You cannot live a changed life while holding onto the life you do not want to change.
Your Moment at the Well
The Lord’s insight. An unchanged life cannot live the life of change you want.
Matthew 9:14: “Then the disciples of John came to Jesus saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
Often times we think we must have something new so that we can live in a new way. That may work in our carnal lives, but it does not work with God. The Lord wants us to accept that we must change before we can live changed lives.
Change in ourselves must happen before change with ourselves can happen. We must change our attitudes before we can have the change that comes with better attitudes. We must change what we believe before we can have what we didn’t believe before.
In Matthew 9:14 Jesus is telling us fasting is not what makes us believers but being believers is why we fast. John’s disciples were like many of us today who look down on what others are not doing because we want to exalt ourselves above others. Perhaps Jesus was also saying you cannot get to where I want you to be when you keep hanging on to who and where you are today.
Many of us are quick to say we will pray and fast for something to happen or for something to change in our lives. But Jesus is saying, if you change your life before you pray and before you fast, you will be led to pray and to fast from a life that is already changed.
Jesus knows that the things of God cannot be received in a life that is unchanged. The new things of God must be fitted into a new life because the old life cannot contain what God has planned for you. New wine should not be put into old wine skins. New wine will expand and rupture an old wine skin.
The changes the Lord wants for your life, and the changes you should want for your life cannot be fitted into your old life. If you want your relationship with your spouse to be better, change yourself into a better person. This will allow better changes in your relationship to come to you.
It is not likely you can have a loving relationship with anyone when you are not a loving person. It is not likely you can have a respected relationship with anyone when you do not respect others. Being loving and being respectful are the things that indicate you can have love and respect.
If you want to experience more of the Lord, change the way you live. You cannot understand the Lord when you want to understand more of the world.
Abraham had to change where he lived before he received the promise God want to give him. Jacob had to return to his home before he could receive the home God promised. Moses had to give up a high position and status before he could have the position and status God wanted for him.
Paul had to give up his entire way of life before He could have the life the Lord offered Him. All around us people are a clear example of how we must change. And what about you? What is it that you must change before you can have the change you want for your life?
If things are much the same for you and around you, perhaps it is not because things are too hard to change or because things are out of your control. Perhaps things are the same because you are the same. When the Lord is at work in our lives, nothing is ever the same in our lives. Nothing!
We cannot have the changed lives we would love to have while we keep living the unchanged lives we love more.
Live a Delivered Life.
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