"Faith That Delivers"

"Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers." (Psalms 74:15) We need to get something perfectly clear, we don't deliver anything, as much as we would like to think otherwise. This is also another part of the Men's Conference, and it was a special message about change, as in, you know that you have been changed. In other words, you don't have to wait for something to happen, because it already has! You have been delivered, and that's all there is to it! Based upon Paul's experience, he was changed while on the road to Damascus; from that moment on, Paul's life would never be the same again. That's the thing I took away from the movie "Risen," as I observed the Roman soldier who met the risen Lord, and his life was never the same. That's faith that delivers, faith that changes a life! If your life has not been changed, then you may want to reconfirm where you are headed, because it might not be where you think you are going. What ever you think this verse is speaking about, it basically comes down to God being able to pour out and draw up, meaning that He is the one who makes the change in us, we don't change ourselves! You can try all you want, but unless God changes you, you are fighting a losing battle; one that you are ultimately going to lose. In my notes, I noticed that I had written my birth date; not my original birthday, but the date that I was Born Again. The date was September 1981; which Sunday it was, I can't totally remember, but I am pretty sure it was around the middle of the month. That was the day my life changed! I went from death to life, from darkness to light; from being filled with sadness, to being filled with joy; from being without hope, to having hope like I had never knew before. It was not anything that I could have ever done on my own; it was God's work being done in me; in an instant and without a doubt, I was changed! Now, as to that Scripture from Isaiah 1:18, and God saying, "Come now, let us reason together," He is now challenging us to a debate, or asking us to settle our differences; He is asking us to consider the cost of not doing things His way! That was pretty much the message that Jesus delivered: 'It's either My way or the highway!' The highway being the road to destruction, which happens to be a very wide road... ""Don't let you hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me. There is more than enough room in My Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I was going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going." "No, we don't know, Lord," Thomas said. "We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me. If you had really known Me, you would know who My Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him."" (John 14:1-7) NLT