I am a Seeker
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What do I do in order to start a relationship with Jesus?
That’s a great question and one everybody should ask. Depending on whom you ask and where you are in your quest you will most likely get several answers. So, what I am going to do is start at the beginning and answer it by what the Bible says. Most everyone will agree with that.
FAITH…
The Bible says Faith comes from hearing the message of Christ (Rom.10:17). Once you have heard enough of the story of Jesus by reading it in the Scriptures yourself, having it told to you by someone else or seeing it lived out by someone you respect to cause you to believe he was who he said he was, the Messiah the very Son of God (Mark 14:62) you have taken the first step Faith/Belief. People’s actions are a direct result of what they believe. Your faith will carry you to the next step Confession.
Confession…
Confession is a need and desire to tell someone about your new found faith. Many people think God is the first one to whom you should confess your belief and acknowledge your wrong thinking and actions then invite Him to come into your life as Lord. This is often called the “Sinners Prayer”. The Bible doesn’t give any specific examples of how to do this so there are no magic words to say. It is simply a heart felt talk with God and may sound something like this. “Lord, I have never thought like this before. I have always thought mostly about myself. Doing things I wanted to do the way I wanted and when I wanted. I thought I was tuff and self sufficient but I now understand I was just proud, arrogant and selfish. Because of this I have made a lot of bad choices. I have brought a lot of pain and suffering not only on myself but on people I care about and people who were totally innocent. I can’t make up for, take back or undo the pain and suffering I’ve caused. I don’t want to live this way any more, Lord. I want my life to have meaning. I want to experience joy that lasts rather than fun or excitement that are gone with the moment. Heavenly Father, forgive me of my sin. Please send your Spirit to live in me to guide me and empower me to be and do what you have created me to be and do. I want Jesus to save me, Amen.” I agree this is a good start. The Bible does, however, tell us to confess our belief in Jesus to others (Rom. 10:9, 10). This can be done in many ways. Most often it is done at a church gathering so you and other believers can rejoice over your new faith. This then leads you to the next step, Repentance.
Repentance…
Repentance simply means to have a sorrowful attitude for the wrongs you have none which motivates you to stop wanting and doing those wrongs. It is a change in the direction of your life. It is about you living God’s way rather than your way. It’s life being about God rather than about you. Repentance brings you to Baptism.
BAPTISM…
Baptism is probably the least understood and most misunderstood and therefore the most controversial part of your relationship with Jesus. Some believe it is the very point where grace is applied. Others believe it’s a good thing to do but has nothing to do with the relationship. There are even disagreements on how to do it, when to do it and who to do it to. The Bible does say, however, there is “… one faith, one Lord, one baptism, …”(Eph. 4:5). While there is a lot of disagreement in Christendom over baptism, most everyone agrees the first Christians were buried in water (Rom.6:4), it was done very soon after confession and repentance and Christ instructed it to be done (Matt. 28:19). Having stated all the above, I believe there is great agreement that a person doesn’t need to know all there is to know about baptism nor solve a 500 year old theological puzzle to be baptized. There is also general agreement that baptism is an important part of a person’s relationship with Jesus and should be done very early in the relationship as is shown in many accounts of people beginning their walk with Jesus in the Book of Acts (the history of the first believers). As you grow and mature in your faith you will grow in your understanding of baptism and marvel at its beauty. For now it is enough to know the early Christians practiced it and Jesus requested it be done. While faith, confession and repentance are things you do by yourself, baptism is something another believer does to you. Most people are baptized by a member of the clergy but more and more people are being baptized by another believer who is very special to them or the person who had the most influence on them deciding to follow Jesus. It’s a high honor for you to give that person. Who baptizes you is totally your decision. People make baptism complicated. In the bible it is actually fairly simple. New believers were not asked if they wanted to be baptized as if it were optional. They were simply instructed by the apostles to be baptized. So, they were baptized as the first act of their new faith.
Faith, Confession, Repentance and Baptism
Faith, Confession, Repentance and Baptism bring you to the end of your beginning and are so interrelated that they soon will blur into one event. Once you have begun your relationship with Him you will find you have a new life. The Apostle Paul said it this way, “…, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Rom. 6:4b).
New Life
The New Life is sustained by the same faith that brought you to grace. Your relationship with Jesus is like any other relationship in many ways. It is a living growing thing that needs to be nourished or it will wither and die. Jesus explained this Himself in a story recorded in Matt. 13:2-9, 18-23. You in large part can determine the type of soil you will be by how much you want to develop the relationship. It is somewhat like agreeing to meet your best friend every evening to walk with you. He will be there every time and walk any road in any weather. He will never not be there longingly waiting for you. Even when you don’t show up He will be there waiting. The Bible says, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.”(James 4:8).
The Bible
The Bible is the first and most important way to feed your relationship. It is God’s love letter straight from His heart straight to yours. It alone is the standard by which all other books and teachings are to be measured. I love to read and reread love letters from my wife, children and grandchildren. They never get old never get boring eventually they do wear out but by that time they have become a part of my heart. That’s what God desires: His word written on your heart.
While the Bible is God’s love letter to you, it may seem complicated at first. It is actually a compilation of 66 books to be exact. They were written by about 70 different authors over a period approximately 1500 B.C. to 100 A.D. After they were collected, they were bound together by subject matter. There are two major divisions the “Old Testament” and The “New Testament”. The 39 books of the Old Testament are in three groups; 17 Historical, 5 Poetical and 17 books of Prophecy. The New Testament has four groups; 4 Biographical, 1 Historical, 21 Letters and 1 book of Prophecy. Knowing how the Bible is organized will help you understand it much quicker. Most new believers want to jump right in and start reading from the 1st page of Genesis to the last page of Revelation. You can do that but most Bible teachers suggest starting with one of the biographies of Jesus generally the Gospel of John. Then read the history of the first Christians, the Book of Acts. After that go back and read the other three Gospels. Then read the book of Acts again. Now, read the 21 letters from the Apostles and early Christian leaders. Skip the book of Revelation and read the Old Testament starting with Genesis going straight through to Malachi. Reread the entire New Testament again this time finish with the book of Revelation. Revelation is best understood with a back ground of the rest of the Bible.
Friendship and Meeting
Friendship and Meeting often with other believers is the next important part of growing your relationship with Jesus. The Apostle Paul instructed the Hebrew followers, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”(Heb. 10:24, 25). From nature we know that predators prey on the stragglers of a herd since they are the easy pickings. The Apostle Peter used this very image when he described Satin’s actions. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”(1 Per.5:8).
Prayer
Prayer is another very important part of the relationship. Again there are no magic words. You don’t need to develop a “Holier than Thou” vocabulary or learn the “Christianese” language. It is simply you speaking your heart to God. He already knows what you are going to say. He just enjoys hearing you say it. Like any relationship good communications are paramount. You speak to Him in prayer and He speaks to you through the Scriptures. There is nothing too big or too little to speak with Him about. Friendship is a two way street with a profound respect one for the other. He will not treat you as a bumbling idiot that can never get anything right and you cannot treat Him as your private “Jennie in a bottle” that is supposed to get you everything on your never ending shopping list.
Church Attendance
Church attendance is not mandatory in your relationship with Christ. It is not something you do to pay your duty to God so you can go live like the devil the rest of the week. Unfortunately, there are many people who go to church for wrong reasons and never develop a good relationship with Jesus. Then there are thousands of excuses people use to not go to church. But, here are a few reasons why you should regularly attend church. Church is where I go to experience a deeper expression of praise and worship than I can achieve by myself. It is where I go to hear Scripture discussed by others who are more experienced or more knowledgeable than I am. It’s where I go to help me fill that desire to know all I can about God. It is where I go to leave a burden too heavy for me to carry alone. It is where I go to help carry a burden too heavy for someone else to carry alone. It is where I go and rejoice when I hear about an elderly wheel chair bound woman who sends cards of encouragement to a single mom struggling to make ends meet and meet the emotional needs of her three small children, to a 60 year old man who just lost his job for the third time in five years, to a home sick soldier and to an early teenage girl who just lost her mother to cancer. Church is where I go to help make a difference in my community, my country and the world. Church is where I go to do more than I can do by myself to bind up the broken and lift up the fallen. Church is where I go to make sure I’m a part of the solution to all the pain and suffering in the world instead of being part of the problem. I don’t have to go to church. It’s just that I can’t imagine not going.
Which Church
Which Church should you choose to be a part of? Before I answer that question, let me say there is no perfect church. The reason is that they all are made up of sinners just like you and me who desire to honor God but still struggle with their sinful nature. There are three things to look for in any assembly of believers. Do they honor God first, last and foremost? Do they teach, preach and practice the whole Bible as the very words of God? And last, do they love all people? Find a group of Christians like this close to your home and walk in and roll up your sleeves. You are about to embark on a journey that will last through eternity
Books
Books which will help you grow your relationship with Jesus. The last writer of the Bible, the Apostle John, closed his biography of Christ with these words. “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”(John 21:25). Today there are literally hundreds of thousands of books written about Jesus many of which are very good. There are two I recommend to all new believers and they are readily available at Christian book stores and online book sellers. The first is a Christian classic entitled “Mere Christianity” by C. S. Lewis. The second is the book hostage Ashley Smith read a chapter from to her captor Brian Nichols (who shot four people in Atlanta on March 11, 2005) and ultimately lead him to surrender to the police and probably saved her life, “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren.
Finally, I pray that you understand fully this mystery of God which is, “… Christ in you the hope of Glory.”
OTHER STORIES FOR SEEKERS
