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For Further Christian GROWTH We believe in order to grow in Christ, you need to be surround by folks that will help encourage you as you walk, get in your face with love and compassion when you are in sin, hold you up when you are weak and point you back to His Word (not friends, not material things, not opinions, philosophies or psychology nor any substitutions) no matter what you do. To grow in Christ is hard work and it takes a conscience effort to mature in your Christian walk. It takes determination and knowledge of Biblical truth to walk toward maturity because we fall often and we are deceived very easily. We hate to break this to you but there is no smooth sailing here on earth. But God promises that it can be a joyful life regardless of the circumstances we encounter. We will encounter them. Our goal is to help you plug into a daily routine of prayer and reading the bible. We just want to get you started until you can get plugged into a church or are kept accountable in another way. Whether you have a family, are single or are 18 and under you will need consistency! Make it a habit. It takes a couple weeks of repetition to make something a habit. If you are not daily getting in the Word or praying, deception will take over. Be different at home, my pastor in Austin, Texas once said, "the home is the meat and potatoes of your time with God, church or AWANA groups are the gravy". I believe he is right. Church should not be the main event and only spiritual food you get every week or 3 times a week. God is a daily event! Below are a few suggestions to help get you started.
Go
to God in prayer daily (John 15:7).
2) 7 Minutes with God; How To Plan A Daily Quiet Time is a great pamphlet put out by NAVPRESS, a ministry of the Navigators PO Box 35001, Colorado Springs, CO 80935. This pamphlet write and excerpt from Seven Minutes With God by Robert D. Foster. Basically it says for 7 out of 7 days; prepare yourself for an appointment with God in a prayer (30 seconds), read God's Word to have something to chew on all day (4 minutes) -- they suggest to start with the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John), take the last 2.5 minutes in prayer using an acronym ACTS below. A - Adoration, acknowledge God and His characteristics; greatness, power, compassion, mightiness, being the creator, the alpha and omega, faithfulness, gracefulness, mercifulness, etc. C - Confession, admitting the daily sins you commit, talking to God who already knows but choosing to fess up or repent of your sins. 'Something happened yesterday you called a slight exaggeration - God calls it a lie! You call it strong language - God calls it swearing. You call it telling the truth about somebody in the church - God calls it gossip. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18).' T- Thanksgiving, 'Express your gratitude with God. Think of all the things you can be thankful for. "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1Thessalonians 5:18).' S- Supplication, honestly and earnestly ask and request or make petitions to the Lord. Even get out of your immediate family, church family, neighborhood family, friends abroad and distant places, the government or local leadership and even enemies. 3) The book of Proverbs has 31 chapters in it, one for every day of the month. Read one chapter every day with a prayer afterwards. 4) Use the Bible study book you are doing in your church as a daily devotion. 5) Go to amazon.com or local Christian bookstore and start with a study booklet that studies the gospels. It's more fun doing it with someone else and then meet weekly. We have done a study over e-mail, asking questions back and forth and answering the questions together from a booklet. Doing a study together with someone helps with accountability and discipline. 6) If you are a computer wiz, use the Our Daily Bread website and seek them everyday. They have a daily devotional along with a verse to read. They also suggest a few chapters of the Bible if you are trying to read the whole Bible in a year. If you write to them and tell them to send you the devotion of the day, they will send it to you via e-mail every day of the week. 7) Memorize a chapter or verses of the Bible. We once heard that there was a woman who lost her memory to Alzheimer's but walked around saying the verses of the Bible. Wouldn't it be nice to know you can still administer to those in a nursing home when your brain is completely disintegrating! <<< Find a Church Read the Bible Daily >>>
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Web Page Last Updated: 10/26/2008 |
