Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt
God help me to change. How many times have I lifted that prayer before the Lord in different degrees of emotion and exasperation over the years? How many times have you prayed that prayer? As a Christian, don’t we all pray that prayer? Don’t we all want to be more Christ-like?
The answer can only be absolutely! I say that because the second we surrender our life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our spirit yearns and cries out for it. We are told that our sins have been forgiven, and though our minds struggle to comprehend the possibility and reality of that truth, our heart leaps with joy knowing it to be true! And, God confirms that inward yearning to be more Christ-like as we see in 2 Corinthians 3:18 TLB. “…And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him.”
And we see it yet again in 2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires”
These verses are revealing! This last one so powerful that it’s almost mind-blowing! Did you catch God’s Words “…so that through them you may participate in the divine nature?” That means we have the Holy Spirit of God working within us. That is the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit that He makes available to us. God does help us but we must understand that the Holy Spirit doesn’t work independently without our participation. The verse says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him…”
The first step of change is putting ourselves in Godly atmospheres where God can get His Word to us to speak to our heart. When we do, we are instructed by His words that speak truth like, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.” (Romans 12:2 NLT)
God says the way to become more like Jesus is to change the way we think. How do we change the way we think? We begin to elevate the truth of God’s word over our previous shallow and limited thinking. Do you know the future? No, but God does. Do you have the power to change the unchangeable? No, but God does. If you’re honest, you will admit you can’t even change yourself or your life to be all you really want it to be without His help. I know there are many motivational speakers out there with a good heart and good intentions giving their ra-ra exhortations to you saying, You can be anything you want to be. But, it’s a speech that’s not entirely true. You can’t without God’s help. His help says, “Change the way you think and do that by renewing your mind to the promise of my Word.”
I used to think God could never love me because of my past sins and behavior. Nothing would have changed my thinking on that if I hadn’t been exposed to His Word which taught me otherwise! It changed the way I think. It exposed His will to me. Jeremiah 31:3 NLT spoke to my heart and helped me realize God’s love for me saying, “…I have loved you with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself,” and in Romans 5:8 NLT, “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
I would have put all sorts of limitations on myself about what I could accomplish! But, God’s word changed my thinking with God’s truth saying, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV) 
God says, “Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better.” Ephesians 4:23 (TLB). He desires that we elevate our thinking and thoughts by allowing His word to be our source of all our truth, exchanging wrong and bad thinking for His truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” As we let God transform our thinking, we begin to gain the strength and power of knowing truth from the lies of the devil. Satan says, “Your going to fail and end up in Hell.” God says, Your forgiven, adopted into the family of God, filled with my Holy Spirit, and given the promises of God to strengthen you to live the blessed future I have for you!
Make Jesus your Savior and then change your mind! Do so and you’ll change your entire life. That’s where supernatural transformation begins. So elevate God’s Word in your life and believe it! You’ll never be the same! You’ll begin to be transformed by the power of God’s Word!
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.” (Romans 12:2 NLT)
In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt
If Fresh Manna is a blessing to you, I’d love to know. Click here: FreshMannaFeedback
How Your Donations Are Used? click here
Published by Pastor Tim Burt
Copyright© 2021 All rights reserved
http://TimBurt.org
