Praise the Lord O! my soul (2x).Thank You Jesus (4x) Father You Worthy (4x).
Heavenly Father we thank You for Your guidance all through the week. We are at the tail end of it and we trust You to see us through it Lord. Thank You Father for watching over us. If not for You Lord, the enemy would have made us a mixed meat but thanks be to God Whose Eye is ever on us to guide, protect, direct and provide every of our needs. Be Thou glorify.
Beloveth, thank God is Friday but there is vigil to attain tonight. So if your local church is holding one, just try and be there. Is good to watch all night. Jesus did it, so I believe we can do same just to press some issues home. Settle it on the altar of prayers, very important. Praise God.
Beloved, do you know that there is no true rest outside Christ. There is vacuum in every human heart which places a demand on us to be filled. According to Blaise Pascal – French mathematician and philosopher and Augustine who in one of his prayer book had this to say about God “You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until we find our rest in you” (confessions).
Those two thinkers have expressed what each one of us realizes in our quite, reflective moments. Deep within us is a restless desire to know the One who made us. We want to discover the purpose He has for our existence in His vast universe. We long to find peace in a world that is being torn apart by feuding families, warring nations, militant religions groups, economic uncertainty, and self- destructive addictions.
We may try to fill the emptiness with a busy life, community services, career pursuit, romantic relationships, or by trying to cover up the ache with drugs or alcohols. Even though we may try to suppress or deny that longing within us, it will surface again and again. (Extract from food for our soul).
So as we have been running with what looks like a series since the week began, an invitation from the Lord to “Come unto me”, “Rest is a gift” and today we will be having a “A heart of flesh”. And like I said in of the devotional you will not have rest which is a gift from God without first accepting Christ as your personal Saviour and until you do that the rest you are experiencing now is short live.
It also means that you will only come into the rest of the God by living a “Christ centered life” as soon this is achieved, your impure heart moves from stony heart to a heart of flesh. Is someone having a full understanding of what the Spirit of God is saying?
Beloved, a heart of flesh will be free from the wicked work of enemy, it will love God, this same love for God will spur you to be a soul winner for Christ. Praise the Lord!
Come along with me if you are a lover of God; want to win souls for the kingdom, come to discover more:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.—Ezekiel 36:26
From our hearts comes our response to God. Apart from the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit, our hearts are extremely deceitful (Prov. 17:9). David prayed that God would cleanse him from the ravages of his sin and purify his heart (Ps. 51:10). God’s greatest desire is that His people love Him with all their hearts (Deut. 6:5). Jesus said we are blessed if our hearts are pure (Matt. 5:8).
Sin hardens the heart (Matt. 13:4, 19). The more sin we allow to pass over our hearts and through our lives, the more resistant we become to a word from God. The sin of unforgiveness stiffens our hearts. We cannot continue to resist the prompting of the Holy Spirit without becoming hardened against Him. Exposing ourselves to evil and ungodly influences desensitizes us to God and His word. Over time, our hearts become like stone, unreceptive to a fresh word from God. We become anesthetized to sin.
Has your heart grown hard toward God? Do you feel as though nothing could soften it? God has a solution. He will separate you from the influences that are destroying you (Ezek. 36:24). He will cleanse you from all filthiness and remove everything that has taken His place in your affections (Ezek. 36:25). He will remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, tender toward Him and His word. If your love for God is not what it should be, ask Him to renew your heart and restore your devotion to Him.
Have you searched your heart dearly beloved, God had promised to take away from you a stony heart and give you a heart of flesh (v26). That’s good enough come on to (v27-30) He will put His Spirit with you and will increase your corn and lay no famine upon you. He multiply the fruit of the tree, and increase of the field and ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. This is further telling you that you are in season of fruitfulness. Your wilderness is turning into fertile field and fruitful field into a forest. Is someone shouting Alleluia!
He, your God will accomplish it but you must position yourself to partake of it. And one of the ways of partaking in it is by purify your heart and life from all evil and be Kingdom oriented.
Having passion for the lost, come let consider further ways of being a vessel of honour to be use by God (2 Tim 2:20-21). Are you a friend of God? You must be a lover of soul winning:
On Making Disciples
Jesus’ final command to His disciples was “GO, MAKE DISCIPLES.” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Tell me, are you obeying Christ’s command to MAKE DISCIPLES?
If your answer is, “I’m very busy in Christian activity,” you will have some serious answering to do at the Judgment Seat of Christ (See 2 Corinthians 5:9-11).
“Activity is no substitute for productivity. Productivity is no substitute for re-productivity.”
Christ MADE DISCIPLES, who in turn were commanded to MAKE DISCIPLES, who in turn were to MAKE DISCIPLES: Spiritual reproduction. He told us to do exactly the same: “Go therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations… teaching them (your disciples) to observe all that I have commanded you (part of which is the making of disciples)… ” (Matthew 28:19, 20): Spiritual multiplication.
Paul put it this way, “And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
Paul discipled Timothy, who in turn was to disciple faithful men, who in turn were to teach others, who were to also teach others. Spiritual multiplication. Spiritual reproduction: MAKING DISCIPLES.
Tell me, are you MAKING DISCIPLES? If not, why not?
When God evaluates us for the substance of our lives, the question will be asked, “Did you lay the foundation of Christ in people‘s lives?” That is the gold, silver, and precious stone that will stand the test of fire. It is called MAKING DISCIPLES. Everything else will be burned as dross (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
Tell me, are you MAKING DISCIPLES? Or are you just busy in Christian activity?
Remember, today is our practical Christian living (PCL) anchored on Jn 8:32 – And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Let put this work and as we labour in God’s vine yard, He will take your concerns off your shoulder. Praise the Lord.
We sincerely thank you for being there for us. See you next week by God’s grace.
Remain blessed in the Lord.
