How Do You Live the Christian Life?

"So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin."     2Peter 1:5-9 NIV/Life Application Study Bible

Have you ever wondered what steps should I take to make sure I am living the Christian life? Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, wrote 1 and 2 Peter. 2 Peter was written toward the end of his life. By writing these letters, he wanted Christians to be aware of the dangers of being a Christian as well as the benefits. Chapter 1:5-9 of 2Peter provides all Christians with the necessary steps to living the Christian life. Today, we will list and examine these steps.

God's power and promise are directly related to doing our part of being faithful and diligent. Faith is a direct reflection of our trust and full reliance on God. Our diligence is equal to the effort to do our part. Peter addresses 7 things we as Christians must do in our daily lives that exhibit our faith and diligence. Each of these items/steps are interdependent. This is not a check off list of items that need to be completed. These items are to be practiced daily, each dependent upon the other. Let's review these steps:

1. Virtue 
2. Knowledge
3. Self-Control
4. Endurance
5. Godliness
6. Brotherly kindness
7. Love

Virtue is defined as goodness or moral excellence. Christians have this unwavering need to do what is right. I'm not saying we as Christians always do what is right but the need to is always there.
In order to do what is right, we must first know what the right thing to do is.

Knowledge of who God is and what He can do is key. One can never know enough about God. Knowing who He is and what His involvement in your life can bring to your life not only enriches your life but the lives of those who come in contact with you.

The will to do what is right and the knowledge of what is right leads to Self-Control. People who know the Word are often overcome with pride, envy, unfaithfulness, deception, gluttony, greed or procrastination due to a lack of self-discipline. We all have met or know people that know the Word but who's lives are all in shambles. Self-control is a product of the Spirit. While having the need to do right, acting on that need and developing knowledge, one is expected to have control of oneself, both body and spirit.

Endurance in conjunction with self-control enables us to finish whatever tasks we have started, to prove our faith, develop character and mature in Christ.

Godliness is derived from enduring the self-control exhibited after gaining knowledge in doing what is right. Godliness is to walk in the way of Christ, to be merciful, loving, holy, true, good and patient.

Caring for our brothers and sisters demonstrates brotherly kindness.  As a Christian, the God in you affords you the ability to care for your brothers and sisters.

Brotherly kindness needs love. I'm not referring to the romantic love you have for your spouse but that agape love, unconditional love. We all know it take a lot sometimes to love the people you are related to much less a stranger. You must know that Jesus loves each of us unconditionally. We as Christians are duty bound to show and have this unconditional love everyone, even for our enemies.

Peter says the result of practicing these seven steps will allow Christians to grow in Christ, to become more productive and useful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the ability to not stumble in your spiritual progress and the opportunity to look forward to a "triumphant entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" (v.8-11).


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I's a Christian now!

We are all born into sin. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do to change that fact. When a child is born he/she is deemed a sinner through no fault of his or her own. It is an inherited legacy. God has given us a path to take on how to change that status. The path to salvation is Jesus Christ. Now, if you are a Christian, be it young or mature, you already know that Jesus is the way.

You took the plunge, made that walk down the aisle to the altar and repeated these words or something similar:

"Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. 

Come into my heart.

I will make you my Lord and Savior." 

(Joel Osteen)

The next step in the Baptist church is Baptism and then receiving the right hand of fellowship from the members of the congregation. You received well wishes and a thousand "Praise the Lords!". Becoming a member of a faith based church is great! That allows you to fellowship with other believers and share in God's glory. But what do you do when you get home? Now what?

 Well, if you haven't already, get your hands on a Bible. The Bible is you map through this thing called life. It is your manufacturer's manual. Definitely a necessary tool, your lifeline.

1. Read the Bible you just bought. Possessing it is one thing, reading it is another. You have to pray and ask God for wisdom and understanding as you read His word and He will guide you.
2. Pray. Prayer is your hotspot, your wi-fi, your connection to God. There is no format to follow. Talk to Him as if you are talking to your best friend. There is nothing you can say that He doesn't already know about you. Bear your soul. Keep in mind, repetitive prayers are unnecessary. He gets it the first time. Be patient, be silent, be still....your answer is on the way.
3. Trust God for the things you cannot control. No matter how small or large your issue is, He wants you to trust Him to handle all of your issues.
4. Obey God in the things you can control. Basically, this means to ask yourself in all situations, "What would Jesus do?". 

There is no perfect human being. Don't try to be. Be the best person in Christ that you can. You will make mistakes. You will fall. The secret is to acknowledge the fall. Ask God for forgiveness. Forgive yourself and then move past it. You can't go forward while looking backwards. Even God can't change the past. Be safe, Be blessed! Until next time....

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Welcome to Baby Christian!

I am thoroughly excited about starting this blog! My name is Carol Jones. I am a 40 year old single mom of two children, Cydney (age 5) and Mark (age 3). I have been saved for most of my life, since the age of 19, but I really had no idea what role I was supposed to play in my new life. I had no idea how to start my new life in Christ. I didn't even know how to begin. I have been in the church since before I could walk. I began singing in the church tot choir at a very early age. My daddy is a Baptist Minister. So, one would think I would have this on lock, right? Wrong.

Even with all of that, I had no clue as to what I should do. So I lived the life of a young, single woman in college. Boy, I have made my fair share of mistakes as any other able bodied human has. (But how many of you know that our mistakes is God's plan.) It wasn't until my "millionth" test that things began to click for me, at age 40.

Within this blog, my goals are to share my experiences and my spiritual education with other baby Christians. I want to lessen the blow and the pressure young Christians feel once the euphoria of being saved wears off and you aren't standing in the safe haven of the church. I was stuck with the questions such as: What to do next?; How am I supposed to behave?; What should I do on a daily basis?; Why am I not slain in the spirit like others in the church?; Will I speak in tongues?; How do I hear God?

In time, we will discuss and explore each question and then some. Thank you for visiting my blog. Please feel free to post a question or a comment. I pray this blog will bring the answers and guidance for not only the readers but for myself as well. We as Christians are constantly at war and the baby Christians are prime target for Satan. Let's strap on our armor and win the war!

  READ       *        PRAY        *        TRUST        *        OBEY