“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder” (Matt. 26:36 KJV).
Jesus fellowshipped with God in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had to get His equilibrium so that He could make his body get in line. Fellowshipping with God will cause you to be able to enter into that place of rest of assurance and confidence.
Once I start talking with God, rest enters in. I say, “Lord, I thank you because you are the greater one. Hallelujah. I thank you Lord you are who you are. You are my Creator. You created everything that’s in the earth, etc.” And when I start talking about my Creator I start comparing what I’m dealing with to Him. Man, that problem has a way of shrinking fast.
Many people want to fellowship with Brother Blabbermouth and Sister Woe-is-Me. “You know, misery loves company,” they say. There are some people who cannot stand to see you happy. They’re miserable and they feel that everybody else has to be miserable too. So if they see you smiling, they have to come tell you something that will bring you down.
Then they’ll say they’re your friends. They’re not your friends. Your friends don’t bring you down. Your friends build you up. Your friends boost you to do what you’re supposed to do to cause that problem to shrink. But you need to get rid of those that take you down.
You can’t spend all your time fellowshipping with the newspaper—”Three people got shot today, two blocks from my house” or “They’re laying off carpenters today and I’m a carpenter.” If you’re going to spend all your time fellowshipping with the world you will be afraid and restless.
When you fellowship with God and His Word, then you read about how God made a way out of no way. You read about “a thousand may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but it will not come near me.” You fellowship with “by His stripes I am healed.” You find out that “Nay, in all these things I am more than a conqueror through Him that loved us.”
Fellowshipping with the Father and the Word of God lifts you up. Then you can rejoice all the day long, knowing that you win in this life regardless of what is going on around you. Allow the Word to bring you up and shrink your problems fast.
Scripture References: Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:3-4
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Keith Butler has been an ordained minister since 1974. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds diplomas from Canada Christian College and Rhema Bible Training Center.
He serves in ministry with the support of his lovely wife, Pastor Deborah L. Butler, and their children: Pastor Andre Butler (granddaughters Alexis, Angela, and April), Pastor MiChelle Ferguson and husband Pastor Lee (grandson Lucas), and Minister Kristina Jenkins and husband Pastor Joel (grandsons Andrew and Austin, and granddaughter Alyssa).