Communion With God

Communion with God is a wonderful gift, an infinite blessing, and an enormous privilege. It is also the very point of attack from the enemy of our souls, the devil.

The first man and woman enjoyed a close communion with God, but Satan was successful in severing that communion and they became estranged from God by sin. (Genesis 3)

Now in these last days we have a Savior, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who reconciles us to God through his sacrifice. “…Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Revelations 1:5  “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ…For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”  Ephesians 2:13, 18

God wants to communicate with us and us to communicate with him. He desires a very close and intimate relationship with us. Paul admonishes us in 1 Thess 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.”

Abraham was called a friend of God and God often visited with Abraham. But today God wants an even closer relationship with us than that of Abraham. God has chosen to come and to live within our hearts. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16 He has chosen us to be his bride. “…for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2

So, when we have been saved and sanctified, we now have God within and hence the admonition to “pray without ceasing”. We must bring in our heart, soul, mind, and strength and commune with God continually. This is the essence of a true salvation experience. It is a marriage relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ.  A marriage relationship is not a casual relationship but a serious covenant that has been made between two individuals. The vows made should never be taken lightly.

Imagine a marriage where the wife casually takes the name of her husband because she believes he has something that will benefit her somehow. She moves into his house and takes over, doing whatever she feels like, never consulting with him. She simply “checks in” with him in the morning and in the evening, lets him know that she appreciates all he gave her, and proceeds to give him a list of what she now needs. This is the only time she ever talks to him. She ignores him the rest of the day and night. It would not be very long before she would lose his heart and he would go looking for someone with whom he could have a relationship with.

This is exactly how many people treat their relationship with God.

To be just religious and take God’s name to yourself and then go about life not hardly thinking about God, much less communicating with him, is not salvation. If you were ever saved and you continue on that way, you will one day be looking for God and find that he has departed. “I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.” Song 5:6

Jesus taught us that we must abide in him (John 15:1-7) A branch on a tree cannot thrive if one minute it is grafted in, and the next it’s not- plugged in then unplugged.  It needs to stay plugged in.

Life can be very busy and demanding but we need to practice bringing our thoughts back to God. Speaking to him, thinking on a verse he gave us or a lesson we learned, humming a hymn; whatever it takes to stay “plugged in”. The morning and evening time alone with God is extremely vital. As in a love relationship with a spouse, you must have those close intimate times where your focus is entirely on one another. Without that you will drift apart. But the time in-between that is so important too.  You still think about one another and consider each others wishes and needs. A wife might plan her meals around the tastes of her husband and clean her house with the concern that her husband can relax when he gets home. A husband may do a special project around the home that he knows his wife will appreciate. He works hard to bring home an income with the thought of taking care of his wife. There will be discourses throughout the day.

To serve God successfully it is vital to turn our mind and heart inward to where he is dwelling and to visit with him, and love him, and worship him. The more we practice this, the easier and more natural it becomes. But it takes practice and discipline.

Communion with God is an on-going relationship. God knows every thought of our heart so we can turn our minds inward to God as often as we are reminded. We can ask, seek, love, praise and honor him all day long. We can “pray without ceasing” and we will go from victory unto victory and our love for God will grow deep and secure.