New Life in Christ

Once a person has taken that first step of faith and trusted in Christ, this is a new beginning, not an ending.  There are many practical things a new believer can do (in fact, needs to do) to ensure a healthy growth pattern.  Just as a newborn baby needs milk and loving care to grow into a healthy, mature person, so does the new believer.  You wouldn't expect a new baby to go it alone, would you?

Listed  below are some practical steps to help you as you grow in your Christian walk.  Remember, there will be good days and bad days, victories and failures.  But with God's help, we can put the past behind us and start fresh.   I John 1:9  So don't despair.

1)  Find a good Bible-believing, Bible-teaching Church.

You need the fellowship of a local church, a local body of believers, who will
    become your spiritual brothers and sisters.   Hebrews 10:25
Look for a church where the Bible is given top authority, where the Pastors and
    teachers BELIEVE the Bible.   How Important is God's Word?
Look for a church that shows loving concern for its people.  I Corinthians 12:25-26
Look for a church that is willing to take a stand against sin.  Galatians 6:1-2
Look for a Discipling Church.  II Timothy 2:1-2
Look for a church that takes the last command of our Lord Jesus very
    seriously...  The Great Commission .

2) Set aside a Daily Quiet time

Just as an earthly relationship, such as a parent/child or husband/wife, needs time alone to get to know one another, You need to learn to spend daily time in the Word and in prayer to get to know your new Heavenly Father.  He is seeking and waiting for this time with you.   John 4:23

As you read the Scriptures, you will gradually learn more and more about God.  After all, the Bible is God's Word... it alone is His plan for revealing Himself to us.  It is God-breathed, God-inspired, and God protected.  As you learn the truths in the Word of God, those truths will become your life-line to communication with Your Heavenly Father.  He will use the Scriptures to speak to you and help you make every decision you need to make.  Psalm 119:105

As you pray, you will learn how to open your heart to God... the intimacy of your relationship will grow deeper and deeper as your communication with your heavenly Father increases. Remember, it is a two-way conversation!  He will also speak to your heart as you learn to be still.   Psalm 46:10

There are several elements to prayer:
    Adoration/Worship - praising God for Who HE is and what He has done for
        us. Praise Verses
    Confession/Contrition - seeing our sin, confessing it, and forsaking it before
        God.  Confession Verses
    Thanksgiving - expressing thanks to God for everything.  Thanksgiving Verses
    Supplication/Intercession - making requests of God   Supplication Verses
             Intercession Verses

(Note that an acronym (ACTS) may help you remember the elements of prayer.)
The Psalms are a great place to start to learn how to praise God and listen to His voice.  Since there are 150 Psalms, a great way to start is to read five of them each day.  Save the long one, Psalm 119, for the 31st of the month.  Then you will read the whole book through just about every month.  It won't really take long and it will help you start each day off with the right attitude!

3) Find a Mentor/ Discipler
 
Just as you would not expect a newborn baby to survive by itself, don't expect to grow so well if you try to go it alone.  Pray for and seek out a more mature believer to help you learn your way around the Bible, to teach you how to discover the truths of the Bible, to establish you in the Word of God, to offer you Christian fellowship, to help establish you in a Bible-believing local church, and to teach you to do the Work of the Lord. Find someone who is willing to share his/her life with you so you won't make the same mistakes twice.  Paul's Example.  Look for someone who will be honest with you and be willing to correct you if you start going the wrong way.  Don't expect your discipler to be perfect, but look for someone who is striving to live the kind of life that lines up with the Bible.

The apostle Paul was a good example of a discipler.  He poured his life into the younger man, Timothy.  Two books of the New Testament are written to Timothy and we can learn a lot from what Paul tells him.  In fact, Paul taught Timothy so well that when Paul wanted to go visit the church at Corinth, he said he would send Timothy in his place.   I Corinthians 4:16-17
 

4)  Learn to Practice the "Presence of Jesus"

As you walk through each new day, you will find challenges regarding the choices you should make... should I go there?  should I watch this?  should I listen to this?  It can be very confusing to a new believer.  If you find there are certain activities that you aren't sure about whether they are good for you to do, picture in your mind the Lord Jesus right there beside you.  If He were there, would you still have a clear conscience about that activity?  that thought?  that conversation?  If not, trust your conscience!  It probably isn't good for you to continue.  If you still struggle with temptation in this area, pray for strength and wisdom.  Through an act of your will, find Scripture verses that deal with this area of temptation.  Put those verses in conspicuous places where you can meditate and begin to memorize these verses.  Memorizing Scripture is your best defense against sin.   Psalm 119:9-11
 
 

5)  Practice (OBEY!) what you learn

Remember how it was in school?  You had to learn to add and subtract before you could multiply and divide?  As you study God's word, He will teach you new things, one step at a time.  John 8:31.  Once you learn about a new truth, you should obey that truth.  If you choose to ignore it, you will impede your spiritual journey.  You must come to grips with each new truth and make the appropriate changes in your life.  Otherwise you can't take the next step down the path.  In math, you can't divide if you don't know the multiplication tables... you can't multiply if you don't understand addition and subtraction.  There are no shortcuts to living a fulfilling Christian life.  It is a step by step, day by day learning process.  Isaiah 28:9-10
 

Pitfalls to watch for:

Even though you have a new, spiritual nature now, you are also still in the same body of sin you were born with.  You still have the same mind you had before.  All the habits and patterns you have set in your past will often lead you back into the old patterns.  You will need to watch and be prepared for the draw of the world and the draw of your flesh.  As believers, we need to surrender on a DAILY basis to the Lordship of our Saviour and the sovereignty of our Heavenly Father.   Luke 9:23   We need to listen to the "still small voice" of the Holy Spirit as He guides us into all truth.  Establishing a daily quiet time with God will help you prepare for the attacks of your past sin.

Because you have a new Heavenly Father, you will still have an enemy.... the same enemy that God has.  Even though Satan may have lost you from his fold, he will still be a factor in trying to keep you from being everything you want or need to be.  He will throw you some curves along the way. Establishing yourself in the Word of God will give you the ammunition you need to face his attacks.  Remember the example of our Lord Jesus.  When tempted by Satan, Jesus, at his weakest physical condition, responded to all of Satan's tempations with the Word of God.   The Temptation of Christ   If Jesus Himself used this method, it is a great method for us to follow, isn't it?

If you have questions or comments, please  email me.   I would love to hear from you!
 
 

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