Step By Step with God- Words of encouragement to young Christians- Neema

Are you thirsting for a more intimate relationship with your Heavenly Father? Can you sense in your heart that God is calling you to a deeper level of Christian spiritual growth than you have ever experienced before?

God’s desire is for the two of you to share a deeper intimacy than you may have ever dreamed possible. But, like any relationship, developing this kind of oneness with God is not something that happens over night - It takes time and work. 

And it’s that four letter word - WORK - that keeps so many of us bound by the chains of religion instead of being free to experience the deeper relationship with God that He has waiting for us.

But, if the true desire of your heart is to take your Christian spiritual growth to the next level, you can start on that journey today right from where you are. 

How do you begin? One Footstep at a time...

Footstep #1 - Develop an Understanding of Who God Really Is. 

The foundation for any relationship truly knows the other person. If you do not know them - their heart and their true character - then how can you ever really trust them? If you don’t truly trust them, then what kind of relationship do you really have after all?

In order to connect with God, you have to understand the depths of who He is and who He wants to be in your life. You have to begin building a true friendship with your Heavenly Father. 

Footstep #2 - Get Real With God...And With You.

As Christians, it is easy to get in the habit of walking around in what I like to call our "Perfect Christian Mask." We pretend that nothing gets to us. Nothing shakes our faith or breaks our heart. On the outside, we look tough as nails - But on the inside, we are not as strong as we would like others to think.

The danger of the "Perfect Christian Mask" is that you are not perfect. There are times when your faith IS shaky and your heart IS broken. But, having those moments does not make you a bad Christian any more than trying to ignore them makes you a good one.

A true sign of Christian Spiritual Growth is when you can go to God and say - I need help. I fear. I hurt. And, you are the only one I can tell because You are the only one who can help me.

That kind of nakedness before God is what will move you from religion to relationship and truly transform your life.

Do you really want to experience dynamic Christian spiritual growth? 

Step out on faith. Begin your journey by taking these two footsteps. They may seem small, but you will be amazed at what God can do inside your heart when you truly know Him, and let down your guard enough to let Him truly know you too.

The Meaning of Christmas-

Why is there so much controversy and confusion in people's minds over Christmas and its meaning both in our personal lives and in the cooperate world? Some people feel it is a Christian holiday, holding no special meaning for them. Others take the viewpoint that it is a holy day that is cheapened and diminished by all the festivities there of. Yet few, if any, when really pressed, are willing to give up the Christmas holiday, in spite of their ambivalent feelings.

What is the real meaning of Christmas season?  Recently I read an article from a Christian magazine that pointed out that, “Christ is the reason for the Season.”

This being the case, Christmas becomes the season not about human kind but about Christ.  A time when we should focus on redemption (salvation) of the sinful human race. It is during Christmas we should focus away from fear and focus on joy and healing we receive from Christ.

The Christmas Season emphasizes two important redemptive issues all based on the importance of the Season; one is the rebirth of the soul (John 1:29), and the second is the return of the light (John 18:37-38) to earth. It’s therefore biblically correct to point out that Christ’s birth is the Reason for the Season that is provided for us during the darkest season, to bring us light, and provide us with salvation.

Yet even knowing the true meaning of the Christmas season is not enough to convince some people of its importance. That is why the season is full of "Peace! Goodwill! Happy holidays!" The Season becomes like so many others diluting what Christ came for.

There is a way to feel the real meaning of the season. There is a way in which your own heart can experience the love and light pouring into the earth during this time of Christmas, John 17:3. Knowing the only True God means having an intimate, personal relationship with Him – not just knowing about Him. That way you will participate in the rituals of the season and you will understand the true meaning of Christmas.

It is unfortunate that the reason for the Christmas has been overshadowed by beauty of ornamented Christmas trees, lights hanging on gutters, Santa’s visit through the chimney, or the mysterious and mythological characters such as; Rudolf the red noise Reindeer, Frosty the snow man, The  Grinch  among other fantasies and characters. Joy is replaced by sadness when choosing gifts to delight and surprise those you love. Why should we sing “joy to the world?”  Psalms 98.

There is only one way to know the true meaning of Christmas; and that is to know that it is about redemption and salvation brought by Jesus Christ, who is the Reason for the Season, and to try to bring joy to self and to every person, creating joy to every person during the Christmas.

But there is one more thing you can do to amplify this experience a thousand fold. That is to enter the season of Christmas with the intention of being a personal messenger of light and love, and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas by knowing Jesus in a personal way. Nothing transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary more directly than the intention to serve the Almighty.

When we celebrate Christmas with such an intention and desire to becoming massagers of light and love, we not only experience Christmas . . . we actually become  agent of rebirth of the soul and the bringer of light( light bearers).

Therefore, the best gift you can give to yourself and the world during this Christmas season is the knowledge that Christ is the reason for the Season, and let others know about it.

What God Knows about Me. Psalm 139:23f

Prayer. Why do we pay so little attention to it? Do we think that we've heard it all before? We do it--we come into contact with God--but what do we expect to happen? Could I suggest that sometimes we have become forgetful of prayer, and maybe we've not given enough thought to what there might be about prayer that we who live at the end of the end must know? I confess that I don’t pray as often as I am required to.

There are some things about us that will only be changed through prayer--Some things that need to be changed. Did you hear the prayer of David in Psalm 139:23-24? "Search me, O God?" Why was David concerned? Was there something about him that he thought maybe God had missed? Of course not. But still David pleads with his Maker, "Search me, O God." I think that David knew God's goal for him. Surely he knew that God's goal is to not to save man in sin, but from sin (Matthew 1:21). And we know that he knew about God's purpose for his end time people. Do you, Do I, Do we?

David understood that people who live for God will be changed people, Which probably accounts for his words in Psalm 17:3: "Thou hast proved mine heart; Thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tired me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress."

What did David say? That verse we just read could be rephrased like this: "God, You are helping me to grow. In the end, you'll have Your finished work in my life, and I'll be a man who has ceased from sin." David didn't preach the "new theology." He preached the "old theology," the theology that God had from the beginning. When the fall of humankind took place, heaven was ready with a plan that would repair the damage; that would produce a repaired people. So I guess I believe in new creation.

God will produce a people, who although born into broken natures that are not prone to sin, don't sin. If it's true, it can only mean one thing: God has alot of work to do! And He has laid some very major claims with His gospel. He claims that it "is the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16). He claims that His righteousness will be revealed in His people through His gospel (Romans 1:17). That being the case, then I believe, God has quite a lot of work to do in us, and that we are still in the making, and that we are not done yet.  Satan tells Him "You can't change these people." But who is the ruler of the world?