Change Archives : Living Success

Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven. —Matthew 18:19 (AMP)

Day after day we are constantly hearing and seeing terrible news accounts of wars, bombings, disasters, killings, etc. around the world. Before we are able to deal with the effects of one devastation event another one comes up. There is a feeling of hopelessness that invades the world and more intensely the lives of these who suffer the loss of loved ones on account of someone’s heartless and evil act. There is feeling of futility to all the fighting and killing, and sickness and disease we see permeating throughout our world. At times it causes us to wonder if there is any point to doing the good works that we do. And often wonder if prayer does make a difference.

One thing I have also noticed is that as Christians and most people generally tend to react to the problems as they occur. We call for prayer and for all work together in any way possible to help the hurting souls struck by these misfortunes. That is very good on our part. Yes, Jesus has called us extend His love to others (Matthew 25:31-39). We should by all means not fail to do good works and show the love of God to others.

However, there is another aspect to this that is often missed. When we help others during their difficult times we are being reactive. But as Christians we must be proactive. Why? The word of God tells us that the devil is going about seeking to find people to devour (1 Peter 5:8)! He is busily about the work of stealing, killing and destroying lives. Somehow, we don’t get that. It is only when we face trouble that we remember that we need to pray and to work to counter his works. But we should be many steps ahead of the enemy to destroy his works before he destroys us, our loved ones and those who haven’t yet come to know Christ as their Savior and Lord. When we are proactive prayer warriors, we stop evil in its tracks.

How can you be proactive in this fight against the enemy? Pray, pray and more pray. Paul instructs us to always be rejoicing and praying (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We must be unrelenting in prayer because the enemy will go to any means to steal from us, kill us or destroy us. We need a 24/7 connection to our Father God. Wherever and whenever, we can talk to God about what’s happening in our world. We can pray that His will be done on the earth. As we do this more and more, we will begin to see more of God’s hand in our lives for our good.

At times we fail to recognize the power of the words we speak in prayer and in our daily conversation. If we always speak contrary to what the word of God says we will for sure reap bad results (Proverbs 18:21). If we agree with the word of God about every detail of our lives, we will experience an abundant life.

Very closely intertwined with what we say is our belief system. We don’t believe that prayer can positively impact our world. We don’t believe that God can forewarn us of trouble and that through work of prayer we can prevent it. Often we silently tell ourselves that we are not seeing any change as quickly as we want to, so we give up and give into accepting everything that is not good. We faint or lose heart when Jesus wants us to keep praying. I have experienced for myself and heard of testimonies where prayer saved lives and restored broken families. I have seen people’s lives transformed because others were willing to pray until change came. I have known of those to whom God brought revelation which led them to pray and thus save others from accident and death.

Jesus’ outburst in the temple when He found people conducting business there bears an important truth for us. He certainly was not pleased by what He saw. One thing He expects is that we would be temples of prayer.That we would gather into His house to pray and be in constant communication with Him. We often think we gather with the main focus of worship – of course, we must worship this great God. Yet we have another important responsiblity when we meet – to pray. We must pray for our needs, for our country, for our government, for those who are sick, for peace throughout the world. We must pray for anything and everything because we want to set up God will and purpose on the earth. When we pray we must take authority over the wicked principalities and powers and establishing God’s rule in our lives and in this world. For certain, as we prayer in agreement, God says that He will honor our requests (Matthew 18:19).

I want to urge you, pray more. Pray without ceasing. Pray for the needs you see all around you whether near or far. Pray for protection and safety of yourself and others. Pray and believe that the Father will respond to your requests and send help. Pray proactively, don’t wait for trouble to come (Matthew 6:10). Pray and rejoice even before you receive the answers. Pray and change your world.

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Be an Agent of Positive Change

The Real You, Thinking Success

In the previous post, Change Comes, Embrace It, I spoke of how we often don’t like change and one way we can handle changes when they come. Today, I am talking about change but from the perspective of you being the change agent.

We hear stories of good and great things that people do and we think ourselves, “That’s great but I couldn’t do that.” Who told you so? The response we’d typically here is, “No one, I just know that’s not me”. The truth is we often believe the lies of the enemy that makes us stay where we are wishing things could change but never thinking we can be the ones to make the change.

Everyday we see people and groups who boldly proclaim their rights that bring about change – and often it is negative. Why are Christians not as bold to proclaim Christ and bring about positive change instead? It goes back to our negative self-talk or how we view of ourselves. We claim to have “valid” reasons for not stepping out to make a change or difference in the community around us. Sometimes we are more concerned about what others will say about us more than what God thinks of us.

But we need to rearrange our thinking or thought habits. We need to align our thoughts to what God says about us. Moses thought he could not speak well and represent Israel before pharaoh but God saw him as a leader and deliverer (Exodus 4). Gideon saw himself at the least in his family but God saw him as a might man of valor (Judges 6). David was also considered the least amongst his siblings but God saw him as a king and a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 16). God took the least among men and used them to bring about positive change in the lives of many.

So what about you? How do you see yourself? Please, erase from your mind the negative thoughts you have of yourself. Begin to look at yourself through the eyes of God your heavenly Father. Search the scriptures and remind yourself that:

You are a child of the Most High God
You have been made righteous through Christ
You are an overcomer
You can do great things because you know God
You have been chosen to be fruitful

Right where you are you can bring change – in your home, your community, your church and beyond. The key to starting positive change is in you knowing confidently that you can with Christ being your help and strength. It starts by being Christ-confident and not self-confident. It continues with thinking and speaking positive change to actively making positive change. You know where you are at. You see the challenges in your world – the children who need food and love, the teens who are longing for belonging, the young families needing guidance to stay together and be strong. The problems you see around you that burden you are often the ones that God wants you to solve. He wants you to be an agent of change right where you are.

Don’t doubt what you can do but believe you can with Christ helping you all the way. Trust in Him who can do work through you to bring change.

What change can you start making today?

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Change Comes, Embrace it

Thinking Success

Life is full of change, whether we like it our not. When we are young, we are very excited to become adults. When we become adults, we wish to be young again and relive some of those years. At times, we are excited about and eagerly embrace change but most of the time we resist it. We wish silently in our hearts and we show it in our actions that change is not welcomed.

But the fact is change will come. There are some changes that you will definitively make on your own and you willing go through the process. On the other hand, some changes are forced on you and are hard to accept. You may have lost your job and you’re faced with lots of unpaid bills. Maybe you have lost a substantial amount of savings because of a failed investment. Perhaps you’re faced with the sudden illness of a loved one. We’ve either been through change or about to experience it again.

Over the past few months, I have relocated. I said good-bye to familiar people, places, and activities. I changed my job, my house, my church, made new friends and renewed old friendships. Even now, writing this blog is a change for me.

I remember when I was thinking of the changes that would be approaching, it seemed like it was easier to stay as I was. However, the more I thought about it and prayed about it, the more trusted God to be with me and guide me through the changes. Today as I look back I realize that I was able to make those changes with confidence. I am amazed at how well I went through the relocation without frustration and how smooth the process was. Thank God for His strength through it all!

One thing that has certainly given me ability to embrace change is the word of the Lord: “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrew 13:5, NKJV) That Word says a whole lot. Since God is with me:

I am never alone. I need not be afraid.
I can embrace the changes that are ahead of me. I can rely on Him to guide me through the changes.
I can positively progress and see success during and after the change.
I can be certain of one thing, though change will come, He remain constantly faithful and will keep His promises.

We need to run to God’s word when changes are happening that we don’t like. Through it we will find comfort, strength and strategy to get through the process. When change comes that does not seem beneficial to us, we must remind ourselves that the change will work in our favor because we are His and we love Him (Romans 8:28).

You may have had to deal with some unpleasant changes that you did not expect or anticipate. Unpleasant and untimely changes may have occurred that you wish never had. Take comfort in Christ that He is with you and will never fail you nor give up on you. He will help you through the change.

How have you dealt with change before? Encourage someone and yourself in the Lord.

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