Do You Have The Power To Change?

All the days of my heart service I will wait for my renewal to come Job 14: 14

Behold now is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 6:2

Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? Romans 7:24

Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things have passed away behold all things have become new. 2 Cor. 5:17

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection Philippians 3:10

All of us, if we are sincere and look at ourselves inwardly and evaluate and appraise our own lives, will realize there's room for improvement hopefully and thankfully God is not finished with us yet and we are his works in progress. We should not be discouraged if we sin because we are considered saints with the power to overcome and cannot be and should not be slaves to sin anymore. We're not subject to that power anymore as Christians we are dead to sin.

No, when you become a Christian you leave your past behind you are renewed from within with a change that's taking place from the inside out. You have changed hitching posts, as it were, with Christ in charge. Now you'd say goodbye to your old man and put the new man of Christ inside you you're a new creature in Christ as Paul says and all things are new. People usually hate change because we're creatures of habit but this change that we're talking about comes through God who changes us. We don't change ourselves but we come to God as we are and we do not remain that way but he makes us new creatures and new persons. We cannot do this ourselves because it is a miracle of God by God through the Holy Spirit.

We do not simply make a New Year's resolution or take an AA pledge or turnaround or about-face or a 180-degree turn of our own power. God grants repentance (2 Tim. 2:25) to us that is plain in the scriptures he changes us from within from the inside out you might say when will you pant this is not a one-time thing it's an ongoing resolution a continuing resolution. We renew our repentance daily as we are convicted of our sins. Paul said what do how do I escape this how do I escape the power of this death he was referring to his old nature the sin inside of him our birthright from Adam.

If you try to change yourself, you're just chasing the wind. You will never be able to change your personality, demeanor, or disposition because you're born this way in sin. Only God can change you. Self-help is no help at all you must realize that you are at God's mercy he can change you and make you what you cannot do yourself if you have faith. Your future is in his hands (Psalm 31:15).

You must be ready to change when God calls you and be willing to leave your comfort zone even though we resist change by nature because we are creatures of habit. As I said. if we stay as we are we have a sure ticket to hell which is the default destination of all mankind unless we do something to repent. When you come to Jesus he will set you free you are a slave until you know Jesus you are not free you know the Son shall set you free you shall be free indeed.

Then we become dead to sin and sin has no more control over us. We cannot change our spots or our skins as it says in the Bible. (Jer. 13:23) We cannot do this on our own but God can as he does miracles because he is in the business of changing life still and resurrecting us from the dead.

We cannot clean up our acts we tend to live like the world unless we do something about it and let God change us we must give God all the glory we did not do this God did we not lower our standards or lower the bar to become Christian. There's a high standard to reach and only through Christ can we do it we must realize that we are no better than any other sinner. We are all in the same boat. God levels the playing field and we cannot look down on somebody but we must say: There but for the grace of God go I.

As Paul said: I am what I am but by the grace of God. He wants me to get saved we must not look like a sinner anymore we must show forth the fruit of our salvation walking worthy of the Lord and say goodbye to our former lives. But it all boils down not to whether you think you can change your life but whether you want to change and whether you believe God can change you is not how big your face is but how big your god is that matters.

By definition, repentance is not turning over a new leaf, changing your opinions about your sins, or improving your life rather a better but a radical change in your heart, mind, and will to become a new person with a new life all from within due to God's power in your life all done by the power and grace of God. Such were some of you (1 Cor. 6:11): as sinners, Paul said even those who are drunkards, murderers, thieves, and homosexuals God changed them, they did not change themselves.

We must not eat, drink, be merry, and look for today only in the light of one day at a time but must live in the light of eternity and realize that God has a purpose for our lives and we must realize that God has a plan for our lives also and will fulfill it. We are here to do God's will, not our own, not what's right in our eyes but what's right in God's eyes. Newsflash! We're all sinners, yes there comes a time when we stop rationalizing our sins and justifying ourselves and let God convict us. Then confess and repent.

Repentance, by the way, is the flip side of faith that goes together hand in hand. That's why theologians refer to believing repentance or penitent faith they are linked and just juxtaposition in the scriptures. We all fall short of God's glory but in Christ, we can go from faith to faith from glory to glory, and become like Christ or Christlike as they say. Our past is forgiven and canceled! Our present is given meaning. Our future is secured! What more could we hope for?

Remember you were made in God's image. You're made to become like Christ and bring glory to God which is our purpose in our life God created. Humanity is to bring him glory (Isaiah 43:7). God did not create you just to make you so you could find your plans and purposes and happiness but that you would find a way to glorify God and give him glory, not yourself. That's why we're saved by grace so we cannot both in God's presence become proud. So that we do not think that we did it, not God. Man is incurably addicted to doing something for salvation. Faith is not a work but it is a gift. If it were a work, then we'd be saved by works. It is not a work but it is a gift to God. "This is the work of God that we believe in Jesus Christ" (John 6:39). He grants faith in repentance (Phil 1:29; 2 Tim. 2:25) unto us is a privilege to believe and he works in us according to his power to make us believe in him and to do his will.

To get saved you must first realize you are lost! The preacher must do his job and get the congregation lost first and make them realize their need for God most people say they don't see the need for God. They see that their life is going pretty well like they have their act together and things are going prosperous for them and they think only so-called sinners need God. But this is not true! Their sin may be something like pride, greed, lust, or gluttony.

Some people have hatred in their minds and if you do not love it means you do not know God. So the job of the preacher is to make sure that his flock realizes they are sinners first before offering the good news of how to be saved from the sin. In the final analysis, it's not how hard we try but whether we trust and how big our God is! Serving one in the Spirit with Heidi Broberg, Soli Deo Gloria!