This was the verse that started my devotional one day this week: “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 (Ezekiel 36:26-27).” Those words, “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh,” seemed too jumped off the page to me! So often in my life it seems like I have to perform and do this or that to gain God’s blessing. It’s like I need to strive to be good enough to have my Heavenly Father’s approval. But I can NEVER be good enough! So all I need to do is put my trust in Jesus and allow Him to do all the rest. Like our Scripture says (And it’s God who is speaking.), “I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” And when He does that, according to our Scripture reading, He puts His Holy Spirit in us and He moves us to follow what He says and do what He desires us to do. It is nothing that we do. It’s all Him! All we have to do is be willing to allow Him to work. We must be willing to put down our flesh when it raises its ugly head and take captive our thoughts. God gives us a new heart, we just have to make it function!
Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 4:22-24: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Paul is telling the church at Ephesus to change your stinkin’ thinkin’! It’s as simple as that! “Put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;” Have you ever been deceived? The definition of deceit is, “The action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth.” And Paul says here that we can deceive ourselves! Have you ever told yourself, “Oh, just one will be okay?” Have you ever done something you knew that you shouldn’t do but you did it anyway and faced the consequences down the road? Do you realize that we can conceal or misrepresent the truth even in our own thoughts? That’s why Paul says here that we need to put off our old self and be made new in the attitude of our mind! So Paul here says take control and change it! We’re the only one we can control! We can’t control anyone else. So, check your attitude at the door!
Please let me know if you need anything. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve