The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"
Are you new to the Christian faith?
Maybe you grew up as a Christian, and heard many bible stories as a child, but somehow the relationship with Jesus thing never clicked. Maybe you went through the religious ceremony like a first communion, baptism or confirmation, but never really encountered a heart change.
Maybe you grew away from the Christian believers and decided to just be popular among the crowds, pleasing the people of this world.
There are ways to identify a "new" believer. If you mark any of the following, you are a new believer if you have done any of the following in the past three years.
1. You decided to read through the bible by reading at least three chapters a day or more. (possible resources: http://www.ttb.org/, http://www.ttb.org/global-reach, messianic commentary, Adventist Commentary)
2. Your past life was in depression, pride, anger, jealousy, scorn, division, sexual impurity (including the belief that people are born with LGBT conditions), gambling, food addictions and aversions, lack of self-control, hatred, dislike of patriarchal biblical topics, fear, anxiety, abortions, impure words, unclean or immodest dress, drug addictions, alcohol addictions, social attentions and so forth. (polygny is not considered to be sexual impurity in biblical terms)
3. You never liked the idea of prayer until within the last three years.
4. You recognize the idea that some holidays are in fact commercialized, and have little to do with the gospel.
5. You are now concerned about the moral decay. You would rather do God's will for your life and fulfill it that to do your own things.
6. You now feel love for Jewish believers in Messiah, which before you did not.
7. You were once uncomfortable sharing bible with strangers, family, and friends. You now want to read bible stories to your own children.
8. You are concerned about the different changes in the bible versions available to the poor.
9. You love the idea of prayer with other believers.
10. You may think about Sabbath fellowship or fellowship at any biblical holiday time as being "ok."
11. You now enjoy listening to God's warnings for you in dreams and visions.
12. You see the disabled as friends, the poor as a companion, and the blind as a wise man. You are ok with suffering along with the weak people of this world.
You may not be a "new" believer if you mark any of the following.
1. You continue to provide flowers to your local church building. Your church building has the best resources to educate your children in the bible and you do not believe you could do so. Membership with church group is essential for faith. (though Christians an use these as a means to provide spiritual strength)
2. You continue to mock bible thumpers, and believe they are always conservative voters in the elections.
3. You continue to hold grudges in your local synagogue or church fellowship if people don't perform "your way"
4. Your education means everything to you. Only smart people are good people.
5. You think it is strange when people try to read the bible 5 or more times a day. Constantly memorizing bible verses.
6. You continue to have depression, anger, bitterness and so forth.
7. Prayer seems like a discouragement rather than an encouragement
8. Popularity and cheating on the tests to make a grade are important to get ahead in this world.
9. You believe abortions and using money from wealthy widows is ok in God's eyes in your community.
10. You don't see the purpose of loving Jewish people or middle eastern people.
11. Sexual impurity is anything that the false Christians do, but you continue to lust after other women, or men never discussing the issue with the current spouse. If single, you sense that only marriage can solve your desires. You continue to believe that once a fornicator, a gay person or an adulterer, rapist, always an addict to sexual impurity.
12. You do not desire to understand Passover, the feast of tabernacles, the meaning of the psalms and proverbs or other little details of the bible.
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So if you have marked the upper 12 and can say for sure that you have been through a "born again" experience (https://unshackled.org/), and perhaps also an "anointing of the holy spirit" (Acts 2:4 - speaking in tongues, visions etc. isn't bad, it is a representation of the spirit, where some are more attuned than others), then you are on the road to victory in Christ alone.
Bondage is the biggest issue. Christ can to set people FREE from their sin.
So when you stopped playing along with the pattern of the world and found the transformation of your mind to the heart of Christ, then you can find true fellowship with the body of Christ and with other believers around the world. Preaching of orphans in Afganistan seems like a good goal in mind for the strong and the mighty in Christ.
Where can you turn for strength?
1. The word. Always pick up the bible and read it. Try the Parashah method of reading. It works perfectly to transform mind and heart to Christ. If other believers are not near your home, this is possible to find strength in the middle of the wilderness even through bible study. Try reading the bible by following this Parashah method: http://raggedycottagegarden.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-bible-reading-system.html
2. Prayer. Pray for all sorts of things. Write down prayers according to the words, stories, and verses in the bible and ask God for things that are according to his word. Try a prayer group like this: https://momsinprayer.org
3. A gathering fellowship can help strengthen your faith in Jesus/Messiah: http://raggedycottagegarden.blogspot.com/2015/10/workmanship-churches.html
4. Continue to put away bad books, music, movies and so forth that do not lead to right living. Seek fellowship with widows, strangers, orphans, the poor and more to help give THEM comfort and strength in trials of life. Try reading books from https://www.clp.org/, https://messianicjewish.net or https://www.adventistbookcenter.com/ instead.
5. Live a more natural life instead of greedy life. Christians are "not of this world." Plan to clean your small basic home and vehicle often enough to feel comfort in this life. Learn the pattern of suffering in the people that surround you. Pick up a book about the suffering of the people www.truthforfree.com, www.holocaustsurvivors.org, http://www.persecution.com/, http://endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/native-americans/
6. If you once were labeled, or labeled your self as "a gambler," "a sex porn star," "a homosexual," "bipolar," "anxiety condition" and so forth, these things are actually a sort of bondage labeling program. If the hospital system or criminal system, educational system or any other system labels you with various things, be sure to either pray for escape from the false labeling, as a person who is NEW in Christ is a NEW person. (Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.) Seek to understand that you WILL have enemies in this world, who may even be of your own family, so seek independent living from allowing them to label you falsely (read psalms and proverbs daily to help understand social struggles). Forgive any family who falsely labels you as anyone but a Christ follower or a general person who desires the "abundant life" Christ offers.
If you are in the process of getting a degree or furthering education, check out the resources in the upper right hand corner of this website to help you develop faith in the middle of the education process. It is possible to have lots of strength in faith even if the education you received was only until you were 12-14 years old.
For more information check out: http://hens-and-chicks.blogspot.com/2015/10/educational-tracts.html
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