Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Today marks 41 years God has blessed me to be on this earth. I thank you Lord for all 41 years, the bad and the good. I would not change a thing, especially the bad times. Why not the bad? The bad times teach me to appreciate the good. The bad times bring me closer to God. The bad times are tests that lay the foundation for my testimony.
Thank you Lord for another year! Thank you for allowing the mess in my life to become a message and making me the messenger! Somebody praise Him!!! I have yet another day to tell someone how awesome my God is!!! I am who I am because He is!!! Happy Birthday to me!!!!

I would like to take this time to introduce a guest author to Baby Christian! Min. Andrell Collier-Greene primarily caters to the youth but ministers to all. He has agreed to share his love of God and the Christian faith with each and everyone of us. Let us welcome, Min. Greene to Baby Christian!






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I'm Back!!!!

It is so good to be back here on my blog! It feels good posting again. I want to thank all of you for continuing to visit the site even though I have been on a hiatus. Thank you so much and may God bless each and every one of you!

Essential Knowledge - Answers

What did Christ do for you?

• He carried our weaknesses.
• He was wounded and crushed for our sins.
• He was beaten that we might have peace.
• He was whipped and we were healed.
• He assumed the guilt and sins for all of us.
• He died for our sins.
• He was crushed and filled with grief.
• He exposed himself to death.
• He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.
• He came not to be served but to serve others.
• He gave His life as a ransom.
• He laid down His life for the sheep.
• He was raised from the dead to make us right with God.
• He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
• He has freed us from our sins by shedding His blood for us.

Answers found where?

• Isaiah 53:1-12
• Matthew 20:28
• John 10:11
• Romans 4:25
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
• 1 Peter 1:17-21
• 1 John 2:2
• Revelations 1:5-6

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Essential Knowledge - What Did Christ Do For You?

What did Christ do for you?



Hint:

• Isaiah 53:1-12
• Matthew 20:28
• John 10:11
• Romans 4:25
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
• 1 Peter 1:17-21
• 1 John 2:2
• Revelations 1:5-6

Essential Knowledge - Answers

Who is Christ?

• Wonderful counselor
• Mighty God
• Everlasting Father
• Prince of Peace
• The Word
• God
• The Light
• Son of the Father
• Good News
• God's own glory
• Represents God exactly
• Always the same
• Son of God
• Faithful witness
• Commander of all the rulers of the world
• Alpha and Omega
• Almighty One
• The First and the Last
• Son of Man
• Bread of Life
• Light of the World
• Gate for the sheep
• Good shepherd
• The resurrection and the life
• The way, the truth, and the life
• The true vine

Answers found where?

• Isaiah 9:6
• John 1:1-14
• Romans 1:3-4
• Hebrews 1:1-14
• Revelations 1:5, 17-18
• John 6: 27,35
• John 8:12
• John 10:7, 11
• John 11:25
• John 14:6
• John 15:1

Essential Knowledge - Who is Christ?

Who is Christ?


Hint:

• Isaiah 9:6
• John 1:1-14
• Romans 1:3-4
• Hebrews 1:1-14
• Revelations 1:5, 17-18

Essential Knowledge - Answer

What does God hate?

• All who do evil.
• Haughty eyes
• A lying tongue
• Hands that kill the innocent
• A heart that plots evil
• Feet that race to do wrong
• A false witness who pours out lies
• A person who sows discord among brothers
• Robbery
• Wrongdoing

Answers found where?

• Psalm 5:5
• Proverbs 6:17-19
• Isaiah 61:8

Essential Knowledge - What does God hate?

What does God hate?


Hint:

• Psalm 5:5
• Proverbs 6:17-19
• Isaiah 61:8

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My Favorite Prayers

Stormie Omartian has written many books on prayer. One of my favorites is Praying the Bible Into Your Life . Here are a few of my favorite prayers from this book. Enjoy!

Learn to Live by Faith

Lord, help me grow in my knowledge of You and Your Word so that I can live more and more by faith. Enable me to trust You so completely that I don't ever doubt Your presence in my life.

Amen.

 God is Your Strength in Troubled Times

Lord, I thank You for providing a place of safety in Your presence when I go through tough times. No matter what happens, I trust in Your goodness to me.

Amen.

Don't Compromise the Effectiveness of Your Prayers

Lord, I pray that I will always obey You and never give You any reason to not hear my prayers. Help me to repent the moment I am aware of sin in my life so that it does not cause any separation between me and You.

Amen.

Desire to Know God Better

Lord, help me to never forget for even a moment that the greatest thing in my life is to know You, and to understand more each day about all of who You are.

Amen.

Be Willing to Go Where God Leads

Lord, help me to always be able to hear Your call on my life. When You speak to my heart, enable me to be willing to go where You want me to go.

Amen.

Come Humbly to God and Confess Your Sins

Lord, show me where I have any unconfessed sin in my life so that I can confess it before You immediately. I don't want to compromise the blessings You have for me by failing to do so. Thank You for Your unfailing mercy and forgiveness.

Amen.

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Prayer

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16


Prayer is defined as a conversation with God; to intercede with or make a petition to God. Prayer is your personal time with God. Prayer allows you to talk to God just as you talk to your friends. You should let Him know what's on your mind, how you are feeling, and what issues you are dealing with be it large or small. Jesus taught the disciples how to pray and gave them The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as a guide. So, what guide do we use? What should you say while praying? How long should one pray? How often should one pray?

Prayer is one of the best tools God could've given us to use. It allows us to contact Him directly without having to have someone else intercede or speak to Him on our behalf. Prayer gives you the opportunity and ability to draw closer to Him and build your relationship with Him.

Think about it this way. How do you build friendships? You meet someone that happens to have the same or some things in common with you. You spend time together, go places together. When a crisis or issue arises, you reach out to this person you have connected with for support, guidance and an encouraging word. This is how prayer works. When you pray to God you are building an everlasting relationship with Him. There is nothing you can't tell Him that He doesn't already know. You can share your secrets, issues and cares with Him. He wants us to reach out to Him for EVERYTHING not just the big issues. This is how you build an intimate relationship with Him.

There is no noted formula for prayer that works for everyone. Our prayers should be as individualized as our lives. There are certain things you want to be sure to address when you do speak to God. Keep in mind, God does things for us that we know and some we may never know about for the betterment of our lives. We need to approach God with a thankful heart. Show your appreciation for what He has done for you by saying thank you for what you have and the blessing he has bestowed upon you both ,known and unknown.

Our God is a selfish God. We are to worship Him and only Him. Worship and adoration is what God seeks from us. Praise God for who He is to you, the life He has given and the promise for more in the afterlife.

Prayer is the opportune time to confess your sins to God. Sin is anything that goes against the will of God. Any transgression you may have can be freely shared with Him. When you confess your sins, you free yourself of the bondage that sin provides. Confession loosens the grip Satan has on you that is tied to that sin. One thing I must convey to you is that if/when you sin, that is the time you need to reach out to God the most. One of the biggest mistakes I have made in my life is to withdraw from God once I committed a sin. You have to realize that is what the devil wants you to do. He wants you to separate yourself from God so he can gain access to you. Nothing should separate you from God, not even sin. Yes, God hates sin but He loves you. He will never stop loving you. He will never stop providing for you. The devil would have you believe that you are not worthy of God's grace and mercy once you have committed a sin.. That couldn't be any further from the truth. God knows our origin. We are born sinners. He expects us to sin but He also expects us to come to Him once we have sinned, repent or turn away from the sin and ask for forgiveness.

Supplication is defined as the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly. Prayer is the best avenue to express to God the desires of your heart. You should not only ask for your needs but for the needs of others, for spirit renewal, for the salvation of souls and for the opportunity to  bring others to Christ.

Now, all prayers don't have to include all of the above. You can just simply pray to God and say thank you and that will be sufficient. Again, there is no formula for prayer but in order to build a relationship with God, its not a bad place to start. I have this book, "Praying the Bible Into Your Life" by Stormie Omartian. If you don't have the words or don't know how to begin, this book is a great reference. Along with today's post I will provide a few of my favorite prayers from the book.

My prayer today is that I hope I have reached someone today, given someone a new way to approach your relationship with God. I pray that someone has an ah-ha moment and begins to build this much needed relationship with our Creator. Many blessings to each of you!

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Essential Knowledge - Answers

What does God love?

• Justice
• The Righteous 
• All those who love Jesus 
• Jesus 

Answers found where?

• Psalm 38:28
• Psalm 146:8
• John 14:23
• John 15:9

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Essential Knowledge - Answers

What is God like?

• God is merciful and gracious.

• God is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness.

• God is forgiving of every sin and rebellion

Answers found where?

Exodus 34: 4-7
John 4:24

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Essential Knowledge - What does God love?

What does God love?


Hint:
Psalm 38:28
Psalm 146:8
John 14:23
John 15:9

Essential Knowledge - What is God like?

As a Christian, there are certain things you must know or at the least be familiar with known as essential knowledge. I will post 10 essential questions here on this blog, one a day, with the answers to follow the next day. The first question is:

What is God like?

*Hint: Exodus 34:4-7, John 4:24



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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!

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