In the first two books I wrote, and already in the third book being written now, I begin the first chapter with the same exact sentence. The sentence is: “Nothing is impossible for God, not even you.” I want you to know this is a truth that applies to you just as much as it does to me.
What impossible thing do you need to believe for that it might happen? “For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37 AMP).
You might argue back with me on this idea that God can change you. You might even try to hold up the example of your life and how you long to change something but have not been able to, no matter how hard you have tried. However, your argument fails because you are telling me what you can’t do, not what God can’t do.
There’s a whole new life for you when once you’ve given it to God. “Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him” (Romans 12:1-2 CEV).
Then you might try to argue with me that if God can change you, then why hasn’t He done so yet? Because if He can change you, then surely you would have been changed. But this argument fails because it assumes God will force you to do something you do not want to do.
You’d be surprised what God can change in you if you’d just let Him. “I will also put a new spirit in you to change your way of thinking. I will take out the heart of stone from your body and give you a tender, human heart. I will put my Spirit inside you and change you so that you will obey my laws. You will carefully obey my commands” (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ERV).
But then the next argument comes, which is that you do want to change but just can’t do it. This argument fails because we are right back where we started. We are talking about what you cannot do. If you want to be changed, you must let God change you; there is no other way.
God changes the willing. “…let God transform you…” (Romans 12:2 NLT).
The problem we reach is that even if someone finally understands the secret to change, by wanting to change and then letting God do it, they still have to cross the bridge of surrender. This is a bridge in which we must leave behind the right to ourselves and surrender all to God.
God won’t bless that part of your life you have not yet surrendered to Him. “Jesus said to all of his followers, ‘If you truly desire to be my disciple, you must disown your life completely, embrace my ‘cross’ as your own, and surrender to my ways’” (Luke 9:23 TPT).
Then we get to the crux of the problem; it is ourselves. We say we want to change, but we conspire against the forces of heaven standing in the wings waiting for us to let them. Our pride sets in, our flesh stands tall, and the spirit man within only cowers before the flesh that rules him.
We trust in ourselves too much and in God too little, and the results show it. “If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself” (Proverbs 3:4-5 TLB).
Being changed by God is not for wimps because it will wreck every fiber of your flesh being. It takes no effort to surrender, yet it is seemingly the hardest thing we will ever do. Yet once we do, we will find that it was through surrender that we finally found victory.
The greater your surrender to Christ, the greater His victory will be in you. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20).
The bondage of self is deceiving because, in ourselves, we imagine ourselves free as we are. We think surrendering to the Lord will be the bondage we fear, yet it is the Lord who will set us free from ourselves. Once you are free from self, you will see your old self as the deception you were set free from.
For some things, you need to draw a line, step over it, and then vow never to return. “You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus. So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new” (Ephesians 4:21-23 GNT).
God can change you in an instant. All you must do is let Him. All of you for all of Him is the trade. You’re getting a better deal in this transaction. It takes one breath to surrender, but it often comes after a lifetime of striving on your own. Let God have you, and then you will have Him.
If you can believe God can change you, then He will. “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes’” (Mark 9:23 NKJV).
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius
In 1974 when I first surrendered my life to Jesus and repented with a godly sorrow for my sins and for the way I had lived my life and received Him into my heart, I knew immediately that I was not the same person on the inside. I thought differently and looked at life and sin and others differently for I was born again from above through the power of the Holy Spirit becoming a new creation in Christ and it was noticeable to my husband who knew me better than anyone. As I continue to surrender to the Lord giving the Holy Spirit free range in my life, I continue to change and grow having a hunger and thirst for the Word. When I would try to do it in my flesh I would always fail and would have to learn the lesson all over again. I remember saying to God on that very special day in Oct. 1974 when I first surrendered, “I want more of You” and Him answering me in my spirit, “then I need more of you.” I knew exactly what He was referring to at that moment as I looked over at my bedside table and saw the Winston Gold’s cigarettes that I had been in bondage to for many years. I remember saying, “Okay, I will give them to You, but You will have to ‘deliver’ me” (I can’t believe I spoke to the Lord like that, but He didn’t seem to mind as He knew I meant business!) and three days later when I testified in Sunday School that I had given my cigarettes to the Lord, from that day on I never again had a desire to smoke. I was completely delivered Praise the Lord and what a witness of God’s overcoming power that was to my husband! I could write on and on what my wonderful Heavenly Father and Lord and Savior Jesus has done in and for me for my God has been so very faithful in every way in my life and has kept me when I was weary, broken and tempted always knowing that only He had the words of eternal life. It was those times of brokenness and heartache that I grew closer to Jesus and understood what it meant to share in His sufferings. I wouldn’t change those times for anything now as hard as they were at the time. I love the Lord Jesus and my Heavenly Father with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength, and I am eagerly awaiting His appearing in the clouds to take His Bride Home to rule and reign and be with Him forever. Thank you, brother Paul for your timely and inspirational messages both here and on your FB page.
What a wonderful blessed testimony of what Christ can do in the life of a person willing to come to Him! Oh how much He wants to do the same for all people if only they would be willing. I was so blessed to read of how He delivered you from smoking as He did the same for me too. I remember how ashamed I was as a young Christian but still addicted. I felt the sting of judgment from people at my church. I remember one thing during this time, listening to one of my favorite teachers in RC Sproul talk about his own experience in being judged for his addiction and the ultimate deliverance God gave to him sometime later. I want you to know, never underestimate to power in your testimony and how it will speak into the life of another believer. May God bless you abundantly! Paul
Thank you, brother Paul, for your encouraging and uplifting words. They mean so much to me. God’s blessing to you and your family.
Thank you!
Thank you for your obedience to the Lord, your words have been an encouragement and a blessing to me through the years. May the Lord continue to use you for His glory Hallelujah to the Lamb!
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words! May the Lord grant you His great favor in all that you do!