Tonight, as I lay watching “The Case for Christ” on Netflix, a story of Lee Strobel a very important thought came to me on the basis of my faith. What is the next step after choosing to believe? This thought helped me perceive the importance of having a personal relationship with the Father (God), and I hope you can follow along and see how my mind works as The Lord gives me insight and knowledge further than what I would understand on my own. Enjoy!

Who is the Father?

“Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

(1 Corinthians 8:6)

As you can see, God is the Father, the one who created all things, and for whom we do all that we do in this world. He is the beginning and the end, alpha, and omega. God is the one who created all things and is walking with us through his story as a guide since He is the only one who knows all, and especially what is right for us. Truly, the only voice we should seek and the ultimate one we should value above all creation and created. The one we see in Luke 15:11-32 as leaving everything behind, including His image, kingdom, and life to run for the return of His beloved son. The Father that allowed His only son, who was present with Him through the creation of the world, to be sacrificed in order to gain a multitude of children. The Father that cares so much as to spend all His life praying and longing for a relationship with you, His own. That is who Yahweh, the Father, is.

How does He become our Father?

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”

(John 1:12)

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

(Galatians 4:4-5)

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”

(Ephesians 1:4-5)

Rather than how does He become our Father we will speak of it in the topic of how do we become His children? We become God’s children as we choose to allow Jesus to be Lord over our lives and our heart. When we make that decision, we then walk into the inheritance placed ahead of us; which starts with being a child of the king, Yahweh! An inheritance that has been awaiting us since the beginning of time. It’s that easy… All we are asked to do is spoken of in Romans 10:9.

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

(Romans 10:9)

With over 33% of the world professing the name of Jesus and confessing their faith to be Christianity, what happens after accepting Christ into your heart and choosing to believe in and follow Him?

This is the thought that came into my head… What happens next? I cannot say that I have been to every church in the world. I cannot say that every church does it the same or that some are right and others wrong, but I can say one thing: Jesus is alive and He speaks. Now that we made the decision to follow Him, the next step is simple: seek His voice. Learn what He sounds like when He speaks to you and learn to trust Him. My thought was simple. With so many churches, pastor, priests, popes, etc. It is a tough place to stand in for the reason that they are stewarding God’s sheep, His people, YOU! How can we say that every church, pastor, priest, or pope is leading you in the truth? The answer? Once again, learning Jesus’ voice! As you learn HIs voice, Jesus Himself will direct you in right and wrong. He will warn you, protect you, guide you, and best of all, He will be with you always.

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

(1 John 4:1-3)

Do not always believe what you hear firsthand. A fear I have is that church leaders would lead people astray, down the wrong path or away from what God has. If we are not aware that God speaks, that God is alive, or that He is our guide in our lives than we are leaving our fate in the hands of man. And history has proven that man cannot always be trusted, but God can. I advise you, seek the Father and accept Him into your life. He created the world and has been in it since the beginning of it. He loves you more than you can think or imagine. And best of all, He wants you all for Himself! Would you allow Him in?

“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 that person, and they with me.”

(Revelation 3:20)

Then, as you continue walking in communion with Jesus and seeking/following Him, you will have many bumps on the road, as well as roadblocks, just like a life without Jesus. But the main difference is, you are never alone. And the hard times ahead are able to be overcome. Don’t believe me, just ask Jesus.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

(John 16:33)