“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

Like many people, you may be wondering what the next step is now that you have been saved by grace. Well, you aren't the only one, we have all been there, and we are here to help!

Psalm 119:105 says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." The word of God shows us where we need to go, what we need to do, and how we need to act. The bible says that heaven and earth will pass away, but His word will never pass away. His word is everlasting, and is living and active even today, and will not just give you knowledge, but will also give you revelation and transformation. I recommend getting a hard copy of a bible. King James Version is the oldest English translation and it can be difficult to understand. There are many other easier to understand translations like New International Version, New Living Translation, Holman Christian Standard Bible, and many others. Also, there are many bible apps you can download, and the one I recommend is YouVersion bible app. Not only do they have a large number of translations, they also have bible reading and prayer plans to help you grow your relationship with God. 

  Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." I recommend finding a local church so that you can get around like-minded believers who can help and guide you on your journey with Christ. At church, we motivate each other, we encourage each other, and we help each other, because we are a family and all brothers and sisters with the same Father. When someone is in a storm in their life, it helps to have people outside of the storm to help you navigate your way through it. Even if you can't find a local church to physically go to, you can always find a church online to watch. God is not limited by distance, and you will still be spiritually blessed. Some churches that stream online that I recommend watching is "Kingdom on the Move Church" who live streams their service on their Instagram, "Transformation Church" who live streams their service on YouTube, and "HungryGeneration" who live streams their service on You Tube as well. 

Philippians 4:6 says, " Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."   Now we hear about prayer all the time, but what is it, and how do we do it? The best way I have heard it explained is prayer is just communication between you and God. Its talking to our Father, our best friend. He loves us more than we realize, and wants to have a relationship with you. So talk with Him about anything, from the smallest part of your life to the biggest. Peter 1:7 says, "Cast all of your cares on Him because He cares for you". God cares about every aspect of your life, and you can be 100% honest with Him. If you are mad, sad, anxious, whatever you are feeling, you can talk to Him about it. Whatever you are thinking and feeling, bring it to Him. The only way God can heal you and transform you is if you are honest with Him and allow Him to work in that area of your life. And its not just you talking to Him, He will talk to you too! Not in a physical, audible voice usually, but God is Spirit, so He will speak to you spirit, and will come to you as a thought, or He will give you impressions, flashes of images, dreams, etc. To each person He speaks in different ways. The more you communicate with God, the more you will recognize His voice.

Psalm 95:6 says, "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." Worshipping our God is amazing! We sing praises to His name, we bow down before Him and give Him reverence, we exalt Him and thank Him for all that He does, and all that He is. Worship is also a weapon against the enemy. Whenever the enemy attacks us with depression, anxiety, fear, guilt, whatever he may use, if we, instead of allowing the attack to keep going, praise and worship our Lord, all of it melts away! The enemy wants us to lose our faith in God, to become angry at Him, and to go as far as to forsake Him, but in worship we regain our strength and the Lord rejuvenates us. When the situation looks dark, give thanksgiving to the Lord for what you do have, and what you are hoping for, and you will see a difference.

Proverbs 18:15 says, "The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out" Seek knowledge and truth that only comes from God. Seek it in His word, seek it through pastors and teachers and sermons, and seek it through prayer. The bible says if we ask God for wisdom, He is faithful to give it to us.  In "Kingdom on the Move Church", they offer an incredible course called the Alpha course. It is a course that teaches you about Christianity and answers so many questions that you may have. I recommend taking this course and gaining knowledge about the Kingdom of God and how to walk out our salvation. https://kingdomonthemovechurch.org/studies-groups/

 Matthew 3:13-17 says, "Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus, who is perfect and never sinned in His life, got baptize to show us what we should do. Whenever we get baptized by water, we are making a public declaration that we are repenting and choosing to follow Jesus. Our old man, or our old self is being washed away and drowned, and as we come up out of the water, we are a new being. The old is washed away, and the new arises out of the water. If Jesus did it, we need to do it as well. Ask your local church if they do water baptisms, which they most likely will, and make that amazing step!

Matthew 18:8-9 says, " If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. " Now please, don't literally cut your body parts off. What this verse means is if what you do with your hands is sinful, if where you go with your feet is sinful, if what you watch and listen to is sinful and unholy, which can be a lot, cut it out of your life and throw it away. We live in a world which is heavily influenced by Satan, and therefore the things that come from this world are demonic, plain and simple. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what to not partake in. That's going to mean to stop watching certain tv shows and movies. Its going to mean stop listening to secular music, since most of it opens doors to the enemy in your life and demonic oppression. To stop going to places you know are not good for you. It is better to cut these things out of your life and go to heaven than it is to keep these worldly things and go to hell. Trust me brothers and sisters, what you watch and listen to matters.