RETURN!
MEMORISE
A
new heart also 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 I will give you an heart
of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26
READ
1 Samuel 7:3-4
3 And Samuel
spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with
all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you,
and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver
you out of the hand of the Philistines.
4 Then the
children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.
MESSAGE
The sanctification experience involves God taking
away your old rebellious heart and replacing it with a heart of flesh that
enables you to do His will without being forced. This is enunciated in Ezekiel
36:26:
“A
new heart also 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 I will give you an heart
of flesh.”
If you still struggle to obey God on any matter, it
is doubtful you have received this new heart. If you are always out to do what
you want, how you want it, when and where you want it, then this new heart is
missing. If you are not yet broken, it is because you lack this heart. If you
are still arrogant or boastful over your accomplishments, you need this new
heart. If your speech is not seasoned with salt to heal its hearers, or you
don’t know how to speak acceptable words to people, you need this heart of
flesh.
The heart of flesh makes you to enjoy and not
endure the service of God. It enables you to give without being cajoled. In the
olden days, when it was time for offering, we needed nobody to exhort us on
giving. The one who was to take the offering would simply ask us to prepare our
offering and we would pray in one minute because giving was part of us. We gave
joyfully because we saw it as a great opportunity to give something to God. Our
hearts were focused on Christ and we appreciated our salvation, as a result, we
were willing to spend for the One who saved us. We had the heart of a sheep and
not that of a goat. In those days, you would not become a worker in the church
until you were sanctified because when a worker comes to church on Sunday
morning, he would not know when he would go back home. But today, immediately
after service, some ministers take off even without telling their pastor. In
those days, you could not leave until your pastor released you. Visitation was
compulsory then. We were few, so we knew each other. When we arrived at church
on Sunday morning and discovered some brethren were absent, we would send
workers to go and find out why they could not come. It is time we returned to
the old way of service!
KEY
POINT
One of the keys to rapid church growth is effective
follow-up of first timers.
BIBLE
IN ONE YEAR
Deuteronomy 31:14-32:47
Job 9:13-24
Thank God for this words
ReplyDeleteGod's Grace is sufficient for us.
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