More Word to the World

Warning and Help

We will conclude with a warning. Although the Lord is thrilled you have become His child—it gave him great pleasure, and the angels and all heaven rejoiced when you got saved—and although the church is thrilled about your new live and I’m sure your pastor is doing somersaults for joy that you have moved closer to God, understand that now the devil will work overtime in attack mode against you to stop your forward progress in serving Jesus.

The scripture warns us to be watchful of his attack:

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

He will likely use people to try to discourage you and even condemn you for becoming “holier than thou”, or a “holy roller,” or a “religious fanatic.” He will also try to make you stumble into sin and discourage you to the point of wanting to turn your back on God. Just understand that if you weren’t feeling all those things, the devil wouldn’t be doing his job.

And also consider this: the Bible calls new saints, “babes in Christ”. When babies are learning to walk, they do a lot of stumbling. But eventually they learn to walk because they just keep getting up and try again. Just keep getting up.

Help

And also remember that you are not alone. In your church there is likely a group of people who will dedicate hours praying for your success. They care for you and you can probably call someone at any time. You are now part of a family and as such, there is genuine care for one another. Welcome to the family!

Consistent Church Attendance

The three basic nutrients of a successful Christian are prayer, Bible reading, and consistent church attendance. You won’t be successful in your new life if you are a CEO Christian: Christmas and Easter only. You won’t be successful as a Christian if you are only a 9-1-1 Christian, only coming to God when your life is in a crisis.

You may have thought that once a week church attendance was ok. What would it be like if you only ate a meal one time a week? You would surely grow weak. One means of building your spiritual strength is to be at the house of God every time the church doors are open. Maybe it’s just the janitor’s cleaning day, but you will be blessed in cleaning toilets and vacuuming at the church. If it is Bible study night, you will be blessed to be there. If it is an outreach effort, you will be blessed to be there.

In the Old Testament, God told Moses that when they came to the land of promise, there would be a place of gathering for worship. God commanded the people to gather there for worship:

Deut 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come :

When the early church had was in its infancy, they were gathering daily (Acts 2:42-47). As the days progress closer and closer to the coming of the Lord, we need to make certain that we are faithful to God’s house:

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

In the church we have opportunities to pray together, to worship together, to hear each other’s testimonies, to hear preaching, and to fellowship with one another.

1 Thess 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Be faithful to assemble with God’s people. It is an essential ingredient to your spiritual success.

Daily Bible reading
We are talking about the three essential nutrients for a successful spiritual life. The first that we discussed last time was prayer. Today we introduce the second essential nutrient for the successful and victorious Christian walk: The Bible. It is the food that your soul requires to survive.

You may never hear God’s audible voice speak with you, but when you have the Holy Ghost on the inside, and the Holy Ghost is the author of the Bible, and you open up the Bible to read, God will make this several thousand year old Book come alive as if it was written today.

This Book is your key to success:

Psalms 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

We can cleanse our way and find direction all in the Word of God. When we read the Word and meditate on it, we are putting it in our heart. And that contributes to our success as a new Christian:

Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Bible reading charts are available to help you keep track of your daily Bible reading (check out the BREAD program). There are charts that can step you through reading the Bible through every year with only 15 or 20 minutes of reading per day. But even without a chart, you should start with one of the gospels–I recommend Luke–then read the Book of Acts. These make an excellent two-volume introduction to the life of Jesus and the church He created.

At a minimum, read at least one chapter of the Bible every day. Set aside time in each day for prayer and reading the Bible.

Three Basic Nutrients
Now that you are in a new family and are a child of God, your life will become different.However, you can not just slip back into your old routines while waiting on God to speak to you in an audible voice about your next steps. There are three basic nutrients that you must have in your diet in order for you to develop spiritual strength: daily prayer; daily Bible reading and consistent church attendance.

Daily Prayer
Prayer is simply a conversation with God. You know that the success of developing a relationship depends on regular communication. If you want to have a happy marriage, you must learn to communicate on a regular basis. Your marriage is doomed to either failure or bondage if you don’t learn to have open and honest communication with your spouse. The success of your new relationship with God likewise depends on regular communication.

If you don’t know how to pray, the best example of how to pray is the pattern that Jesus provided in Matthew 6:9-13. It is know as “the Lord’s prayer” but it is more a guide for how we are to pray.

Matthew 6:9-13
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Notice that Jesus didn’t say to recite these words, but to pray after this manner. Use it as a pattern. (Click here for a Prayer Card that I developed as a guide in my daily prayer.) But in the beginning, don’t get bogged down by a pattern.Prayer is talking to God. Whatever pattern you use, whatever time you use it, just be faithful to do it daily.

*Prayer Postions*
Three preachers sat discussing the best positions for prayer, while a telephone repairman worked nearby.
“Kneeling is definitely best,” claimed one.
“No,” another contended. “I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven.”
“You’re both wrong,” the third insisted. “The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate, face down on the floor.”
The repairman could contain himself no longer.
“Hey, fellas,” he interrupted, “the best prayin’ I ever did was hangin’ upside down from a telephone pole.”

The best kind of praying is that which connects you to God. The secret to effective praying is two words: “do it”

How long should I pray?
Start with 5 minutes, then move to 10. Move it on up as you learn how to open your heart to God. You can talk with your best friend for an hour and you wonder where the time went. You will find that as you develop this relationship, Jesus will be your new best Friend.

New nature through the Holy Ghost

Think about the way you lived, habits, lifestyle, etc., before you came to Jesus. For most of us, we were nothing like Jesus. So do you wonder how you can change? How can you be different? How can you live like a Christian? How can you quit your filthy habits?

One of the added benefits of having the Holy Ghost is having power to be different:

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Your life may have previously only demonstrated wickedness, immorality and iniquity, but because you now have the Holy Ghost, the power of the Holy Ghost will make your life a witness to and for Jesus. Your new powerful life will cause people to say, “Hey, what’s changed about you? You’re different.”

You can joyfully answer, “Jesus has entered my life and is changing me from the inside out.” We sing a song that goes like this:

Jesus on the inside
Working on the outside
Oh, what a change in my life.

You will be a witness unto Him as that power of God living in you starts working through you. The power that God put inside of you is making you into something different than you were. You are God’s child and are starting to look and act like Him.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

And rather than being driven by a pursuit of the shallow thrills of one party, orgy, or high after the next, you are now led by the Spirit of God in you:

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

New authority – the Lordship of Jesus Christ

Here is some more help for you on your journey in your new life. It is important to know that as you break away from your old life that you are now no longer controlled by our old sinful habits or even the devil. Drugs, bad temper, uncontrolled lusts, and other things may have had a controlling influencing on your life before, but the stronghold that the devil had on you, “he ain’t got no more.” Jesus said,

Matthew 28:18 … All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

And he gave some of that power to His born again children to use over the devil. Listen to Jesus tell a story that He must have had fun retelling:

Luke 10:18-19
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

You no longer are under the command and authority of the devil. But get this…he is now under your authority. Jesus is your new boss. When the devil bugs you, you can say it like Jesus did: “Get behind me satan.”

A new beginning
Now that you have been born again, you have been given a new beginning by Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Because old things are passed away, you need to know that your old sinful life is dead and buried. The devil always tries to drag up your past but you have been given a new lease on life by Jesus Christ, and He’s the boss. Even the devil has to bow down to Jesus Christ.And the good news is that he even has to run for cover from us when we come at him in Jesus’ name:

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Your new birth is a holy thing. Your first birth was natural and could have even been surrounded by sinfulness. But your were born again according to God’s eternal and holy Word:
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

We move on from the topic of, “How to find God” to discuss where to go from there after you HAVE found God. Let’s talk for a while on the topic, “Your New Life.” Now that you have been baptized in the name of Jesus and have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, you have found a new life.

What just happened to you? What happened to you is part of the experience that prepares you for heaven. Jesus said a person had to be born again to go to heaven:

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Jesus spoke of the “kingdom of God” and the “kingdom of heaven” which are phrases that refer to the church and to heaven. To go to heaven, you must be born again. The phrase, “born again” has been made popular by religious people but what does it mean?

Let’s answer it by asking a related question, How can I get into God’s church? Or how can I go to heaven? It is answered by Jesus in John 3:5.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Being born again has two parts to it: being born of the water (water baptism) and being born of the Spirit (receiving the Holy Ghost). That happened for the first time in Acts 2 and is still happening today. It happened to some of you recently. If you were baptized in water in the name of Jesus, then you have been born of the water. If you have received the gift of the Holy Ghost (the immediate evidence of that happening is speaking in an unknown tongue), then you have been born of the Spirit.If you are lacking one of these, remember, you must find both in order to be saved. If you have been born of water and of the Spirit, then you have been born again according to the scriptures.