Matters of the Heart

By: Yvette Nietzen

Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

Did you know that the believer could have a heart of stone? Yes, it’s true. You may say that believers have a heart after the Lord, but they can have pebbles or stones in their heart, hindering their walk and relationship with Jesus.

How do I know this? I had a heart of stone at one time, and it was not until a good friend of mine pointed it out. Did the truth hurt? Of course, but my love for the Lord and to serve Him were what mattered instead of my pride, and the end results was a breakthrough in my life.

So how did I and many others end up with a heart of stone? Probably the same way most everyone does.

Words. Those painful and hurtful words that you receive through out your life. Let’s face it; we grow up in a world that is full of sin and people that say hurtful things towards us.

As a child going to elementary and grammar school, you can run into a rough group a kids. It gets worse in high school, especially if you do not measure up to their standards. As you reach adulthood, you have already built a protective covering around your heart, and the problem is that covering has turned out to be a wall that also prevents the Lord from entering in.

As an adult, accepting the Lord brought a dramatic change to my life, but I had not allowed Him to turn my heart of stone into a heart of flesh. When I finally gave all my hurts and spoke forgiveness on all those words against me, the walls came down. I then allowed the Lord to reach in and mold my heart. The walls fell down and the stones were crushed by his mighty hand, and a new and wonderful relationship began.

Are you having trouble entering into a deeper relationship with the Lord? Perhaps you have a heart of stone, and those pebbles are stumbling stones, hindering your relationship with the Jesus.

Have you been hurt? Forgive those that have said painful words. Ask the Lord to show you when that pebble entered and when the wall began to form. Begin your healing process. He will take away your pain and will take that stone out of your heart and give you that new, tender heart of flesh, a new spirit free of pain and bitterness.

Be renewed and filled with His love today.

Copyright © Yvette Nietzen