New Things begin with a New Heart
03/01/10 21:47
When I woke
up on Saturday morning, I realized that I
wasn’t going to stop 2010 from coming. It came
in hard and cold at twelve degrees with snow on the
ground. A momentary thought of, “Two more
months of this stuff?” only added to the same
old –same old, attitude. Saturday morning with
one day of the New Year under belt and I feel no
different –I feel the same. I want a change. I
want something new.
Maybe I’ll move to… I know, I’ll get a puppy. I’ll go back to school. I’ll change my hairstyle! The thing is, and I know it all too well, that no matter what thing a person does differently on the outside, if they are no different on the inside, then it is no different at all. It’s still the same me doing different things and living in different circumstances.
Let me give you an example: I like to play billiards; I even have my own table. I’m fairly good at the game but I would like to play better. I’ve had my table for years now, and you know something, I wouldn’t change how I feel about playing the game if I got a new table. So, I would play billiards on any table and in any circumstances the same way that I would right now. Now, if I got a new table maybe I would think I would need new sticks and balls. I would probably treat these new things with a little more care (only because that is what we do with new things) and I would want others to be just as careful. But I still haven’t changed how I feel about playing billiards.
In order for my sentiments about billiard shooting to change, I would necessarily have to have a change of heart. I realize that, as it is with billiards, so it goes with everything in my life. In order for something to be completely new, there must also be a change of heart.
The difference is as contrasting as day and night. I used to really like smoking marijuana. In fact, I loved it and centered my life around it at times. But twenty-five years ago Jesus Christ changed my heart and now I despise marijuana and have for the last twenty-five years. I used to think it was the greatest stuff on earth and I believed that I thought like this only because of my love for it. Actually, I loved what it did to me. But, when Christ changed my heart, I began to see more clearly what that stuff was really doing to me.
God told the Israelites that He would take their old hearts of stone and give them new hearts of flesh. When a man or woman becomes born-again, this is exactly what takes place –God creates in that person a new heart and renews a right spirit within him/her. He makes them new creations and the old things pass away. A man or woman who has surrendered themselves to God’s workmanship, sees new mercies everyday, has a new song in their heart, a new hope for living and a new goal to strive for.
If you know God, then you know that He is into change, “See, I am doing a new thing!” and again, “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.” When God changes a man’s heart He is actually giving him a new life. The sun is brighter, the horizon more holy, the night sky more telling and humanity more glorious. God gives a new hope that is more substantial than the ground that he is standing on.
And when a man or woman has that hope, things now even though the same –are new and different. Only the surrendered in heart will know and understand. Only those who have placed their full trust in God their Savior, can relate to these things and acknowledge that this new hope is Divine. This year is going to be new for me. This year I want to stop leaning on my own understanding and acknowledge Him in all my ways, in all those things 2010 shall bring to me. I believe that if I begin seeing things through the eyes of Christ, my whole world will change!
Have a God blessed week. Pastor Jim
Maybe I’ll move to… I know, I’ll get a puppy. I’ll go back to school. I’ll change my hairstyle! The thing is, and I know it all too well, that no matter what thing a person does differently on the outside, if they are no different on the inside, then it is no different at all. It’s still the same me doing different things and living in different circumstances.
Let me give you an example: I like to play billiards; I even have my own table. I’m fairly good at the game but I would like to play better. I’ve had my table for years now, and you know something, I wouldn’t change how I feel about playing the game if I got a new table. So, I would play billiards on any table and in any circumstances the same way that I would right now. Now, if I got a new table maybe I would think I would need new sticks and balls. I would probably treat these new things with a little more care (only because that is what we do with new things) and I would want others to be just as careful. But I still haven’t changed how I feel about playing billiards.
In order for my sentiments about billiard shooting to change, I would necessarily have to have a change of heart. I realize that, as it is with billiards, so it goes with everything in my life. In order for something to be completely new, there must also be a change of heart.
The difference is as contrasting as day and night. I used to really like smoking marijuana. In fact, I loved it and centered my life around it at times. But twenty-five years ago Jesus Christ changed my heart and now I despise marijuana and have for the last twenty-five years. I used to think it was the greatest stuff on earth and I believed that I thought like this only because of my love for it. Actually, I loved what it did to me. But, when Christ changed my heart, I began to see more clearly what that stuff was really doing to me.
God told the Israelites that He would take their old hearts of stone and give them new hearts of flesh. When a man or woman becomes born-again, this is exactly what takes place –God creates in that person a new heart and renews a right spirit within him/her. He makes them new creations and the old things pass away. A man or woman who has surrendered themselves to God’s workmanship, sees new mercies everyday, has a new song in their heart, a new hope for living and a new goal to strive for.
If you know God, then you know that He is into change, “See, I am doing a new thing!” and again, “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.” When God changes a man’s heart He is actually giving him a new life. The sun is brighter, the horizon more holy, the night sky more telling and humanity more glorious. God gives a new hope that is more substantial than the ground that he is standing on.
And when a man or woman has that hope, things now even though the same –are new and different. Only the surrendered in heart will know and understand. Only those who have placed their full trust in God their Savior, can relate to these things and acknowledge that this new hope is Divine. This year is going to be new for me. This year I want to stop leaning on my own understanding and acknowledge Him in all my ways, in all those things 2010 shall bring to me. I believe that if I begin seeing things through the eyes of Christ, my whole world will change!
Have a God blessed week. Pastor Jim
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