HEART TENDERIZER

Ezekiel 11:19

God will knit my heart back together, I need this because I have given bits and pieces of my heart to so many, “gods”. He will give me a unified heart, unified to him and to others. He will do this by putting the Holy Spirit in me to take out my stony heart and give me a heart of flesh. He will help me obey and will make me his and he will be mine.

Here are a few of the things that the Holy Spirit does to accomplish the above transformation.

A. Galatians 5:22 He tenderizes my heart by being an indwelling set of 9 good attitudes. In each situation, I must recognize my natural bad attitude and allow his good attitudes to fill me. I must say, “Not my attitude by yours be seen!” Others will then see his love when I am angry, his joy when I am wanting to mope, his peace when all is at war around me and I just want to fight, his patience when I want it right now, his gentleness when I want to “tell them what is what!”, his kindness when I want to be mean, his faith when I am filled with doubt, his calm assurance when I want to fight or flee, his self-control when I want to lose it.

B. John 16:8-11 He tenderizes my heart by showing me that I am the chief of sinners but I am loved and forgiven. He does this by convincing me of my sin and teaching me to mourn over it, by showing me what it would be like if I did it his way, by showing me the lost blessings and the painful “wages” of my sin and the judgement to come.

C. John 14:26 He tenderizes my heart by teaching me his revolutionary truth and then reminding me of how to apply his truth in everyday situations.

D. Acts 4:31 He tenderizes my heart by pushing me out of my shy withdrawal to care for the needs of others and speak the healing word with boldness.

E. I Corinthians 12 He tenderizes my heart by giving me abilities that meet the needs of my brethren and weaknesses and blind spots that cause me to need my brethren. Together these gifts of the Spirit bring fellowship and unity of mind and mission.

F. Ephesians 5:18 He tenderizes my heart by helping me overcome my worry about what others might think and helping me be “drunk with the Spirit”: singing, praising, speaking boldly, rejoicing. Like the early church, others should wonder if I am drunk because of my over-the-top outflowing life.

I Thessalonians 5:16-22 Lord help me not to quench the Spirit but instead to invite his tenderizing power by 1. rejoicing always forever, 2. praying always 3. giving thanks always for everything 4. listening to God talking through others’ advice 5. hanging on to, remembering, and applying that which is good 6. never playing around with even the appearance of evil 7. letting God set me apart for his use and his glory.