Yes! You Really CAN Change - Where Do We Get the Power to Change?, Part 2

Are you bored is your Bible reading seem dry your prayers, bouncing off the wall. Are you going to church and feel like it status quo. Nothing is really happening and you're simply not experiencing the power in the presence of Christ in your life will that's where you're at you tuned in on the right time on the right day as we talk about how you can experience supernatural power of Christ. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with your favorite Jaffar Bible teacher of this international discipleship ministry motivating Christians to live like wrist were in the middle of chip series. Yes, you really can see hearing that you may be thinking that's impossible but discouraging feeling of being stuck well, but as we've heard in the series so far. Genuine life change. With God's help us learn more about this important concept of strip brings us part two of his message. When we get the power to change from Ephesians chapter 4 life change always begins with the truth. Its objective here is what I want you to get we we are so in excess essential world. We think it's our experience, we think it life changes.

Trying harder. We think there's some formula, we think of religious activities. We have all kind of people telling you self-help ways of how life change happens life change metamorphosis from the inside out New Testament always begins with the truth and here's three truths that come out of this. Number one, you are free since powers been broken like that in your notes.

I am free. Number two, you are forgiven. Not only has since power been broken, but since penalty has been paid for Christ when he hung upon the cross, the sins of all people of all time were placed on him and he absorbed it for you in your place so right I'm forgiven, and third, you are secure. Death doesn't have dominance over you anymore because you have eternal life. The moment you turn from your sin in the empty hands of faith trusting in Christ, the spirit of God came into you sealed you with the spirit adopted due to his family took you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light give you new relationship with God the father through the blood of Christ, relationship with the supernatural community called the body of Christ, gave you an inheritance. He's preparing a place for you. Deposit spiritual gifts and you gave purpose for your life and you'll never be the same, but it happened in objective space time history. These are facts.

Satan does not have power over you anymore, you can give in to sin. You can give into temptation.

You can be fearful of demonic spirits, but you as a believer, a child of God, a son or daughter can look straight in the eye can look sin and realize you can give into it, but does have power over you.

You not a slave to it. Give a choice power you have access truth. That's the beginning of real life change.

You can feel it or not feel it. Your forgiven your free in your secure begins with the truth. Fact number two we become co-partakers of Christ's victory over sin, death, and same Satan.

The moment we receive Christ as our personal savior by faith member.

What I said, whatever is true of Jesus, the teaching of the New Testament in the Bible. It's true of you, this gets a little bit vague and hard to understand about a picture that will help you, but I want you if you will turn to Romans chapter 6 ask you to do a little work here is your turn to Romans chapter 6, I want to read a few of the verses that came before the questions that the young man asked me, that came before.

The questions that a young mom asked me the apostle Paul. What I'm going to share is so radical even in that day because God is going to say that the grace of God is so overwhelming no matter where you are health how far you are however deep the sin is grace abound still more, so much so that people were bending the truth and they started saying hey you know something this is this New Testament stuff is really great. If God gives more grace if you send more.

What we do start sending more. Chapter 6 opens up with an emphatic, that is not at all an option. He says what shall we say then shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase by no means now follow carefully.

This is the key. We died to sin.

How then can we live in it any longer, or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised in the dead to the glory of the father, we too might live, or literally. It's our same word might walk in newness of life. Now follow along carefully.

If we been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly be united with him in his resurrection, for we know that our old self was crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be done away that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died is freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe, will also live with him, for we know that since Christ was raised from the dead. He cannot die again death no longer has mastery over him the death he died, he died to sin once and for all but the life he lives, he lives to God in the same way application, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus, and he begins to explain what that is and how to do that. I will discuss that as we go along. This process, you will learn how to count yourselves dead to sin and how to present your members by faith. But let me give you picture that's been very helpful to me. I'm going to just take this block away to put a cross on it and let's let this represent Christ. And let's have this very heavy looking bolt represent us apart from Christ and all I want you to get is what we know is good, has a certain nature or properties and steel bolts have a certain nature or properties.

There's a gravitational pull in life and there's a gravitational pull for all of us away from God called sin and left to ourselves. Does anybody know if I take this heavy ball and put it in this water.

What will happen in the predictions in a sink. Let's test this theory, my lands were an amazing group now.

The properties of water quite different. If I take this piece of wood and laid in the water. Can you tell me what can happen in float. Why because is it is better just it's different is a completely different nature. What the Bible teaches in Romans chapter 6 what Paul is explaining in verses seven through 10 of Ephesians chapter 4 is that Christ died in your place. He descended to the lower parts of the earth, he declared victory over the wicked, he proclaimed new life. He rose from the dead. He's conquered sin, death and Satan in the moment that you believe and trust in him, you become a co-partaker. By faith, which is this rubber band and so what you see is when God the father sees you member justified when God sees you and need to get this you need to get this in your intellect and get into your heart. God declared you righteous based on his work, and when he looks at you despite your experiential kinds of sin. He sees you as righteous as forgiven is through the lens of the blood of his son as precious as a child is adopted, you'll never be more loving you are today and you're connected to him forever now, in this journey of sanctification.

How do I live out what's true with me. He says this is how it works, whatever is true of him is now true view. Now can I pull the rubber band often get wet if I want to sure I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and this life I now live. I live by faith in the son of God who loves me and gave himself for me. It's not religious activity. It's not a formula it's not my self effort of trying hard. It's understanding the bed rock of truth that when you trust in Christ you're connected to him for all eternity. So principle number one life change begins with the truth. Principle number two.

We must act on the truth for life change to occur, life change demands that we act on the truth Gino acting on the truth is called in the Bible faith think that's what is now faith isn't a feeling, faith isn't something we do, we thought faith is believing what God has said to the point of acting on it. Whether I feel like it or not. When I say that again because sometimes I think we think, I don't have enough faith you have to feeling faith is believing what God is said to the point I act on it with our feel like it or not, God says that sexual purity is my will for this relationship. I don't feel like that may be in a relationship and I say you know what I'm can act on that in the moment I act and make provision to be sexually pure God gives grace and he does a lot of wonderful things in that relationship with that sin block. Faith says I'm gonna prioritize the first portion of my life my future my priorities in my relationships. By what God says I don't feel like loving my wife. I don't feel like turning off the remote, walking over in dealing with one of my kids. I don't always feel like to, but when, by faith I trust the other side of faith is the moment I take that step. It's obedience and I get grace. That's how transformation occurs left to myself. I don't do very well. So there's community of people who their gifts and their love and their encouragement and help me on my walk is never what we learn about the little babies when they walk step step step great man right more often to keep falling in with a heavenly father who understands who says look that's who you really are. My dad did not grow up as a Christian and I've been a Christian year and even sometimes in God's changing you.

It's so close to you. Don't see how it really works and all I knew was what I just shared with you about what Christ had done. I trusted him in 1972 I went away to college and there was a bricklayer who who's a godly man who came up and taught me how to get the Bible for myself as I started reading the Bible and in the mornings and memorized in just a few verses and I got a small group into some Bible study and unit, little by little, just the old was passing away and new had come, but I long way to go, and I came home that summer and after about three weeks. My dad said what happened to we mean what happened you mean what you mean, what happened to me. There's a piece about you. I can understand a civil that I I you. We cut we went to church, but we didn't believe the Bible and we did know about a personal relationship to God's. It was hard to say supply. I put my faith in Christ and I have a new relationship with God so civil how to get it. And honestly I don't like this is not really good news for the people that were helping me. I suppose I said I don't know how.

And so that's I just said what I the one key I said I started reading the Bible so you know you gotta ex-Marine. Okay that's how you do it. He got up at five every morning read the Bible for year almost back to Mark, Luke and John Matthew Mark Luke and John met then finally like six months into the ghost do these guys not know the story they keep telling the same story over and over and I disable actually dad in a marked right to the Romans and Luke to the Greeks and you know it's sort of the composite picture in after six months my dad comes to million money he been in religious all his life and in his own words he would sell it to church when I was drunk or not.

He's a recovering alcoholic who, because he knew his going to lose. As Mary stopped drinking a year earlier and he wants to change and doesn't know how his kid comes home and is something different this kid can't explain.

Even yet I wish I could've said all that is a substitute substitutionary work of Christ.

He died in your place on the cross rose from the dead. What he wants you by faith turn to him like I could and so he just but here's the point. Truth, life change begins with the truth he got in the Bible all tie with the people that I meet and talk to in terms of their journey with God. I would much rather have someone read the Bible with me and have coffee in my put my arm around him as a friend… Talk about what this is like for months as opposed to someone feeling some quick moment of guilt print a quick prayer as I will take God's word never returns void after six months. He says to me you know something I don't know what this whole deal is you have but it has something to do with faith we ought here's a goddess never read the Bible faith and I said that I think you're right.

He says so what I do. I said I know can help so just another nine months or so and I go off to school and I get a call little bit later and he said I got it I got it as it would mean you got it. I'm a Christian now, is it really what happened dad. He said why knew was about faith. I kept reading, reading, reading, and I know where it came from but I was walking by my dresser and there was a little pamphlet called the four spiritual laws and I read it had all the stuff I've been reading. God has a plan for your life, what separates you from God is your sin. Christ died in your place. You need to trust in my faith and had little prayer and it was like wow so that's how you do it. He said what I did. I got downright on my bed and I said God, I've killed thousands and thousands and thousands of people and I live with nightmares and shame all my life but I receive the blood of Jesus to forgive me. Right now, this moment in my dad's late 50s he came to Christ life change begins with the truth, life change demands that we act on the truth by faith. Let me give you the greatest example of acting on the truth. At the very bottom. I put a little chart if you will, and I put a verse because it's truth and I want you to get to act on it if that's where your head. The truth is Romans 623 it says for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now what what what output there is a picture of, like a two cliffs if you will. There's us on the side and there's God on the side and when you look at that on the cost side it says the wages what what are wages, it's what you earn right foot, you get what you do. The wages of our sin.

What sin it just means you missed the mark in the image below it, it means you have a thought that you know was not a good thought, it means that you know you know it's right to do what you don't do it. Everyone has sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but the wages of sin. There is this chasm. Like in Luke 16, there's this chasm that separates us from God forever, but the free gift of God through Jesus you have eternal life. So what you need to do is you need to pull your pen out and I want you to make a bridge because Jesus is the bridge to life. So make a little bridge okay and once you make a horizontal line want to make it really cool nifty bridge and put a vertical line if you put a vertical line in the horizontal line when you have their cross now here were right back to what Jesus said. Jesus said the day will come when I'm going to speak to all that are dead.

One day all of us will be dead. One day Jesus will return and he said truly, truly, or verily, verily, just for emphasis.

This is really important, I say to all of you. Those of you who hear my word, and believe on him sent me has present tense eternal life.

So you are looking at truth.

The truth is there is a fact that the eternal son of God, fully man and fully God, walked upon the earth live the perfect life.

He built a bridge and he paid for the wages of your sin, and he atoned or he's covering death and it's by grace. It's a complete free gift and if by faith.

You receive the free gift you move from this side of the bridge to the other side and according to Jesus, it means you hear his word and then you believe and when you do that, the gift of eternal life. You taken from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light your free your forgiven in your secure some of you today that this is the most wonderful day in your life ever. Today is better than the day that you were born because today's the day that you will be born a second time to be born spiritually.

Jesus said physical life requires a physical birth spiritual life requires a spiritual birth. If you have never, by faith not come to church not try to be a moral person not tried read the Bible little bit on the talk given to the United Way not talk about being religious.

If you have never, by faith, said I'm going to trust in the objective facts of what Christ did in my place than right now in your seat. The greatest thing you could do is cry out to God, whether you feel or not feel is to say, your sin separates you from God for all eternity in God's word says his desire is that not one person would perish. And so he's offered you free gift and so you by faith say I'm going to trust in Christ. I want to be united to him, will you please forgive me right now. I'm sorry for my sin. I turn from it. It's called repentance and I wanted receive right now eternal life. You can pray that in your seat right now at this moment God will hear Jesus came to give you that today back number one his death and resurrection is a key life change always begins with the truth. Fact number two, you become a co-partaker.

When you receive Christ personally.

Principle number two is like change demands we act on the truth.

Remember when the conquering victor Gen. or King when he was declaring his victory. Remember, there's the military.

He humiliates his foes, but what number what's in the back. The spoils he gave gifts to everybody. He gave gifts of what was conquered. So every time people got a gift. They were reminded what the love of their king and the victory that they shared in fact number three. Every believer is given a spiritual gift, a supernatural enabling at the moment of salvation for two reasons. Every believer, what does it mean he gave gifts to men. Reason number one to remind us that life change occurs on the basis of grace not self effort. When that lady is milking that cow when another lady sees the bracelet when the blacksmith when he came to town.

He said hey while here you can have a donkey into camels when he's taking care of those animals. He's reminded my King won a great victory. The evidence and reminder that I was given this gift is my King's work for me and that's the imagery.

Can you imagine what would happen if every time you used your spiritual gift. If you really discovered what it was and you realize you have this super natural sacred endowment that you used to get to love people in a supernatural way that it would remind you to gift your salvation is a gift. The second reason is to be empowered as other centered agents of grace, who supply what others need to be transformed into the likeness of Christ member if life change happens in community, sort of in a spiritual cocoon will I was pretty honest with you last this last week I wasn't humble and gentle and patient and bearing with and making every effort all the time.

I had a lot of the right side and you know what I need to learn to be humble. I need people to put me first. I need people to be patient with me. I need people that will be critical and judgmental that will be grace filled and loving and kind is what happens to every year around you become like, and when the Jesus inside of you and the Jesus inside of me as we do life together from the heart. Honestly, the spirit of God will take your gifts and meet my needs and my gifts to meet your needs and so you have wisdom will make a great decision.

Experience God for all really blow it. No feel ashamed and down myself and beat myself up in the enemy will say see Ingram you're a lousy stinking and you have the gift of mercy using chip that you experience your God loves you, the world's not over. And so it gives us power as we use our gifts with one another.

The principle of life changes both a gift and responsibility to gift right back with this application.

This message we get the power to change your listening to Living on the Edge and were in the middle of chip series. Yes, you really can change it.

Other so much practical insight in the series based in Ephesians chapter 4. Four people desperate for something in the life to change. If you're looking to mend a broken relationship or overcome a recurring personal struggle, genuine life changes absolutely possible, but it takes a lot of work. Maybe a good way to get some help would be to share this message with a friend than meet over coffee or jump on zoom to talk about accountability and community are essential in becoming what God's called us to be to find all the resources for yes, you really can change including chips book study guides and small group videos just go to LivingontheEdge.org or call AAA to 333-6003. I'll be right back to talk about today's teaching and giving some real practical application. But before I do I want to just remind you that the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ provided spiritual gifts to all men, and when we activate and use those spiritual gifts. We serve the body.

We help other people grow, we help them become like Christ and I just think it would be wise for all of us to take a minute and thanks some people that have exercise their spiritual gift you're listening to this today because some people with the gift of giving have generously given over and above what they give to local church to Living on the Edge and then I would say we want to thank those people with the gift of mercy that long to help everyone and they realize they can't do it all on their own so they partner with us as we reach out and help others that are in need and we put all kind of free resources up and I'm convinced it's people with the gift of mercy that say you know we've got to help those single moms and single dads and people the gift of mercy. You say you know a lot of those prisoners that we help a lot of those military personnel.

We have letters and emails from all these people and we provide resources on a regular basis to help them. And finally, I want to say just thank you to those of you who may be you're not quite sure what your gift is but you just care. Our ministry is on the air because of the faithful and generous financial support of those who benefit from it and those who realize that Christians need to live like Christians about a million people every week from the radio alone mean forget the Internet and podcasting, streaming, and all the rest, but a million people here God's word put into practice. I want to say first thank you to our partners who are making that a reality but also like you to stop right now and say when's the last time you exercise maybe some giving or spiritual gift and request that you get on board you know the generosity of others has provided this for you when you like to be on the team provided for others is partnering with Living on the Edge is an idea that makes sense to you. We'd love to have you join us helping Christians live like Christians will change the world we live in.

To donate, just go to LivingontheEdge.org Donate all the app or give us a call a triple late. 333-6003. Your generosity is greatly appreciated will now here's chip with his application for the last two days we've been talking about how to experience Christ resurrection power in our lives.

There's three transformational principles we dealt with number one life change always begins with the truth.

Number two life change demands that we act on the truth, and number three life changes both a gift and a responsibility today as I begin to apply that I talked about the evidence of walking by faith in God, having the first portion of our money in the first portion of our time and then I talked about that very sensitive area of forgiveness and I want to camp there, stop there. I sense that maybe many of you listening to my voice have a issue with forgiveness. In fact I came back from a conference that I didn't. I was teaching this material, and a man came up to me and he looked very distraught and he said to me chip but I do taste them and begin to explain a long painful story of thousands and thousands of dollars to a man who married his daughter and she was abandoned and what she's been through and he had anger and bitterness and resentment and in his heart of hearts he said I just can't forgive that guy and I said we can ask a question that will sure I said you feel like you're experiencing Christ resurrection power in your life said no not at all and I said you know something, there's a correlation here God has forgiven and released you from that what you've done wrong in the passage we looked at is just as Christ has forgiven us. We are to forgive or release others. I can't imagine how many people with X mates bad bosses, rebellious kids, abusive parents have unforgiveness in your heart and your life that is quenching the power of God the application today is release them, forgive them. It's not a feeling it's a choice. It's a decision animal to call you before God right now to act on the truth that you know they don't deserve it.

They have hurt you, but you release them. You entrust them to God's justice and you make a commitment that you will not bring up in your mind negative, destructive thoughts, or you will not say negative, destructive things about you let it go. You forgive and then I want to encourage you that to seal that deal begin today. Praying for them asking God to encourage them and help them and literally even bless them member. Those words of Jesus.

Bless those who persecute you. The end of our conference, we took the Lord's supper and I walk people through a time of blessing or praying for those who had really heard him. He came up after the Lord's supper and he said you know something I started a whole new life this weekend. I said what you mean is that I prayed for that man who has milk me out of thousands of dollars and hurt my daughter and what I saw as my heart is beginning to change. Who do you need to forgive. Do it today, God will honor it. He will bless it and it is what truth looks like in your life so exercise faith release them even as God is released you. Just before we close. I want you to know that as a staff we ask the Lord to help you take whatever your next faith step is. We'd love to hear how it's going. Would you take a minute to send a note or give us a call either one is easy. Just send a quick note to chip LivingontheEdge.org or give us a call a triple late. 333-6003 that's AAA 33360031. Glad you've been with us and until next time, this is Dave Drewry saying thanks for listening to this addition of living on the