Intertribal Life Newspaper -

Q: After reading The Grieving Indian, I saw a prayer at the back of the book:

"Dear Jesus, I realize I am a sinner. I long for peace in my heart. I believe you are the Holy Son of God-that you came down and died on the cross for my sins. Thank you for doing this for me. I am sorry for my sins. Please forgive me. With your help, I will turn my back on them. By faith, I receive you into my life as my personal Savior and Lord. From now on, I want to please you."

I prayed the prayer! Now what?

A: Choosing to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the most important decision you will make in life. You will become deeply aware of this reality as you grow in the faith. I remember the day I received Christ into my life. The thing that amazed me most was that I seemed to comprehend the Word of God. In chapter 8 of the book of Romans in the Bible, Paul talks about how we receive the Holy Spirit when we are born of God through Jesus Christ. Jesus gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit when we trust him for our lives. I believe it was the Spirit of God in me that was opening my understanding to the truth of the Word of God. Jesus said that the Spirit would guide us into all truth (John 16:13).

You remember how in your sinful way you were desperately ensnared to a life you wanted out of but you could not free yourself. You called on Jesus to set you free. Paul says, "If any person is in Christ, they are a new creation, old things pass away. Behold all things become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). What drew me to accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior was the change that I saw him do in my dad when he accepted Jesus.

It is important for you to have friends who will help you in your new walk. Seek information on getting in touch with a church and people who will help you in your new journey. Start through contacting the person or organization that God used to lead you to Christ. Your main source for guidance is the Word of God. It is the foundation of our faith. The Word says, "As new born babes in Christ desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2).

The Spirit is our guide and the Spirit uses the Word of God to help us grow. In my journey, I have found that the way the Spirit impressed this growth in my life was through a renewing of my belief system. False beliefs needed to be replaced with what was true. Jesus said, "The Spirit will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). I found that God used a trusted friend to help me replace lies with truth.

The book of James in the Bible tells us to confess our faults to one another so that we may be healed (James 5:16). This was probably the most difficult and most helpful thing for me in my journey with God. Confessing faults means trusting someone to come alongside you and help you with something you cannot carry on your own.

For me, deep childhood wounds and the way I wounded others in my sin were things that I could not carry on my own-things I kept hidden, things I didn't want others to know about me, things that caused me to believe I was unlovable and unforgivable. God ministered to me and helped me to grow through the comfort, love, mercy and grace that was extended to me through trusted friends. They helped me see how good and kind God was and is, and this help gave me a strong desire to live for God.

Focus on what it means to know Christ as Savior and Lord.

Knowing him as Savior means He saves you out of something and into something. This has two aspects. 1) You move from condemnation for the penalty of your sins to being forgiven and pardoned. 2) You are gifted with the capacity to bring glory to God in the power of the Spirit. John, one of the writers in the Bible, said, "To as many as received him [Jesus] to them he gave the right to become the children of God" (John 1:12). "The right" is that we are gifted with the ability to bring glory to God.

Knowing Jesus as Lord means He has a purpose for our lives. That purpose is centered on the kingdom of God. The Lordship of Christ means the kingship of Christ. We follow Jesus because He is Lord of all. He is God.

Read John 1:1–18 over a few times. Jesus is the Word of God in this passage. I used to serve Jesus because of what He did for me. I still do, but my greatest reason for serving Jesus now is because He is God. In His Lordship, Jesus works to establish the rule of God on earth. Even though there is a lot of chaos in our world today, Jesus is Lord, and one day His kingdom will be established in its fullness. When His kingdom is realized in its fullness, there will be no more wars, poverty, pain, sin, injustice and death. Instead, there will be peace and righteousness. Knowing Jesus as Lord means striving for His kingdom.

Jesus does not promise an easy life. He says," If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24, NLT). We become a part of the work of God in building His kingdom when we receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Life is still hard, but it has meaning. We have joy and fulfillment in working for that meaning. We also have the Spirit of God to help us in fulfilling our mandate.

I am praying for you as you grow in Christ. There is great rejoicing in heaven in your being born into the family of God (Luke 15:7, 10). Always remember Jesus loves you, and He is on your side.

—Howard Jolly is the director of the First Nations Alliance Churches of Canada. He is a Cree from from Waskaganish, Quebec and currently lives in Niverville, Manitoba.

A. Congratulations and welcome to the family of God! Your decision to accept Christ as your Saviour will prove to be the most important and the wisest decision you have ever made. This decision affects not only your eternal destiny but also your life here on this earth.

You mentioned that you after reading "The Grieving Indian," you repeated the prayer at the back of the book. You will note that immediately following the prayer, the author of the book instructs new believers people to start reading the Bible, pray to God and to regularly attend a Bible-believing church.

To expound on the three tips, Bible reading is important because the Bible reveals the character of God and teaches us how He wants us to live day to day. It is like the manual that comes with a new product we purchase. Moreover, just as your body needs nourishment to survive, your spiritual life also requires nourishment. Our bodies will suffer if we do not eat. It is the same with our spiritual life; we will get weaker and weaker if we do not feast on God's Word.

Secondly, it is important you pray every day. Prayer is spending time with God and talking to Him. Our relationship with our family and friends will suffer if we stop talking to them. Prayer includes sharing our worries and desires and expressing gratitude, confession and worship.

Thirdly, attendance at church is crucial because we receive nourishment, encouragement and strength from hearing the Word of God. The church is not just the building where we gather or what goes on Sunday mornings but it is also our means to have fellowship with other believers. It is extremely difficult if not impossible to grow spiritually if we forsake the "assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 10:25, NKJV).

In addition to these three important, I would also like to add other words of advice that I have found to be helpful in my Christian journey. One of the first things I did when I took the same step you have taken was to ask my pastor if he would baptize me. Not only did Christ command us to be baptized, but it is also about making a public declaration of being a Christ follower.

I also examined my life with a different lens and recognized that obedience to God had to be my priority; I could not do the same things I used to do. One area had to do with the people I hung around with. I discovered that not all my friends were a positive influence, and I had to cultivate new friendships with people from church.

I recommend you approach a mature Christian and ask if that one could mentor or disciple you. Another major stronghold in my life was changing my old thinking patterns. To accomplish this, I had to start filling my mind with God's Word; the Bible refers to this as renewing our minds. In my case, I required counselling to effectively cope with the trauma I suffered as a child. Do not be discouraged if you commit a sin after becoming a Christian, but make it a habit to confess your sins to God. You are not perfect, but you will become a mature Christian if you follow these tips. Thank you for submitting this question.

—Gord Mills is from Moose Factory, Ontario and is a member of Moose Cree First Nation. He has recently retired after 30+ years as a civil servant. He is currently the co-pastor of Sudbury First Nations Church.