The joy of communing with God in the life of the believer

Daily quiet time (AKA "devotions," "God and I time," "my time with the Lord") is the spiritual discipline of communing with God.

Eeeesh... when I write that out it sounds so dutiful, so much an act of will; kinda like me saying to you, "A conversation with you is an act of duty that I must do... so, let's talk." Yet, that is how many believers view their "time with the Lord." It is something that I must do and am obligated to do, so therefore I do it, or feel guilty for not doing this "spiritual obligation" when I don't do it.

But this is not what Christ purchased for me. I have not been saved to now be forced into communing with God, I have been saved so that I can have the supreme privilege and joy of communing with God. Ephesians 2:12 tells us that apart from Christ, we were "without hope and without God in this present world." Yet, the next verse says that "we who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ." God "through Christ reconciled us to Himself," (2 Corinthians 5:18), and so we now can "with confidence draw near to the throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16).

Communing with God is an act of supreme kindness God has purchased for me in Christ. It should be our joy and eager anticipation to spend some time with God every day in communion with Him.

George Mueller writes about His zeal and delight in communing with God. He was coming back to seminary in London, and he writes this:

"After my return to London, I decided to do something to help my brothers in the seminary. I suggested we meet together every morning from six until eight to pray and read the Scriptures. After the evening prayer, my communion with God was so sweet that I would continue praying until after midnight. Then I would go to a brother's room and we would pray together until one or two in the morning. Even then, I was sometimes so full of joy that I could not sleep. At six in the morning I would again call the brethren together for prayer."

This is the intention of the sweet fellowship we can have in the presence of God. May we all experience the truth that when we "draw near to God, He will draw near to us" (James 4:8). And may that drawing near to God in communion with Him spur in us an abiding joy and a lasting gratitude.

So, the next time (tomorrow morning... or right now!!) you pause in your busyness to spend time (invest time) communing with God, may you be struck by the reality of what is happening, and may you find Him to be more precious to you than anyone or anything else.

The necessity of communing with God in the life of a believer

I love the phrase, "communing with God." It is a staggering phrase that I think many believers take for granted. And I believe far too many believers don't enjoy the marvelous privilege it is to commune with God. We call it many different things... quiet time, devotions, God and I time, etc. And for many it can either be an infrequent practice, or it is more consistently practiced but done out of obligation or duty.

This discipline should be one of the sweetest parts of our day, something to look forward to and something that is invigorating and nourishing to the soul. For those who struggle, perhaps a word from George Mueller would help:

“The primary business I must attend to every day is fellowship with the Lord. The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished. I may share the truth with the unconverted; I may try to encourage believers; I may relieve the distressed; or I may, in other ways, seek to behave as a child of God; yet, not being happy in the Lord and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, may result in this work being done in a wrong spirit. The most important thing I had to do was to read the Word of God and to meditate on it. Thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, and instructed…. What a difference there is when the soul is refreshed in fellowship with God early in the morning! Without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day can be overwhelming.”

May those words encourage the weary, bring perspective to the duty-bound, and motivate us all to enjoy the gracious privilege it is for us to have sweet fellowship with our perfect Father. Stay tuned for more George Muller and more encouragement to "commune with God."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

My firstborn son, Micah, turned 8 today. Eight years ago today, God's grace was very evident as Micah was born premature and weighed under 4 pounds. We thank God for this day in which we can recall the wonders of His kindness and love and celebrate the blessing Micah is to us.

And to my boy, Micah, I am delighted to be your father, and I pray that you will grow up to be a man who loves our great Redeemer more than life.