Worship Soundtracks from RMIRiverSong on Vimeo.
• By personal fellowship
“What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and your joy may be complete]. And this is the message [the message of promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in any way]. [So] if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are [both] speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth [which the Gospel presents].” 1 John 1:3-6 AMP
The distinguishing mark of Christians is their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. If you want to stay in
fellowship with the Father, you have to walk in the light because God is light and there is no darkness in Him. Walking in the light requires walking in the Truth, walking in integrity, walking in love and walking in purity. If we sin and lie and break His commands and then say that we are in fellowship with Him, we are lying.
“I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know (recognize, be aware of, and understand) Him Who [has existed] from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have been victorious over the wicked [one]. I write to you, boys (lads), because you have come to know (recognize and be aware) of the Father.” 1 John 2:13 AMP
• By the fullness of joy in our heart
“And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” 1 John 1:4 NKJV
Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. In other words, the more of Him you have the more joy you walk in.
• By keeping His commandments
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 John 2:3-6 NKJV
Anyone who says that they know God, can prove it by the way they keep His commandments. Many people say they love Him, but in actual fact, they are doing their own thing – proving that they don’t. We should all check our own heart and judge ourselves in this area. Do we say we love Him? Are we keeping His commandments? If we truly love Him, we will be diligent to keep His commands.
“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” 1 John 3:22 NKJV
God’s blessings will be evident in our lives, when we obey the Lord’s commands and do the things that please Him! He is pleased to bless His obedient children!
• By walking even as He walked
“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 John 2:6 NKJV
If we know the Lord then we must obey Him by walking in His footsteps – doing what He did. It is not presumptuous for us to imitate Jesus; it is what He wants us to do.
• By loving one another
“He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” 1 John 2:9-11 NKJV
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the
message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.” 1 John 3:10-19 NKJV
“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” 1 John 3:23 NKJV
Don’t worry about what everybody else is doing – you do what you know is right. The world and the world’s system are opposed to the Spirit of God. The bottom line is this: if we know Him, we walk in love – if we don’t walk in love, we show that we don’t know Him at all!
