If the above post has you halting in your tracks, it is normal. I’ve been there and done that. Any mention of God or Jesus I was out the door…so to speak. The majority of the people would say that church people are hypocrites. Yeah, it would seem like it, but you can’t expect us to be perfect can you? Also, not everyone who attends church is Saved. Being Saved is a spiritual rebirth that occurs when you literally say that you accept Jesus as your Lord and saviour and that he died on the cross for You. The process that occurs after becoming reborn will take your entire life to learn about what all of the Truth is. It took me a few years to feel Saved. Knowing the Truth is only a start, understanding it is a whole different process. It is called Wisdom and “She” takes up the whole book of Proverbs. Yes, Wisdom is a She. The Truth is that God sent Jesus so that YOU may be Saved and go to Heaven because God loves you. He created you and wants you to be in Heaven with Him. He is the one that decides if you go to Heaven or Hell. Satan is a fallen angel whom he and his buddies (who are also fallen angels) entice you to do the wrong things. Satan wants you to believe that there is no God, that he isn’t perfect. He wants you to doubt! Every one has broken every single one of the 10 commandments. Yes this means you have “killed” because you hated someone. Who didn’t make money, sex or drugs their god (meaning making it the priority in their life) or thinking they know how God is supposed to be (this is making their own idol)? Why does God let bad things happen? Read Job. He had his whole life stripped from him and he believed that he offended God. Even his so called friends who were so called religious continually put Job down, that he did something wrong. Because of Job’s faith (even though he was severely depressed, but never cursed God, or broken any of the commandments) God restored his life and took the lives of Job’s so called friends.
What I am trying to say is that you will hear other unsaved people talk bad about churches, saved people, etc. but you can find out the truth for yourself just by reading the Bible. Start in the New Testament (Matthew is the first book), don’t worry about Revelations just yet. What Bible should you get? (N)ASB, NLT, NIV, etc AND of course KJV is a must no matter what…though it may be slow reading with the fancy 1600’s terminology. So get a KJV and NASB at the same time as a suggestion. There is also something called a parallel bible that includes two versions (your choice). This allows the reader to study the KJV while having a common English version, such as the NASB, as a reference. You can get a KJV for a whopping $1.00 at the Dollar Store!!!!! Isn’t God funny how he wants to reach out to you?
An interesting version of the KJV is the Evidence Bible, which has questions and answers and it takes out the thee and thous stuff.
What does it mean to put God first? Read the Bible daily, just a chapter but as long as you soak in what you are reading. When you are Saved the Bible will make sense! It will also make sense why an unsaved person may not make heads or tails of it.
As a newbie Saved person, don’t worry about feeling forced to do all sorts of things right away. You will be led to do what you are supposed to do. It could mean sponsoring a child in another country, helping at the nursery at the church you are attending. Heck it could mean that you go out and become a Pastor! Just remember that the Holy Spirit will mold the newly Saved You at the pace meant just for you!
Aim for a Christian church that goes by the Book (Bible) and teaches you from the Bible. Go find one that you are comfortable with. God will let you know where your home church is. I know of one that it is aimed for those who don’t want to attend a “church” (a physical looking church) and the people are from the rough neck of the woods, so to speak.
If you are wondering about scientific and historical evidence:
www.godandscience.org is a great website (aimed to dispute atheists). Conviction and a bit of evangelism (meaning you go out and tell the world that they need to be saved) is
www.wayofthemaster.com and where the Evidence Bible became popular. Also
www.jesusfreak.net is another and so is Christianity.com. (I personally like Joyce Meyer because she is down to earth and funny. She points out human actions and that they are just that… human and how we can overcome our personality traits that are holding us back from being our potential.)
There is no getting ready to be Saved. There is no reason to put it off. Just say the Sinners Prayer and the one mentioned above is one of the many variations, the main ingredients are the same it just may be said in different ways, even your own way. I’ve said it multiple times.
Don’t worry about feeling not good enough; God will take care of that. That is the whole point, because no one is good enough. If you have depression, it makes it a lot worse. Pray, talk to God, ask for help, pray for others, pray for protection, guidance or even help with your relationships. Thinking negative thoughts? Pray! Say the Lord’s Prayer over and over again. Ask to have the negative thought removed from you. Who knows, you may actually feel a Spiritual hug (it is a one of a kind feeling). This is how you get a clean slate in your life. All the bad stuff no longer matters and you begin to let go of your past hurts. Even that is a process and it all takes time. Also you will know the true meaning of right and wrong.
God doesn’t need to prove anything because he already has! The main one is Jesus! Another is the Bible. Many others are in the Old Testament. What more does He have to prove?
One of my favorite quotes I saw passing by a church:
“Hypocrites appreciate Christians enough to imitate them”
What does that tell you?
