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Volume 33   Number 06 Feb 8, 2009

        Deuteronomy 28:9-13: (Moses said) "The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you (reverence you). And the Lord (He who is Yahweh, Adonai) will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord promised to your fathers to give you.
        The Lord will open to you His good treasure (storehouse), the heavens to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head (the beginning, captain and chief, the first and forefront, the highest, principal, ruler, and the top) and not the tail; you shall be above only and not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today and are careful to observe them. So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them."
        Let's look at the problem. God's people wanted His blessing, but they didn't want to have to do anything. They didn't want to change. We know if we keep doing what we've always done, we will keep getting what we've always gotten. One thing we can count on is CHANGE. The word change means: to alter, transform, refashion, metamorphose.
        There has been a call for change at both the national and international level. We should be careful what we ask for, because we might get it. America is called "One Nation Under God," but the truth is we are one nation under many gods—sports, money, superstars, Hollywood, technology, and worldly achievement, to name a few. On this Super Bowl Sunday, so many lives are directed much the same way the Super Bowl is started. A man tosses the coin—heads or tails—and the game begins. However, we just read that God says we are to be the head and not the tail.
        Jeremiah 2:11-13: "Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit." The word "profit" means for empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes (the sad thing is that God is speaking to His people). "The heavens are shocked and astonished at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay," says the Lord. "For My people have done two evil things: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and they have dug for themselves cracked or broken cisterns that can hold no water at all."
        Look closely at what God is saying. (1) They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters. They have forsaken Me and left Me out of their lives. (2) They have made for themselves fountains (or great structures) that look good but have no living water and no pure word. They are empty of the life-changing, resurrecting power of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit.
        I am reminded of the dream last week about the trains. Remember there were those who got off the train and laid the tracks where they wanted to go. A nation is only as great as its people, and its people are only as great as the object of their worship. Remember that a man or woman cannot rise higher than the object of their worship. You can change a person's garment, location, job, and financial status, but if their heart isn't changed, nothing will change.
        We hear stories of people winning huge amounts of money in the lottery who have not been changed. In a short time they were back living on the streets, having lost everything. There is no question that we need to change. But the question is: Change into what?
        2 Corinthians 3:17-18: Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed (changed) into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. We see that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is not only liberty but there will be change.
        Ephesians 4:22-24: ...put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed (changed) in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.
        Romans 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (changed) by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
        (1) Don't be changed by the world to look like the world (example: the Hollywood syndrome of ungodly behavior). Just because it's the popular thing or because everybody is doing it doesn't mean it is good or of God. (2) Be transformed and changed into that which is eternal in God.
        Romans 8:28-29: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
        2 Corinthians 4:16-17: Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed (changed) day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
        This change comes not by "heads or tails" but by:
        (1) Being willing to be changed, which means submitting to God and walking in obedience.
        (2) Allowing the Lord to work in us, therefore putting off the old mind set.
        (3) Embracing the work of the Holy Spirit and putting on the new man.
        (4) Renewing our minds by God's Word and the Holy Spirit.
        It is time for change. The question is: What are you allowing to change you? Remember—to live is to grow, and to grow is to change. Change is coming whether you want it or not. The decision is yours to be either the head or the tail. Let's all desire to be changed, transformed, and conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.