Tag Archives: Change

It’s Natural for Things to Change

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images-32Doesn’t it seem like your children grow up over night? One minute you’re changing their diapers and the next you’re cheering them on at their little league games. Before you even get the rhythm of the weekly games, they seem to be walking across the stage for their graduation.

It’s natural for things to change. The only thing that will not change is God Himself. In Mal 3:6 God says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change”. God is perfect and therefore is the same yesterday today and forever. (Heb. 13:8) But as far as His creation we are made to change as well as everything around us. Our looks change. Our jobs may change and definitely technology changes. Change is usually uncomfortable and can be down right hard at times. Especially, if we have been resisting it for a while.

It’s the same spiritually. Unless we are continuing to grow in the things of God we are not spiritually healthy. A believer that doesn’t put any effort into growing and wants to coast along will become a casualty sooner or later. To many believers don’t want change in their lives. They are content in taking the road of least resistance in their journey of life. But God demands change!

The story of Jacob in Gen. 25-32 reveals that he had some character flaws in his life as well as, some God given gifts that he had not surrendered to God’s will. Remember, He was a twin to Esau and from birth we see his tenacious spirit and strong will. Jacob’s name reveals his bent towards deception and conniving. He took advantage of his brother in weakness and gained the family birthright and later in an act of deliberate deception tricked his father in pronouncing the blessing on him instead of Esau.

We see no indication that there was ever any conviction or repentance in his younger years for his carnal actions yet God still pursued him. Throughout his life we see the reaping of the ungodly seeds he had planted over journey of many years. We see deception, mistrust and trickery in his marriage, his relationships and his business. (Gen 28-50)

But God had a plan for Jacob, just like He has a plan for our lives. But with that being said, we must allow God to change us. In 2 Tim 2:20, Paul tells Timothy that there are good things and corrupt things in our lives that need to be dealt with. He goes on to say if we take care of the carnal things we will be vessels of honor and useful for the Master. Jesus Himself tells His disciples that we must deny ourselves and follow Him. If we lose our lives for His sake we will gain our lives. (Mk 8:34-35)

With the pressure of the glooming circumstance, Jacob finally came to the place he was willing to deal with these tendencies in his life. We see in Gen 32 that once Jacob crossed over the shallow of the river Jabbok, he is finally willing to face “the music” of his life and be poured out before the audience of one. God wrestles with Jacob who has always wrestled with doing what was right his whole life. Jacob chooses to finally be tenacious for Gods will and therefore will not let go until God changes him. It is through God’s mercy we see Jacob is finally changed because the will of God prevails in his life.

Isn’t it time for you to face those areas in your life that you haven’t surrendered to God? He wants to bless you but you must first be willing to be changed.

People aren’t Satisfied with the Ordinary Anymore!

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The church isn’t satisfied with ordinary church anymore! All across denominational lines, you can see people just wanting more! There’s a hunger and thirst in our society that can only be filled by God! People aren’t settling for business as usual! The Bible says in Matthew 5:6 that there is a blessing in being thirsty and hungry. It says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” It’s time to cash in on this blessing and get filled!

It is a natural God-given function when we desire water. It is a sign that you’re still alive when you’re having hunger and thirst pains. Only when we are dead do we surpass the need for water and food. It’s the same spiritually.

There’s a hunger and thirst in our society that can only be filled by God!   (Tweet) 

When we stop having the desire and craving for water, then we have slipped into the “danger zone” and are on the way to death. Sometimes our body is so out of whack that it doesn’t get the message that we need water, therefore bringing it into a very dangerous condition.

I remember being a young first- time parent, and our little baby girl was running a high temperature and not wanting to eat or drink. Being new to this whole parenting thing, we were getting scared. So we called our doctor, and his advice was to make sure she gets plenty of liquids so that she doesn’t dehydrate and to keep a watch on her. Dehydration can be life threatening. It can happen when your body runs out of bodily fluids. Thank the Lord everything turned out fine with our young baby, and she is now a healthy young woman.

In the same manner I’m sure you have been acquainted with young Christians who have become spiritually sick. Often the reason they are spiritually sick is because they have become offended—by the pastor or another Christian. Or perhaps they’re spiritually malnourished. Whatever the case may be, they become spiritually sick, having no desire to drink or eat the Word of God becoming spiritual dehydrated.

Another way we put ourselves in the “danger zone” is by refusing to drink and have more of God. In the past I have ministered in various nursing homes, when occasionally, I would come across a person that had lost all desire to live. They just shut down and will not eat or drink, resulting in their death.

Many Christians also come to a similar place spiritually, shutting down and refusing to feed and drink on the Word of God. It’s often because they don’t go to church or they’re pulled away by the wrong influences, resulting in a faith that is shipwrecked. There’s an old saying that goes somewhat like this: “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.” How true that is! I remember riding my horse many different times and when crossing over a creek I tried to make him drink before we went on. Yet, if the horse didn’t want to drink, it didn’t drink.

If young converts won’t “taste and see that the Lord is good” as the Psalmist says in Psalms 34:8 they will never get that desire to drink! If they never get that desire, then it won’t be long before they wither and dry up.

The whole earth is yearning for more. They’re thirsty…they’re hungry for the real things of God. Lets drink and partake of Him.

Asking for what’s on God’s Heart

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IMG_2431In Ezekiel 36 we read a fascinating statement from the Lord to the children of Israel. God lays out His will and promises of mercy and love for His people. “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock,’” (v. 13). This scripture reveals that God wants us to ask for His will to be done. He invites us to inquire of Him for revelation and fulfillment of His promises!

As we seek Him, He reveals His heart and His promises to us so that we, in turn, can ask Him for them. – (Tweet)

It is His desire that we would know His will. Too often, we miss God’s great promises because we never knew they were for us. On the other hand, we might know of the scriptures but haven’t ever been taught that we must inquire of God for them. As we seek Him, He reveals His heart and His promises to us so that we, in turn, can ask Him for them. It’s like Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet listening. Knowing His heart empowers us to have confidence to ask for His will. Yet, we miss out by not communing with Him.

In Ezekiel 36:13 God reveals that His people should seek him and His promises with faith and expectancy. We also read in James 1:6-7 that the man who wants to receive from the Lord must pray with expectancy. The person who asks with unbelief will end up empty handed. It says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.” Prayer that is not seasoned with faith is nothing more than worthless religious jargon. It is impossible to catch the attention and favor of the Lord without a believing heart. God reveals His heart and will to those who incline their ears and seek Him. In return, we are invited to be a part of the manifestation of His promises.

We see this same principle working in the book of Daniel 9:2-3. Daniel received revelation through the Word that the seventy years of the Jews’ captivity had ended. However, their release was not yet manifested. Therefore, Daniel began to set his face toward the Lord in prayer and fasting. This empowered him to be confident in intercession since he now knew God’s heart.

God reveals His heart and will to those who incline their ears and seek Him. In return, we are invited to be a part of the manifestation of His promises (tweet) 


God promises that He will put His desires in our hearts when we live in communion with Him. (Ps. 37:4) His heart will become ours, transforming us to think as He thinks. God wants us to know His will and pray in agreement with Him. Too often, we want God to jump on our bandwagons of self-will instead of us connecting with His will and His heart’s desire. When we follow our own heart it leads us away from Him into idolatry. We become servants of our selfish wants and desires.

When we have discovered what’s on His heart and what His will is, then we can come into His presence with boldness and confidence. In I John 5:14-15 we read that if we ask anything in His will, that He will hear us. It goes on to say if He hears us then we can have the confidence to expect answers to those petitions. The key to answered prayers in our lives is to pray according to His will and purposes.

Have we become a thermometer instead of a thermostat!

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thermostat (outdoor)

It can be shocking to see our society in light of past history. We must see the importance of learning from the course of history. Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Anytime a person or a nation winks at sin—allowing it to begin to infiltrate and spread through them—they will always suffer the consequences of it. Godliness will always build up a person or a nation! But it is sin that will begin to eat away, leading to death! Psalms 107:34 brings this to light saying, “A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.” Our land has been very fruitful and prosperous, but unless we take heed to the Word of God, it’s only scriptural that we will become barren.

Has the Church forgotten the marvelous works of God? We cannot separate our godly heritage from our birthing as a country! In every fiber and corner of our society, we can see the fingerprints of our God. Let us not turn aside on the verge of the most incredible end-time revival this country has ever seen. If we sit here buying into the “Big Lie” that everything is fine, we will only begin to write our own ending. Just as the frog, if it is put in hot water will jump out saving itself. But if it is put in water and heated slowly, it will not realize it’s being gradually cooked ending in destruction.

God wants us to become a thermostat instead of a thermometer!   – Quote from “Passion for Revival” (Tweet)

Former revivalist Leonard Ravenhill puts it like this: “We appease sin, but do not oppose it. To such a cold, carnal, critical, care cowed church; this lax, loose, lustful, licentious age will never capitulate. Let us stop looking for scapegoats. The fault in the declining morality is not radio or television. The whole blame for the present international degeneration and corruption lies at the door of the church!” Psalms 9:17 says, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Have we forgotten the Lord God?

Mario Murillo says, “When the army of God is healthy, it broadcasts a mighty light. Like a catalyst it changes the culture that surrounds it! But in sickness, the church absorbs the odor of the secular thinking near it.” We have become a thermometer instead of a thermostat! The first reads the temperature of the surroundings and the second is a gage that determines what the surrounding will be. As ambassadors of Christ, we should be setting the standard, not being absorbed into the mud and muck of society.

In Ephesians 5:6 it says, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience”. The church, has failed to deal with the real reasons for our country’s problems. Man wants to live without any restraints but not have to deal with the consequences. They want their pie and eat it too! As a result, we are merely putting bandages on symptoms, while ignoring the source or root of the problem.

Nations and civilizations do not just pass away. Their leaders and people are first deceived and drawn away, opening up to self-destruction destroying them and their nation.

Is our country being eaten away by the moth and worm of sin? All the while, we are in our local churches and basking in our so-called security.

Normal People Can Do Great Things Too!

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Many Years ago, in the year 1787 at Hampton Sidney College in Virginia, there were three students who prayed out in the woods once a week, in the morning. As you can imagine when the other students found out, they began to make fun and persecute them. The president of the college, John Smith, was so impressed with their commitment that he invited the three young prayer warriors to hold their weekly prayer meeting at his house.

The result of those three young students taking a stand in prayer was two hundred students coming to Christ that first year. By 1795 Yale University was experiencing revival as well. By 1802 one third of the student body converted to Christ. Many say this was a direct response to the seeds that were sown in prayer years earlier.

If you think about it, those three students were nothing but normal students with a tenacious burden for God to move on their campus. They weren’t well known preachers or highly talented individuals. They were normal! History doesn’t tell us that they had anything but a desire and boldness to prayer. And maybe we can’t even say they had boldness because they were praying in the woods, possibly to hide from everyone. But these normal students prayed to a God that holds the whole earth in His hands and history records the rest of the story.

We will probably never know the full impact of our prayers until we get to Heaven. But one thing is certain there is power in prayer. In James 5:16-18 we read, “Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” I translate this verse like this, “The persistent powerful prayer of a believer brings radical results.”

God has granted us an unbelievable privilege in prayer. The problem is that many times we don’t understand the opportunity we have. We fall prey to the thoughts and false understanding that we have to be great to do great things for God! In I Kings 18:41-45 it tells how Elijah, instructed by the Lord, tells King Ahab that it wouldn’t rain for years except at his word. We then read in James 5:17 that Elijah prayed and it didn’t rain for three and a half years.

Then the same normal man prayed again and a cloudburst broke the drought. The Bible says that Elijah was a man just like us with the same opportunities and hindrances to his prayers. (James 5:17) In other words, he wasn’t anything special nor was he God’s favorite. He was just a normal person like you and me. Galatians 2:6 tells us that God is not a respecter of persons. He treats us all fairly and equally, therefore if Elijah had that kind of result so can we.

God uses Normal people that know Him and trust Him to do extraordinary and great things in the earth. Don’t allow the lie of the enemy keep you from doing great things for God. The enemy is always trying to tell us that we are nothing special and can’t be used by God. Being normal doesn’t keep you from doing great things! Being normal positions you to be used by a great God when we trust and rely on Him.

We Must Have a Change!

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Ifootball8t would seem every direction we look there is unrest and turmoil in our cities and abroad in the earth. The majority of the news is filled with tragedy and upheaval.  Whether it’s racial tension in our cities, misuse of power in the government or terrorist activity in different parts of the earth, it seems to be one thing after the other. We must have a change!

When things are not going the way we think they should, in our lives, in our communities or even throughout the world, what should one do?  I believe it’s time to pursue a change that can only happen through God. Let me share a portion of scripture that is addressing this same scenario.

In 2 Chr 7:13-16 we read “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people…”. Here God gives His people the answer of what to do when there is turmoil and catastrophe in their land and all about them. This passage goes on to say, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways…” I love how God doesn’t beat around the bush but says, “if My people” which is talking about Christians or those that believe in God.  Then it goes on to say that if they bend their knee or come into subjection to the authority of God and pray, along with seeking His face and turning from wickedness then God says He will respond.  By hearing their prayers, forgiving their sins and healing their land God will move in their behalf.  In verse 15 He then declares with promise that He would stamp His name there, indicating His approval, as well as, He would be attentive to their prayers in that place forever.

God is talking to the children of Israel in a time of serious trouble.  Letting them know that He has a promise to those that will get serious and begin to move towards Him.  The believer must humble themselves before God, which is an act of surrender and acknowledgment of His Lordship. Then with a heart of desperation we must turn away from the things that have our attention and time and turn towards God and His purposes.

There is more to seeking God than just talking to Him, even though that is part of it.  Seeking is being aggressive in finding Him, doing whatever it takes to do His will. Too often we handle our prayer time as if we were giving our wish list to Santa Claus. God wants us to cry out to Him with a heart that desires His purposes, being willing to flee from the wickedness that entangles us and keeps us from Him.

If the believer does these things then things will be turned around and changed for the better. God gives us the promise that He will change our circumstances when we make a change in ourselves.

When we turn our hearts towards Him through the place of prayer, God will take notice.  He will respond to us in power when we seek Him with all of our heart. There will be a change when we finally surrender our ways to His ways. He has promised that if we turn towards Him and obey Him, He will move in our behalf.