Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7 NLT)
“From birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more than at any other time in life, and early brain development has a lasting impact on a child’s ability to learn and succeed in school and life. The quality of a child’s experiences in the first few years of life – positive or negative – helps shape how their brain develops. Ninety percent of a child’s brain is developed by the time they reach age 5.”[1]
Most Christians experience a growth spurt immediately after they become born again believers by faith in Christ. Just as a child’s identity and personality dramatically increases in those formative years, likewise these early years of your discipleship shapes your identity in Christ as a believer. New converts are usually zealous for the things of God and hungry for the Word, and as you feed on the word of God and seek Him through prayer, the way that you walk, talk and behave also develops over time. The Word implores all believers to “let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think”. (Romans 12:2b NLT)
In 1 Peter 3:15, Peter tells Jewish converts "to always be ready to tell everyone who asks you why you believe as you do.” Converts must know in whom we believe and why, so that the roots of our belief in Christ will be deep and our identify in Him will be unshakeable when the typhoons of life pass by.
My desire is to help those who have made this leap of faith be grounded in the truth about their hope in Jesus Christ. I felt compulsion and compassion for those who have had to struggle with their standing in Christ because past sin haunts them, or simple biblical truths get lost in the flood of information that can be thrown at us. In my book “My Favourite Scriptures- A Devotional for New Believers” I reflect on scriptures that have been personally impactful on my Christian journey thus far, with the aim to encourage and edify new believers about the foundation and hope of their faith. Isaiah 33:6a reminds us that “He will be the sure foundation for your times”.
Throughout the devotional I explain how these special bible verses uplifted and restored me, and I hope that they will similarly inspire you to stand firm in your true identify and to grow deeper in your faith. You must be equipped to dissect God’s truth from half-truths, omissions and deceit. Even for those persons who have attended church for some time, the revelation, truth and endearment of scriptures are solidified and cherished, when God uses them to deliver you and strengthen your faith in Him.
The parable about building your house on the rock in Mathew 7: 24-27, demonstrates that God desires that you have more than just a head knowledge or a surface experience of Him. He wants to show every new believer that He is not constrained by time, that He knows you so intimately that His words which are alive and sharper than a two-edged sword, can cut away your inaccurate thoughts, feelings, lifestyles, and behaviours, and give you the true food of His word that will change your life.
Ten years ago my life was transformed in a way that could only be credited to God’s mercy and grace, and yet today, because I still desire to remain grounded in Him, I regularly revisit basic truths about my identity and life which is hidden in Christ. For this reason even after a decade of discipleship I still consider myself to be a new believer, because just when I feel settled in one area, God blows my mind in a completely different way.
This devotional is for you and can be gifted to family, friends, colleagues and your brothers and sisters in Christ. I know that the Holy Spirit’s inspiration to pen this book is to empower and instruct those whom God has called. So by the grace of God I pray that it blesses you beyond measure.
Pre-Order copies for yourself and a friend here www.imaniblog.com/book
I’ll be sharing sneak peaks from the book over the next few weeks until the launch 😊
Remember to like and follow my social pages https://www.facebook.com/imaniinspirational/
Love ya,
Krystal Baynes-Hoseinee