Congratulations on taking the first step toward a vibrant, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ! Your decision is important because it draws a line between your past life and your new life.
If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, we want to help you establish your spiritual foundation. If you are returning to Christ after wandering away for a while, working through this guide will be very helpful in getting back on track and reestablishing your spiritual walk.
It might be that you are seeking God’s help with a problem or issue. No matter what’s going on in your life, we need to begin with a few basic truths.
IF YOU HAVE RESPONDED TO THE GOSPEL IN FAITH AND KNOW JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOR…
Assurance of Salvation
…YOU ARE A NEW CREATION (SEE 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17).
As a new creation you need some basic things to grow and be fully alive. It is often helpful to think of your spiritual life as you would your physical life.
You need AIR
Prayer is conversation with God. The back and forth of this conversation is like the in and out of life-giving breath to your lungs. You could not wake up without breathing – don’t wake up without praying.
The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17). We should always be aware of God’s presence in our lives and His concern for our well being. You can talk to God anytime, anywhere. He’s never too busy to listen. So, we understand the need to pray, but what is prayer?
Prayer is not our way of persuading God to do what we want Him to do. That’s not how it works. Prayer is not ritualistic, meaningless babble. It isn’t something we do without giving thought to it.
Prayer is talking with and listening to God. There are no magic words you need to say nor specific language you must use with God. Prayer should be an honest expression of your thoughts. You may as well be honest because the Bible tells us that God knows our hearts before we ever say anything to Him (See Matthew 6:7-8). So, why pray? Prayer is all about God’s people aligning their lives with His plans. When you pray, you may never say anything with your lips, but your heart will always speak. For more about how to pray, go to page 16.
You need FOOD (see Galatians 5:16-17)
Have you ever been in a situation in which two allegiances pulled you in different directions? If so, you understand the idea of two natures. Before your salvation, you only had one nature—the sinful nature. It controlled everything you did. It was impossible for you to please God because the person controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
Your salvation brought with it the spiritual nature. But, the sinful nature didn’t go anywhere; it’s still there. So, the Christian life is often difficult to live because there is a war between the old sinful nature and the new spiritual nature.
Galatians 5:16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
The principle we discover in this passage is this: you are fueled by the nature you feed. If you feed the spiritual nature, your spiritual nature will empower you. If you feed your sinful nature, you will live according to its impulses.
Let’s compare this idea to physical food. Most of us make feeding ourselves physically a high priority. Why? Because we’re hungry and we like food. So, why don’t we make feeding ourselves spiritually a priority? It may be because we aren’t spiritually hungry and we haven’t developed a taste for spiritual food. In other words, we must make developing our spiritual lives a priority.
Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that spiritual growth is natural or automatic. The sinful nature with its desires doesn’t like having its space invaded. Therefore, your sincere commitment to God and His ways can quickly become a distant memory if you aren’t intentional about strengthening your spiritual nature.
What would happen if you limited your physical nourishment to a snack once a week? You’d become physically weak. Your physical weakness would affect other areas of life. You wouldn’t be able to think straight and you would be unable to fulfill your responsibilities.
The same is true of our spiritual natures. A spiritual “snack” isn’t enough to sustain us. When we aren’t spiritually nourished, we become spiritually weak. Then, the battle between the sinful nature and the spiritual nature is no battle at all. You see, the sinful nature is being fed. We feed it without thinking about it. We feed it with the things we watch, read, and hear.
However, spiritual food is also readily available. When you regularly read your Bible, pray, worship, participate in a small group or Bible study, talk honestly with Christian friends, and so forth, you are consuming spiritual food. For help getting started with studying your Bible and memorizing Scripture, go to pages 17 and 18.
You need LOVE
We all need the love of a parent and the love of a family. No matter what your concept of love is, or what your earthly experience with or without parents or families has been, you must understand that God is the perfect and faithful heavenly Father. He loves you so much that He gave His Son for you (see John 3:16). Because of sin, we cannot have a relationship with God. God didn’t want sin to stand in the way, so His Son paid the penalty to remove your sin.
Being “born again” (born spiritually) into God’s family, is not a “one and done” moment, but a RELATIONSHIP. Like all relationships, It will continue to grow over time. But unlike earthly relationships, being a part of your heavenly Father’s family is a bond that can never be broken.
No matter what happens, you will never be disowned. It is possible to be out of fellowship with God (if you’re not walking in the Spirit and regularly feeding your sinful nature), but your heavenly Father never turns His back on you. God gives you a support system that will help guide you along the path of a growing relationship with Him. We call this support system the church.
The church is a lot like a family reunion. You’ll find people you know very well and others you hardly know at all. You’ll have people with whom you connect and others whom you don’t understand. At the end of the day, however, you love all of the people because they are part of your family.
It is important that you find a group of like-minded people with whom you can align your life and develop relationships. Your spiritual growth is your responsibility, but you’ll find great strength and encouragement in a church family. These are the people who will walk with you through the highs and lows, or twists and turns of life.
Recommitment to a Fully Devoted Life
…GOD NEVER STOPS LOVING YOU (SEE LUKE 15:18-24).
Following Christ is an ongoing commitment. Any time we turn our backs on God, we break His heart. However, He never stops loving us. Because God’s love is permanent, His desire for us to return to Him is persistent. You are coming back to God because you chose to submit to His eternal love. Coming back is simple.
Confess your sins. The Bible tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (see 1 John 1:9). When you confess your sin, you agree with God’s perspective on your thoughts or actions. Confessing means telling God you are sorry for what you’ve done.
Give control of your life to God. Either God is in control of your life or you are trying to be in control of it. You stray from God when you attempt to take control of your life away from Him. Giving Him back control of your life is required if you want to return to a right relationship with Him. The Bible says, “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness” (see Romans 6:13). Submitting to God’s control of your life is something you must do every day.
Ask God to keep you on His path / in His plan. God has a plan for your life and He wants you to know it. He’s not playing hide and seek with you. God’s plan is designed to make Him famous through your life. Maybe God showed you something He wants you to do and you are scared to do this thing. That’s OK. You are in a position to depend completely on God. In Philippians 4:13, the apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Paul knew he could not do anything without God’s help. Your life is the same way. Begin every day by asking God to guide you. He will give you the strength you need to follow Him.
Being fully devoted to Christ and living for God means dying to self. Paul put it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (see Galatians 2:20). We can live with confidence because we know Jesus Christ is living through us.
Special Needs
…GOD CARES ABOUT ALL OF LIFE (SEE PSALM 32:6-8).
Your life matters to God—all of it. There isn’t anything you face that is insignificant to Him. Nothing is too small. Relationships, finances, the future, and career all matter to God because they matter to you. The Bible addresses every issue you face specifically or in principle.
The psalmist put it this way:
“Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:6-8).
The last sentence of that passage is God’s response to the writer of the psalm. He said He will instruct, teach, and counsel us. That should be great encouragement for us as we deal with the issues we face in day-to-day life.
Now that your decision is certain, it’s time to take the next step. On the following pages you will find a reading plan designed to help you work through the gospel of Mark over the next few weeks.
If you get behind in the reading plan, just pick up where you left off – this is just a guide. Once you start reading the Bible, you’ll find it hard to put it down!
