Tuesday, December 3, 2013

From heart of stone to heart of flesh

Ezekiel 36:16-38
It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these thing, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.
The nations will know that I am the Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes, declares the Sovereign Lord.
Remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
I will give my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.
God tells the desolate land it will soon be inhabited. His people are coming home. Israel's defeat has made people despise the God of Israel as powerless. Their return will vindicate his honour. The nations will know, and God's people will know, that he is the Lord.
Why?
The savior came is for the sake of the Holy name, but not for our sake. Be humble before the Lord, I am shame as the Israelite.
Honor the name of God through us around me, this is the purpose of my living in this world.
When I turned to the Lord, my heart moved from heart of stone to heart of flesh.
When the spirit of the Lord is in me, then I will follow the decrees of the Lord.
My God is a faithful God. Only Holy Spirit can help us to do it.
The total transformation of a 'new heart is realized only 'in Christ'. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Ezekiel was thinking of something far more complex than a heart transplant: the heart, in Jewish thought, stood for the whole personality, the essential person.
How?
Keep my heart follow the decrees of the Lord, focus my eyes on the Lord Almighty, trust in the Sovereign Lord.







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