NEW LIFE - NEW PURPOSE Once you have become born again, you have the life of God inside you and you can start functioning as the vessel that God created you to be. You are a critical part in the Body of Christ and God created you for a specific reason. This does not mean we should be paralyzed, searching for that specific “calling” for years, and not doing what God expects from us in the interim. The moment we are born again, we automatically have the ability to lead others to Christ. That is just amazing! It is through His power and His ability that we are all called to the very important purpose of leading others to Christ, making use of the same information that led us to this new life. REPENTANCE Part of this new life requires us to admit our imperfection, that we have made mistakes and will still fail in the future. To purify our hearts and stand with a cleansed heart before the Lord, we need to repent of our past transgressions and have a firm commitment and intention not to repeat these mistakes. It is as if our intention and commitment clear the pathway to God and allows us to have communion and fellowship with Him on a higher level. It also makes it clear that we cannot do it on our own – we need the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. HE IS LORD To receive salvation, you had to make Jesus your Savior, for He is the only way to the Father. Many people accept Jesus as their Savior and receive eternal life but fail to realize that there are further requirements. We need to make Jesus the Lord of our lives and once this happens and we come to the realization that Jesus is in charge and He requires our obedience in following His instructions, then we can become an effective working part in the Kingdom. OBEDIENCE In order to do what we have been called for we need to realize we have a Master whom we follow wholeheartedly. We cannot simply choose to follow our own direction and do as we think and please. God is a God of order and His master plan requires that we hear from Him, receive our instructions, and execute our specific part of this grand plan. God wants to build One Body, not individual, disconnected body parts. RELATIONSHIP To hear God’s voice requires one to be in relationship with Him. We receive everything we need in this life from this relationship with Him. He will fill us with the Word and with His Spirit as we live in communion with Him. Set aside time to spend with Him, in the Word, in worship, in prayer and just communicating. Having this relationship as the foundation, we will hear and recognize His voice, receive the ability we need and respond to it in obedience in order to function as instruments of precision in His hands. 2 Timothy 2:21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, Acts 26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.