So... how do you feel?
If you took the step of praying the prayer on the previous page, one of two things will have happened!
Either you will now feel a surge of joy and wonder - you're a new person in Christ, a friend and child of God himself! - or you may feel absolutely nothing at all. You may even wonder, "Did anything just happen? Nothing feels any different..."
Well, don't worry; different people have different "new birth" experiences. And the important point is, your feelings really don't matter at all. Emotions fluctuate, don't they. So if you're on Cloud Nine now, chances are you won't be tomorrow. And if you don't feel any different from how you were before you prayed - just wait for a while, give God a chance, and you'll find there's a lot of joy and happiness in living the Christian life.
But the point is: what has happened to you is something far deeper and more significant than just an emotional liver-shiver. If you prayed the prayer and meant it, your life has quietly undergone a shift at its deepest level, and over the next few days and weeks you'll find more and more proof of that:
Now we look
inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a
fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All
this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and
him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God
put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world
a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. (2 Corinthians 5 in The Bible) |
A new Christian is "born again" into a new life. Do you remember being born the first time round? Probably your earliest memories come from when you were 2 or 3... because it's all so strange and new when it first happens, you don't get your bearings for quite a while! And it's the same with being "born again".
Bit by bit, as you live with Jesus, you'll start to notice the changes and differences. You'll be amazed at the way he's working in you - bringing you together as never before, making you the kind of person you always wanted to be, but couldn't turn yourself into. Just give it time!
Here are four things that will really help you grow as a Christian...
Read the book If you give it a chance, the Bible is really going to open itself up to you now! God has given you his Holy Spirit, and it's the Spirit that helps us appreciate Scripture in a way that non-believers just can't. You need to find out how to build in a regular Bible intake that nourishes, thrills and encourages you, and we'd love to show you how you can do it.
Live the life Jesus' first-ever miracle happened at a wedding reception, where his mother told the waiters, "Whatever he says to you, do it." That's still pretty good advice if you want to see Jesus doing miracles in your life today! As you learn more about the radical new lifestyle of love, live out Jesus' commands and make them your agenda for living.
Build the relationship Pray whenever you can. Build a regular daily prayer time of the kind we've described in Route 2, but don't leave it there. You can talk to your heavenly Father throughout the day whenever you want. Get into the habit of living life with him close by.
Meet the family Your brothers and sisters can be massively important in helping you grow and develop. Whether you choose to go to another church, or join in with us at SEC, we really don't mind; but you need to give yourself the incredible experience of love and support that comes from being part of a truly caring, Jesus-centred bunch of Christians.
But this is just a brief introduction to a very big subject... get in touch with us and we can help you a whole lot more...