Costly Fellowship

My child, I know that in the past you have been wounded by those that you have journeyed alongside. You have borne the weight of fractured relationships, hurt and betrayal.

I see the wounds that you carry, that you have bandaged over, but that are not yet fully healed. The scars that feel raw and stretched. Remember the wounds that I bore for your sake, the stripes and scars that tore my body. I endured, so that you could be free.

So let go of the pain that is hidden, and the ache of unforgiveness. Lay them upon my scars and be healed. For I am calling you to go again. To embrace true, honest, deep and authentic relationships. For I have created you to live and love in community with others. Take your strength from my sacrifice. Lean into me as you lean into others. I will honour your obedience and bless your life with true fellowship and community. For true fellowship is costly, but you will discover such value there.

Activation:  

Sit with Holy Spirit and ask him to bring to mind any wounds that you carry from past relational hurt. Picture yourself laying these upon Jesus’ scars, and invite him to heal your wounds.

Now ask him to show you the people that he has purposefully placed in your life to become your close circle. Pray for each person, and ask the Lord to bless the depth of each relationship. 

Reach out to each of those people today – to bless them, encourage them and to connect with them in new and deeper ways.

Isaiah 53:4-5 (AMP)

‘But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, and He has carried our sorrows and pains; yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; the punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, and by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.’ 

1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIV)

‘As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’