What Happens After You Believe?

Whitney Hopler

Once you log on with God, He'll take you on a journey much more exciting than surfing anywhere on the Internet. The journey begins when you believe. As you grow in love for God, you also share His love with others, helping them join the network of people being transformed into new creations.

Here are some ways you can build deeper relationships with God and others after you believe:

• Confess your thoughts, feelings, and actions to God. He knows them anyway, but wants to hear you speak the truth about them and invite Him to transform them. Be honest with others, too, allowing them to see who you truly are. Allow God's power to operate in every aspect of your life, and let other people see that happening.
• Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Then listen for the Spirit's voice, and obey it.
• Read the Bible often, and ask God to let the words permeate your being, accomplishing the creative work they are designed to do in His people.
• Be willing to let go of all you hold closely and all that makes you comfortable. Embrace God's vision for your life, and realize that it will probably include sacrificing some of your own agendas for the greater good of His all-knowing vision.
• After God reveals His will for a particular situation, take whatever steps you can take in that direction to demonstrate your faith. Then rest and watch God act to enable you to move forward even farther. Look beyond just what you can see in the natural realm; act on what you discern in the spiritual realm.
• Trust God to take broken pieces of your life and transform them into something much greater and stronger. Expect Him to work wonders in your life.
• Praise God for who He is, and thank Him for the ways He's working in your life.
• Humble yourself, and allow God's greater power to work through you rather than relying on your own strength to accomplish things. You'll achieve far more that way.
• Confidently and firmly resist evil by drawing on God's strength to combat it whenever you encounter it. Pray specifically and often, then watch God act.
• Seek to grow in the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Let those fruits operating in your daily life show people what God's Spirit in action looks like. Communicate the gospel through the way you live.
• Love people, realizing that God wants Christians to be known by their love.
• Understand that God changes people's hearts and lives through a process. Don't become frustrated when you don't see immediate results after you share the gospel with people. Pray for them, trusting God to nurture the seeds you plant.
• Ask God to replace any fear you have of reaching out to certain people with His love that casts out fear.
• Listen actively to other people. Rather than approaching them first with answers, take time to hear their questions and understand their perspectives. Be gentle and patient with them.

Adapted from God.net: The Journey Beyond Belief, copyright 2001 by James Alexander Langteaux. Published by Multnomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Ore., www.multnomahbooks.com, 1-800-929-0910.

James Alexander Langteaux, author of God.com, teaches media-related courses at Azusa Pacific University. He is a freelance director-producer specializing in new program development. Langteaux's honors include a Golden Rose of Montreux award for Best Human Values for one of his television programs, and an Emmy Award nomination for his NBC miniseries.

If you've recently logged on with God - begun a relationship with Him - what are some of the most amazing ways He has been working in your life? If you've been online with God for a while, how has He been helping you encourage others to log on with Him? Visit Live It's forum to respond, or read what others have to say. Just click on the link below.