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The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power…
and you will be changed into a different person."
1 Samuel 10:6

I'm staring out the window of a plane, and still can't believe my eyes. I've done this many times before, but it still seems physically impossible. How does something that weighs this much get up in the air. Who thought of this? (It's a rhetorical question. I do know who thought of it.) There is something oddly surreal about sitting in a comfortable chair and looking down at bright, puffy clouds and tiny, little houses with swimming pools.

This isn't the first time I've flown by any means, but when you look out the window of a Boeing A-319, or whatever I was in, it's astounding that they can get 700,000 pounds off the runway. And that we can stay in the air for 400 some-odd miles? It's inconthevable! (to borrow a Princess Bride quote from Vizinni).

I've seen God do things equally far-fetched.

For instance, there was this girl in our youth group in Missouri that had issues. By all accounts, she was from a good family, but she always had this sour smirk on her face. At Carthage High School, at Wal-Mart, at Edge (our youth service)—no matter where you saw her, she looked bitter and mean. When I spoke to her, I was always a little afraid that she would spit words at me to which I had no response except wide eyes and hem-hawing. Stephanie (that was her name) always came to Edge and stood there glowering. She was one of those kids you wanted to ask "Why in the world did you come tonight?"

Then that oddly surreal thing happened. I was singing with the worship team one night at Edge, and as I looked over the crowd, I saw Stephanie. Not the frowning, angry Stephanie, but a new Stephanie—a Stephanie with clear eyes and cheery face. She was singing with us- a glow on her face and her hands in the air.

I almost fell over. The emotion of seeing God do something so incredible caught me off guard. I was glad not to be leading, because the notes weren't coming out anymore. It was all I could do not to bawl right there. How could Stephanie be so different now? Is it possible for God to change somebody to a totally new person - and overnight at that? (It's a rhetorical question. Of course He can.)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" That's what 1 Corinthians 5:17 says. Paul goes on "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation."

It is possible for someone to be changed dramatically because of the work of Christ. Just like it's possible for that monstrous plane to get off the ground. We might not believe it if we didn't see it with our own eyes, or ride in it 20 times.

Do you know someone who needs to fly? Maybe a co-worker, maybe a sister, maybe you? Who do you need to start praying for? Who do you need to start sharing your faith with?

It's possible - I've seen it more times than just Stephanie. I've seen Randy and Heidi and Tracy and lots of others come to Jesus.

And it amazes me every time I see God fly a plane.

"Inspiration For You" from Randy Mitchell

Keep Your Dreams to Yourself