When Jesus takes over a life, He makes a difference. The worse the life, the greater the change.
When the demoniac from Gadarene rushes at the disciples with evil intent, Jesus exercises divine power, banishing Satan's minions from their victim's soul. Later, the man who had run naked among the tombs, howling and cutting himself, is sitting beside Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.
Wherever we are in our spiritual journey, the Lord will continue the work He has begun. He will keep changing us, ever into the image of Christ.

PRAYER
· As you consider God's power to make sinners into saints, offer Him praise:
For You will light my lamp;
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him
(Psalm 18:28-30).
· As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession:
What I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me (Romans 7:15-17).
· Pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
· As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
· your continued sanctification by the power of God's Spirit,
· a greater willingness to share what Christ has done for you,
· your activities for the day.
· Finally, offer this closing prayer:
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever
(Psalm 30:11-12).

The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once …. Deuteronomy 7:22 (NLT)

Although God could instantly transform us, he has chosen to develop us slowly.

Why does it take so long to change and grow? There are several reasons --

We are slow learners. We often have to relearn a lesson forty or fifty times to really get it. The problems keep recurring, and we think, “Not again! I’ve already learned that!”—but God knows better. We need repeated exposure.

We have a lot to unlearn. Many people go to a counselor with a personal or relational problem that took years to develop and say, “I need you to fix me. I’ve got an hour.” Since most of our problems—and all of our bad habits—didn’t develop overnight, it’s unrealistic to expect them go away immediately.

Growth is often painful and scary, but if you want the next ten years to be the best of your life, the work you are doing now will be well worth it. There is no growth without change; there is no change without fear or loss; and there is no loss without pain. Even if our old ways are self-defeating, we are tempted to return to them because, like a worn out pair of shoes, they are comfortable and familiar.

You must let go of old ways in order to experience the new, but what God has planned for you is far more than anything you can imagine. Stay steady at it, remembering that “little by little” God is clearing the way for you to grow and change.
Reference: Rick Warren