I would like to give you with a few
practical guidelines that I felt helped me along my journey of
growing in my new creation. May this help you and lead you to life
everlasting:
1. Get a time that
suits you best to spend regular time with God and stick to that
time. Be dedicated in spending the time with Him. Speak to Him as
you would to someone close to you. Share everything that is on your
heart, and make time to listen to what He has to say to you. It is
a very important principle to also listen. Prayer is never a
one-way street. Give Him the opportunity to speak to your heart as
well. During your time spent with Him, ask Him to lead you into His
place of rest. I can tell you that that is an amazing experience. I
have had the privilege of entering into it, and I can confirm that
the love and the rest that you find there is unequal to anything
else. Ask Him to take you there. I don't want to say much more than
that, as I know the experience for each person will be unique. Each
person is totally distinctive, and God will know exactly what you
need as you enter into His presence to rest. I cannot say how your
experience will be because I am not God. But one thing I know for
certain is you will look forward to your time spent with God; it is
special beyond measure. Learn about His heart for you and for the
world and pray about it. Your new creation was created to influence
this dark world all around you.
2. Read your Bible
every day, it is truly your daily bread. You will struggle to grow
without it, just like you will struggle to survive without food. I
once left my Bible at home when we went on holiday for a week, and
that was a big mistake! I could literally feel the new life
starving within me. God's Word has power without measure, and we
should never underestimate it. Take it in, read it, confess it, and
thank God for it. Learn from it and grow from it. Each word written
there is God breathed and will breathe new life into your new
creation. Crave it like a newborn baby craves milk. Never be too
busy to pick up your Bible. As Christians, we should be warriors
with our sword, the Bible. Without the Bible, we are in a war
without weapons. Don't be caught without it. I will never go
anywhere again without my Bible. I've learned my lesson.
(Excerpt from The Second
Creation - Ilze Henderson)