Click the File Folder to Download Your PDF
OR Read Online Below
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
As we continue to look at the Highest Form of Worship, we see that fellowship with God means that mutual interest exists: God is interested in me and I am interested in God. Many are burdened when fellowship with God and Occupation with Christ are mentioned. That I may be interested in God is understandable; however, how can God be interested in me? Look at PSA 8:3-4: When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Fellowship with God means that God is interested in your being, in your spiritual life, in your mental ability, and in your physical needs. Our Lord said in MAT 6:25: “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?” There is no part of our life in which God is not interested!
Now, the other side of the coin is that you should be interested in the things of God, in His Present Enterprises and in His Ultimate Ends and Goals. Your friendship and fellowship with God and Occupation with the Person of Christ demand that your eyes are upon that goal. Partnership also means mutual devotion. God's Resources are all at our disposal and we have a mutual fellowship and friendship. Your responsibility in the partnership or friendship is that your resources ought to be at His Disposal, for true friendship is not a one-way street. How often we settle down in our own wisdom and neglect asking for His and all the while, He is waiting to give: But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (JAM 1:5) Why doesn't God accomplish His Purpose in the world, and put an end to all the things that agitate and perplex us? The Long-Suffering of God is His Patience. Omnipotence is never in a hurry. Omniscience is right on time. Omnipresence is right there with us.
We will look back over our own lives and see how many times He slowed down and stayed with us at our pace, waiting, always waiting. We have all kept Him waiting when we shouldn’t have; but He has waited, even then. If God accommodates us in gentleness, He enables us to rise to new activity with Him, in almost overwhelming power.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. (2CO 2:14) God leads us everywhere in triumph. Silence is the final proof of friendship along with contentment in silence. A true friend is one you can sit with and say nothing. God doesn’t always speak to us when we want Him to. God's truest friends are those to whom God is often silent with. Our fellowship with God and occupation with the Person of Christ will present times of silence; so, if we are driven to silence, we don't have to be afraid: Your soul [waits] in silence for God only; From Him is your salvation. (PSA 62:5-7)
It is the waiting that wears the heart. When there is no song, no psalm, no ecstasy; no joy, His Friendship will bear the strain. God wants us to be such friends that we can bear the strain of silence and the great test of quietness. But, we need to practice our fellowship. He wants to talk to us of His own secrets, of the meaning of our life, and the direction He would have us go. One of the greatest problems in the present day is that we do not take time to listen. Has it ever occurred to you that God is often disappointed that we are so busy doing things for Him, that we don’t have time to talk to Him? God is not interested in your performance. When it comes to true friendship and fellowship, performance is to be the result of the proper motivation from the heart – not because of obligation.
There comes a time in the life of every believer when he or she must go it alone in silence. You're going to have that experience from time to time to see if the doctrine is resident in your soul. God never lets you go it alone unless you've been exposed to the doctrine. Sooner or later you are going to have to face the test of the silence of God and you need to recall that He is your True Friend! There are times in life when all the closed doors in your life will reveal the Silence of God. Then you must make your own decisions and go it alone, relying on His Word. It is a part of His plan for your life.
Now let’s look at Occupation with Christ — the foundation for the Christian life and the highest form of worship. It is also the basis by which the mature believer contributes to national blessing: “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.” (DEU 30:15-16)
Occupation with Christ produces combat courage and victory in battle. And it is the basis for preservation in testing: O love the Lord, all you His godly ones! The Lord preserves the faithful And fully recompenses the proud doer. Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord. (PSA 31:23-24)
Occupation with Christ is the only way you can handle the problems of marriage, romance, friendship, business, profession, or job and it is the basis of stability and great happiness: I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. (PSA 16:8-9)
Occupation with Christ results in supergrace escrow blessings — the greatest of all blessings. It is also the basis for strength under pressure. If your eye is on God, the pressure will disappear (or at least be bearable!) Occupation with Christ in maturity becomes the means of great decisions and great dynamics in history. It is also allows us to avoid soul fatigue: For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. (HEB 12:3) Occupation with Christ is mandated by God; it is not an option. If you are going to execute His plan for your life, you must come to the point of Occupation with Christ.