ANOTHER MAN

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

ANOTHER MAN

(1 Samuel 10:6) Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

Some people say you can't change. That once you develop certain traits and habits they are indelible in your character and are irreversible. In fact I heard a psychologist on the TV the other day unabashedly proclaim this conviction. Of course he wanted you to feel hopeless so you could order his materials to help you cope with your dilemma! I thought how sad to tell hopeless people there is no hope. That once you are the way you are that's it.

Sometimes we even tell ourselves this idea. I'm so stupid...I'll never be smart like my brother. I'm so poor...I'll never have the money that I need. I'm so forgetful...I don't even know why I came to the store. I'm not mechanical so I can't fix anything. I'll never be able to go back to school. I'm so weak to temptation so I'll always be an addict. And so we give up and buy the myth that we'll always be the way we are. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Oh well, I'll just learn to compensate for my flaws.

When Israel wanted a king the Lord led Samuel the prophet to anoint Saul. Outside his physical features he wasn't much to choose from. He had no experience and he was frightfully shy. He avoided any responsibility because he didn't believe in himself. But when Samuel anointed Saul he said that on the way home he would encounter the prophets and he would prophesy with them. Samuel predicted that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him and he would be turned into another man. Sure enough that is exactly what happened. And the people who observed this were blown away. (1 Samuel 10:11) And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

When the Spirit of God comes into your life you are going to change! (Titus 3:5) not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Then as the Spirit continues to work in your life you will shed the old you and be turned into another you. (2 Corinthians 3:18) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Are there things in your life you would like to change? They can be by the Lord's power! It's not too late. Fight against that tendency to be oldie and moldy! Need a spiritual makeover? Let the Lord so work in your life that people will see what the Lord can do. Think how they will be encouraged for that change in their own lives! Like Saul you can become another man!

Louie