Secret #1 in Discipling a New Baby in Christ Is

READ WHAT GOD HAS WRITTEN TO YOU

I am quoting from the book - Called To Greatness By Ron Hutchcraft

When I was in college, my roommate Don used to get love letters from his girlfriend. We all knew when he had received one ------- he was in "la la land" all day. I noticed that he would always go off somewhere alone and read what Amy had written to him. Then he would read it again and again. After his fifth reading or so, I want to say, Don, there is no more new information here! But it wouldn't have done any good.

It was when I started receiving love letters from Karen that I began to understand. Now I was reading the same words over and over again. Why? Because when I was reading what she wrote to me, I was being with her--- until I could really be with her.

It is the same way with the new believer and the Love Letters he has received from the One who loves loves Him most ---it is called the Bible. Some one who belongs to Jesus feels he is with Him as he is with Him as he reads what He wrote to him. The lover of Jesus continues to read regularly, until one day in heaven when he will be with his Savior forever.

That's why God tells us, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your Salvation" (1 Peter 2:2) That "spiritual milk" is "the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:23) known to us as the Bible. So in their first days in Christ , new believers should be introduced to the importance of daily reading God's Love Letter to them. We need to call their attention to the privilege of spending time with Jesus through what He wrote. This is not to be a ritualistic "Bible reading time" but time with a friend.

THE FIRST SECRET OF A GREAT GOD RELATIONSHIP
IS ABOUT TIME WITH A PERSON, NOT TIME WITH A BOOK

As a practical matter, it is important for us to help new believers set a time and a place to meet with Jesus each new day. If we leave Him until we "get around to Him" we never will. It is fundamental to growing in this new relationship that believers set a daily date with the Person who loves them most.

It is important, too, to help God's new child know where to read in the Bible. The "where" should be a book that is easy to understand and easy to apply to your life ______books such as Mark, Ephesians, James, and Proverbs. The "how" should emphasize asking oneself two questions about what he or she reads. Two primary questions would be, " In my own words, what is God saying here?" and "What am I going to do differently today because God said that?" In other words, "Do not merely listen to the word,....do what it says" (James 1:22) The Apostle James compares someone who takes in what God says but doesn't do anything about it to " a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like" (James 1:23-24). If the Bible is supposed to be a believers mirror, then the believer can't just look into that mirror without changing something.

Once you explain the importance of reading what God has written, it is time to give God's new child an "action lab" so she can do what she just learned. So give her a notebook and ask her to write this title on the front of it: "My Times With Jesus" This will be her, "Jesus Journal"

Your challenge to the new believer might go something like this: "Each day for the next week, ask God to show you something He wants you to know, then read a few verses in the book of James. It's easy to apply to your life! Read them two or three times. Then write in your Jesus Journal the date, what verses you read, and your answer to two helpful questions: "In my own words, what is God saying here?" and "What am I going to do differently today because He said it?" When you get together the next time, ask the person to bring the journal so you can talk about how those times with Jesus went.

As the spiritual caregiver for this new member of God's family, you have the joy of giving the person some exciting news about her newly begun relationship. Every day, she has the same message from God that greets many Internet users when they check their E-Mail: "You've got mail." In this case, it's from God Himself.