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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
New Heart
And I will give them one heart and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20 (ESV)
Happy New Year to each of you. We seem to always look forward to something new, be it a new outfit, a new piece of furniture, or a new vehicle. God plans to do new things for us if we are willing to let Him be in control. Our focus passage will help us understand more.
“And I will give them one heart,” God tells Ezekiel He will give to the people of Israel His heart. He will do this for us, His people, in today’s world when we allow Him to guide.
“and a new spirit I will put within them” Along with that new heart, God spoke of giving the Israelite people a new spirit. In our world, we receive a new spirit when we submit our lives entirely to Him.
“I will remove the heart of stone” God recognized the Israelite’s stubbornness and planned to remove their pride from them. Each time they chose to revere Him, it only lasted for a short time. In today’s world, each of us has to daily submit our lives, hearts, and emotions to our heavenly Father.
“and give them a heart of flesh,” Each time the Israelites worshipped God as He intended to be worshipped, events went well for them. In our present world, we see things happen because we live in a fallen world. All we have to do to see things turn around is to honor and worship God in a manner that befits Him.
“that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.” God tells Ezekiel what the children of Israel have to do for their part. In our world today, we still have His statutes and his rules to guide us through our days and our times of trial.
“And they shall be my people and I will be their God.” God wanted to have a relationship with His chosen people, the Israelites. In our present times, He wants to have a relationship with each of us, His children.
New Name
The nations shall see your righteousness. And all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. Isaiah 62:2 (ESV)
God speaks of His plan of giving His people a new identity when Jerusalem and Zion begin to display righteousness and glory they have received from Him. Other nations will see these qualities.
Just think! God gives each of His people new names. Known only to Him. In the context (verse 4), He tells the people He will not think of them as “Forsaken” or “Desolate” but as “My Delight is in Her.” I love this latter term. God’s delight is in those who follow Him.
The LORD looks at those who submit their lives to Him with different eyes, eyes of tenderness and love. Because that is His nature. When we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, should we also those around us with different eyes—His eyes? Our LORD teaches us how to respond to unsettling circumstance. When we hear things that bother us, He tells us to take those issues to Him, first. Our hearts would be so much lighter and our lives easier if we would remember to take this one simple step.
New Covenant
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not like I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke though I was their husband, declares the LORD. I will put the law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more. Jeremiah 31:31-32,33b, 34c (ESV)
God never gave up on the people of Israel or the people of Judah. He speaks through the prophet Jeremiah. God speaks of the events in the future. What does He say?
The LORD speaks of the people of Israel and Judah’s unfaithfulness. God looked on His relationship with them as a marriage. (my covenant that they broke though I was their husband.)
He reveals His plan to present the law to them. His plan is to engrave His law on their hearts. What the people had could be described as ‘head knowledge.’ God wanted His people to have ‘heart knowledge.’ In today’s world, people know what the right thing to do is but choose not to act on it, doing what they want over what God wants.(Head Knowledge) God wants us to believe and live out his commandments. (Heart Knowledge.)
God tells Jeremiah His part of the outcome. All the people will know Him. He will forgive their wickedness and will erase their sin from His memory.
One of my Sunday school teachers told us that prophetic statements are either fulfilled in the Bible or will be fulfilled in the future. As I understand this one, I believe part of this one will be fulfilled in the future.
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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