Are you needing change? Will you invite Jesus into your life to ask Him to give you a new heart? A change from being hard hearted requires a heart transplant, will you allow God to do the work? As we step into today, what’s the health of your heart and how is it impacting your life? Are you ready for change, a change of heart, to receive a new and clean heart through Jesus?
Change through willingness:
In the journey of seeking change, we are confronted with the profound truth that transformation requires a heart transplant. The Bible teaches us that the human heart is prone to hardness, shaped by the challenges and tribulations of life. In Ezekiel 36:26, God promises, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” The invitation is clear; to experience lasting change, we must willingly allow God to take our old, hardened hearts and replace them with ones softened and renewed by His love and grace.
Change through the Divine Physician:
Acknowledging the need for a heart transplant goes beyond mere recognition of our flaws; it necessitates a surrender to a higher power. Psalm 51:10 implores, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” This acknowledgment and surrender pave the way for God’s transformative work within us. Just as a medical heart transplant requires a skilled surgeon, a spiritual heart transplant demands the expertise of the Divine Physician. As we open our hearts to God’s intervention, we position ourselves to receive His healing touch, allowing Him to cleanse and renew our innermost being.
Lasting Change:
The process of change involves a conscious decision to part ways with the old and embrace the new. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This signifies a radical shift in identity and purpose, made possible through the profound change that occurs in the depths of our hearts. As we pursue a heart transplant through faith, our perspectives, attitudes, and actions align with God’s transformative plan. The process is not instantaneous, but as we yield to the work of the Holy Spirit, our hearts become fertile ground for lasting change.
The Journey of Change:
In conclusion, the journey of change, particularly a change of heart, is intricately linked to the concept of a heart transplant as presented in the Bible. God, the ultimate heart surgeon, stands ready to perform this spiritual procedure, replacing our old, hardened hearts with ones softened and renewed by His love and mercy. As we assess the health of our hearts and embrace the need for change, let us invite Jesus into our lives, trusting Him to create within us a new heart and a right spirit. Through this divine intervention, we not only experience personal transformation but also become vessels of God’s love, compassion, and grace in a world in desperate need of change.
This year I am using the 365 Daily Devotions book I received for Christmas and applying it towards being dads. It’s called WALKING WITH GOD by DAVID JEREMIAH. It’s exciting to get to learn from a new resource this year as we have tried different options the past two years and will keep working through this one for 2024. For more information about the author and his ministry, visit: DavidJeremiah.org.
Topic: A CHANGE OF HEART
Verse: Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV
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.
Firstly, let’s be the dads who are humble enough to realize we need change and turn to God for help. Additionally, let’s be the dads who humbly accept God’s offer and receive a new heart and a new spirit in us through God! Therefore, let’s be the dads who live in this change with a heart of flesh rather than stone and allow the Spirit to move us to follow God’s degrees and be careful to keep God’s laws.
Today’s Devotional speaks to how we can use our free will to do things that can disqualify us from what God has to offer. It used an example of a women waiting for a transplant who “stole $500 in toiletery items and ended up in prison, disqualifying her from being able to get the heart transplant.”
Real Change of Heart
Today’s Devotional points us to the reality that we all have a choice to receive the new heart and new Spirit that God is offering us and yet choose to “forfeit” it. Today’s Devotional points to God’s offer to replace our heart and Spirit that are temporary with a set that will take us into eternity and yet people forfeit or reject a “forgiven and tender” heart that “will beat forever”. God is offering through grace that we may receive it through faith in Jesus, and all we have to do is be humble enough to accept and receive it. It’s like salvation where we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus.
Today’s Devotional closes with this reality: “Having a change of heart doesn’t mean we’ve shifted our opinion or altered our attitude. It truly means that we have changed hearts. Don’t forfeit your new heart.”
Today’s Devotional provides each of us with a challenge. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If not, “ask Him to give you a new heart today.”
Give me a new, a perfect heart, from doubt, and fear, and sorrow free.
CHARLES WESLEY
