Growing Your Spirituality

You were invited by a friend. Your family expected you. It was Easter Sunday. Whatever the reason you decided to attend church that particular Sunday, you now understand you were exactly where you were supposed to be when you were supposed to be there. Everything that the minister had to share that day touched you. For the first time ever, you experienced the reality of God. God called and you answered. You confessed your sins and accepted the gift of salvation. Now, you have an overwhelming desire to learn more about God and experience that same feeling of peace and connectedness everyday. The intent of this article is to provide you with some guidance on your path to grow in your faith and draw closer to God. Not nearly enough can be said about the importance of searching for and finding a good home church. The first thing to consider before settling on a church is the minister and his family. You want the minister to truly be a leader to his congregation. Has he studied the bible in depth? Does he continue to study the bible daily and is he an avid reader of other materials that discuss faith, family and leadership topics? Nothing is more intense than weekly sermons that are inspirational and that reach people on a personal level. What about the minister’s wife and children? Is the minister’s wife devoted to Christ, does she put her whole heart into the congregation? Does the child (or children) glorify God in the absence of his parents? The second thing to look for in a church is the atmosphere of the congregation. Each church has a core membership of people. This core is people who helped “plant” the church or have been members for many years; know all of the regular attendees and, therefore, recognize new faces. The question to ask is whether these people approach visitors, introduce themselves and ask questions. Do they have a sincere interest in new people and do they have the love of God for people to embrace all walks of life, economic backgrounds and past indiscretions? More than likely if the church has passed the first test, in other words, the church has a true leader in their minister then there should be no issue with the second test. While you are searching for a church to call “home”, there is no time like the present to initiate the habit of daily devotions. Daily devotions consist of prayer, reading from the Bible and meditation/reflection. This should be done in private and away from all distractions. Turn off the tv, the computer, the cell phone, etc. as this is your special time with God. It is recommended that you perform your devotions first thing in the morning. This quiet time can do wonders for your frame of mind for facing the rest of the day. If praying is new to you and you’re not sure how to pray, a good place to start is by praising God for all that He is, His creation, the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and for the blessings you have in your life. As you go through your day to day, events will occur and/or people will say or do things to disrupt your feelings of serenity or even cause you to question your beliefs. Great aids in getting refocused on the positive include Christian radio, books and talks on cd. Not only have many people testified to the power of Christian music to transform their moods, others have credited it for bringing new perspective on some very difficult situations. Like Christian music, talks on cd’s serve as a compliment, a spiritual aid to the believer by keeping his thoughts more on heavenly things. Additionally, these talks equip the believer with knowledge that supports his beliefs, bring clarity to the teachings in the Bible and/or relate the teachings in the Bible to modern day living.