Godly Communication

A relationship is only as good as the communication that maintains it. It matters not if the relationship is with a colleague at work, a schoolmate, a neighbor, a relative, a friend, a loved one, a spouse, or one’s children. Each relationship is defined by its communication. If the communication does not exist, neither does the relationship!

     The same applies in our relationship with God. Without prayer to open and close the day, and without sharing with God all the events as the day progresses, there is no relationship with Him, and little value in the events of the day. Soon we pass through the day alone, with little attention to what is happening, until suddenly we realize we are out of touch with God. That is not what He wants for us. Let us not live below what God wants us to experience with Him each day.

     King David was a man in close relationship with God. God defined him as a man after His own heart. David had close and frequent communication with God as is shown in the number of Psalms he wrote in praise of God in his life. God and David had a relationship.

     Still, David also went through a short period of being separated from God. In his experiences with Bathsheba and Uriah, David seemed to go through them distracted from his relationship with God and lost in the emotions of the moment. But after Nathan made clear to David what he had done and how greatly he had sinned against God, David’s reason returned to him, and he became aware of the separation between God and himself. He writes of this in Psalm 51:

     “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. … my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. …… Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by your generous Spirit.”

     David reviews and admits his sin, and in the last words admits also his awareness of the separation that has come between himself and God. This takes his full attention as he pleads strongly for it to end.

     We see his joyful thankfulness in Psalm 32; “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered…When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah…Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” David’s rejoicing with God was again the center of his life. His lost relationship was reestablished. He and God were one again!

     It’s possible for each of us to slide into a broken relationship with God. We just become more and more involved with other things that distract us, which can even include high levels of activity with or for brethren, and suddenly we find we are no longer as close to God as we once were. If we had and lost a very close relationship with God, when we do wake up to it, the amount of loss should send us quickly back to him, to correct all wrongs and again establish the warmth and joy we had previously. If our relationship was not so close, but was more occasional or casual, then even when we wake up to the loss, we will not be as strongly motivated to return to Him.

     Prayer is the most basic communication with God and with Christ. But we need to communicate ALL things that occur in our daily lives so that in sharing more fully, we also have a much fuller relationship. We need to include the failings we have, the joys we have, the trials we have, and even the providences that separate us from others.

     With God and with Christ, there are no providences that can separate us from them (Rom. 8:38, 39). It is only we who move away from them! So it is necessary to keep God and Christ involved in all our events of each day and thus always be growing in a closer relationship with Them; one that will always draw us more quickly back, should we at anytime become separated from Them. Our road to sanctification and eternal life lies only in remaining very close to Them. Let us perfect our relationship with a more perfect communication and not walk away from Them!

     “All in the universe can’t keep me from the love of God!
He empowers me to overcome ALL things and stay close by!
And yet I can be kept apart in a way that’s very odd!
By my three deceitful, closest friends, Me, Myself and I.”

     Yes, I am always the only guilty one in any separation from God! But what about with brethren, family, friends, colleagues, enemies? What need be my relationship with them? We look at a few scriptures.

     Matt. 18:15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” If I see my brother do some wrong to me, I have the responsibility to go and try to regain my brother.

     Matt. 5:23, 24 “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” If I realize I’ve done a wrong, I have a responsibility to go to try to regain my brother.

     In these two examples we see it is not WHO is guilty that has the first responsibility, but rather whoever is the first to recognize the problem! The one the Lord permits to see the wrong, is the one to whom He gives the responsibility to go and address it, and try in every possible way to correct it. (See Galatians 6:1, 2)

     What about the extreme example of our enemies? Again we read in scripture Matt. 5:44-48 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

     Agape love requires that we do God’s perfect will for everyone, including those who we may call enemies. We may not like them, we may not agree with them, but we have to try to do God’s best will for them, and this always includes making clear to them our position versus theirs, while letting them know we are trying to encourage them in their Christian living. This requires communication!

     Rom 12:20 “Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him drink, for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." (You’ll awaken his conscience to higher principles).

     We can only do the will of God by communicating, with ALL peoples in our providence. Remember 1 Jn. 4:20, and Rom. 14:4. God chooses His children, not we. We serve them, the world and His enemies according to His will. We communicate God’s will to ALL, in clear and kind tones that we might be His ambassador to ALL. Communicate with all, for your sake, and to maintain God’s friendship! Heb. 13:16 “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

J. Knapp © CDMI

Speak, Lord, in the Stillness

Speak, Lord, in the stillness, while I wait on Thee;
Hushed my heart to listen, in expectancy.
Speak, O blessed Master, in this quiet hour;
Let me see Thy face, Lord, feel Thy touch of power.
For the words Thou speakest, they are life indeed;
Living Bread from heaven, now my spirit feed!
All to Thee is yielded, I am not my own!
Blissful, glad surrender I am Thine alone!
Fill me with the knowledge of Thy glorious will;
All Your own good pleasure in Thy child fulfill.
Like a watered garden full of fragrance rare,
Lingering in Thy presence, let my life appear.

E. May Grimes