Steven A. Bush - February 24, 2019
Hearts of Stone for Hearts of Flesh
Ezekiel 36:26-28 says: "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people, and I will be your God."(ESV) Just as the exiles of Judah were restored to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple, the exiles of the Garden, the descendants of Adam, all born with hearts of stone, all unclean in the filthiness of sin, have been given the greater promise: Eternal Life in Christ Jesus. It is Jesus who calls the dead to life, who turns hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, who puts His Spirit in those He's chosen for adoption that we might cry out, Abba Father. 2 Corinthians 5:17 completes the picture for believers: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]." (AMP) So are you ready to abandon your heart of stone for a heart of flesh? Transplants are available...