Stone Hearts to Flesh [part two]

 {EZEKIEL 11:19 - I will take from them their hearts of stone, and give to them hearts of flesh.}

My time with the complacent church has always stuck with me. Over the years I have remembered the dull and disinterested eyes that drove me to seek out answers about passion for God, and His plan for the life of a believer. One of the first things He showed me was this:

Believers have the habit of crossing over the line of Salvation, and standing still on the other side - even though there is a road of growth and adventure stretching endlessly on before them.

This endless road of growth does begin with salvation, but does not end there by any means. Check out Philippians 1:6 with me:

"...being confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus."

Salvation is not the end of the ride! It is merely a mile marker on a long stretch of highway. Since that is the case, what is the next step?
Renovation.

John 15:2 says,

"He cuts away every branch in Me [Jesus] that does not bear fruit; and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, so that it will bear even more."

This whole process of turning a stone heart into a heart of flesh? It's not easy. Pruning? Yeah, it hurts. When you accept Christ, and then take the step forward on the highway, God will repeatedly take away any imperfection in your life. One by one he will begin to yank away the weeds, cut out the rot, and trim the edges of your imperfect heart. And it will hurt you. It has hurt me.

But it is so worth it! Even if it takes the pain of disappointment, and the sting of letting things go in order for a heart to grow continuously closer to Christ, I am in.

Ask yourself : Am I going to walk forward? Am I going to allow God to cut away the old me, to burn out the weeds in my heart, to mold me to be more like Him?

...Or am I going to stand still on the other side of Salvation, ignoring the growth and joy I could have if I just kept walking forward?

Stone Hearts to Flesh [part one]

    A while back I had a dream. It was one that left me shaken, and hurt - and for several months I carried it around without knowing what to do with it. I knew God was trying to share a message, trying to tell me something about life that I couldn't see for myself. But not until recently did I really understand just what it was.

    In my dream it had been just another Sunday. Nothing out of the ordinary. I sat alone on a pew near the back of a church, singing along with the rest of the congregation to a familiar worship song. Our voices blended well, and nothing seemed unusual. Men wore their best button-ups, women kept their attire modest and children in line. Typical southern Sunday scene. But just as the last line of "Bringing in the Sheaves" faded away and "Amazing Grace" began, I noticed that there was something strange in the room. Or rather, something strange was missing from the room.

    I looked around, still singing, at the faces in the congregation - what I saw shocked me. The people around me seemed sad. No, not sad. Disconnected! As if their minds were running on autopilot and their hearts were sleeping in. Their mouths moved, and their vocal chords were in working order - but their eyes registered blank. They may as well have been singing "...Drove my chevey to the levey..." instead of "...That saved a wretch like me...". Looking up to the choir, I saw the same disinterested expressions looking back at me. What had happened to the passion that had once filled the little church? Why was no one happy to be in God's house, singing to Him, and thanking Him for his mercy?

   As I walked slowly behind the others out the front door, I glanced in a mirror and saw myself. What I saw made me stop in my tracks. The same expressions of apathy and distraction that I had seen in the faces around me were there, etched into my face, and staring back at me with dull and lifeless eyes. I jolted - and that was when I realized, it was no dream.

   It was really Sunday. I was really in my church. My eyes really  held no life, no love, and neither did the eyes around me.

   That vision of the church has stuck with me over the years. Many times I have asked God how people could walk in such a continuall shade of grey after seeing the bright Glory of Him. How they could live and breathe every day by His grace, and yet take no pleasure in praising Him for it. The answer was not an easy one, but He has been showing me slowly - and through many trying experiences - how it happens.

   I've seen, on more than one occassion, how the Church falls into an in-and-out routine and walks away from their First Love. They forget their origional joy, and accept a quiet acknowledgment of God in its place. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be blogging about the things He has shown me as they relate to my experience with the apethetic Church. It was not an easy lesson to learn, and one that you can take note of from my experience instead of going through the frustration yourself. If you've read my blog in the past, you know that this is not my usual method of writing - it's all new to me. But I feel that this is a message I can't simply keep to myself, so check back in the coming weeks to see just how a heart of flesh can turn to stone - and how God wants to bring it back to flesh.



  

Elephant Eating Etiquette

No Senior is safe on New Year's Eve. Life is just waiting around the corner in 2013 and that's the night to jump right out and snag it by the coat tails. Right? Right. Hold onto your new found freedom with both hands and fly into 2013 hot on its heels. That is what every Senior should do. That's what every Senior did, I'm sure.

Every Senior...but me.

My New Year's Eve was spent asleep on my parents' bed, recovering from my wisdom teeth being cut out of their happy little homes in my mouth. Something about the pain medication and inability to effectively communicate gives a girl some time to think, though, and thinking is one of my favorite things to do. So while everyone around me danced their way out of 2012, I delved into the deep places of my life and dreams to usher in 2013.

Resolutions. New Year's Resolutions was a topic often on my mind during my time of thought. I remembered my previous Resolution Lists - those ongoing promises to myself that I would change every flaw into perfection. I remembered how most of those promises never were fulfilled and how I ended every year still flawed in all of the same places. What was wrong? Surely my goals were not too high. Yes I lacked motivation, but how could I change that?

It came to me during my time laying around doing nothing. My goals were not too high, nor were my expectations impossible achieve. My self-discipline, though lacking, was not to be blamed for my failed Resolutions either. It was my plan of attack. Setting goals for self-improvement is a wonderful thing.

But how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

I have set three fundamental goals for myself this year. Goals that I believe will carry me well through life. But I cannot, and will not, be attacking them all at once as I have tried before - it obviously does not work. No, this year I'm taking it all one bite at a time.

I cannot change overnight. Neither can you. Just because you wrote something down on a piece of paper saying "I will not drink coke" or "I will exercise" doesn't mean you will be able to pick that up in the flick of a wrist. Take every goal one step at a time. Start small, and then grow. Break things down and do them in bite sized parts. Don't become discouraged. You can do it; your New Year's Resolutions can become Old Year's Successes.

Just remember the Elephant Eating Etiquette : one bite at a time.