5.3.11 "The Power to Change"

"The Power to Change"

Judges 17:1-18:31
John 3:1-21
Psalm 104:1-23
Proverbs 14:20-21

Are there things about you that you'd like to change? Maybe appearance, or habit, or personality, or something else? When man sinned, one of the consequences was an innate dissatisfaction in our flesh of where we are. There's a desire to change. Often we hear these "pit to pinnacle" stories of people who have worked hard to transform their lives. Because our culture values riches, we love the "get rich quick" stories. We like to hear of the people who've triumphed through adversity.

Because people are so often discontent about themselves and where they're at in life, there is usually a great desire to change; to become a better person.

For example, we need to be people who Live the DREAM. We need to live the Balanced Christian Life. Each of us need to be strengthened in one area or another to be who God created us to be. As great as that desire is, we cannot forget that it is not in our power to change.

Jesus is meeting with Nicodemus when he says, "Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven." (John 3:6)

When we get trapped in rut of the "comfortable Christian Life", we can be numbed by our own "good intentions". We "mean" to be transformed into a Christ-like nature, and we even take steps to make improvements. We try to be "better" people, but for some reason we find it "doesn't work".

The main reason we fail is that we try to do it in our own strength, and we only want to change the things WE want to change. An individual can spend a lifetime struggling to transform themselves, when what really needs to happen is to surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit.

A Christian business leader said, "God can do more in a flash than we can do in a lifetime of effort." God desires to work in us to transform us. We need to understand the priority of placing ourselves wholly in his presence, and allow him unlimited access to every area. We need to change what he places on our heart to change, not what WE think needs changing.

The power to Change is the Power of the Holy Spirit. We need to surrender to him and his plan. When we try to do it in our own strength, we can be very frustrated with ourselves. Sometimes we just need to step out of the way and let the Spirit work. Let His light shine on us and transform us into instruments for His glory.


Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

Pastor Greg Lathe

Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship
Relationships Devoted to Unity
Empowered Through Biblical Training
Active Ministry Involvement
Mission to Reach our World for Christ