The Navigators - Growing in Christ: A 13-Week Course for New and Growing Christians

NavPress is the publishing ministry of The Navigators, an international Christian organization and leader in personal spiritual development. NavPress is committed to helping people grow spiritually and enjoy lives of meaning and hope through personal and group resources that are biblically rooted, culturally relevant, and highly practical.

For more information, visit www.NavPress.com.

The Navigators is an international Christian organization. Our mission is to advance the gospel of Jesus and His kingdom into the nations through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost. We see a vital movement of the gospel, fueled by prevailing prayer, flowing freely through relational networks and out into the nations where workers for the kingdom are next door to everywhere.

1957, 1975, 1980, 2007 by The Navigators

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from NavPress, P.O. Box 35001, Colorado Springs, CO 80935.
www.navpress.com

NAVPRESS, BRINGING TRUTH TO LIFE, and the NAVPRESS logo are registered trademarks of NavPress. Absence of in connection with marks of NavPress or other parties does not indicate an absence of registration of those marks.

ISBN-13: 978-0-89109-157-8
ISBN-10: 0-89109-157-2

Cover design by Tim Green, The DesignWorks Group, www.thedesignworksgroup.com
Creative Team: Darla Hightower, Arvid Wallen, Pat Reinheimer

Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ( NIV ). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Also, Scripture quotations on the enclosed verse cards are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ( NIV ). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved; the King James Version ( KJV ); the New American Standard Bible ( NASB ), The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995; and the New Revised Standard Version ( NRSV ), copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, used by permission, all rights reserved.

Build: 2020-04-23 22:44:08 EPUB 3.0

Jesus Christ said, Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20). Coupled with this wonderful truth is the statement in the gospel of John that to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

If you have to the best of your knowledge received Jesus Christ, Gods Son, as your own Savior, according to the Scriptures quoted above you have become a child of God.

Too many people make the mistake of measuring the certainty of their salvation by their feelings. Dont make this tragic mistake. Believe God! Take Him at His word: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).

It is impossible in the short space of this book to go into all the results of the transaction that took place when you received Christ. A child may be born into a wealthy home and become the possessor of good parents, brothers and sisters, and houses and lands; but at the time of his birth it is not necessary that he be informed of all these things. There are more important matters to take care of first. He must be protected, for he has been born into a world of many enemies. In the hospital room he is handled with sterilized gloves and kept from outsiders that he might not fall victim to countless germs waiting to attack. He must be given nourishment regularly, and protected from exposure to extreme heat or cold.

You have become a child of God; you have been born into His family as a spiritual babe. You have the potential to live the rest of your life in victorious obedience to God. It is our desire to share with you a few simple truths that will strengthen you and keep you safe from the onslaughts of Satan.

In 1 Peter 2:2 you will read, Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. And in Acts 20:32 you will read, Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up. His Word will now serve as your spiritual food and will build you up in the faith.

You probably have a Bible. If not, get one and begin to read it faithfully every day. It is important that you begin to set aside time, preferably in the morning, to read and study the Word of God, and to pray. A good place to start reading would be the gospel of John or the gospel of Mark.

A very effective way to get the Bible into your life is to begin memorizing key portions of it. Why should we do this? In Psalm 119:9 we read, How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. Then in verse 11 the psalmist says to the Lord, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Gods Word gives us answers to everyday problems. So we challenge you to hide His Word in your heart to memorize it to become stronger in your Christian life. This course includes thirteen key memory passages for you to learn.

But first, let us consider the new enemy you now face. Before you trusted Christ, Satan may not have bothered you particularly. But now you have left his crowd and joined the ranks of those who believe in and follow the Son of God and His Word. You are no longer in Satans domain. You now belong to Christ who has bought and paid for you with a price the price of His own blood shed on the cross. You may be sure that Satan will attempt to trouble you.

We can overcome Satan only as we use the weapons God has provided. In Ephesians 6:17 we read, Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit our weapon of offense. In verse 16 of this chapter we are also commanded to take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Faith is our shield. And so, since the Word of God is the source of our faith, the Scriptures are also our weapon of defense.

In Matthew 4:1-11 you can read how Jesus Christ Himself was tempted by Satan in three specific ways. Jesus defeated him each time by quoting Scripture, submitting Himself to its authority. If Christ deemed it necessary to meet Satan this way how much more do we need this mighty weapon, the Word of God, in our battles with evil!

To assure is to put beyond all doubt. Lessons on Assurance will help to assure you or put you beyond all doubt regarding some basic promises God has made to Christians. You can become convinced of the reality of these promises in your life as you memorize, meditate on, study, and apply the Scripture verses presented here.

Always memorize the verse presented at the beginning of each lesson. (Use the verse cards in the back of this booklet.) You may want to begin by memorizing the verse, or you may prefer to do the study questions about the verse first. In either case, be sure to memorize the topic and the reference as well as the verse. (The topic for each verse is the same as the lesson title in this book.)