Thou art worthy, O
Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created (Revelation 4:11).
The Father created us for His pleasure. He created man so
that He could have someone with which He could enjoy rich fellowship. We are
created to bring Him pleasure. He has brought us into relationship with Him
through the New Birth. And once the relationship is established, He longs for
intimate fellowship with you.
Sometimes there are roadblocks to personal fellowship. A
person raised in a harsh family environment where their thought and opinions
were not welcomed or valued will at first struggle to have an intimate
fellowship wit the Lord. Some people are just naturally inclined to hold
themselves back, and not share their heart with others.
This deeper level of communication with the Lord must be
developed. It takes time to break habits of holding yourself back. The first
key to having deep, rich fellowship with the Lord is knowing that He loves you,
accepts you, and forgives and cleanses you from sin.
You are righteous in His presence. When you confess your sin, it is as though
you have never done wrong! As a righteous person in Christ, you have the same
standing before the Father that Jesus has! The Father unconditionally loves and
accepts you! Because He does, He has an open ear to listen to you and
understands everything you think and feel.
The next step to rich fellowship with the Father is to force
yourself to go there! Go to a private place and begin to share your heart
secrets with Him. Tell Him everything; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hold
nothing from Him. At first, this is uncomfortable if your experiences have
caused you to hold yourself back from others. But you’ll find that the moment
you get real with the Father, His love and joy will rise up in you by the Holy
Spirit. This is the beginning of your close communion and fellowship with Him.
As a new believer and a young man in my late teens, I would
go to my room and read my Bible for a period of time. Then, I would begin to
pray, and I found myself for the first expressing to the Father my deepest
heart thoughts.
At first I was afraid that He would be upset with me as I
was so honest. I shared motives, thoughts, fears, questions, longings, and
wrong desires. I found that when I did this, the Father did not judge me, yet
He held me to the standard of the Word. And by the Holy Spirit He would speak
to me and comfort me. He would encourage me to trust Him to change me.
In time, it became easier and easier to bear my heart to
Him. He became a place of refuge when I felt emotional pain, or when the
pressures of life seemed too much to bear. He is the kindest, most
understanding person you will ever know.
The Father is a refuge from the storms of life. In His
shadow you will find protection from the harshness of life. If you’ll give Him
your heart life and open yourself up to Him, He will become an ever present
strength and will sustain your mind and emotions in every challenge life
brings. He will be the vine and you will be the branch. His life will pour into
you as you unreservedly give Him your heart.
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