new to faith

that makes me really happy! welcome!

-katie

Awesome! Tell me, how did you become a believer? What did you pray...etc.?

You pray in your own words, and end, "In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

I have heard that the book of John in the New Testament is a good place for new believers to start off.

If a person has repented of their sins and allowed Jesus into their hearts, they will go to heaven. If they do not do that, they will go to hell. However, God does make exceptions for those who may not have heard the word of God, or are too young to understand the concept of salvation, etc.)

I would say that I'm the only "serious" believer in my family. What do YOU think you need to do/should do?

Do not forsake your old friends, unless you feel that they are creating a wedge between you and God. I would encourage you to surround yourself with Christian friends, as you can strengthen one another.

What do you mean when you say a "true believer"?

God expects you to love Him and obey Him. You can learn what His expectations are by reading His word, the Bible.

Now you're just a babe in Christ (Hebrews 5:12-14), but you will mature!

Congratulations! Feel free to private message me!!!

Welcome to the family, Ruby Cross!
As psycmajor had said practically everything, i don't have much to add..

we all have friends who don't believe in God, God doesn't tell us not to associate with them totally, but that we should not be swayed by their believes. (such as swearing by the name of Christ)

reading the bible and praying are most important... prayers are what we use to communicate with God, so prayers are essential! pray to Him and get to know Him, feel the tug of the Holy Spirit and you'll know what God expects from you.

It must be hard as the only believer in the family. My mom was once in the same situation too, but now her whole family believes, one even became the wife of a Pastor. My dad's not saved yet, i pray for his salvation everyday.
Trust, Ruby Cross, trust and prayers (and the bible) will get you onto the life of a Christian. Trust that everything He does is for the good of you.
*Praying*

Good addition, Blessed-one!

Hi ruby cross, and welcome to the family of Christ!

About how to pray... a good guidline for praying can be found in Matthew 6, and also in Luke 11.

As for where to start, when you start reading the Bible. I suggest you start where God started, and the same place you would start reading any other book, If you want a full understanding of it, and that's at the beginning. Also pray for God to give you understanding, before you start reading it.

Don't worry too much about what you should do about others in your life at the moment. Just concentrate on drawing yourself closer to God. You have been forgiven. As an infant in Christ you must learn to walk now, after you learn to walk you will learn to talk.

Trust in God to show you his way, and trust in his spirit to guide you.

<i>"what do i do about my friends who most don't belive in any type of god?"<i>

You should STILL love your friends. Love them as you have loved, maybe even MORE so. You are NO better than them because you are now a Christian. When you became a Christian, you became a servant. So... don't do what I've seen done... Please. Don't preach at them. If you WANT to share Christ, talk TO them. Not at them. And listen. Listening is a wonderful thing.

<i>"what do i have to do to become a true beliver?"</i>

If you've accepted Christ you already ARE a true believer. Really.

<i>"what does God expect of me?"<i/>

I don't think it's a matter of what God expects. You will probably discover that you WANT to please him. Not by works. Though, things you do will reflect what you believe. Have faith. Love God. Pray, and try to learn. Having a quiet time with God can open up SO many things.

Since I've learned I can't post my e-mail, which really kind of annoyed me..., I'll just PM you.

AWESOME RUBY!!!!!!!!!!

I'd be happy for you to send me a PM! and in that PM i will send you my email address if you want. You need to find good christians, and a good church, and perhaps even a bible study.

Also, i would recommend starting with the book of John

Sharky is happy for you! YAY!

If your friends aren't open to what you are, it's probably a good idea to keep silent for a while. You're a mustard seed starting to grow. It's important to feed on the Word of God and grow in strength before confronting your friends. A good idea is to not force it on them but set an example here and there. They ask you to go naughty things, just kindly reject. Show them that you are not hostile to them and you can keep your friends. Keep praying to God to open their hearts and they may become a believer like yourself . Who knows, God has big plans for you and this could be it!

Most importantly, be happy!

Welcome to the family of Christ, Ruby Cross!!

I have a suggestion for you on reading the Bible. I have had several more mature Christian tell me that the best way to read the Bible is the start with John (in the New Testament) and read to the end of Revelations (even though Revelations may not be easy to understand). After that then read Matthew, Mark and Luke. When you have finished the New Testament, then go back and read the Old Testament.

I have found that the best way is to set a daily routine of reading the Bible. Set aside a regular time to sit and read without distractions. You can also find various "Read the Bible in a year" schedules online, that help by giving you a check list of books, chapters and verses to read.

If possible, find a Christian partner to share with. This would be an accountability partner, one that won't mind checking on your progress or sharing in a discussion about what you have read. It will make your journey less intimidating.

Again I say Welcome! and may the light of Christ shine in you, so that you become a beacon to those around you!

Psalm 146:1-2

oh this adds to my happyness...my hearts on overload..you guys i love you!! welcome to the family ruby!! we love you,god bless!

It's nice to have another sister.&nbsp; Take a deep breath and then take it one day at a time.&nbsp; Your fellow young people here are outstanding and I'm sure they will be a great help to you.

They're a great help to me.

Read the Bible, and pray. When you pray, just talk to God. Ask him for guidance, and for others, tell him how much you love him. Also, one of the most important things is that you really need to read you bible!!! Romans 10:17 says "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God"

O and welcome to the Body of Christ sister!!!! If ya wanna chat, plz feel free to IM me at my 2 IM's (AIM and MSN in my sig and profiles) or email or PM me God Bless, you'll be in my Prayers

welcome to the family mighty woman of God!
&nbsp;

welcome to the family mighty woman of God!
&nbsp;
1.how to pray.
god is nothing more than a new father to you, ask for&nbsp;anything you need&nbsp;and be sure youll get it because jesus died to provide for all your needs. its faith in jesus' work. and if you hold fast to your beleif, and not give in to doubt, you will receive in due time. and simply ask him how to pray.
2.what to pray for.
anything at all that you need or desire that would not hurt your relationship with him. god will give it to you.
there is no set way to pray, the most important thing is your heart, he understands, talk to him like hes your daddy, maybe even the father you never had, if thats the case.
3.where to start reading.
i think the best place is the book of john, atleast somewhere in the new testament, becuase the new testament applies to you, much of the old will not apply to you or seem in anyway relative unless your like a bible scholar or something. and get a bible that is in new day language, dont go king james version&nbsp;unless you really want to, becuase sometimes all the thees, thuses and begates can make ya go crasy, and you even start talking like that hehe.
4.when we die?
the life youve lived on this earth and the decisions youve made, whether you were&nbsp;serving god, or serving satan when you died, determine were youll go, to be with satan, or to be with god.
5.the only beleiver in the family.
all i can say is find a refuge, if you really want to continue in this, find a place you can run to, your room with the door shut, anywhere, and get alone with your bible and with jesus everyday, where you and him can meet and get to know each other often. your relationship with him, must be more powerful than the relationships with ungodly people that you cant help living with. when the pressure is building, run to your place of god and you will find rest. dont worry about changing them, untill you yourself have been changed, then take them where youve been. you cant take someone anywhere youve never been.
6.friends.
the same, stay in your secret place.
its not gods will for you shun them, but at the same time, you have to be very careful not to get caught up in those old things again. in order to stay on the right path you must have good influences, you must stay places that help your relationship with god, this may mean not being so close to people who are not christians anymore. its not shunning them, its just keeping your distance sometimes. the people you surround yourself with, will determine where you go in life, choose wisely who you stay close to. do you want to go where your friends are going? if not, then you better be careful how close you get to them. look at their lives, are they going where your going? if they arent, then you should&nbsp;no longer walk with them. but im not saying shun them, just keep your distance, but let your light shine.
and dont get into&nbsp;areguments about whether or not gods real.
you know hes real, those areguments only confuse you and make you mad.
areguments like that are usually only becuase someone is mad or someone simply wants to hurt you.
7. a true beleiver.
a true christian....one who beleives god with all his heart, and serves god and others with all his heart, and does not let the evil in the world effect him.
you will find the more you read and pray the more excited you will be about serving god and the more youll beleive him.
the more time you spend in your specail place of god, the more powerful and immune to enemies you will be.
and find a person you know and trust who you look up to as far as&nbsp;being a good christian, and stick with them, learn from them and feed off their strength when you are weak.
8.god expects..
god wants you to love him, and worship him, and obey him.
he wants to get to know you better, he wants you to come to him alone in your prayer and bible reading, so he can meet with you and show you all things, hes been waiting franticly to hear your voice and feel your touch for so long...he loves you so much.&nbsp;go meet him and love him.


and dont act like the bible is god, but act like you and god are reading the bible together, like mother/father and child reading a book together. ask him about it, and talk to him about it, stay in prayer as you read it.
that is so powerful! it will show you things no one has ever seen!
to stay in prayer while you read it, talking to god about it while you read it, then your reading it together, hell show you awesome things! and hell become so real to you.

well godbless you, your attitude blesses me. i hope i was of some help to you, i want to do anything i can to help you.
lee myers.

Congratulations on your decision. There are some really good suggestions here. One part you will notice is that you will start to loose interest in some of your current friends and will start to have less and less in common with them. Don't let this suprise you and in fact this is normal and good. You need to encourage your non-christian friends but at the same time, realize you are going down different paths. You will need to start aquiring new christian friends in order to grow. Trust me on this....