By David Crissman
So you’ve responded to an invitation of God by asking for forgiveness and inviting Him to be your Lord and King…you’ve started reading God’s Word and now you might be wondering…what’s next?
Here are a few actions that we recommend to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus and become who God created you to be:
- Find a Christ-Centered Church – Attend Church/Fellowship regularly/Praise God always – continually
- Be Baptized in Water (Acts 2:38; Matthew 3:13-17)
- Receive Baptism in the Holy Spirit – Begin praying in the Spirit – Worship and Pray (Jude v.20; 1 Corinthians 14:4; John 4:23-24)
- Grow in Wisdom & Grace – Learn/Experience/Exhibit the nine gifts and nine fruits of the spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Gal. 5:22-23)
- Learn the Wisdom of Surrendering – Obedience to things like tithing, fasting, serving, repentance, forgiveness
- Become the Gift that God is Shaping You to Become – delivering your spiritual gifts as the Holy Spirit directs.
- Participate in Christ’s Mission & Purpose – Jesus gave us a Great Commission which the Holy Spirit will help us to carry out! (Matt 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:44-49; John 20:19-23)
- Discover Your Authority – Begin using the authority Jesus gave His believers over Satan! (Matthew 10:1; Matthew 10:8; Luke 10:19,20; Mark 16:17-18; Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
- Be Open to the Refilling Presence of the Holy Spirit- (Ephesians 5:18). The verb tense of the Greek [be filled] means continually being filled, ongoingly – being baptized in the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event. How? Answer – We ask Jesus to refill us; worship God; worship in the Spirit; pray & sing in spiritual language; read scripture; fellowship with other believers. (John 4:23-24 – note scripture says we “must worship in spirit and truth”).