times when the boys receive the consequences of wrong choices. I do not enjoy these times but it does not change how deeply I love each one of them. In fact, after their punishment I try to remember to tell them how much I love them. If can do this as an earthly father with a flawed human nature and without a capacity to love perfectly, how much more does our Father want us for Himself and love us unconditionally. [Rom 8:35-39]
Here is the deal. That might sound selfish and twisted to a certain degree. It is not twisted or selfish when you realize that in God giving us fellowship with Himself, He is giving us what is best for our own souls. The best life that any of us could live is to walk in sweet fellowship with the Father because He satisfies our sin stained souls with the sweet joy of Him. He pleases us and grants us infinite delight in Him. God in granting us access to Himself, is giving each of us the very best thing He could give any of us. HIMSELF!
I don’t have to relate to God out of dread or a sense of duty. I can pull up a chair to His table and talk to him like a son talks to his loving father. I can linger in his presence hour upon hour for He does not tire of my being with Him and He is big enough to give you his undivided attention at the same time. I do not have to try and hide my faults for He already knows them and is willing to forgive and to restore. Walking in fellowship with the Father is the thrill of a lifetime. Most people do not believe this and therefore do not experience it as well. What a heartbreak.
The God who created this universe as well as you and me and knows our every thought and the next word that will roll off our tongues, stands waiting to fellowship with you. For some of you this will mean you need to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus by confessing your sins and asking His forgiveness and for His salvation. That will be the first steps of fellowship that will grow and blossom. Others of you will need to blow the dust off your Bibles and find your way back to your secret place to commune with the one who loves and promised to never leave you or forsake even when you have left and forsaken Him. Thankfully there are others of you who have been walking in deep fellowship with the Father for years and your times with Him are growing increasingly precious and charming. Regardless of where you are on life’s journey, a life spent in fellowship with the Father will bring rich rewards.