WHAT'S NEXT?
YOUR NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
Becoming born again is the most incredible event that will ever take place in your life.
If you have obeyed the Gospel by trusting in Jesus Christ,
then you have made peace with your Creator.
You have found everlasting life!
Be assured, God will never leave you nor forsake you.
He has brought you this far and He will complete
the wonderful work He has begun in you.
God knows your every thought, your every care, and your deepest concerns.
Salvation is a free gift.
It cannot be earned by good works or religious rituals. Jesus earned it for you.
If you repent and place your faith in Jesus Christ alone - the only grounds for forgiveness - God will grant you mercy.
If you're not sure of your salvation, read Psalm 51 and make it your own prayer. Then show your gratitude by obeying God's command to be baptized (Matthew 28:19).
Following are several important principles that can help you grow in
your new life in Christ and keep you from a great deal of regret.
Feeding on the Word...
A healthy baby has a healthy appetite. If you have truly been “born” of the Spirit of God, you will have a healthy appetite. The Bible says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). Feed yourself every day without fail.
Job said, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).
The more you eat, the quicker you will grow, and the less bruising you will have. Speed up the process and save yourself some pain — vow to read God’s Word every day, without fail. Be like Job and put your Bible before your belly. Say to yourself, “No Bible, no breakfast. No read, no
feed.” If you do that, God promises that you will be like a fruitful, strong and healthy tree (see Psalm 1).
Each day, find somewhere quiet, and thoroughly soak your soul in the Word of God. There may be times when you read through its pages with great enthusiasm, and there may be other times when it seems dry and even boring. But food profits your body whether you enjoy it or not. As a child, you no doubt ate desserts with great enthusiasm. Perhaps vegetables weren’t so exciting. If you were a normal child, you probably had to be encouraged to eat them at first. Then, as you matured in life, you were taught to discipline yourself to eat vegetables. This is because they would physically benefit you, even though they may not have at the time, brought pleasure to your taste buds.
God always answers His children's prayers. Like a wise and loving Father, sometimes He answers, "yes"; sometimes He answers, "no"; and sometimes He answers, “wait.”
Surveys show that more than 90 percent of Americans pray daily. No doubt they pray for health, wealth, happiness, etc. They also pray when Grandma gets sick, so when Grandma doesn’t get better (or dies), many end up disillusioned or bitter. This is because they don’t understand what the Bible says about prayer.
It teaches that, among other things, our sin will keep God from even hearing our prayers (Psalm 88:18), and that if we pray with doubt, we will not get an answer (James 1:6,7).
Prayer...
2. Pray with clean hands and a pure heart. (Psalm 24:3-4)
Simply by confessing your sins to God through Jesus Christ, whose blood cleanses us from all our sin (1 John 1:7-9).
Not only will God forgive you every sin, He promises to forget them (Hebrews 8:12). He will count it as though you had never sinned in the first place. He will make you pure in His sight – sinless. He will even “purge” your conscience, so that you will no longer have a sense of guilt that you sinned.
That’s why you need to soak yourself in the Holy Scripture; read the letters to the churches and see the wonderful things God has done for us through the cross of Calvary. If you don’t bother to read the “will”, you won’t have any idea what has been given to you.
How do I do this?
Simply by keeping yourself in the love of God. If the love of God is in you, you will never pray hypocritical or selfish prayers. Just talk to your heavenly Father as candidly and intimately as a young child, nestled on Daddy’s lap, would talk to his earthly father.
How would you feel if every day your child pulled out a pre-written statement to dryly recite to you, rather than pouring out the events emotions of that day? God wants to hear from you heart. And when your prayer life is pleasing to God, He will reward you openly (Matthew 6:6).
3. Pray genuine heartfelt prayers, rather than vain (empty) repetitions. (Matthew 6:7)
4. Make sure you are praying to the God revealed in the Holy Scriptures (Exodus 20:3-6).
Study the Bible.
Don’t accept the image of God portrayed by the world, even though it appeals to the natural mind. A gentle, kind, Santa Claus figure, dispensing good things with no sense of justice or truth, appeals to guilty sinners. Look to the thundering and lightning of Mount Sinai.
Gaze at Jesus on the cross of Calvary – hanging in unspeakable agony because of the justice of a holy God. Such thoughts tend to banish idolatry.
Fellowship...
The Bible tells us not to forsake "the assembling of ourselves together." (Hebrews 10:25)
One evidence that you have been truly saved is that you will have a love for other believers. (1 John 3:14). You will want to fellowship with them.
The adage that “birds of a feather flock together” is true of Christians. You gather together to remember the Lord in the breaking of bread (communion), for teaching from the Word, and for fellowship. You share the same inspirations, inclinations, temptations, motivations, and perspirations – you are working together for the same thing:
the furtherance of the Gospel and Christ's kingdom.
This is why you attend church –
not because you have to, but because you want to.
Pray about where you should fellowship.
Make sure the place you select as your church home calls sin what it is – sin.
Do they teach and submit themselves to the Word of God
and encourage you to examine it for yourselves? (Acts 17:11)
Do they stay true to the Gospel, not adding anything to it? (Gal 1:8)
What are the fruits of their lives? (Matt 7:15-20)
Are they loving? Do they leaders treat their wives with respect?
Do they have humble hearts and gentle spirits?
Listen closely to their teaching. It should glorify God, magnify Jesus, and edify the believer.
Don't become a "spiritual butterfly".
If you are flitting from church to church, how will you be held accountable for YOUR spiritual walk? The Bible says that your church leaders are accountable to God for you (Hebrews 13:17), so make yourself known to them. Pray for them regularly. Pray also for their wives and family.
Appreciate the time they spend in prayer and in the study of the Word. Never murmur about them. If you don’t like something they are doing, pray about it, follow Biblical steps of bringing your concerns to them, then leave the issue with God. If you still can't get peace, leave the church rather than divide it through murmuring and complaining. God hates those who cause division among believers. (Proverbs 6:16-19)​
Thanksgiving...
For the Christian, every day should be Thanksgiving Day.
We should be thankful even in the midst of problems. The apostle Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4). He knew that God was working all things together for his good, even his trials. (Romans 8:28)
Problems will come your way. God will see to it personally that you grow as a Christian. He will allow storms in your life in order to send your roots deep into the soil of His Word.
We also pray more in the midst of problems.
It’s been well said that
you will see more from your knees than on your tiptoes.
A man once watched a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon. In an effort to help
it, he took a razor blade and carefully slit the edge of the cocoon. The butterfly escaped from its
problem… but was permanently deformed.
It is God’s way to have the butterfly struggle. It is the struggle
that causes its tiny heart to beat fast, sending its life’s blood into its wings.
Trials have their purpose. They are a cocoon in which we often find ourselves. They
make us struggle – they bring us to our knees.
It is there that the life’s blood of faith in God
helps us spread our wings.
Faith and thanksgiving are close friends. If you have faith in God, you will be thankful because you know His loving hand is upon you, even though you are in a lion’s den. That will give you a deep a sense of joy, which is the barometer of the depth of faith you have in God.
Let me give you and example. Imagine if I said I’d give you one million dollars if you sent me an email. Of course, you don’t believe I would do that. But imagine you did. If you believed me, wouldn’t you have joy? If you didn’t believe me – no joy. The amount of joy you have would be a barometer of how much you believed my promise. We have so much for which to be thankful.
God has given us “exceedingly great and precious promises” that are more to be desired than gold (2 Peter 1:4). Do you self a big favor: believe those promises, and thank God continually for them, “that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).
Evangelism...
OUR MOST SOBERING TASK
It was late in December 1996, a large family gathered in Los Angeles for a joyous Christmas. There were so many gathered that night, five of the children slept in the converted garage, kept warm during the night by an electric heater placed near the door.
During the early hours of the morning, the heater suddenly burst into flames, blocking the doorway. In seconds the room became a blazing inferno. The frantic 911 call revealed the unspeakable terror of the moment.
One of the children could be heard screaming, "I'm on fire!" The distraught father rushed into the flames to try to save his beloved children, receiving burns to 50% of his body.
Tragically, all five of the children burned to death. They died because steel bars on the windows thwarted their escape. There was only one door, and that was blocked by the flames.
Imagine you are back in time, just minutes before the heater burst into flames. You peer through the darkness at the peaceful sight of five sleeping youngsters, knowing that at any moment the room will erupt into an inferno and burn the flesh of horrified children. Can you in good conscience walk away?
No! You must awaken them, and warn them to run from that death trap!
The world sleeps peacefully in the darkness of ignorance. There is only one Door by
which they may escape death. The steel bars of sin prevent their salvation, and at the same
time call for the flames of Eternal Justice. What a fearful thing Judgment Day will be! The fires
of the wrath of Almighty God will burn for eternity.
The Church has been entrusted with the task of awakening them before it's too late. We cannot turn our backs and walk away in complacency. Think of how the father ran into the flames. His love knew no bounds. Our devotion to the sober task that God has given us will be in direct proportion to our love for the lost. There are few who run headlong into the flames to warn them to flee (Luke 10:2).
Please be one of them. We really have no choice.
The Apostle Paul said, "Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16).
Charles Spurgeon, said, "Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that."
A Christian cannot be apathetic about the salvation of the world. The love of God in him will motivate him to seek and save that which is lost.
There is nothing more important to you than the salvation of your unsaved friends and family, and you probably have a limited time after you conversion to impact them with the Gospel.
After their initial shock, they will put you in a neat little ribbon-tied box and keep you at arm's length. So it's important that you take advantage of the short time you have while you still have their ears.
Put yourself in their position. You know that you have found everlasting life – death has lost its sting! Your joy is unspeakable. But as far as they are concerned, you have been brainwashed and become part of a weird sect. So, your loving actions will speak more loudly than ten thousand eloquent sermons.
Fervently pray for them. Let them see your faith.
Let them feel your kindness, your genuine love, and your gentleness. Buy gifts for no reason. Do chores when you are not asked to. Go the extra mile.
Although it would be nice to have a loved one say,
“Tell me about your faith in Jesus Christ,” that may not happen.
You will have to gently and lovingly make and opportunity to speak to them.
You may have only one shot, so pray for wisdom and sensitivity to God’s timing.
When sharing the gospel with your loved ones, make sure you use the Law to gently address the conscience and bring the knowledge of sin inoffensively. An effective way to soften the message without compromise it to speak it in the “first person” or in testimonial from.
Say something like, “I didn’t realize the Bible warns that for every idle worked I have spoken, I will have to give and account on Judgement Day. I thought that as long as I believed in God and tried to live a good life, I would go to Heaven when I died. I was so wrong.
Jesus said that if I as much as looked with lust, I had committed adultery in my heart, and that there was nothing I could do to wash away my sins. I knew that if God judged me by the Ten Commandments on Judgement Day, I would be guilty and end up in Hell. It was when I acknowledged my sins that I began to understand why Jesus died. It was to take the punishment for my sins and sins of the world.”
Then, depending on the person’s openness, you may ask, “How do you think you will do on Judgement Day, if God judges you by the Ten Commandments?”
Keep your cool, or you may end up with a lifetime of regret - believe me.
Then share Christ in all of His amazing grace, explaining that if they will repent and believe, God will forgive them. Continue to persevere in prayer for them, that God would open their eyes to the truth.
In the meantime, it is important to realize that we should share our faith with others whenever we can, “in season and out of season”. (2 Timothy 4:2) Perhaps another Christian has prayed earnestly that God would use a faithful witness to speak to his beloved mom or dad, and you are that answer to prayer. You are the true and faithful witness God wants to use.
Keep the fate of the ungodly always before your eyes. Remember that each and every
person who dies in his sins has an appointment with the Judge of the Universe. Hell opens wide
it's terrible jaws. There is no more sobering task than to be entrusted with the gospel of
salvation, working with God for the eternal well-being of the dying humanity.
Have the same attitude as the apostle Paul, who pleaded for prayer for his own personal witness. He asked “that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,… that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19,20).
Excerpts taken from the book “Save Yourself Some Pain” by Ray Comfort.
Used with permission by Living Waters Publications
