A Change for the Better…
Terry Dashner……………Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013
It is said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, each time expecting a different outcome. You and I know that reality says otherwise. If you expect a different result, you must change your current actions. Change is necessary. It is human; however, it’s not always easy.
Here are the basics: in order to change one’s behavior, one must change one’s thinking. And to change one’s thinking, one must change one’s input. You know—garbage in, garbage out. Or in this case, a man’s reality is measured in terms of what he perceives. In other words, think on good things and your behavior will follow. This is certainly a principle in Scripture.
Think on these things…
In the fifth chapter of John, Jesus speaks to an invalid of 38 years and says, “Do you want to get well?” The invalid answers the question curiously. He says that he has no one to help him into the healing waters. Evidently he wanted healing, but his perception of how to get healed lacked a certain reality. Seems he was repeating the same actions over and over again, each time hoping something different would happen. Did it? No.
Change of outcome came when he responded to three things. These three things can change anyone.
For one, he heard the command of Jesus to walk. He acted on the authority of His command and walked. This is important for change. One must hear the Word of God and act on it to change for the better. Hearing and merely hoping for the better won’t do it. One must hear God speak and then immediately respond to it. This is referred to in Bible teaching as “hearing and receiving the word.”
Secondly, he stayed the course. This is vital to victory. Hold the line. Remain steadfast. Don’t give up. Jesus saw the man later and told him to refrain from going backwards. He told him to sin no more or a worse condition might come on him. The most powerful thing a man or woman can do is stay the course in life. Stay connected with God. Don’t get blessed and then turn away from God’s blessings. Keep up the good fight of faith until the last breath. Again, perseverance is the most powerful force, in line with godliness.
And then last, tell somebody what God has done for you. As soon as the man knew who healed him, he began to publish it abroad. He began to tell people what Jesus had done for him. This, too, is powerful. That’s right. A man’s testimony regarding the grace of God not only overcomes the devil, but it renews the man speaking it and saves the one who hears and receives it.
How can we change our results? We change our actions. The action is in hearing and receiving the commands of God. The action is in staying the course with God. The action is telling everyone who is capable of changing—Jesus is the master potter.
Man is clay. He is the potter of the clay. He, and He alone, can change the clay into pottery of beauty. If man responds in faith, stays the course, and tells everybody that Jesus is the one who makes the change for better.
Pastor T.dash
About the Author
A pastor of a small church.