the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
John Gossner's Treasury
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you," and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26.
If there be any fault in man and who has not his faults? it lies in his heart. The heart of man, all the inventions of the thoughts Of his heart, are "wicked from his youth up. " It is susceptible to evil, and lightning-like gathers up base impressions; against God and divine things the heart is hard as a rock and devoid of feeling. Who can soften this hardness, and crush this stone? The Lord has promised to do it; He is faithful; He will also do it. Only take your heart to Him often; only expose yourself to the warming and softening rays of His love, in heartfelt, earnest prayer, and your heart will be changed. All things are changed by coming close to the fire; they melt, are softened, or hardened, cleansed, beautified, or consumed. The Lord is a consuming fire; if you allow yourself to come into contact with Him, as the goldsmith holds the gold in the fire, then that which is hard must become soft; that which is impure must become pure; and that which is evil must be consumed. No man can excuse himself with his weak or hard heart, which he has by nature, since the Lord so clearly and positively has promised to give us "a new heart" and a new "spirit," to take away our "stony heart" and give us "a heart of flesh," a heart soft and susceptible to His impressions and influences. You can rest assured that He gives it to you, if you allow Him to give it to you, and that He takes away all that must be taken away, if you allow Him to do so.
Create my nature pure within.
And form my soul averse to sin:
Let Thy good Spirit ne’er depart.
Nor hide Thy presence from my heart.
