7 BASICS: Strong Roots for Every Christian
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1903-9
Copyright 2012 Beth Ann Jones
Published in eBook format by Jeff and Beth Jones Ministries
P.O. Box 745, Portage, MI 49081
http://www.jeffandbethjones.org
Converted by http://www.ebookit.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means––electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise––without prior written permission.
All Scripture quotations are taken from The King James Bible, unless otherwise noted.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked (NTL) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (MSG) are taken from the The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
http://www.jeffandbethjones.org
THE BASICS
7 Basics
Getting a Grip on the Basics
Getting a Grip on the Basics for Kids
Getting a Grip on the Basics for Teens
Getting a Grip on the Basics of Serving God
Getting a Grip on the Basics of Health and Healing
Getting a Grip on the Basics of Prosperous Living
Get a Grip on Your Lip
BITE SIZED BIBLE STUDIES
Satisfied Lives for Desperate Housewives
What to Do When You Feel Blue
The Friends God Sends
Don’t Factor Fear Here
Kissed or Dissed
Grace for the Pace
EVANGELISM
Jesus: Is He Really the Only Way?
Hell: How Could a Loving God Send Anyone There?
DEVOTIONAL
JumpStart 365: Daily Devos to Start Your Day With God
INTRODUCTION
Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Congratulations!
You get it! You are reading this book because somewhere along the way, you welcomed Jesus into your life. You heard about Him and something clicked. You understood the gospel and you responded to God’s invitation.
You may have invited Jesus into your heart today, last week, two years or thirteen years ago. You may have surrendered to Jesus at church, after hearing a sermon or through an altar call. Maybe you prayed the salvation prayer or confessed Jesus as your Lord on your own, in a quiet way or in a moment of desperation. Everyone has a unique story. You may have turned to the Lord while reading the Bible or a Christian book. Perhaps, a family member, friend or coworker led you to the Lord. Maybe you heard the gospel at a concert, in the hospital or while in jail. You may have prayed to receive Jesus into your life after hearing the gospel online, on TV, through a CD, a DVD or a download. Regardless of the path that led you to the Lord, surrendering to God and confessing Jesus, as the Lord of your life is the most important, life-transforming, eternal decision you will ever make.
It’s my hope that through reading this book, God connects-the-dots for you on what it means to be a Christian. I pray your Christian life gets started (or restarted) on the right foot and you develop strong spiritual roots. As you read the 7 Basics, may you gain a better understanding of
God, Jesus, the Bible, church, heaven, hell and all kinds of eternal things. May you truly get a grip on these basics and develop a passion to help others get it.
PARTY TIME
Before we get into the 7 Basics, let’s celebrate!
In case you didn’t know, heaven is quite happy with your decision to believe in and receive Jesus. So thrilled, the angels threw a big party when you turned to the Lord. Listen to what Jesus said, “Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she’ll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!’ Count on it—that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God,” Luke 15:8-10, MSG.
If you haven’t yet taken time to celebrate and document when you came to know Jesus, do it now. Write down the details of the day you confessed Jesus as Lord.
Your Name:
Day/Date/Time:
Where:
Witnesses:
YOU GOT A DO-OVER
Now that Jesus is the Lord of your life, everything has changed! Your life was reset. More than that, your life was reinvented––literally recreated! Jesus gave you a second chance––a complete do-over! A real miracle occurred in your life when Jesus moved into you heart. You may not know the magnitude of this do-over yet, but in time, you’ll see it clearly.
If you think about it, yesterday, you may have been a low-down, rotten, no-good sinner; you may have been agnostic, atheist, anti-Christ or apathetic towards God. You may have been the biggest partier on campus, the most promiscuous girl in your workplace or the bad-to-the-bone guy in your circle of friends. Maybe your sins were a mile high and you thought you were unworthy of God’s love––but now you know, you weren’t too far away to receive Jesus and His mercy.
At the other extreme, you may have been the nicest person in your world and the most pure-as-the-driven-snow, goody-two-shoes ever known. You may have given money to charity, housed the homeless and marched for every cause you believed in. You might have been a religious, churchgoer that didn’t miss a single Sunday service. Maybe your good deeds and religious pedigree were a thousand acres deep and you figured you were doing a pretty good job trusting in your own good efforts––but now you know, you weren’t good enough to live without Jesus and His mercy.
The