The Heart!
Often, we find ourselves praying and asking God to give us a clean heart and renew a right spirit in us because we’ve rebelled against and grieved the Holy Spirit. The truth is God has already given the believer a clean heart and has given us His Spirit. For those of us who have invited Jesus into our hearts, God has given us the very thing we wanted – a new heart!
When God revealed to us that we were sinners and in need of a Savior, He announced the solution to our problem – His Son Jesus! Upon that old rugged Cross, God prepared a way for our sins to be forgiven and for us to receive a fresh start in life. When this was brought to our attention by the Holy Spirit, we along with David, cried out to God to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. (Psalm 51:10)
Why did we need a New Heart and The Right Spirit within us?
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jerimiah 17:9)
And
“For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies, slanders. . . These are what really make a person unclean,” (Matthew 15:19-20a)
Once we said yes to Jesus, something miraculous happened! The wicked and deceitful heart was removed, and we were given a New Heart. Our prayers were answered! This New Heart was not simply an adjustment, an addition, or a patchwork to the old heart. He gave us a New Heart and poured into it His Spirit and Love.
“and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5)
“Moreover, I will give you a New Heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
Since God is Love and has poured His love into our hearts, we can, therefore, be patient, kind, gentle, loving, generous, and the rest of the attributes described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. These things are not accomplished by our own efforts but through God in us! For God is love, patience, kindness, and gentleness, and that life now flows in our hearts and out to others.
Anatomically, the heart pumps blood to the entire body, giving life to its various parts. This is also true of our new spiritual heart – it pumps the life of Jesus to various parts of the body causing us to imitate the life of Jesus. Thus, we see His life flowing in us and through us!
Let’s suppose a clot emerges in the veins going down to the legs. It can disrupt blood flow and eventually cause problems for the whole body. The same happens when we choose to rebel and act/live independently of God. This sinful lifestyle is the opposite of who Jesus is in us! We grieve (block the flow of) the Holy Spirit in us, causing us to look like a child of the devil rather than who we really are, a child of God. The Holy Spirit was given to us to empower us to live as children of God in a dark and fallen world.
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)
To not love, to not forgive, to hate, to keep a record of someone’s else wrong, to not obey, to sin, to be prideful, to not walk in the Spirit is to walk in rebellion.
“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15:23)
Because we have a new heart, the Right Spirit in us produces a godly sorrow in us when we have sinned against God. This godly sorrow brings about repentance or a change from walking in sin and rebellion to walking in obedience. Our repentance allows the Holy Spirit to flow in us, bringing glory to the Father in Heaven who saved us from our sins!
Now, if we find that there is no godly sorrow, no need for repentance within us (Self-Righteous), then there is a problem, we need to cry out to God to give us a new heart and give us the Right Spirit because the wrong spirit (Sin/Satan) is producing his life in us!
“the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)
Let us not short-circuit the grace of God but let us continue to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, allowing the world to see Jesus’ life flowing and manifesting itself through us. To God be the glory now and forevermore!
Long after I became a Christian, I thought there was still something wicked in my heart. I knew I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior but didn’t understand why I acted the way I was acting at the time.
I cried out to God to create a clean heart in me and to reveal anything wicked in my heart. I implored to God, “I want to desire you and your ways.” This went on for a long time until God revealed to me that surely, He had already given me a New Heart, for my crying out to Him was an expression of my desires for Him!
After placing my trust in the finished work of Jesus’ death upon the Cross for my eternal salvation I was not trusting Him for my daily life. Anytime I made a decision to sin, it was not due to a heart issue but due to my choosing to trust “self” to meet my daily needs. When I did not trust God to meet my needs, I saw myself fixing my focus or thoughts squarely on my desires.
In the book of James, it is written: “Rather, each person is being tempted whenever he is being dragged off and enticed by the bait of his own desire. Then, having conceived, the desire gives birth to sin; and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.” (James 1:15)
It can become so easy to be dragged off by our own inward desires/needs thinking that we must figure out how to satisfy them instead of giving them over to God and waiting on His provision.
Having been enlightened to this truth, I was reminded that God had broken the power of sin in my life on the Cross, so I did not have to give in to the temptation to meet my needs in my own strength. The Holy Spirit revealed that my sins were not originating from a wicked heart, but from my concentrating more on my desires rather than on God, the one who created me with my desires!
All I needed to do was trust God and God alone, the same way I trusted Him for my eternal salvation, by Faith through Grace
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” (Ephesians 2:8)
And
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Colossians 2:6)!
My heart was already made new. I no longer needed to ask God for something He had already given me through my co-crucifixion and co-resurrection with His Son Jesus Christ; “We know that our old self was put to death on the cross with him,” (Romans 6:6a) And “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ,” (Colossians 3:1a)
I received and New Heart Heart/Life from God by Faith through Grace, therefore, I walk in Him by Faith through Grace! As I faithfully trust God to meet my daily needs, Jesus’ life living in me becomes supremely evident in my daily walk. My actions began to match my New Life and my New Redeemed Heart as Jesus’ life flows to all the other parts of my body!
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)
Thank God for your New Heart and allow His life to fully flow through you, giving life to your mortal body. Praise God!
“The voice spoke to him a second time: “Stop treating as unclean what God has made clean.” (Acts 10:15)
