Philippians 2:12-13 – 12 Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. (Christian Standard Bible)

Three Tools God Uses in Changing Me

1. God uses the _______________

2 Timothy 3:16-17 – 16 The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. 17 It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone. (The Living Bible)

2. God uses His ____________ _______________

Romans 8:11 – . . . once the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives within you he will, by that same Spirit, bring to your whole being new strength and vitality. (Phillips Translation)

2 Corinthians 3:18 – . . . And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him. (The Living Bible)

3. God uses _____________________

Romans 8:28-29 – 28 Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good. 29 God, in his foreknowledge, chose them to bear the family likeness of his Son, . . . (Phillips Translation)

Proverbs 20:30 – Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways. (Good News Translation)

Three Choices I Can Make in Changing Me

1. I can choose what to _____________________

Proverbs 4:23 – Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. (Good News Translation)

Ephesians 4:23-24 – . . . Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the ‘new self’ that has been created in God’s way . . . (The Jerusalem Bible)

Philippians 4:8 – Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. (The Message)

2. I can choose to depend on God’s Spirit _______________ ___ _______________

John 15:4-5 – 4 [Jesus said,] “Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me. 5 Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing.” (The Living Bible)

3. I can choose my response to __________________________

James 1:2-4 – When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will become people of mature character, people of integrity, with no weak spots. (Phillips Translation)

Romans 5:3-4 – (W)e can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. Taken in the right spirit these very things will give us patient endurance; this in turn will develop a mature character, and a character of this sort produces a steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us. (Phillips Translation)