I'm A Christian, Now What?

Whether you've just recently placed your faith in Jesus Christ for your Salvation and His life to be the principle and example by which you live, it is important that you begin taking steps to help you grow in your new found relationship with God. The New Testament is full of explicit understanding and commands that the Christian life is one God desire to be marked by Growth. There is a very simple acronym to help remember what these steps are - S.E.A.L.
S- Search
Search your Bible daily, we search the Scriptures by reading them and whenever a situation, circumstance, or encouragement from a fellow believer is given to us we search to confirm that in The Bible. Luke records for us in the book of Acts 17:10-15 that the Bereans searching the scriptures daily for themselves to confirm what someone is teaching and instructing them in is noble minded. It is also important for the Christian to search or read scripture daily to confirm what our hearts may be telling us a correct path or step is to take, Jeremiah 17:9 we learn and through an examination of the entire Bible we learn that the heart of man is deceitful and so we need to have Truth daily poured into our lives to correct even our own deceitful desires. A great place to start is the Gospel of John. You can also follow Michael's devotional blog and other helpful resources to help navigate different portions of Scripture as you read and seek to understand what your reading.
E - Encounter
Encounter the author of the Bible through Prayer. A key foundation of the Christian Faith is that the Bible is Inspired and Authored by God, and He communicated these truths to different individuals over a long period of time who then recorded God's Truth of who He is and His Kingdom.

Prayer is a simple process where we go before the Lord with a humble heart, that there are concerns or obstacles that we recognize we are unable and unsure of how to navigate and overcome them and we are acknowledging that He is the only One who can help us to overcome or navigate them through knowledge and revelation that is from Him.
A - Attend Church
God designed us to be relational and He designed His Church to be a multiple lane direction we we travel towards a growing relationship with God alongside of others seeking to do the same so that we can be encouraged, equipped, and challenged by other believers.
L - Let Others Know
Whether we are new believers or have been walking with the Lord for a number of years, God desires that our growing trust in Him is communicated and lived publicly. The more you tell others about your decision for Christ or as you continue to grow in the knowledge and understanding of Him, the stronger our faith will become and others will be strengthened by your daily testimony of what and how you have seen Jesus working in your life and what He is teaching you through His Word. As you do this, you will find many who will want to join you on your venture of faith.
Continue to grow in that relationship that you have just joined Jesus in or that you have previously decided to daily continue following Jesus in. This relationship has a lot of similarities with marriage, in fact Jesus and the rest of the Bible routinely relates our relationship with God as a marriage between One Man and One Woman. The only way that a marriage is strengthened and grows is when the two spend time together and get to know one another.

Additional Resources for your Spiritual Growth