God’s Part/My Part In Changing Me
Faith Basics, part 6
Wildwind Community Church
David K. Flowers channeling Rick Warren
October 7, 2007
Philippians 2:12-13
What would you like to change in your life? As I was growing up, I heard people say, "Jesus changed my life." How does Jesus change your life? Does He do surgery or brainwash you? Zap you with something and all of a sudden you’re changed? There’s a lot of confusing advice coming out nowadays on how God changes us. Some people say, "Just wait on the Lord." A passive approach. Other people say, "If it’s to be, it’s up to me." An activist viewpoint. What am I supposed to do in order to grow? Is it all me or is it all God or is it a combination? Paul deals with this very issue. When it comes to your spiritual growth, the fact is God has a part and you have a part. Paul uses two phrases to explain this cooperation:
Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
I want you to notice these two interesting phrases, work out and work in. Work out is your part, and Work in is God’s part. We are to work out what God is working in. This doesn’t say "work for" your salvation. It says "work out". Now these are already Christians to whom Paul is writing. He is saying develop what you already have. Work out the implications. If you’ve been born again, start growing. Work it out.
What do you do in a physical workout? You do a workout not to get a body but to develop the body you already have. When you work out a puzzle, you already have all the pieces. You’ve just got to put it together. When a farmer works the ground, he’s cultivating it. Not work for, but work it out. Accept personal responsibility for your growth. Your salvation, not somebody else’s. Yours individually. God does not want cookie-cutter Christians. He doesn’t want a bunch of spiritual clones walking around, everybody copying each other. What does the gospel mean in your life? You are unique and individual. He doesn’t want you to be Billy Graham; He wants you to be you.
"...with fear and trembling..." Don’t be afraid of God. Christians have no need to fear God in terms of being afraid of Him. You are a part of His family. But be afraid you might miss out on all that God has made for you. Take your salvation seriously; it has eternal implications. It’s a life or death issue here. Nothing is more important than your own spiritual growth.
"...for it is God who works in you..." That’s God’s part. Look at that word, “works.” We get the word "energy" from this Greek word. God is the energizer for change in your life. He says, "I will give you the power to do what you want to do, need to do, and know what is right to do. I will empower you, energize you." God is the energizer to will and to act. He will give you the will power and the ability. He’ll give you the desire and the capability to change. There are three tools God uses to work change in your life, and three choices you need to make to work them out.
1. He uses the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16 (MSG)
(16) Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way.
The Bible changes our thoughts so it changes us. If you want to get serious about change, you need to get into this book. Read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it, live it in your life. The more you get the Word of God in your life, the more you’re going to be changed.
People say, "I don’t have any faith." I ask them, "Are you reading the Bible?" They say, "Not really." What do they expect? The Bible says,
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
(17) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The second thing God uses to work change in our lives is:
2. He uses the Holy Spirit
God puts His Spirit in us. This is where the power comes from to change.
Romans 8:11 (NKJV)
(11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
God will bring power into your life. The Holy Spirit is God Himself, in Spirit form. When you commit your life to God, He comes into your life. God’s number one purpose in your life is to make you like Jesus. In Genesis 1:27 when God first formed the world He said, "Let Us make man in Our image" and He’s been wanting to do that ever since. That is His ultimate goal -- to change you. God’s ideal is to tell us how to change through His word and give us the power to change through His Spirit. You read it and then He empowers you to do it. Unfortunately, we don’t always follow the ideal. So God has to use a third way to change us when we don’t respond to the Word or the Holy Spirit.
3. He uses circumstances
Problems, pressures, headaches, difficulties, stress always get our attention.
Hebrews 5:8 (NLT)
(8) Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.
Jesus learned obedience from suffering. How do you think you’re going to learn it?
Hebrews 2:10 says, "Jesus was made perfect through suffering." How do you think you’re going to be made perfect?
So those are three things God uses to change us. His Word, his Spirit, and our circumstances. Now, there are three choices you and I need to make in our lives in order to allow this change to happen, remember it’s our job to “work out” what God is “working in.” How do we work out what God is working into our lives?
1. I can choose what I think about.
Growth is not automatic. Spiritual growth doesn’t happen passively. Change is a matter of choice and I can choose what I think about.
Proverbs 4:23
Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts.
You aren’t what you think you are. But what you think, you are. Your thoughts don’t just direct your life, they are your life. If we could see on a giant screen what you think about we would really know who you are. Whatever change you want to make in your life starts with your thoughts.
Ephesians 4:23-25
Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the `new self’ that has been created in God’s way.
Change always begins with new thinking. The Bible word for change is the word "repentance". In Greek it means "to change your mind".
Romans 12:2
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
If you want to be changed, start with the renewing of your mind. Psychologists found this out about 2000 years later. They discovered that the way that I think determines the way that I feel, which determines the way I act. So what if you can change the way you think? If you change the way you think, then that will change the way you feel, which will change the way you act. Imagine a speed boat set on auto-pilot that you decide needs to turn 180 degrees. What would be easiest, to grab the wheel and turn it in the opposite direction, or to change the autopilot? Of course to change the autopilot, right? If you change it, the boat’s direction changes effortlessly. So I ask you, what is your automatic pilot? Finish this sentence: "It’s just like me to be ... " That is the agenda you’ve set in your life, that’s your auto-pilot. One of the things you ought to start choosing to think about is God’s word. Jesus said, "Thy word is truth." If you want to change, start filling your mind with the Scripture.
2. I can choose to depend on God’s Spirit moment by moment.
This is where the power comes in. Jesus gave a beautiful illustration of this in
John 15:4-5
Take care to live in Me and let Me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit.
A branch is totally dependant upon the vine. When it is cut off from that vine, it won’t bear any grapes, or figs, or whatever. A branch cannot produce fruit by itself. It’s got to be connected. Jesus is saying that’s the way we have to be with God. We have to be plugged in. God has the power. But it’s not automatic. It’s when you’re plugged in, tuned in to God that the power comes through you.
How do you know when you’re depending on God’s Spirit? Check your prayer life. Whatever you pray about you’re depending on God for. Whatever you don’t pray about you’re not depending on God for. What does it mean to depend on God? It means to pray continually. Your decisions, your feelings, your relationships, deadlines, purchases, everything. Whatever you want God to bless, that’s what you pray about. It’s to be aware that God is constantly with you. You practice His presence and have a running conversation with Him. You whisper up a prayer to God no matter what you’re doing. Talk to God about anything and everything. That’s what it means to depend on His Spirit.
3. I can choose my response to circumstances.
There is a parallel between God’s resources and your choice. God has the resource of His Word; you’re supposed to read it. God has the Holy Spirit; you choose to depend on Him. God uses circumstances; you choose your response to circumstances.
James 1:2-4
When all kinds of trials crowd into your lives don’t resent them as intruders but welcome them as friends. Realize that they come to test your faith and produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed and you become people of mature character, people of integrity, with no weak spots.
James is saying I can choose my response to life. I have mentioned before that Victor Frankel, the famous psychologist, was imprisoned in one of the concentration camps in World War II. He said one day they had stripped him naked, taken his clothes, shoes, family, and his wedding ring. He said they had taken away everything physically that they could. But standing there in front of the Nazi soldiers he realized there was one thing that could never be taken from him. That was his choice to respond to the circumstances he experienced in life. That is ultimate freedom. You cannot choose what is going to happen to you next week, next month, next year. We don’t have that choice. But you can choose how you’re going to respond, how you’re going to react -- whether it’s going to make you or break you, whether you’re going to be bitter or better, whether it’s going to be a stepping stone to maturity or a stumbling block to failure. What really matters the most in life is not what happens to you, but what happens in you.
So what would you like to change in your life? The power to change comes from God’s power and your choices. When you choose to do the right thing, God gives you the power. What God tells you to do He gives you the power to do. Let’s review what we’ve covered today.
Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
What are the key words here? Work out, and work in. Whose job is it to work out your salvation, to work out its implications in your life? YOURS! Whose job is it to work in you to help you change? GOD’S! What are the three things God will use to change us? His Word, the Holy Spirit, and our circumstances. What are the three choices we need to make in order to allow this to happen, so that we can “work out” what God is “working in?” We can choose what we think about. We can choose to depend on the Holy Spirit. And we can choose our response to our circumstances.
So God has a part, and you have a part in changing your life. God will do his part, and you must do yours! As we close I have a challenge for you – a concrete way of working this into your life as early as today, but certainly by next week. Here’s all I ask. If you’re not in this habit, will you watch what you think about this week? Watch what you think about. I encourage you to challenge negative, bitter, critical, resentful, lustful, or hateful thoughts that enter your mind. When they show up, challenge them, and replace them with things God would want you to think. This will begin to change your mind so that God can change your heart. Will you pray with me?
God, let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may work out our salvation, realizing that as we work it out, you are working in us at every moment, and you are the change-maker. Amen.
