A. “From glory to glory”

1. God is in the process of changing us into His image. Because He is so different from us, it takes us years to recognize all that needs to change within us to make us more like Him.

2. Pressure brings change. That is why He allows us to go through pressure and difficult circumstances.

B. The inevitability of change

1. Seasons change; times change; nations change; music styles change; technology changes; our cultures change. In our personal lives our marriages, ministries, and financial situations all change.

2. Although God never changes, He is constantly moving His church toward perfection from “glory to glory.”

3. We must be led by the Holy Spirit and sense when He is moving us on to the next level from “faith to faith” and from “glory to glory.”

II. Enemies of change (2 Corinthians 3:7-18)

A. Tradition---“the glory that was” (verses 7-11)

1. God moves in certain ways and gives us certain manifestations of His glory. Instead of rejoicing in that and getting ready for the next aspect of glory, we like to stop and camp by the “glory that was.” We call this TRADITION.

B. Fear---“You have not passed this way before” (Joshua 3:4)

1. “It takes guts to get out of the ruts!”

C. Laziness---“Whenever the cloud lifted, they set out” (Numbers 9:19-22)

1. God never allows us to settle on the way to the promise land.

D. Stubbornness---“Nevertheless, some of the people went out” (Exodus 16:26-29)

1. We are creatures of habit and try to keep doing things our way. God told Israel not to gather manna on the Sabbath day.

E. Pride---“I am, and there is none besides me”

1. The idea that we have “arrived.”

2. Nadab and Abihu were destroyed because of their proud action that did not regard the holiness of God

3. God never changes. God is the only “I AM”; we can only say “I am becoming.”

III. How to move from “glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 4:4)

A. Repentance---to change your mind

1. The people of Israel could not see their hardness of heart because of the veil over their minds.

2. It is a blessing to see what is wrong with our character, our families, and our relationships so that the healing and restoration of God can be receive and applied.

B. Obedience---to change your actions

1. After repentance comes obedience. Obedience is a change in actions.

2. John the Baptist: “Bring forth fruits for repentance.”

C. Compliance---to change your attitude

1. Our actions may change but yet we still long form the past. We may still be “sitting down on the outside but standing up on the inside.”

2. Instead we must ask God to give us a new attitude of gratitude, cheerfulness, and the willingness to comply.

D. Forgiveness---to change your feelings

1. An attitude change requires a change in feelings. Many times as we are in the process of God transforming us, our feelings get hurt because of disappointments, hurts, and abusive words.

2. We need to ask God to give us His perspective toward those who have hurt us.

E. Confession---to change your words

1. Confession means “to say the same thing.” Our lives will never change until our confession changes. We must begin to speak into situations the way God speaks into situations.

2. Our confession must change from “I can’t ever change” to “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We must have the positive confession of Joshua and Caleb who entered the land.

F. Transformation---to change your thoughts

1. When our confession changes about our situations, our minds become renewed to the perfect will of God (Romans 12:2)

2. Now we will speak and think about our situations the same way that God does. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways.

G. Translation---to change your body

1. The ultimate glory will be experienced in heaven. At that time, God will change our bodies to be like His “glorious body” (Philippians 3:21)

2. God is changing us from glory to glory—from repentance to rapture!

IV. Response

A. It is time to change

B. What are the enemies of change you are facing---tradition, fear, laziness, stubbornness, or pride?

C. Are you ready to take the steps toward change---repentance, obedience, compliance, forgiveness, confession, or transformation?