How many times have you heard those who already have a relationship with God through our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus say, “Change me Oh Lord”? How many times have you heard Christians say, “If you find anything in me that shouldn’t be, take it out and strengthen me?”
When we sincerely accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and filled with His Holy Spirit we are instantly changed…once. God never said He would continue to ‘change’ us over and over again.
A catapillar turns into a butterfly once.
A flower changes into a fruit only once.
When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, He gives us His Holy Spirit to convict us when we’re wrong and won’t allow us to be comfortable in our sin. And, most of all He gives us the power to overcome.
He gives us the power to…
Subdue and overcome the lust of our flesh and our sinful nature…
Galatians 5:16 (NKJV)
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Resist the enemy…
James 4:7 (NKJV)
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Put away…
Ephesians 4:31 (NKJV)
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
1 Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV)
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Rid ourselves and put off…
Colossians 3:5-8 (NKJV)
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Lay aside…
Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)
12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Renewing of our thinking…
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
God gives us the power to change ourselves. Does God have the power to change us? Of course, but, if you ask Him to take something from you, your lust for example, you may not like how He chooses to do it.
If you ask God to make you stop doing a sin that you’re caught up in…you might not like how He makes you stop.
This is why we can’t ‘change people’. We can help them. We can inspire them. We can motivate them, but we can’t change anyone.
God gives us the power to stop on our own. We can’t do it without Him, but He expects us to do it ourselves.
BE BLESSTIFIED!
BE BLESSTIFIED! 
Part of this I think is that we want the preacher to wave a magic wand so that in a flash we’ll become instantly ‘good’. Of course, it doesn’t work that way…we’ll never get there and should come to God on our knees in humility knowing he loves us anyway, no matter how flawed we are.
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Well said my brother!
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A lot of the changes I think we as believers ask are physical changes. WE have to be the ones to put to action the fruit of Self Control. WE have to cling to Christ through temptation so we can endure. God changes once as you say, and then He refines with His fire afterward 🙂
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Very, Very, Very well said!!!!
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