Can God Change Me? – by Joe Wickman I need to know. I get it wrong so often. I make wrong choices. I say stupid things. I trip over my own selfishness and land smack dab in the middle of my will, rather than His. I commit the same error that Adam & Eve did, choosing what I think best, rather than what He has plainly said. I suspect you’re like me. Ever found yourself wandering from God and His goodness? I have. ◾I get impatient with His timing, and try to run things on my own schedule. ◾I treat His boundaries like a cage, rather than the guardrails that keep me safe. ◾I… I… I… somehow think I know better than He does. We’re not that different from the people of Israel. Long ago… …when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. (Ezekiel 36:17) Bingo. That’s us. Conduct. Actions. We’re as guilty as they were. And that guilt has consequences. When we sin, we drive a wedge between us and God. The nation of Israel reaped the consequences of abandoning God in favor or idols. They wandered from the One who loved them completely. The result? He let them wander. He didn’t force them to stay in close relationship with Him. He allowed them to experience the separation that He knew would be so painful. They wound up in exile, ripped away from the homeland He had provided for them. So He allows me to push against Him. Occasionally we feel the pain of our decisions. I am thankful that His mercy and forgiveness are always available in Christ. As soon as I wise up and admit my foolishness, He stands ready and willing to forgive me. But I don’t want to keep winding up in the same place. I don’t want to keep committing the same sins, tripping over the same stone. Is it possible for this cycle to stop? I need to know: “Can God change me?” ◾Will He change me? ◾To what degree? He will. He said to the rebellious nation of Israel: 24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people,and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:24-28) The fulfillment of God’s promise to the nation of Israel was a foreshadowing of the ultimate fulfillment of His promise to us today. ◾He rescued them from the land of exile. ◾He changed them from the inside out. Today all of God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ Jesus. ◾He will rescue you. No matter how far away you find yourself, He will bring you back. Just turn to Him and confess. (1 John 1:9) ◾He will change you. God will transform you from the inside out. You will be made new in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) ◾He will keep changing you. This process of transformation is ongoing for the rest of our lives. (Romans 12:1-2) You are His. He is faithful. You can be made brand new. You can be transformed, and continue to transform. The post Can God Change Me? appeared first on Joe Wickman.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 17:52:59 +0000