Sunday, January 20, 2008

The King of Hearts

Then it happened when (Saul) turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. I Samuel 10.9

“If I change my mind, God will change my heart; if I don’t change my mind God won’t change my heart. Now, I can’t change my heart and God won’t change my mind, but if I will change my mind, God will change my heart.”

I can remember the service quite distinctly as my pastor repeated this sentence or something very near to it many times over the course of the teaching.

The principal is depicted in the story in I Samuel and is walked out in each of our lives daily.

It goes like this:
The Lord will not force His righteousness upon us, nor His blessings, nor His promises and He will not force His will upon us either. That change that needs to be made in my life, God does not intervene without an invitation.

Remember when the disciples were in the middle of the sea of Galilee in the storm and the Lord walked out on the water to them,
“about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them”. Ever wonder why it says he would have walked by? He waits for an invitation.

If I will change my mind, repent, choose to go in a different direction, I will find the immediate rush of the presence of God and the change of heart that needs to be made.

I can not make any real fundamental changes in my life, not really. Oh, if I were to muster up all my courage and intestinal fortitude and whatever determination I might possess, I might alter a few things in my life perhaps. But the really deep changes, the real life-changing changes that need to be made in my life will only come through the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.

The medical establishment would not agree; the psychiatric profession stands in direct opposition to this notion, but it is true. The one who made the soul of man is the only one equipped to make alterations in that soul, in the heart of man.

But this transformation of the souls of man will not be forced on man. The Lord is a perfect gentleman and he is not in the “force” business. Jesus offers, he pleads, he presents, He acts and then the response to His unending invitation is left in my court.

All it takes for me to enjoy what Jesus has made available is to turn to him, change my mind about what I am doing, how I am living… turn to Him and in that turning there is released the power of true change.

If I change my mind, God will change my heart.

A little insider information:
This has been my prayer over the last couple weeks –
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and
Renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.

It is paraphrased this way in TMSG-
God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails!

Create, Renew, Restore – that is an invitation to the Lord to come and make some changes. And I trust that the work of changing my heart has already begun.

May the Lord bless your day as you seek Him in every way.

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