Scriptures:
"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalms 37:4)

"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." (Ezekiel 36:21)

Devotion:
Lately it seems I’ve been reflecting more and more on lesson’s that the Lord has already taught me…and this has caused me to be thankful and a little wondering at the same time. Thankful for the lessons that I’ve been taught…yet wondering what message is there in bringing these lessons to my memory at this time?

Sometimes I have a thought or desire to set out to accomplish this task or that. Along the way am reminded of how if it wasn’t for the faithfulness of the Lord in our lives, His daily protection and provisions for us, we wouldn’t even be in a place to consider doing some of the tasks that come to mind. I guess that is a long winded way of saying I’m thankful for a changed heart.

Early on in my walk with the Lord there was a young minister named Clarence who saw much more of the potential God had placed in me than I saw myself. He told me one day to ask the Lord for the desires of my heart and He would give them to me. I wasn’t very comfortable with this statement and couldn’t believe that God actually would give me the desires of my heart, that there had to be a catch…a condition somewhere that must be fulfilled and I just kind of dismissed it as an over zealous preacher.

From time to time this seed planted so many years before has come back again and again to my thoughts. Each time I’d ponder it a little and then move on to something else. Slowly I’ve come to the point in my life and a relationship with Jesus to understand that as He has changed my heart of stone and given me a heart of flesh that along the way I’ve come to love Him more and more…and now the desires of my heart are to love Him and to please Him, to love my wife and family more and more. It would not seem possible, but please believe me when I say it is so.

He has shown me forgiveness and along the way shown me how to forgive those who had hurt me in the past. He has shown me, His desires for Denise and me, as husband and wife, and empowered us to live a life for Him. We don’t have all of the answers, but are confident as He continues to mold us into His likeness that we will continue to grow in wisdom, love and understanding.

We pray that if you haven’t already come to this place in your life that this devotion may serve to plant a seed, such as the one planted for me so many years ago, and given time and love from Him the seed may grow to full maturity in each of you.