Even on the surface, it seems impossible not to change in meeting Jesus or even listening to him. The persona of Jesus is so different from us, that engaging with his spirit evokes transformation, sometime in a powerful way.
Think about this for a moment: you have sat and listened to hundreds of sermons and everything remains the same. This simply is not possible if the words of Jesus have been spoken. The carnal man and the words of Jesus are NOT conducive to each other. They are opposite.
In other words, there is POWER in the very words spoken by Jesus. There is even more power with the interaction of Jesus through His Holy Spirit.
To boil this down, this means that growing as a Christian is NOT a how-to improvement course, or a personality defect enhancement program. Engaging life as a Christian involves change, growth and at times, loss and riddance: in other words, it means CHANGE.
Consequently, if you are comfortable with your preacher and have been for years, yet nothing in your spiritual life has evolved, this should be a red flag that something is WRONG.
One major reason change does not occur is that words are weak in retrospect to actuality of the doing in obedience to our God. Whereas the reality of Jesus is real, his words are only a testimony to Him, but are no substitute to his visible actuality in the present tense.
As Peter had to get out of the boat to appreciate walking on water, the Christian too must surrender his ‘comfort zone’ in order to meet the realities of the spiritual realm. The realities of the spiritual realm go far beyond mere words and thus, Christianity goes beyond intelligentsia and reveals itself in active practice and performance.
If there has been no change in you or your church, then it is obvious it is time to step out of the boat.
And stepping out of the boat means far more than being in the comfort zone of the seats of a pew. It means being provoked to change to please our Lord through His son, Jesus. In so doing, it becomes obvious it is IMPOSSIBLE to be around Jesus without Change.
Hard Times Ministries 