Change Of Heart

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2 Chronicles 24:4 Restore God’s Temple

Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 24:4

Restoring old things is a passion for some people. Some will take old vehicles or old homes and work to make them like new again. Depending upon how damaged an item is, will depend upon how much work it takes to get it restored.

Once the item is restored like new, it can bring about great joy to the one who did it and to others around. Many can enjoy seeing something that is looking and being like it is supposed to be.

Joash had become king of Judah and decided to restore the temple of God that had been neglected.

The temple of God that Joash had chosen to restore was a physical temple that was where God had chosen to make Himself known. It was to be the center of the lives of the Israelites, the place where they could find out God’s will and give Him praise. It was where they could offer sacrifices for their sins.

Once God destroyed the nation of Israel, the physical temple was destroyed. After Jesus came, believers would become the new temple of God, each and every individual.

Sometimes believers choose to step away from God and walk a life of sin. They allow sinful practices to come into their lives, destroying the temple of God. In the same way that the original temple was able to be restored, believers can be restored.

Repentance and a change of heart that turns back to God is restoring the new temple of God, turning away from sinful practices that crept in. It is choosing to obey God’s commands and do His will in every area of one’s life. It is worshipping and serving God with one’s life.

As a believer, you are a temple of God. Your whole life should be fully dedicated to God for His use and glory.

You may have allowed some sinful habits to slip into your life, defiling the temple of God. Although this may have occurred, God is ready and willing to help you get restored as His holy temple.

Make the choice to repent of your sins and turn back to God. He will forgive you and fill you with His presence. You can be the holy temple of God that God had purposed for you to be in this fallen world.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will be the holy and consecrated temple of the Lord; that you repent of any sins against God; that you will live to do God’s will; and that you will worship and honor God with all that you say, think and do

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Acts 8:13 Everyone Can Change

Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. Acts 8:13

While most people feel as if they are completely set in their ways of thinking, there are times when they can change their thoughts. Some event or something said to them can occur that gets them to thinking in different ways.

Often this cannot be foreseen until it actually occurs. There are no signs that there is coming a change in thinking until it happens. The world likes to push certain thoughts a little everyday, in every way possible, to get people to change their thinking.

Philip was going around preaching the gospel message and healing people. Many started believing in Jesus. One of them who believed was Simon, a very famous sorcery in the area.

Although most believers in the church will say that anyone can begin to believe in Jesus and be saved, many also do not feel that there are certain people who could ever be saved. When they look at these certain people, they see them as beyond all hope.

As a result of this type of thinking, many will not even attempt to be a witness to those people.

Jesus told the disciples to be a witness to everyone in the world, not just to certain groups or types of people. He wants to save every person. He wants every person to have a chance to be saved.

Since the time of Philip the message has not changed and there are people who still need to know Jesus as their Savior. Those who are believers in the church need to go out and proclaim the message of salvation to everyone and anyone that they can come across.

Only God knows which ones will choose to change and believe.

If you are a believer in Jesus, someone had taken time at some point in your life to share with you the gospel message of salvation through Jesus. It did not matter if you were a really bad person or just a sinner with decent morals the message was shared and you believed.

In the same way, give everyone a chance to accept or reject Jesus by sharing the message with them. Do not look at the hardness of their heart, but how big God is and how He can change hearts.

Anyone can change, if given the chance.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will share the message of Jesus with all you meet and know; that God will draw many to Jesus through you; and that God’s kingdom will grow through your witness.

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Ezekiel 36:27 God’s Spirit Motivates

Path to a cross

And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:27 

It is very easy for people to have a desire to do or stop doing something. However, having the inner motivation to actually do or stop doing it is another thing.

People are very quick to start something, but then as soon as trouble or a complication hits, they give up and stop. The same goes for when they are striving to stop something, it often fails as soon as a struggle occurs.

Most often, these actions occur because there is a lack of strong enough inner motivation.

God had a plan to restore Israel after sending them into exile and destroying the nation. His plan was to restore the nation and then put His Holy Spirit into each of the people. The purpose of His Holy Spirit was to motivate them to follow His laws.

The easiest way to get someone to do or not do something is to get to their heart. Once it is in the heart of a person, there is nothing that cannot be done, positively or negatively.

Many believers fight with trying to obey God in doing something or turning away from sin. Most often they fail on a regular basis and will give up after a time of struggle, thinking that it can never happen the way it was supposed to happen.

Just as with the Israelites, God wants to pour out His Holy Spirit into the life of every believer. This fills the believer with an inner motivation and strength to do what needs to be done for God. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that believers can be His witness. Being His witness also means living for Him, turning away from sin, while telling others about Him.

You may be just like most believers struggling with being willing to do God’s will in doing His work or in turning from sin. Allow God’s Holy Spirit to enter you and change your heart. Make God’s word an internal part of your heart to motivate you to follow Him with all of your being.

As you rely upon His Holy Spirit for direction and strength, God will do great and mighty things in and through you. This is because you will have a new heart that is an inner motivation. Let God be your new motivation to do what needs to be done.

I pray today that you will know God’s Spirit in your life; that you will allow God to change your heart; that you will obey God’s commands to you; and that you will love God as He loves you. 

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John 3:3 How To See Heaven

 

New Born Baby

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3

Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee, came to Jesus in private and told Him that He has to be a teacher from God. Jesus did not acknowledge the truth in that statement, but did say that a person must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was confused at that statement and Jesus tells Him what it means.

A lot of people all over the world want to see the kingdom of God. Different people have different views on what God’s kingdom may look like, but the desire is there all the same. The majority of people believe that if they work hard enough, they may get to see God’s kingdom.

Jesus made it very easy to see the kingdom of God, yet very impossible for a man to do on his own. All a person must do is be born again. Just as with Nicodemus, many might think that means a physical rebirth, however, it does not. This is a spiritual rebirth.

Think of a little new-born baby. When a new baby is born into this world, he is born with no bad past history and no personal sin. He is clean before God. The baby has no preconceived ideas or thoughts. His total trust is in the parents and there is no fear, only love and trust.

Later on people bring in sin, fear, hate, and other wrongs. They are no longer pure and clean before God.

When a person comes to Christ Jesus and repents of his sin, Jesus is willing to remove that sin. The person becomes as though physically reborn again. He is now clean with no sin or darkness in his life. The spirit is now just like when he was born as a baby and is pure before God.

You have to make that choice for yourself. If you are like many people, you want to see the kingdom of God someday. In order to do that, you also must be born again.

Allow God to change your heart, mind and spirit. Allow Jesus to cleanse you from all sin and make you pure before God. Become like a little new-born baby before God.

Are you ready to see the kingdom of God?

Are you born again?

I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will allow Jesus to cleanse you from all sin; that you will be able to stand pure before God; and that you will be reborn again in your mind, heart, thoughts, actions and spirit.

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Luke 3:8 The Important Part Of Repentance

Fruit trees

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. Luke 3:8

John the Baptist had started his ministry and was baptizing people with water. As he was doing this, many people came to see him. Many were thinking that they were Abraham’s children and did not need to change anything. He told them to start producing fruit with the repentance that they were doing.

Fruit trees that do not produce fruit are worthless. They become just another tree that takes up space and maybe offers a little shade, but they are not doing what they are meant to do.

People are to be just like the fruit tree. They are to do something of value. Repenting of sin is something that is easy to do, because it is just saying some words. It is admitting one is wrong and saying he is sorry for it.

However, repentance is much more than just being sorry for a sin, it is a turning away and producing new fruit.

In the Bible the people talked about being the children of Abraham. Today people talk about their parents being a believer, or a pastor of a church. Or some will say that they are a member of some church. These things do not make a person a believer and does not show any fruit in one’s own life.

The fruit that needs to show up is the fruit of the Spirit. There is to be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and more. There needs to be a greater hunger for God’s word. There needs to be a desire to tell others about Jesus. There needs to be a change of character.

If you have repented and chosen to follow Jesus, you must take a look at your life. Are you showing a change in your life, by becoming more like Jesus everyday?

Are you producing fruit in your life?

If you are not producing fruit, God will be upset with you. You have become just a dead tree in His garden. In the end, God will have to cut you down if you do not produce any fruit.

Seek God and His ways to produce fruit. Be willing to be changed by God and made useful today.

I pray today that you will allow God to produce fruit in your life; that you will be used by God to make more disciples; and that people will see Jesus in and through you.