We were near on empty. Wondering what God was doing, where He was leading,  and trying to make sense of the valley that we found ourselves in. At the time we were camped on the bank of a river with other Christians from various places around Australia.

It was here that God showed us very clearly the importance of communing with Him as a family. 260 of us from different walks of life shared in communion that day together. As the bread and the juice was passed from one to another there was a sweetness in our hearts. We knew that we were God’s children, welcome at His table and we were, together, one in Christ.

There’s many views and opinions about communion / breaking of bread – how it should be done, where it should be done, who should take it, who should lead it. This blog entry isn’t about discussing those things.

To commune is to ‘share one’s intimate thoughts or feelings with (someone), especially on a spiritual level’. (Google)

So it kind of makes sense that if our walk with the Lord is going to be intimate and the relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden is going to be restored through Christ, that we commune with Him. – however that may be.

Say what?

I’ve heard someone talk before about the frequency communion is held at Church. The guy asked another guy, “So, do you limit the frequency of intimate relations with your wife to keep it special?” …. After the initial ‘wow’ factor, I’ve pondered that question and there is actually a very real truth that we would do well to learn from. Because ultimately, the more often it is done, communing with each other, the way God intended, the more special it becomes and the deeper our relationship grows. It is how God made it.

Spurgeon had this to say,

“So with the Lord’s Supper. My witness is, and I think I speak the mind of many of God’s people now present, that coming as some of us do, weekly, to the Lord’s table, we do not find the breaking of bread to have lost its significance—it is always fresh to us. I have often remarked on Lord’s-day evening, whatever the subject may have been, whether Sinai has thundered over our heads, or the plaintive notes of Calvary have pierced our hearts, it always seems equally appropriate to come to the breaking of bread. Shame on the Christian church that she should put it off to once a month, and mar the first day of the week by depriving it of its glory in the meeting together for fellowship and breaking of bread, and showing forth of the death of Christ till he come. They who once know the sweetness of each Lord’s-day celebrating his Supper, will not be content, I am sure, to put it off to less frequent seasons. Beloved, when the Holy Ghost is with us, ordinances are wells to the Christian, wells of rich comfort and of near communion.”
Charles Spurgeon “Songs of Deliverance,” Sermon no. 763, July 28, 1867, preaching from Judges 5:11. http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0763.htm.

When difficulties in life hit our marriage and family, God in all His wisdom gives us the opportunity to commune with Him. To hand over the burdens we bear, to Him. To soak in the greatness of His mercy and grace made available at Calvary. We don’t have to wait till Sunday, we can commune with Him whenever.

Satan tries to tell us it’s pointless, Did God really say….? – but we must remember the exceeding joy that is found at the cross because of Christ. The battle is real…

We find out we have no money in the account for the week – do we commune? or do we Postpone it, believing Satans lies.

We find out we have a terminal illness – do we commune and seek God’s way forward together or do we seek and pursue our own solutions and attempts to find peace?

We wrestle with a sin in our life that seems overwhelming, rarely experiencing victory and freedom – do we commune at the cross or do we keep fighting in our own feeble strength.

1. Even in the shadows of life, we can find peace when we are dwelling in the shadow of the Almighty. Always.

I know what Satan wants us to do. He doesn’t want us resting in the freedom of forgiveness, joy and peace found at the cross. He wants us to succeed at failing over and over again, eventually being overwhelmed in distance and lack of intimacy with our Heavenly Father. Instead of forgetting the former things (Isaiah 43:18-19) and pressing on (Philippians 3:14) to what’s ahead, he reminds us of the former things and hinders us from pressing on.

As a family…

It’s probably more common for us to hear about communion being held in the Church, often in the form of breaking bread and drinking red drink of some kind. But it was here on the banks of the Gregory river that God impressed on my heart to commune with Him, with other Christians, alone, as a couple and also as a family more often.

Break bread together. Remember Jesus together. Remember the cross and the empty tomb. Remember the freedom that was purchased for us on the cruel cross at Calvary.

So we started doing this – to begin with, as a family, it was scheduled. Each Sunday morning it was one of the first things we would do together. The kids would share their intimate thoughts of the cross and what it meant for them, they would share God’s word and truths they had been learning. It was good. It is good.

As a couple…

Remember the warnings in Youth Group about praying together alone with your boyfriend or girlfriend? yeh well, this is why it’s important as a couple to pray together regularly and commune with Him together regularly. Because it is good for your relationship together and your relationship with Him.

Break bread together. Remember Jesus together. Remember the cross and the empty tomb. Remember the freedom that was purchased for us on the cruel cross at Calvary. Consider together what this means for your marriage, how you treat each other and bring Jesus to the centre of your relationship.

God led us to start doing this together as a couple more often. It’s non-liturgical. It has been the best balm for our times of broken-heartedness, and it’s been a beautiful way to celebrate God’s blessings to us and answers to prayer.

Communing with Him helps to keep God’s Voice of Truth in focus. It gives clarity. It contrasts falsehood and fuels your ability to discern rightly. We have to work hard not to get hung up on the ‘hows’ of communion.

Much love,

Erin