Christian - Remember what you know!

I don't know about you, but I need to remind myself of the basics of this Christian life quite often. Here is a list of things I want to remember. Perhaps they will help you too. It is not an exhaustive list.

As a Christian, I know and must remember that:

A. It is God's world.

• God created the world and everything in it. I am a pilgrim on this earth privileged to live here for a very short time.
• The spiritual world is real and that I can safely believe in the invisible.
• God can be known in personal experience, for God is real as nothing else is.

• God is present everywhere. God is with me wherever I am. There can be no place where He is not.

• God's voice still speaks to men now as much as He ever did. If we listen and wait on Him, we can rely on hearing Him.
• God's love is available to all men. He is gracious in His merciful and just dealings with all men.
• I know that God's Son Jesus is coming again to earth to judge the earth and it's peoples.

B. I have a special standing in God

• I am a son of God and am saved by my belief in Him and what He has done through His Son Jesus Christ.

• I have eternal life and the Spirit of God resides in me.

• No matter what my situation, the Spirit of God is always with me, protecting, correcting and guiding.

• God loves me and cares for me individually, even when it does not feel like it.
• When danger or difficulty is nearby and threatens, the Lord may choose to protect me from it. I know that I can take refuge in Him. and, If He does allow the difficulty or problem to come against me, He will help me through it, or will have me experience the difficulty as a part of His refining of me, in order that I learn how to better handle the problem through His grace and power in my life.

C. My relationship with God has special responsibilities

• I must pursue God, because He has placed a desire in me for Him. I need to submit my body to Him daily, as a living sacrifice.
• I must be willing to take God as He is and adjust my life accordingly. God must hold first place in my life, above worldly things.
• I need to surrender my life and self life in order to know God better. Self(ishness) separates me from God. I must have it crucified on the cross. Death to self first, then new life. I need to experience giving all to God, asking Him to reign in my heart.
• I need to make God the source of love, joy, peace and patience, and not make the world, people, places and things my source of joy. They were created to enjoy, not to be my source of joy.

• In my relationships, I must not sin when things do not go my way, or manipulate to get my own way. I should also avoid blaming people for what goes wrong in my life.
• If I sin, the Lord will expect me to confess my sin in order that He may provide cleansing. If I continue to sin against Him or others, He will bring difficulty or even rebuke against me until I correct my behaviour.

• I must have faith in God. Without faith, there can be no communion, no salvation, no spiritual life at all. My faith must be the gaze of my soul upon a saving God. All things come from seeking Him in true prayerful fellowship and looking towards Him.

• I must be meek, resting in God's opinion of me and treat with kind humour what others think of me. I must release all my life's burdens to Him alone who can carry them.

• I must continually study His Word in the Bible. My commitment to this strengthens my life in Him. In my life, I need to take captive every thought I have and compare it with my knowledge of God's word.

D. My prayer deepens my life with God.

• Prayer is continuous communion with God. He expects prayer to be a natural function of my life in Him, with an overwhelming need to have Him as my constant friend. He expects me to continue to seek Him until He is in full possession of me and I am in full possession of Him.

• God hears my every prayer and will answer them according to his will. If an immediate answer does not come, then I know he is using the situation to teach me to better cope with life and to trust him for His answer when He wills.

• It is only through persistent prayer, communion and continual fellowship with God that my life may be changed to be more like His to be useful in His service. Prayer opens up the way for God to do what He wants to do in my life.

• Prayer should be my chief work and the means by which I carry out the rest of my life.

E. I have an eternal destiny.

• If I am an overcomer and work out my salvation in fear and trembling, God promises my salvation is secure and I will never be separated from God.

• I know that when I die, or when Jesus comes to earth for the second time, I will go to heaven and live with Him forever.

If you the reader, are not a believer in Jesus Christ.......

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, then not much of this applies to you at all. You won't know much about the world belonging to God, or your place in it. You will not have any standing or special relationship with God because you do not know Him, nor will prayerful fellowship with Him be possible.