New Heart, New Spirit, New Nature

Chuckle: "Insomnia is contagious; if your baby has it, chances are you will have it too!!"

Quote: "If his conditions are met, God is bound by his Word to forgive any man or woman of any sin because of Christ." --Billy Graham

"Now turn from your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins" (Acts 3:19 NLT). "And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command" (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NLT).

What a beautiful picture of God's love and plan for the life of every human being. God had Ezekiel record for us an Old Testament image of the New Testament plan of salvation through faith in Christ. When we place our faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, God, through his Spirit, creates within us a new nature. ". . . you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you" (Colossians 3:10 NLT). In the life of a Christian, there is a continuous battle between the old sinful nature and the new nature God has given us.

"So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. The two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict" (Galatians 5:16-17 NLT).

Over the course of time, the way we live is dependent upon which nature we choose to give control over our lives. If the old nature wins, we will drift away from God and the joy of a daily walk and fellowship with him. When this happens, we lose interest in attending church, we stop studying God's Word, We stop praying, and we stop enjoying the fellowship of other Christians. If you find yourself in this situation, you need a renewal of commitment to God. You need revival. You may need to pray as did the psalmist: "Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10 NLT).

"A man once came to Gipsy Smith, the celebrated English evangelist of an earlier time, and asked him how to have revival. Gipsy asked, 'Do you have a place where you can pray?' 'Yes,' was the reply. 'Tell you what to do, you go to that place and take a piece of chalk along. Kneel down there, and with the chalk draw a complete circle all around you -- and pray to God to send revival on everything inside the circle. Stay there until He answers -- and then you will have revival.'"

Every Christian can claim the promise of I John 1:9: "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." By admitting our sins and receiving Christ's cleansing, we are (1) agreeing with God that our sin is truly sin and that we are willing to turn away from it, (2) ensuring that we don't try to conceal our sins from him and consequently from ourselves, and (3) recognizing our tendency to sin and relying on his power to help us overcome it.

Love, Jerry & Dotse