When a person becomes saved they are "born again". They are a babe in Christ regardless of their physical age, they need the milk of the word or the basics. They need to be instructed in the very basics. They need to be taught how to listen to God. So many people when they are first saved are given these instructions "read your Bible every day, pray and talk to God and he will show you what to do". I want to bring this to your attention this morning....Does a newborn baby know how to talk? Can it feed itself? Can it walk or fight or anything else an older child can do? No it must be nurtured and cared for. It must be fed and it cannot be fed (taught) to do the things an older Christian can because they don't have the basics down.

Teach the baby Christian to listen to God, teach them how to pray (don't just say "talk to God"), follow the lessons that have been sent out in the past on prayer (if you need copies let me know I'll send them to you), teach them the Bible. Don't expect them to learn it on their own. Start with the basics.

Here in America many children are familiar with the story of Daniel in the lions den, Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath etc. They have been taught these stories since being in the toddler classes in Sunday School. They can tell you what the story says but can they tell you what it means? Depends on the child. Look at your spiritual babes the same way. Teach them the stories and what they mean. These spiritual children have been given TO YOU to teach and you are responsible for doing so.

You may feel "Lord but I am just a child myself". That's ok, Jeremiah felt the same way but older children often teach younger children many things (sometimes things as parents we wish they didn't teach them) and they will learn from the older child. But the older children learn also; they learn to guide, to teach, to cajole, to help. As children grow older they become more capable of doing things for themselves. They learn to prepare food on their own (taking the Bible, reading it and learning to understand it without someone teaching it to them) and then be able to eat the food they have prepared for themselves. They also can feed the food they prepare to others.

Of course you wouldn't expect a 6 year old (at least not here in America) to be able to cook a full course dinner and serve it so why do you expect a person who has only been a Christian a few months to be able to understand the things a mature Christian does? these babes need milk but there comes a time when a baby needs more than milk. They have to start eating some solid foods to grow. That is when you have to start teaching a bit deeper in the word. That is when you can start getting into the deeper subjects of really practicing what you have been teaching them. Eventually one of two things will happen. They will either 1) decide they are comfortable where they are and don't want to grow and do more for God (where most people are in America) or 2) they will really get on fire and become warriors on the battlefield.

That is what our goal is, to make warriors for the Lord to do battle against the forces of evil. But newborn babes in the Lord are prone to falling when placed immediately in the midst of a spiritual battle. As leaders it is your responsibility to make sure they are prepared before this happens and that may require some more growing on your part. None of us ever reach maximum spiritual maturity, there is always more to learn...

 

 

If you need lessons on any of the basic stories from the Bible, ASK me. We have many available. But like with prayer you have to be specific in what you are asking for. If you say "send me lessons on faith" that isn't very specific. Many things can be taught from a faith perspective. However if you ask for lessons on Jonah, David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion's den, Noah and the ark, etc then I can send lessons on whatever specific topic you ask. If there is a specific scripture you don't understand, send me that scripture with a note saying "what does this mean? I don't understand it".  Charlie and I will be happy to help you all to understand. If it is something we don't understand we will go to God until we get an answer for you. There is nothing to be ashamed of in asking. I still ask those who taught me on occasion. My dad has been in the ministry almost 50 years and is still here on earth and sometimes I call him and say "daddy, what does this mean?". Its up to us how much we want to grow in the Lord

 

God bless and have a wonderful day

Sister Becky