Hey Brother Got Some Change?

My Utmost For His Highest

 

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17

 

‘What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought.’ CHAMBERS

 

2 Timothy 3: 1-6 “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

 

No, Timothy was not talking about America, but he could have been.  Steven Curtis Chapman sings a song .. “The Change”

 

“Well I got myself a t shirt that says what I believe
I got letters on my bracelet to serve as my id
I got the necklace and the key chain
And almost everything a good Christian needs yeah
I got the little Bible magnets on my refrigerator door
And a welcome mat to bless you before you walk across my floor
I got a Jesus bumper sticker
And the outline of a fish stuck on my car
And even though this stuff's all well and good yeah
I cannot help but ask myself

 

What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
What about a life that's showing
I'm undergoing the change”

 

With conversion comes change .. it is unavoidable … that is not to say that we won’t struggle with sin, but what we love and are devoted to should be transformed from the world and flesh to God and Spirit.  When a person is born again … there must be change … some things will change immediately .. others will take time … but change is the evidence … the visible fruit of conversion.  The change is not passive in that we sit in a chair and wait for the change to happen .. but we are participants in the change .. allowing the Spirit to work in us .. or not.  It’s the process of sanctification … God shaping us into the image of His Son … but our whole heart must be in it … for the change to continue.

 

I have heard several variations of this anonymous quote : “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be one day. But thank God I am not what I used to be….”

The point is, that I am not who I used to be … by the grace of God … “par la grâce de Dieu“  (Actually that is French not Creole .. but they speak both in the same sentences … ) Think about what God has wrought in your life … then give Him the praise for it … and if by chance, you have not seen much change going on lately … open your heart back up to Him and let your light shine.

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)