Welcome to Day 2! For the next several days we will be focusing on understanding our Relationship with God! The most valuable piece of information I can give you as you start your journey is that your relationship with God is everything. That relationship happens through reading scripture, prayer, and living in the Holy Spirit. Over the next several days we will go into greater depth on what that means, but we must know Him by spending time with Him; there are no substitutes for this part of your spiritual development. The closer you press into your relationship with God, the greater your clarity and understanding of His love and truth will become.
 
As we begin, I encourage you to get familiar with the image below, which displays the 4 pillars of our faith in Christ. Understanding this can be useful as you begin your new journey in Christ. I pray that by the time you have completed this journey, these 4 pillars (Relationship, Community, Mission, and Commitment) will be a part of your daily spiritual journey.

Figure: 5

As a new believer, you might be asking yourself, "Now that I'm a Christian, what am I supposed to do?" You might have questions about reading, prayer, music, friends, and many other aspects. To help build your foundation before we approach any of these questions, we need to define a major piece of this approach. If you look at the image above, you will see a phrase that says "Christ-Centered".
 
To explain "Christ-Centered," it simply means everything (actions, decisions, worldview, etc.) is now filtered through our new-found relationship and understanding of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we commit and obey His ways through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit and His word (Bible). Through this, we may honor and glorify God by fulfilling His will in our lives (John 15:5).

Any relationship in the world takes work. There is no difference in our relationship with God: we must put forth the effort. There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth; it takes effort. In (James 4:7-8) it says, we must submit ourselves to God, resist the devil, and draw near to Him, and through that God will draw near. Also, (Jeremiah 29:13) says "You will seek and find God when you seek him with all your heart". There is something about the idea of fully committing your entire being (mind, will, emotions) to God, not just what are convenient parts of your life, but the entirety of your life. There is no substitute for time; we must and should spend time with God because it is the only way to develop a real relationship with God. (Galatians 2:20)
 
We do this through the following:

• Reading the Bible with intentionality and purpose. Hebrews 4:12
• Confessing sin to God. 1 John 1:9
• Prayer (we will go more into it later this week).
• Listening to worship music. Ephesians 5:19-20
• Reflecting and having gratitude. Colossians 4:2
• Find a church and be committed to those gathering together. Acts 2:42-47
• Having accountability and Christian friends to talk to about spiritual things. Proverbs 27:17
• Listening and or watching sermons/podcasts/audible/books etc. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
• Being obedient to His way and putting forth the effort to live out what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. (Example) giving up pornography in your life because it is very destructive in so many ways for the Christian. 1 John 2:16-17

Temptation will be a part of life and will continue to be present until we die, but sin is optional, through Christ we can have victory over sin, to the point where it doesn't dominate our daily lives. Sin will happen from time to time, but it doesn't have to enslave you, you now have power over sin through the Holy Spirit and personal commitment to obedience in Jesus' name. In scripture, you will find that Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4. It's important to note Jesus never sinned). We see great people of faith, like Paul, confess sin in Romans 7. We read that King David murdered Uriah and committed adultery with Bathsheba. So we see examples throughout the Old and New Testaments of temptation and sin. Here is a short list with scripture references of these three examples.
 

• Jesus - Matthew 4:1 "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."
• Paul - Romans 7:15 "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."
• David - 2 Samuel 11:14-15  "In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

To clarify, temptation is not a sin– you can think of temptation more like the "attraction", "desire", or "suggestion" to commit sin. In 1 Corinthians it talks about temptation for believers.
 
1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

I have been saying for years, "The best way to avoid temptation is don't put yourself into a situation to be tempted". For example: If you struggle with getting drunk, don't go to bars or parties with alcohol. Temptation comes from both inward desires and external forces (relationship or the enemy) James 1:14-15. The danger with temptation is it has a strong compelling factor that tries to lead us into sin. You can only overcome temptation; once you cross the line into action and commit sin, at that point it is no longer temptation. Below is a list of a few ways we can fight temptation.

Matthew 26:41 - “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
 
Matthew 6:9-13 - “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

Galatians 5:16 - "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."
 
Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law."

Psalms 119:11 - “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

Matthew 4:7 - “Jesus answered him, it is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test."

James 4:7 - “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
 
Ephesians 6:11 - “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."

Commitment to scripture (The Bible), the Holy Spirit, and the church must be the consistent pieces as you build the foundation of your new life with Christ. Read the Bible with the intent to really learn it. Don't race through it just to check a box or accomplish a goal or task– understand how it can be applied to your life. Memorize scripture as it brings life to your understanding and helps you to combat sin and the desires of the flesh. Learn how to hear the Holy Spirit's guidance in your life. Be committed to a church and build Christ-centered friendships.

If you haven't already, I highly suggest you check out Day 0 - Biblical Foundations (Parts 1 & 2) Click Here