Pastor Stan Mons
Sermon Transcription:
You allow me to pray once more before we enter into the ministry of the word. Lord, I thank you for the way that you are awakening praise for your own glory in this place, Lord God. I thank you, Lord God, that by delivering your people, by setting them free, by giving them gifts from Heaven, Lord God, you are causing a shout of praise, Lord God, to come alive, Lord Jesus.
Lord, we pray that you open our hearts and our minds to the ministry of your Holy Spirit, the ministry of your word. Lord, your Spirit makes your word come alive in our hearts and in our minds. Your Spirit makes it a two-cutting sharp sword that, no matter what way it moves, it is cutting something, Lord God—it is making room. And I pray, Lord God, that today, room may be made for more of what God wants to bring into our lives, Lord God. Lord, you know my heart. I pray that every heart with us online and here in person has this desire—that it doesn't matter what needs to move as long as there is more room for God. Lord, I pray that you make your word come alive in our hearts. I pray that we may believe you, and I pray that an exchange may take place today. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray. Amen. Amen.
We're going into the word today. The title of what the Lord has given me for you today is this: Entering into Power to Change. Entering into power to change. And really, what I want to talk to you about today is that anything can actually be changed. There are great advocates against this, and the greatest of all advocates against this is probably Satan himself, who seeks to convince you and me that change in certain situations is either not necessary, not possible, or not desirable—and in your case, simply impossible. You can't expect these things to be changed, especially if they have been the same for your entire life. Those things cannot be changed. I want to tell you a little story of unexpected change. I never prayed for it; I just came to Jesus with all of my heart, and all kinds of change were just given to me as a gift. I came to find out by experience, before I knew any Bible verse off the top of my head, that when you give your life to Jesus, he gives you back change. It's what he gives to people that come to him with all of their hearts. I had very, very many autistic behaviors—very strongly—from a very early age in my life. I could not deal with any change in the home. If my parents changed furniture around, that would throw me off and kind of drive me crazy for quite a long time, and I'd have to get used to it, even at a later age.
I had very strong feelings and emotions with numbers, with very specific strange things. For example, my car radio had digital numbers for the volume, and there were certain numbers my radio could not be on. The volume of my radio could not be on certain numbers because I had such extreme feelings and emotions with numbers and things. Things had to be controlled; they had to stay the same; they had to be a certain way. I remember my mother sharing, after I got to know Jesus, that this was one of the most impactful things for her to see. I was forgiven for my sin—that was the big deal for me. I was set free and now in relationship with Jesus. But she was looking from the outside in, and one day I came home and she was crying in the kitchen area.
I walked up to her and I said, "What’s wrong?" She said, "I know you cannot deal with change, and ever since you gave your life to Jesus, as far as I can see, nothing is sure anymore. You stopped working. You started depending on Him. You go on the street—He sends you here, He sends you there. You know nothing anymore, and you're doing fine. I just don’t understand." Jesus gives you change when you come to Him. It’s a gift. It’s not something you have to do. It’s not something you have to pray the exact right prayer for, or else you cannot have it. No—there is a coming to Jesus, a wholehearted coming to Jesus, a trusting of Jesus, that when a sinner does this, Jesus brings a noticeable, powerful change that makes other people go, "What in the world happened to you? How is this possible?" It’s an impossible change, if you will. I want to invite my brother Nick to come up here for just a moment. He has a story of change that I asked him to share, as well as many in this room have their stories. Nick, why don’t you share with us for a moment the impossible change that happened in your life?
For those of you who don’t know my testimony from the past—when I was in third grade, I had woken up and received—not received, but I had woken up to—having no strength in my legs. For a couple of years, I was this way. What that looked like was that I had no ability to walk upon the street or whatnot. I couldn’t climb stairs. I would not be able to come up here.
I was like this for a couple of years. We had gone to the doctors over and over again. They eventually diagnosed me with a disease called Charcot Marie Tooth disease, or CMT for short. It was a progressive disease, in the sense that I got worse as time went on. Eventually, I would be in a wheelchair. Eventually, you could pass from it. I was like this for years. My parents were believers in Christ. I believed in Christ. I believed Him to heal me at one point, but there was a time where I stopped believing. What this looked like was that every—or most—Sundays, I would go to church at 3:00 at Times Square to be prayed over for healing and whatnot. Every ministry event that we were a part of, my dad always asked people to pray for me, and so on and so forth. But then one day, before sixth grade, God healed me of my disease. It was just like this—I didn’t have to do anything for it per se. I didn’t do a fasting and prayer for however long. I was just healed.
I went to the doctors—amen, amen. We would go back to the doctors, and we had a note written from one of the doctors saying that I was totally healed, and he had no idea how that could be. It was a thing. My dad—I remember this, I said this last point—that when I started to doubt God, I didn’t understand how I could be a part of God’s family, and yet bad things happened to me. My dad, as a response, said, "There are times that God will use your problem or the issue to bring His glory." And sure enough, that is what He did. So, yeah. Amen, amen, amen. Yes, diagnosed with an incurable disease, right? That is what they called it. All of that just to help you see—anything can be changed when you come to Jesus Christ. But I want to see you entering into the power to change so that things don’t stay the same—things that hurt you, things that make you possibly not even like yourself, things that are just obstacles in your life, difficult things, things that hurt you, or things that you just cannot deal with.
Let me start by reading to you Zechariah Chapter 4. We'll read verse 6 and verse 7: So he answered and said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts. 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"' See this word power right here in verse six—Not by might nor by power—this word power in the original text means the ability of man and the means of men, the means of the flesh. In other words, the resources that a man may have in his life, the resources that a loved one of yours may have in their life, the resources of humankind—also, the ability of humankind. And so the Lord here gives this word to Zerubbabel: There are going to be mountains. There are going to be challenges. And no resources of humankind are able to make a change in this. No ability of humankind is going to be able to make a change in this. And the Lord says it’s not going to be by that might or by the ability of man, the means of the flesh, but by My Spirit. And then this incredible statement—He says, But it’s going to be by My Spirit. "Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain!" And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of Grace, grace to it!
Where it says, Who are you, O great mountain?—just picture that for a moment. We have one man, Zerubbabel. He wasn’t this special man for whom these mountains trembled. No—this was the promise that God said: It’s going to happen by My Spirit. The man that received that promise now hears these words: O great mountain, who are you before the man who receives a promise like this? That the abilities of men are not going to limit him, the resources of men are not going to limit him. Who are you, great mountain? You’re going to become a plain! You’re not going to be conquered. You’re not going to be chipped away at until you’re completely gone. You’re just going to become a plain before him. All that he is going to do is shout, Grace, grace! In other words, God is giving me undeserved gifts. That’s what the word grace means—God giving me undeserved gifts. Zerubbabel believing and accepting that God is giving him God’s ability, God’s resources, God’s strength, God’s Spirit.
The Word says that just by shouting, just by believing and declaring that God is giving me what He has promised me, it is going to cause this mountain to be removed. That mountain represents, very simply, an incredible, unconquerable obstacle in our way. Sometimes, it can be something in our life that just feels very big for us. Other people may be able to deal with it, but for us, it is a big problem. It is something we cannot fix, something I can’t overcome—something I don’t seem to have the power to change. It might be something I don’t have the power to change in my mind or in my life, in my character, in my family. I may not have the power to change it at school. I may not have the power to change it at my job. And these things—they become great mountains to us. We start looking up to them, and they become bigger and bigger to us. We feel smaller and smaller, and it seems that with the ability and resources we really have in ourselves, we’re never going to conquer this thing. We’re never going to see this thing change.
We can’t fix it. We can’t overcome it. God has a word for you today—because you will encounter your mountain moments. So will I. We all encounter times where our resources, our abilities, and our own strength are just not enough to deal with what we’re facing. And when that happens, we want to panic. Or we want to run. Or we want to shift blame. Or we want to run away from everything. But God has a word for you and me today. He wants you and me entering into power—a power that has the ability to take the mountains out of your life. A power that has the ability to cause these mountains to become a plain. It becomes an easy stroll to walk in the area where first, you couldn’t even go. You couldn’t conquer. You couldn’t pass through. The Word tells us that there are going to be times where the Lord whispers to our heart, You have not been this way before. That’s because God is going to make changes in our lives that will make things possible that were never possible before. Change is possible for people that come to Jesus.
Let me read to you Acts Chapter 1, verse 8. Here’s Jesus speaking to the men that have decided to follow Him. You’ve heard this verse many times. It says this: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." You see, here in the New Testament, we see very clearly, explained by Jesus, that anyone that begins to believe on His name and decides to follow Him—Jesus has a very special word to you and me. He says, I know you don’t have the ability. I know you don’t have the might. I know you don’t have the resources to deal with some of those mountains. I know that you can’t change things inside of your heart. I know that you can’t deal with some of the things that have gotten you in life. And so He says, You—you too are going to receive that Spirit, that Spirit I spoke of to Zerubbabel. The mountain present—not by your might, not by your power, not by your resources, not by your ability—I’m going to send My Spirit, and this mountain is going to be taken out.
Here, Jesus says, But you too—you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
That word power in this place is a different word in the original text. This word power does not mean the ability of the flesh. It doesn’t mean the might and the resources of the flesh. This word means miraculous power or miracle power—a mighty work, a work that originates itself in the One who has all the might. That’s what He says—you’re going to receive that Spirit. And when you receive the Spirit of Christ, there’s going to be a different kind of power upon your life that allows a miracle to take place, that allows a mighty work to enter into your life and upon your life. What does that mean for you and me? What does it mean for you if you’re very young and you’re here? What does it mean for you when you already have a whole life as an adult? What does it mean when you are older? Anything that cannot be changed by the ability of man—anything that cannot be changed by the means of man—is now possible for you. Anything that cannot be changed is now possible for you. God gives miraculous power, so He gives miracles for the areas of your life that cannot change. And He gives you a mighty work—not your work. He gives you His mighty work that can accomplish in your life what your work could never bring to pass. Anything that cannot be changed is now possible for you. That’s what it means. You run to Jesus, and all of a sudden, you’re now placed in a position where anything is possible to change.
Whatever difficulty you may be facing—I know some of you, some of you very well—whatever difficulty you’re facing, whatever has become difficult in your life, sometimes it’s even embarrassing to talk about it. Because for other people, it’s not so difficult. It’s humbling to talk about the things that have become difficult for us—the things that maybe were not difficult before, but now they begin to feel like a mountain that needs conquering. And in our humanity, we try to find ways around that mountain. We don’t want to deal with it anymore. We don’t want to fight that mountain. We don’t want to climb it. We don’t want to try to conquer it. We don’t even believe we can. And so, we try to adjust our lives to the very mountains that begin to form in our life. We just find ways around them. We walk longer routes to get around them. We begin to accept things—in our character, in our life, in our thinking, in our situation—that are problems and need to be changed, but we’ve learned to just live with those mountains and travel around them, as it were.
Whatever difficulty you’re facing—whatever has become difficult to you—whatever your means cannot change, whatever your abilities cannot change, you and I need a change that is bigger than us. We don’t need the changes that we are able to bring. We can change some things—amen? Not much. But we can change the time on our watch. We can change maybe what we pour in our cup. There are very many things that are supposed to be pretty simple stuff in our life, and yet they have become difficult for us to just do the right thing. It has become difficult to deal, maybe with anger outbursts. It has become difficult to feel content like you once did. Things that used to be easy can become difficult, and you don't have the means or the abilities to change it. God says to you: You are going to receive. It's a gift. When you come to Jesus, what you receive is miracle power. What you receive is a mighty work, and people are going to see in you that Jesus can make the change. That's what that verse is saying: You'll be witnesses unto me.
In other words, when people look into your life, they're going to see I can make the change. They're going to see I'm willing to accept you anyway. They're going to see I'm willing to show up in the midst of your problem, in the midst of your mountain, and I'm going to gift you the change. You're going to bear witness to the fact that I am present in your life, and I will make the change for you. But maybe—maybe you sit here today, or you're online with us today, and just maybe you say, I don't really need a change. I don't really want a change. I kind of like life the way it's been going on. I—I—I got stuff under control. I don't really need that change. Well, let me propose this to you: One of the very reasons you are alive and breathing today is that your presence in other people's lives is to convince them that Jesus lives, that Jesus is able to forgive, and that Jesus is able to just give away the change that we cannot make. The question is: Does your life do that? Is your life doing that, or do you need a change?
Is your life causing people to begin to believe in Jesus Christ? Is your life causing people to feel that Jesus loves them, that they are welcome and accepted, no matter what kind of sinner they are? Does your life do that? Or do you need a change that is so much bigger than you are, that people begin to notice it and say, How is this possible? So that you can just point at heaven and say, God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross to change what I could never change. He changed my eternal destiny. He changed my life today, and He is willing to do the same for you. When you come to Jesus Christ, He gives away change. Let me take you to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians, Chapter 3—we'll start in verse 3. Paul speaking: "How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already), by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ." Here, Paul says something that we hear multiple times in the New Testament—that Jesus Christ is revealed. What that means is: We are blind unless God the Father does something that causes us to see Jesus.
He's revealed—as if we are covered under a blanket, and only God can pick that blanket off, and now we can see clearly. That's what that word really means. And that's what he said: By revelation, it was made known to me. Paul was more versed in what was contained in the Scriptures at that time than possibly anyone in his generation—most definitely more than anyone in this room today. Paul knew more, could recite more than any of us—possibly all of us combined. And Paul says, Couldn't see any of it. I couldn't see nothing. But when God revealed the mystery, now I was able to see Jesus Christ. And then he says, I wrote to you about it, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. Verse 5: "Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit." That is that Spirit. That Spirit before which the mountains become a plain. That Spirit that brings miracle power. That Spirit that brings the resources of God.
That Spirit—by the Spirit—to His holy apostles and prophets: "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel." He's saying, This mystery is now being revealed—that anyone who comes to God through Christ Jesus is welcomed into the family of God. This was completely impossible to the perception of the Jew of the time. It is not possible that a people of Gentiles, who never made sacrifices, who never came to the temple, who were never chosen, who never had a prophet in their family or in their nation—that these people just turn to God, call on the name of Jesus, and are welcomed into the family of God. Just like us, who have been waiting for the Messiah for generation after generation after generation? How is that possible? Paul says, When God revealed it, I began writing about it. I began speaking of it, because people can't see it unless the Lord opens up their heart—that anyone who is willing to come to God through Jesus Christ is welcomed into the family of God.
Verse 7: "Of which I became a minister according to the gift of grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power." That word power is again the same word as is used in the book of Acts—that is, miraculous power. It is a mighty work. What is Paul saying to us today? He's saying, God gives me not only revelation for myself; He gives it, and He gives the power to begin spreading it into the hearts of other people. It's not something we have to do on our own. It's not something we have to do in our might, in our ability, or in our strength. Paul says, God gives His power—miraculous power, His ability, His resources—to begin working that revelation into the hearts of other people. So what you're seeing is that beyond the personal benefit of what God is doing in your life, there's a purposeful benefit—a purpose that goes beyond you. Let me take you to verse 10—a purpose beyond you—to the intent. This is God's intent with all of this: "To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God may be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places."
It is God's intent—Church, you got to see this—it is God's intent that through you and I, broken, weak sinners, saved by grace, receiving power from on high—miraculous power, a mighty work done inside of us— It is God's intent that you and I are the ones whom the devil hears from. Whom every worker of Satan and worker of the kingdom of darkness hears from. God says, You used to be stuck in slavery to the devil. You used to be stuck under the plan of the devil over your life. I'm going to send a mighty work your way. I'm going to send miracle power on your life. And from your very mouth is what the devil is going to hear—that God is able to do it, that God is able to give change, and that God is willing to give change to someone like you—able to turn it all around so that the very vessel that used to be in the power of Satan is now the vessel that brings the news to Satan's door. That's the intent of the power upon your life, Church. When was the last time you let the devil know? When was the last time you got up in the morning and said: "Devil, just in case you forgot—just in case—and I've preached on this, one of my favorite messages—just in case the blood of Jesus Christ, devil, is not on your mind, let me put that back on your mind right now."
"Let me remind you, devil, that one drop of the blood of Jesus Christ washed all of my sins away, brought all of the change, set me free, gave me my dignity back, washed away my shame and my guilt." "Devil, I just thought maybe you forgot. I'd like to remind you so you can remember again." When was the last time that you let the principalities and the powers know what God has done—the kind of change that God is willing to just gift to you, undeservingly? All I ever did was turn to Jesus. As we were singing it today—this is what Jesus gives someone like me. "Devil, we know each other well. We had what I thought were great times in the past. But then the blanket was pulled away, and I began to see Jesus. I began to see that He actually loves me. I began to see that He is actually for me. And before I knew it, I began to receive gifts of change." "Therefore, I just thought you should know. I just thought I'd share that with you today." When was the last time that you were walking in God's intent? Let me read it to you again: "To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God may be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places."
That doesn't just refer to the heavenly places as in heaven itself, where God dwells.
This word heavenly places means literally the sky—where the war takes place between the Lord’s angels and the fallen angels of Satan that fight for your attention, that fight for interrupting you, distracting you, harassing you, or tempting you. All of these things. We're called to say: "Hey, I—I got time out, everybody! I got something to share! While you are having this battle, I just thought y’all should know—it's already been changed! Battle's already been won! It's already a done deal! Amen!" I want to take you to an Old Testament story that shows you and me a picture—paints a picture of what we can expect and how we should treat God in our heart— Our heartfelt view of God. How we should treat Him in our heart. How we should look at Him with the eyes of our heart, in light of Him promising to give us that Spirit—that Spirit that will bring miraculous power and a mighty work upon your life.
Judges 14:5-6 We're going to look at a short story of Samson. He's looking for a bride. So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now, to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. Now, there's no coincidence, Church. There's not a story written in the Old Testament that has been written just to fill up the page. What does the New Testament tell us? "All these things were written before for our admonition, for equipping us, for helping us understand things." And then the Word tells you that the devil will go around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Look at this story: "To his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. He did not tell his father or his mother what he had done." See, this is one of those stories that points forward—and he has many stories that all point forward to the same thing.
You'll read it time and time again: "And the Spirit of God came upon him." And then he does these incredible, impossible things. Or he wins impossible battles. Or he breaks free when he should have been bound—one time picking up the whole gate of the city and carrying it to the top of a hill. They thought they had him locked up inside. Every time the Spirit came upon him, then the impossible work was done. It points forward to God's plan in you—so that you, in the battle with the enemy of your soul, all the workers of Satan, every single avenue that he tries to attack you— Making you believe you're not going to have change in your life. Making you believe that all you will have is bondage. Making you believe that all you will have is staying the same in some areas. He gives you a little bit of freedom, a little room to move in what Jesus has for you, but in other areas of your life, the devil fights so hard just to keep control—seeking to make you believe: "You're not changed." "You won't be changed." "You will have to learn to live with this." "This is your thorn in your flesh. This is your cross to bear. This is going to stay the same."
Even though Jesus—especially when you first came to Him—showed your heart that Jesus would like to see this changed. When Jesus has shown to your heart that, if it were up to Him, something would be changed in your life, that means He has miracle power ready. That means He has a mighty work ready to do it. But if that change seems to just not arrive in our life, and we do believe Him, we do believe on Him, we trust Him, we sing to Him— But we don't enter into the change— What it really means is that, in this particular area, we trust the strength of man, the resources of men, the ability of man, more than God's promise for this area. Sometimes—very often, in my case—it's my own strength. I trust myself more in certain areas than I trust Jesus. And He addresses those things. Sometimes, we trust what mankind can do. We trust our network to provide the open door for our future. Or we trust our ability to influence other people—getting them to do what we want them to do, for our will to make a way, or for us to have a place in this world.
We can trust in the abilities of mankind and the resources of mankind more than we trust in the miracle power—more than we trust in what God has promised. And when your trust is still shifted away in an area of your life from Jesus, your change will never be greater than you. You'll only be able to change what you can change, and you're going to hit walls of limitation real quick. We don't have that much strength, Church. We don't have that much ability. We get tired so quick. Even the things that, at one point in our life, we were able to control—now they're becoming difficult for us. They're becoming mountains, surely. But when the Spirit comes upon you—when the Spirit of Christ that Jesus says, "Wait for that Spirit." When my Spirit comes, you will have power. What does that mean?
He says, "When my Spirit comes, you will have a mighty work." "When my Spirit comes, miracle power will be present upon your life." And all of a sudden, that roaring lion that goes around is slaughtered—in an unusual way, in an impossible way. All of a sudden, mountains become a plain. All of a sudden, the impossible becomes possible. And change that was never taking place— All of a sudden, without any effort anymore, it's just given to you. Without you doing a thing. Let me read to you the later verses in Ephesians 3:14-21: "For this reason, I bow my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant to you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man."
It says through Jesus, He's going to send His Spirit. And when He sends His Spirit upon your life, He's going to strengthen you on the inside. He's going to give you power on the inside. He's going to give you a mighty work on the inside of you—in your heart, in your mind, in all of your soul. He's going to give miracle power to deal with things that cannot be changed. This is what He gives to the people that trust Him, believe Him, and come to Him. "To be strengthened with might—God’s might—through His Spirit in the inner man, on the inside. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints..."
This is that revealed seeing, the cloth is now gone. "May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and the length and the depth and the height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the full of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." Again, that same word—God says, "I've sent a power to work inside of you so you don't have to do the work. I send miraculous power so that people don't have to do it in your life. You don't have to do it in your life. I send resources of Heaven. I send a mighty work of my hand so that you don't have to grow tired trying to deal with yourself and figure out how to do this life." And so, the question becomes: How do I enter into power for change? How do I enter in with my impossibility? Some of you—you've entered into that power for change with your sins, and you know your sins are forgiven, an incredible change made by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ and made real in your heart and in your mind by His Spirit. And then, there are other areas of your life—they're unchanged, they're untouched, they've stayed the same. You may even feel shameful of those things.
They've become a mountain, and maybe you are that person that has learned to just walk around that mountain—to live with it, to adjust your life to it, to respect that mountain and to leave it be. "I'll have to just walk around it." How do I enter into that power of change with my impossibility? The simplicity is this: There always has to be an exchange. You can't pour that power on top of your life. There has to be room made in your life so that Jesus can fill you with that power. You've heard that example, possibly many times in your life—if you have a glass full of water, you can pour water in it all you want, but it's already full. But if you make room— That means some things may have to be emptied out of your life. Only the Holy Spirit may know what those things are in your life, but He knows how to make room for a mighty workin your life.
He knows how to make room in your life for miracle power, where it is needed, for the change that Jesus would love to bring into your life. There has to be an exchange. Something has to be given up so that you can begin receiving what your heart has known for a long time—Jesus would love to bring into your life a change you cannot make. A freedom you can't enter by yourself. A resource, an ability that you just don't have in yourself. An exchange has to be made. If you would stand with me for a moment. And the desire is this: Lord, fill my impossibility. Whatever it may be in your life. Whatever is difficult for you to do. Lord, it's difficult for me— Maybe as simple as cleaning your room. I know for my daughter, sometimes that is a mountain to her—to just know where to start, how to do it, when to finish. Sometimes, it is seeing your marriage go uphill again. No matter what you do, it just seems a little rougher each year that goes by. And it's become a mountain.
It's become difficult to just get it right. It can be a small thing. It can be great and grand. In every case, it's an impossibility to you. And the desire is that— Lord, fill my impossible with Your Spirit. Fill my impossible with Your Miracle Power. Fill my impossible with Your Mighty Work. But I have to be willing to exchange it and to say— "God, I'm going to stop trusting in my might." "I'm going to stop trusting in my ability to control the situation." "I'm going to stop trusting in my resources." "Lord, I'm not going to trust myself anymore." "I'm going to start trusting You." "I'm going to start trusting You." "I'm going to start trusting You." "In the light where You dwell, I'm going to start trusting You—that You are giving this to me, Lord." "I'm believing You're giving this to me even before I see it." "I believe You because of Your character." "I believe You at Your word, Lord." "I believe You."
Let Your Spirit come into my impossibility. Let Your Spirit arrive in my impossible parts. In the impossible parts of my character. In the impossible parts of my life. In my impossibility, Lord God. Let my impossibilities enter into Your power for change. If the Holy Spirit is calling you to believe—maybe for the first time—that anything in your life can change. Or if you say, "Lord, I know You're calling me to exchange something today. I need to start entrusting to Your Spirit, and I need to give up some things to make room to receive the change that I'm so in need of." If that is your heart, would you come and join me at the altar, and we will pray together? And if you are with us online, I want to invite you to pray with us as well. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Jesus. Thank You, Lord, that all change is possible.
-Pastor Stan Mons