By Senior Pastor Jay Bruner
In our current series on Making Change, we've been learning how to find the peace (prosperity, Jeremiah 29:11) God promised in financially stressful times. For those who've dialed in, it has become apparent this series is about far more than merely finances. It's actually about engaging in God's amazing promise to care for His own in and through life's journey.
The feedback has been encouraging and grateful. Yet still, many may never experience the power and promises of our Mighty God because to experience God's promises requires a transaction. Let me illustrate; say we choose to go to the bank (I know, old school, right) several times a day, lay a check in front of the teller, then pick it back up and leave without allowing her to cash or deposit it. Or maybe we do allow her to change it and deposit some of it, but we don't like how she did it, so again, we leave the change, pick up our check and leave. After doing this several times, the bank would probably ask us to quit coming because we were wasting their time and our own. The problem is there's no transaction.
It's unfortunate, but we often do the same thing with our wonderful God. We come to Him with our requests, needs, and uncertainties, yet after making our requests known, we pick them up and keep carrying them in our hearts, minds, and lives. Maybe we actually hear what His response is, how He wants the change to occur, yet not seeing the change to our liking, pick up the request and take it back and thus no change. We continue with life as we always have and, therefore, no change.
An old saying has been around forever, "If you want something you've never had, you'll have to do something you've never done." in essence, you have to make a transaction. Here are a few scripture references that explain this:
27 "Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you… Luke 12:27-28 (NLT)
"Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way…" Luke 6:38 (MSG)
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple… "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Malachi 3:10 (NLT)
I encourage you to consider what transaction you can make today. What can you put in the hands of our amazing God to allow him to make a change in your life?
