Fellowship with others who are also taking the challenge to be FREEDOM HI - holding each other accountable.
The importance of fellowshipping with the right people has a serious affect on a victorious life.
It is great to pour out and live out the example of your life with unbelievers - giving where they are - for the purpose of being FREEDOM HI, but this does not take the place of fellowshipping with other committed believers. Paul said, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" Hebrews 10:25 often referred to as "the fellowship of the saints", and this has unfortunately been washed over by many to assume it is covered as we go to church for the weekly service.
Think about the services you attend. If it's like many, you walk in, greet a few people, smile, sit down for the service, get into worship, feed on a good message/teaching (hopefully, if not, that message is for another day), pray, and then greet a few people afterwards with some light conversation before going your separate ways. That is not fellowship.
Attending church for service is important and should not be omitted, but attending church is not the "assembling of ourselves together" of which Paul was speaking and church attendance is not meant to be the only sustaining factor in our spiritual life.
The church is not a place, the Church is all of us who have been reborn to Christ - everywhere. We, all of us, need each other to walk in the fullness of victory, we are built for relationships.
The intentional getting together with uncompromising believers just to do stuff together, where quality time can be spent is crucial to keeping us strong and healthy in the Spirit. If you don't hang out with other Spirit filled, uncompromising Christians, then it is highly likely that you are lacking luster in your life and walk, and there's no better time to make some new connections than today. Not everyone connects, so maybe it seems like there's no one in your congregation that you really feel connected to - that's okay. Your congregation is not the whole church and there are people in your region that you can connect with - Guaranteed!
You don't need to change assemblies to connect with other believers. Fellowship across assemblies is not cheating on your church, you are the church and so is every other true believer in Jesus Christ.
The next question may be, "How do I find these other believers?" Well, one way is through FREEDOM HI. Contact us and let us know where you are located. We may have some connections there. Other ways are posts in activities sections of forums and attending other congregations' activities. Or try getting involved with a project or effort where other believers may also be volunteering. Prayer is a super promoter of friends - meaning call out and ask God for friends and connections that don't compromise.
Be willing to engage with people, ideally people of the same gender as to not come across with mixed motives or put yourself in a position open to temptation. And, yes there are people out there who want to know you just for who you are.
And, even for those who have always had better success befriending people of the opposite sex, I want to encourage you that there are people who you can connect with and have a very edifying and holy friendship with and you don't have to pretend to be into things that aren't you. There's no problem with hanging out with people from both genders, but from a practicality standpoint, if you aren't married to the other person or share the same parents, it is better to spend time with people from the opposite gender in group settings. Friendships help keep us accountable, they satisfy our natural nature for relationship and camaraderie, they provide support and encourage us when we are down, and they help strengthen us as Christians as we share in testimony and victory.
If you want victory in your life, make an intentional decision to spend time in pure fellowship with other Christians committed to walking God's way.
Write it down, make it a goal.
The importance of fellowshipping with the right people has a serious affect on a victorious life.
It is great to pour out and live out the example of your life with unbelievers - giving where they are - for the purpose of being FREEDOM HI, but this does not take the place of fellowshipping with other committed believers. Paul said, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" Hebrews 10:25 often referred to as "the fellowship of the saints", and this has unfortunately been washed over by many to assume it is covered as we go to church for the weekly service.
Think about the services you attend. If it's like many, you walk in, greet a few people, smile, sit down for the service, get into worship, feed on a good message/teaching (hopefully, if not, that message is for another day), pray, and then greet a few people afterwards with some light conversation before going your separate ways. That is not fellowship.
Attending church for service is important and should not be omitted, but attending church is not the "assembling of ourselves together" of which Paul was speaking and church attendance is not meant to be the only sustaining factor in our spiritual life.
The church is not a place, the Church is all of us who have been reborn to Christ - everywhere. We, all of us, need each other to walk in the fullness of victory, we are built for relationships.
The intentional getting together with uncompromising believers just to do stuff together, where quality time can be spent is crucial to keeping us strong and healthy in the Spirit. If you don't hang out with other Spirit filled, uncompromising Christians, then it is highly likely that you are lacking luster in your life and walk, and there's no better time to make some new connections than today. Not everyone connects, so maybe it seems like there's no one in your congregation that you really feel connected to - that's okay. Your congregation is not the whole church and there are people in your region that you can connect with - Guaranteed!
You don't need to change assemblies to connect with other believers. Fellowship across assemblies is not cheating on your church, you are the church and so is every other true believer in Jesus Christ.
The next question may be, "How do I find these other believers?" Well, one way is through FREEDOM HI. Contact us and let us know where you are located. We may have some connections there. Other ways are posts in activities sections of forums and attending other congregations' activities. Or try getting involved with a project or effort where other believers may also be volunteering. Prayer is a super promoter of friends - meaning call out and ask God for friends and connections that don't compromise.
Be willing to engage with people, ideally people of the same gender as to not come across with mixed motives or put yourself in a position open to temptation. And, yes there are people out there who want to know you just for who you are.
And, even for those who have always had better success befriending people of the opposite sex, I want to encourage you that there are people who you can connect with and have a very edifying and holy friendship with and you don't have to pretend to be into things that aren't you. There's no problem with hanging out with people from both genders, but from a practicality standpoint, if you aren't married to the other person or share the same parents, it is better to spend time with people from the opposite gender in group settings. Friendships help keep us accountable, they satisfy our natural nature for relationship and camaraderie, they provide support and encourage us when we are down, and they help strengthen us as Christians as we share in testimony and victory.
If you want victory in your life, make an intentional decision to spend time in pure fellowship with other Christians committed to walking God's way.
Write it down, make it a goal.
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