Foundation Word Lesson 1

Read the following verses in the Bible: Joh 1:12; Rom 6:17; Rom 11:30; 1 Cor 1:9; 1 Cor 6:11; Eph 1:13; Eph 2:13; Eph 5:8; Col 1:21; Rev 1:6; Rev 5:10.

Sit, Crawl, Walk ...

Just like physical birth, spiritual birth is only the beginning. There is a growth process involved. Just like a baby must learn to sit, then crawl, and then walk, so do you -- spiritually.

Eat and Drink ...

The very first thing you need is milk - spiritual food. That is the Bible - the Word of God. You must read your Bible every day. Start reading both in the Old as well as the New Testaments simultaneously and read right through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. You will not necessarily understand everything you read, but that does not matter. The Holy Spirit will in time lead you in all truth. Remember, the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you and one of His functions is to teach you and lead you in the truth.

Have a pencil at hand and mark the verses in your Bible through which God spoke to you specifically. It is also a good thing to memorize certain verses. Remember, the Bible is your spiritual food. Just like a baby needs food to grow, you need the Bible to grow spiritually. The moment you neglect your Bible your spiritual growth will be retarded.

If you do not have a Bible and you live in a country or area where you cannot purchase or obtain a Bible, email us here and we will try our best to get you a Bible. Please provide your name, email address, your country and town of residence, and the language in which you would like to have a Bible. Enter the following description in the Subject line: "Word Please". Somebody will contact you if we are able to get you a Bible.

You may also read the Bible online in anyone of 57 languages here: http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/

You may also download the Bible in several versions from E-Sword Electronic Bible: http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html.

Breath ...

The second thing you need to do is to breath - spiritually. That is prayer. Prayer is communing with God. One of the wonderful truths of the Bible is that through Jesus Christ we now have direct access to God the Father and Creator of the universe! We don’t need a priest as a mediator, for Jesus Christ is our Mediator. (Check it out for yourself in Heb 8:6; Heb 9:15; Heb 12:24.)

In prayer we have direct access to the throne of God, for remember, you are now a child of God, you are part of God's Royal Family through Jesus Christ your Lord. That’s the meaning of the curtain in the temple that was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died. (Mat 27:51) The Holiest of All where only the High Priest was allowed to enter once a year, was now accessible to everyone through Jesus Christ.

Don’t neglect this great opportunity to enter into God’s presence through prayer - this is one of the Christian’s greatest privileges!

Bath ...

A baby must be bathed before going to sleep. In fact, the very first thing they did to you when you were born is, you were bathed. This is just an illustration, but it refers to baptism. Jesus says in Mar 16:16: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

Although it appears on the surface from this verse that baptism is a precondition for salvation, we learn from the rest of the Bible that baptism is rather a public confession of salvation. Baptism does not save you, and baptism is not a precondition for salvation, but it is an act of confession. Through baptism you will be telling the church and the world that you openly confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Baptism is only a sacrament or a symbol of salvation - there is no saving power in the ritual - but it is nevertheless important for your spiritual growth. Read this paragraph in conjunction with “Speak” below.

Some Christian denominations differ with each other with regard to the method and time of baptism. Some practice believers baptism and others infant baptism. Don’t allow baptism to cause division among Christians. The greatest Christian giants of church history and our own time came from both camps and the arguments for and against each practice are as old as history itself. No one camp will ever succeed in winning the argument this side of the Lord’s return, so don’t become a separatist because of baptism. The fact of the matter is simply, if you have not been baptized, you must be baptized and stick to the light and conviction the Lord gave you in the matter.

Family Fellowship ...

A baby needs the nurturing love and care of a mother and a family (FF) to grow healthy, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The next thing you need to do is find and befriend other Christians. The best way to do this is to find a Bible-believing and Bible-preaching church in your area and become a member. The illustration is often used of a burning coal - on its own it dies quickly, but together with other burning coals it makes a hot fire.

Remember, not all so-called Christian churches are truly Christian, just like not all people in America are Americans or all people in Arabia are Arabs. The most important mark of a true Christian church is that it must believe and preach the Bible as the infallible and complete Word of God!

Speak ...

A baby needs to begin talking as a sign of growth. So do you need to begin testifying of your newly found purpose and faith in Jesus Christ, with one difference. The difference is that while talking is the result of growth in a baby, talking is a major cause of growth for a young Christian. This is an important Biblical principle: Audible utterance and sharing of your faith with people releases the power of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life. If you have not read these verses previously, read them now, or read them again. Rom 10:9: ".. if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." And Mat 10:32,33: "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven."

There is another important reason why sharing your faith is important. This has to with your purpose! You are now God’s representative on earth, and God is busy restoring the world from the fall through you! God has a great task and calling for you as a Christian in this world. God wants to build His Kingdom through you! You are in this world on a mission! Christians call this the Great Commission, because Jesus summarized this mission in His last words before He ascended into heaven: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Act 1:8)

You will learn more about this and the exact way in which God wants to use you as you grow in faith, but the starting point of your mission is to begin sharing your faith and the truth of the Gospel message with your world around you. Remember you don’t HAVE to do this all in one day, and you don't HAVE to speak to every person that crosses your way. Don’t overwhelm people with your testimony. Simply use every opportunity God gives you wisely to reflect the image of God through your life and testimony. Be a natural Christian, or should I say, be naturally Christian. Remember, the Christian life is the NORMAL life - any other life-style is abnormal!

If you live in a religious sensitive country where there is a lack of religious freedom, you have to be discreet and sensitive how you go about this. However, you can trust the Holy Spirit to lead you.

May God bless you as you strive to please Him and grow in your spiritual life.

Be on the lookout for the next article in this series: Foundational Word Enforcement

•	You stepped out of a purposeless life and a lost existence to a life of purpose and fruitfulness.
•	You stepped out of darkness into light.
•	You stepped out of a life of sin into a life of righteousness and holiness.
•	You stepped out of the kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of God.
•	You stepped out of death into life.
•	You were born spiritually through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.
•	You entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, your Lord and Saviour.
•	You were saved from a life of eternal damnation unto eternal life and glory.
•	The Holy Spirit of God came to dwell inside your human spirit.
•	You are now a child of God and part of The Royal Family, the Church, the Body of Christ.
•	You took the first step to restoring the purpose for which God created you.