“I want to change because God wants me to change.” That is the confession at the heart of this third message in the series Help God! I Want to Change. The pastor teaches that God created people to change, that corruption in the world pulls against that change, and that the way forward is not harder toil but entering into God’s rest. The message moves from the soil of Genesis to Psalm 19, Isaiah 40 and Hebrews 4.
Below you will find the full video, a summary of each point with the Scripture behind it (linked to the NKJV on Bible Gateway), a table of the words the pastor explains, a timestamped outline and practical steps for this week.
Sermon at a Glance
This message was posted by NTC Ministries on August 3, 2021, and runs about 69 minutes. The pastor recaps the first two messages of the series: man was created to change, and eternity is placed in the human heart. He then introduces the third step, which he calls the pathway to change, or entering into God’s rest.
His main burden is simple. The biggest hindrance to people growing with God, he says, is people not wanting to be changed. Hearing sermons is not enough. A believer has to want change, apply the Word, and let God do the work instead of striving in his own strength.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Speaker | The pastor of NTC Ministries (not named in the recording) |
| Series | Help God! I Want to Change, message 3 |
| Main text | Psalm 19:7–11, Isaiah 40:28–31 and Hebrews 4:1–12 |
| Key theme | Wanting change, resisting corruption and entering God’s rest |
| Length | About 69 minutes, ending in a prayer for change |
Created Like the Soil to Bear Fruit
The pastor opens by contrasting people with animals. A chicken will always be a chicken and a cow will always be a cow; they follow their routines and never become anything else. People are different. He points out that the Hebrew word for the earth as a whole is eretz, but the word for soil or ground is adamah, whose root is Adam. We were made like the soil, not like the animals.
Because we are ground, what is sown into us matters. Sow bad things and life gets worse; sow good things and it gets better. Jesus said you cannot get good fruit from a bad tree, so make the tree good and the fruit will be good (Matthew 12:33). When we come to Christ, the seed of the Word is sown in us, and we are born again of incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23).
The pastor explains 2 Corinthians 5:17 with two Greek words for new. One means to redo or remake, like reupholstering an old chair. The other means a brand new prototype that never existed before, and that is the word used for the new birth. A born-again believer is not a renovated version of the old self but a new creation with a new manual for life, the Bible.
That manual tells us to acknowledge God in all our ways (Proverbs 3:5–6). Eternity is in the human heart, but it cannot come out until someone is born again; then rivers of living water flow from within (John 7:38).
Part of change is God’s pruning, so that we bear more fruit (John 15:2). The pastor tells of an old apple tree at the end of his driveway that once had perhaps 20 apples. With advice from a friend, he cut two pickup loads of branches from it. The first year nothing happened, the next year it grew, and by the third year it carried hundreds of apples. God, he says, is that interested in us changing.
It is not because God made a mistake; we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). He wants to change us so we can receive our destiny and inheritance. Anyone who says I want to change is joining a process God already started.
Where Corruption Comes From
When man sinned, corruption came to the whole earth, which is why God sent the flood (Genesis 6:11–12). Noah was called righteous not because he was perfect but because he believed God’s word was true. He built an ark for years before it had ever rained, and eight people were saved while the mocking world passed away.
After the flood, God moved forward by covenant. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Adam gave away God’s first gift, Satan corrupted everything, and God answered with another gift: He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16).
The pastor is glad the church is receiving the revelation that God is love. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). So when a newscaster calls a disaster an act of God, or a sick person says God gave them a disease to teach them something, he answers plainly: not our God. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give life more abundantly (John 10:10).
Corruption is the work of the god of this world, and it is increasing, as Jesus said it would be in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37). His charge is direct: the church better grow up. The world stays the same, like the same person on the same bar stool night after night. With hard days ahead, believers need the real, almighty God, not a cartoonish Sunday school picture.
The pastor shares his own story. After first coming to Jesus he fell away and became addicted to drugs and alcohol. When he recommitted his life, it was all or nothing, and people saw drastic changes. Yet some areas still took years of crying out to God.
Saying “I Want to Change” and Meaning It
To show how change works, the pastor uses the church daycare. When a room smells, the staff check every diaper because somebody needs changing. Everyone else knows it; we are the ones who need to see it. Some children cry to be changed, and others cry because they are being changed. Whether you are four months old or 40 years old, he says, people are people.
He has strong words for Christians who say it is just me and Jesus so that no one can speak into their life. The Bible is full of the help we need to change, which is why believers are to be discipled. Scripture even says to confess our faults to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed (James 5:16). He teaches that healing there means a soulish cleansing and reviving.
His own pastor, Glenn Smith, used to say that change isn’t change until it’s changed. Yet that can turn into toil. God does not leave it up to you; He just needs you to have a want to. So the church confesses together: I want to change because God wants me to change.
He applies it to himself first: after 48 years of marriage he still needs to change to be a better husband, father and pastor. The goal is greater intimacy with God. Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). If the issues of your life are a mess, look at your heart.
Patience was his hardest area; today he confesses the patience of eternity. Some changes took 10 to 15 years, because God was teaching him that change is not his own toil. Toiling by the sweat of the brow belongs to the curse (Genesis 3:19), and trusting our own ability can become another god.
The truth only hurts, he says, because of a stiff neck that does not want to turn. Believers should love correction. Listening to sermons while never changing is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. To say I want to change is to let the truth turn you.
Psalm 19: The Law That Converts the Soul
The main text is Psalm 19:7–11, which begins, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.” The spirit is made new at the new birth, but the soul must be transformed. That is Romans 12:2: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
That transformation is ongoing, like repainting the church doors or sweeping a floor again. Dust comes because we live in a corruptible world. Paul wrote that we may be cast down but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:9). We face what the world faces without being corrupted by it, and that requires entering God’s rest.
The pastor then works through the key words of the passage and the sermon. The table below follows his explanations.
| Word | Meaning as taught | Lesson for change |
|---|---|---|
| Eretz (Hebrew) | The earth as a whole | Different from the soil we were made from |
| Adamah (Hebrew) | Soil, ground; rooted in Adam | We were made like soil, so what is sown in us grows |
| Remade (Greek) | Redone, like reupholstery | The ongoing renewal of the soul |
| Brand new (Greek) | A prototype that never existed | The new creation at the new birth |
| Shuwb (Hebrew for converting) | Return to the starting point, fetched home, restored | Coming back to your first love |
| Nephesh (Hebrew for soul) | Animal life that moves to and fro | The herd mentality the Word must renew |
| Qavah (Hebrew for wait) | Gathering together, as the waters in Genesis 1:9 | Waiting means coming together with God |
Converting, then, means coming home. Jesus told the busy church at Ephesus that they had left their first love and needed to repent and do the first works (Revelation 2:4–5). The pastor wants to keep living in the love of God he knew when he was transformed. You will not be perfect until the Lord comes, he says, but the world’s corruption does not have to reach you.
The soul behaves like deer herding together in a northern winter to survive. The kingdom is not survival of the fittest: the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11).
Psalm 19 lists the changes the Word brings: from simple to wise, from sorrow to a rejoicing heart, and enlightened eyes. The fear of the Lord means deciding to obey; if God wants it, I want to change no matter how it feels. These judgments are more to be desired than gold, and in keeping them there is great reward.
Wait on the Lord Like an Eagle
Why should change be desired more than gold? Because God can provide in an eternal way, beyond what this world can supply. He fed Elijah by ravens and fed thousands with five loaves and two fish. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not (Matthew 24:35), and it is the Spirit who gives life while the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63).
The church reads Galatians 6:7–8 aloud: whoever sows to the flesh reaps corruption, but whoever sows to the Spirit reaps everlasting life. Sow to the Spirit, the pastor says, and you will see something enduring in your marriage, your children and your work. Corruption enters through the five senses and through assumption, so believers must learn God’s voice by His Word, for in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).
The world follows each new fashion like migrating animals. In Mark 6:1–3, Jesus’ hometown could not understand His wisdom, because it came from outside this corrupted world. Believers are not part of the pack; they sow truth that protects and guides them.
Then he turns to Isaiah 40:28–31. God’s understanding is unsearchable; by His word He framed the worlds (Hebrews 11:3). As a young, exhausted minister, the pastor wished he were as strong as famous preachers, until he read that God gives power to the weak.
The word wait is qavah, used when God gathered the waters together in Genesis 1:9. Waiting is not sitting on a bench. It means coming together with God and asking what He wants me to do. You cannot keep overspending and ask God to pay off the debt; you have to change.
An eagle in a storm locks its wings and faces the wind, and the storm shoots it above the clouds into stillness. Those who wait on the Lord face the same problems as the world but live above them. Giving God the first part of each day in prayer and the Word, like the tithe, is waiting on the Lord.
Entering God’s Rest
The pastor reads Genesis 2:1–3. Each of the first six days closes with evening and morning, but the seventh does not, because the seventh pertains to eternity. A vacation is not God’s rest; a beaten-down soul can come back worse, because the corruption of the world is still there.
When man sinned, God began working again, not the work of creation but the work of redeeming us back to that rest. Hebrews 4:1–12 says a promise remains of entering His rest, so we should be diligent to enter it. Israel heard the word, but it did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith. Hearing must be joined to action, and the only way into God’s rest, he says, is to change.
Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart; say I want to change instead. All things are naked before Him. Entering rest does not mean doing nothing; you do not lean on a shovel and pray for a hole. It means ceasing from the striving and manipulation of a corrupt world and letting God work with you.
You do not need another job or another spouse, the pastor says; you need to enter God’s rest. Jesus showed that rest when He slept in a sinking boat and asked His disciples where their faith was (Luke 8:22–25). He did this as a man anointed with the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38).
The first step on the pathway to rest is a prayer: Lord, I want to change. Tell me what to do and how to do it. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28–30), so He does not want you toiling even at changing.
Living It Out This Week
The pastor closes by asking the church to lift their hands and invite the Holy Spirit to burn up the dross, wash them with His love and renew their souls. These steps come straight from the message:
- Say it out loud. Begin each day with the confession, I want to change because God wants me to change, and ask Him to show you one area.
- Let someone speak into your life. Drop the me-and-Jesus excuse, confess your faults to a trusted believer and receive correction without a stiff neck.
- Give God the first part of your day. Read your Bible and pray before social media, as a tithe of your time.
- Sow to the Spirit. Choose what enters through your eyes and ears, and declare Scriptures over your life until they settle in your heart.
- Stop striving. Ask God what He wants you to do instead of asking Him to bless your plan, and trust Him for the result.
- Practice the patience of eternity. Expect some changes to take time, and keep hoping for others who are still in the process.
Timestamped Outline
- 0:00 Recap: created to change, unlike the animals
- 4:42 God prunes us: the apple tree story
- 7:46 The pathway to change and the flood
- 9:50 God is love: where corruption comes from
- 15:51 The daycare and the diaper
- 17:57 We need help changing
- 23:40 Why the truth hurts: a stiff neck
- 26:00 Psalm 19: converting the soul
- 30:40 Return to your first love
- 32:44 The soul and the herd
- 39:34 Galatians 6: sowing to the Spirit
- 44:23 Mark 6: wisdom from outside this world
- 46:40 Isaiah 40: power to the weak
- 48:59 What it means to wait on the Lord
- 52:18 The eagle rises above the storm
- 54:23 Genesis 2: the seventh day
- 56:30 Hebrews 4: be diligent to enter His rest
- 1:02:21 Quit striving and enter rest
- 1:04:56 Jesus asleep in the storm
- 1:08:31 Closing prayer for change
Frequently Asked Questions
Does God send sickness or disaster to teach us a lesson?
The pastor says no. He teaches that God is love and the giver of every good and perfect gift, and that corruption entered the world through sin and is the work of the god of this world. When someone says God gave them a disease to teach them something, he answers that nowhere in the Bible does God do that. Jesus came to give life more abundantly, while the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
Why does change sometimes take so long?
The pastor admits some areas of his own life took 10 to 15 years after God first dealt with him. He believes God used that time to teach him that change does not come by his own toil. Some decisions settle an issue at once, but he says those are few and far between. Most of the time he has to keep seeking God, asking forgiveness and applying the Word until change comes.
Is going to a healing service enough to change my life?
The pastor welcomes healing services and says the church will see more signs, wonders and miracles. But he teaches that the church itself must mature and change, so that eternal life flows from within believers and not only at special meetings. Sitting through services without applying the message, he says, will not make life better. The Word has to be mixed with faith and action.
Scripture References
All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:
- Psalm 19:7–11 — the law of the Lord converts the soul
- Isaiah 40:28–31 — those who wait on the Lord renew their strength
- Hebrews 4:1–12 — be diligent to enter His rest
- Genesis 2:1–3 — God rested on the seventh day
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 — a new creation in Christ
- Romans 12:2 — transformed by the renewing of your mind
- Galatians 6:7–8 — sowing to the flesh or to the Spirit
- John 15:2 — pruned to bear more fruit
- James 5:16 — confess your faults one to another
How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.
Watch More Messages
If this message stirred a desire for change in you, there are hundreds more teachings from NTC Ministries to help you grow. Browse the full sermon archive and keep walking toward the rest God has prepared for you.
