A NEW HEART, A NEW SPIRIT

Saturday, April 17, 2010 was another special meeting for us. God used one of our church’s Minister (father of two of our c2C Leaders: Ruben Jr. and Ileana Morales), our guest speaker for the month: Brother Ruben Morales, to impart a Word that was a double edged sword that touched our hearts! We were literally with our mouths wide open from the revelation this man of God had brought to us. Our face expressions must have revealed our astonishment, that even Brother Ruben asked if we were ok? Sorry, Brother Ruben if we did NOT pretend to NOT be amazed, but it’s just that the members of c2C are real individuals and we are not afraid to show when God is working and touching us and actually admitting it! ;)

His topic: “A NEW HEART, A NEW SPIRIT”
Isn’t the title of his message alone impacting? We sure thought so!

Bible verse: Ezekiel 36:26-27 (TNIV), “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. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

So, this is how the preaching went:

To start off, not only did Brother Ruben bring an impacting Word, but he taught us how to make the Word of God real in our lives from the moment we began reading it! He explained that the way we read the Word of God, will determine the impact it will have in our lives. He advised us to take the time to read it word by word, dissect it and digest it!

Once we had read the Bible verse and we had let God talk to us through His Word alone, we began to dissect it.

Brother Ruben said that we must acknowledge the fact that we were all born physically alive, but spiritually dead!

This statement is back up by Psalms 51:5 (TNIV) says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

The next thing to do was to understand what the heart was. He explained that the heart is the soul where our emotions and feelings are found, and that the heart alone is wicked. Brother Ruben further explained that the soul is the heart and that the mind is the heart as well! God tests the heart so that He might give us according to our ways and the fruits of our work.

Because the heart is wicked, God wants to search our hearts! Sometimes we spend so much time doing good works and not realize that our heart is not right with God. He continued by saying that sin and God can‘t dwell in the same place. Therefore, if we live in sin, God can’t dwell in our hearts. If God dwells in our hearts, there is no room for sin. Even though our heart is the interior being that feels, at the same time it is corrupted and wicked.

BUT there is GOOD NEWS as read in Ezekiel 36:26-27, where He promises us to give us a new heart and a new spirit and that HE will remove from us our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. At the same time, HE will put His Spirit in us and move us to follow his decrees.

What an amazing God we have! Even when He knows how wicked our hearts are, He always gives us something better so that we might be perfected in Christ.

Brother Ruben explained that once we receive the new heart and the new spirit, it automatically brings out new desires and hopes! THIS DESIRES AND HOPES ARE NOW ALIGNED TO HIS WILL! FOR EXAMPLE: It’s like a GPS has being installed in our lives and now there is a destiny and purpose to follow where we are guided and if we are side tracked, God will reroute us to get us back in His will.

He stated “At this point, we are not the same. We have not become God BUT we have GOD in us!

Proverbs 4:23 (TNIV) says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

See the importance of our heart?

Just like his son, Ruben Jr. had explained about the gifts of God in one of his preaching’s, his father, Brother Ruben, explained that a new heart and a new spirit are also gifts from God to us. Reminds me of the saying, “like father, like son”

He concluded by encouraging us to renew our minds and for us to receive our new heart and new spirit with joy!

Brother Ruben, thank you for bringing the Word that God placed in your heart for us! We humbly receive it and we pray that this will become real in our lives!