Overview
Relationships, work, location, responsibilities and seasons of life can all change, but God and Jesus Christ remain dependable. Rico Magnelli follows Moses, David, the apostles and Paul to show that God prepares people for new assignments through earlier experiences. Stability during change comes from fixing the heart on what does not change while continuing to grow toward the return of Christ.
Edited Teaching Transcript
Everything Except the Things of God Is Subject to Change
Please turn to Exodus chapter 3 and let's consider lifestyle of change. Part of the truth that makes us free is understanding that aside from the things of God, everything in this life is subject to change. Sometimes change comes in stages. Sometimes change comes slowly. Sometimes change comes abruptly. Change affects our relationships, our jobs, our schooling, where we live, and the list goes on. Even though change is to some degree inevitable and perhaps should not always surprise us, sometimes it does. Because only God knows the end from the beginning and never gets surprised about anything. Our stability through all the changes in our life can be found in God.
Because God says in Malachi 3.6, I am the Lord, I change not. And Christ does not change either. As Hebrews 13.8 states, Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. Navigating a life of change is done successfully when we fix ourselves on what does not change. That is the unchanging God and his unchanging Son. Exodus chapter 3, we read about
Moses Faces an Abrupt Change
Moses who after 80 years has a big change in his life. In chapter 3 of Exodus, verse 1, it says, Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Orem. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked and behold, the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. Makes sense. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses.
And he said, here am I. And he said, draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place wherein thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God. The Lord said, I've surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
Now therefore behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come unto me. And I've also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt. This was quite a change at such an age. Sometimes changes come later in life and we don't exactly know all the particulars ahead of time. Moses said unto God, verse 11, who am I that I should go into Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt. He certainly questioned the change and perhaps after 80 years, maybe Moses had gotten very comfortable in what he was doing.
He thought that this was it for him. I'll do the shepherd thing and that's it. Then there came a change. What's so interesting is is that God never asked us to do something or to be part of something that he hasn't already prepared us to do. But even in our later years, these changes may come our way. Look at Psalm 78 please. And Moses learned about God and how God was faithful and he led them for 40 years. 40. And there was plenty of change that was involved in that whole journey as well. What about
David Is Prepared Through Ordinary Work
David? David didn't get the big change in his life when he was later in years. In fact, it happened probably somewhere when he was a teenager, maybe somewhere 15, 16 years old. It says in Psalm 78, verse 70, he, God, chose David, also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. There's no indication that somebody being a shepherd is going to be a qualifying component to them being raised to this kind of leadership responsibility. But there's something that David had done in his heart and his preparation that God made him ready to take on this responsibility. Verse 71, from following the ewes great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.
So there would have been principles and truths. There would have been aspects of David's development that just dovetailed beautifully into this responsibility because God never puts anything before us that we really cannot handle. And we really haven't been, if you will, prepared to handle. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, look at that, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. He learned all these things in perhaps very rudimentary form as a young man, as a teen. Moses was 80, big change happens then. This young man, David, was maybe 15, 16 years old, certainly a teenager, and a big change happened in his life.
David was unaware as a teenager just starting out his life that he would be anointed king over Israel. The thing about God is he never makes a mistake when he calls somebody, and he never asks us to do something that he hasn't already prepared us to do. It's beautiful. Look at Acts chapter 2, please. A lifestyle of change is so much in our spiritual DNA, if you will, because we look to a future, and we understand that we are sojourners in this life, and we put very little stock in the temporary. We invest our heart, soul, and mind, and strength in the eternal. Acts chapter 2, on the
The Apostles Step Into New Responsibility
day of Pentecost, when the 12 apostles, if you will, in so many ways began the service, responsibility that was given to them after being trained by Jesus Christ. On the day of Pentecost, Peter and the other apostles addressed the issue of Jesus Christ with the people that had been involved in certainly endorsing his crucifixion. In verse 36, it says of chapter 2, therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they had heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, repent. Repent here means to change one's mind for the better, and in so many ways this encapsulates the Christian experience. See, sometimes change starts mentally, and then the circumstances follow. Perhaps we need to adjust our perspective. It may involve changing our perspective on a topic or about a person. Here, they had to change their mind about who Jesus was. Once we change, that new perspective can affect our whole life, and that's exactly what happened to these first Christians. Change isn't to be feared. They had to accept the crucified Christ as Lord, and that was a big change.
Change does involve taking ownership and utilizing the Holy Spirit, no question about it. There's nothing static and stale about the gift of Holy Spirit in you. There's nothing mundane and earthly and carnal about that Spirit, nothing. Look at 1 Thessalonians, please. Here in this epistle to the Thessalonians, it notes how Paul, Silas, and Timothy went to Thessalonica, and there was a huge change in the people there because they had received the message of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 8, For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God is spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything.
For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned a hundred and eighty degree turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. That's a pretty big change, and every indication in Scripture points that this was done in a short amount of time. It wasn't a prolonged year-by-year situation. It happened relatively quickly. Change is inevitable, and one of the things that we see here is true faith ignites change for the better. When it's true faith, when it's the faith of Jesus Christ, people can turn and make a 180 degree turn. Often what people need is someone to model a lifestyle of change, someone to teach and to minister a lifestyle of change, so people do not just become spiritual chameleons and just blend right back into the world and call it Christianity.
Look at
God Prepares the Body for Growth
Ephesians, chapter 4, please. At the conclusion of the Christian experience, whenever that will be, whether we are alive at the time of the return of Christ or we're asleep, we will all be changed, the corruptible to incorruptible, the mortal to immortal. This change will continue in your life and mine. Some will be large, some will be small, but learning how to navigate these changes begins with embracing the unchanging God and the unchanging Son of God. Here's where it will conclude in verse 13 of chapter 4 of the book of Ephesians. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, we reach the pinnacle, the zenith, the highest point, the apex of our Christian experience and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Change is absolutely inevitable and will reach its most significant culmination at the return of Christ. Ephesians chapter 2, God is always preparing you and I for the next thing. We may not necessarily know that, but he does. And that's why being led by the Spirit is so significant. It's so critical, if you will. Not being led by carnality, not being led by our five senses, not being led by our emotions, not being led by people's opinions, but being led by that Spirit of God within us and allowing it to reveal unto us the truth that is in this scripture, the Word of God. Ephesians chapter 2, a familiar verse, verse 10, for
You Are God’s Workmanship for the Next Thing
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained or prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. He has prepared these good works for us. And in pursuit of these will involve change. No question. Sometimes small, sometimes larger. God may or may not give us a warning about changes coming our way, but he will always prepare us for them, because that's what a loving father would do. He prepares his children ahead of time. Our responsibility and privilege is to listen. In the stillness of our heart, listen. And we'll close in
Keep Reaching Toward the Prize
Philippians chapter 3, from everything I can read, there is no perfect level or plateau that we reach spiritually, and we're done. Doesn't matter how old we are, how young we are, has nothing to do with it. There is no I've arrived moment, where we're done with, you know, learning from God and experiencing him and continuing to increase and grow in our love and our hope and in our application of faith. Paul states this in Philippians chapter 3, this way, in verse 12, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after. So he continued to pursue the things of God. Moses had a big change at 80.
David had a big change at 15, 16. All those people on the day of Pentecost, they had a big change. They were devout, but they had a change coming in their life. The thing about God and the changes that God has set for us, they only produce benefit when we do it out of love and in his wisdom. It says, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. It's a together thing we do with the accomplished work of Christ. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. I haven't arrived. I haven't reached the final plateau spiritually. But there's one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. That's that when we all come into the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. God is very aware of the changes in your life and mine. He's very aware of it. And he will prepare you because that's what love does. We will never arrive at the point that no more changes in our lives are necessary. So we continue to pursue the prize because the ultimate prize is the ultimate change when we get a new body. And that's something we look forward to. You know, we can be comforted. And that's a great thing that God provides as the God of all comfort.
But being comforted is not the same as being comfortable where we get complacent, perhaps. God is actively restoring his creation. You see that in the beginning of the book of Genesis in chapter one and his people. Our desire and interest is we want to be part of that restoration. We want to be part of restoring wholeness to people by sharing with them and living with them the salvation that we have in Christ Jesus. So certainly part of the truth that makes us free is understanding that aside from the things of God, everything in this life is subject to change. Sometimes change comes in stages, as we mentioned. Sometimes change comes slowly and sometimes change comes abruptly.
Change affects our relationships, our jobs, our schooling, where we live, all these different things. Even though change is to some degree inevitable and perhaps should not always surprise us, sometimes it still does, and that's okay. And that's where we can be there for each other and remind each other that God already has this in hand because God knows the end from the beginning and nothing surprises him. Your stability and mine in this life is really determined by how we navigate changes successfully. And when we fix ourselves on the unchanging God and the unchanging Jesus Christ, we will be successful.
Key Takeaways
- Change is a normal part of life, but believers can remain stable by anchoring themselves in the unchanging God and Christ.
- Moses’ calling at eighty shows that a major new assignment can begin after a long earlier season of preparation.
- David’s ordinary responsibilities helped prepare him for later leadership.
- The apostles accepted new responsibility after Pentecost and carried the Word beyond their former experience.
- God prepares the body of Christ for continuing growth rather than for spiritual stagnation.
- Believers are God’s workmanship and can listen for the next good work He has prepared.
- No age or stage represents a final spiritual plateau; the believer continues reaching toward the prize.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can believers remain stable during change?
They can fix their thinking on what does not change: God, Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word. Circumstances and responsibilities may shift, but the believer’s relationship with God provides continuity and direction.
What does Moses’ calling teach about change?
Moses experienced a major change at eighty years old when God called him to lead Israel. His earlier life had not been wasted; God used it as preparation for a new responsibility.
Does spiritual growth ever reach a final plateau?
Not in this life. The teaching points to Paul’s continued pursuit in Philippians 3 and to the body’s growth in Ephesians 4. Believers can keep developing in love, faith, hope and service until Christ’s return.
Scripture References
Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; Exodus 3:1-12; Psalm 78:70-72; Acts 2:1-47; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; Ephesians 4:11-16; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 3:12-14
This article was prepared from an automated teaching transcript. Verify exact Bible quotation wording, names, transliterations and verse references against the recording and the speaker’s preferred Bible translation before publishing.
