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The Truth of the Spotted LeopardIs there something in your life that you've wanted to change but haven't been able to? Mark Twain used to say, "It's not hard to quit smoking...I've done it a hundred times." He also confessed, "I can resist everything except temptation." Perhaps you've felt the same way about some important area of your life that you've wanted to improve. If so, we hope you can experience the liberation and empowerment we've found in the truth of the spotted leopard. |
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Sometimes outward changes are the easy part, as the story of the bum turned "fashion star" illustrates. Like mascara that washes off after the party, outward behavior changes sometimes mask the real us beneath. We've changed, but we're not really different. Which is precisely the Bible's point in its truth of the spotted leopard–We can no longer change our fundamental nature than a leopard can change its spots. Jeremiah 13:23 The truth of the spotted leopard applies to even simple lifestyle changes
we know would be good for us but we haven't been
Three times in the Bible the question is asked outright, "What
must I do to be saved?" And the straightforward answers it gives
reveal the four steps we must take that enable God to accomplish that transformation
within us. The four steps are:
Associated with each of the four steps is the promise that God will help us take them. Philippians 2:12,13 And in the process, God works within us to accomplish the spiritual rebirth necessary to live the transformed life. No one who comes to God through these four steps, desiring to be saved–to live the transformed life of meaning, purpose, love and the assurance of eternal life–will fail to find Him. And finding Him, we find life. 1 John 5:11,12 Would you like to experience the life
God offers?
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We cannot accomplish our own spiritual rebirth. It is an act of
God's