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10 minute study: God can change you!

God can use you even though you don’t think you’re ready. You just need to be willing. None of us are perfect, but, the reality is, as we journey on with God, He will help us to change – He’ll help us be more like Jesus.

Be brutal. What are the things you don’t like about yourself? What are the things you think God doesn’t like about you? It’s easy to think we’re not pretty enough, cool enough or generally good enough. We might have a bunch of habits that we know we need to deal with. Our mates might easily lead us along. But give all that to God. He’s big enough to hear it, and big enough to help you get through it. Don’t believe us? Well, get inspired by Pablo.

Pablo’s story is pretty insane. He’s from Colombia. When he was a teenager he smuggled drugs for rebel soldiers. He would drive about in a big truck dropping off cocaine to various dealers and pass out anti-government leaflets. One day enemies of the gang he was working for caught him. To save his life he told them everything he knew. He escaped, but was on the run.

He didn’t have anywhere to go, and this is where God stepped in. Pablo met some Christians; they told him about Jesus and he realised God had spared his life for a reason.

After meeting an Open Doors volunteer, Pablo decided to go back to smuggling, but this time he’d be taking Bibles, rather than drugs, into dangerous parts of Colombia.

It’s not an easy job. The rebel soldiers he used to work for are violently committed to their beliefs, and the gospels that Pablo delivers offer a very different way of thinking. There is a price on his head. He’s had to go into hiding a few times – they see him as a target and the Bibles that he delivers as lethal weapons. But he keeps going, keeps serving and keeps growing to be more like Jesus.

If God can change a drug smuggling teenager from Colombia and miraculously use him, don’t be surprised to hear that God can definitely change you and use you too.

Image: Pablo sparking to an Open Doors worker…

Bible:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26

Think and act:

1. What would you love to see God change in your life? Look up the passage from Ezekiel and read it through a few times. Ask God to give you a new heart. Ask Him to meet you where you are and give you the courage to live differently.
2. Pablo knows what we sometimes forget. Changing isn’t just about knowing you’re a good or bad person. It’s about knowing that we are totally accepted and loved by God. It’s only when we know how much God loves us that we can truly change and be more like Jesus. And when we grasp that, God can transform us, just like He has transformed Pablo.

Prayer:

Father, thank You that You love me no matter what I do or how I am feeling. Help me understand that love, and to properly grasp it. Please Holy Spirit, help me to not look for value in all the stuff I own or the way people see me – or even the positions I hold or places I go. Like Pablo, help me find my value in You. I pray for Pablo and other Christian leaders in Colombia who risk everything to share Your love with others. I ask that each Bible Pablo delivers would find its way into the right hands, and that the stories of Jesus would reveal your love and transform many lives. Amen.