Pray:
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV)
Read:
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:35-38 (ESV)
Do His will, not mine. This is an unending life battle. We hope we are making headway in laying aside selfish goals. Those who have a great deal of self-discipline can obey for a time. Eventually, we find that we cannot or will not continue to force ourselves to do what we think we must. But, is three steps forward and two steps back. How can continue I do His will, when I really want my will? Rather than do different things, but I need to be different. I need a new mind, one that is not so self-centered.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Ezekiel 36:25-27 (ESV)
God promised a way for His people to have a change of heart. How was this to come about? It came in the person of Jesus. He came to reconcile all people to God. When He left, the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers. This is the Christmas story. God came near in the person of Jesus. By believing and trusting we can be reconciled to God through Christ. When we have been saved by Jesus’ death, we are also raised to new life. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. We get a new heart and a new spirit in exchange for our heart of stone. This is the only way we can begin to have His will reign over our own will.
Pray:
Lord,
Thank You for the gift of Your Son. Remove my heart of stone through the blood of Jesus. Forgive me and save me from my sins. Make me Your child. Come into my life and fill me with Your Spirit. Help me to begin this journey today, to rejuvenate this journey, or to give me a new level of understanding for the righteous that comes from Christ alone. Draw me near. Transform my life. Make it new.
Amen