For many,
this weekend probably started it the beginning of Spring break for others, a
regular weekend, yet for others it marked the time a decision was made to leave
the full sinful lives by accepting God as The new Chief Manager in charge. At the moment you choose to come to God for
the forgiveness of your sins, The Lord comes and sweeps over your heart taking
dirt and even dusty particles leaving it in perfect condition as a brand new
baby’s heart. Like when you buy a new
car, that has that “new car scent”, so fresh or when the teacher on that first
day of school says you all have started with an A in class. That’s the way is
with The Lord, totally NEW!!! No spots or wrinkles, before His eyes, you are
PERFECT piece, like an out of the oven loaf of bread; in fact, you are HIS
MASTERPIECE[1]!!!
Now after that first day of “New
Beginnings“, the battle is real because in order to keep your heart clean; your
car smelling like new, and your grades on straight A’s, you will HAVE to work
at it! The battle as a new creation in The Lord has already begun! But I
guarantee you, that as long as you stay rooted in Christ, you ARE GOING TO
SUCCESSFULLY MAKE IT!!! This is the “key”:
“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night
so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then
will you prosper and succeed in all you do.[2]” One thing we have to keep reminding ourselves for sometime
will be:
14 “So FEAR The Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly. PUT AWAY forever the idols your
ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in
Egypt. SERVE The Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse
to serve The Lord, then choose
today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served
beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you
now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve The Lord.” 16 The people replied, “We would NEVER ABANDON The lord and
serve other gods. 17 For The Lord our God is the One who rescued us and our ancestors
from slavery in the land of Egypt. He
performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through
the wilderness among our enemies, He preserved
us. 18 It was The Lord who
drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we,
too, will serve The Lord, for He alone is our God.”
What’s really encouraging us to do is quite simple is just to
turn around from our old ways. Now that the Spirit of The Lord lives in your
heart, you will experience a tug in your heart when you’re about to do
something that’s not pleasing Him. Like there’s a part of your heart that wants
you to do something, but another is telling you shouldn’t; that my friend, that’s
God telling you don’t!
There will be times that your “party buddies” will invite
you to go with them, but you’re not feeling it, then DON’T! That’s God! Some of
the conversations that you used to have with your “buddies” are making you feel
uncomfortable now; guess what? That’s God, because your heart, not your friend’s
heart but yours is the one that’s been washed with the blood of Jesus, and you’re
NOT the same anymore!
A decision was made and consequently other decision will
follow, all in order to remain with that “new car scent”. Our purification begun one day and will
continue until the day that we depart from this earth; but just as it was a
choice the day that we accepted The Lord, is a matter of choice to stay on the
race of life with our daily commitment of living for Christ.
Are you going to ignore God’s signs and go back to your old
ways? or will you choose to independently from the world that surrounds you,
serve The Lord?
The people Joshua was leading decided to remember that it
was GOD who rescued them from their life of slavery. This is what really has been happening in our
lives when we aren’t serving The Lord, we became slaves of our surroundings and
were used to disrupt and create discord. I want you to think about all the “miracles”
The Lord had given you in the past but you didn’t realized it because as slaves
your eyes were blinded. Think about it
now, you can see that the accident you had could have taken your life, but GOD
spared you from it. That surgery you had could have taken your life, but GOD
protected you and got you thru; that fight you had could have ended in murder
but GOD spared you! Because otherwise your soul would have perished in hell forever
and HE didn’t want that for you; His plans were and are for good NOT to harm
you but to prosper you, and to give you life in abundance![3]
To equip you to walk this new
life with the needed tools to keep yourself in victory over the circumstances
of life with Christ, you will need:
1. Find a church were The Bible
is studied
It’s essential for
the new life that you started to train yourself to be at church on Sundays, if
you work in the morning, determine you will make it on Sunday nights. If you work on Saturday night till late,
choose to make a sacrificial offering onto God, and wake up Sunday morning on
time to be at church, if you know you have to work on Sunday night.
2. Get use to read your own Bible,
inside and outside of church
Hear someone
read you from The Bible is good, but is better to have a Bible you can read
yourself, study from it, and highlight those Scriptures that speak to your
life; so you can go back to those highlighted places as often as you need to.
If you need me to help you find a church closed by you, let me know; and also
if you need a personal Bible, I’ll get you one!
3. Join a small group at church
Is in small
groups were you find the difference between the way you’ve been living and the
way God wants us to live. Here we are
able to ask easy and other not so easy questions about life, behaviors, doctrines,
and things sometimes we hear that aren’t exactly according to God. In these groups you will be able to meet
imperfect people like us, trying to be more like God wants us to; therefore new
relationships are formed. You will meet your new brothers and sisters in The
Lord; some a bit older that could become like parents or grandparents in the
faith. This can and will become (as long
as you allow it to) your new family in Christ.
I’m very happy that you’ve chosen to commit or recommit
your life for Christ, and I pray you choose to follow HIM for when you do, your
success is guaranteed!
Have
a GREAT new life in Christ!!!
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