POWER TO CHANGE

 Power to Change

Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”                                                 Slide One

 

Change means:  to make different in some particular : ALTER: to make radically different : TRANSFORM 

 

In the case of a Christian you have been transformed.  Your change is from the inside out.  Slide 2

 

Here are five reasons people don’t like to change.

 

1.      People fear being different--especially when there's no precedent.  We're creatures of habit. For the most part, we love routine and procedure.

       2.    People feel overwhelmed or stressed, people may resist change simply because they're tired.

       3.    People fear a departure from the status quo, 62% of people don’t want to change, don’t feel

              they need to change or fear change. 

       4.   People know change brings a new set of possibilities and problems.  Many people prefer for

              things to stay the way they are.  How many have you heard the old saying if it aim broke, don’t

              fix it.

        5.  People don’t trust the one encouraging the change.                                        Slide 3

 

Here are seven reasons why embracing change can be a very good   

 

Change helps you grow. ...

Change teaches you to be flexible. ...

Change can challenge your values and beliefs. ...

Change reveals your strengths. ...

Change makes you more compassionate. ...

Change breaks up routines. ...

Change offers opportunities.                                                                                                  Slide 4

 

Here are some Biblical characters where change was for the best.

 

Abram left Ur to Haran than to Canaan.  He later became Abraham the Father of the faithful.  He was the Father of the Israelites through Isaac.  Through him all nations have been blessed. 

 

Jacob when he left and found Leah, Rachel, he had 12 boys who became the 12 tribes of Israel.  Had his name change to Israel which means Prince with God.

 

Joseph, was a Prince of Israel, sold into slavery by his brothers, end up as a slave and then in prison for 13 years.  In one day went from prisoner to Prime Minister and saved the then known world from Calamity.

 

Daniel was taken in captivity by the Babylonians.  He became a high ranking official in the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empire.  Influenced a number of rulers.

 

Esther was taken from her home to the harem of the King, won his heart and eventually saved her people from the sinister minister Haman.  ``                                                                Slide 5

 

Change is an opportunity to renew, retool, and re-imagine what’s possible.  Change is the ultimate opportunity for transformation.  It’s a chance to do a reset.  It’s a chance for a fresh start.  It’s a chance to let things go.  It’s a chance to create a vision for the future.  It’s also a chance to reinvent yourself, which many times means bringing out more of who you are.                                              Slide 6

 

One man wrote:  Change is good.   But only if you embrace it.   Change is a chance to stop doing what’s not working, start doing things that would work better, and keep doing the things that work well

 

Change is good.   But only if you embrace it.   Change is a chance to stop doing what’s not working, start doing things that would work better, and keep doing the things that work well

 

     As a Christian we embrace change.  The Bible says the mercy of God are new every morning.  Great is his faithfulness.  Peter states in 1 Pet 3:18, that we are to growth in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

 

     God demands and makes changes.  He loves us to much to leave us as we are.  God change and  process us.  God is always at work in us.   His ultimate goal is to make us like Jesus.  Our job is to work with Him and let Him change us.    The agents of change are as follows, the word, prayer, circumstances, other people and life in general.