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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Ezekiel 11:19-20
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new Spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws. They will be My people and I will be their God.”
The preceding chapters are not good news.
They culminated in the ‘Glory’ departing from the Temple (see Chapter 10). God then turned to judge the leaders and Ezekiel cried out on behalf of the remnant. “Will You completely destroy the remnant of Israel?” (11:13) God’s answer was the same as it always is. “What you can’t do in your strength, I can do in Mine.”
“Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been their sanctuary” (v 16). Then He promised their return. “I will gather you from the nations... and I will give you back the land of Israel again” (v 17). More than that, He “will give them an undivided heart and put a new Spirit in them.”
No longer would they serve God and idols. Never again would they compromise between the Kingdom of God and the affairs of the world. He would “remove from them their heart of stone” and replace it with “a heart of flesh”. No more would they be hard-hearted. No longer would they be fixed in their ways and unwilling to change.
They would cease to be independent, callous and bitter. Instead, they would be soft and supple to the ways of God. They would show love and concern for others and offer help and hospitality. They would see the ways of God – not as rules but as blessings – not as a cage but as a firm structure within which to blossom and find fulfilment.
“They will be My people and I will be their God.” The Lord would once more be their Shepherd – and they would lack nothing. God chose them to be His and they would be His again. Not only that but He would be their God. He would be proud of them once more and boast of being their God.
What about us? What about you? What about me?
Do you need to have “an undivided heart” after God?
Have you allowed the world to deflect you?
Do you need to have a fresh filling of His Holy Spirit so you prefer the things of God above the things of this world again?
Do you need to give up your “heart of stone” to be replaced by His “heart of flesh”?
Do you want to love what He loves?
Do you need a new passion for the lost?
Do you need to fall in love with Jesus all over again?
Wouldn’t you like to rethink the 10 Commandments and see them as beneficial to your life and society, rather than a yardstick beside which you are condemned?
Don’t you long to be like Thomas who when he looked at Jesus said, “My Lord and My God”? (see John 20:24-28)
You can right now. Ask Him. That’s all you need to do. Ask Him now.
Jackie Pullinger, who worked in Hong Kong, tells us that we need to change from being people who have hard hearts and soft feet to those with soft hearts and hard feet. We need to become people of compassion to the unchurched and lost, instead of remaining callous and uncaring. Instead of staying within our own comfy surroundings, we should go to where the hurting, the unloved and the oppressed are and bring to them help, hope, love and the ‘Good News’ of salvation. Will you be willing to do so?
We can ALL change because God will give us the heart, the strength and the love.
Lastly, tell me - “Have you got a hard heart and soft feet?”
Or, “Have you got a soft heart and hard feet?”
What do you think God thinks the answer is?
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