Alright, let me be the first one to say that I have not always been one who enjoys fellowship. In fact, I could say, besides being around my wife, children, and grandchildren, I was pretty much a loner. Sure, I had people I was acquainted with and sometimes hung out with, but really other than that, I was a lone wolf. Now I am sure some of you are quoting this scripture out loud or in your head, Hebrews 10:24-25;

²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Let’s look at verse 24 for a moment. I love “And let us STIR up one another to LOVE and good works.” One of the reasons we are to come together is not just for church on Sunday morning, but also because we need to be stirred up during the week. We need our fellow brothers and sisters to STIR us so that we know what the love and heart of Jesus is. He shows us through His bride, and His bride is US! Some of you who may read this have that lone-wolf mentality. You may really believe that you can only accomplish the works of God on your own. No one else understands you, right? Only God really gets you, am I right? I am going to say this as nicely as I can, and with as much love as I can put into words..ready? You are allowing yourself to be deceived by the enemy and allowing yourself to succumb to his lies if you believe for one minute that anyone is a one-man army. You cannot, and will not, accomplish your true destiny in the Lord unless you come alongside other believers to accomplish the will of the Father. Those of us who do this have an Old Testament mentality, while prostituting New Testament grace. What does that mean?

In the Old Testament God would use individual men and women to accomplish whatever mission He had. The people were scattered and prone to the worship of idols on their own. God was distant from them because of the sin in their lives, and because of that sin God could not see them, it was only by His divine and Holy Spirit could He see man in the Old Testament. There were times when God would, through the power of the Holy Spirit, meet face to face with man, i.e. Moses. Or God would communicate through His angelic messengers much like He did with Daniel. God would choose men and women whose hearts were turned towards His, and their desires were His desires, even from their birth. Joseph, Samuel, and Daniel are a few examples. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention David, who had a heart after God’s own. That isn’t to say that they were “prepared” when called, for God knows the heart of men, and sees the wickedness it could achieve. So God has to teach us and fill us with His wisdom, so that when we turn, much like King Saul, we have a new heart.

1 Sam 13:14 ^“But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

Now though we have the gift of salvation and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is only because of that shed blood, that now, the Father can look upon His people, and gather them to Himself. It’s the only way God can see us, is by the very blood that Jesus shed upon the cross. Without the blood of Jesus, we are far from God because God cannot look upon sin. It is because we are covered in the blood of He who is without sin, that the Father can now look upon us. Acceptance of Jesus as our Savior is more than just entering into the kingdom of Heaven, it’s also about being in a relationship with our heavenly Father and acknowledging that Jesus is Lord over all. See though here is the kicker in all this, Jesus came and is now, preparing His bride for His coming, the bride being the body of believers who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior. Romans 10:8-9

⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

We are all joined by the blood, therefore we are joined together as the bride. We cannot possibly function effectively apart from the rest of the bride, since we are joined in the spirit by the blood of Jesus. We are not to be alone in this fight, we are not be subject to the trials of this world as individuals, but as joint heirs, Romans 8:17 speaks specifically on this,

¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

The enemy wants you to believe that you can do this on your own. You can’t. The enemy wants you to isolate yourself from the body, you should not. The enemy wants you to be ineffective in your calling, I beg you not to listen. Trust me from one who knows, has been there, and has bought the t-shirt. Being alone in the body of Christ is a surefire way of allowing the enemy a foothold in your life. You have no accountability, you have no support system and you have no one to encourage you. Yes, you can say Jesus can do all that, and He can. He does it through His bride; when you separate yourself from the bride, you separate yourself from Him. We are not to walk this earthly world alone, I am learning this anew every day.