Moving on! Part 2
So I know that this is super basic, but it never hurts to revisit simple, foundational truths. Things change when you begin to serve God! At least, they should change. Sometimes people dont let God work in their hearts, and they soon find themselves in the exact same place they were to start with, and we want to avoid that. so I beleive we should go back and take a look at what the Bible says will happen as we continue going forward with God.
After my recent post, I really started thinking about what it is that we move on to. I mean, we often talk about moving on with God, but what exactly does that mean? When God saves you and changes your life it is His plan for you to keep going growing in grace and going deeper in his word. So I just wanted to make a short list of a few of the things that we can expect to see after we start to grow in God.
1. when we get saved God makes everything new
2 Corinthians 5:17 King James Version (KJV)
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
After we get saved we walk away from the sinful lifestyles that we used to live. When God saves someone, He has redeemed them for the purpose of showing off His glory in every aspect of their lives.
2. We go forward into Holiness
When God begins to change who you are, he cleans out the bad and begins growing new attitudes and behaviors. It is simply something to be expected of a child of God. 1 peter 1:15-16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Do all of His children behave the way they ought to all of the time? Hmm… no. But if you planted a peach tree and you got a bunch of grapefruit instead youd be pretty disappointed. In the same way God expects our attitudes and life habit to change to be closer and closer to his image. I know Ive had some times that I had to go to God and ask him to change me, to change my heart and help me with my attitude. And every time after praying and spending time in Gods word, those fruits begin to flourish again. Even though we might not always do everything perfectly, the fruits of the spirit of God working in our lives will be evident in one way or another. And hopefully more and more so as time goes by.
3. God wants to establish you firmly
After we receive Christ we are filled with so much joy, and love and excitement about everything to do with God and His Word and the Church! …. and then it is often followed by a period of difficulty . Maybe its something that we are unwilling to surrender to God, or we receive resistance from family members or its simply that the newness of salvation has worn off. But whatever it is, there comes a point where you have to learn to endure. Why? Because God is looking to make you strong! As wonderful as the initial excitement is, sometimes it takes a little adversity to give us the strong foundation and deep rooted faith we need to stand for God even when it is difficult. Thats why in 1 Peter 5:10 peter tells the church “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
4. God wants to fill you with His power
Acts 1:8 but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Gods promise of the baptism of the Holy Ghost is for each and every one of His children! It is the first thing you should pray for after receiving Christ. Why? Because the Holy Ghost will sustain you through the aforementioned difficult times. He will grow in you, to a greater extent, the fruits of the spirit that we talked about earlier. The Bible says that the Holy Ghost will “lead you into all truth”; He convicts us when we do something wrong, and He both comforts us and counsels us in difficult situations.
5. He wants to use you for His glory
Lastly, God wants to use you to show his glory to the world. The church is described as a body. Last I checked bodies dont have a bunch of extra parts lying around with nothing to do! In the body of Christ everbody is necessary, everyone has a job to do and a purpose to fullfil!
When we go forward with God, an essential part of that is finding a place in which we can minister to someone else. Maybe your purpose is to encourage others by your conversation or your testimony or to serve in areas that the church needs help, like washing dishes, cleaning and taking food to the sick or teaching a Sunday school class. Maybe it is to be a worshiper; to push the service, and be ready with a song or a testimony to glorify God! But in the Body of Christ everyone is called to minister in one capacity or another.
“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.”
There are all kinds of empty spots that need filled in the body of Christ, and one of them has your name on it.
We are all called to Witness. Matthew 28:19 King James Version (KJV) “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
All Christians are called to a life of evangelism. Maybe not on a streetcorner with a megaphone, or in a foreign country in another language. but, in our daily lives to those around us who dont know Christ. You know people well, that I will never meet; and I know people well that you will never meet. truly, leading someone else to Christ is one of the greatest things that we could ever do in life. And each person has a unique opportunity to show others the love of Christ in their day to day lives.
Lastly I wanted to close out with this little, very wonderful verse. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Gods plan for each of us is something beautiful, and always something for our benefit. As we go forward in God, lets never loose sight of the fact the God is working in us, and leading us. that we are not alone, God is with us every moment of the way!