Pastor Stephen Dedman

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A Transformed Heart

Encouragement

‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ‘ Ezekiel 36:26

Your attitude towards God comes directly from your heart. At the moment of salvation when the Holy Spirit comes into your life, your heart is permanently transformed. God’s greatest desire is to see that His people love Him with all of their hearts.

Apart from the cleaning work of the Holy Spirit of God, our hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). In Psalm 51, David prayed that God would cleanse him and create in him a clean heart (Psalm 51:10). Jesus said we are blessed when our hearts are made pure (Matthew 5:8).

We know that sin hardens our heart the more we sin. The longer we hold on to unconfessed sin the harder our hearts become. Even to the point when people around us can tell a difference in our demeanor.

Sometimes we go through seasons when our hearts grow cold and we become desensitized to the important things of God. Much of the time we have a feeling of despair or “I don’t care”. The good news is that the Holy Spirit can change our hearts and soften our heart of stone.

Make sure to check your heart’s condition today. If your love for God and others is not what it should be then you should ask Him to renew your heart and restore your devotion to Him.

Pray

Lord, there are things that are not right in my heart and I need Your help. Change my heart and help me to love like You love. Set my heart on fire for the things that are important to You.

Allow God To Lift You Up

Encouragement, Faith

‘For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’
Luke 14:11

Take every opportunity to promote yourself before and above others. Seize occasions for recognition and manipulate your way into the center of attention. According to the world, this is the proper way to attain high esteem.

But according to God’s design, you must put others first. Humble yourself. It’s when God sees your humility that He will exalt you.

If we put our efforts into promoting ourselves, we will be brought down and humiliated. Jesus spoke of a man who tried to enhance his own image (Luke 14:7-11). While attending a dinner, he quickly claimed the seat of most honor. When the host saw this take place, he humiliated the man by asking him to move to another seat, the lowest seat in the room.

Jesus said the wise thing to do is seek the lowest position and allow someone else to exalt you when they feel that you need to be recognized.

When we strive to remain humble, we bring glory to God and not ourselves. If we honor God, He will honor us. When the world exalts you, you are the center of attention. But when God exalts you, others will praise Him for what He has done in your life.

Allow God to be the One who honors you in the way that pleases Him!

Pray

Lord, please keep me humble. I ask You to remove all pride from my heart. May Your Holy Spirit transform me and change me.

We Need Each Other

Encouragement, Faith

‘And the Lord God said, “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ‘
Genesis 2:18

God designed us to function best as a community. Even before sin entered the garden of Eden, God said something wasn’t good about His perfect creation. God noticed that something was missing. Adam had good fellowship with God but he needed someone to do life with on his level. God said it wasn’t good for him to be alone.

God knows that isolation is not good for mankind. God’s instruction to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and multiply. The reason is because we are made for community. Community encourages us to communicate and fellowship with one another.

There is power in community. In the New Testament we see people establishing churches for the sole basis of community of faith in Christ. God can accomplish a great work through people who are connected together and serving each other in love.

Perhaps the best joy comes from fellowship around the table while sharing a meal. Jesus never missed an opportunity to share a meal with people he loved. Jesus encouraged people to fellowship with one another. If it be a large group of people or a just a couple of friends, Jesus knew how to bring people together in love.

Just know that you need to be around other people. Especially other Christ-minded people. We each need to soak in Christian fellowship and we need to give ourselves to those who are in need of fellowship. You can make a difference just by inviting someone to lunch or dinner.

Pray

Lord, thank You for giving us the people in our lives. Let us appreciate our friends and neighbors who are surrounding us. Show me how I can share love and joy with someone near me.