March 15, 2007

Step 3: . We made a decision to turn our life and will over to the care of God.

Scripture reading for today: Psalm 16, Proverbs 8

There are some promises God gives to those who decide to turn both life and will over to his care…

I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19

God promises us a heart transplant. God promises to change us. Our stone hearts will be removed and in their place will be put a heart of flesh. A heart of stone is a dead heart. It is closed to honest, intimate relationships. A heart of stone is unmerciful with itself and with others. But we do become attached to our hearts of stone. And we find ourselves fearing God's promised transplant. Our stone hearts have one thing in their favor - they allow us to feel strong and to appear strong to others. A stone heart is a protected heart. It seems invulnerable. You cannot wound a heart of stone. God's offer of a heart transplant is a promise of life. A heart of flesh is alive. Only a flesh heart can feel joy. Only a flesh heart can celebrate. Only a heart of flesh can give and receive love. But, the vulnerability of a heart of flesh scares us. A flesh heart does not seem as well protected as a heart of stone. It can feel joy, but it can also feel pain. You can wound a heart of flesh. God promises to change us. God will remove
our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh.*

What’s the state of your heart?

Thought for today:

For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death. Proverbs 8:35-36

Thought for tomorrow:

OK, boys and girls. Here’s your test. Are you lost or found? Do you take care of yourself, or harm yourself? Plan to succeed or deliberately sabotage? How you answer these questions will help you understand whether you’ve made a step three decision – or not.

March 15
Teresa McBean

1 comment:

GodsBabyGrl said...

Sorry for the delay guys...I read this the other day in the Ryan devotional and now I'm reading the same words again. My response is the same...I remember my heart of stone life. I was so miserable. I had learned that they way not to feel and not to get hurt was to isolate and to take care of myself because no one else was going to do it. That's a lonely way to live plus I couldn't really learn anything that way.
I still find that I have this tendency to isolate myself and it's still difficult for me to trust, but I'm thankful for a heart of flesh. I'm beginning to step out and take more risk with relationships. It's way more fun, even though it's scary.

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