APPENDIX B

HELPS FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

HOW TO GIVE YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST

(Ideas from message by Ben Hogue on TBN)

The purpose of this is to give people an opportunity to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. This is about telling you of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a very specific and wonderful message.

And this is the message: that 2000 years ago in real human history, God came. He came in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that you and I could know Him as our personal Lord and Savior.

The scripture teaches that all of us have sinned, every one of us. Because of that we’re separated from God. But because Jesus came 2000 years ago, because of who He was, the Son of God, and because of what He did on the cross--pay for our sin, enter into hell, be raised from the dead, ascend to the Father--because of what he did, you and I can know Him as our own Lord and Savior.

Now, think of what that means. That means that regardless of who you are, regardless of what you’ve done, regardless of the mistakes you’ve made, regardless of what you’ve been like, Jesus Christ can come into your life, He can forgive you for all those sins, and you can become a child of God. That’s the gospel, the good news, that regardless of what you’ve done in your life, you can be forgiven, and Jesus can now be Lord and Savior of your life.

I want to invite you to receive Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior. And I want you to pray this prayer. If you will pray this specific prayer, according to the Word of God, the Lord will come into your life, He will forgive you of your sin, and you can become a Christian.

How do I know that? Here’s how. The scripture says in Romans 10:13 that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That means if you’ll pray and you’ll invite Jesus to come into your life, and you’re willing to genuinely surrender your life over to Him, and receive Him as Lord and Savior of your life, that means you can be saved right now, right where you are.

So I’m going to write here a prayer which you can pray. If you’ll pray this and mean it, upon the authority of the Word of God, you can be a Christian right now, so pray this prayer now:

And if you prayed that prayer, and you meant it, I promise you, on the authority of the Word of God, that God just came into your life, and your sin has just been forgiven, and you’ve just been made a Christian.

If you prayed that prayer, and you invited Jesus to come in to your life, call the telephone number for Trinity Broadcasting Network telephone counselors at 1-888-731-1000. Call that number and behind that number, answering that phone, there will be some wonderful folks who will love you and pray with you and minister to you as long as it takes until you get all your questions settled. The reason they are there is so that you can receive the ministry that you need 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Now if you are a Christian, and you’re away from the Lord, and you need to return to the Lord today, then you call that number also. Those folks know how to help you to get back into a real powerful relationship with the Lord Jesus.

FOUR THINGS TO KNOW IN REGARD TO THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

1. God loves you and has a wonderful purpose and plan for your life.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

I have come that they may have life, and might have it to the full. (John 10:10)

2. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s plan for us, so we deserve death and hell. This separates us from God so we cannot know and experience His love and plan for our lives.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

3. God made a provision for us to be free from sin through Jesus giving His life on the cross to pay the penalty for that sin. He is the only provision for man’s sin.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Christ died for our sins...that he was buried...that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Jesus answered: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

4. Our response to what Jesus did is to repent of our sin, ask Jesus to take away our sin, and have faith in Jesus and what He did. We must do this individually. Then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives. A prayer we can pray: "Lord Jesus, I need You. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. I know I am a sinner. Please forgive me of my sins and come into my life right now. Take control of my life and make me the kind of person You want me to be."

To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:1)

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

FOR YOUR CHRISTIAN GROWTH

1. Go to God in prayer daily
2. Read God’s Word daily - begin with the Gospel of John
3. Find a church where God is honored and His Word is preached.
4. Obey God, moment by moment
5. Witness for Christ by your life and words
6. Trust God for every detail of your life

HOW TO HAVE A QUIET TIME

For a believer Christ needs to be at the center of your life. Spending time with Him in your daily Quiet Time will help keep Him there. In my own "Spiritual Journey" I know of nothing else that has been as important to me as the daily Quiet Time for keeping my life focused, for giving me strength for each new day, for encouraging me when I am weary, and for developing over my lifetime a personal intimate relationship with Jesus. So, because I believe it is so important to my own "Spiritual Journey," I want to share with you how to have a personal Quiet Time in your life too.

1. Set aside about 15 minutes (or as much as you wish) each morning. (I like to do an hour) This is more than a discipline, it is a personal appointment with Jesus. If you look at it that way, you will be more likely to keep that appointment.

2. Prepare for it the night before by setting the alarm to get up in time for that extra time. After I get up I find it helps me to do some things to wake up more fully... things like putting on my makeup, dressing, etc.

3. The place is important so find a place where you can be alone and not interrupted. Make this a special prepared place with your Bible there, a notebook and pen for writing ideas that come, and good lighting.

4. Ask God to be with you and guide you in this time.

5. Read the Bible according to the plan that suits you. There are some plans listed later in this Quiet Time article. As you read, ponder what you are reading, and possibly read it over more than once.

6. As you read, talk to Jesus, ask Him questions, write down your questions and the ideas He brings to your mind, and listen for His answers. Your purpose is to be with Jesus, so focus on Him. It’s a time of communication and connection. You want that connection to continue all throughout your day. So talking and listening is an important part of growing that relationship.

7. Pray in relation to the scripture you just read. The Word of God is powerful, so pray it out loud back to God.

8. Bring before him anything else that is on your heart but intersperse it with thanking Him, loving Him, telling Him about who He is to you and what He means to you. That’s what you would do with a loved one, right? And He loves you more than anyone else!

9. Be sure to write down in your journal: the date, the scripture you read, what you said to God, and what God said to you.

10. Do this each day in the morning. Don’t feel terrible if you miss a day, but return to having the Quiet Time the next day.

11. This will develop a habit in your life that will reap great rewards, new understandings, and the friendship with your Best Friend, Jesus.

12. God’s love for us is not affected by our failure to return it; but our love for Him is. If we don’t keep our communication with Him fresh, it may diminish or grow stale. The daily Quiet Time nourishes that fellowship.

13. We receive direction and guidance in our Quiet Times. This is a time and place where we learn God’s will for us through His Word and communing with Him. It is important for us to present our needs to Him and receive His wisdom and direction. It was in my Quiet Time that He guided me to write this book for you.

BIBLE READING PLANS

1. Start at the beginning of the Bible and read it straight through about a chapter a day.

2. Read Old Testament on Monday & Tuesday, Psalms and Proverbs on Wednesday, New Testament on Thursday and Friday, your Sunday School lesson on Saturday

3. Divide your Bible into sections and read a portion from each section each day: (e.g. a chapter or portion from the Old Testament, a portion from Psalms and Proverbs, and a portion from the New Testament). This way takes a longer Quiet Time, but helps keep your reading balanced.

4. I have had many different Bible reading plans through my years of Quiet Times. Right now I am using a plan whereby I divide the Bible into 4 sections: Old Testament, Psalms and Proverbs, Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), and the rest of the New Testament. I read from the Old Testament one day, Psalms and Proverbs the next day, the Gospels the next day, and the rest of the New Testament the 4th day, then I begin again with the Old Testament the 5th day, etc.

5. It might be helpful to list the books of the Bible and the chapters in each book, then cross off each chapter as you read it.

6. Some publications may have a suggested plan printed in them.

7. There is a Bible that is divided into daily readings in such a way that you cover the whole Bible in a year. If you want to see this ask at your local Christian bookstore.

SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

Before you give your life to Christ you are traveling the pathway of life as an unbeliever, on your own. After you hear the good news of what Jesus did for you (that He died on the cross for your sins), and after you give your life to Him, you become a believer at the beginning stage of your "Spiritual Journey."

You might think of yourself as a little baby who starts getting nourishment by drinking milk. The milk of God’s Word is what nourishes you daily. This milk can come through your daily Quiet Time, and through learning at church from the Pastor and from Sunday School classes. It might come through participating in a fellowship group or Bible Study group. Growth can come through watching Christian television, through reading Christian books, through sharing and praying with other Christians. If you are not helped with your growth, you could remain as a spiritual baby as long as you live. So it is very important to do things for your own growth.

In the scripture it refers to the spiritual baby in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 where it says: "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it."

During this stage you need people to teach you and mentor you. I had wonderful mentoring during this stage from my sister, Joyce, and from many books and tapes she loaned me to listen to. The apostle Paul said we are like babies who need to grow or like a field in which seeds are planted or like a foundation for a holy temple.

During your "Spiritual Journey" it is important to have contacts with people ahead of you on the pathway who can mentor and teach you. It is also important to have contacts with others who are about the same distance along the spiritual pathway as you are. These are people with whom you can share, and pray, and with whom you can grow together. There are also people who will be behind you on the journey. They are those you can help and witness to about things which you have learned. When you begin your journey, you can witness to others who are still unbelievers and tell them about how you gave your life to Jesus. As you grow you can share what you have already been taught with others to help them grow too.

Eventually, as you grow and mature, you could become a discipler or mentor to someone else. Then your ministry could begin to multiply others into disciplers also. Perhaps you could become a Bible teacher, or have a helping ministry, or minister to the poor, depending on the gifting God gives you. You will find that your interests will coincide with your gifting. God will begin to build a passion in you for that which He purposes for you to do in serving Him. Your church may have a class or way of identifying your spiritual gifting. Seek this and learn all you can about ways God might want to use you.

Think about ways you could grow as a Christian. Be sure to include these ways in your daily life so you won’t become stagnate. Here are some things to consider doing:

• Have a daily Quiet Time, read the Word, pray
• Attend church regularly and learn from the pastor and teachers there
• Participate in a Bible Study group
• Listen to Christian television and learn from leaders there
• Read good Christian books (I list some in Appendix C)
• Attend special conferences or camps where you spend an extended time learning
• Ask another Christian to be your prayer partner, then learn and pray together
• Ask someone to be your mentor and teach you what they have already learned
• Listen to Christian videos, cassette tapes, or CD’s
• Receive emails from Christian contacts such as ElijahList.com, etc

Keep stirring up your enthusiasm for growing as a Christian. Don’t expect someone else to do it for you, even though they can help. The main thing to do is read the Bible and do what it says.

SPIRITUAL ARMOR

What is the Spiritual Armor and what do we use it for? Here are the scriptures from Ephesians 6:10-18...

The Spiritual Armor is what we use as protection for ourselves and our loved ones. We use it as protection against those spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly realms. Did you know there was a "heavenly realm?" It is a spiritual realm which exists right along with the natural realm in which we function daily. It has in it the forces of evil and the forces of good. We can influence that heavenly realm with our prayers, petitions, and declarations.

The Apostle Paul tells us about it in this passage from Ephesians. He tells us that our struggle is not against people, but against this spiritual realm which has in it rulers, authorities, powers, and forces of evil. And he tells us that our armor of protection consists of salvation, righteousness, truth, the gospel of peace, faith, and the Word of God. He tells us to "put this on." Why? So that "when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground." Do we each have "a day of evil" come in our lives? Oh, yes! That is what he is teaching us. Do we want to "stand our ground" and not lose these battles? Well, I do, don’t you?

So I need to put on this spiritual armor and so do you. How do we put it on? I put it on in prayer by speaking out loud each piece of the armor and declaring it over myself and my loved ones I also want protected. I say something like this in my prayer: