I read this a couple weeks ago at church, it has helped out a couple of people, so I have decided to post it here for all to see and maybe it will help others out as well. God Bless Over the past fifteen years I have had a few addictions. These addictions I had slowly tore me away from the Lord, until I was completely lost in this world. I thought I had control over my life, but in reality I didn’t. My life had hit “rock bottom” about eight months ago, when I had let one of my addictions take control. I had lost everything that I held dear to me; my girlfriend of ten years, my kids, and well my life. That is when I had made the only decision that made complete sense, to turn my life back over to the Lord. To get back my relationship with Him that I once had. I have had many downfalls along the way, as the devil has been trying to stop me and regain my soul. I have finally had enough of trying to do this journey on my own so I asked Pastor Dunten for help. Pastor and Tom Neff have taken me under their wings to help me out. During the past few months they have been mentoring and counseling me. I have been learning and growing in the Word. I have learned that we are all sinners, but through repentance and by accepting Christ into my heart I have been born again and became a child of God. That being born of God, He walks with us. We are to be submissive to God and resist, our advisory, the devil. That the greatest act we as believers can do after we accept Christ into our lives, is to be baptized. We are to be baptized to show our dedication and commitment to Christ and the church. That we are all tempted even though we are, He gives us a way to escape that temptation. That just because we are tempted does not make us sinners, however giving into temptation does. We can learn to resist temptation by reading His Word and through prayer. He has given us all the tools we need and they are written for us all in the Bible. We know that the scriptures in the Bible are true because everything written in it was “God inspired”. Through reading His Word we gain wisdom, it cleanses us, and gives us an inheritance among all who are sanctified, or set apart. We are to follow His commands and keep them, so that we may have eternal life through Jesus Christ. I have learned that we should always pray; giving thanks to God and asking of God’s will. That even though it may seem as if God isn’t doing anything to answer our prayers, it might be because there are circumstances in our lives preventing us from getting answers. These circumstances could be having a sinful heart, sins that have not been confessed, that are still lingering in the heart, and if it is not in accordance with God’s will. God answers our prayers in four different ways. Those answers are; yes, no, wait, and not your way my way. It is a privilege we all have to be able to talk to God through our prayers. Christ answers our prayers so that His father can be glorified. All He asks is that we abide in Him and His Word, that we believe, trust, and obey Him. I have come to know that I should love God with all I have; heart, mind and soul. Just as God loves us all, I also should love everyone as much as if not more than I love myself. We show our love to God by keeping His Word and commands that He has given us to live by. We are to serve Jesus Christ and not our own selfish desires, in doing so He will honor us. In order for us to serve with total dedication to the Lord we must first die completely to this world, put away our worldly life, and focus on a life filled with Jesus Christ. In dying from this world we are born again in Him. That in this new found life that He gives us we are not to be deceitful, steal, or lie; we are to be diligent workers at our jobs and for the Lord, and we are to share with the needy, not just God’s Word but with provisions as well. That as Christians should avoid binding relations with those who are unbelievers. We do this so that we can live righteous lives. If we keep His commands and put His holiness first He will meet our needs. Our job as believers in Christ is to be a witness to others. To share what the Lord has done for us, doing so we are helping to bring others to Christ. Once we do bring others to Him, we are to help them out, and make sure they become “fruitful” Christians. In order to do this we must be prepared not just to share the Word of God but to be able to defend it as well. The moment we started to believe in the Lord and accepted Him into us, we began to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit sanctifies us from this world. The Spirit cleanses our lives, hearts, minds, and souls. We are to walk in accordance with the Spirit and not of our flesh. We as a body of believers, or Christians, should work together. We should unite together with Christ as our head, or leader. His love for us, the church, is proved by His giving up of Himself for the church. We all must be subject to Christ to be part of the Church. We know and the world knows that we are part of the church, by the love that we show for one another. We are to help other members of the church, by helping to bear one another’s burdens. That we are to be steadfast in the ways of the apostle’s and that we should continue in those ways. Our pastor is responsible for teaching us how to follow Christ. In doing all this we are not to forsake the assembling together as a body of Christ. We are to exhort, or encourage, one another. We do this for our continued growth, to share with, and to help others out. In conclusion I now have a better understanding what it means to be a Christian. That in order to be fully filled with Christ’s Spirit, we are to follow and keep His commands. We are to put away all worldly things. Help His kingdom by spreading His Word and by bringing others to Him. We as a body of Christ are to help each other out in our growth as Christians.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 20:08:54 +0000
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