Change
Stand and lift up your bible and repeat after me.
This is my Bible.
I am what it says I am.
I can do what it says I can do.
I am going to learn how to be what it says I can be.
Today I will learn more of the word of God.
The indestructible, never ending, living word Of God.
I will never be the same.
I will never be the same.
In Jesus Name.
Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were
meant to be there. To serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or you
help figure out who you are or who you want to become.
You never know who these people may be but when you lock eyes with them, you know that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way.
And sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible,
painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming
those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, will
power or heart.
Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of
good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer
stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small
tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere.
Safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you
experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned
from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.
If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because
they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious
to whom you open your heart.
If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they
love you, but because they are teaching you to love and to open your heart
and eyes to little things. Make every day count.
Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can,
for you may never be able to experience it again.
Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let
yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high as you go through change..
Hold your head up because you have every right to. God made you in His image for a purpose. Learn about having faith in your daily life. Tell yourself you are a
great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in
yourself, no one else will believe in you.
Except one.
Jesus.
Why did Jesus come to earth to be among people?
Faith.
In the New Testament the word faith appears 243 times in a New King James Bible. In an NIV it appears 250 times.
In the Old Testament it appears twice in the New King James and 9 times in the NIV.
The New Testament is about Faith which comes from a true relationship with Jesus Christ. That is why He came.
Having faith was taught to those who were fortunate to spend personal time with Jesus while He was here on earth. The disciples were commissioned by Him to share it and show it to others.
The disciples were average ordinary men who were called to follow and learn from a man they had never met and they learned the love and ways of God. In the book of Acts these men were called to show the love and teachings of Jesus Christ to all that they would meet.
A few others were called also.
Turn with me to the book of Acts, Chapter 1 and say, ‘Amen” when you are there.
Let's read verse 8;
Acts 1:8
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Whoa. Wait a minute. I am going to have to tell people about Jesus.
In the world we live in?
People are going to think I am one of those Jesus freaks.
How do you share Him to those you know and those you are going to meet in your life here on earth?
You show the love of Christ in all you do.
There is a lot of change going on in our world right now. People are taking a stand to express how they feel about life.
Many people are upset with how life is now here on earth. Can you blame them?
We have all kinds of things going on right now that are disturbing and it creates an opportunity for us to look at how we do things in life.
I have seen many things over the years as you have but, with all that is going on right now it makes you wonder what times we really are in.
Times like these that we are living in make it hard to show the love of Jesus in what we do and to follow His call in our lives. But we can do it if we try.
We each have a purpose here on earth and we need to kneel down and ask Him what He wants us to be doing in this life here on earth.
Please listen to this story;
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion, he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wildflowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt
bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again. it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table.
Without you being just the way, you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house." Author Unknown
Why did I share that story?
Each one of us has a purpose in this life and the closer we get in our relationship with Him, we see what the purpose is, and we can accept the fact that He loves us just the way we are and wants us to allow Him to use us during our time here on earth.
What we read in the book of Acts says that;
Nowhere in the bible does it say that everything will be just perfect where we are except in heaven.
If we look at things that go on here on earth by trying to see things with the love He has for us and others we are astounded.
Everything you do in life.
Everything..
I mean everything.
Everything we go through can be used to change us and make us more like Jesus.
The problems we have been accepting that are occurring in today’s world cause us to feel overwhelmed and frustrated and hesitant to take the first step.
Let me share this with you.
I never knew how to do outreach and show the love of Jesus. I felt like it was not going to ever happen for me.
But when I gave it to the Lord, I started to understand His plan. It is kind of simple. Ask Him to lead you.
Just pray and ask Him to show you how to show God’s love in all things.
Every day is a new day.
Not yesterday that is old, but today which is a new day. Amen?
I asked Him to lead me and I started doing things differently by just sharing His love with my daily attitude. And it has become a habit. A good one.
My attitude has changed over the years and I try to show His love in all I do. I have changed habits. Here is one.
I don’t curse or use profanity anymore because it creates a light in this dark world. I have changed who I am but, not really.
He has changed me.
And I let Him.
That might be something that you might want to consider. Let Him change you.
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer. Stand with me.
