Encouragement

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A New Heart and a New Spirit

In the book of Ezekiel chapter 11, verses 19 and 20, the scripture reads, “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.” Do you find yourself asking, what does it mean to have a new heart and a new spirit? Often we find ourselves saying, “I love you with all of my heart,” yet we also realize that they are just words we say, and the truth be told, our hearts are really not in it. We find ourselves saying out of our mouths that we have changed, that we no longer do this or we no longer do that, we find ourselves saying, that this New Year, I will be better, I will try to love more, I will try to give more, I will try to complain less, I will try…I will try…. I will try…, but before the first month of the New Year has passed, we are back doing the same old things. Why? Because our hearts have not changed. We have not totally submitted our hearts to Jesus. We want change, but we are not willing to undergo a “heart transplant.” Many times, because of all our years going to church, we have never accepted Jesus into our hearts. We go through the motions, we read our bibles, we pray, but we have never said, “Jesus, I invite you into my heart.” We do good things, we work hard in our churches, but yet, we realize that something is still missing within us. We can’t put our finger on it, but we know that something is not quite right. What is missing…Jesus in our hearts…

A person can never truly have a new heart and a new spirit, if Jesus is not in their hearts. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, then our hearts will change. We will no longer have a heart of stone, but one of flesh. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, and as our hearts change, we want to walk in His statutes, desiring to keep His judgments and commandments. As we accept Jesus into our hearts, we shall become His people and He shall become our God, and our desire will be to serve Him all the days of our lives. As we get our new heart, we will have a new spirit. Something will have changed from the inside out. You will no longer walk the same, you will no longer talk the same, and your countenance will have changed. What used to be will be no more, because your heart has been changed, it has been renewed…the old heart is gone; you have undergone a “heart transplant”. Jesus came through 42 generations, to be born of a virgin, to die the death of a criminal, so that we can have life eternal. He came for all of us, and I often say that if you were the only person in the world, Jesus would have died just for you. Once you make a decision to receive Jesus into your heart, and to receive that new heart that He has promised you, and then the Spirit of the living God will fall fresh upon you, covering you, keeping you, and comforting you. A new heart gives way to a new mind. A mind controlled by the spirit, a mind that desires to do the will of the spirit.

With so many people dying, and the world at war, we need to be sure that we are one with Jesus. Before you venture off into a New Year with new resolutions, make sure that you are starting your year with a new heart and a new spirit. Give Jesus your heart today, and walk in the spirit of the Living God.

-Denise Watson-Smith (www.freewebs.com/womanfavoredbyGod/)

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