Welcome back. We're talking
today about the washed heart:
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how the word of
God transforms us,
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how the word of God
empowers us and sets us free.
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You might notice
I've got a couple bowls
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up here in front of me.
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This is a rock that my husband
Greg went out and picked up.
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It actually comes
from our gravel road
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out front of our house.
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What happens if I
put it in the water?
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Now is the rock getting soft?
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This is a funny question.
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Obviously, you know the
rock's not going to get soft.
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I can soak this rock all
day, I could soak it a year,
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you could throw it in the
ocean, and it might become
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a little smoother.
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That might
happen, but that's it.
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Now what about the sponge?
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What if I put this
sponge in the water?
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What's going to happen?
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Can you see what's happening?
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It's becoming soft.
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It's absorbing the water.
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Pretty soon I can buckle it,
and it's absorbing the water.
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I like to think of that as what
happens when the word of God
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comes to touch us.
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What if the word of God...
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What if I have a hard heart
and I read the word of God.
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And I'm like, I'm
reading it to start an argument.
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I'm reading it to prove a point.
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I'm reading the word of God
just to criticize someone else.
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I think that's a hard heart.
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And if you read it you're
not going to get a whole lot of
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benefit, or
softening from the word of God.
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However, if we ask God to
come into our heart, and we say,
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Please, I want to become soft.
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I want to become pliable.
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You know what happens when
we get into the word of God?
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It's going to soak in.
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We're going to absorb the word.
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It's going to become
a part of who we are.
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The difference is in the heart.
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And in Ezekiel it tells
us, A new heart I'll give you,
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and a new spirit
I'll put within you.
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God wants to take away
from us this heart of stone,
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give us a heart of
flesh, so that we easily soak
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up the word of God.
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Now this week what I want you to
do, if you followed along with
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Heart Lift from the very
beginning, then I pray that God
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is already working in
your life transformation.
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Write down... It's good to
chronicle a journal and see
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where God has brought us from.
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So write down... Get out
your journal, and write down
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in what ways has
God transformed me?
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How am I different?
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You might say, My interactions
with other people are different.
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Maybe the ways I
respond to other people are a
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little bit different.
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Maybe the way I
treat people is different.
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Maybe some of those
habits, God is in the process of
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breaking off, and you notice a
difference already in your life.
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Maybe the things
you used to like,
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you're starting to dislike.
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And the things you used to
hate, you're starting to like.
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That's evidence of the
Lord working in your heart.
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Maybe motivations, why you
do the things you do, maybe you
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notice that that's
starting to change.
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Maybe your desire for God, and
for His word is strengthening.
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All of those are signs that
God is working in your life.
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It's a beautiful thing.
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All He asks is a willing heart.
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All He asks is for us to
come to Him and say, Lord Jesus,
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I want to be changed.
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I want to be made into
Your image. Please change me.
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Our next program we're going to
be discussing the pruned heart.
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You won't want to
miss that program.
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In conclusion is our
Scripture, as we always share.
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Romans 15:13. Now may the God
of hope fill you with all joy
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and peace in believing,
that you may abound in hope,
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by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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