So, you hear God calling you from a life of slavery to sin, you believe His word, agree that you’ve rebelled against Him, and you choose to turn from sin, ask Jesus to wash you and make you clean, lead you as Lord and King. What’s next?
The most important thing: don’t follow any man or woman. There is no intermediary between man and God, but Jesus himself.
We are made for community, but this new life in Jesus must be centred on Jesus and lead by Jesus. We are created to support each other, correct each other, and encourage each other. But don’t forget that we all must follow Him first. If we put anyone’s word or instruction ahead of God’s word and instruction, we’ll be lead into idolatry and eventual destruction.
Having said that, here’s my best understanding of how we should live our daily life in Jesus:
- Praise God and Worship Him
- Pray
- Connect to Jesus Daily
- Forgive others, and repent, and ask for forgiveness
This template is borrowed from the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13:
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
[1. Praise God and Worship Him]
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
[2. Pray]
Give us today our daily bread.
[3. Connect to Jesus daily]
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
[4. Forgive others, repent, and ask for forgiveness]
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
[2. Pray more]
Praise God and Worship Him
Don’t get drunk on wine, instead drink the Holy Spirit (living water), and let gratitude spring up within your heart and overflow out of your mouth to God in praise – Ephesians 5:18-20 – “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.“
Drink the Water of Life – John 4:1-26 & 7:37-39 – “[Jesus said] …14 whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
37 ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit…'”
When you feel ‘thirsty’ in your soul, ask God for Living Water. This is a required habit for those who want to go into the promised land. – Num 21:16-17 – “the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather the people together and I will give them water.’ 17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well!….” [Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing]
Worship God with your heart and your actions – John 4:23-24 – “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.“
Praise Him when you’re happy – James 5:13 – “Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.”
Give thanks in everything and for everything – 1 Thessalonians 5:16&18 – “Rejoice always,… give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Praise God during fiery trials – Psalm 66:8-10 – “Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.”
Praise God when you lose everything – Job 1:21-22 – “’Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’ In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
Praise God for the great things He has done – Isaiah 12:5 – “Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.”
Praise God for the things He is going to do – Psalm 89 & 98 & 150 – “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.”
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; 5 make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, 6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
The ancient Hebrew letter “hey” (‘h’ sound) is a man with hands raised up. It is pronounced with the sound of exhaling. It means ‘look!’/’behold!’, ‘reveal’, ‘breath’, ‘spirit’, and ‘praise’. We breath and drink the presence of the Holy Spirit, look at who He is and what He’s done, and return our breath to Him in praise.
Pray
Pray without ceasing – 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray for all situations, and ask for prayer – James 5:13-16 – “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Put all your burdens on Him in prayer – 1 Peter 5:7 & Philippians 4:6-7 – “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Pray in confidence when we pray the Word of God, and the will of God – 1 John 5:14-15 – “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
Pray with persistence – Luke 18:1-8 – “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?””
Pray like you’re asking your good father – Matt 7:7-11 – “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Pray in desperation and faith, and then honour God – Psalm 50:15 – “call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me.”
Pray like this – Matthew 6:9-14 – “This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Connect to Jesus Daily (He is the Way, the Truth and the Life – John 14:6)
Read your Bible every day – Matthew 4:4 – Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
Believe in Jesus – John 3:36 – “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
Listen and Believe – John 5:24 – “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”
Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life – John 11:25 – “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.'”
Jesus is the Word that became flesh – John 1:14 – “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
Must eat The Bread of Life – John 6:53-65 – “Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.’ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.'”
Obey Jesus to remain in Him John – 15:1-17 (read the whole thing) – “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love“
Nourishment comes from believing God, and because we believe Him to put into practice what He says – John 4:34 & 6:28-29 – “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” 6:28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Summary – The Word of God is your daily food, but he is eternal food. ‘Eat’ the Bible (the Word of God) every day, just like you eat real food every day:
Make a shopping list of what you need (take an inventory of your current state), go buy it (ie. ask God to provide and reveal), chop it up (pick a verse for that day), mix in spices (pray that verse), cook it down (live that verse out today), chew it up (ponder it through all that happens), and swallow it down (accept it as the truth of God, the way to live, choose to live that way, and ask God to make it happen in you).
Isaiah 55:6-9 – Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Psalm 63:1 – You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
Psalm 105:4 – Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Matt 7:8 – For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Psalm 119:9-12 – How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 12 Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees.
Acts 17:24-28 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’
1 Chronicles 17:1-14 – After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”
3 But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: 4 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in.
10b “‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: 11 When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.
Isaiah 66 [the end of this era, the New Jerusalem, and the new Heaven and new Earth]
This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord.
“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.
Matthew 5:1-16 – 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Forgive others (write-off/cancel the cost of what other people did)
Paying the price for someone else’s trespass is something God sees as righteousness – Job 1:1&5 – “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.”
No matter how bad they hurt you, ask God to forgive them – Luke 23:34 – “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'”
God uses forgiveness powerfully – Acts 7:57-8:3 & 9:1-31 – At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of their killing him.
[Read all of Acts 9:1-31. Saul is transformed to Paul because God decided to do it, but an important part of Paul’s new life begins with the Stephen asking God to forgive him. Paul goes on to write most of the new testament letters; and most of the gentile churches – us – are planted/raised by Paul. We are all praying for someone in our lives to be changed to know and follow Jesus. We need to start with forgiving them, and asking God to forgive them.]
God forgives us like we forgive others – Matthew 18:21-35 (read the whole thing) – 32‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
Carry each other’s burdens – Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Forgiveness is part of fostering love – Proverbs 17:9 – “Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”
No matter how bad they hurt you, ask God to forgive them – Luke 23:34 – “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'”
God uses forgiveness powerfully – Acts 7:57-8:3 & 9:1-31 – At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of their killing him.
[Read all of Acts 9:1-31. Saul is transformed to Paul because God decided to do it, but an important part of Paul’s new life begins with the Stephen asking God to forgive him. Paul goes on to write most of the new testament letters; and most of the gentile churches – us – are planted/raised by Paul. We are all praying for someone in our lives to be changed to know and follow Jesus. We need to start with forgiving them, and asking God to forgive them.]
God forgives us like we forgive others – Matthew 18:21-35 (read the whole thing) – 32‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
Carry each other’s burdens – Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Forgiveness is part of fostering love – Proverbs 17:9 – “Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”
God loves your enemies, so you should love them too – Matt 5:43-45 – ““You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Pray for God to forgive us and others in these evil days – Joel 2:17 & Amos 7:5 & Psalm 130 & Exodus 32:32 & Numbers 14:20 – “Spare your people, Lord.”
“Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop!…”
“If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.”
“But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.
The Lord replied, ‘I have forgiven them, as you asked….'”
Forgive each other – John 13:14 & 20:23 & 1 John 4:20-21 – “you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
“If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”