My late father, Ps Clive Field, was greatly impressed by a Bible truth that informed his own faith and his ministry to people. It is the promise that God gives us power to become something new.
We know God has wonderful things for us, including newness. One of our problems is wondering how God can change things we haven’t been able to change ourselves. The great news from God’s Word, that thrilled my father, is that God is the one who gives the power to make the changes possible.
The Apostle John explained the power which comes to us when we believe in Christ and receive Him.
“To as many as received him, God gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” John 1:12
Note that phrase ‘power to become’. That’s a wonderful power. It overcomes all our limitations and past failures. We may be hopeless and stuck in an immovable situation, but that all changes when God gives us the power to change.
That’s wonderful news for people who have already trashed their life, fried their brain, burned their bridges and lost all hope. For people who want to see others blessed it is the great truth that there is no case too hard for God.
Everyone of us can be in a process of constant transformation, what my father called ‘Becoming’, as we become more like Christ and more fully a child of God. We don’t have to be stuck in the mud, or held back by a glass ceiling. Our limited learning and poor past performance can’t rob us of fully becoming a child of God.
God does not rely on our power to become a better Christian. God doesn’t wait for us to develop special skills. God is not held back by our performance limitations. God gives His power, not relying on ours. God gives us His power to become what He wants us to be.
It’s a team process. God gives us the power to change and we enjoy the change process. God, our loving Heavenly Father, empowers us to become what He wants us to be and what we don’t have the power to become. And that’s exactly what God gives us – “power to become”.
I once ran a remedial reading business and loved seeing people race ahead in their reading ability. One chap, however, had mental disabilities. He was put in my class to see if I could help him, but, to my disappointment, he didn’t improve at all in my program.
He didn’t have the power to learn and I didn’t have the power to overcome his limitations. How terrible it is to be stuck without hope of things improving.
So I can appreciate the special grace God has given us by His power passed to us, so we can break out of our limitations.
What God gives us is a source of spiritual life.
“These things are recorded so you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by your believing you will have life through his name.” John 20:31
Divine, spiritual life is infused into our mortal life, causing us to become alive in the spiritual realm. That way we can be part of God’s spiritual family – Sons of God.
That spiritual life sustains our human life and allows us to step from this life to eternal fellowship with God as His child. That’s called ‘eternal life’.
My father, through decades of ministry, readily accepted all the people God sent across his path. He was aware that each of them, no matter how messed up they might seem, could ‘become’ a Son of God. He knew that the ‘becoming’ process was not dependent on the capabilities of the broken or limited person he met. The power to become came from God. All that person had to do was put their faith in Christ, believing in Him and receiving Him into their life.
Let me encourage you that the changes you need to make can be made. The progress you need to achieve can be achieved. The breakthrough needed in your heart and life can be yours. The things that seem to hold you back can be untangled. The pattern of past failure can be overcome. The hopelessness of your situation can be changed to celebration of new things.
The power to achieve all that is not yours. It is God’s power given to you when you trust Christ.
So, be encouraged, look to the Lord, and activate that wonderful, divine process of ‘Becoming’.
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