{"id":3659,"date":"2015-10-06T00:13:21","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T07:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/?p=3659"},"modified":"2015-10-05T22:15:55","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T05:15:55","slug":"106-can-a-leopard-change-its-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/2015\/10\/06\/106-can-a-leopard-change-its-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"10\/6: Can a Leopard Change its Spots? (\u8bd7118:1-16 \u897f2:6-23 \u803611:18-13:27)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u8bfb\u7ecf\uff1a\u8bd7118:1-16 \u897f2:6-23 \u803611:18-13:27<\/h2>\n

Can a Leopard Change its Spots?<\/h2>\n
\n

Darrell Tunningley started using drugs at the age of eleven. By sixteen he was selling large quantities. He became a \u2018debt collector\u2019, on one occasion using a grass strimmer on the soles of the feet of someone who owed \u00a3300.<\/p>\n

Aged seventeen Darrell took part in an armed robbery. He was arrested and sentenced to five and a half years in prison. While inside, he did Alpha. He prayed, \u2018God if you\u2019re real, prove it. Take away my drug addiction, take away all this anger that\u2019s inside me. If you do that for me I\u2019ll live the rest of my life for you.\u2019<\/p>\n

When he woke up the next morning he picked up a cigarette as usual, but the thought of touching it made him feel physically sick. He threw it out of the cell window. He got his tobacco and threw that out of the window. He took his drugs and threw them out of the window too. Then he stopped feeling sick.<\/p>\n

When Darrell looked in the mirror he didn\u2019t recognise the reflection because he was smiling \u2013 not just smiling, but beaming. Since that day he hasn\u2019t touched drugs. He hasn\u2019t smoked. He hasn\u2019t got drunk. He hasn\u2019t been in a fight.<\/p>\n

He started running Alpha in the prison. Hundreds of people came. Prison officers came to him for advice and counselling. When he left prison he became the assistant at a local church run by a pastor, Mark Finch. He married Mark\u2019s daughter, Rebekah, and they now have two children.<\/p>\n

When I interviewed Darrell I asked him what difference Jesus has made. He replied, \u2018I don\u2019t say this lightly, I really do mean it, Jesus is more important to me than the air I\u2019m breathing.\u2019 He says, \u2018Now he\u2019s my everything. He\u2019s my lifeline, he\u2019s my strength. He\u2019s everything. I couldn\u2019t live without him and everything I do is through him and for him. My life wouldn\u2019t be the way it is if he wasn\u2019t exactly who he said he was.\u2019 Darrell\u2019s life was totally changed because Jesus set him free from his addictions, his anger, and the sin that was destroying his life.<\/p>\n

Is it possible for you to change? One of the most difficult things in the world is to break from a bad habit or to give up sin. In one of today\u2019s passages Jeremiah asks, \u2018Can a leopard change its spots<\/em>?\u2019 (Jeremiah 13:23).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1. Changed by God\u2019s help<\/h2>\n

Psalm 118:1-16<\/a>Are you fearful about what other people think or say about you? Are you worried about what they might do to you \u2013 that they might treat you unfairly or reject you?<\/p>\n

We need to realise how big God is and how small our problems are in comparison with his power. The psalmist gives thanks to the Lord because of his great love (vv.1\u20134). He writes, \u2018In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free<\/em>\u2019 (v.5).<\/p>\n

Freedom gives us a new perspective on life. The psalmist turns to God, knowing he can be relied on no matter what: \u2018God\u2019s now on my side and I\u2019m not afraid: who would dare lay a hand on me? God\u2019s my strong champion; I flick off my enemies like flies\u2019 (vv.6\u20137, MSG).<\/p>\n

The psalmist then tells of how he has experienced God\u2019s help (vv.10\u201312), before he turns his thoughts to thankfulness and song. Praise God today that, like the psalmist, you can say: \u2018The Lord is my strength and my song, he has become my salvation\u2019 (v.14).<\/p>\n

Lord, thank you so much for your amazing love for me. Thank you that when I cry out to you, you answer me and set me free. Thank you that you are always with me, and that you are my helper, my strength, my salvation and my song.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2. Changed by Jesus<\/h2>\n

Colossians 2:6-23<\/a>Sometimes we overcomplicate our faith. It can appear that if you want to be part of the \u2018spiritual elite\u2019, there are various extra things you need to understand or do. Paul challenges this kind of false teaching head on.<\/p>\n

All you need is Jesus. It is not a matter of adding anything to Jesus, but rather of living out what you already have in him: \u2018You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live <\/em>him. You\u2019re deeply rooted in him. You\u2019re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do<\/em>what you\u2019ve been taught\u2019 (vv.6\u20137a, MSG).<\/p>\n

Paul warns the Colossians against the false teachers who try to dazzle them with their \u2018big words and intellectual double talk\u2019 (v.8, MSG). \u2018You don\u2019t need a telescope, a microscope or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything\u2019 (vv.9\u201310, MSG).<\/p>\n

In the immediate context, Paul was telling his readers that they had no need to be circumcised. He explains that they have already been circumcised \u2013 not \u2018by human hands\u2019 but \u2018with the circumcision done by Christ\u2019 (v.11). Those who have been baptised do not need to be circumcised (v.12). Baptism symbolises something even more amazing than circumcision: death and resurrection.<\/p>\n

You are in <\/em>Christ. Therefore when Jesus died, you died in him<\/em>. When Jesus was buried, you were buried with him<\/em> \u2013 and when he rose from the dead, you rose with him<\/em> (v.12). This is how you got rid of your sinful nature \u2013 \u2018putting off of the sinful nature\u2019 (v.11). It died with Christ and was buried with him. \u2018When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive \u2013 right along with Christ!\u2019 (v.13, MSG).<\/p>\n

Understand and think about the amazing victory of Jesus on the cross: \u2018All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ\u2019s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets\u2019 (vv.13\u201315, MSG).<\/p>\n

In the ancient world, triumphs over hated enemies were celebrated with public spectacles (v.15). The spoils of war were brought back, often consisting of a long line of prisoners whom they had disarmed.<\/p>\n

Jesus has done it all. You don\u2019t need to add anything: \u2018So don\u2019t put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services or holy days\u2019 (v.16, MSG). All you need is Christ \u2018who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us\u2019 (v.19 MSG).<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, thank you that as you hung on the cross for me and for the entire human race, in your apparent defeat you actually triumphed over all the powers and authorities of this dark world. Thank you that you set me free from sin, addiction and death. Help me never again to allow anyone or anything to take me captive.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

3. Changed by testing<\/h2>\n

Jeremiah 11:18-13:27<\/a>Don\u2019t be afraid of pressure. Pressure is what transforms a lump of coal into a diamond. Life can be seen as a series of tests. We test things by putting them under pressure. Physical muscles grow through being put under pressure. God is more interested in how your heart and mind grow when they are tested; he tests \u2018the heart and mind\u2019 (11:20).<\/p>\n

God is not impressed by what we say we will do \u2013 he is impressed by what we do when we are put under pressure. Progress in life and in ministry happens when you are tried and tested, and you pass the test. Jeremiah was tested. He had the unenviable task of warning people that they were about to go into exile \u2013 \u2018the Lord\u2019s flock will be taken captive\u2019 (13:17).<\/p>\n

As a result, he was very unpopular and under constant attack. God revealed one of the plots against him: \u2018\u2026 the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing (11:18). He turned to God for help: \u2018\u2026 to you I have committed my cause\u2026 I bring a case before you\u2019 (11:20; 12:1).<\/p>\n

God warned him that even worse was to come: \u2018So, Jeremiah, if you\u2019re worn out with this footrace with men, what makes you think you can race against horses? \u2019 (v.5, MSG).<\/p>\n

Jeremiah calls the people to change their ways. He says, \u2018Can a leopard get rid of its spots<\/em>? So what are the odds on you doing good, you who are so long-practiced in evil?\u2019 (13:23).<\/p>\n

It is hard to change. It is difficult to pass the test. But the New Testament tells us that change is possible through Jesus. Darrell Tunningley\u2019s life is just one example of how this is still being worked out today. A leopard can change its spots<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Lord, help me when I am tried and tested to rise to the challenge. Thank you that it is possible to change through your help and by the power of the victory of Jesus on the cross. Thank you for the transformation in Darrell\u2019s life. May my life too be transformed and may I continue to proclaim Jesus and his power to change me.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Pippa Adds<\/h2>\n
\n

Psalm 118:7<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018The Lord is with me; he is my helper.\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a busy day. I\u2019m dependent on his help and presence with me today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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