Change And Rise

CHANGE AND RISE

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

When you change, you rise. Jeremiah 48:11: “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.”

God has designed this message for some specific people. Here, we see that Moab had problems. He was used to a life of ease. He was settled on his lees. He was not emptied from vessel to vessel. He had not really tasted what is called captivity and because of that, his taste remained unaltered, and his flavour was not changed. The long and short of the matter concerning Moab was that he refused to change and because of that, he stank. Anybody who would like to work with Jesus must be prepared to change. Somebody who was a drunk suddenly gives his life to the Lord, and he becomes a new person. He has changed and when you say, “Sir, were you not the one drinking in that place?” He would say, “That was before, I have now changed:". Change is actually the very essence of life itself and when a person resists change, the person is working against life. There are some changes that one may be required to make which he or she is not even ready to embrace. A lot of people would rather stick to their familiar past. A lot of people are afraid of going into unravelled territories or taking any risk. Many stubbornly cling to their ideas and habits.

The Lord does not allow that. The nature of God’s work includes changing, you must sincerely change. Read your Bible very well and you will find out that men and women in the Scriptures who moved mountain for the Lord, travelled in unknown territories. Moses did not see a previous example anywhere but he did something and the Red Sea parted. He took a holy risk and God backed him up. So, you have to make a decision now to make a change.

Some friends may have to go, some ideas might have to be dropped and some habits might have to be changed if you want the fullness of God in your life. You must make that decision to change. You must examine all your old habits and practices. You must examine all your old friends, and challenge all those traditions you have been following which have yielded nothing. In spite of the fact that God is even trying to bring some people out of these traditions, their heart, and spirits are still there, and so Jesus is still looking at them, asking “Can I really use this one?” So, you must challenge these things you have been doing. Many of us are moving behind schedule. Some are meant to have helped thousands of people but they are still busy picking marbles in the street. Sometime ago, a couple came to see me because they were fighting. I asked: “What was the matter?” and the husband said, “Dr., tell this woman to be submissive,” and I said, “Madam, why are you not submissive?” And she said, "Excuse me man of God, this submission, what is the meaning?” I counselled them and after sometime, I said, "Let us pray.” When I prayed, I was amazed at the revelation I got. I saw the couple standing on top of a very tall building and there was a long queue of people in their front, and they were distributing money to these people. These people were very grateful and were thanking God for their lives. But as they were distributing the money, I saw some naked women at their back firing arrows at them, so I said, “You people are busy fighting instead of doing what God wants you to do." A change is necessary.

You must question those customs that have not gotten you any where. Somebody told me he had been going to church for forty years and when I asked him if he has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he said, “How much do they sell it?” So, I gave him a lecture and after the lecture, he gave me a sum of two thousand naira. I thanked him and used the money to buy some books that would help him for him before he left.

This is a new week and we must change for the best. Remember, a seed does not take root unless it falls to the ground and dies there. It will then change to something else and begin to grow. The seed would first of all look ugly, and you wonder why life is so unkind to it as to break it in the middle. But the truth is that it has to change before it brings out something.