Babes in Christ

The Bible refers to newly born-again Christian believers as "babes". It really is a good analogy because, when someone receives the Lord and is born again spiritually, they are facing a brand new life with very little knowledge or understanding of what this new life is all about.

Having received Jesus, they are still getting to know Him, learning to hear His voice and learning to trust Him. They may have hang-overs from the past such as thinking that God is an angry, judgmental Dictator who frowns down on us whenever we make a mistake or say the wrong thing. As a new babe in Christ, the believer may feel very intimidated by all the new stuff and become confused.

Of course, the Devil is going to take advantage of the newbie too, but God also pours out His anointing on new believers and often, they seem to have extraordinary faith. And even wisdom.

I remember myself when I first received the gift of tongues. It happened while I was in bed in a dorm with a couple of other sisters who were sleeping. I burst out in tongues and prophecy in the middle of the night!

Well, rather than being happy for me and getting as excited as I was, an older sister chastised me for it and told me that "the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet"... in other words, my timing was off. As a new babe, I sort of overreacted, thinking that the Devil had gotten in and used me, but, eventually, I was able to forgive myself and start over.

So, it's wonderful when a new babe receives spiritual gifts from the Lord. And, if you are a new Christian, don't be slow in asking Jesus to give you the gifts He wants you to have. Get as many gifts of the Spirit as you can to edify yourself and the body of Christ. "A man's gifts make room for him."

One of the gifts we should all ask for is discernment. And, of course, we are told to ask for wisdom.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

When we receive the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, we are anointed by God to witness or, in other words, share our faith. It's very simple. If we believe that Jesus is the answer for us, He's the answer for everyone. If we are happy with the "Best Product in the World", we will want everyone to get it. Right? And the Holy Spirit helps us to share the truth with others.

In actual fact, it's not an option for Christians to share the Gospel (Good News). So, we don't need to "wait" for God to call us or for a dream or vision or prophecy, because it's clearly written in God's Word and the command has been already put forth by Jesus Himself. So, it's not a question.

The only question is, "How much do I desire to be used of God to help others to find Jesus?"

As a kid, I was shy, a bit introverted and not a big talker. My mom did all the talking at our house and I didn't have the desire to compete with her in that arena, so I was quiet. Even as a new Christian, speaking didn't come naturally. But, when I got filled with the Holy Spirit, I suddenly had something to talk about and the boldness necessary to speak out. (Although, I admit, I could have used a lot more wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge used in love.)

It takes time to learn about the breadth, depth and height of our amazing God. It's not always easy to know where to look in the Word of God to find the answers to a particular situation or problem you are facing as a new believer, so it helps to get into fellowship with believers who are stronger in the faith and who have the fruits of the Spirit.

I suggest to stay away from dry, worn out, doubtful, complaining Christians who have more-or-less put God on the shelf and made excuses why they don't exercise their faith. There are lots of them around and I used to be one not too long ago. I let my faith almost dry up. But, it's amazing what a little bit of reading God's Word can do to bring a desert-like faith back to life and fruitfulness.

Still, I highly recommend that a new believer finds on-fire, Spirit-filled people to fellowship with, people who really love the Lord and want to please Him and those who put their faith into action. Stay away from cynical, critical people or people who mock you. These sort of folks will drag you down and drain you. Remember, Satan uses people. He'll even use your best friend to get you discouraged and condemned.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. He's the only One we can trust completely. We can't even trust ourselves. That's the problem with the world, they are trying so hard to do it themselves but they are doomed to failure because only God knows what to do and how to do it. Any plan will fail without the right motivations.

"The world passes away and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides forever."

As I have suggested in past posts, the book of John is a great place to start reading God's Word. John chapter 10 talks about our relationship with Jesus, the Good Shepherd and John 15 does, too. John 14 talks about our heavenly home and God's plan. It's a simple, yet powerful book, as are all of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These four books are the account of Jesus's life on earth. Some Bibles have the words of Jesus printed in red, and those words are supernatural. Enjoy!