February 13th, 2021
Heal Devotional Series – Week 1 – Do You Want to be Well - Saturday – Pastor Todd
We Can Change
Scripture Reading - Ephesians 4:17, 5:1-2 (NIV)
Can people change? Can you? Can I? Well, there are plenty of opinions on that, but if you use the Bible as your source of information, the answer is a resounding YES! In writing to the people in Ephesus, Paul said:
“You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking…Be imitators of God therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”
Apart from God, wholesale change is near impossible. However, when the Holy Spirit enters our life, it should be expected. All the excuses we have for the ways we have lived dissolve in the power of the Holy Spirit to make us brand new creations.
There are two aspects to that change. You might think of it a bit like a computer. When we receive Christ, there is a complete change of the hardware. Things we were unable to do—honor God, love our enemies, obey his will—we are now able to begin to do. Over time as we walk with him, there is also a constant updating of our emotional and spiritual software. None of us will follow Christ perfectly from the start, but continually we will get better and better at it if we set our heart toward that growth and don’t spend our lives making excuses for ourselves.
Eventually, perfection will come when we are with Jesus someday.
So, indeed we can change, and it is exhilarating to us and inspiring to others when we do. So, let’s live up to what the Spirit has already done in us and keep hungering and thirsting for more of God, instead of looking for excuses to go back to what we once were.
We Can Change
Scripture Reading - Ephesians 4:17, 5:1-2 (NIV)
Can people change? Can you? Can I? Well, there are plenty of opinions on that, but if you use the Bible as your source of information, the answer is a resounding YES! In writing to the people in Ephesus, Paul said:
“You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking…Be imitators of God therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”
Apart from God, wholesale change is near impossible. However, when the Holy Spirit enters our life, it should be expected. All the excuses we have for the ways we have lived dissolve in the power of the Holy Spirit to make us brand new creations.
There are two aspects to that change. You might think of it a bit like a computer. When we receive Christ, there is a complete change of the hardware. Things we were unable to do—honor God, love our enemies, obey his will—we are now able to begin to do. Over time as we walk with him, there is also a constant updating of our emotional and spiritual software. None of us will follow Christ perfectly from the start, but continually we will get better and better at it if we set our heart toward that growth and don’t spend our lives making excuses for ourselves.
Eventually, perfection will come when we are with Jesus someday.
So, indeed we can change, and it is exhilarating to us and inspiring to others when we do. So, let’s live up to what the Spirit has already done in us and keep hungering and thirsting for more of God, instead of looking for excuses to go back to what we once were.
Posted in Heal Beyond Brokenness
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