Chapter 11: Next Steps

If you have come this far in the book and have never come to repentance before God, or you have backslidden in your walk with God, this chapter is for you.

Repent and be Baptized!

1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
2 Corinthians 6:1-2

6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psalm 95:6-8

Today is the day of salvation, my brothers, and sisters; harden not your hearts. Now is the acceptable time, today is a good day to begin your salvation walk.

If you are ready, His Word says if we confess and forsake our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. The Spirit is calling on you, even in this hour. Do not turn away. Yield to Him. Confess your sins and forsake them, believe in your heart that God cannot lie to you, that Jesus is indeed the Messiah who was sent into the world, that the world through Him may not perish, but have everlasting life. Confess Him audibly with your mouth here and now, as your Lord and as your savior.

Once you have confessed your sin, pray this simple prayer. It doesn’t have to be word-for-word as written as this is not a charm or a witch’s spell. You may use your own words, but the intent is the same:

God, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I realize that I am a sinner oh God! Your word says that if we confess and forsake our sins, that you are faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. I confess my sins before you now O God! I have done the following: List your sins here, which you are confessing, hiding nothing as He knows them all, especially whatever sin is on your heart right now. Lord, I turn from these sins and purpose in my heart not to do them again. O God in heaven, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, I also believe that Jesus Christ is who You say He is, the Lamb of God sent to redeem us from our sins and restore my relationship with You. I believe with all my heart that Jesus is Lord, the only begotten Son of God, whom you have sent to die for my sins. I believe that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, that no man comes to You but by Him. Forgive me my sins O God and cleanse me of all my unrighteousness. Write my name in the Lamb’s book of Life. Accept me as your son/daughter. God be a Father to me this day, in the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Sincerely pray the above prayer, confessing the sins which you have committed, even ALL that come to your mind and forsake them. If you just prayed that prayer, believe that your name has been written in the book of life:

8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelations 13:8

Believe that you are now a child of God. Don’t wait for any physical feelings. This has nothing to do with your feelings or emotions. When you pray now, begin to address God as Father. All your prayers must be in the name of Jesus, acknowledging Him as your Lord and savior always before the Father, continually affirming your belief in Jesus as the Christ of God who alone can redeem us from our sins. Remember that the Israelites always brought a sacrifice for sin and trespasses and anytime they came to seek the face of God. Jesus, God made flesh is our sacrifice, so all prayers must be in His name.

Confess Him as Lord and Savior everywhere you go to whomever will listen. Do not be ashamed of Him for the sake of a perishing world.

38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Mark 8:38

Do not be ashamed, rather proclaim Him. Not only are you continually confessing Him before men, but you are keeping yourself accountable in their eyes. No more must you wallow in filth. You must hold yourself to this higher standard.

Finally, be water baptized in the name of Jesus. Not only should you be water baptized into repentance but also into the Lord Jesus. This baptism into the Lord is an immersion into Christ, to walk in the mindset of Christ, to take up the garments of a servant, even as the Lord Himself, who being in the form of God, took upon Himself the form of a servant to walk in obedience unto the Father. If the Lord did this, how much more should we, mere flesh and blood, mere dust of the earth, do this? This is the mindset that is pleasing to the Father and into this must you be baptized, not immersion into water for the sake of an immersion, following the letter of the law but embracing the Spirit of the law to obey the Father in Spirit and in Truth.

Read your bible, pray everyday

Next, begin to devour scripture. The word of God is now your daily bread. It is food for your spirit. Do not feed your body until you have fed your spirit. Have a purposeful plan for reading the bible.

2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
1 Peter 2:2

Not reading a verse here or a verse there, but systematically devouring it. The bible has 1,189 chapters. I recommend reading it AT LEAST once EVERY year from henceforth as a minimum. Commit to 4 chapters a day will get you through in about 11 months. 16 chapters a day will get you through in less than 90 days, and so forth. Start at the beginning. Genesis 1:1, read it slowly, thinking about what you read. Initially, you may not understand it and may be tempted to give up but hang in there. This is not a novel, but a book for your spirit to grow. Do not read it with a critical, judgmental, contemptuous spirit but with the open mind of a child. Meditate on what you read daily. Biblical meditation has nothing to do with “emptying your mind” or muttering some word or phrase over and over like is recommended in the Eastern religions. Quite the direct opposite, in fact:

8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Joshua 1:8

When Moses died and Joshua his servant became the leader of Israel in the wilderness, this was God’s specific instruction to him. Like ruminants which have four stomachs, they appear to be chewing almost all the time. When they take a break from eating grass, while basking in the sun, one sees ruminants such as cattle and sheep chewing the cud. They regurgitate what they eat and chew it again and again. They do this because their stomachs have four compartments. The cud goes to the first compartment for initial processing, then is regurgitated back to their mouths for more chewing, then back again to the first compartment for more processing. From there, it moves to the second compartment and that is again regurgitated. Most (if not all) of the chewing and regurgitating happens within the first two compartments, before finer material passes to the third and finally the fourth compartment, where it is ultimately digested. So even when supposedly asleep, one sees these animals steadily chewing.

This is what God means by His word shall not depart from our mouths; but that we must meditate on it DAY and NIGHT. How? By continual study of it and actively thinking on it day and night. And reading it and speaking it. This is what it is to meditate, according to God; not an emptying of the mind, but an ACTIVE filling of it with God’s word. My recommendation is to spend no less than half an hour each day in reading your bible and meditating on it.

15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
2 Timothy 3:15-17

The scriptures make us wise unto salvation and is for our edification. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword and is truth. It distinguishes soul from spirit and light from darkness, the very Word of God.

Follow this with prayer. Initially you may be able to pray only 5 minutes. Don’t worry, keep at it. To pray is to commune with God. You may pray words out of a book of prayers if you wish, but I recommend just opening your mouth and having a conversation with God. God’s house is a house of prayer. Prayer is not rote recital of any words. Pray with all your heart. This means pray with your entire longing. Pray earnestly, with intensity, with fervor, tapping into the longing of your inner being for that something more, to reach Him. This is the cry of your heart. It will be suffused with your intellect and emotion and will and the longing of your spirit for Him. He wants to hear your desperation for Him and longing for Him. This is prayer from the heart. Any other less intense prayer is not from the heart. At least 5 minutes must be spent praying to Him from the heart and build up from there. This prayer is in your closet, when you are alone, not in the presence of others so you can be free to be yourself. Express yourself. Cry and even weep for Him if that is what your heart wants to do. You will feel His presence when you pray like this; know that at such times, He is listening to what you say. Some may see “at least 5 minutes” and set that as a daily goal. This is far from the case. 5 minutes is for beginners only. I would recommend spending no less than one hour every day in prayer. Where did this number come from? From the Lord, before His crucifixion at the garden of Gethsemane:

36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Matthew 26:36-41

If the hour seems long to you, turn to the scriptures, and pray them. Turn to the Psalms, most of which were written by David King of Israel, a man whom God calls a man after His heart and by Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, who with their sons would prophesy with harps, psalteries and cymbals who offered up songs of praise day and night to God. They offered up praise, day, and night to God, such that for 33 years when David reigned over Jerusalem, Jerusalem the city never saw war. Thus, the ultimate goal of prayer is to pray continuously, without ceasing. Pray out of the Psalms, also turn to the letters of Paul, and pray his prayers for the church.

What should you pray for? whatever comes to your mind. But I like to start with thanks. Thank Him for everything. Literally go down the list in your mind thanking Him sincerely. Thank Him especially for saving you from hell. Weep over this. Thank Jesus for shedding His blood, for His long-suffering toward you, for His patience and faithfulness, for your daily bread, for your children if you have any, for your spouse if you have any, for your car, your job, your house; no matter the situation, it could be much worse, always remember that.

16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Praise Him from your heart. Find a Worship song. These songs are suffused with longing. Worship Him, sing to Him, express yourself. God delights in the praises of His people.

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
Psalm 150

The goal of continuous prayer and praise, asides from renewing your mind and attuning it to the frequency of God’s heart, it keeps your mind on the things of God, not on carnal things. As a man thinks, so is he. We only act upon what we consciously think about. We are the sum of our thoughts. God is so much higher than man because His thoughts are so much higher. To “come up hither”, we must be tuned to thoughts of things above, on things eternal, not on temporal things, since the earth and all that is in it are passing away, but His word remains forever, we are to think on His words.

1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:1-2

Fellowship

Now, you must find other believers to fellowship with. This may mean making new friends. Not for the sake of making friends, but for the sake of sharing the word of God together, breaking Bread together, not meals, eating and drinking, but the Bread of life! Discussing Christ and the word of God with other like-minded people. This is important because you need to begin to think differently from the world. If you fellowship only with worldly people, with whom will you discuss scripture? With whom will you discuss the word of God? With whom will you pray? Certainly not them! For this reason, finding a church to join is a good idea. Nevertheless, some join churches and don’t make any friends in those churches. Others join churches to have a “new set of friends”, but don’t break Bread together; don’t share the word of God and edify one another. Rather, they may make these new friends and go to social gatherings with or invite each other over for movie night and so forth. But this isn’t the purpose of fellowship. Socializing with other Christians is important because man is a social creature that likes to interact with others. But do your interactions EDIFY?

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:15-21

Remember that in your new walk with God, your mind must be renewed. For this to happen, one needs to surround oneself with things of God, so that one can begin to THINK on these things. This is one very good reason to read your bible and pray every day. Fellowship with other like- minded believers will further foster this renewing of the mind, and for encouraging one another in our spiritual journeys, bearing each other’s burdens, praying for one another.

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25

In finding a church, you want to find one that preaches the whole Word of God; not a church that is given to “motivational speaking”, but one that preaches all of God’s Word: both the love and the wrath of God. At the very least, institute fellowship in your house with family members, where you can pray, praise, and discuss the word of God on a consistent basis.