As of today's date, I have been a Christian for five years and ten months. I say this for a specific reason.
If you've been following my progress or reading my blogs you will know that I take Christianity and faith more seriously than anything else on this earth or in this life. Jesus comes first every time and I will never, ever deny Him, not even to a muslim with a scimitar!
Earth is a Training Ground
I believe that we're in training here on the earth and whilst we all know that we will, at some point die, all this time we spend on earth is to prepare us for the next stage of our existence which will be spent in eternity, assuming we don't deny him and end up following satan.
For me, in accordance with the Bible, I call myself a Christian because I believe in my heart in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, I confess this with my mouth (Acts 8:37 KJV), I have been baptised in water and made public my covenant with Him and have been baptised in the Holy Spirit.
Each of these facts confirm, as per Romans 8:9 that I have His Spirit. Again, according to the Bible, if you cannot contest to these points you are NOT a Christian. How does that make you feel? I have come across so many people who have been quite taken aback by this information. I can't stress enough how important this is.
Must be reborn of water
Jesus, when covertly speaking to Nicodemus at night, told him that no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven without first being reborn. (John 3:1-21).
So what's the deal with all the Christians we come in to contact with. Are they all Christians? I mean real Christians? When it comes to everyones faith, how much do we really have?
I often hear, in fact, every time I go to an event to do with Church, someone or other says how much they love Jesus! But here comes the 'rub', who actually trusts Him, I mean really trusts Him?
I can see a pattern emerging; churches who don't explain the varous stages of baptism and therefore don't demand it are doing the church a massive disservice and in the eyes of many are dancing to the tune of the enemy, satan.
Victorious Expectation
God wants us to be victorious on this earth. He wants us to understand His laws, prcepts and ways. He has given us commands, promises and timeless principles for our specific, personal and collective benefit.
But, and this is a big 'but', if we don't trust Him, we're not going to believe Him. And if we're not going to carry out His commands and follow His word to the letter, we are not going to experience God's best for us or anyone around us.
I can say from personal experience, I was baptised as a child. But realised that I had to make a personal commitment and decision as an adult. I had to believe Jesus was 'it' for me. I then had to demonstrate my commitment to Jesus in front of other people. In short, I made a covenant with Jesus in the same way I made a covenant with my wife when I got married. In fact in the Greek, these two events are described as the same, i.e. the joining to Jesus and the joining to a wife, two becoming one.
I then exposed myself to the possibility of being baptised in the Holy Spirit. This I now know to be the gift God gives to us or bestows on us as confirmation of the power and authority that Jesus took back from satan when He died on the Cross and went to hell to 'sort out satan'.
Understand the basics
Our understanding of the Bible is imperative, even if its a basic grasp of Adam, Eve, Satan, Jesus, Redemption and Eternity with God. Once we realise that we are blood bought Children of God who have been given the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and have the ability to speak things in to being and stop satan in his tracks, perhaps then, we will be able to start living and talking like we trust God and stop paying lip service and losing out.
We all know it's possible to be in love with someone but not trust them. Trust comes later (we hope). And that's someone we can see in the flesh. When we're looking at faith it's more intangible.
Many people write about God and faith in such a way that makes God appear so distant and so inaccessible. I'm not one for flowery writing, I'll write as I see, but 'beautiful' writing will for many, put God out of reach and make Him appear irrelevant in or for our lives.
The World is against Christianity
Our society is doing everything in it's power to force us to dismiss Christianity. No surprise there then!
From Islam to our own countries' left-wing apologists who keep telling us we're wrong, there are so many elements that not only distract non Christians (whatever age) but also existing Christians.
However, if our faith is built upon unsecure foundataions, like not understanding the basics, it becomes easier for society, aka the world, aka satan to decieve us ands make us believe Christianity is a load of nonsense.
Satan's purpose is to kill, steal and destroy. And if you haven't realised his role in your training on this earth, you're not only in danger of being seduced in to losing your faith but you'll end up living a defeated life.
God wants you for eternity, satan wants you dead and that goes for everyone in your family too.
Additional Content
I'd like to suggest to additional items for you to read. The first is a Christians Starter Kit which is a short explanation about the Bible story and why one should have faith in Jesus.
Download The Christian Starter Kit Document
The second longer and is a series of sermon transcripts I found online which I then formatted in to one download. It was by Dr Rev Chang and about baptism. I can assure you it is quite an eye opener and as I read it, it seemed as if it was written specifically for me.
