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The Lord’s wounded hands, feet, and side reveal God’s desire to change our hearts by the power of His love.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 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. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 36:26, Ephesians 3:17-19
When we come to Jesus Christ in our brokenness and need, He receives us as we are, but because He loves us, He also wants to change us. He has come to make all things new.
His path is a path of hope. His way is a way of change. He doesn’t just forgive us, He cleanses us; He doesn’t just receive us, He indwells us; He doesn’t just justify us, He gives us a new heart.
He causes us to hate the things we used to love and love the things we used to hate. He changes us from the inside out. His Holy Spirit comes to live within us, we are born of God, and His love is shed abroad in our hearts.
He removes our stony hearts—cold, hard, unbending, and gives us a heart of flesh—warm, tender, yielding. He gives us a heart to love Him, adore Him, and enjoy Him. A heart of devotion…a heart of communion…a heart of compassion. Through this change we become the yielded clay vessels in the potter’s hands. His hands form us into His image as we become vessels of honor in the Master’s house, vessels that are filled with the treasure of Jesus Christ.
Lord, only You have the power to change me, and the wisdom to know what is best for me. I am safe in Your keeping, and secure in the knowledge that I am a new creation in Christ. Mold me and shape me into a vessel that will be pleasing in Your sight, and fill my heart with the love of Jesus Christ.
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This post is part of a series called The Joy of Being Forgiven.
There are three main reasons for this series:
- To help those who are burdened by sin to enter into the joy of being forgiven.
- To remind those who have been forgiven to live each day in thankfulness for the gift of His forgiveness and the joy it has brought your heart.
- To provide for those who know the joy of being forgiven, a way for them to share the message of God’s forgiveness with others.
Click the links below to read previous posts in this series..
Loved/Darkness
Guilt
Repentance
Grace
Please feel free to print out these postings or share them online as the Lord may lead you.
