Day 1 - Monday, January 9, 2023

Ezekiel 11:19

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”

There is a familiar saying, maybe you have heard it: “follow your heart.” The problem is the heart can be manipulated easily. Have you ever been in movie theater where they showed huge popcorn kernels and a close up on a Diet Coke (sorry if you are fasting these two items). Before this moment you were not even thinking about food and now all you are thinking about is food. This kind of marketing occurs because people have discovered that emotions can move people into behaviors.

If you were led solely by your heart life would be filled with inconsistency. Relationships would be up and down. Your spiritual life would resemble a roller coaster more than it would a relationship. Decisions would be fickle. Why? Because the heart wants what the heart wants; until the heart no longer wants is anymore.

What happens when we are led by our hearts is we allow for a divided heart. What then is the answer? The answer is simple and complex. We are to be led by the Spirit and confirmed through God’s Word. These two together keep our heart in check. When we are led by the Spirit we will challenge our motives, our habits, our hang ups, and our emotions all against the word of God. This will allow us to walk with a clean heart and a new spirit.

As we begin a journey of greater things together let’s start with a heart check.

What baggage am I bringing into this new year that I need to get rid of?

What motives do I have that might not be lined up to God’s word?

What relationships are fractured that need to be mended?

We want to see God do Greater Things, it will require a heart that is undivided and a new spirit.