Application of God's Word: Ezekiel 36:26

 

Verse: Ezekiel 36:26

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Application:

Sin hardens the heart (Matthew 13:4,19). The more sin we allow to pass over our hearts and through our lives, the more resistant we become to a word from God. The sin of unforgiveness stiffens our hearts. We cannot continue to resist the prompting of the Holy Spirit without becoming hardened against Him. Exposing ourselves to evil and ungodly influences desensitizes us to God and His word. Over time, our hearts become like stone, unreceptive to a fresh word from God. We become anesthetized to sin.

Has your heart grown hard toward God? Do you feel as though nothing could soften it? God has a solution. He will separate you from the influences that are destroying you (Ezekiel 36:24). He will cleanse you from all filthiness and remove everything that has taken His place in your affections (Ezekiel 36:25). He will remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, tender toward Him and His Word. If your love for God is not what it should be, ask Him to renew your heart and restore your devotion to Him.

Excerpt from “Experiencing God Day-By-Day” by Henry and Richard Blackaby

Music: What If I Told You

Jesus Wants You To Know...

"When you’re feeling sad, I want you to anticipate feeling joyful again. This takes the sting out of your sorrow, because you know it is only temporary. Sadness tends to duplicate itself along the timeline - convincing you that you will always be unhappy. But that is a lie! I urge you to turn away from the lie, choosing rather to trust Me and all I have promised you. The truth is, all My children have infinite Joy ahead of them: reserved in heaven, guaranteed throughout eternity! No one can take this away from you."

“Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.” - John 16:22 (NKJV) - "Jesus Lives" by Sarah Young

Quote: Chrystal Evans Hurst

Discovering Your Purpose

Too many of us think that finding the reason God placed us here on earth will come in one lump assignment with a big title and complete job description. But I believe that discovering our purpose will unfold slowly, like a seed planted in the deep ground.

Each day, a seed embraces the task placed before it. Today it might have to embrace the dark soil it has been pushed into.

Tomorrow, it might be not resisting the water that makes it literally disintegrate and fall apart. And then in a week or two, a green shoot pushes up and out of the deep, dark, messy place.

Eventually, the seed sprouts and reveals what it was always meant to be. The seed’s potential is unlocked and its purpose is revealed through embracing each and every circumstance God brought its way.

Isn’t it glorious how nature doesn’t resist God? May the same be said of us as we seek to live our lives wholly for Him.

Father God, today we choose to embrace exactly where we are, even if it is hard and messy. Thank You that we can trust You are working every single thing together for good. We believe that we are safe in Your embrace. Amen.

- Lysa TerKeurst