A NEW HEART FOR BELIEVERS

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.”
(Psalm 51:6)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever visited a sawmill and watched them process timber?
They start with a big log out of the woods, which may have bumps
and knots on it, and they lay it in a cradle, running it through a saw,
and cutting off one side.

Then they bring it back, turn it, and run it through again to cut off another side.
When they’re finished, if you stand and look down it,
it appears to be perfectly straight.
But if you look at the end of it, the heart is still crooked.

That’s the way it is with some individuals
who are outwardly living the Christian life.
In Jeremiah we are warned that the heart
is hopelessly deceitful above all things.
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

It sounds like our hearts are hopelessly corrupt with no hope of improving.
However we do have a cure in the name of Jesus Christ.
We need regeneration; we must be born again.
We need to choose to allow the Holy Spirit control of our life.

We need to be honest with ourselves, with others, and with God.
We need a greater love for God (and for others).
We need to trade in our selfishness for selflessness.
We need a new heart.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ
and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 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. (Ephesians 4:20-24)

ACTION:
Read Psalm 19:14 and pray it from your heart.
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, increase my desire to live a life that is pure in
thought, word, and deed. Help me in my efforts to give the Holy
Spirit more control of my life. I know that when He is in control
I will have the confidence required for victory over the evilness
that dwells within me. Thank You for saving me and giving me
a hope of living a life that is pleasing to You. Thank You, Jesus
for Your blood which smothers the evilness within me.”

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