Ears to Hear (Part 35)

Good Morning,

 

    I have been meditating on Genesis 5:22, "Enoch walked in [habitual fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters."  I know this is an allegory.  Enoch is compared to the end-time "raptured" church.  Just think, we need to be a people that walk in habitual fellowship.  Let's look at these words, habitual and fellowship.  First, we must understand that Enoch didn't become a recluse in order
to walk in habitual fellowship.  He did not stop having relationship
with others [for he had more sons and daughters, that takes
relationship].  He ended up spending the majority of his time with the
One whose company he enjoyed the most.  Habitual means acquired by custom or frequent repetition of the same act; formed by repeated impressions; rendered permanent by continued action or use; made familiar by
frequent practice.

    Before I was a christian, I use to smoke cigarettes,
take drugs and curse like it was an official language.  I practiced
these things just by frequent use and continued acts.  After the
initial start of them, I just did them everyday.  It wasn't anything
that I had to give to much thought to after awhile.  It became as
natural as breathing.  You know you don't have to go around saying to
yourself, don't forget to breathe (unless, you have a illness).  Well,
by repeating the same action over and over again, day in and day out,
it becomes a habitual practice.  Cursing spilled out as if I had stayed
up all night trying to put those vulgar words together, but I hadn't.  I
perfected it by frequent use.

    Keeping that in mind, think about our relationship with God the same way.  In the beginning when you first became a Christian, you had to start reading your Bible and initiate prayer and worship
unto God.  You were starting a fresh new habit.  After awhile of being in
frequent practice and continued use, it should be natural for you to
pray, read your Bible and worship God.  Practicing the presence of God, walking and talking with Him all day long, living a life of prayer and worship should become a habit.  God is soooo
good and His company is sweet.  It's so simple that we often try to make
it difficult with all of our man-made rules.  In the end they frustrate
the purpose of God and we end up with religion and not relationship.  Do
you time your conversation with a close friend?  Do you talk only once a
day to your child, your mate, your buddy?  It becomes a duty instead of
developing a Godly habit.  No, I talk to my daughter about three or four
times a day, I do the same with my closest friend and my husband.  I
have never timed our conversations.  And if it wasn't for my cell phone
that does time my phone calls, I would never know how long I've been on the phone.  Why?  Usually, I enjoy our talks!  When was the last time you just
enjoyed talking to God?  So, the first thing we have to do is stop
putting God on a time-clock.  Second thing, just lean back and let 'er
rip, enjoy God.  He is the One who started relationships after all.  I
imagine He knows how to form a good habit
with you also.  He's quite entertaining, gifted, knowledgeable, unique
and incredible in His ability to make you feel comfortable around Him.  I really like Him, as well as love Him.

    I believe that is what Enoch discovered.  That God was so
awe-inspiring, so positive and just plain likable.  Enoch couldn't get
enough of God.  That brings us to the next word, fellowship.  Fellowship means companionship, familiar company, a state of being together, intimate familiarity, frequency of intercourse – [connection; communication
or exchange; a passing between].  This fellowship is developed by frequent
use or continual acts of simply talking to God.  God is so awesome, just
think, He can converse in any language, so He is accessible to everyone. 
He made us, so He knows all about why we are the way we are and He
knows how to straighten out the crooked places in us.  Yet He wants us
to get to know Him and hang around Him.  He knows the issues of all of
mankind, the roots of them, and how to get rid of the roots.  Who else
knows all that about you, and still wants to be intimate with you?  If
most people knew everything about you (even your thoughts), you would
be by yourself.

    Yes, we must become a generation of Enoch's.  The only way is to let the love of God teach you the way to "walk in habitual fellowship" with
God.  He is coming for those who are so in love with Him that they can't
get enough of Him.  Right where you are, forgive yourself for trying to
do it man's way, now let Holy Spirit show you the way.  You will delight to walk all day in the presence of God, that's habitual fellowship.  It will be said of all of us, "and they were not, for God took them home with Him."

 

Love,

Pastor D.