Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

May 4, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO CHANGE A PERSON (part 4)

ACTS 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Before we begin on Saul, let’s catch up these last few days. If you have not noticed these past Devotionals, we are dealing with the subject of change. We have presented different passages of scripture dealing with the subject. This is an important subject. Why is it so important to talk about God changing us?

1. SO THAT WE KNOW HE CAN
If you are like me, there are things in my life that need to change. Despite all my ability and effort, there are times that I just cannot make it happen. It is important for me, as I read these passages, to realize that God can change things. We need to believe that God can take a person, a circumstance, a marriage, a relationship, and even a failure, and completely change it. If God can change a dishonest man like Zacchaeus, or a demon possessed man, then God can change anyone. We need to know that!

2. SO THAT WE KNOW HE WANTS TO
It is also important that we understand that God does not want us to get complacent, comfortable, or lazy. God wants us to grow, to mature, to change. We need to realize, every day we wake up, that God desires for us to make positive, spiritual changes throughout the day. Remember, “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord”.
So, God wants to change us, and God is able to change us.

3. SO THAT WE KNOW HE KNOWS HOW TO
* I Samuel 16: 7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Only God knows how to change a person completely. Because God sees and knows the heart. We fail when we try to change people. We will manipulate, argue, debate, convince, prove, and illustrate to try to change a circumstance or person. And we usually fail. Any change is normally temporary. As we get ready to look into how God changed Saul into Paul, keep in mind how the verses, and the principles can be applied to your life and to the changes God wants to make.

4. SO THAT WE KNOW WE NEED TO
Most people will not change, if they do not believe they need to change. They will not fix what they think is not broken. We need to know that God can do it, and we need to know that we need the change. When we know that, God can change us.