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Thursday,
February 7, 2008
Heart Transplant
Ezekiel 36:26-27 A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the
stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (27)
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes,
and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (KJV)
Now keep in mind that this heart
transplant is referring to the spiritual realm, so in order to operate in
it we need a new heart. Once you receive this new heart you will then be
able to receive the things of God and walk in the realm of faith. A new
spirit will open the eyes of our understanding and allow us to see the
things of God.
Ephesians 4:22-24 That ye put off
concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
(24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness. (KJV)
Our old man was having heart attacks,
unable to ward off the virus of sin which was corrupting him, and eventually
would lead to death if not dealt with. So in order to restore spiritual
health one needs to take out the old stony heart and its hardened arteries
and replace it with a new heart which will renew the mind and keep the new
man healthy. The old stony heart is like the old tablets that the Ten
Commandments were written on which were heavy and hard to deal with. The
new heart is like one of clay which the potter, our Lord, can mold and
shape a lot better than the stony one. Our old heart was limited to the
things of this fleshy realm and unable to see beyond it. The new heart is
one of the Spirit and gives us access to the spiritual realm of God, one
that is able to receive and give us an understanding into the things of
God.
Thayer’s definition for the heart:
2588
kardia- the heart
a) that organ in the animal body which is
the center of the circulation of the blood, and, hence, was regarded as the
seat of physical life
b) denotes the center of all physical and
spiritual life
a) the vigor and
sense of physical life
b) the center and
seat of spiritual life
1) the soul or
mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires,
appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors
2)
used of the understanding, the faculty and seat of the intelligence
3)
used of the will and character
4) used of the
soul so far as it is affected and stirred in a bad way or good, or of the
soul as the seat of the sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires,
appetites, passions
c) used of the middle or central or
inmost part of anything, even though inanimate
Our new heart is able to take the life
changing things of God and pump them through our body and into the mind so
that we can keep ourselves renewed and reminded of who we are in Christ. A
spiritual man requires a spiritual heart so that they can come to an
understanding of how to live in the Spirit and no longer be in bondage to
the things of the flesh. I think of the heart as being similar to a
distributor in a car, it takes all the electrical energy and distributes it
to the headlights and other electrical parts so that the driver can have a
clear view of the path in front of them. Though many Christians still try
to comprehend God from their own thinking, with limited head knowledge,
it’s only those that serve Him from the heart, with a new heart, that will
be able to see and understand how to walk effectively in this realm of the
Spirit.
Matthew 13:15-16 For this people's heart
is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they
have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them. (16) But blessed are your eyes, for they
see: and your ears, for they hear. (KJV)
Thayer’s definition for wax gross:
3975
pachuno-
1) to make thick, to make fat, to fatten
2) metaphorically, to make stupid (to
render the soul dull or callous)
An interesting definition for the phrase
wax gross. When the heart and its arteries thicken, it begins to slow or
stop the life giving flow of blood to the rest of the body which eventually
will lead to the body shutting down, thus requiring a transplant. Unless
there is a flow of the word of God continually going through your spiritual
man you to will find the heart hardening, cutting off the flow from it
also. Many people today still push and promote head knowledge and Bible
memorization, thinking that will draw them closer to the Lord. But unless
one has a change of heart and allows the word of God into their heart, they
will not come to an understanding of who God is and what their place in the
body of Christ is either.
Proverbs 28:26 He that trusteth in his
own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. (KJV)
When one trusts in his/her own heart,
they are leaning back to their own understanding and are about to fall.
When one walks wisely in the wisdom of God they are able to keep the body
in subjection to the Spirit and continue in the will of God, which is being
delivered from this present evil world and not entangled with the affairs
of it.
Ephesians 3:17-19 That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18)
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length,
and depth, and height; (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (KJV)
Without faith, the ability to hear the
message delivered by Christ, you will not be able to come to an
understanding or comprehend the love of God which is being shed abroad in
your heart. Without faith it is impossible to please God, because rather
than allowing Him into the heart you are still trying to comprehend and
operate according to the old carnal fallen nature which will leave one on
the outside instead of a partaker of His love. This love of God and the
fullness of it go above and beyond anything we could ever ask or think; and
once you have truly experienced it for yourself, it is not something you
ever want to let go of or neglect.
Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the
LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (KJV)
With a new heart will come a new desire;
not for the things of this life but for the things of God. These are the
desires God will give to those that love Him with all their heart, mind and
soul. Where your treasure is this day, right now, is where your heart will
be and will get rooted and grounded in, whether it is the things of God or
the things of the world. Do you desire to partake of the new spiritual
treasure that God has for His people? Then it will require a new heart with
a whole new way of thinking in order to access this eternal treasure of the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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