God Can Be Trusted – Transforming the Heart

We serve a God who can be trusted. In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God promises a New Covenant with His people when he declares, “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. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” It was unique, a covenant they could not break, and it was fulfilled by Jesus the Messiah. As believers, we are beneficiaries of the same promise and His Spirit lives in us. Through Him, our heart blockages can be removed, and our hearts can be transformed. 

Just how does this heart transformation take place? The answer is found in Psalm 139:23-24, where David prays, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” Invited in, the Holy Spirit examines our hearts and prompts us to confess our sin so we can wholeheartedly follow and serve the Lord. The Hebrew word translated as heart is levav and it means thoughts, intention, resolve, courage. David asks God to permeate his heart and mind so God can turn his anxious thoughts to trust, and he can better follow God’s leading in his life. 

In Psalm 51:10-12, David cries out to God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.” David’s cry, penned after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, is one of remorse, repentance, and renewal. He is begging for God’s mercy, a radical cleansing, and restoration of his thoughts and his heart. David understood the way God removed heart blockages and transformed hearts.

So then, what is the final step we need to take to gain a truly transformed heart? The answer is in Ephesians 5:18, where Paul writes, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Yes, it is that simple, our heart transformation comes when we invite the Holy Spirit to fill us daily, so we seek our fulfillment in Christ and not in the pleasure of worldly pursuits and as a result we bring glory and honor to Him and guide others to salvation in Him. May our hearts be transformed as we are filled daily with His Holy Spirit.