---Acts 17:2
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
A New Heart
“A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26, AMP).
There is much trueness in the adage “experience is the best teacher.” In the passage, “a new heart” is most time taken literally and we think about the organ in the body that pumps the blood. The heart regulates and sustains life, but is used symbolically in many passages in the Bible.
I suffered chest pains for about a year. It was becoming frequent. At times at the start of regular walks, I would have sharp chest pains and then they would fade away. Various tests and examinations found no problems. My heart muscles were strong; heart beat great; pressure wonderful. In April 2010, after another experience of the chest pains, invasive examination was done and corrective action was done. I was out of the hospital the next day after the corrective action, and was at work the following day. I immediately felt the difference as I walked out of the hospital. There was a feeling newness. I breathed better and performance of life’s activities became excellent! It felt like I had a new heart!
When the Scripture speaks of you having a new heart, the result is a freshness of life. The “new heart” starts with accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior but does not end there. The heart as mentioned above, is not the organ in your body. It is having a new outlook of everything inside and outside of you. It affects your belief, attitude, behavior, emotions and consequently knowledge as you search the Scriptures like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-11). It brings a new aura of life, its challenges, and decision-making. You become like Cleopas and his walking companion who encountered Jesus while on their way to Emmaus. After the encounter they said: “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:1-32). Yes, that insatiable desire to do what is Biblically right is what causes your heart to ‘burn” within you. The new heart propels you “to contend for the faith” (Jude 3).
Faith grows because of everything that is internalized on a daily basis as you search the Scriptures. It is adding daily to your knowledge of the Scriptures and the totality of your Biblical belief of what you read, hear, and experience as a Christian. The result is allowing God to put His Spirit within you, ordering your steps, and heeding to His Word in obedience by doing what His Word says. You become a doer of His Word.
Ask the Lord to touch your heart, and especially others who do not know Him, to receive a new heart and not remain, as Jesus said, “foolish men [people], and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25).
There is much trueness in the adage “experience is the best teacher.” In the passage, “a new heart” is most time taken literally and we think about the organ in the body that pumps the blood. The heart regulates and sustains life, but is used symbolically in many passages in the Bible.
I suffered chest pains for about a year. It was becoming frequent. At times at the start of regular walks, I would have sharp chest pains and then they would fade away. Various tests and examinations found no problems. My heart muscles were strong; heart beat great; pressure wonderful. In April 2010, after another experience of the chest pains, invasive examination was done and corrective action was done. I was out of the hospital the next day after the corrective action, and was at work the following day. I immediately felt the difference as I walked out of the hospital. There was a feeling newness. I breathed better and performance of life’s activities became excellent! It felt like I had a new heart!
When the Scripture speaks of you having a new heart, the result is a freshness of life. The “new heart” starts with accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior but does not end there. The heart as mentioned above, is not the organ in your body. It is having a new outlook of everything inside and outside of you. It affects your belief, attitude, behavior, emotions and consequently knowledge as you search the Scriptures like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-11). It brings a new aura of life, its challenges, and decision-making. You become like Cleopas and his walking companion who encountered Jesus while on their way to Emmaus. After the encounter they said: “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:1-32). Yes, that insatiable desire to do what is Biblically right is what causes your heart to ‘burn” within you. The new heart propels you “to contend for the faith” (Jude 3).
Faith grows because of everything that is internalized on a daily basis as you search the Scriptures. It is adding daily to your knowledge of the Scriptures and the totality of your Biblical belief of what you read, hear, and experience as a Christian. The result is allowing God to put His Spirit within you, ordering your steps, and heeding to His Word in obedience by doing what His Word says. You become a doer of His Word.
Ask the Lord to touch your heart, and especially others who do not know Him, to receive a new heart and not remain, as Jesus said, “foolish men [people], and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25).
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