“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. I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and to keep my laws.”
What a powerful, mystical transaction happened for the people of God, even thousands of years before the physical manifestation of Jesus on the earth, and the shedding of His blood. Here’s an offer no one can refuse: God is promising to make you new! This is the heavenly technology available to anyone who desires to receive it, and it was available to our Old Testament fathers because it was something that happened in the eternal realm. The prophet Ezekiel wrote these words from the Lord hundreds of years before people knew what it was to be “born again” or before the birth of Jesus on the earth: “I will give you a new heart and a new mind”. The heart of stone that didn’t love God and His Word is replaced, melted away. The glorious Holy Spirit comes upon the heart of man and makes it soft and tender, makes it new. I remember how I was filled with the Holy Spirit as a brand new believer many years ago in another lifetime; I literally felt a metamorphosis happen in my life! One day I suddenly realized how my desires, likes/dislikes, tastes, priorities, even my speech (!) had experienced the transforming power of the Holy Spirit of Jesus. I was changed overnight!
Even back in Old Testament times, when the emphasis was upon the external physical actions of people to fulfil the law, God was giving them a different way; He was saying “I will give you a new heart; I will put My Spirit in you and enable you.” The Spirit of God was revealing that it was not the fulfilment of the law that would tenderize people and make them righteous but the moving of the Holy Spirit upon hearts. The extent to which we trust God and yield to the Holy Spirit is how much transformation we will see in our lives. Jesus said in John 7:38 that the Holy Spirit would be like a river of living water flowing from deep within our hearts. It is the presence of Holy Spirit in us, and His free movement in our lives that brings the lasting transformation of our new creation life. This explains why some faithful believers in the Lord Jesus live defeated lives, struggling with habits and issues which Jesus took care of on the cross. There is no system or process of steps that can bring permanent change; no amount of declarations and confessions or contending with spirits that can really help, because we cannot change from the outside in. Also, no one else can make it happen for you, apart from you partnering with the Holy Spirit. God gave this revelation to His people hundreds of years before New Testament times when He said through the prophet Zechariah: “It is Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit.” (Zechariah 4:6).
Almighty God who created the universe and placed you in your mother’s womb wants to be in your life. He wants to be with you and in you, and to be actively involved in creating a beautiful new “you”! If you release your mind and heart to the Holy Spirit, this is what He does – He changes your perceptions; He makes it all new. More love, more power, more glory through the new transformed, renewed you, woohoo!
Who wouldn’t want to be new! Who wouldn’t want to experience the metamorphosis that takes place when you become one with Jesus, when you become the living temple of the Holy Spirit. There will be absolutely nothing impossible for you!
“Holy Spirit, I invite you to fill me in every part. I give to you my body, my spirit, my soul. I ask You to live in me and through me, and to take over every part of me. If there is any area of my life that I have kept from You, I ask you to come into it now and to make it new. I choose to be your holy temple. I choose to live this life in total partnership with you, manifesting your presence in my world. I yield to You; I place my life completely in Your hands, and choose to be led by You. I want a new heart and a new spirit and to be completely new!”
Minoli Haththotuwa, 27 April 2023
