Starting Fresh On a Strong Foundation- Change What You’re Doing

I have been sharing about starting fresh, getting out of our comfort zones, and walking in the fullness of what God has for us this year and laying a foundation that includes:

1. Changing what we’re thinking
2. Changing what we’re saying
3. Changing what we’re doing

This time, we’re looking at number three: changing what we are doing. Peter is still our example in his story of getting out of the boat and walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33). Peter was willing to do something that no one else had ever done. If you want to go somewhere you’ve never been before, you’re going to have to do some things that you’ve never done before. And to step into anything new, you’ll likely have to start changing some things.

The old saying is true that if you keep doing what you’ve always done you’re going to keep getting the same results. So we have to change what we are thinking, what we are saying, and what we are doing. James 1:25 says:

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Notice, the Bible does not say that we are blessed in our hearing or in our thinking. The Bible does not say that we are blessed in our speaking. Notice, James says we are blessed in our doing. Faith comes by hearing, but we must act or do something for our faith to become productive. You are not blessed just because you hear something. You are blessed because you act on what you hear. It’s the doer of God’s Word that is blessed.

Doing or acting on God’s Word is faith. Many times there is an element of risk involved with faith. That is why very few people want to try something different. That is why the majority of people like to stay in their comfort zone—or in their boat, so-to-speak. Why? Because it’s comfortable. It’s secure. We know what’s going to happen. But faith always requires an element of risk. Understand, however, that in God’s Kingdom, the risk is always positive and never negative because it’s based on what God says. You can step out of the boat because God’s Word is true.

So what areas of your life are you comfortable with right now? I want to challenge you in those areas. That’s my intent today—to challenge your comfort zone, because I want to see you experience something next year that you have not experienced before. Let’s press past and challenge ourselves in some areas of our lives that might have made us uncomfortable in times past.

• What about sharing the Gospel? Is this the year that you make a decision to be bolder in you witness for Christ?
• What about giving? Are you willing to give in ways that may make your mind uncomfortable but that stretches your faith in ways that are pleasing to God?
• What about serving? Are you willing to make yourself available to your church or to what God has been asking you to do?
• Let me go back to the questions from our first article in this series: What has God been speaking to you about? What dreams or goals have you hidden away and almost forgotten? Is it time for you to say yes to God?

When a person has put a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do. However, with God and through our willing obedience, all things are possible…even walking on water.

So let me challenge you to get out of your boat and to step out of your comfort zone this year. Move into unfamiliar territory. Stretch your faith. God wants you to stretch your faith…not break it, but stretch it so it can grow. Be willing to change your thinking. Be willing to change what you’re saying. Be willing to change what you’re doing. The answer to your best future lies outside the boundaries you have already placed in your life.

So let’s move out of what we’ve known and move into all He has. If this is your desire; if you would say, “Yes, Lord, Lord, I want to change this year. I want this year to be different than last year, spiritually speaking and every other way,” then I invite you to make this your personal prayer and declaration:

Heavenly Father, I know Your voice and I love Your Word, and I believe what You say to me is true. Today I choose to be a doer of what you say and not just a hearer. I thank you, Father, that you are my very own Father and I am your very own child. I thank you for the Holy Spirit Who lives in me; the Holy Spirit Who empowers me; the Holy Spirit Who strengthens me. And so Father, today I say with my mouth, because I believe in my heart, that this year will be different. This year will be a blessed year. It will be a prosperous year. It will be a healthy year. It will be a year of restoration in every area of life and in the life of my family. I commit to do what you want me to do and I thank you Father for your blessings. I give you the glory and the honor for all the good things that this year will hold. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

The following recording is a Word from the Lord that came forth through tongues and interpretation at the end of the service where this message was originally shared. We trust you will be blessed as you both hear and receive…