“Where there is no (wise, intelligent) guidance, the people fall (and go off course), but in the abundance of (wise and godly) counselors there is victory” Proverbs 11:14 Amplified Bible
When we spend time in fellowship with our Christian brothers, we spiritually energize one another . In one way or another, we are a witness of what God is doing on our lives. Where 2 or more are gathered together, Christ is present. Matthew 18:20.” For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.” We are meant to edify, encourage and strengthen one another. We pray together, share the word, sing songs and witness what God has done. Someone may speak a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge or discernment which speaks directly to our heart. 1 Corinthians 12:10-11. A scripture which is spoken may confirm just what The Lord has been speaking to us. It could be a personal experience that another shares that gives us a message for our own life. It could be a warning to deter us from taking a wrong course. Or it could be an introduction to a person who could be beneficial to our spiritual progress. Many opportunities and insights occur when we are in fellowship with body of Christ.
So be alert and listen for the Spirit to prompt you in a certain direction or for the Spirit to check your actions or your direction. Pay attention, take it with you and pray about it.
When we spend time in fellowship with our Christian brothers, we spiritually energize one another . In one way or another, we are a witness of what God is doing on our lives. Where 2 or more are gathered together, Christ is present. Matthew 18:20.” For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.” We are meant to edify, encourage and strengthen one another. We pray together, share the word, sing songs and witness what God has done. Someone may speak a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge or discernment which speaks directly to our heart. 1 Corinthians 12:10-11. A scripture which is spoken may confirm just what The Lord has been speaking to us. It could be a personal experience that another shares that gives us a message for our own life. It could be a warning to deter us from taking a wrong course. Or it could be an introduction to a person who could be beneficial to our spiritual progress. Many opportunities and insights occur when we are in fellowship with body of Christ.
So be alert and listen for the Spirit to prompt you in a certain direction or for the Spirit to check your actions or your direction. Pay attention, take it with you and pray about it.
We can see how the body of believers spoke a warning to Paul in Acts 21:4: Speaking in the Spirit the disciples kept telling Paul “not to go to Jerusalem” Acts 21:12: A prophet arrived and spoke a message to Paul that he would be bound by the Jews in Jerusalem and handed over to the pagans. The believers foretold Paul’s fate in Jerusalem, but Paul made a decision to go anyway against their warning.
But the most important time we see a message that changed the course of the spread of the Gospel was when an angel of God spoke to a man named Cornelius to fetch Peter in Jaffa. At this time Peter had the vision where God made it clear that His salvation was for all mankind, not just the Jews. Acts 10:3-33: God used the interaction of Cornelius and Peter to bring forth that revelation. The angel gave Cornelius the word to fetch Peter and God gave Peter the vision and their interaction confirmed the message God was speaking.
So we never know when God may use us to speak a life giving, faith building message and we never know when one of our Christian believers may speak a similar message to us so as to direct us along our spiritual journey.
Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so too does one person sharpen another.” (New King James Version) We keep each other spiritually sharp when we share the work of The Lord with each other. The body of Christ is an instrument God uses to further our spiritual development and connect us to the flow of the Spirit.
Another primary example of this principle is found in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “Better two than one by himself since thus their work is really profitable. If one should fall, the other helps him up; but woe to the man by himself with no one to help him up when he falls down. Again: they keep warm who sleep two together, but how can a man keep warm alone? Where one alone would be overcome, two will put up resistance; and a three fold cord is not quickly broken”
And finally: Philemon 1:4-7 From Paul to Philemon: “I always mention you in my prayers and thank God for you, because I hear of the love and the faith which you have for The Lord Jesus and for all the saints. I pray that this faith will give rise to a sense of fellowship that will show you all the good things that we are able to do for Christ. I am so delighted, and comforted, to know of your love; they tell me, brother, how you have put new life into the saints.”
Could we say that we, like Philemon, are putting new heart into the saints? And do we find new heart when we fellowship with the saints among us. Listen prayerfully. God has a message for us!