A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 2
DO WE REALLY WANT TO CHANGE?

Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ know all about Christian terminology. We can communicate using the most appropriate words and catchy phrases to the point to where it seems we lose their meaning. One popular word we throw around without much personal thought is transformation. We talk, preach, read, write and sing about how people need to change and in itself, this is true. Nevertheless, we seem to be very lenient and compromising with our own heart when it comes to altering who we are. All our lives we have heard sermons about being renovated into the image of Christ when one devotes their heart to God. And we have been taught how the Bible is a mirror that exposes our conscience and reveals how needy we are for an Almighty God that can re-design our character and renew our attitudes. But allow me to ask a simple question; has it happened to you? If you did not profess to be a Christian how would you live your life in contrast to the way you live now? Wow! Stop and think about that for a moment. Imagine that you were not a Christian; would you still neatly mow your yard, take out the trash and wash your car? Would you still dress the same, go to the same places, listen to the same things, and watch the same television shows? Would you still laugh at the jokes at work, be as critical of others and have those secret thoughts? Would your world views and politics be the same? Would you believe in equality and justice and still be sensitive to morality issues? So, how are you different from what you were? If all these things are the same as they would be if you were not a Christian, then what in particular identifies you as a genuine representative of God’s Kingdom and causes you to be “special” from everyone else that thinks and lives like you?

The absolute truth of God declares that all who have Christ within them are changed into a noticeable and recognizable person that is distinct in their thoughts and actions. We may look and act (to a certain extent) like the lost but we are supposed to be peculiar in our words and deeds. Our identification is on the inside and must be the cause of our external demonstration. In other words, if our spirit has been changed on the inside it will be impossible to not manifest our new self. Being born-again means that God performed a wonderful miracle within our spirit as we received Him by faith into our heart. This experience produces disciples that follow Christ and obey His commands because they now have an intimate spiritual “relationship” with the one who not only created them but loved them so much that He died for them. God’s Word then becomes the key to unlocking the mysteries of heaven for them and will never compromise with carnality. This in itself is enough to make us the oddball and “strange one” in the crowd. Those who declare to be transformed but do not demonstrate this obedience to God’s Word (and voice) are either, undeveloped, deceived or rebellious. You would think that a person who is truly saved would be saturated in the idea of “change” as a continual evolution of the conscience and an opportunity to become closer to God – but that is not always the case. Can the mind stop this process? That is a very good question and in many cases I believe it can. Exactly to what extent the details of this resistance, only God knows but He has given many examples of how rebellion can result in agony and even death. There are as many excuses for individuals who “fail” to change as there are stars in the sky, however, we can find one that stands far above all the rest. Are you ready for this revelation? The reason why individuals do not change for God is because they do not want to. Selah. Ahhh…bold face disobedience at its finest! We didn’t think we had it in us! Imagine that – us leading our own mutiny!

If we ever thought that we were always generally a good person – we were wrong! All of us have a DNA that is filled with rebellion and we got it “naturally”. Now there’s no need to be sad or discouraged as it is not a negative confession but rather a very important fact to remember in our spiritual development. You see, if we become convinced that we are good on our own, we will not realize how important it is to change. We talk about passion, zeal and being on fire for God but I am NOT sure we understand what we are saying. It is true, we may want to “do” things for Him but just how enthused are we to allow Him to change us? It is worthy to consider that if we are not “on fire” and just as excited about being transformed into His image, then maybe we are putting the cart before the horse. How easily we forget that our will hates to submit to God’s will because it is completely opposite to the way Jesus died for us to live. In our quest to become the perfect mediator, we have subconsciously come up with a “genius” idea to blend God’s will with our will and establish a peace treaty between us so that we can enjoy the best of both worlds. What a perfect plan where we can receive all of God’s covenant promises and the riches of His blessings while also living and doing whatever we want! Do we really think that God is impressed with our intelligence and ability to problem solve? Well, I realize this is what our flesh wants and sadly this is how most Christians live, but it is NOT God’s idea of being a representative of His Name. This is what is called a religious “illusion” and those who choose to live in this fairy tale have found that it is more comfortable to live a lie than to be a living sacrifice for the truth! Selah. We may be able to go through the motions of playing games with God and believing that He does not know the difference between what is real and phony, but I can assure you that He knows the intentions of every heart. It is an example of absolute truth that no one will ever deceive Him or get away with thinking, doing or saying anything! He knows His children who are the remnant of the faith but He is also clearly aware who are the goats, tares and hypocrites. “Nevertheless the foundation OF God is steady and sure, having this seal; The Lord KNOWS them that are His. And, let everyone that proclaims the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (II Timothy 2:19)

Our previous master (the carnal will) enjoyed (past tense) being completely independent and had every intention to control us indefinitely without interruption. But when we responded to the invitation of Jesus and allowed Christ to “take over” our life, our new Lord established a new set of commandments that included NOT surrendering to the temptation to make our own decisions. Of course, it is perfectly normal to have an ungovernable nature when we are lost, but it is unacceptable to follow that old nature AFTER we have been redeemed. Yes, we do struggle for a while, and we may stumble every now and then but as in every refining process, we learn, grow, adapt and overcome! After we become mature and accountable in the faith and seasoned in strength and knowledge, we should not continue to make excuses for our weaknesses. If we find ourselves living just like we did before Jesus rescued us, we must face the truth that we are still allowing our carnal mind to be in control. It is a sad testimony when our failures can be traced to laziness, selfishness, pride or any of the carnal attributes that result in disobedience. In second Timothy the third chapter and verse five we read, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” And in verse seven, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” God’s Word pierces to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and is the only power that can expose the hidden sins that attempt to hide in the darkness of denial.

It is not a secret; the enemy desires for you to throw in the towel with God and just live for yourself. Satan is very subtle and downright sneaky when it comes to getting into our head. The little foxes that spoil the vines can be the subtle whispers from the devil that can distract and lure us away from God’s focus. Allow me to share with you what I recently experienced at work and how something seemingly innocent became a weapon of deception against me. I work in small department of 5 people including a manager. Our manager was replaced with another one and when he moved into our office, he brought a small radio in and set it on our filing cabinet as he enjoys listening to seventies and eighties rock while sitting at his computer. (Back before I discovered how “dangerous” it was to drink in the music of the world, these songs had a strong grip on my mind and attitude toward sin.) As I am in and out of the office throughout the day with checking on shipments and doing paperwork, I slowly began to notice how the songs would get into my head and would stay sometimes for days. I would find myself humming these familiar melodies even when I was at home. Unfortunately, the songs were connected to other thoughts and events in my past that were subconsciously producing a “heaviness” in my spirit. As I was praying one day the Lord “opened my eyes” about what was happening and I began to seek about how to confront and deal with this in His wisdom. Amazingly, within a couple of weeks the manager was transferred out of our department (thank you Jesus) and took the radio with him. Some may say, now Billy, you’re being a fanatic; well, maybe that is exactly what we need to be! Selah. May I say with all seriousness – we cannot spiritually afford to absorb the world with our ears and eyes! We who are God’s frontline warriors cannot play around with sin any more than we can play in the fire without smelling like smoke! God does not want us to compromise AT ALL because it will decrease our sensitivity, anointing and effectiveness in our Christian walk. But many will say, “Just how strict do we need to be?” My reply is, “Just how much victory do you want?” Allow me to go further, “just how much of Jesus do you want?” You see, the amount of “change” we would like to see in our life is directly related to how much Jesus we will have! The less of me there is – the more of Christ that can fill me. The more of me that is in control of what I do, the less room there is for Jesus to be my Lord. He is asking today; do you love Me enough to change?