POWER TO CHANGE
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Monday, August 17
No one is perfect, we all make mistakes, and sometimes we do the wrong thing. There are two main reasons why we make mistakes: we got distracted or we lack knowledge. A mistake is getting distracted and making a wrong turn. A mistake is showing up to church at 11:30 because you did not know that the service begins at 11:00. The good news about mistakes is that we can learn from them, we can correct them and then we can make the necessary changes. But we have a much deeper problem because there are things in our lives that we cannot correct and we cannot change. When you know that you shouldn’t act a certain way but you continue doing so, that is not a mistake. When you can’t stop doing things that you know are wrong that is not a mistake. That is evidence of a much bigger problem. That is evidence of sin.
No one is perfect, we all sin, and sometimes we do the right thing. Our problem is not that we are mistakers our problem is that we are sinners. When you do something wrong knowingly, that is sin. When you premeditate wrong behavior and execute it that is sin. We can correct our mistakes; what we’re not able to do is to correct our sins. Haven’t you noticed that no matter how many areas of your life you correct, sin continues to pop up? You fix one problem behavior and then another one pops up, or you think you’ve fixed the problem but days later you’re back to your same old self. That’s because sin is not a behavior problem, sin is a condition that we are all born with. Sin is part of our DNA. It’s in every one of us, and we can’t escape it. Sin is evidence of the fact that we can’t change ourselves, sin is evidence that we need a new life.
Titus 3:4-5 NLT
When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
The bad news is that we are all sinners; that’s the way we were born. The Good news is that God wants to birth us into an entirely new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. The first step in acquiring this new life is to admit that you’re a sinner. The second step is to get plugged in to the Holy Spirit through prayer and reading God’s word followed by becoming part of the body of Christ in a local church. Because God loves you he wants to change you by setting you free from the condition of sin. In some areas His work is instantaneous. In other areas you’ll need a little bit of patience because He takes His time in order to perfect you. And don’t worry no matter how impossible it may look, God always finishes what he starts. All you need to do is to stay plugged in to the power of the Holy Spirit.
True change can only be accomplished through the POWER of the Holy Spirit working in us.
Heavenly Father, I know you’re working in me and perfecting me every day through your Holy Spirit, help me to admit my sins before you and stay connected to your transforming power, so you can complete the perfect work that started in my life.
Robert Cruz Jr.
Bobby Cruz Jr. became Senior Pastor of CDA Miami in 1999, continuing the work that his father, Bobby Cruz began in 1980. Bobby Jr. is an engaging speaker whose passion is to lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus. He has five children and he lives with his wife Ana in Doral, FL.