God wants to change the hearts of His people. He promised in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel that He would give us a ‘new heart’ with a ‘new spirit’. “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.” Ezekiel 36:26

Our hearts are naturally focused on the things we love. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:34

Fifteen years ago I had a supernatural encounter with God that changed my heart. I was a Baptized Christian but I didn’t know the Scriptures and I wasn’t going to Church. I was focused on my career and building up my ‘bank account treasure’. I wasn’t financially rich, and I wasn’t financially poor but I was ‘spiritually bankrupt’ and depressed. I began to pray and search for God with all my heart and what I discovered is SO BIG I know I need to share it. This is my testimony.

“Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story– those he redeemed from the hand of the foe.” Psalm 107:2

The Scriptures say, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.” Deuteronomy 4:29-30

Do we have to be in distress to turn to God?

No – but it’s interesting how many of us don’t turn to God until there is a problem in our life.

Well in my case I didn’t feel complete. I had turned 40 years old. I figured I should now feel fulfilled and happy. I had a husband, children, a good job, good health, but something very big was missing.

What was missing?

Jesus!

I remember praying one day and I don’t know how exactly to describe what happened. I heard God’s voice within me. I entered some sort of surreal consciousness and I heard God say “What is love?” I recall musing “What is love? Well I know what love is. Love is a feeling.” To this, God replied, “Wrong.” So I said, “What is it then?” and the voice within me said, “Love is a choice”.

The rest of the conversation was spoken without words in the quiet of my heart. I realized God was telling me that love had to be proven. It wasn’t a ‘warm and fuzzy’ emotion. It was a choice to do the good things that please God. Needless to say I had some big reflecting to do and some choices to make.

As I reflected on my choices I decided it was time to go back to Church and confess my sins. That was the beginning of my spiritual journey. I wanted to figure out how to align my choices with God’s Will, except I didn’t really know what God’s Will was so I bought myself a Bible. I recall deciding I would start with the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation. I read for a bit and realized I didn’t understand anything I was reading. I opened the newspaper and I saw an ad “Learn the Bible” for FREE. I thought the price is right. I would have to give up my Saturday mornings though. I decided I would make this ‘love choice’ and the Christians leading the course opened my heart with their love, enthusiasm for God’s Word and the depth of their understanding.

I have spent the last fifteen years studying the Word of God. I have read many spiritual books from Andrew Murray and found them so inspiring.  I feel like God is giving me day-by-day ‘a new heart’ that trusts completely that Jesus is with me every step of the way.

One of the first things God taught me is that “you cannot serve both God and money.” Luke 16:13

I decided to leave the business world about ten years ago thinking that I would try to repurpose my skills and find a job in the humanitarian space. With the support of my husband I took a deep plunge into the unknown. I left my job and started looking for a new job. For the first time in my life I embraced silence. I was home alone and I had time to pursue something God wanted me to do. I studied His Word. The more I learned the Word of God, the more I realized how vital it is to understand God’s teaching if we want to find true peace and joy.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25

The idea of losing your life to find your life sounds complicated, but I feel as though that is exactly what happened to me. I gave up my former life as an IT industry evangelist and I found my true life as a Christian evangelist. My job was always to train salespeople to understand the ‘corporate message’ and now I feel my calling is to help people understand the message of Jesus.

In a world that preaches indulgence, the idea of ‘denying oneself’ sounds like volunteering to suffer. But the mystery I discovered is that by denying ourselves God begins to indulge us with His sacredness and only then can we begin to feel completely loved and at peace.

Let me describe this with a picture.

Consider that you a precious chalice that belongs to God. Before you can truly be useful to Him you must be empty and clean. Only then can God fill you with His love and Holy Spirit. As we recognize our sinfulness, we acknowledge that we need Jesus to cleanse us of the filth of our sins through His Holy Blood. As we confess our sins and ask for the forgiveness of Our Saviour Jesus we become empty and clean.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

When we deny ourselves, God is given an opportunity to use us for His divine purposes.

When I elected to give up my Saturday mornings to go join a group to study the Bible, I found new friendships as I began to learn the meaning of God’s Word in my life. It was like discovering ‘a treasure map’ where the true treasure was a sacred relationship with Jesus Himself.

The world teaches us to take care of #1 – Me, but God wants to become #1 in our life.

How often have you asked yourself “what’s in it for me?” That’s how we are conditioned to think, but the ‘new heart’ filled with the Spirit of God, considers first and foremost will this choice please God.

The New Heart is…

Focused on pleasing God and doing God’s will.

The New Heart is…

Focused on helping others instead of indulging oneself.

The New Heart is…

Selfless and generous, not selfish and stingy.

The New Heart trusts Jesus and invites Jesus to guide our lives through the power of His Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

I am no longer ‘spiritually bankrupt’. I am now full of love for God and for all people. I am a woman of God and I pray everyday for the salvation of souls. The mission of Jesus to save souls and bring them to Heaven is my mission too. In fact every Christian is called to join Jesus in His mission to save souls by praying for all people.

The ‘new heart’ that God wants to give us is a trusting heart fully surrendered to God’s holy will to love and serve Him as we love and serve one another. We can only accomplish this through the power of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within our hearts. The Spirit of God convicts us of our sins and helps us to turn away from them as we seek God’s forgiveness.

Jesus didn’t just die to cleanse us of our sins. Jesus died to free us from the power of sin in our lives.

Give your life to Jesus. Confess your sins. Be baptized and pray for the Holy Spirit each and every day. The Holy Spirit will enlighten you, strength you and give you peace and joy, fulfilling your heart and giving new sacred meaning to your life.

The ‘old heart’ is a heart full of pride and self confidence, but the ‘new heart’ that Jesus gives us is full of trust in God and in His saving power and grace.

Let us pray,

Fill me with your Spirit Lord and illumine my mind to see my sins and to repent. Guide me into Your truth so that I may understand and do your will. Give me the courage to make choices that will honour You and say ‘I love You’ every day. I give You my life Jesus and my heart. Please stay close to me so that I can bear fruit for you, fruit that will last. Thank You for dying to save us and to open the gates of Paradise to us. I will stop every day @ the Time that you died for us, 3pm to remember your Passion and to pray that your love will change our hearts and our world for your glory Jesus. Amen.

Please join Christians all over the world that are stopping if but for a few brief moments to pray for all souls @ the Time Jesus died for us, 3pm, each of us in our local time zones. God will hear our prayers! Trust in Jesus. He loves you so much!

Join The Mercy Movement.  The love of Jesus will change our world, one heart @ a time!