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Getting Involved Part 1 |
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Now that you are saved there are questions you might have, such as, “What can I do?" or “Where do I begin?” The critical question is, “What is God’s will for my life?” After you are saved God has plans for you. God does not save people and then expect them to do nothing. The first command God gives His children is to “Follow Me.” To follow Christ is to learn of Him and His teachings. Then, as you learn, God expects you to obey and keep His word. This is involvement in the form of service. All Christians are called to be servants of Him. It is said that the first act of obedience of a child of God is to be baptized. But before you do that you must determine whom God has authorized to baptize. Once you become a member of His Church you begin your service to God. God has stipulated that we are to worship, honor, and glorify Christ in His Church. The sole duty of man is to glorify God. All of our worship and service to Him is to that end.
To start your life with God begin with prayer. You can never pray too much. Your prayers should include the request for God to lead you, to direct you. Keep seeking that answer from Him until you are satisfied beyond all doubt as to where He wants you and what He wants you to do. God does not want to hide His will from you, but it may take time for you to learn it. Be patient and wait upon Him, and He will set you firmly in His determined will. To accompany your prayers, you need to study your bible. Do your very best to learn all that you can from God’s Word. In your study of the bible, try to learn about God, who He is, what His thoughts are, and what His purposes are. A good rule is to learn what is important to God and make these things important to you.
Along with your prayers and study, give your devotion to God. The beginning of devotion is love. (Matt. 22:37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Matt. 22:38) This is the first and great commandment. To love God is not hard to do. Actually it is quite natural for a child of God to do this. You were born again and with love. When we exercise our love for God we fulfill the commandments of God. God has a great desire for your love, devotion, and worship. By giving Him these, you are offering Him your life and you are submitting your will to His will. In return He will honor you and bless you. You will become a jewel to Him. (1 Cor. 2) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.
Make use of your three Spiritual Gifts. God has given to you the Spiritual Gifts of Love, Faith and Hope. What you do with them is up to you. You can ignore them and try to live your life in flesh. However, that kind of life will only lead you into frustration and disappointment. But when you exercise these gifts, you will gain the victory in every area of you life.
The Gift of Faith. Four times the scriptures have stated, “The just shall live by faith.” You began your Christian life by faith and you need to maintain your life by faith. The basis of faith is believing. Believe in God and believe all His Word. Believe even when there is no physical reason to believe. It is a decision you are making, whether to stand on the Word of God or to doubt it. Your faith can give you evidence of things unseen and can secure God’s answers to your prayers. So faith operates in the area of the unseen or yet-to-be-done.
The Gift of Hope. When the world speaks of hope it has the meaning of wishing for things. This is not the same hope that you have received from God. The Biblical hope is defined as an earnest expectation. When we use our gift of hope, we are earnestly expecting the promises of God to be accomplished. That is, we expect God to do what He has said. This gives us anticipation of change, that things will change and we are not hopeless in any situation. There is no doubt with hope. The world says, “We wish,” while the Christian says, “I expect.” When everything else in this life may seem to be gone, the gift of hope for the Christian is anticipating that God will accomplish His commitments. So hope operates in the area of the future and with change.
The Gift of Love. This gift is called the greatest gift. It is the greatest because it will last the longest. The time will come when your faith will be completely realized, and there will be no more need for faith. The time will come when all hope is completed and God has changed everything according to His decrees. But the gift of love will always be in operation. Our love will never be completed. We will be loving God throughout all eternity.
All three of these gifts are to help you through this life. God has equipped you to do His will, but you must use the gifts. The gifts are yours, you have them; they are powerful and perfect. But you must use them. Live your life by your love, your faith, and your hope.
(Eph. 5:1) Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
(Eph. 5:2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.
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Next: Getting More Involved
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This page last updated January 18, 2005 at 10:10am
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