29 Nov Keep the Change (Learning to change before you have to) Part 3

About 30 years ago I almost died!

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!

Over the last few weeks we began this new series and 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.  

Let’s start by review two of our “10 Channels of Change”:

 1. Most people change just enough to get away from their problems…not enough to solve them.

 2. Most people want to change their circumstances to improve their lives, instead of changing themselves to improve their circumstances.

Your outward circumstances will never rise above your inward portrait.  Never try to get ahold of your circumstances before you get ahold of yourself (see Prov. 16:32)!  As we mature in the Lord, we must change from fix it God…to fix ME God!  Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19).  We want God to fix everything immediately for us.  Jesus knows the FIX IS IN THE FOLLOW. Long-term fixes don’t come overnight, they occur when we follow the Lord step by step and day by day, for the rest of our lives. 

This week we continue with…

3. Most people do the same thing the same way and expect different results.  When you want something you have never had, you have to do something you’ve never done!

As so many of you have heard, doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results is the definition of insanity!  If you truly want different results you must do something you’ve never done.  Now please don’t mistake me, I am not talking about change for the sake of change.  I am talking about God-given biblically driven change.

When you change via God’s direction, you are simply creating “better normal.”  

Please allow me to explain.  When our ministry headquarters were in Knoxville we were doing fine and had a fruitful ministry.  However, we had reached a plateau.  We were comfortable but not growing like we knew we should.  There was something missing and God began to make our “nest” a bit “prickly.”  He stirred our hearts to begin Joy Church.  We sold our house and sold our Bible Institute campus all for God-given change.

Today we still have WCBI with a student enrollment of over 300 and a very large and thriving church as well!  God-given change created “better normals”!

Remember this:  When is the last time you did something for the first time, and if it’s been a long time…then it’s about time!

Change isn’t change until you change!  Let’s not change because we have to…let’s change because we get to!  

Next month we will continue our series!