This assumes you have already made the decision to follow Christ as your Lord and savior and want to go on to be a man or woman of God, pleasing the Lord with your life and being as effective in His service as possible. With that as a starting point, you will do great!

 

 

Put God first--- Consider the Lord in ALL your ways and He will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:6). Considering the Lord means to take into account what God thinks about whatever it is you are doing or plan to do. If you do this, the promise is that He will direct you and lead you in the way you should go.

 

Your life consists of various ‘departments’ you perhaps have; a marriage, children, extended family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, recreational activities, hobbies etc. Make the Lord, the Lord over each of these departments. Seek His wisdom regarding how each of these are prioritized and structured.

 

Consider the Lord in your home. If something is in your home that you know is not pleasing to the Lord- chuck it. Consider the Lord in your library, your CD and DVD collection. You don’t have to get’ religious’ or weird about it. If you look at it and the thought occurs to you, “The Lord wouldn’t be pleased with this.” Just get rid of it and don’t make a production out of it. (Don’t go digging into everyone else’s stuff- just worry about you and your walk with the Lord.) As you put God first in all that you do, you will begin to develop ‘Holy Habits’ and you will not fail to grow and mature in your faith and understanding.

 

Make time for God’s word---Your word O Lord, is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105) Set aside a specific and regular time to read the Bible. Some people have a harder time with the reading and prefer to listen to the Bible on tape or CDs, which are readily available. One friend of mine likes to do what he calls ‘power reading’ where he reads the Bible while he is listening to it being read. He then learns the pronunciation of unfamiliar words and names without getting bogged down.

   Before reading take a minute and pray for the Lord to bring the words off the page and make them come alive for you and give you understanding so that you can apply the word to your life. (See the section on the home page for further Bible reading tips and strategies.)

 

Find a good local church to be a part of--- Let us consider one another and provoke one another to love and good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some but exhorting one another, especially as we see the day (of Christ’s return) approaching. A camp fire burn a lot hotter and gives off much more light when all the logs are plied close together. The fire quickly dies down along with its warmth and light when the logs are separated and left by themselves. (See the section on the main page for further tips on finding a good church.)

 

Make time for prayer--- Pray without ceasing. (1Thessilonians 5:17) Prayer means ‘talking to God’. It is not a mere formality or religious exercise. Talk to God every day, several times per day, throughout the day and even in the mid-night when you find you can’t sleep. You do not need special words or fancy styles. Just talk to God.

   Jesus taught His disciples to pray in a very simple format. The Lord’s Prayer was not given as ‘magic words’ to be mindlessly repeated. He gave us the Lord’s Prayer as a ‘model’ so we would know, ‘HOW to pray’.

   Our Father who is in heaven, Holy is your Name. May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen (Mathew 6:9-13)

 

The prayer teaches us to pray by first acknowledging that God is your Father in heaven. You can spend time thanking Him for bringing you into right relationship with him through the work of Jesus on the cross. The prayer teaches us to acknowledge that God is Holy and separated from the evil and corruption of the world. His word is law and all things in heaven operate perfectly according to His will. Think of situations that you know are not going according to God’s will in your life, or the lives of people you want to pray for. You can then pray for God to provide for you needs and the needs of others. You look to Him as your source and your provision. You acknowledge that you are saved and forgiven by His love and mercy and you wish to extend that love and mercy to those who need it from you as well. You realize you are weak and prone to temptation. You pray that the Lord will give you wisdom to not fall into temptation but to steer clear from things that will cause you to sin and fail God’s will and expectation for you. You can then complete your prayer by looking forward to the time when all things WILL be according to God’s will and His righteous rule will be extended to the whole universe.

 

There are many other prayers offered in the Bible, which you can use as models, and guides to know that you are praying according to God’s will. Ephesians 1:16-2:10 is a good example. The Apostle Paul prayed this prayer for the Christians of Ephesus. You can think of someone you are praying for and ask God for these very same things as well.

 

There are many good teachings and books on the subject of prayer. The key point here is to make prayer a big part of your life. Instead of complaining, pray. If you are driving and see something that needs to be prayed for, offer a prayer. If you have a loved one that needs prayer to come to Jesus, pray.

 

You should find your own private spot and time where you can just get alone with God even for a few minutes each day. Some prefer to do this in the morning to start their day right. Others like to have their ‘quiet time or devotions’ in the evening when everything has quieted down and they can relax. Set aside time for regular prayer and be ready to pray at any time throughout the day.

 

Honor God with your resources--- On the first day of the week (Sunday) let everyone of you give as the Lord has prospered you that week. (1 Corinthians 16:2)

 

   In the Old Testament the commandment of the Lord was for the people to give a tithe or ten percent. The Old Testament believers were obligated by the law to give. Some of course gave out of a willing heart and some even gave more but in the end, the giving of ten percent was simple obedience to the law of God.

 

   There is debate in Christian circles as to whether or not New Testament believers are bound by the Old Testament law of tithing. To me, this is a meaningless argument and the absolute wrong way to think about this issue. Let us say that the Old Testament law of tithing is not in effect for the New Testament believer; should the New Testament believer really contribute less than the people of the Old Testament? Wouldn’t it be much more in keeping with the grace of God demonstrated in the New Testament, purely out of the overflow of gratitude for what Jesus has done on our behalf to give ‘at least’ as much as the Old Testament believers gave out of pure obligation? I will not belabor this point or try to settle the debate because to me it is a pointless discussion. I don’t think we should need a law to tell us that we should give as much or more than the people of the Old Testament.

 

 As a believer, we should live to see the kingdom of God advanced. We should want all the missionary efforts funded. We should want the Kingdom of God to have all the tools and facilities necessary to reach the lost, support the needs of the believers, and provide all the tools, training and personnel required to do the work of the church.

 

 

 

Seek out teachers and mentors---“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these same things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

 

 

   Look for people that you think are good examples that you admire and wish to emulate. Ask them questions. Learn from them. Tell them that you want to grow in your faith and understanding. See if there are Bible studies or small groups available through your church where you can dig deeper and ask questions. Teachers love to teach people that are pulling the stuff out of them and not just sitting there like a bump on a log. If there are special classes or studies happening, make sure you take in all that you can. Be proactive, don’t wait for instruction to come to you- go get it.

 

   Find books that will help you grow in your faith and understanding. I especially recommend reading biographical books of famous men and women of God who made big impacts in their generations. Let them challenge you. Look for books that will ‘kick you in the backside’! AVOID like the plague the myriad of book titles that begin with ‘YOU… and YOUR…’ It is NOT about you. It is NOT about me. We don’t want a book that that is all about ‘you getting your ministry or your miracle or your this or your that.” You will ultimately find your niche, or place of service in God’s Kingdom (and everyone has a place.) by learning how to ‘Die to yourself and Live for the Kingdom of God’.

 

 

Be baptized and actively Share your Faith with others---

 

“Go into ALL the world and preach the gospel to all nations, Baptizing people in the name of The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I (Jesus) have commanded, and I will be with you until the end of the earth. Amen (Matthew 28:20)

 

   Jesus linked these things together in an interesting way. He says first, that we the church, His followers, have a mission. We are to go into all the earth and proclaim the message of God’s offer of forgiveness of sins and eternal life through the work of Jesus on the cross. He also tells His followers to baptize (immerse in water) new believers in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Baptism paints the picture of what God has done in our lives. We symbolically, die with Christ are buried and raised up in Christ as born again believers, living for the Lord and not for ourselves.

 

   Of all the millions of good things that Christians can do, we are to always keep ‘the main thing- the main thing.’ We are to share our faith with others and see more souls come to faith in Jesus. Someone shared the gospel with us and we share it with someone else, they believe and share it with someone else, and the chain keeps right on going.

 

   Some people say that sharing the gospel is simply not their gift. It is true that there are various spiritual gifts and special callings for believers. Not everyone is an evangelist, not everyone is a pastor, not everyone is a teacher etc. But this is not the right way to look at it. A better picture is that of a baseball team. Not everyone is a catcher, or a pitcher or a shortstop or a centerfielder, but that does not mean that they don’t all have overlaps in their responsibilities. Everyone on the team can run, everyone can bat, everyone can throw, and everyone can catch. We all may have our ‘specialty’ but we all must be equipped in everything Christians do. All of us must be prayer warriors to some extent, all must teach to some extent, all must share their faith, and all must be students of the Bible.

 

 Jesus expects us to follow His example and obey His command to be baptized and then live out a life that reflects the picture of baptism to the world around us. No matter what our role of service is in the Kingdom of God, we are never to forget that bringing more souls to Jesus is the ‘Main Thing’ for us to do.