7 - Transformation

Isaiah 40:
1 "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God.
2 "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord's hand Double for all her sins."
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth;
5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
NKJV

These verses speak of Transformation in our inner person.
Now transformation is sometimes an uncomfortable business. However, if you are really fed up with your situation and are willing to make the effort, God will help you every step of the way.

To lift myself out of poverty
And become the person God created me to be
I need to change my thinking:

Every valley must be exalted. Low and grovelling thoughts of God must be given up; doubting and despairing must be removed; and self-seeking and carnal delights must be forsaken. Across these deep valleys a glorious causeway of grace must be raised.

Every mountain and hill shall be laid low. Proud creature-sufficiency, and boastful self-righteousness, must be levelled, to make a highway for the King of kings.
Divine fellowship is never granted to haughty, high-minded sinners. The Lord has respect unto the lowly, and visits the contrite in heart, but the arrogant are an abomination unto Him.
My soul, beseech the Holy Spirit to set you right in this respect.

The crooked shall be made straight. The wavering heart must have a straight path of decision for God and holiness marked out for it. Double-minded men are strangers to the God of truth. My soul, take heed that you be in all things honest and true, as in the sight of the heart-searching God.

The rough places shall be made smooth. Stumbling-blocks of sin must be removed, and thorns and briers of rebellion must be uprooted.
So great a visitor must not find unworthy ways and stony places when He comes to honour His favoured ones with His company.
Oh that this day the Lord may find in my heart a highway made ready by His grace, that He may make a triumphal progress through the utmost bounds of my soul, from the beginning of this year even to the end of it. by C. H. Spurgeon

Prayer:
Father, by myself it is impossible for me to fill the valleys, level the mountains, straighten the crooked and make smooth the rough places in my life.
I know these things must be done in me, so that I can come out of poverty.
Therefore, I bow before You this day and ask for Your help. I am willing to be changed in these radical ways, if You will work in me the change You desire to see.
I am willing to lay down my pride and let You know that if there is anyone You need to send into my life to help with these changes, I am open for that person also.
Thank You for taking me on and working in me,
In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.