Now That I Have Already Trusted Christ As My Saviour What Next
You just made the greatest decision of your life. You are at the beginning of a new relationship with God that is possible because of Jesus Christ. As with any relationship, your relationship with God will grow stronger and deeper by talking and walking with Him each day. As you learn more about the Lord you will grow to love and trust Him more. Along life’s journey you will also come to a better understanding of how Jesus is significant to the details of your life. Your relationship will strengthen also as you see God's faithfulness in situations in your life, particularly situations that you have turned over to Him in prayer. God wants you to know that because of your faith, Christ actually lives in you and has given you a new life. God wants you to see the purpose of Christ in all issues in your life. Through Christ, the Father has given you an inexhaustible source of peace, joy, contentment, and power and has equipped you to be a great blessing to other people. The Lord wants you to put your complete trust in Him along life’s journey. This ride with Him will be the most awesome ride one can ever experience. It will be unpredictable and sometimes rough, but He will carry you through it all. Every person you encounter along life’s highway will be affected by God's love and power.
So what's the next step? Just as you have trusted Christ by faith for forgiveness of sin, trust Him day by day with all issues of your life. Paul said in Colossians 2:6-7, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Paul is saying that just as you received Christ Jesus by faith, live everyday by faith. Since you chose to trust the Lord with your soul, trust in Him with the details of life, letting Him have His way with you. Then your life will be a great adventure.
The Lord never wants you to feel burdened by your relationship with Him. God does not intend for the Christian life to be a burdensome set of rules, regulations, or rituals to follow. What's more, trying in our human strength to be good person does not work. Nobody can live according to the Bible except Jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, God does not want you to try your hardest to be good; He wants you to let Jesus Christ be good through you. God does not want you to strain and struggle trying to get bad thoughts out of your mind; He wants you to ask Christ to control your mind and fill your mind with His Word, the Bible. God does not want you to try real hard to change; He wants you to open yourself up to Christ, asking Him to transform you and live through you. In short, the Christian life is not about our trying to be good for God; it's about Christ being good through us.
Therefore, just as you have trusted Christ for forgiveness of sin, you need also to trust Him to guide you, change you, and live through you. This requires solely one’s faith in Christ. Faith is a gift from God, not a fruit of our effort. However, God responds to those who seek Him. He builds our faith by revealing who He is, unveiling truth from the Bible, and showing His faithfulness in difficult situations.
God intends that all His children grow in their Christian life. This involves steps one must take after being saved in order to grow stronger in the Lord. I Peter 2:2-3, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
1. Read the Bible and Pray Continuously
I’m convinced the Bible is the greatest book that has ever been written. Its message is so simple it can be summed up in a few verses. Yet at the same time, it is a book of so much depth that one can study it extensively for a lifetime and never ever come close to fathoming all of its truths. This first step is the most significant since it will begin to replace vain thoughts with godly thoughts in your mind on a daily basis, by allowing the mind of Christ to be transformed in you (Philippians 2:5; Romans 12:1-2). One should never be intimidated to study the Bible. One astounding truth about the Bible is that it is not meant just for scholars but for all mankind. One must rely on the Holy Spirit to teach the Bible along with a desire to know God and the humility to acknowledge the need of the Holy Spirit to teach you. God is eager to teach those who want to learn. He will reveal His attributes, power, truth, and love to you. He wants you to understand who Christ is, with all His power and glory, and what it means for you to be in Him. Prayer is talking to God just as you would talk to another great and intimate friend, but with reverence. Communication is crucially important in your new relationship with God, just as it is in marriage and other relationships. Praying and reading the Bible go hand in hand. We speak to God through praying, God speaks to us through His Word. We communicate with God primarily by prayer and reading the Bible. We talk to God through prayer. God speaks to us primarily by His written Word, the Bible. We can also listen to God in prayer, trusting God to direct our minds as we express our desire to understand His worth, His ways, and His will. Therefore, if you do not pray and read the Bible, your fellowship with God will weaken, just as your relationship with your spouse or a friend will grow weaker and weaker without communication. Don't be deceived into thinking that prayer is difficult, it isn't. Also, don’t be deceived into thinking that you are too spiritually "dirty" or weak to come to God in prayer. Instead of trying to clean up your mind and become spiritually fit before approaching God (which doesn't work), simply come to God in prayer, trusting Him for the power and strength for effective prayer. We can come confidently before God, not because of our righteousness, but because of Christ's righteousness which has been appropriated to us. If you are daily reading Gods Word and praying, seeking Him, you will never have to worry about finding God will for your life. He will reveal it to you have you commune with Him.
2. Become a faithful member of a Bible Believing church
Our finite minds could never understand just how much God wants to be with each of us. Although God has unlimited power and has no need for us, He chooses to use us for His glory. He wants to be with us much like a child wants to spend time with his parents. He delights in revealing His truth and love to the person who spends time with Him. God designed all people to depend on Him. No person functions properly apart from fellowship with God through Christ. It is sin to try to live apart from God in self-sufficiency and independence. God has also designed Christians to be dependent on one another. We are to help each other understand Biblical truth, counsel one another regarding situations in life, encourage one another, hold one another accountable, and work together in meeting physical and financial needs. The Apostle Paul compared the Church (all those who have entrusted their lives to Christ) to a body, in that each Christian is a body part dependent on other body parts to function properly. Christ is the head--we are all dependent on Him. He supplies the wisdom, power, and guidance. The body can accomplish miraculous works when each part is working together properly. And the only way for each part to work together properly is to be guided by the same Head, Jesus Christ. Only by abiding in Christ, led by the Spirit, can we bear fruit. (I Corinthians 12:7, 11-20) It is vitally important in your relationship with God to spend time with other Christians. This is just one of many reasons why church is important. You don't have to take a class on how to study the Bible before doing it. And you don’t have to read a “how-to” book. Just start now. Begin today, by reading from the book of John and the Psalms. Challenge yourself to read a proverb a day for wisdom and instruction. However, I do find it very helpful to join a small group Bible study. Consider becoming involved in a group that studies and discusses the Bible together. God's desire is that we grow in the knowledge of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. Find your place in your church's Sunday School class and be faithful to it. If your church has a discipleship program or a Bible institute prayerfully consider attending the class. Pray right now. Ask God to lead you to the church that's best for you and to Bible studies and other Christian activities in which He wants you to be involved. For most new Christians, the first step is to go to church. Attend church this Sunday. Perhaps visit other churches over subsequent Sundays until you are confident that you have found the one that God wants you to join. God will lead you to the one you ought to join. This simple act is one of the clearest means of increasing your faith, and tells God you are serious about serving Him. God has promised to meet your every need as you obey by giving to Him your time, your abilities, and your money. Your giving should be done Scripturally. Give through your local church. You can easily monitor what is done with your gifts.
3. Generously use your spiritual gifts for the Lord’s work
It is my desire to help believers identify and to become knowledgable about their spiritual gifts. Realizing and exercising the full potential of their spiritual gifts for the Kingdom. For one to know their gift or gifts is not enough. Each one of us have a responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to use us regardless of the time, place, or situation. Paul’s prayer was for the church to be strengthened. The relationship amongst believers in the local church will be strengthened with greater love, fellowship, and unity. May you use the gift that God has given you and, with it, build up your local church. There is one body with many members & with many gifts. So it is in the body of Christ. Alone there are many things that we are not able to do, but when we work together we are able to do the job. God knows what is best for His church. Our spiritual gifts are presented to us in Ephesians 4:7-16; Romans 12; I Corinthians 12. This gift is not something you acquired on your own. God gave it for His purposes. Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities for ministering effectively to others and is an important need in today's church. Those who have been entrusted with more than one spiritual gifs must not forget their responsibility Luke 12:48. Every believer has at least one spiritual gift. The Lord has both blessed and entrusted each believer with at least one gift through the Holy Spirit to help the church function smoothly, properly, with it fullest potential. God wants every believer to put their gift to use for the benefit of others. (I Peter 4:10). Unfortunately, many members have no idea what their gifts are, let alone are putting them into service. Spiritual gifts are not limited to a few select members. The Holy Spirit intends for each believer to exercise their gifts to the fullest potential. Some are very public while others are just as important but behind the scenes. When believers discover their spiritual gifts, accept their position, and begin to operate within them, local churches will be edified. It brings a maturity that enables the Church to fulfill its Biblical purpose. Anytime one tries to operate on their own strengths and talents causes their energy to be drained from them, leaving them tired and exhausted. On the other hand, when one performs in their spiritual gift, energizes them, invigorating them as they begin to understand God's purpose and desire for them. As you begin to understand the gifts will give you a greater understanding of the potential that you have, as well as helping you identify your individual strengths and weaknesses. You will begin to understand in a deeper way why God created you. Your love of your Father will go to a deeper level as you begin to see more clearly His love and destiny for you. in a whole new way, you will see yourself differently a child of the Most High God.
4. Find and Fulfil God’s Will for your life
Do you want to know what God's will is for your life? He wants you to know it even more. Discerning His will is not a game of hide-and-seek. It is not some kind of Easter egg hunt where God camouflages His will and we have to try and find where it is hidden. God never hides His will. So why do we struggle with knowing what God's will is? I find that most Christians struggle with God's will. I find that most Christians struggle with God's will. More of a problem than our finding God's will is our settling that God's will is what we want. We have a will also. And when God's will and our will don't match, a decision must be made. We must answer the question: "Who is Lord of this area of my life?" It doesn't matter what I teach, what I profess, or what I believe intellectually. If I choose my will over God's in any particular area, then Christ is not Lord in that area—self is. What I have seen everywhere is that choosing to do God's will trips people up far more frequently than an inability to find it. That is where I struggle also. What about you? I’m convinced that God will reveal His will to us. But we have to interpret what they mean, and then choose to follow them. We need to know how God speaks, and we need to know how to hear what He is saying. We need to know how God speaks His will to us through a relationship with Him—prayer, faith, waiting, surrender, studying the Scriptures, etc. How God speaks and how we hear Him are not separate issues from a daily walk with Christ; they are part of the whole. I exhort you to begin your journey of knowing and doing God's will!
5. Publicly confess your faith to others
As you encounter others in this life, keep in mind, everyone needs to hear the Gospel. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be used as His mouthpiece when a lost soul is ready to trust in Christ? Let us not get weary in our service or get spiritual lockjaw. You will never do anything that brings greater joy both on Earth and in Heaven than to lead someone to Jesus. There are some people we will witness to this week who will never again after our meeting have an opportunity to accept Christ as Saviour. We need to take full advantage of each open door to present the Gospel to the lost, and we need to do so with a serious purpose and a fervent and compassionate spirit. Keep in mind, that it is the Holy Spirit who convicts a person of sin and draws men and women to salvation. While every encounter you have with an individual may be an opportunity to open their heart for someone later to come and lead them to Jesus Christ. It is possible to have a part in impacting the life of a person. Each day is another opportunity that we have been given to ecounter people so that we might lead them to Christ. You do not have to travel abroad to be a soul winner. You do not have to be a pastor or church leader for God to use you to lead another to the Saviour. You do not have to be married, educated, popular, wealthy, talented, or proficient in several languages to be an effective witness for Christ. If you are willing to open your mouth when the opportunity presents itself, God will open doors for you. He wants to use you today. When you win someone to Christ you may be doing far more than you think. We never know what the people we win to Christ may accomplish for Him. Take the time to share the Gospel with someone today and allow God to use your witness. Remember, it is easy to talk to others about Him when our relationship with Him is right.
You just made the greatest decision of your life. You are at the beginning of a new relationship with God that is possible because of Jesus Christ. As with any relationship, your relationship with God will grow stronger and deeper by talking and walking with Him each day. As you learn more about the Lord you will grow to love and trust Him more. Along life’s journey you will also come to a better understanding of how Jesus is significant to the details of your life. Your relationship will strengthen also as you see God's faithfulness in situations in your life, particularly situations that you have turned over to Him in prayer. God wants you to know that because of your faith, Christ actually lives in you and has given you a new life. God wants you to see the purpose of Christ in all issues in your life. Through Christ, the Father has given you an inexhaustible source of peace, joy, contentment, and power and has equipped you to be a great blessing to other people. The Lord wants you to put your complete trust in Him along life’s journey. This ride with Him will be the most awesome ride one can ever experience. It will be unpredictable and sometimes rough, but He will carry you through it all. Every person you encounter along life’s highway will be affected by God's love and power.
So what's the next step? Just as you have trusted Christ by faith for forgiveness of sin, trust Him day by day with all issues of your life. Paul said in Colossians 2:6-7, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Paul is saying that just as you received Christ Jesus by faith, live everyday by faith. Since you chose to trust the Lord with your soul, trust in Him with the details of life, letting Him have His way with you. Then your life will be a great adventure.
The Lord never wants you to feel burdened by your relationship with Him. God does not intend for the Christian life to be a burdensome set of rules, regulations, or rituals to follow. What's more, trying in our human strength to be good person does not work. Nobody can live according to the Bible except Jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, God does not want you to try your hardest to be good; He wants you to let Jesus Christ be good through you. God does not want you to strain and struggle trying to get bad thoughts out of your mind; He wants you to ask Christ to control your mind and fill your mind with His Word, the Bible. God does not want you to try real hard to change; He wants you to open yourself up to Christ, asking Him to transform you and live through you. In short, the Christian life is not about our trying to be good for God; it's about Christ being good through us.
Therefore, just as you have trusted Christ for forgiveness of sin, you need also to trust Him to guide you, change you, and live through you. This requires solely one’s faith in Christ. Faith is a gift from God, not a fruit of our effort. However, God responds to those who seek Him. He builds our faith by revealing who He is, unveiling truth from the Bible, and showing His faithfulness in difficult situations.
God intends that all His children grow in their Christian life. This involves steps one must take after being saved in order to grow stronger in the Lord. I Peter 2:2-3, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
1. Read the Bible and Pray Continuously
I’m convinced the Bible is the greatest book that has ever been written. Its message is so simple it can be summed up in a few verses. Yet at the same time, it is a book of so much depth that one can study it extensively for a lifetime and never ever come close to fathoming all of its truths. This first step is the most significant since it will begin to replace vain thoughts with godly thoughts in your mind on a daily basis, by allowing the mind of Christ to be transformed in you (Philippians 2:5; Romans 12:1-2). One should never be intimidated to study the Bible. One astounding truth about the Bible is that it is not meant just for scholars but for all mankind. One must rely on the Holy Spirit to teach the Bible along with a desire to know God and the humility to acknowledge the need of the Holy Spirit to teach you. God is eager to teach those who want to learn. He will reveal His attributes, power, truth, and love to you. He wants you to understand who Christ is, with all His power and glory, and what it means for you to be in Him. Prayer is talking to God just as you would talk to another great and intimate friend, but with reverence. Communication is crucially important in your new relationship with God, just as it is in marriage and other relationships. Praying and reading the Bible go hand in hand. We speak to God through praying, God speaks to us through His Word. We communicate with God primarily by prayer and reading the Bible. We talk to God through prayer. God speaks to us primarily by His written Word, the Bible. We can also listen to God in prayer, trusting God to direct our minds as we express our desire to understand His worth, His ways, and His will. Therefore, if you do not pray and read the Bible, your fellowship with God will weaken, just as your relationship with your spouse or a friend will grow weaker and weaker without communication. Don't be deceived into thinking that prayer is difficult, it isn't. Also, don’t be deceived into thinking that you are too spiritually "dirty" or weak to come to God in prayer. Instead of trying to clean up your mind and become spiritually fit before approaching God (which doesn't work), simply come to God in prayer, trusting Him for the power and strength for effective prayer. We can come confidently before God, not because of our righteousness, but because of Christ's righteousness which has been appropriated to us. If you are daily reading Gods Word and praying, seeking Him, you will never have to worry about finding God will for your life. He will reveal it to you have you commune with Him.
2. Become a faithful member of a Bible Believing church
Our finite minds could never understand just how much God wants to be with each of us. Although God has unlimited power and has no need for us, He chooses to use us for His glory. He wants to be with us much like a child wants to spend time with his parents. He delights in revealing His truth and love to the person who spends time with Him. God designed all people to depend on Him. No person functions properly apart from fellowship with God through Christ. It is sin to try to live apart from God in self-sufficiency and independence. God has also designed Christians to be dependent on one another. We are to help each other understand Biblical truth, counsel one another regarding situations in life, encourage one another, hold one another accountable, and work together in meeting physical and financial needs. The Apostle Paul compared the Church (all those who have entrusted their lives to Christ) to a body, in that each Christian is a body part dependent on other body parts to function properly. Christ is the head--we are all dependent on Him. He supplies the wisdom, power, and guidance. The body can accomplish miraculous works when each part is working together properly. And the only way for each part to work together properly is to be guided by the same Head, Jesus Christ. Only by abiding in Christ, led by the Spirit, can we bear fruit. (I Corinthians 12:7, 11-20) It is vitally important in your relationship with God to spend time with other Christians. This is just one of many reasons why church is important. You don't have to take a class on how to study the Bible before doing it. And you don’t have to read a “how-to” book. Just start now. Begin today, by reading from the book of John and the Psalms. Challenge yourself to read a proverb a day for wisdom and instruction. However, I do find it very helpful to join a small group Bible study. Consider becoming involved in a group that studies and discusses the Bible together. God's desire is that we grow in the knowledge of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. Find your place in your church's Sunday School class and be faithful to it. If your church has a discipleship program or a Bible institute prayerfully consider attending the class. Pray right now. Ask God to lead you to the church that's best for you and to Bible studies and other Christian activities in which He wants you to be involved. For most new Christians, the first step is to go to church. Attend church this Sunday. Perhaps visit other churches over subsequent Sundays until you are confident that you have found the one that God wants you to join. God will lead you to the one you ought to join. This simple act is one of the clearest means of increasing your faith, and tells God you are serious about serving Him. God has promised to meet your every need as you obey by giving to Him your time, your abilities, and your money. Your giving should be done Scripturally. Give through your local church. You can easily monitor what is done with your gifts.
3. Generously use your spiritual gifts for the Lord’s work
It is my desire to help believers identify and to become knowledgable about their spiritual gifts. Realizing and exercising the full potential of their spiritual gifts for the Kingdom. For one to know their gift or gifts is not enough. Each one of us have a responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to use us regardless of the time, place, or situation. Paul’s prayer was for the church to be strengthened. The relationship amongst believers in the local church will be strengthened with greater love, fellowship, and unity. May you use the gift that God has given you and, with it, build up your local church. There is one body with many members & with many gifts. So it is in the body of Christ. Alone there are many things that we are not able to do, but when we work together we are able to do the job. God knows what is best for His church. Our spiritual gifts are presented to us in Ephesians 4:7-16; Romans 12; I Corinthians 12. This gift is not something you acquired on your own. God gave it for His purposes. Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities for ministering effectively to others and is an important need in today's church. Those who have been entrusted with more than one spiritual gifs must not forget their responsibility Luke 12:48. Every believer has at least one spiritual gift. The Lord has both blessed and entrusted each believer with at least one gift through the Holy Spirit to help the church function smoothly, properly, with it fullest potential. God wants every believer to put their gift to use for the benefit of others. (I Peter 4:10). Unfortunately, many members have no idea what their gifts are, let alone are putting them into service. Spiritual gifts are not limited to a few select members. The Holy Spirit intends for each believer to exercise their gifts to the fullest potential. Some are very public while others are just as important but behind the scenes. When believers discover their spiritual gifts, accept their position, and begin to operate within them, local churches will be edified. It brings a maturity that enables the Church to fulfill its Biblical purpose. Anytime one tries to operate on their own strengths and talents causes their energy to be drained from them, leaving them tired and exhausted. On the other hand, when one performs in their spiritual gift, energizes them, invigorating them as they begin to understand God's purpose and desire for them. As you begin to understand the gifts will give you a greater understanding of the potential that you have, as well as helping you identify your individual strengths and weaknesses. You will begin to understand in a deeper way why God created you. Your love of your Father will go to a deeper level as you begin to see more clearly His love and destiny for you. in a whole new way, you will see yourself differently a child of the Most High God.
4. Find and Fulfil God’s Will for your life
Do you want to know what God's will is for your life? He wants you to know it even more. Discerning His will is not a game of hide-and-seek. It is not some kind of Easter egg hunt where God camouflages His will and we have to try and find where it is hidden. God never hides His will. So why do we struggle with knowing what God's will is? I find that most Christians struggle with God's will. I find that most Christians struggle with God's will. More of a problem than our finding God's will is our settling that God's will is what we want. We have a will also. And when God's will and our will don't match, a decision must be made. We must answer the question: "Who is Lord of this area of my life?" It doesn't matter what I teach, what I profess, or what I believe intellectually. If I choose my will over God's in any particular area, then Christ is not Lord in that area—self is. What I have seen everywhere is that choosing to do God's will trips people up far more frequently than an inability to find it. That is where I struggle also. What about you? I’m convinced that God will reveal His will to us. But we have to interpret what they mean, and then choose to follow them. We need to know how God speaks, and we need to know how to hear what He is saying. We need to know how God speaks His will to us through a relationship with Him—prayer, faith, waiting, surrender, studying the Scriptures, etc. How God speaks and how we hear Him are not separate issues from a daily walk with Christ; they are part of the whole. I exhort you to begin your journey of knowing and doing God's will!
5. Publicly confess your faith to others
As you encounter others in this life, keep in mind, everyone needs to hear the Gospel. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be used as His mouthpiece when a lost soul is ready to trust in Christ? Let us not get weary in our service or get spiritual lockjaw. You will never do anything that brings greater joy both on Earth and in Heaven than to lead someone to Jesus. There are some people we will witness to this week who will never again after our meeting have an opportunity to accept Christ as Saviour. We need to take full advantage of each open door to present the Gospel to the lost, and we need to do so with a serious purpose and a fervent and compassionate spirit. Keep in mind, that it is the Holy Spirit who convicts a person of sin and draws men and women to salvation. While every encounter you have with an individual may be an opportunity to open their heart for someone later to come and lead them to Jesus Christ. It is possible to have a part in impacting the life of a person. Each day is another opportunity that we have been given to ecounter people so that we might lead them to Christ. You do not have to travel abroad to be a soul winner. You do not have to be a pastor or church leader for God to use you to lead another to the Saviour. You do not have to be married, educated, popular, wealthy, talented, or proficient in several languages to be an effective witness for Christ. If you are willing to open your mouth when the opportunity presents itself, God will open doors for you. He wants to use you today. When you win someone to Christ you may be doing far more than you think. We never know what the people we win to Christ may accomplish for Him. Take the time to share the Gospel with someone today and allow God to use your witness. Remember, it is easy to talk to others about Him when our relationship with Him is right.