Why Christian Fellowship Is Important

The Lord commanded that we write an article on fellowship this week. This is also one of the most misunderstood topics within Christianity. Recently, the Lord made us understand that many Christians today mistake their socializing as “fellowship”. Instead, in socializing we enjoy one another’s company. Nor can “chatting” on social media (Instant Messaging, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) be considered as fellowship, as we will see from our definition and further explanation below.

Briefly, and without getting technical on some terms, the Greek word that is translated “fellowship” and other related word is Koinonia: meaning “common”; or “I participate in; or I share in” (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words). Per Wikipedia’s definition, Koinonia as transliterated from Greek means “communion, joint participation; the share which one has in anything, participation, a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, etc. It identifies the idealized state of fellowship and unity that should exist within the Christian church, the Body of Christ.”

Fellowship is Sharing

Therefore, our understanding, and from a Biblical perspective, is that fellowship means people participating together in something. Fellowship is communion or having a share in something. As an example from the Bible, we fellowship when we participate in the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. Our act of eating bread and drinking at the Lord’s Table is an act of fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ; it is a spiritual sharing in His body and blood, in other words, we are participating in (or having communion with) Christ and all that His sacrificial death means to us (1 Corinthians 10:16). Furthermore, by being united with Christ, we share in Him and have fellowship with Him (1 Corinthians 1:9; Hebrews 3:14).

In addition to having communion with The Lord Jesus Christ, we as believers have fellowship with the Father (1 John 1:3) and with the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 6:4; Philippians 1:21). Through our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we share in His Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). By being in union with Christ, it means absolute surrender and faithful and obedient service to Him.

Our Fellowship With God

Beloved brethren, when we use the term “God”, it may refer to Christ as well. In the Lord’s many visits to us, He often referred to Himself as God (John 8:58). Also, we need to emphasize that fellowship with God does not necessarily mean when we come together as believers. We are individually called to fellowship with God (1 John 1:3). This fellowship with God may be Bible reading, praying, or having Communion as an individual member of the body of Christ (Genesis 5:22-24; 6:9; Mark 9:37; John 14:23). Based on the above Scriptures and countless others, don’t ever be deceived in thinking that fellowship with God involves going to church on a Sunday and coming back to continue in our sin! We will give account of ourselves before God as individual believers (Romans 14:12). I am emphasizing the individual’s fellowship with God here; our walk with God is determined by our own obedience to the Lord (John 14:15). God’s commands refer to the entire Bible, not just an isolated verses in Scripture (Joshua 1:8).

When we fellowship as a group, that is when others join or I join them, then we all have fellowship together with God, and by having fellowship together with God, we are truly joined together in a happy union (1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 17:21-22; 1 John 1:3). As a warning, sin spoils our fellowship with the Lord and if we live in sin wilfully, we have no fellowship with the Father and this is a broken fellowship with God (1 John 1:6-7). When we fellowship with the Lord, we hear from Him and we express our gratitude to Him in obedience to His word by witnessing and testifying about Him to others (1 Corinthians 14:26).

Another area of fellowship and the less talked about is “participation in His suffering” (Philippians 3:10). This cup is what many Christians don’t like; yes they only prefer to share in His blessings but not in the cup of persecutions, witnessing and obedience. I will be quite bold here; many Christians hide themselves behind their pastors. What I mean is that they only do what the pastor says and not what the Lord tells them in the Bible. They only prefer the blessings more than the cup of suffering. I am receiving emails from many brethren around the world, complaining bitterly about their sufferings and situations. Quite frankly, a complaining believer is weak in faith and impatient with God (Philippians 2:14-15). When we complain, we are literally saying; “I did enough now God, so you must act, and if you don’t act I quit!” (Exodus 16:2-15). How absurd! Remember believer, when you display such an impatient and immature attitude, you will be the biggest casualty; it is after all your salvation for eternal life you are labouring for here in obedience to a righteous suffering (2 Timothy 4:7-8). I say your suffering is righteous because you have given yourself to God as a living sacrifice and you suffer for the truth; people persecute us not for wrong doing but for telling them about their sins (John 7:7) I am declaring in Jesus name that Christian fellowship includes sharing in His suffering; this is the way of the CROSS and after enduring, we will also have fellowship with Him in His GLORY (2 Timothy 2:11-12; 1 Peter 5:1; 1 Peter 4:12-14).

Christian’s Fellowship By Sharing

Finally, we know there is a corporate anointing when we fellowship as a group to God and to one another in the works of ministry, and there is also an anointing when we minister and fellowship as individuals to God and others (Acts 4:23-31; 19:11-12). In other words God supplies the gifts for ministry and fellowship to Him.

Moreover, as Christians jointly participate in Christ, this fellowship binds us together (Acts 2:42). I would like to emphasize again: this fellowship is not socializing, but about Christ whom we share in common (Hebrews 3:14; Philippians 1:7; 2 Peter 1:4). This makes our fellowship a joint sharing in our common faith, common salvation, and our common suffering (Titus 1:4; Jude 3; Revelation 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:7). This corporate fellowship is sharing in the gospel by helping those who preach it (Philippians 1:5; 4:14-18); this include sharing in material and financial support of poor Christians (Galatians 2:10; Romans 15:27; 2 Corinthians 8:4).

In conclusion, there are certain things we are forbidden not to have fellowship with or share in or participate in. We should not identify with a person who does wrong things or share in their wickedness (1 Timothy 5:22; 2 John 10:11). Nor should we participate in a religious feast where food is to be offered to idols (1 Corinthians 10:20-21), neither having fellowship with unbelievers for they will lead you astray (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). Therefore, we are to have no part and no share in anything that is sinful (Revelation 18:4; Ephesians 5:11).

Let us therefore endeavour to maintain daily our fellowship with God; this is the strength and the very life supporting sustenance for our salvation (John 15:5).

Have you been "fellowshipping" by only socializing at church on Saturday or Sunday, but not truly fellowshipping with The Lord? Has your fellowship with the Lord focused only on receiving blessings? If so, here is a Prayer of Sincere Repentance. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

Christ’s Peace Be Upon You All,
Brother Glenn.

HOW DO I REALLY FORGIVE OTHERS?

Forgiveness As An Expression Of Love

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15 NIV).

Given to the above scripture, God demands us to completely forgive without repeating every time the nature of the offence to the person. Some time ago a brother shared with us what a brother in the Lord wrote to him.  He wrote, ‘I have forgiven you for the offence you committed against me’ while he was repeating the offence the brother committed against him and at the same time he was piling more offences onto the record. After reading the entire lamentation, I felt the spirit of unforgiveness and bitterness from the content of that letter. Now, not only did that brother not forgive, he showed his unforgiveness through his disengagement with the other brother. Additionally, this brother’s unforgiveness was further expressed through his repeating to others the offence, now isn’t that a grand unforgiving spirit?

Scripturally, God is Love or Love is God. Let us consider what we read in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ‘’Love is patient, love is kind. it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts always hopes, and always perseveres”.

Repeating The Offence To Others Equals Unforgiveness

Have you ever forgiven someone and when they commit another offence to you; you simply go back to the past reminding the person what he or she did some time ago, are we able to really say I forgave you in the first instance? (Luke 17:4). NO! Needless to say, many Christians are struggling to forgive but they sing very loud and preach well-prepared messages when they see the brother or sister who offended them they are being clothed with the spirit of Haman-hatred but he wanted an audience with the King (Esther 5:13). In contrast, how would a Christian be given an audience with King Jesus when they hate and harbour unforgiveness towards their brother whom they can see?

There is a huge difference between brushing something aside and really forgiving someone. With me (Charis), God really deals with me when I am struggling to forgive someone. I will literally dream about the person several times a week (imagine how uncomfortable that is) until I surrender to God and really allow God to take over and ‘flush’ me clean with His Holy Spirit. I literally give Him that load and once the Lord took the load (burden) I enjoy an unexplainable feeling of deep peace, joy and comfort.  

Going back to the previous two articles we shared with you: ‘’Including God’’ and ‘’Beauty in Christ’’ we emphasised that we need to include God in our journey of forgiving others and let that add to our beauty in Christ, not mention all the blessings we stand to inherit!

 Finally, we never ‘’have’’ to forgive just because we are ‘’Christians’’. We forgive because of who we are in Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

 Forgiveness leads to Love and we know who is Love, God Almighty! Now, remain blessed and encouraged, brothers and sisters.

 With the love of Christ

Charis and Brother Glenn

Existing For God's Glory

Renewed Purpose And Hope

“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'” (Acts 20:35 NIV). 

Greetings to you and your families in Jesus' name.

As a family and Ministry, we are reminded by the Good News and the Gift of celebrating life because of our Lord Jesus Christ and the countless days of JOY and HOPE this has given us. You have been part of this JOY the Lord has given us and many others. Now, in the depth of our hearts, we silently say, THANK YOU everyone and we pour forth PRAISE to the LORD for the contributory blessing your life is and has been.

In the name of our Saviour, who revealed to me earlier this year when we buried my beloved sister, a Prayer from the heart offered in sincerity has an effect at a time when the need arises. In other words, it carries deep and sincere forgiveness, love, and a current and future blessing (John 17:20-26). 

In addition, such love expressed through Prayer is free from grudges, filled with innocence, and refreshingly encouraging and NEW in purpose and service to both the saved, unsaved, the weak, and the strong in Christ. Blessed Christmas!

In conclusion, as we are gearing ourselves forward-looking to the uncertain future, we are armed with faith and hope, being strengthened within, defying fear and uncertainty, anchored on the ROCK of TRUTH (2 Timothy 2:19-21 NLT). Carrying others, being responsibly mindful while sowing meaningful existence to the [de]LIGHT and upliftment of others. HOPEFUL NEW YEAR IN JESUS' NAME!!!

Sincere LOVE and Peaceful Greetings

Brother Glenn, Ministry, and family.

Let Us Guard Against The spirit Of Selfishness

“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.  Don’t just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and in what they are doing” (Philippians 2:3 NLT).

IMPORTANT NOTICE: BRETHREN, WHILE WE MIGHT NOT BE PRODUCING NEW ARTICLES EVERY WEEK, WE DO UPDATE SOME OF OUR PREVIOUS ARTICLES AND WHEN THE LORD HAS GIVEN US NEW VISIONS WE UPDATE IT UNDER THE "LATEST PROPHECIES & VISION'S" TAB. PLEASE CHECK IT OUT AS WE ARE NOT SENDING OUT ANY NOTIFICATIONS.

“For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:21 NIV).

This week, the Lord is reminding us that we should not think about our own interests, but about His interest. Being born again means …"You are not your own; you were bought at a price…" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV).  This teaching runs through the entire Bible, and many of us are reading this and many other similar passages daily, yet we ignore to live according to these commands of Scripture. The Lord told us that when we purposely ignore obeying His Word, He will also ignore us (Mark 8:38). Many Christians think that if they selectively do the will of God they are pleasing Him; this act is an abomination to Him. We please the Lord when we say like Paul “...I consider my life worth nothing to me...” (Acts 20:24 NIV). These were not just vain confessions; the apostle Paul walked the talk as is evident in his epistles and the book of Acts. He lived a yielded life to Christ.

The Example of The Lord and Other Servants of God

The life of our Lord Jesus Christ is vividly portrayed in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). In a compelling account, the witnesses testified how the Lord lived out His zeal in service to our Heavenly Father (John 4:34; John 9:4).  Many of us would say, “Yes, but that was Jesus Christ”; true, He set the pace for His followers and others followed (1 Corinthians 11:1).  In sharing His life with us, the Lord held nothing back.  He lived every moment of time for the will of the Father. 

Similarly, Daniel and his three friends took their stand and refused to live according to the dictates of the King and the pressure from their peers (Daniel 3:18). Today, many Christians bow to pressure and compromise their walk with Christ to please their worldly and God-denying friends. They don’t l live yielded to Christ all the time; they live selectively, picking and choosing what is acceptable to yield to at the moment. Are we not being hypocritical and sacrificing our salvation to please our peers?  Are we not hurting the Lord when we deny Him in front of others?  When we do so, He turns around and looks at us with pain in His heart (Luke 22:61).

Also, just as Moses the servant of the Lord was called by God to serve His purpose, and his life was not devoted to self-serving, we have likewise been called.   Moses gave up his life and followed the will of God (Exodus 33:13). So did Joshua who assisted Moses in the Presence of the Lord since he was a youth (Joshua 11:28). These men and many others did not live their lives for themselves; they had no personal achievements except what God has done through them for the benefit of others.  They can only say “this is what God has worked through me for His own glory”, not “this is what I achieved”.  If we work for the Lord, why do we credit ourselves for the work He brought about through us? Are we not owned by Christ? (1 Corinthians 6:20).

From the above examples, we can see the outworking of God through the lives of these devoted servants in service to Him for the benefit of others. The self-servicing will always put their interest first.  In our serving, is our motive to gratify some personal longing or craving, or is it to serve God?  I have come across many self-serving people who do things in the name of the Lord, but God is nowhere seen in the decisions they made. If God was present in their work, we would see the fruit of God.  That fruit is evident in the obedience of people towards God, not the big churches and numbers.  We, therefore, ask, what was the outworking of God in people’s lives? (Philippians 4:14-18).  How has the outworking of God in believers impacted communities? If there is no evidence, then the work we did reflected nothing but ourselves. We did not lead from the front; we were instead coaches that sit and give orders from the bench. In Christianity, Christ left us an example by doing/action (in leading and serving others), and so did those who followed His way of life (Hebrews 5:8; Acts 5:41).

Do We Serve God or Ourselves?

The Word of God (The Bible) is for all people and it is good for everyday living. We are commanded by the Lord to take our daily instructions for obedient living from the Word (1 Peter 2:20; Matthew 4:4). If we live by the carefully formulated formulas we received from our church leaders, then we are not following the Lord, but man. When we serve and follow man, our work will be evident through our fruit. Those fruits are reflected in our attitude and the "evidence" of God in our lives. God is seen in us through our humble and serving attitudes (Philippians 2:5-11; John 13:1-17).

Furthermore, it is not how much we know and talk about God; do we see the outworking of God in us into the lives of others? Or are we just idle talkers who only complain? Or are we just trying to impress others by the witty sayings about God? Remember our actions build and change lives more than just our clever sayings (James 2:14-26).

We recently experienced an incident where the Lord rebuked an individual for selfish living. When I shared the Lord’s message with him, he cited his feelings, considering what he feels is more important than the truth of God. He considered taking someone’s part more important than the Word of God. If we do so we disqualify ourselves from the truth of God. Also, I have shared many rebukes from the Lord with brothers and sisters who were convinced they are serving the Lord by the work they were doing in His name, but in the end, the Lord judged them by showing that they were serving themselves. What was wrong with their work? There was no God-fearing fruit in the lives of those they are ministering to. They try to impact people’s lives by pointing people to gifts and man, more than to Christ Jesus who alone is worthy of praise and thanksgiving.  Let me caution you here in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: when you point people to man in the name of the Lord, are you not promoting idolatry and expressing your will? We express the will of Christ if there is no evidence of our own self-interest.

Finally, the Word of God says that "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35 NIV). Also, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever Amen” 1 Peter 4:10-11 (NIV). The Lord Jesus Christ loves people and He is their Judge and He always works through His servants for the good of people, not only for the material good of people but that they prosper spiritually, which is obedience to the Lord (Deuteronomy 4:40; Ephesians 5:21).

In conclusion, the Lord recently encouraged a brother saying he must continue work of service for His sake. This is your calling, your life, and your hope; unite with Christ to establish His Kingdom (Luke 11:23). Remember the Lord measures us by the outworking of God in others through obedient service to Him.

Below is a short vision God gave Charis (January 12, 2014) afternoon. The Lord does bring an end to our selfish ways. This person is very, very dear to me, but I must share to warn others. If we stand in the way of God because we restrain others to serve our interest and not His, and when He wants to save a soul we will face His wrath like Elymas the sorcerer (Acts 13:8-12). This vision is a warning and a Judgement of God against someone who opposed God.

Vision of a Self-Thinking Person

Given to Charis on January 12, 2014

“I went to bed with a headache and while sleeping I had a vision from the Lord this afternoon.  I saw myself, Jaydeen and my cousin Elzette in a very, very large house with many rooms.  While we were walking down the passage of this big house, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “…Brother B’s days are numbered and you must pray for him”.  After these words, I saw a very long straight thin rope with no beginning or end and big scissors appeared cutting the rope in the middle. In the vision, I knew this was referring to the words the Lord had spoken”.

We pray that the Lord delays His Judgement until this person makes his life right with God. God gives life and He has the power to terminate our lives (Daniel 5:23; Acts 12:23). The God we serve is a God of Mighty Judgement, no one trying to oppose Him can succeed (Proverbs 21:30). Help us pray!

Have you been living selfishly, thinking only about yourself? Have you been neglecting to live in service to God for the benefit of others?  Here is a Prayer of Sincere Repentance to get you started in victory through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

Regards,

Brother Glenn

You may read some of our visions here.

Delivering Effective Prayers

 Being Alert During Prayers

"Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart" (Colossians 4:2 NLT).

Important Notice: Dear Brethren please accept our humble apology for the delay in this week's article. While I was preparing this article, our daughter Claudia suffered an attack and this kept us busy till morning hours and it obviously disrupted my completing this article. The enemy always creates disruptions, but our faith should not fail us. Also, we are sharing a short vision below from the Lord.

Vision to Claudia 9 November 2021

I received a vision from the Lord just before I got up this morning. In my vision, I saw a woman and I could perceive she had a lot of problems in her life, and next to her was a wooden door. I then saw a man appearing and he was trying to open the door for her. He tried every possible tool the world could offer, but he could not get the door opened. The Lord showed me another woman, and she was praying intensely for the first woman and suddenly the door snapped open. The Lord made me understand that prayer is the only key that unlocks our solutions to problems...END! (Revelation 3:7).

As for our article this week, I'd like to begin with a message the Lord gave to a brother some time ago, "My son Andrew (not real name) is not praying effectively". With this correction from the Lord, the brother did not take this rebuke with a spirit of humility but with a resentful spirit. Since we'll be judged by the Lord accepting correction from Him only serves to advance our interests (Matthew 18:3).

 Furthermore, 'human dignity' is a phrase that applies between people to promote human equality (Luke 6:31), however, in the eyes of the Lord we are children and human dignity does not apply to God we are all just naked in every way before Him (Hebrews 4:13) and naturally, a child takes instruction, correction, rebuke, and discipline from parents. Likewise, since it is the Lord who has given us life and provided all good things to us, as His children we ought to humble ourselves in His Presence and obey His Voice (Hebrews 4:16).

Now, to get back to today's message, we need to distinguish between effective praying and being faithful in prayer. Delivering effective prayers requires us to be focused and be fruitful in our minds (1 Corinthians 14:14). What we mean by this is that the words we utter in prayer come from the soul while our minds are fixed on God (Colossians 3:2). As it is, the physical strength we are to display in prayer should cause a break against our own will while allowing our faith to accept God's will. Like we said before, quick prayers just to leave God's Presence yield no results because we are not focused but distracted by the problem at hand (Matthew 14:22-33). 

In conclusion, we have learned that prayer is a laborious effort requiring uninterrupted time and being focused on promoting God's will (Daniel 10:13-21; Luke 6:12). If we truly need a breakthrough for something we will hang in there until something happen, and we know God rejected David's plea in this instance (2 Samuel 12:16-24). Now, certain things require more persistent prayers so that the Lord could open that door, while other things minor things do not require laborious efforts and God gives an answer very speedily. If we are to do deliverance sessions, that work requires intense prayers and fasting and a five (5) minute prayer will not do the job, we need to 'visit' in God's Presence like Moses (Deuteronomy 10:10).

Blessed Love

Brother Glenn