“I’ll give you a new
heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and
replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit
in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my
commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my
people! I’ll be your God!” (Ezekiel 36:26-28, MSG).
Have there been times
in your life when you heart has suddenly “chilled” or grown “cold”? Perhaps you
are aware of it or not. I'm aware when mine does. There is a sudden awareness
that my openness to the Holy Spirit's guidance has diminished. Joy is fleeting.
I feel like the wind has been knocked out of my spirit, and I'm standing on
unsecured ground. My prayers feel like they have no power. Where there was once
certainty and peace, I now have doubt and fear. I know that something is wrong
spiritually within me. I must find it, and address it before my once God-willed
heart becomes completely cold and self-willed.
Allowing what is
wrong to be addressed means that I must surrender my will to His will. Often I
will know exactly what needs to be addressed. Sometimes the Lord sends someone
else to open my eyes. It may be a sin or a bad attitude. It may be something
that God wishes to remove from my life or something He is trying to impart.
Whatever it might be, He wants to change my heart, and put His thoughts about it
into my heart and mind. If I do not want a coldness of heart to consume me and
separate me from His presence, I must deal with whatever that problem is in my
life. I must repent, seek His forgiveness, and willingly turn from
it.
After Nathan came to
David and revealed to him that it was his sin which separated him from God,
David cried out for forgiveness. Then he asked for what he knew was so very
needed. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within
me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. (Psalm
51:10-11). David wanted nothing to separate him from the Holy Spirit. He knew he
needed a pure heart, and that he would need a steadfast spirit within himself to
always remain open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. God gave David a new
heart and put a renewed spirit within him. He can also remove my stony heart and
your stony heart. He can remove unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, rage,
anger, frustration, fear, and whatever separates us from God's presence.....if
we will admit it, repent from it, and turn for it.
A stony heart that is
calloused and unable to be moved by the Holy Spirit, can be free in His peace
and joy. If I live always with an open heart, He bestows His power where nothing
which rises up to destroy, can destroy. He imparts the power to remain strong.
Once opened my heart will never wish to return to that
time of separation. It will rejoice in its freedom, and seek to remain open to
His loving conviction for the rest of its life.
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