Since we are in Christ, everything changes, everything, I mean things within, things which are not seen, our thoughts, our hope, the peace we carry, the words we speak, and our actions. These are just a few of the things that change. Others could be the TV programs we watch, the people whom we hang out with, our time on social media, and the websites we read … Thus every aspect of our lives has the potential for a dramatic change. And the fruits of this dramatic change are exciting, resplendent, and beautiful.
As a Christian, who has accepted Jesus Christ as savior, you are bound to have a dramatic change. The reasons for this 180-degree change are very evident. Here are a few specific reasons and instances. Don’t rush through these. Pause, think, and consider these. Ask the Holy Spirit, and enquire how this speaks to your life situation/ circumstances.
We have the Mind of Christ,
But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16b NKJV)
We have a transformed heart.
Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. (1 Peter 3:3-4 NKJV)
Samaria lady – our inspiration?
We know that the lady at the well in Samaria was transformed by Jesus. She had 5 or more husbands or men in her life, she was a lady of poor morals. Yet after she encountered Jesus she became an evangelist! She gave the good news to everyone in the city of Samaria. She gave them an opportunity to know and experience Jesus. The people believed in Jesus after they met Jesus. What a dramatic change! Most probably she could have become the first evangelist mentioned in the Bible.
Don’t think that you have lost that opportunity for dramatic change. Rather the above clue can point to hundreds and probably thousands of similar other opportunities. For instance, you can be the first evangelist in your family. My son Joseph can be the first evangelist among his siblings. You can be the first evangelist in the office you are based in. You could be the first evangelist in the street you stay. Thus unique opportunities for showing the dramatic changes are innumerable.
Having five partners did not satisfy her. Watching pron, liquor, and drugs will neither. Only seeking Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior can give us abundant Peace and great Joy. That shift will bring a dramatic change in our lives. The Samaritan lady who avoided everyone in the city and came to the well at a lonely time was dramatically changed. She went ahead and called each and every person to Jesus and led them to encounter Jesus.
Corrupt tax collector – a role model?
The tax collector Zacchaeus was notorious. He had exploited the rich and poor, exhorted money from them without any mercy, and was never just and never considerate. Lord Jesus just chose him, called him, and told him that He would dine with Him. Jesus walked with Him. Jesus never spoke a word accusing Zacheus. Yet an encounter with Jesus transformed him. Here is the dramatic change.
Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:8-10 NKJV)
These are just a few of the instances of dramatic change in the Bible. There are very many, many more.
Here is a dramatic transformation of David.
David, who was a shepherd boy, defeated the giant Goliath and became the King.
Gideod’s transformation from the least in his father’s house to saving Israel from the Midianites is a dramatic change of great inspiration. Here is an excerpt from the 6th chapter of Judges.
Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
Gideon said to Him, “O my lord if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.“ (Judges 6:11-16 NKJV)
Here are powerful verses – speaking about great transformation – the very basis for dramatic change.
To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. (Isaiah 61:3 NKJV)
Action is required to make the transformation. David declared before going to fight the Philistine giant.
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”(1 Samuel 17:45-47 NKJV)
We have to modify the tools we have in our hands. Change the plowshares we carry. Change the printing hooks we have. We have to declare the truth of God’s word over our circumstances and life situations.
Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong. (Joel 3:10 NKJV)
As the Lord Jesus is with us, we do not delay the dramatic change. We speak to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Counselor, our defender.
Do not delay.
Now is the time.
Today is the day.
Ask thee Lord Jesus to come into your life.
Seek and receive Him as your Lord and Saviour.
Not for the sake of it.
But as you really desire Him.
May your dramatic change in life start.
Have much more to share, but I’d better go deeper with what has already been shared above.
Note on the picture: This beautiful and aesthetic spring photo is from a Russian cherry orchard.
