Disciplines Needed for the (New) Believer

After we have come to Christ, it is important that we care of our souls. Again, we want the new believer to grow, mature, and become fruitful. There are ten simple steps that we should be willing to take. As we take each of these steps, we should realize some spiritual growth in our lives.
1. We should be baptized. This means that we, as Believers, are to submit ourselves to water baptism by immersion. Luke records in the book of Acts, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized": (Acts 2:41).
2. We should go to church. This means that we are to join ourselves to a local Bible believing body of Christians. "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" (Hebrews 10:25). Be Faithful to the House of God.
3. We should spend time in prayer daily. As we pray to God we must also let God talk to us. In this way we develop relationship with our Heavenly Father. Prayer is one way that we communicate with our Heavenly Father. We are to have an attitude of prayer at all times. Paul exhorts us, "Pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17). Pray every Day and let God talk to you.
4. We should read the Bible daily. The Bible is the nourishment that the baby Christian needs. Peter encourages us, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby": (I Peter 2:2). Let God Talk to you through the Word of God. Read your Bible every Day.
5. We should receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Every Christian receives a down payment of the Holy Spirit when they are born of the Spirit. However, there is more. One may be baptized in the Holy Spirit whereby they may also be filled with the power of God. The Word says, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me ..." (Acts 1:8).
6. We should seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. Yesterday's filling is not sufficient for today. Paul commands, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit"; (Ephesians 5:18).
7. We should live for Jesus. We should place living for Christ above everything else in our lives. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
8. We should share our faith. A dam on a lake without an outlet will cause the water to become stagnant. Jesus commanded, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
9. We should depend upon God. Even as Christians, we must come to depend upon God rather than ourselves. Paul explains, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).
10. We should bear spiritual fruit. Spiritual fruit is grown through time and faithfulness. Paul describes the fruit by stating, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23). See John 15. The Fruit of the Spirit can be nurtured in your life by His living in you and our living in Him.

Forgiveness

"...and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us." Matthew 6:12

Forgiveness is a big thing. It's not a trite issue. It's easy to say, "I forgive you," if someone throws a snowball at you and hits you in the head. But, what if they rape your daughter? What if they ruin your reputation? What if they rip you off and you go lose a lot of money or go bankrupt, and they go Scott-free? What about those situations? You'd better know what you're saying. You'd better understand a little bit more.

Hurt is like an onion, and there are layers to the hurt. In feeling the hurt of the past, I can say that some of the layers of hurt in my own life have been deep. W must deal with hurt until we can honestly say, before God, "I forgive this wrong that was done to me," and it's like the first layer has come off the onion. You really did forgive! Maybe a month goes by and you see someone who looks like that person, and all this stuff comes back up, and it's almost like emotional nausea.

You can't control it! You're ready to just let it all out. You say, "I thought I forgave this person," and Satan is right there to say, "some Christian you are! I thought you forgave them! You're not forgiving them – God's not going to forgive you!" He's right there with his lies! Don't listen to him, okay? You have forgiven! It's just that, in healing, there are layers of healing and the deeper the wound, the longer it's going to take to heal unless God just supernaturally heals you, which He's very capable of doing. If He doesn't, then you're going to go through layers and layers.

When I look at an onion and look at it that way, do you know what usually happens? Down towards the middle and the end of an onion, what does the onion do? It divides into two little pieces! There's a whole lot to do.

Psalm 129, verse 4, "But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly."
Proverbs 9, verse 12, "If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer."

Unwavering Faith