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A New Heart
living a life like
Jesus
.
“Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NRSV).
Little by
little, blow by blow, daily grind after daily grind, we let our circumstances
rub the shine off of our lives.
Too
quickly, we become impatient, angry, and cynical.
We harden
our hearts to protect us from pain and end up isolating ourselves from people
and emotions that should touch us and move us to risk loving others with
compassion.
We choose
for joy to become little more than a distant memory as the hard realities of
life surround us.
Where can
we go to find a new heart, fresh hope, and a different way to look at life?
Paul said
it this way:
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old
has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Paul
wanted us to know that a new heart and the Spirit of God can bring fresh hope
and a whole new way of living — living a life like Jesus!
OK, but
how do I keep my heart new, my hope fresh, and my re-born perspective on life
vibrant?
Jesus
promised us that if we would allow him to be our teacher, our rabbi, that we
could become like him (Luke 6:40).
Paul
promised us that if we would pursue Jesus, then the Holy Spirit would transform
us a little more each day to become like him (2 Corinthians 3:18).
You see,
our goal as followers of Jesus is NOT to keep a list of rules — to do the right
things and to avoid the wrong things.
Instead,
each of us should yearn to have our heart, mind, and will, shaped into the
heart, mind, and will of Jesus.
Jesus
demonstrated how we should live. His life reveals how his heart cared for
people.
The
Lord's words show how his mind was rooted in the ways of God. Jesus' ministry
displays how he made his will pliable to the purposes of God.
When
Jesus saw that it was time for him to talk to his disciples about the
principles that guided his life, he shared his teachings in the "Sermon
on the Mount."
Far from
being a list of do's and don'ts for his followers, Jesus' teaching spoke about
the heart that must guide our actions.
He
focused on our wills being re-tuned to the heart of God, always guided by love.
He shared
how we should re-center our minds on bringing the reign of God's grace (the
Kingdom of God) into our broken world.
He wanted
our hearts, minds, and wills to be an example of what happens when our Father's
will in heaven is done on earth.
A new
heart and the Spirit of God can bring fresh hope and a whole new way of living
Jesus
taught us that each of us should center our new heart in loving devotion to God
and on loving relationships toward others.
Our
loving devotion to God then re-orients our hearts, minds, and wills to the ways
of God.
Our
loving relationships with others re-molds our attitudes, words, and behaviors
toward the people around us to treat them as Jesus did.
We're not
legalistically checking off good things in our behaviors or feeling proud of
the bad things that we don't do.
Instead,
our hearts, minds, and wills dive into more profound truths than the surface
symptoms of our hearts.
Instead,
we are hungry to treat people as Jesus did.
We yearn
for God's sacrificial love demonstrated toward us to also be displayed by us
toward others.
Love is
the power for the new heart the Holy Spirit creates in us and supplies to
us (Romans 5:5).
Can a
hardened heart, a cynical mind, and a worn-out will become new?
In Jesus,
by the power of the Holy Spirit, they can.
And they
can, in you!
Pursue
Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to conform your ways to his. And trust that God will
answer your prayer with his loving grace.
So, let's
pray this old prayer together:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NRSV).
In this series, James Nored and Phil Ware partner two pioneering
ministries providing resources to reach coming generations. James is
a minister, Executive Director of Next Generation for Christ, and author of the
Story of Redemption Film Series, filmed in the Israel, U.S., and around the
world. This series is designed to lead seekers to faith and strengthen the
faith of believers. Divided into 5-6 minute video segments, it is great to use
with social media, small groups, sermon series, families, and friends. Phil is
President of Heartlight, Inc., a preacher for 40 years, author of five books
along with hundreds of articles & 11 years of daily devotionals, coach for
churches in transition, and a resource for missionary renewal. Phil's
verseoftheday.com devotionals are read by hundreds of thousands every day.
Heartlight Provides Positive Resources for Daily
Christian Living.
https://www.heartlight.org/articles/201906/20190630_anewheart.html
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Create In Me A Clean Heart
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