The Power To Change.

“So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Zech. 4:6.

Charles Wendell Colson, American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970, tells of a frustrated prison psychiatrist who exclaimed, “I can cure a person’s madness, but not his badness.” How true! The only way to make bad people good is to expose them to the gospel. Even Charles Darwin, the man who contributed so much to evolutionist thinking, admitted this. He wrote to a minister: “Your services have done more for our village in a few months than all our efforts for many years. We have never been able to reclaim a single drunkard, but through your services I do not know that there is a drunkard left in the village!”

Later Darwin visited the island of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. What he found among the people was horrifying—savagery and bestiality almost beyond description. But when he returned after a missionary had worked among the people, he was amazed at the change in them. He acknowledged that the gospel does transform lives. In fact, he was so moved by what he saw that he contributed money to the mission until his death. The gospel transforms lives from "bad" to "good"—meaning, moving from self-centeredness and sin to love and righteousness—when natural instincts fail because it addresses the heart rather than just modifying external behaviour. While natural instinct relies on willpower and human effort, the gospel provides spiritual power for transformation.

The gospel recognizes that the root problem is a corrupt heart, not just bad actions. Trying to be good through instinct is like plucking fruit off a dead tree; the gospel replaces the heart of stone with a heart of flesh, changing the nature of the tree itself.bIt offers supernatural power rather than human willpower. Human willpower is easily defeated by temptation, fear, and exhaustion. The gospel operates by the power of God's Spirit, allowing individuals to do what they cannot do on their own. When people fail, natural instinct often leads to shame or despair, which hinders change. The gospel removes condemnation, providing a secure, forgiven identity that enables a person to rise and walk in righteousness rather than staying in defeat. Instead of trying to be good to gain approval, the gospel changes you inside out by the Spirit. Selah!

FURTHER READING:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” Rom. 1:16.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Cor. 1:18.

DECLARATION:

Dear Abba Father, I thank You for the gift of life and the privilege of salvation. Lord, I come before You, recognizing that my own strength is insufficient for the change I need. I invite the Holy Spirit to perform a supernatural work in my life. Transform the way I think. Remove the conformity to this world and shape me by Your Word. Holy Spirit, ignite a fresh fire, passion, and anointing within me. Turn my fear into faith, my worry into trust, and my weakness into strength. Remove every barrier and obstruction hindering my progress, and open doors that no man can shut in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:

Job. 8:1-22.

Job. 9:1-35.

Job. 10:1-22.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY:

“Spirituality Is Not First About Competency, It Is About Intimacy. It Is Not About Perfection, It Is About Connection.”