Hello friend. Can I l lead you to Jesus Christ? The older I am getting the closer I am to heaven. My days are numbered here, but I know my last breath on this earth will be my first breath in Heaven. Knowing this gives me everlasting joy. How I choose to live my life here determines where I go for eternity, which makes this life very short in comparison. The bible clearly states I will have rest from my labor on this earth, Revelation 14:13, but there will also be work to do, which I’m looking forward to serving God in Heaven, Revelation 22:3. Knowing this gives me joy. Yes, I am a Christian, and I want you to experience this same joy I have being a Christian in this world.
This written work is truly from God and is of God, because His Holy Spirit in me has called me and inspired me to write it. This is all God. Yes, I’ll provide my input and help explain the basics, but everything comes from the Word of God, which is the cornerstone and foundation of everything written here. I am not affiliated with any religious group or sect, nor follow any man-made doctrine. Everything here is Spirit lead. Amen.
Sure, you will have a lot of questions when you make the choice to become a Christian, which is good. If you don’t have any questions then I question if your heart was sincere and honest toward taking this life-saving step wanting salvation through Jesus Christ. Remember, you can’t loose what you don’t have.
Why Christianity, and not choose some other religion or philosophy?
Easy answer. Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Calvinism, Mormonism, Coexistence, Atheism, Molinism, Scientology, Jehovah Witnesses, all theologies, intellectualism and all the other religions and groups around the world all give you the desire and point you to a good life to live and reach for, but Christianity is the only way to actually attain this life by placing in you a real life-breathing person, called the Holy Spirit or Helper, that lives in you to guide and help you live a life that is acceptable to God, and provides the guidance and strength to walk the narrow path to “Paradise” for eternity, Luke 23:43. Although at first you may think you can walk this path on your own without the Holy Spirit, the truth will eventually come upon you… you can’t do it, because the flesh is weak. The gift of the Holy Spirit is what separates Christianity from all other beliefs. What makes this even better, this Helper is free at no cost to you. All you have to do is follow the steps below, believe, and be committed with all your heart.
One more fact for you to process…. if you choose not to be a Christian, be lukewarm, compromise, or believe only parts of Christianity, whatever road you choose to walk and believe in this life, you are guaranteed to meet God. Yes! But wait, hold on… the only way to receive God’s approval and enter into Heaven is through your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There is no other way into Heaven. No! All other roads upon your death will lead you to a temporary holding place called hell, and then soon after meeting God at the Great White Throne Judgment you will be thrown into the “Lake of Fire” for eternity, Revelation 20:11-15. There is no escape. There are no second chances once your heart stops. Think!
CLICK! on the next seven topics to expand, read, and learn the things you need to know in becoming a Christian. The majority of the bible verses are from the New King James Version Bible, which I highly recommend. I also wanted to give you author names and time periods when these verses were inspired by God.
Lets prepare our hearts, turn off the phones, close the doors, and get started.
1. The bible is the final authority.
2. Satan's title deed on Earth.
It’s important for you to understand the realty and truth who is in charge of the earth. Every bone in you will disagree, but it’s true: God passed the title deed of the newly created earth over to Adam in the book of Genesis, but Adam forfeited the deed by disobeying God, eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was forbidden. Satan in his pride and jealousy took possession of man in the world at that moment forward, causing Adam to forfeit his inheritance. Remember, friend, when you were born you were created in the image of God with the power of choice – free will. Both Adam and you have the choice to obey or disobey God’s commandments. Without this power of choice we’ve been given, we would be “robots” with no freewill, and love would have no meaning.
God loves you so much He gave you a Helper to make the right choices in this world. God in every way will reach out to influence you and change your heart to follow and be like Jesus Christ. Your choices will determine everything on your outcomes in life. Don’t ignore this, friend. The world says God sends people to hell. This is no way true, and is a lie. Hell was never intended for man, but instead was made by God for Satan and the angles that fell from Heaven. Even Jesus Christ witnessed this event, Luke 10:18. Hell is a destination by your own choice. You were born into this world as a child of Satan by the title deed he received, and not a child of God. Satan wants every sinner to go to hell, and die without knowing Jesus or rejecting Jesus.
3. You have a condition. Admit it.
4. You are going to hell. Realize it.
5. You need a Savior. Accept it.
6. Jesus saved you. Believe it.
Its time to make a decision, friend. Do you need a Savior, or is your flesh of this world holding you back? Uncomfortable? Undecided? Maybe there is doubt inside you, causing you to hold back. Being born once from your mother’s womb will not save you. You must be born again of the Spirit, John 3:5-6. Pray now. Close your eyes and focus on God and ask him to help you with this life-saving decision. Talk to God. He loves you, and has been waiting for you to become His child. Let do this. Bow your head, close your eyes, and focus on God around you. Make sure you’re sincere about this decision, and not going through an empty motion that is insignificant, and you will forget about tomorrow. Check you heart!
Say this prayer:
God has done an amazing work in making you His child, planting the seed of His Truth from the Word of God in you, which has already started to take root. It’s time to begin your walk on the narrow path, building and feeding yourself the knowledge, wisdom, strength, and understanding of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As a new Christian, you need to protect, cultivate, and not neglect this seed, but allow it to take root and grow to Christian maturity bearing fruit in the name of Christ. This is where your honesty and sincerity in becoming a Christian is validated, because Satan goes to work deceptively with every new Believer in Christ, and will go to great lengths to take your seed away from you when you least expect it. Satan knows you’re weak in the flesh and easily tempted. Guard your heart, and be on alert. You are an easy target.
Jesus explained what can happen to your seed in four simple parables: (1) Your seed falls on the path and the birds eat it, which means your seed took no root and Satan snatched it, because you were not focused on Christ but on other things. (2) Your seed fell on rocky ground taking very little root sprouting up to be burned up by the sun, which means your initial enthusiasm did not sink deep enough, and you gave up when life’s hardships, trials, or burdens came upon you. (3) Your seed fell among the thorns and grew up to be later choked by materialism, riches, jealousy, coveting, or worries in your life. (4) Your seed fell on good soil and grew with deep roots by listening to the Word of God, building a strong faith and Christian lifestyle, staying steadfast when life’s problems came knocking at your door. These four parables truly represent four ways of living your life with Christ or without Christ, Matthew 13:18-23.
Now it’s your turn to nurture your seed and build a relationship with your Lord and Savior. Lets talk about five things you need to focus on as a Christian that will help you build a Christian lifestyle that honors and obeys God’s Word, and builds your relationship with your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Each of the five will be explained in more detail with verses to help you understand the purpose and origin from the Word of God. CLICK! on the next five topics to expand, read, and how to live, love, and obey as a Christian. Lets get started.
1. Repent from your sins.
2. Learn from the bible.
Reading the bible has become the easiest way for Satan to discourage and stop people from their Christian Growth. It’s true. Most Christians today, especially new Believers, approach reading their bible in an exhaustive manner that eventually leads them to stop reading altogether.
First, do not spend a ton of money on notebooks, highlighters, pens, cards, notepads, folders, and more for your bible reading. Second, do not purchase the biggest bible you can find where the text size is tiny, and the commentaries and references are greater than the bible text, itself; most churches will provide a new believer a bible or booklet at the moment they repeated the prayer of salvation and accepted Jesus Christ, but pride kicks in fast causing the person to want to get a personal bible, because they don’t want to appear as a newbie to others around them. Third, do not go out and buy a library of commentary books, stories, guides, concordances, wall paintings, refrigerator magnets, bumper stickers, and manuals. Fourth, do not place yourself in multiple bible studies, groups, prayer meetings and more. Fifth, do not join every Christian social media group you can find.
Yes, these are all great things to do, and I endorse it all as you grow as a Christian, but wait… After a short time, all of these things combined will become a heavy piece of luggage for you to carry everyday, every hour, and drag you down, causing you to compromise, removing commitments, become less interested, stop following, and eventually stop everything you had begun on this narrow path. Next, Satan creeps in discouraging you, influencing you to look past everything you’ve started. The flesh is weak, and slowly you become a casual Believer who attends church with a bible you rarely will read on your own; for many new Believers they will stop in their tracks and go back to their old lifestyle feeling the Christian obligation was way too much to carry, or worse… they fall into the trap of living in a lukewarm condition, which spreads like a virus to other family member, friends, and relatives.
Have you forgotten you are not alone? Did God not give you the Holy Spirit to help you? Most new Christians quickly forget the power of the Holy Spirit, nor even understand or know the Holy Spirit is in them. Churches do not talk enough about the Holy Spirit, especially after an alter calling, letting the new Christian leave the church service or gathering without knowing a God’s living Spirit just entered into their body to help, counsel, and empower him or her. Give the Holy Spirit a chance to work in you. Be patient. Reading and hearing from the bible will impact you outwardly, but only the Holy Spirit in you will truly impact your heart and change you.
The bible in big letters is all you need, friend. Read it slowly. Read a few verses a day or every other day that fits your schedule. Do not rush your reading and absorb all the verses at once. Do not clutter and distract yourself with other books, commentaries, and devotions until after you’ve explored the God’s Word on your own. Write a list of questions you have as you begin reading the bible. Pray first before you read a few verses, asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand and remember what you’re about to read. Almost every pastor I’ve seen recommends starting in the Book of John. This I agree. The Book of John is a good place to start reading.
Lastly, there are way over 50 different bible paraphrased versions to choose from, making the bible even more complicated. I recommend the New Kings James Version (NKJV) for the best bible translation for it represents the closest original text from the first early English translations over 400 years ago. Also, if you do not like reading or you’re intimidated by the size of the bible and it’s many pages, purchase the bible on DVD, Amazon Link, or download the bible app called YouVersion to your smartphone or mobile device, and listen to the audio version of the bible, YouVersion Link.
3. Attend a Christian church.
Choosing the right church is extremely important. The church must proclaim, follow and teach the bible 100% with no deviation or compromise. Choose a church not based on the lead pastor, but instead the entire fellowship, and it’s level of activities reaching out to all ages, and daily opportunities leading people to Christ. Never choose a church based on it’s size, but on it’s size of evangelism and outreach to the communities and abroad. You need to ask the question is the Spirit of God alive and at work in this church. The church body needs to be truly Spirit led, working together like a hospital saving the lost. The church needs to be inviting people to accept Christ regularly after church services, studies, and events. The more you read and study the Word of God with the Holy Spirit, the more wisdom, truth, and knowledge you will have to discern between churches, pastors, and their fellowship.
Keeping true to the Word of God, find a church that belongs to no denomination, religion, man-made theology, or sect. You want to find a church that is strictly bible-based and non-denominational. Pray to God, and ask for direction, and doors to open in finding a home church you can trust and grow spiritually in active fellowship.
4. Pray to God.
Prayer is your calling and cry to God. It’s the only way you can talk to God. God is waiting to hear from you. When you pray, my friend, God listens. Humble your heart in prayer, fall onto your knees in supplication, give Him praise, give Him your burdens, give Him thanksgiving, and give Him the love and respect in your prayer. Jesus spoke a lot about prayer, and warned us to not flower up our prayers for show, which is total hypocrisy and grandstanding. Pray all the time from your heart. Pray! Now… it’s important that you understand that God responds to our prayers in His own time, not on our calendar. Be patient, friend. Call on God, yes!, but do not rush. Sometimes people make the mistake of interpreting God’s patience as ignorance, because God did not take immediate action. No, don’t be fooled! People may misinterpret God’s long suffering as approval. Be careful. God never lacks information; He is all knowing and in control, so never doubt God. Wait on the Lord. Wait! Go about your normal day as best you can, and stay in prayer knowing God is listening. It doesn’t mean you sit under a tree doing nothing. Stay busy, and remain steadfast in prayer. God is very patient and long suffering. He loves you so much and has an abundance of compassion for you. God will answer yes, no, or wait. God’s timing is so different from ours. Never question it. Always remain faithful no matter the outcome. There may be an area in your life that God closes the door. Pray to God asking for confirmation. As a Christian you need to discover God’s will for you, which may very well be a different path you’re presently on. Think about this. This is why prayer is so important and essential in your Christian life. Amen.
Make a prayer list to prayer for specific needs of others you know, and remember do not make your prayers all about yourself, but instead pray for other people, and give 100% adoration to your Savior, Jesus Christ, who with His blood washed away your sins. And confess! Confess your sins when you pray. Prayer is surrendering yourself, giving it all to God. Give your love and thanksgiving to your Maker. He’s waiting to hear from you, friend. Do not be embarrassed when you pray, but instead trust God, and let go of the things in this world that is holding you down from crying out to God with all your energy and tears.
5. Produce fruit.
When you made the choice to be a Christian, the honesty and sincerity of your heart from this decision will show outwardly by your natural behavior. Your words and action will produce fruit as a witness to the world, and a proclamation to God. It’s all fruit.
Producing fruit has nothing to do with actual gardening or farming. The word “fruit” is used as a metaphor for the work you will do as a direct result from your heart and Christian faith. There is bad fruit: “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy,” Galatians 5:19-21. There is good fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” Galatians 5:22-24.
God is your farmer planting your seed, and He wants you to produce good fruit. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing,” John 15:5. You are the branch that is attached to the vine, Jesus Christ, drawing your life from Him. The goal for you is to have “much fruit,” that is a witness to a lost world of non-believers, and that which glorifies God the Father. What is your purpose in your life? Their is only one simple answer: glorify God. Remember, there is nothing you can do to earn your way to Heaven. Salvation is a gift from God’s grace through the redemptive blood of His begotten son, Jesus Christ. Doing good things comes from the Spirit in you, and your obedience and love for God, and not from own human effort to earn your salvation. Doing good in vain is simply a wasted effort; instead, do everything in the name of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Your love for God through Jesus Christ will show itself in your lifestyle in the home, in the workplace, with friends, with family, and among strangers. Remember you became a new creation, and you have the power of the Holy Spirit in you to help you overcome the flesh. You can do this, friend. Think about this carefully. You can be fruitful in many ways, which begins in the heart with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. What you choose on the inside will project on the outside for everyone to witness, and more importantly to be judged by God.
The definition of “steadfast” is: firmly fixed in place, not subject to change, firm in belief, determination, or adherence. The word is made up of two different English words: stead and fast. “Stead” means to place something, and “fast” means to be immovable. When the Bible tells you to be steadfast it’s telling you to stand firmly in place.
Why are you as a Christian called to be steadfast? The answer is simple: you will face storms in your life. God loves you, and He wants nothing more to see you stand firm in the darkest valleys where trials, tribulations, hardship, afflictions, adversity, loss, sadness, pain, persecution, and sorrow will overcome you. Satan wants you to fail, and will go to the greatest lengths to achieve his goal in turning you away from Jesus. Be on alert. Satan is deceptive using the smallest temptations, luring you with a taste, a sound, an image, or a touch. Lets take a look what the bible tells us on being steadfast in the Lord:
I do hope you read this far, and have made the commitment to live and follow Jesus Christ. There are countless books, sermons, and media on the topic, and I wanted to narrow the reality of becoming a Christian. I only wanted to capture the basics to help you begin your walk on this narrow path. The bible is an amazing collection of 66 books that come together in a perfect timeline of events, stories, and instruction. Its the only book that will save your life. Keep reading friend. Never stop. Always come back to the Word of God no matter the changes in your life. God loves you more than you can comprehend. Trust in this, and glorify the Lord in daily walk in Christ Jesus. My prayer is God will allow this to reach you and others around the world, impacting your heart, bringing you down to your knees, surrendering your life to Jesus Christ. The joy that comes from the Holy Spirit is beyond words. It’s real, and I pray you will live your life as a Christian to harness it all. Get on this train!
C.S. Lewis is quoted saying, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”
Please reach out to me if you have questions or wish to share your story with me, me@eriksvcard.com. I want to hear from you.
God bless you, friend.
