Well friends, it's boasting time. Of me? Certainly not! The One I speak of, well, He's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I could never praise Him enough! “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
I NEEDED A SAVE. There I was in prison looking back at my messed up “life” - all the pain I’d caused, all my personal failure, my loss, my defeat. With the psalmist I could say, “Troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me… my heart fails.” (Psalm 40: 12) Condemnation hounded me saying, “God has written you off - you have no future!” I guess you could say I was a desperado.
Somehow, I had enough “smarts” to open the Bible. While reading Ezekiel 18, well, the God of HOPE (Romans 15: 13) came alongside and began speaking to me. These words jumped off the page:
(4) “Behold all souls are Mine… the soul who sins shall die…” (30) “I will judge you according to your ways…”
He wanted me aware of reality - my soul belongs to him; I have sinned, and my judgment is coming. And yes, He’s a “Consuming Fire" - he is to be feared! (Hebrews 12:29, Psalms 76:7, Matthew 10:28) He continued,
(21) “if a wicked man TURNS from all his sins and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die…” (22) “none of the transgressions shall be remembered against him because of the righteousness which he has done; he shall live…” (32) “I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies. Therefore - TURN and live.”
I wondered,” He’s speaking of MY sins… pardoned?” Yes! (Isaiah 55:7) In that moment, hope was born! My eyes watered. I wondered, “So, what's He requiring of me?”
(30) “Repent. TURN from all your transgressions so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed.” (Ezekiel 18:30)
“Repent… TURN... Cast away... All…” He was talking TOTAL SURRENDER. (Repentance means total change of heart, mind, and life direction.) He continued…
(31) “Get yourself a NEW heart and a NEW spirit.” (NEW... 2 Corinthians 5:17)
But Lord, You know my history of failure – How can I get a NEW heart? He took me to Ezekiel 36:26-27…
(26) “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.”
Look what He says next – now it's getting personal…
(27) “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues.”
God was talking HEART TRANSPLANT - something only He could do! He would replace my cold stony heart with a warm, soft responsive one! More, He would personally move into me - into my life - empowering and guiding my steps. I would never again be alone in life! (I cherish His promise “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5)
The God of Hope met me that day as a Friend and not as a Foe. I was a broken-down man, but He showed up saying, ‘’I will build you!” (Jeremiah 31:4) (Psalm 145:14)
Chalk this all up to Jesus Christ who made it all possible!
· My judgment - Jesus took it upon himself (1 Peter 2:24)
· I'm justified (declared just) by Jesus’ blood (Romans 5:9)
· God's Spirit lives within me, thanks to Jesus! (Matthew 3:11 / John 20:22)
· I'm born again; born of the Spirit - all Jesus’ doing! (Jn 3:5-7 / 1 Pet 1:23 / 1 Cor 1:30)
· I'm secure - Jesus’ work is finished (John 10:28-29 / John 19:30 / Jude 24)
· I'm secure in his acceptance and love (Hebrews 13:5 / Ephesians 1:6)
I was a broken man. When I saw Jesus Christ’s “invite” in Matthew 11:28-30 (“Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”), When I saw Jesus’ invitation, I came! I found rest. In a very real way, Jesus and I are “linked” - and I'm learning to pull with him in the same direction. I’m learning – I’m finally learning! Jesus – You make life exciting! (John 10:10b)
Dear reader, how’s “life”? Are “things” going well? Maybe not? God says we all suffer from a “heart condition” which is robbing us of the “abundant” life. Left to ourselves, we humans have this tendency toward self-worship and self-agenda, and at times we find ourselves “stepping on toes” – and the end result is, well let’s just say, “It ain’t pretty.” God says we have a deadly HEART problem (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
“The HEART is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the HEART, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
God says that no one has delivered an acceptable performance (Romans 1-3) – there’s “not one” righteous (Romans 3:10) – and we have all fallen short (Roman 3:23) And why? It’s our sin-sick HEARTS! (Genesis 6:5 Matthew 15:19) We have this “HEART condition” that we cannot fix – but God CAN. And He WANTS to!
I NEEDED A SAVE. There I was in my prison cell looking back at my messed up “life” - all the pain I had caused, all my personal failure, my loss, my defeat. With the psalmist I could say, “Troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me… my heart fails.” (Psalm 40: 12) I was LOST. Right there, in my place of hopelessness, the God of Hope came alongside me speaking to my spirit, telling me, “Get yourself a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezekiel 18:31) And when I asked Him how, He basically responded, “I got your back…”
“I will give you a NEW heart and put a NEW spirit within you… I will put My Spirit IN you” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Long ago, I WAS THE PROBLEM. Today, HE IS THE SOLUTION (HE CHANGED MY HEART!)
He’s “got skills”! What an amazing Heart Transplant Surgeon!
In a quiet place, sit down with your loving God. Spend a little time together – just you and Him. Tell Him of your troubles and struggles. Confess to him that your heart “ain’t right”. He will confront you with Truth, but He won’t “pounce.” Examine Psalm 51 together. In the wake of a massive life failure, David knew that he was loved by an amazing, forgiving, rescuing God - he knew his God was approachable. Look at David’s Psalm 51:10 prayer:
“Create a PURE heart in me, O God, and put a NEW and LOYAL spirit in me.” Psalm 51:10 GNT
Folks, this story was MY God-encounter that day, when He transformed my hopeless to a living vibrant hope! The God of Hope met me there – and I can excitedly tell you, He’s one AWESOME Heart Transplant Surgeon! Thanks for reading this! ... Jeff Wheldon
by Jeff Wheldon, while an inmate at MULE CREEK STATE PRISON
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