You CAN Change!

The old adage insists that "a leopard cannot change its spots." Can a person, especially one with bad traits, change his basic nature or character? The answer is a qualified “yes!” We cannot transform ourselves into saints without an intervention, a moment of conversion. God promises to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. Truth transforms!

James, in his letter to us, says - "(God) chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession." (James 1:18, NLT) He acts out of His love. What’s my part? He goes on - “Humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls." (James 1:21, NLT) 

The Good News of Christianity is that we can know Divine Love, no longer living under the cloud of guilt and condemnation. It is a tragedy when the only message heard is about sin and death! The whole story carries us from alienation to restoration. John says - “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (3:16-17)

What is required of us?

 Accept the Word!

When guests come to my home, I want them to feel welcome, to realize that I have anticipated their arrival. I want them to feel valued because I have provided for their comfort. My aim is to be hospitable, encouraging, hopeful, and welcoming.

James says that God has planted His truth in us,
but it is up to us to welcome Him, to give His word a home in us.

So how do we accept the Word?

IF the preacher’s sermon touches a sensitive place in your life, a habit which you are struggling to change, do you get angry and throw up walls, or do you open your heart to the Spirit’s work?
When you read the Scripture and the text comes alive through the Spirit, asking for a change that He desires, do you say a ready “Yes” to Him and move to obedience or offer excuses about the impossibility of it all?
When you discover God’s declaration of a new identity in Christ Jesus do you give thanks and receive it for yourself, or do you doubt His power to transform your mind and heart?

Accepting the Word has the rich benefit of unleashing the power of God in our lives to ‘save our souls.’  This is more than just getting us to Heaven! Salvation is not just future, it is for ‘right here, right now.’

The full meaning is that the Word implanted and accepted restores us to full spiritual health, makes us whole where we are broken, and allows to find that ‘life to the full’ of which Jesus spoke. The Psalm says that the Lord “saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them." (Psalm 107:19-21, NLT)

We can change, not just by discipline or devotion but by God’s grace and power. We can become His dear children, beloved, and pleasing to Him as we give the Truth a home in our heart and mind, letting it grow like seed to a full harvest.

Have you believed the true Word?
Have you invited the Word into your life?
Is the Truth shaping your decisions today?

Here is a word from the Word. Hear it, learn from it, love it. "Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13, NLT)

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Video of this blog

https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55