Iron Sharpens Iron

Men’s Ministry Iron Sharpening Iron: Proceed at your own risk of growing up and maturing.

Your purpose is to know God Part 1

Have you talked to a new Christian lately? It is a glorious thing to be a part of. To see the light come on in someone’s eyes and experience that burst of enthusiasm. Most often the first thing they want is to do something for the Lord. We more experienced Christians know that there is nothing we can possibly do to repay Jesus for what he has done but the new convert naturally would like to make an attempt right away. This is where the guidance of a mature bother or sister could come in handy.
Poor self image creates many problems. How we perceive ourselves and having a healthy self image can impact how successful we will be as believers furthering the cause of Christ. In the book of Numbers 13: 26-33 we see the story of Moses sending the spies to get a report on the land of Canaan which God says he will give to them. In verse 33 we see that most of the spies after seeing the people living in the land of Canaan came back saying that there is no way they would be able to take this land. I want to focus on the end of verse 33 which says “we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." We see here that because of the Israelites poor self image of comparing themselves to grasshoppers other people perceived them that way also. Whether it is accurate or not a poor self image will stop you in your tracks in moving forward with God and will greatly impact how you handle adversity.
I recommend a written moral inventory (for your eyes only) by the new convert and shared with an experienced mentor, counselor, or Pastor to help in this process. By seeing our faults on paper it will help us determine our character defects which could inhibit our walk. We also will learn of our strengths which come often from the areas where the enemy Satan attacked us.
Let’s get started and remember Salvation is fully by faith and just the beginning a glorious beginning but never the less the beginning. Now that the Lord has drawn us with His Spirit and we have accepted the gift of salvation it is now time to let Him make us again another vessel and now the process begins. I am not saying not to begin sharing your testimony with others but before we launch off into ministry or begin our search for the perfect Christian women to accompany us in our new life focus we need to deal with the baggage of the past because the devil is sure going to bring it up in the future and we will need to keep these issues under subjection as Paul states in 1 Corinthians: 9, 27

Remember get started! Hang in there! And God Bless more to come!

Clif