Kind of been parked with the idea of the transaction that takes place when someone comes to salvation....
Repentance....
Confession....
Acceptance....
Filled up in every nook and cranny of your being with God's Holy Spirit...
Easy to talk about and share with one another about our own personal experience or encounter with God...
But sometimes it's just hard to wrap your brain around the whole thing of what has actually transpired through this encounter.
If you have followed recovery for any time, then there are some things that the church really doesn't talk about when it comes to having this salvation experience.
Things like having your character changed....
Such, to me, would be evidence that something real has taken place.
I don't think you just get up and walk away from your initial encounter with God and not realize that something has taken place.
You've reached a starting point in which the life you've been living has taken a definite turn.
I don't ever remember anyone telling me that God was all about giving "new hearts" and "new character". I did know that there was a whole lot of rules and instructions of what you could and could not do. Found out real quick that I wasn't good at keeping the rules. Does that mean that I wasn't saved? No...it just means that I still carried around that old character which had not been changed completely.
I like what Ezekiel 11:19-20 has to say to this whole heart/character change.
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 might walk in my statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
Did you catch what was said?
Walking in God's statutes..
Keeping His judgments?
Sounds like the whole rule thing doesn't it. Be good...don't mess up..
But we have to go back to the beginning of the verse...
I will give them one heart...a heart of unity among those who are brought under the kingdom rule of God..
God goes on to say that there will be this giving of a NEW spirit.
The old hard, cold stony heart would be take out...
Now of course, God isn't talking about a literal heart..that old bloody muscle that keeps us upright and breathing.
He is talking about the very center of our being...the very core of who we are...our will, our intellect, our emotion and feeling...our soul. Such affects us in our daily movement. Our decisions and choices come from this place. We are told in Proverbs that "As a man thinks in his heart...so is he. God
Also, if you notice in the passage, God says that He will take out the stony heart and give a "heart of flesh". I looked up the word "flesh" in Strong's Concordance. It is actually translated "FRESH" or "FRESHNESS". So instead of a stony heart that is hard and unyielding...God replaces it with a new, vibrant, pliable nature that is more in tune to listen for the Holy Spirit to speak and guide through the day.
So I guess you could say that any outward behavior that we want to change (as far as our addiction) has to begin with an inward change of receiving a new heart from God. Sounds good to me....I'm all in.
Step # 6
We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up in honor.
Ephesians 3:16-17
I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.
Go out and make it a good day...
God on you...
mbb
No comments:
Post a Comment