And most of these devices, they require something that makes them work. Especially where computers are concerned, you have what is known as a computer program, or the term that they use is software. Your hardware is the actual device that you bought, but you've got to have the software that sits inside of it that makes it reach its full potential.

Now, I'm not going to be preaching on computers tonight, but yet I am, because you are very much like a computer. Now, I've found that as wonderful as what these devices are, when you bought one, you can't say, I've got one and it's mine now forever. After a while, you find that things have begun to change.

Technology has begun to change. The world around about us has begun to change. And in time, your device that was so wonderful when you bought it, now has started to become obsolete.

It needs to be upgraded. You've got to get something newer and better and different if you want to make full use of the potential that it gives you. And always, always, it costs you something.

Nothing is automatic where computer devices are concerned. It's always going to cost you something to upgrade. Now, there are two different kinds of aspects to upgrading that we need to take into account.

The first one is the actual computer hardware or the device, and the second one is the software that I mentioned. Now, I'm not going to deal tonight with upgrading your computer hardware. Because if we're looking at us as a computer, that goes in the realm of health and wealth, of our physical bodies, of the kind of person that we are.

But I want to look at that program, that software, that runs inside of this computer and makes it work. And so I want to look at software upgrades. And so, as we look at the subject of how to upgrade yourself, I would like to teach you how to upgrade the computer that is you.

How to upgrade the software that makes that computer run and work efficiently. Now, you are just like a computer in so many ways. The choices that you make in life are influenced by something deep inside of you.

Just as a computer is influenced by the inner program that runs. What you see on the screen is determined by the inner programming that is running. Now, each one of us has been made like a computer, and we also have a program that's running inside of us.

And what people see on the outside and what you see in your life, the kind of person you are, the kind of life that you live, all of that comes as a result of the program that's running inside of you. Now, these days, we normally have a choice. We can choose to buy a computer that's running the Windows operating system, or we can buy an Apple computer that's running a different operating system, and there's other operating systems out there.

But every one of us has a different program. That is what makes human nature so unique. There may be lots of similarities between us, but each of us is running a different kind of inner software and inner program.

And that programming is making you a unique person in this world. And the way people look at you, and the way your life is lived, and all the skills and abilities that you show, they are all determined by that inner program that's running inside of you. Now, where did that program come from? How did you get it there, and why is your program different to other people's? Well, firstly, it's been created in you throughout your life.

You see, when you were born, you were basically unprogrammed. You were like that brand new computer that you bring home, and you switch it on, and it starts up, and the screen comes up, and there's built-in software there, the operating system that makes it run, and you say, now, what am I going to do with my computer? I need to run a program. Well, sooner or later, you find that if you want to make this computer do what you want it to do, you've got to go out, and you've got to buy a program, and install it on the computer to make it work.

See, now, when you're born as a baby, you've got all these standard software things, if you like, that all of us have. It makes us human. But your unique life is going to be determined by your own program, and you're going to have to get your own program.

And that's why a little baby lies there, unable to do much, but as we grow up, and get through life, and experiences, and increase our knowledge, we begin to build our program. So the program that's running you right now, firstly, is the things that you learned, the influences that came to you through life. And the first and most important one is the things that you learned through studying.

What you studied and the knowledge that you put in your head has affected the way your program runs. There are things that you learn through the experiences of life, through the things that happened to you in life, through the places that you've been, and all the different events that took place in your life. All of these add an extra little bit to your program.

And that is why each of us is so different, and has a different program. Because we've all had our own unique experiences in life. Yes, there's lots of similarities, and as we compare people, we can see similar programs running.

But your program is unique because of your own experiences in life. And then your program is affected by what other people teach you. By what you've learned from those who have instructed you.

As a child, you're starting out in the home, being instructed perhaps by your mother, and other people in the home, family members that influence you. And as you go into the world, many more of these people have affected your life, and built the program that is in you. And then you go out, and you get involved socially with people.

And you interact with people, and you have fun together with people, and you do things that are more of a social nature. And that also begins to program you, because as you hang around with certain people, you start to pick up some of their habits, some of the way they do things, some of the things that are unique to them, you start to pick them up, and you start to pick up a little bit of their program. And so now as you stand, looking at yourself, you have this program that's been built throughout your life.

And perhaps it served you well for a while, just like that awesome Windows 95 computer that you bought. When it came out, it was the latest. Now it's obsolete.

It doesn't work. It's not suitable anymore. Yeah, it still works.

If you switch it on, it will still function. But it doesn't give you the power and capability that you would like to have in your life right now. Now perhaps you've come to this stage in your life where you're saying, my life has kind of reached a plateau now.

I've got as far as I can. There's no changes. Nothing is improving.

I just seem to be going on living day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year. I'm just getting older, and nothing is changing in my life. You need to upgrade your life.

Well, how are you going to do that? Well, the hardware part is a bit more difficult, because your computer is getting older all the time. And there are some things you can do, and we'll look at that in another subject. But I want to show you how to upgrade your software.

I want to show you how to change the program that is in you, and in doing that, automatically change the kind of life you're living, and the things that you're accomplishing in life, and everything around about you that is your life, will begin to change. So, the big question is, how then do I upgrade my program? You see, most of us have this idea that, well, it's happened to me. I've learned these things through life.

I've had these experiences. This is who I am. This is my program.

This is unique me. You must just accept me the way that I am, because this is who I am. Now, that's fine if you're happy just to sit there and continue being the way you are.

But I think, I think you would like to improve your life. I think you would like to make more money. I think you'd like to have more friendships.

I think you would like to live a life that's more exciting, that has more accomplishment and achievement in it. I think every one of us, if we had a choice, would love to upgrade our lives. And really, if you were to sit down and look at the kind of person you would be, and ask yourself this question, if I could change my life right now, if I could change the kind of person that I am right now, what would I change it to? What would I like to be? What would I like to become? Now, how do you go about upgrading? Well, there's two ways.

Firstly, you can let somebody else reprogram you. And that's the easy way, isn't it? Just go and say, here I am, reprogram me. Get somebody else to do all the hard work.

And, of course, there's a problem with that because they're going to program you the way they want you to be and control your life. Or you could learn to reprogram yourself. And that's a little bit more difficult and it takes a lot more effort.

But the results are far greater because you can build the kind of life that you want. Now, I'm going to look at these different aspects of upgrading your software. And you're going to see some of the dangers and how you should go about doing this.

Okay. Now, there is a system in this world called the world system. The Bible calls it simply the world.

The world has been set up and it's under the control, we know, of Satan and his forces. This world is not directly under the control of God right now because since Adam handed this world over to Satan, this world has been under the control of the enemy. And the world system is set up in such a way that it will program everybody to think the way the world wants you to think.

So while you are in this world, you are continually being subjected to influences. Somebody else is trying to reprogram you all the time. The world system.

Now, for a believer, that should not be the case. For a believer, we should never allow ourselves to be totally influenced and controlled by this world. A believer should look different to an unbeliever.

You should be able to tell the difference between somebody who has accepted the Lord and has the Holy Spirit laying within them and somebody who doesn't have that. We have something extra over and above the world. Now, does that mean that we now have to shut ourselves up like a hermit and avoid the world? No, we are in the world, the scripture says, but we are not of the world.

So there are things that we can and should get from this world, but as believers we have so much more that is available to us. Now, what can you learn from the world? You can get education and knowledge from this world. And knowledge is exploded to such a degree right now that you can't even keep up with the amount of knowledge that is coming out all the time.

The internet has expanded the availability of knowledge. Knowledge is free out there and continually increasing. And the world is providing us with amazing knowledge, with amazing new technology of things that man has studied and learned.

Now, as a believer, you mustn't go and shut yourself off and say, I don't want to be part of that. There is a group of people, I think they are called the Amish, who have tried to reject modern technology and live in the old. That is foolish.

And it's not what God intends. Not at all. Jesus and his disciples used the technology that was available to them at that time.

The world has produced things that can help us live better spiritual lives. But we mustn't be dependent only on the world system. We have additional resources.

We have, firstly, the Word of God. And we have principles that come from the scriptures that the world does not have. And that can add to those influences.

We have teaching that we can get from other Christians, from other believers, not just from unbelievers out there. We have fellowship with other believers, whether it be in a spiritual environment or in a social environment. We are fellowshipping and mixing with other Christians who hopefully have got better programs than some of the unbelieving people in this world.

And those influences on us are going to be better than the influences we're going to get from the world. Then you can receive training from a spiritual leader, from somebody who's risen up in the Lord and is mature in the knowledge of the Word and in the realm of the Spirit. Somebody who can take you and mold you and begin to reprogram you the right way.

How does the programming process take place? Well, firstly, you've got to get some input. What comes out of a computer has first got to go into the computer. You've first got to install the program or modify the program within the computer.

And to do that, that means some additional data, some additional information must be brought inwards and added to what is there at the moment. Now, we as this human computer are getting input all of the time. The main input we get comes from our five senses.

The things that we see, we hear, we feel, we taste, and we smell. All of these senses are giving us input all the time. All the time.

Now, what is it that brings change? How is it that you could have been living for 20, 30 years, receiving input all around you, seeing new things, seeing change, hearing these things, being subjected to them, experiencing them, and it doesn't change you? What is it that actually changes you? What is it that changes the direction of your life? Somebody said this, and actually I think this person was a believer who was somewhat secular. And he said this. He said, your life will continue on the same path that it always has, except for two things.

Number one, the people that you meet, and number two, the books that you read. These are the two things that will change your life. Now, I want to look at those quickly and see how those things will affect you.

Firstly, the people that you meet. The people that you meet will influence your life. You say, well, I've been meeting people for years and it hasn't made much change.

Let me tell you which people will affect you and influence your life and change your inner program. It will be the people that you admire, the people that you envy, and the people that you see as a model of the kind of person you would like to be. These are the people that change your inner program.

It's not just anybody, but it's your attitude towards that person that's going to make a difference. And when you have that attitude, you'll start to pick up some of the programming that is in that person. You'll start to pick up some of what has made them into what they are, so that it now begins to change you into something similar.

And it's a known fact that you will eventually rise up to the same status as the group of people that form your inner circle. Your closer friends and relatives and whoever it is that you hang around with the most. Eventually, you will rise up and become virtually like them.

And whatever status they have in life, you will have a similar status. So the people that you meet, and the people that you interact with, and the people that you then have that attitude towards, these things are going to change your life. You want to change your program, meet new people, change your attitudes towards the people that you meet, and something will begin to take place within you without you even realizing.

Then there's the books that you read. The book is one of the greatest influences in this world. It's one book that's been there right from the beginning.

God's book, the Bible. You say, well, I'm not much of a reader. Everybody is a reader.

Reading is part of our life. And if you cannot read, you have lost out on one of the greatest sources of knowledge and input that you can receive that will change your life. And if you have God's book, the Bible, that is one of the first places that you can start to read.

How much time do you spend reading the Bible? And there's so much more. Books are being published and printed and released all the time, daily. And now with modern devices, you don't even have to buy a physical printed copy of a book.

You don't have to have that big bookshelf anymore in your house to hold all the books. You can carry it all on your little mobile device. An electronic version of that book that you can read anywhere at any time.

Isn't that amazing? You can carry your whole library in your pocket now. There is no excuse for you not reading. I don't have time to read.

But you want your life to change? You say, I really have so many things to do. I don't have time to sit down and read, read, read. Well then you don't have time to upgrade your life and your life will carry on the way it has always been.

If you are not prepared to make the effort to get in your hands good materials that have been written, and especially as a Christian, good teaching and motivational materials that will change your inner man. If you are not prepared to make that effort then don't whine and complain because your life is going nowhere. It's your own fault.

So many books being written by believers. And now multimedia extends even further now. And you can get audio files, MP3s that you can download on your device.

You can get MP4s and videos. You can watch videos even on most of these devices and on your computer. You don't always have to read.

You can listen while you're driving in the car. You can watch videos when you're sitting doing nothing. All of these things have become available to you.

These are the things that will change your life. These are the things that will upgrade your life. So I do this all the time.

I love watching videos. I love watching movies. I love reading books.

Good. What are you doing with that input? The fact that you're getting it coming in is only the first stage. What are you doing with that input? See, so I'm meeting new people all the time.

Yes. But is that changing you? No. Because your attitude towards those people is neutral.

They are people you're just rubbing shoulders with. You're not getting intimately involved with them. You're not opening your heart in any way.

You're not interacting. You're not looking to see what you can learn from them. You're not looking to see what you admire in them.

You're not seeing what model or example you can get from them. And the same thing happens with all this information that you're getting in. What are you going to do with it? You can't avoid the input.

Like if you've got two eyes that see, you're getting input. If you've got two ears that hear, you are getting input. If all your senses are functioning, you are getting input.

Whether you like it or not. But you must choose how it's going to affect you. And you have two choices to make.

Two choices. And these two choices are going to decide whether the data that you receive is going to go into you and change your program. I showed you how to do that where people are concerned.

And I want you to listen carefully as I explain to you how to take the knowledge that you are receiving and to make it go into you and change your inner program. There are only two things that affect the inner man. There are only two ways of either pulling information out of what's inside of us or putting information back inside of us.

And I've taught this everywhere so you know these two. They are the use of words or speech and actions. So how do we take this input and make it part of our inner program? Well the first thing you can do is begin to put it in your mouth.

You can speak what you have received. You need to start adding to your speech some of the things that you've read, some of the things that you've heard, some of the things that you've seen. Start adding it to your speech.

Talk about it. Say, well you know I just love to read a book. Go up to bed and read a book.

And then tomorrow I'll read another book. Did you go and share with anybody what you read in that book? Did you go and talk it out loud and speak about it? And say, wow, you know I was reading this awesome book and this is what I learned from it and I really think this is brilliant. Have you tried that? You'll be amazed that when you begin to do that you start to remember what you read and not only do you remember it, you find after a while you start to say, actually that was a good idea.

Maybe I should try that as well. That is brilliant. It starts to become part of you because you start to feed it inwardly.

Repeat some of these things out loud. You know what I found one of the easiest ways to memorize something and I used to do this years ago when I was memorizing scripture just to take a verse and say it over and over again, over and over again. When you add these things to your words it affects your spirit because your spirit is the source of words.

Now there's two parts lying inside of you. Deep in the innermost part is your spirit and lying between your spirit and body is your soul, which is your control tower. And unless you are influencing both of these your life's not going to change.

So it's not enough to speak the words, you need to do something that also affects your soul. And that means you must act out what you've received. How do you do that? Start to imitate some of the things that you see and that you hear and that you read.

Start acting on the things that you feel. Now when you do this it affects the soul because the soul is the part where the will lies, the part of us that chooses. So here is essentially the key.

You must do both of these. The words and the actions. The principles begin to sink deep down inside you and they begin to modify your programs.

You say, well let's do it. Let's do it this weekend. I'm afraid it's going to take a bit longer than that because your program took a long time to form.

You're not going to change it overnight. What's going to happen as you start feeding these things in using the principles I've showed you your inner man is going to start to rearrange your program. Now a lot of this is going to take place while you sleep.

In fact a lot of what happens when you dream is exactly that. So if you've been dreaming a lot that's a very good sign. The chances are your inner program is being upgraded.

You say, well I don't know what's going on with me. I've just been dreaming like crazy the last while. That is wonderful.

One of the best signs that an upgrade is taking place in your inner program. Your inner man is throwing out all the old junky programs that it doesn't need anymore and putting some new stuff in its place. You'll find one day you'll wake up and without realizing it you find that you're operating differently.

Somehow something new is coming up from inside of you and it begins to show itself in your life. New habits are formed slowly but change takes place automatically. If you would just apply these principles on an ongoing basis your inner program will be changed on an ongoing basis.

It will all take place automatically. So, how do we do this? What steps must we take to upgrade? Firstly, be more careful with your daily input. Choose your words very carefully.

Choose your actions very carefully. Because the things that you talk about your spirit will pick them up and say OK, this is what I want to become part of me. The actions that you carry out, the things that you do, your will is going to say well, this is the way we want to behave from now on let's change the inner program.

And if you keep doing that over and over again it will become part of your daily life. You say, I don't want that habit in my life. Stop doing it then.

Do it less and less and add something else better in its place. Look for good sources of input. Read good books.

Find good study courses out there that will help you absorb good sound materials based on the word, based on the spiritual life. Things that will transform your inner man. Meet new people.

Well, that's going to cost you. It's too much effort. You know what? I'd rather just sit at home in front of my computer and play games.

You're wanting your life to upgrade. Not going to happen. Your life will change according to the people you meet and the books you read.

If you don't meet people, you don't read books, you're not going to change. It's going to take an effort. It doesn't happen automatically.

Submit yourself to good influences. Find a leader that you can model. Submit yourself to training.

Submit yourself to somebody who can take you and mold you and reprogram you and show you how to change some of these things within you. And once you've done all of that and submitted to it, wait for the new program to manifest. It may take a bit of time.

Don't be impatient. I'm an expressive. I want things to happen yesterday.

But it's not going to happen yesterday. But you know, if you consistently apply these principles, eventually you will consistently see change. If you sowed seeds every day, you would eventually come to the place where those seeds would grow up and would bear fruit every day.

Don't sow seeds for a while and then say, that's it, I've sowed my seeds for the year. You're going to have one short time of reaping and then it's going to be over. If you want to continually upgrade, and you have to continually upgrade where computers are concerned, you can't say, well, I've got the latest software, they should last me a couple more years.

Not going to happen. Not going to happen. It's going to take time.

Be patient. And then when you start to see the changes, say, oh, you know, suddenly I feel like doing this. You know, that's unlike me.

I don't normally have this habit. I don't normally want to do this. Take note.

Something has started to happen inside of you. Don't immediately squash it and say, oh, no, no, no, that's not me. I can't do that.

Practice it. I don't feel comfortable being like that. Practice it.

Change is taking place. And change is always hard. Practice that new program until it becomes more settled in you.

You'll get better over time. You'll get better over time. And then always be open to more reprogramming because you haven't arrived there.

And our whole life is a programming phase. Our whole life is a continual upgrade phase. Our lives are controlled by the influences that come from deep inside.

This influence inside you is like a computer program. If you want your life to change, that program must change. And until that inner program changes, your life will not change.

I don't know about you, but for me, it's time to upgrade. And I believe that as I've been speaking now, you've been sensing it deep within as well. You've been saying, you know, I'm not satisfied with my life the way it is now.

I'm not satisfied with the conditions that I have right now. I'm not satisfied with my status in life. I'm not satisfied with my health and my wealth and my relationships with other people.

I'm not satisfied with what I'm accomplishing. I can do more in life. I want to change.

I want to upgrade my life. You can. Why don't you get started right now and learn to upgrade your life.

Amen.

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