Salvation is just the first step to becoming a true member of the Bride of Christ. If you want to be able to reap all of the Lord’s benefits and be used by Him in this final hour, you must seek to grow in the Lord every day.

Jesus shed His blood so all people could be re-created in righteousness and true holiness; and when you are, then you always have to live that way. That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life (Luke 1:74,75). That means you must live free from sin. The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4).

You must walk like Jesus did when He was on Earth. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps (I Peter 2:21). You must honor God in everything you do and say and become a living epistle of Christ. Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (II Corinthians 3:3). People must see God in you.

You must put self down completely and be willing to do anything for the Lord. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1). You can only become that perfect sacrifice through prayer, fasting and living in the Word. Those three essential steps will take you into the fullness of God. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

Prayer

You will not remain saved without daily prayer. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). Neglecting prayer hinders God from sending you all the divine strength and power He wants you to have. The Bible says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting (I Timothy 2:8). That does not mean you must pray every hour of the day but that you must always be in the spirit of prayer.

Prayer is talking to God from your heart. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD (Isaiah 1:18). You have to take time to get quiet before Him. Study to be quiet (I Thessalonians 4:11).

You must pray through the divine blood and want God’s perfect will for your life. Only then will you reach Heaven and receive the answers you need, and only then can you go boldly before God’s throne of grace at any time. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

You must believe as Jesus did that God always hears you. Jesus said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always (John 11:41,42). God promised always to hear those who live holy before Him. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry (Psalm 34:15). When you believe that without one doubt, you will not worry about things. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6).

Fasting

Power to reach God comes through Bible fasting, and there will be times when it may take fasting for you to receive the answers you need. Fasting afflicts the soul, and that is the key to putting self down and letting God lift you up. Fasting makes you so humble that you become a completely yielded instrument in the hands of Almighty God, and you will never be committed to His divine will without it. You will never have complete understanding of the Word of God or the reality of it without the insight that fasting will enable the Holy Spirit to give you. Only then can you claim God’s marvelous promises and put them into action in your life.

In the Bible, you will find that the major and minor prophets, John the Baptist and the Early Church disciples all fasted. They gave themselves completely to God, and that is why He was able to use them in such miraculous ways. Even Jesus fasted for forty days before He started His Earth ministry; and when the fast was over, He returned in the power of the Spirit declaring, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:18,19). Great power from On High can be yours, too, when you fast the Bible way.

Living in the Word

Spiritual food must be your daily bread, and it only comes from the Word of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). There is life in every word of God; and in His words, you will find everything you need. They will be your joy and peace in times of storm and your faith and victory to overcome anything.

You will find the truth in the Word. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). That truth will deliver you from sin, sickness, depression, fear, frustration and anything else unlike God. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11). Many people are in bondage today because they do not know the truth.

Studying the Word will take you deeper in God. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15). As you yield to the Word, it will reveal who you really are; and it will show you exactly how to live, act, talk and think. But be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity (I Timothy 4:12).

There is power in the Word, and it is yours to use; but you must put the Word into action. Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves (James 1:22). The Word will be your protection from the world and your defense against all the powers of the devil. Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him (Proverbs 30:5). When you allow the Word to prevail through you, you will not be afraid of any man or devil. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed (Acts 19:20).

Receive the Holy Ghost

Salvation will take you to Heaven, but only the power of the Holy Ghost working within you will change you on Rapture Day. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (I Corinthians 15:52).

The Holy Ghost is promised to every born-again Christian who wants Him. For the promise [of the Holy Ghost] is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call (Acts 2:39). God promised that He would give the Holy Ghost to those who obey Him. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him (Acts 5:32). You must obey the Lord and receive the Holy Ghost baptism as the disciples did. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). You cannot speak in tongues at will.

The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth. He will give you understanding of the Word of truth, and that is why the Lord sent Him to Earth to dwell in the souls of all who would accept Him. For he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you (John 14:17). He is to be your teacher and guide. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come (John 16:13).

After the Early Church disciples had received the Holy Ghost, they went forth with signs, wonders and miracles. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people (Acts 6:8). And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul (Acts 19:11). There are miracles and healings in the fire of the Holy Ghost.

We are fighting the supernatural powers of the devil in this final hour, and only through the power of the Holy Ghost will you be able to stand against him. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). Without the Holy Ghost, it will be hard for you to remain saved and live holy before the Lord in this sin-cursed world.

Prayer, fasting, living in the Word and receiving the Holy Ghost are essential if you want to be a member of the Bride of Christ. Then you must be willing to give your life to help take the Gospel to the world before it is too late. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). Our time is short, so we must work quickly.