Change for Better...

by Terry Dashner

Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken
Arrow, OK 74013

It is said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again, each time expecting a different outcome. You and I know
that reality says otherwise. If you expect a different result,
you must change your current actions. Change is necessary. It is
human; however, it’s not always easy.

Here are the basics: in order to change one’s behavior, one must
change one’s thinking. And to change one’s thinking, one must
change one’s input. You know—garbage in, garbage out. Or in this
case, a man’s reality is measured in terms of what he perceives.
In other words, think on good things and your behavior will
follow. This is certainly a principle in Scripture.

Think on these things

In the fifth chapter of John, Jesus speaks to an invalid of 38
years and says, “Do you want to get well?” The invalid answers
the question curiously. He says that he has no one to help him
into the healing waters. Evidently he wanted healing, but his
perception of how to get healed lacked a certain reality. Seems
he was repeating the same actions over and over again, each time
hoping something different would happen. Did it? No.

Change of outcome came when he responded to three things. These
three things can change anyone.

For one, he heard the command of Jesus to walk. He acted on the
authority of His command and walked. This is important for
change. One must hear the Word of God and act on it to change
for the better. Hearing and merely hoping for the better won’t
do it. One must hear God speak and then immediately respond to
it. This is referred to in Bible teaching as “hearing and
receiving the word.”

Secondly, he stayed the course. This is vital to victory. Hold
the line. Remain steadfast. Don’t give up. Jesus saw the man
later and told him to refrain from going backwards. He told him
to sin no more or a worse condition might come on him. The most
powerful thing a man or woman can do is stay the course in life.
Stay connected with God. Don’t get blessed and then turn away
from God’s blessings. Keep up the good fight of faith until the
last breath. Again, perseverance is the most powerful force, in
line with godliness.

And then last, tell somebody what God has done for you. As soon
as the man knew who healed him, he began to publish it abroad.
He began to tell people what Jesus had done for him. This, too,
is powerful. That’s right. A man’s testimony regarding the grace
of God not only overcomes the devil, but it renews the man
speaking it and saves the one who hears and receives it.

How can we change our results? We change our actions. The action
is in hearing and receiving the commands of God. The action is
in staying the course with God. The action is telling everyone
who is capable of changing—Jesus is the master potter.

Man is clay. He is the potter of the clay. He, and He alone, can
change the clay into pottery of beauty. If man responds in
faith, stays the course, and tells everybody that Jesus is the
one who makes the change for better.

Pastor T.dash

A pastor of a small church.