WHAT'S NEXT?
12 Day Devotional
Congratulations! You have just made the greatest and wisest decision you could ever make by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior!
“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7
We rejoice with heaven about your decision, but what happens next? Where do you go from here?
The next several days can be the most important days of your life. You are starting a new life, and this will call for a number of changes. You will need help. This devotional provides for you a plan of action. You will learn more about Jesus, how to talk to Jesus, how to become part of Jesus’ family, and also how to be a part of Jesus’ purpose.
Do your best and God will help you!
What Happened to Me?
Just what happened to you? That’s a good question, and an important one. Knowing what happened and what it means will help you the rest of your Christian life. You felt a need, learned somehow that Jesus Christ could help you, and one way or another, asked Him to come into your life.
Now, what does that all mean?
Two things have happened:
1. Jesus has become your Savior.
2. You have become a child of God.
We call this salvation. Perhaps someone has already mentioned that you are saved. Maybe you wonder what that means. Three things are important for you to know:
1. You were a sinner.
2. You could not save yourself.
3. Only Christ could save you.
The Bible says, “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23). That includes you and me. The Bible also says, "The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This kind of death is spiritual and eternal.
We cannot save ourselves from this death by our good works, by church membership, or by trying to be good. The only way to be saved from the penalty of death is to get rid of our sins.
Jesus provided salvation when He died on the Cross. He took our place and suffered our punishment. When we ask God to forgive our sins and believe Jesus died for us, God accepts us, our sins are forgiven, and Jesus becomes our Savior.
What does being a child of God mean? When Jesus became your Savior, He brought to you new life, spiritual life, life from God. The Bible calls this the new birth (John 3:3). By your first birth you became a child of your earthly parents: by your new or second birth, you have become a child of God, your Heavenly Father.
You now have two natures: the old nature you received when you were first born, this can be called the self-life and the new nature you received with your second birth. Since Jesus Christ is now living in you by His Holy Spirit, we call this new nature, the Christ-life.
During these next few days, you will begin growing in your Christ-life. These will be very important days. You are establishing the pattern for the rest of your life. You are determining the kind of Christian you will become.