Dear Partner,

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

One thing is for sure, Jesus Christ is never going to change. Our goal is to become more and more like Him, for He is never going to change to be like us. Satan's boast has been, "God may be able to forgive man, but He cannot change man." The vast majority of the Church world still believes that lie.

Many have simply given up on ever truly changing deep seated emotional strongholds like anger, bitterness, greed, and envy and are now content to simply continue as they are with statements like, "I can't help it. That's just the way I am." We say things like, "I'm just an old sinner saved by grace." The bible teaches that we "were" old sinners, we "were" saved by grace, but now we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. The bible says,

Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Most born again people would almost consider it blasphemous to say about themselves what God says about them in His Word.

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

We all want to "walk together" with God as we sojourn through life. How is that possible if we continually say about ourselves the opposite of what God says about us in His Word? One of the first steps toward permanent change in any believer's life is to begin "agreeing" with God by saying about themselves what He says about them in His Word.

What would a believer have to say about themselves in order to agree with God according to Romans 6:22? I AM FREE FROM SIN. I AM A SERVANT TO GOD. MY FRUIT IS HOLINESS UNTO EVERLASTING LIFE! Most would say, "Oh no, I could never say that about myself. I know how I am. I am still a sinner." Can you see the dilemma here? God says you are free from sin. You are saying you are not. Where is the agreement? No wonder we have seen so little of the Holy Spirit's power manifested to permanently change us. Our contrary words have kept us from "walking together" with God and His transforming power.

Let us quickly review Abraham's faith once more. When he was about a hundred years old, he and Sarah had not yet given birth to a child. God said to Abram,

Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

From that day forward, every time Abraham said his name he was saying "I am the father of a multitude." That's what the name "Abraham" means in the Hebrew language. Now wait a minute, wasn't Abraham lying every time he said that? He and Sarah had no children at this time, yet here is Abraham going around "agreeing" with God who had said, "For a father of many nations have I made thee." You see, Abraham had a choice. He could either agree with the apparent circumstances or he could agree with God!

GOD CANNOT LIE!
YOU ARE NEVER LYING WHEN YOU ARE AGREEING WITH GOD!

For this miracle to happen, God knew that He had to get Abraham "walking together" with the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit by having him SAY words that AGREE with God! By "walking together" with God in this manner, the power of the Holy Spirit was released to "change" Abraham and Sarah. Notice that first came "words" that agreed with God. Only afterward did "change" come by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is exactly the same with us. No matter how disappointed we are with ourselves, if we desire permanent change by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit we are going to first have to "agree" with God. Just like Abraham, no matter how impossible it may seem for us to change, step one is for us to agree with God by saying about ourselves precisely what He says about us in the Word.

There is no agreement with God when a born again believer goes around saying, "I am a sinner." To say that is to agree with the lie of the devil. It negates the work of God when He imparted life unto your spirit at the new birth. No, you may still be "sinning," but you are no longer a "sinner" by nature. By comparison, Abraham and Sarah were still "childless" when God declared them to be parents of a multitude. Step one to bring permanent change was for them to begin agreeing with what God had said about them. Step one to bring permanent change for us is to begin agreeing with what God has said about us.

"Permanent change" is a progressive walk for all of us. I don't personally know of any who "have arrived." What are we to do when we stumble or sin? We are to quickly repent and ask forgiveness according to:

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But we are to have faith that when we confess our sins, He truly forgives us AND completely cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness. We rise from prayer each time boldly declaring what God has said about us.

Thank you for your gift to GCM. Sue and I love you and appreciate you. We thank God for your generous and giving heart. God bless you!

Your friend and co-laborer,

Gary Carpenter

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