“Where do I go from here?” “How do I start?”
Here are some thoughts.
We might think that the yearning to draw close to the Lord came from within us, but actually that yearning came from Him; He puts it there; He orchestrates the circumstances that lead us to the desire to come to Him; He initiates the relationship, not us. This is an amazing truth! What a wonderful realization, that the Lord loves us, in spite of our transgressions, and wants us to be with Him!
John 6:44 (ASV): “44 No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day.”
Ephesians 4:2-10 (ASV): 4 but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together [a]with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus: 8 for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not of works, that no man should glory. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
John 14:2-3 (ASV): 2 In my Father’s house are many [a]mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
We must not take His invitation lightly, or delay responding to Him. Harden not your heart! In Scripture, we are warned that we should not assume that additional opportunities or time will be given for us to respond.
Psalm 95:7-9 (ASV): 7 For he is our God, And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To-day, [a]oh that ye would hear his voice! 8 Harden not your heart, as at [b]Meribah, As in the day of [c]Massah in the wilderness; 9 When your fathers tempted me, Proved me, and saw my work.
Hebrews 3:7-19 (ASV): 7 Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, [h]To-day if ye shall hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, 9 [i]Where your fathers tried me by proving me, And saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was displeased with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart: But they did not know my ways; 11 [j]As I sware in my wrath, [k]They shall not enter into my rest. 12 Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: 13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: 14 for we are become partakers [l]of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end: 15 while it is said,
[m]To-day if ye shall hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For who, when they heard, did provoke? nay, did not all they that came out of Egypt by Moses? 17 And with whom was he displeased forty years? was it not with them that sinned, whose [n]bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? 19 And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.
To respond, we pray. We agree with the Lord that we need Him, are sorry for anything that He is bringing to our mind as conviction of wrongdoing. We ask Him to forgive us, heal us, renew our relationship. We thank Him for saving us.
Psalm 51 (ASV). 1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:
According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions;
And my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
And done that which is evil in thy sight;
That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest,
And be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity;
And in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts;
And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness,
That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins,
And blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create [a]in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a [b]right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence;
And take not thy holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;
And sinners shall [c]be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation;
And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou my lips;
And my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
16 For thou delightest not in sacrifice; [d]else would I give it:
Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion:
Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then wilt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
In burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering:
Then will they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
Psalm 41:4 (ASV) I said, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me: Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
This is repentance. I think we don’t like that word because we don’t like to admit that we have done anything wrong, even when we know it is true deep down, and sometimes we don’t like to change. It can be difficult and uncomfortable. God will help us. God knows that we cannot do this on our own.
John 14:15-18 (ASV) 15 If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. 16 And I will [a]pray the Father, and he shall give you another [b]Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, 17 even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you [c]desolate: I come unto you.
John 14:26 (ASV) 26 But the [a]Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.
John 15:26 (ASV) 26 But when the [a]Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which [b]proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me
John 16:7-8 (ASV) 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the [a]Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. 8 And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Romans 8:26-27 (ASV) 26 And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered; 27 and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, [a]because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Lastly, we need to find a church and pastor whom we can trust, who faithfully teaches and adheres to the Word of God, to let them know of our relationship with the Lord. Why is this important? Here are some reasons.
The Word: church helps us grow in knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures so we grow closer to Him. The Word is God’s gift to us that He has preserved through the centuries, as a means for us to know Him, and learn how to hear His voice.
John 10:27-28 (ASV) 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.
Praise and Worship: church helps us learn how to worship and praise Him. God inhabits the praises of His people. We are put here to give Him glory! There is something indescribably moving about a group of people worshiping together. The presence of the Holy Spirit becomes palpable.
Community: We draw strength, and encouragement, are uplifted by and learn from a community of believers, regular people who have all gone through their own experiences of being drawn to the Lord, repenting and asking forgiveness, and living for Him. We also build lifelong friendships developed in the commonality of faith in the Lord.
Spreading the Gospel/Fulfilling the Commission: Church provides opportunities for us to obey our beautiful Savior’s instructions to spread the Gospel to others, through missions and ministries, opportunities that perhaps we would not have otherwise.
Romans 10:14-17 (ASV) 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, [a]How beautiful are the feet of them that bring [b]glad tidings of good things! 16 But they did not all hearken to the [c]glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, [d]Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
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Please feel free to leave a comment. Thank you and God bless you.
Notes/Disclaimers:
*”ASV” refers to the American Standard Version of the Bible and “KJV” refers to the King James Version of the Bible, both of which are in the public domain. Links are to the New International Version on BibleGateway.com.
**I am not affiliated with any of the websites that I may have mentioned above (other than I may have donated a time or two), nor have they endorsed this website in any way. I am just listing them because I have found them to be very helpful references.
The purpose of this site is simply to encourage people in their relationship with the Lord. I am not a professional pastor or counselor; nothing on this website is intended to be a substitute for professional assistance of any kind, nor is it a substitute for participation in a Bible-believing church.
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