08 Nov Keep the Change (Learning to change before you have to) Part 1

About 30 years ago I almost died!  Most of you know the story.  I had very severe cardiovascular challenges.  I could barely walk and I could barely talk.  I experienced shooting pains down my left arm and tachycardia on a frequent basis!  Something HAD to change!

Now I believe in divine healing.  However, things were not getting better…they were getting worse!  At that time the Lord began to deal with me very clearly about issues I needed to change in my life.  He could give me divine healing all day long, but if I had spiritual “holes in my pocket” the healing would simply slide down my figurative pant leg.  I had to sew up the holes in my pocket…I had to change. 

God dealt with me in many areas.  First, He wanted me to eat much better and take vitamins.  At that time, I was on a steady diet of Reese’s cups and Mountain Dew.  Not good!  He also dealt with me on taking a Sabbath day of rest.  Not legally, as in the Old Covenant, but regularly in principle because we are in the New Covenant.  Lastly, God clearly dealt with me about taking regular vacations.  

For 30 years I have adhered to all of these in a very disciplined way (I must admit the easiest one to keep is the vacation principle!).  However, I did not change because I needed to…I changed because I had to!  My incentive program was very high…I wanted to live!  That personal story truly exemplifies the human race…most of us change not because we need to, but because we have to!

Through this teaching session, my goal is to teach all of us to change proactively instead of reactively!  The Bible tells us in Psalm 55:19, “Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.”  Now please don’t be taken aback by the word “fear.”   In the Hebrew language it’s not talking about “fright” but reverence or respect for God.  In other words, the reason we don’t change is we don’t truly respect God enough.  

With this in mind, I want to introduce to you a paradigm shift in your thinking concerning change.  I would describe a paradigm shift in this fashion:  Did you hear about the guy who was put in jail simply because he gave up his seat on the bus to a blind man?  That’s terrible!  Who would put someone in jail for doing something so kind?  That’s how we would think until we discover the person who gave up his seat to the blind man…was the bus driver!  

You see how I shifted your thinking completely around just by giving you full information?  That is a paradigm shift.  Let’s not change reactively because we have to, let’s change proactively because we need to!

Join me over the next few weeks as we continue in this series…