Andrew Wommack - Effortless Change - Part 3
Welcome to our Wednesday’s broadcast of the gospel truth. Today I’m continuing a series that I’ve entitled Effortless Change and I know that that sounds impossible, but it is not only possible, this is the way that God wants to change your life is effortlessly. It shouldn’t be this terrible traumatic experience. It’s just effortless if you do it God’s way. You know, you’ve never seen an apple tree moan and groan and scream and yell and just eeeeehhhh and boom! Here’s an apple! It’s the nature of an apple tree to produce apples. It is the nature of us as born again believers to walk in victory.
This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. It says in John, chapter 1 to them that believed on him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. It is natural for a Christian to be a world overcomer but did you know what? Very few Christians are overcoming? Very few Christians are truly victorious and able to overcome the problems that life throws them and it’s not because it is not our nature to do so. It’s because we are praying and asking God to do these things instead of letting the nature that God has placed on the inside of us come out through the renewing of our mind. Boy, that is a major, major truth that I’ve said right there. So I’ve been talking about this all week.
Again I want to advertise that I’ve got these materials on Effortless Change. You need to get these materials because I promise you, you are not going to get totally changed in one 30-minute program. You need to get these materials and go over it. Also I’ve got the Bible reading guide that is a gift to you. If you call in, we’ll send this to you as a freebie. This is the same Bible reading guide that our Bible college students use and then I’m really excited about this, we’re relaunching our living commentary which many of you don’t know what that is but I have written footnotes on over 18,000 verses in the Bible and some of these footnotes took me over a week to write.
Just a lot of things, anyway I haven’t got time to explain it here on our television program, but on our web site we have a place called the inside story and during this month of January I’m interviewing Stan priest, the guy, our computer department head and he’s the one that helped me put all this together and he knows all of the details and the specifics and so we’re talking about this living commentary. I would encourage you to go to our web site. Check out the inside story and I believe that this living commentary would be a life changer for you.
There is no reason that you have to just go to me to receive your Revelation of the word. Everything that I’m sharing with you, I got from the word and I have written these things out at these verses that have changed my life and I guarantee you, you can go straight to the source and you can begin to receive just as quickly as you want to so that is a tremendous deal. Let me go back to Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. These are the verses that God used to change my life. Many of you have heard me talk about my experience I had with the Lord, March the 23rd, 1968, where God showed up and it was a result of meditating in these scriptures.
You know, the thing that I’ve been trying to say during the last few days is to say that change doesn’t come from the outside in. It comes from the inside out and the Word of God is the number one instrument that God uses to effect this change in your heart, in the way you think, and this is exactly how my life began to change. I was seeking to know what God’s will for my life was and for about I guess my junior year and especially in my senior year of high school, I was just day and night asking God to reveal to me what his purpose for my life was and I knew that it had to be in the Bible someplace so I was just reading scripture and at Christmas time of 1967.
This would have been right after I graduated from high school, I was in my first year of college, I heard a man use Romans 12:1 and 2 and this just changed my life. It says, «I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God».
And that last phrase here in verse 2 is what caught my attention because this is what I had been wanting to know is God, what is your will for my life, and this said that you will prove the good, acceptable and perfect will of God, and when I saw that, I said this is it, and so I backtracked and I went back up to verse 1 and I began to start reading about the way you find God’s good, acceptable and perfect will is to, first of all, verse 1, become a living sacrifice. That’s just our normal Christian duty. That’s not just for the super saints, for the full time ministers. This is for every Joe Blow or Jane Doe Christian is to be a living sacrifice and when I saw this, this is what I began to pray and I said God, what does it mean to be a living sacrifice? How do I do it and I just began to focus on these verses.
I meditated in these verses day and night and that was at Christmas time of 1967 when the Lord showed me this and then on March the 23rd, 1968, about four months later, all of sudden I had this encounter with God that just transformed my life. You know why it happened? Because I had been planting the seed of God’s word. God’s word had been working on me and because of it I had an encounter with the Lord. I don’t always take time to share everything that happened you know, and I just talk about how that the Lord showed up and in just a moment’s time changed my whole perception and changed the direction of my life and sometimes people think it’s just an experience I had with the Lord and there was nothing I did to occasion to prepare myself for it or whatever.
Well I didn’t know what I was doing but now with hindsight I look and I was meditating in the word and the Word of God is what caused this change. And then in verse 2, I want to focus on this. In verse 2, after you become a living sacrifice, verse 2 says, «And be not conformed to this world». The word «Conformed» here means to pour into the mold. Don’t be poured into the mold of this world. You know, life is a fire and it’s going to melt you. You aren’t going to exit life the way that you came into life. You are going to be changed. You cannot help but be changed!
But the good news is you get to pick which mold you fit into. Are you going to molded to the world and to their values, to their paradigms, to their way of thinking or are you going to be molded to the Word of God and conform to what God says. You get to pick which mold you fit into. You can’t pick that I’m not going to be, you know, tried by fire and I’m not going to be melted. You will be changed but are you going to be changed according to the world system or are you going to be changed according to God?
So it says, «Don’t be conformed», don’t be poured into the mold of this world and here’s how you avoid doing that, «But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind». The word «Transformed» right here is the Greek word «Metamorphoo». It’s the word we get metamorphosis from. That describes the process of a little worm spinning a cocoon and after a period of time coming out like a butterfly. If you want to change from a worm, something that is earthbound to something that can fly and it’s beautiful, if you want transformation in your life, you do it by the renewing of your mind!
And again the reason I’ve been sharing all of these days is as we start talking about Effortless Change, I’m trying to change your impression from God, you send me a new mate. That will change my marriage. Send me the lottery. Help me to win the lottery. God change my employer and make him bless me. Instead of trying to change out there and pray that all obstacles and all problems are removed from out of your way, instead change starts in your heart. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, or as this verse says you become transformed by the renewing of your mind. The way you think is the most dominant force in your life and sadly most of us have been conformed to this world. We have been poured into the mold of this world. We think things like I can’t do all of this.
You know, I just read a testimony about a young girl that was going for a job interview and went there and she was literally shaking she was so scared. She just knew that she wasn’t going to do good and the receptionist told her at the desk, says «You go in there and act like the most confident person on this plant and you can get this job, and just that little bit of encouragement», you know what it did? It changed the way that she thought and she started thinking «I can do this» instead of «I can’t do it».
She got the job and that was just the first of many jobs and she said on every job interview, she would go back to what that person told her and says I can do this. This job is mine. I can get it, and because she thought that way it changed the results that she got! But most of us have a self-defeating, it’s like, I don’t know, a destructive thought life and somebody curses us and tells us we can’t do something and even though you may have the natural ability and talents and opportunities, you will be the way that you think in your heart!
You know, I’ve often told this story about a good friend of mine, Don Krow, that was raised, his father was just a mean man. I met his father. I’m not against the guy, but I’m saying he was a mean man and he was just bitter and had problems and he was just a hard guy to get along with and anyway when Don was a little kid, they had a lot of old junk cars on their property that they used to, you know, go and cannibalize them and take parts from them to fix other cars and do things and so Don would help his dad do this and his dad said to him one time, he says, «You’re so stupid! You can’t even screw a nut on a bolt without cross threading it», and he said things like this to Don often.
And so as a results here was Don, when he was in his 30's, I was working on a car with him and I remember Don shaking, literally shaking putting a nut on a bolt because he was afraid he would cross thread, because of a curse, these negative things that were spoken over him and it affected the way he thought and he would put that nut on a bolt, tighten it and then be fearful that I’ve cross threaded it so he would take it off and then redo it and take it off and I never have seen Don put a nut on a bolt without cross threading it, not because he didn’t have the capability, not because he couldn’t do it, but because of the way he thought. He was injured when he was a little kid by the words that were said and because of it, it affected his actions and here he is, you know, 30-40 something years later things still affecting him.
Matter of fact, Don’s dad, when he died, he committed suicide and left a suicide note blaming his family and criticizing people and even in death he was putting people down and saying «It’s all your fault». Now, I don’t know what made his dad the way he was, but if you went back, I’m sure that you could trace it back somewhere to something happened to his dad and he responded negatively and he was bitter and angry and he was blaming everybody else for his own problems. The truth is I’m saying that’s not the right way to respond. Other people may present problems. You may have had problems that I don’t have but you have a choice whether you become bitter or better. It is your choice and you can change all of these things by changing the way you think!
Man, that’s powerful! That’s what these verses are saying. «Don’t be conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove». That word «Prove» means to make manifest to the physical senses, what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God. You can manifest God’s perfect will by changing the way you think. You know, this is so simple you’ve got to have somebody help you to misunderstand what I’m saying, but sadly we’ve got a lot of help. Our society today is saying no. It’s everybody else’s fault the reason I’m the mess that I am and so psychology will tell you you’re a victim. You can’t help it because you were abused when you were a little kid and you’re letting what happened to you 20-30-40-50 years ago still cause you problems today.
I’m not saying that people don’t have bad things happen to them. I’m not saying that it’s not a problem, but I am saying that God has made the provision, the supply for your need long before you ever had the need and if you were born again, he’s placed on the inside of you the supernatural power of God that can help you to overcome whatever has come against you in life and if you would quit magnifying the problem and focusing on the problem and instead begin to magnify the answer and look at God and his love and his acceptance and the power that he’s given you, you could overcome those things.
Change doesn’t come by you begging God to please take away your hurt and pain, but instead you need to start finding out what God has already done and start saying that man, according to Luke 4:18 Jesus said this. «The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord».
Jesus said that’s what he’s anointed to do and so what you need to do is say father, I thank you. I believe you healed my broken heart, that you deliver me from captivity, that man, I am healed. I have this acceptable year of the Lord. It’s taking about the jubilee that was prophesied in the Old Testament and you need to say I’ve got that and then start magnifying what Jesus has done and draw on his ability. I’m not saying that we don’t have people hurt us and, you know, people dying and things like this. It affects us, but I’m saying that you can overcome every one of those because God has anointed Jesus to heal your broken heart, to deliver you from whatever captivity you’re in. You do not have to stay there.
Now see, some of you are saying and well this is different than anything I’ve ever heard. See, that’s the reason that you’re still bound by it because you have adopted the mantra of this world that we’re only just physical human beings. We’re just like an evolved animal. They don’t recognize we were created in God’s image. They don’t factor God into any of our problems. They’re just dealing with things from a humanistic standpoint and therefore they don’t expect much and if you’ve had something traumatic happen, then you’re going to limp through the rest of your life carrying this burden.
I’m telling you that’s not what the Word of God says. If you get into the Word of God and begin to meditate in it day and night, you’ll begin to find out that man, people have changed, that there are millions of people that have changed. The Word of God promises us change, but it starts by you believing that God has this power and you’re going to have to start thinking differently than this world. You’re going to have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. You’re going to have to quit being complacent and think, I’m only human and just sit there and let this world mold you into its own form. You need to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and I’m telling you, brothers and sisters, it can happen to every person watching this.
We’ve got people all over the world watching this. There are people from the remotest portions of the earth that are watching this program right now. You’re in a third world country. You don’t have the advantages of some of the western countries and things and you know, many of you are thinking, I just can’t change. I can’t see success because I’m in this disadvantaged situation. I’m telling you, this is not true! I’ve got friends in some of these third world countries that have been through terrible things. I’ve got a good friend in Uganda that saw all of his family members murdered in front of his eyes and he’s had terrible things happen to him and you know what? He overcame and he is now pastoring a church of five-six thousand people and just a powerful man of God, seeing great things happen.
I could name people from every walk of life, from every country. These scriptures don’t say that you can be transformed unless you live in a third world country, unless you were born a certain color, unless you have a low income and you’re in a poverty level, you know, society. Man, there aren’t any restrictions on it. This is just saying that you can be transformed by the renewing of your mind and you can prove, make manifest of the physical senses, you can demonstrate the good, the acceptable and the perfect will of God. I believe that God is speaking through me today to people all over the world and you’ve allowed this world to pour you into its mold.
You’ve allowed, maybe it’s a family member like I was sharing about my good friend, his father that cursed him. Maybe it was a family member that has cursed you. Maybe it was an ex, a previous husband or wife. Maybe it was an employer. Maybe it’s just society. You live in one of these places where people just don’t believe they can prosper but you’ve allowed other people to pour you into that mold and you can’t see yourself succeeding. I’m telling you that change outwardly starts with you changing on the inside, seeing yourself differently.
Some of you have heard my testimony but on January the 31st, 2002 the Lord spoke to me the second most important encounter I’ve ever had with God and he told me I was limiting him by my small thinking and you know, I mean I made a commitment that I was going to quit thinking small. I was going to think big. God had shown me a big vision for my life but I still saw myself unable to accomplish that vision and God told me that was limiting what he could do through me so I meditated on this for a week or two and then I came to my staff and I told them, I don’t know how long it takes to change. Maybe it’s a week, maybe it’s a month, maybe it’s a year, five years, I don’t know, but I’m going to change and I’m going to see myself differently. I started saying that change was going to happen outwardly as I changed inwardly.
You can’t see it on the outside until you see it on the inside and I told them that and you know, it took about two to three months for me to put together a letter, get it mailed out to all of the people on our mailing list and so what I’m saying is that there was nothing physical that was done for at least two or three months and yet immediately when I changed the way I thought on the inside, our finances exploded! People started calling me. People came to help me in the ministry. Doors that I had been knocking on, trying to get on television networks that had said no and they wouldn’t allow me, within days they called me and said why aren’t you on our network. You’ve got to be on here.
Come on! We will make it work and I mean doors opened up. People came to me. Finances increased. Everything changed outwardly after I changed inwardly. And I am telling you that there are some of you that are praying for these outward changes but inside you still see yourself sick. You dream sick. In your dreams you’re sick. You see yourself poor. You think poor. You talk poor. You haven’t changed on the inside, but you’re praying for change out here. I’m telling you that if you want to see change, it starts on the inside. It starts with the way you think. You have to change in your heart. You have to see it on the inside before you see it on the outside and man this is just so true.
I could go through many, many, many scriptural examples and show you that this is exactly what God was doing with people in the Bible and until they saw it on the inside, they couldn’t see it on the outside. Change isn’t going to come outwardly, until you change in your heart and that’s what the Word of God is given for. You meditate in it day and night. You will be transformed by the Word of God and then you will, on the outside, see the good, the acceptable and the perfect will of God. So before I can teach you exactly how all this change takes place, you first of all have got to quit expecting it to just come from the outside, for some kind of a supernatural intervention that all of your problems just somehow or another get out of the way and all of the planets line up and everything works. You’ve got to recognize it starts in your heart with the way you think. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
Man, that’s powerful. I’m out of time today, but again I want to mention that all of these materials that I have on Effortless Change are life-changing. It would just transform your life and then I encourage you to get into the Bible, this is our free Bible reading guide. If you will call us, we will send that to you and then we have this living commentary where I’ve written footnotes on a Bible program for over 18,000 verses. This would change your life. I’m really excited, so listen to our announcer and please call or write today.