I Need a New Heart
“Create
in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (KJV )
Have you ever noticed as time
goes by, our thoughts; desires and relationship with God, change? When I was first saved, I was so zealous I
ate, breathed and slept Jesus. I could
have prayed for hours on end and everyone I met had to hear about Jesus and how
he saved me. I carried a ‘big’ Bible
with me wherever I went and scared my friends and family to death.
As time went on I calmed down a lot and learned how to reign
in my enthusiasm so I could talk to people before they ran away. I was still very tight with the Lord and
always listening for him to speak to me and he did many times. He gave me stories to write and put people in
front of me who needed to hear the Word.
He still does that, but with far more wisdom than when I blunder into
things without him.
Every so often I sit back and
take a look at myself and realize I need a new heart and a right spirit within
myself. Many know this verse by memory,
but if this is where you stop, you haven’t learned anything. It has taken many years to get to this place
in my life – but the truth is I’ve got a long way to go yet. Once again, my prayer is, “Lord, I need a new
heart; this one is getting blocked up with things of the world.”
“Renew a right
[steadfast] spirit within me.”
Christians can take on different spirits and I’m not talking about
demonic or evil spirits; I’m talking about attitudes and actions. There are mean-spirited people, people with
bitter spirits and those with a spirit of depression. There are many different
spirits one can take on such as a spirit without hope. As Christians we should
have a steadfast spirit; a spirit of Christ and a faith that doesn’t
waiver. A person who trusts God for
everything and does not take their eyes off Jesus is one who has a ‘right’
spirit filled with love and hope.
“Do not cast me away from
your presence.” When we have
sinned, and we all do every day, we often feel separated from God. God doesn’t move away from us; we move away
from him. All we need to do is ask him
to forgive us and it is done because of his great love for us.
“And do not take Your
Holy Spirit from me.” At times
in our life we don’t feel very spiritual.
Our prayers don’t seem to go any higher than the ceiling and we aren’t
hearing from God. We may feel like the
Holy Spirit is not leading us anywhere.
God will never take the Holy Spirit from us unless we totally turn away
from him and deny the Holy Spirit. "But he who blasphemes against
the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”
“Restore to me the joy of
Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” Remember when you were first saved? I do; I had a peace and a joy that I had
never had before. That joy just bubbled
up in me and I couldn’t quit smiling.
Over time, trials and troubles can become overwhelming and little by
little the joy seems to trickle out of us and we come to a dead spot. This is when we pray and ask God to restore
our joy and for God’s Spirit to lift us up.
It will happen if you are serious.
Even now, when I pray to God to restore the joy of my salvation to me, I
feel tears in my eyes and the joy brings a smile to my face. When I recall this joy, I know I am being
restored. It is God’s Spirit who carries
me through.
“Then I will teach
transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.” This verse is so important that if you don’t
get it, you’ve missed the whole message.
This should be the goal of every Christian and that is to teach others
about Jesus and lead them to salvation.
In order to do this, we need to be prepared and these scriptures direct
us. THEN – you will be ready to
teach others and they will be saved.
Think of these scriptures and
pray about them. God wants to use you in
wonderful ways, but let him give you a new heart first.
Create
in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do
not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore
to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then
I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.
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