I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
This verse keeps swirling around my head, I cannot seem to escape it.
Something I have discovered about myself is, I am constantly needing to be aware of the state of my heart. It is far too easy for me to begin to callous myself to feelings in order to “get the job done”. This is a dangerous thing. I need a soft heart. We all do.
As you head out to worship with the body today, I encourage you to ask God to once again take from you your heart of stone and place within you a heart of flesh. We don’t want to just be survivors. We want to thrive.
To love and be loved is the greatest gift on earth…. I saw that phrase on a picture when I was growing up and it stuck with me. It truly is the greatest gift. To love Jesus and to be loved by Him. To love our family and friends and be loved in return. That’s what really matters.
Today, I encourage you to return to that childlike love. The love that gives freely and recovers quickly from wrongs. The love that believes the best about others and doesn’t really notice people’s faults. The love that assumes others love you too, which gives you a great foundation to love them back.
Love your neighbor as yourself. I believe that’s why when we are young it’s so much easier for us to show love to others. As a child, you just assume everybody thinks you’re great….at least I did. But sadly, as you grow you discover that’s not always so. When that revelation comes, that’s when we start to build a wall between us and others. It’s when we start to doubt how lovely we are.
Today, come like a child. We frequently talk about having “faith like a child”, but today I say, “Have love like a child”
Try it, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day- our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life- fear of death, fear of judgment- is one not yet fully formed in love. 1 John 4: 17-18 (the message)
He called a little child to Him, and placed the child among them. And He said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4
Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all you soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second, love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39
365 Days in the Presence 