{"id":65,"date":"2012-02-02T16:21:31","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T16:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thesupernaturallife\/?p=65"},"modified":"2012-02-02T16:21:31","modified_gmt":"2012-02-02T16:21:31","slug":"%e2%80%9cchange-for-the-better-it-can-happen%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesupernaturallife\/2012\/02\/02\/%e2%80%9cchange-for-the-better-it-can-happen%e2%80%9d\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cChange for the Better: It CAN Happen\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tax preparation time\u2026 ugh!<\/p>\n<p>But \u201cfor the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joy? I need to borrow this Biblical principle apply it to my taxing tax work? I know.\u00a0 It\u2019s ludicrous to compare taxes to crucifixion. Both can be agonizing, but the torment of the latter far exceeds anything imaginable. Still, I like to think of this phrase, \u201cFor he\u00a0joy set before\u201d when I have to endure mundane or dreaded tasks, like preparing taxes. While I am gathering receipts and making spreadsheets and double checking mileage, I can think about how good it will feel when it\u2019s over. Can\u2019t I?<\/p>\n<p>Every year when we go through the process of accounting for our income and business expenditures, I promise myself to be more diligent next year. \u201cI WILL do this better next year.\u201d I vow! I\u2019ll use a better system. I\u2019ll be more disciplined. I\u2019ll document more. I have \u201crepented\u201d like this for years. But every year I find that I\u2019ve slipped up on execution. I\u2019ve discovered that repentance without REAL steps of change is merely a nice gesture. Good intentions alone never bring the joy of transformation.<\/p>\n<p>True \u201crepentance\u201d does begin with recognition of the problem. That part is easy. It then moves to a next step: \u201cBelieving the good news,\u201d or seeing and then implementing a recipe for life. Repentance means deleting what\u2019s not working and then adding a download and upgrade for what will work. Tax prep time is a great seasonal trigger to remind me to see where I\u2019ve come short, and then to make a plan to TRULY change that process.<\/p>\n<p>I thought I knew the principle of repentance. After all, I\u2019ve been apologizing to God on for decades. But regret without a re-turning is like dry yeast without warm water and sugar, like Peter without Paul and Mary, like H without 2-0.<\/p>\n<p>My perspective on change \u201cchanged\u201d when I read a little book by Mike Breen and Steve Cockram called \u201cBuilding a Discipling Culture.\u201d Seriously revolutionary! It\u2019s available at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.weare3dm.com\">www.weare3dm.com<\/a>. Breen and Cockram helped me see how fun and projective repentance can be. That\u2019s right. I actually said that. Repentance is fun! There\u2019s joy set before us when we walk through the disciplines of change.<\/p>\n<p>More on this tomorrow. For now, let\u2019s talk change. I\u2019d love to hear your stories \u2013 even your struggles \u2013 to bring genuine\u00a0transformation in your life. How have you turned good intentions into plans of action? Maybe you\u2019ve made a New Year resolution \u2013 to \u201crepent\u201d and you\u2019ve developed a strategy to bring that about. Hop on my Facebook page and offer your story and suggestions for the other half of repentance: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Jill-Herringshaw\/243379225672172?sk\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Jill-Herringshaw\/243379225672172?sk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tax preparation time\u2026 ugh! But \u201cfor the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross\u2026\u201d Joy? I need to borrow this Biblical principle apply it to my taxing tax work? I know.\u00a0 It\u2019s ludicrous to compare taxes to crucifixion. Both can be agonizing, but the torment of the latter far exceeds anything imaginable. Still, I&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[52,47,49,48,46,53,45,51,50],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-change-for-good","tag-3dm","tag-change","tag-depression","tag-joy","tag-new-year","tag-repent","tag-resolutions","tag-will-power","tag-willpower"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cChange for the Better: It CAN Happen\u201d - The Super Natural Life - prayers for strength, words of wisdom, daily bible reading<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesupernaturallife\/2012\/02\/02\/\u201cchange-for-the-better-it-can-happen\u201d\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cChange for the Better: It CAN Happen\u201d - The Super Natural Life - prayers for strength, words of wisdom, daily bible reading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tax preparation time\u2026 ugh! But \u201cfor the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross\u2026\u201d Joy? I need to borrow this Biblical principle apply it to my taxing tax work? I know.\u00a0 It\u2019s ludicrous to compare taxes to crucifixion. Both can be agonizing, but the torment of the latter far exceeds anything imaginable. 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