Ezekiel 36:26-27
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.“
Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV
Sometimes, I'm afraid that stone heart and self-willed describes me. And when I check around, I find most folks don't believe that people can really change who they are, at least not deep down inside. But I've seen God move in me and change me through His Spirit. I believe He can and will do it again. And I believe He can do it in more than just me.
He can move and change each of our hearts. So let's not just ask for our hearts to be softened, but let's ask to have our hard hearts replaced and remade by the Spirit of God. Let's ask that the Spirit work on us to mold our wills to be like the Father's and not like our own selfish yearnings.
I believe we will see more practice in ourselves of what the Father wants rather than our pontificating on what others need to do. The heart with its intentions is the eternal core of our being and the precious part of us that distinguishes us as creatures made in God’s Image only, God and human beings have a spirit. It is only with our heart that we can genuinely love and worship and this is why our praise and service mean nothing to God if they don't come from our heart.
An important clarification is that the heart, as the Bible speaks of it, is not our feelings, but our power to choose a course of action. Spirit is unbodily personal power, the power we have in life to choose, take initiative, and express creativity. God has created us to take dominion with Him and for Him in his kingdom, to be creative under Him.
It is in the heart spirit or will that real change must begin. God sends His Word and Spirit to us and we respond by putting our faith, trust and confidence, leaning the whole weight of our being in Christ. As we connect with Christ we come alive with His abundant, eternal, God kind of life. Our hearts can be good or bad.
The proud heart is hard and unreceptive to God because it hasn’t trusted in Christ. The healthy heart is soft soil that is as receptive to God as the good soil is to seed, listening, trusting, and responding to His initiative by sprouting with loving obedience.
The spirit that trusts God and is brought to life through faith in Christ by God's Spirit, is well directed in spiritual fervor, rejoicing to overflow with love for God and others, including strangers and enemies.
When Christ lives in us, we cannot do what we used to do, nor do we want to. We cannot use the language we once did, nor can we think about sin in the same way. With our new heart, all we are changes, we become a people after God's own heart.
Even though a person sick with leprosy can cover up all his wounds with a flowing garment, the fact remains that he is still a diseased leper. In the same way, a sinner may be somewhat successful at reforming all the externals of their lives, as did Saul of Tarsus and Nicodemus, but, until that person is born again, has surrendered to the new birth and been given a new heart, they cannot see the kingdom of God. So how does one enter into this New Covenant? How does one receive a new heart? By believing in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.
If that’s you, just ask Him today, to take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. It’s that simple. Just confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is your Lord risen from the dead and paid the price for you. Welcome to the family. GLORY!!!
Father, thank You for this day and that You are good and gracious, long suffering and tender hearted towards all Your children. Lord, open the storehouses of Your abundant blessings and rain them down upon my friend and family today. Lord, Your never-failing promises to Your people is such a reassurance. Thank You that we are part of Your body and that You have told us the end from the beginning. And thank You that all Your promises are Yes and Amen. Teach us Your ways and keep us from straying from the path of holiness. Lord, thank You for Your indwelling Holy Spirit of life, to guide us into all truth. Lord use us to be someone’s blessing today.
Father, we love You. Amen
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