Christian Foundations (4) – Developing a Devotional Life with God

When we received Christ, He (Christ in us) became our firm Foundation (1Corinthians 3:11). In order to build our whole life on Christ, we must develop a strong Devotional Life with Him, in which we put down our roots of faith deep into God, and turn away (repent) from our old life of depending on self. In this way we increase our heart connection with Him. This is where we cultivate our FAITH toward God, and deepen our REPENTANCE from our old dead ways. The whole Christian life is centred on our LOVE relationship with God through Christ. We have been brought into a New Covenant, which operates by us receiving love from God and giving our love to God (Matthew 22:37). A good acrostic for your prayer-life is: A.C.T.S *A = ADORATION – start your prayer time with praise and worship. *C = CONFESSION – when you sin confess it to God (1John 1:9). *T = THANKSGIVING – acknowledge God as the Source of every good thing in your life. *S = SUPPLICATION – don’t just pray for yourself, but pray for others too. Our Devotion to God also consists of our public worship in CHURCH. Pat of our honouring God in our life is to worship regularly at a Bible-believing CHURCH that honours Jesus Christ as Lord (Hebrews 10:25, Acts 2:42-46). By cultivating a strong devotional life through Prayer, Bible Study, and Church, we are implementing the first 2 foundational doctrines of Hebrews 6:1-2, developing our FAITH in God, and REPENTING from a life lived independently from God. This is GODLINESS (orienting our life toward God), resulting in more of God’s Presence coming into our heart, bringing HOLINESS and TRANSFORMATION (spiritual growth). God changes us from the inside out. He transforms us (metamorphosis), like a butterfly comes forth from within a caterpillar. Transformation is the process of an inner life and reality being manifested outwardly. Likewise, we have the life, love and wisdom of Christ in our spirit through the New Birth, and metamorphosis is the process whereby that new life within us comes into our heart and changes it, so that we can then express it in our life by our words and actions. Pastor Derek completes his message by sharing how God transforms us (John 2:1-10, Romans 12:1-2, 2Corinthians 3:16-18, James 1:23-25).