Page 19 - good and useful man 2022 cover page
P. 19
committed to me. I will give them a new spirit that is faithful to
me. I will remove their stubborn hearts from them. And I will
give them hearts that obey me” (Ezekiel 11:19 NIRV).
After reading what God could do, Charles wanted to ask
God to change his heart and help him not to sin on purpose
again. He got on his knees and prayed, “I know that You are in
my life, Lord. But I want You to put a new heart in me. Take
away the part of me that wants to do wrong. Replace my old
selfish, double-minded heart with a heart that wants only what
is right. Would You fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that from
this moment on, all I want is to love like Jesus loves?”
Charles didn’t yet know all the good changes that were
going to take place in his life. Because he had made his
decision to ask for God’s Holy Spirit to give him a spiritual
bath, God did some surprising things. Charles didn’t struggle
so much anymore with making decisions. He didn’t want to do
the wrong thing anymore. He wanted only to please God, and
he now had the strength to do it!
People now saw God in Charles’ life. A friend saw that he
was a man who loved others and was always caring. He didn’t
do unkind things or say unkind words. His friends wanted to
live closer to God because of what they saw in Charles.
Later, when Charles became a missionary, he preached
about how God can give people a spiritual heart transplant. He
told people that they needed God to do that spiritual surgery in
their lives so they could live the Christian life with His power.
That can make life so much better.
Many people listened to Charles preach about giving God
all of their hearts. They also asked God to do that for them.
They had more bounce in their steps and more joy in their
hearts. They loved God and others more than they ever had
before.
18