SON OF GOD

All a Heart Needs

Jesus Calling You Child

by Jeff Zahorsky

Text copyright © 2014

Jeff Zahorsky

All Rights Reserved

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Table of Contents

Introduction to:  Your 12 “Heart-Fillers”

Heart Stuff #1:  How is God Big and Your Issue Small?

Heart Stuff #2:  It’s Time

Heart Stuff #3: HeartLine

Heart Stuff #4: The Heart-to-Heart Promise

Heart Stuff #5: A Proper Cut

Heart Stuff #6: Connecting the Dots

Heart Stuff #7:  Introspection

Heart Stuff #8: De-Terminator

Heart Stuff #9:  The Scanning

Heart Stuff #10:  Your Divine Nature

Heart Stuff #11:  Renewed in Knowledge

Heart Stuff #12:  Take-Aways

Concluding Thoughts

BONUS DEVOTIONAL SECTION!

Day #1: Out with the Old!

Day #2: Sin Consciousness is an Evil Conscience

Day #3: Never Forget Your Identity

Day #4: Your Part in His Plan

Resources & Links

About Jeff Zahorsky

Endnotes

Introduction to:

Your 12 “Heart-Fillers”

Have you ever come in contact with a broken heart? Perhaps, this was a broken heart of your own? Or, maybe it was a broken heart of a loved one?

There are many broken hearts if you look around. You’ve seen their faces, right? Maybe it was the homeless person? You don’t know this stranger, but still … you could see the pain in their eyes. You could almost feel their pain, couldn’t you?

Isn’t it interesting how we are impacted by others? You know what I’m saying, right? We’re impacted in that deep, hidden part of us … that sacred place. It’s that core part of us which is very, very real. When we try to fool ourselves by acting as if this part of us isn’t to be handled with care, we quickly find out just how fragile it can be. Are you able to relate at all?

My sincere hope is that you can indeed relate. The reason why is because God has some important information to share with you. It’s going to happen in this little book.

By the way, isn’t life too short to play around and get things wrong? I mean, you see it all the time, right? It’s that constant reminder there are spiritual laws in this existence, just as there are physical laws. When you break those laws, there are consequences.

For example, when a person sows to their flesh, God tells us this person reaps from the flesh a harvest of the flesh. Reasonable, right?

What is the harvest from sowing to the flesh? Flesh reaps corruption, sadly.

On the other hand, God also informs us the one who sows to the Spirit reaps eternal life. Boom. Right there you have some Spiritual Laws 101.

What is the point, jz … and what does it have to do with my heart?

Glad you asked!

Here’s the thing. If we’re not careful about these spiritual laws, hearts can suffer tremendous consequences! As I see it and have experienced, this fragile part of you can become shattered. This is a broken heart. Literally, a shattered heart.

Ouch! And … if you have lived a while, there’s a good chance you have some type of exposure to this. Perhaps it was a broken relationship, or … maybe it was the loss of a loved one.

Oftentimes, when we try to do things our own way—instead of God’s way—we can experience much more pain than if we had sought out flawless wisdom and comforting guidance from our loving and omniscient Heavenly Father.

No matter how you slice it, your heart still heart took a hit. Didn’t it?

As if this isn’t enough to contemplate, God’s spiritual laws also include the necessity of a supernatural heart surgery. This is if you ever expect to receive a complete heart-healing. We’ll discuss this is a bit.

For now, there’s some great news to consider, though. Yeah, let’s drop the serious stuff for a second so I can remind you how much hope you have! Allow me to inform you of—or at least remind you: God is bigger than your issues and shattered heart. Big God; small issue. Big issue; small god.

Who is your God, though? It’s Jesus, right? Yeah, it’s Jesus because we already know Jesus has proven Himself to be God. It’s not even close!

Oh? “What about all of those with opposing views regarding Jesus,” you might ask?

What about them? If people are going to live in denial as they date their checks borrowing from the impact of his life, we just need to keep praying for them. God, open the eyes of their heart, in Christ’s good name, Amen!

In the meantime, however, God is interested in showing Himself mighty in your life, OK? Mighty!

So, how does God do this?

Well, God has already done this, in one sense. What we’re going to do in our time together is allow Him to unveil it within your life, as you diligently seek Him in faith. You ready to do this? We’re going at it! A faith-venture with God. Let’s go!

Heart Stuff #1:

How is God Big and Your Issue Small?

So, how is God big and your issue small?

Jesus! That’s how, precious soul!

Jesus came to heal the broken-hearted. Did you know this?

If so, that’s great! I had a feeling you might know it.

Although, have you considered how specifically Jesus does this?

Know this: God’s desire is to establish … or at the very least, re-affirm what Jesus has done for you. It was done when He shed his blood for you and left that empty tomb behind.

May I ask you something? Have you ever dropped a vase or a delicate drinking glass, by chance? Crash! Splash! Tiny, glassy pieces shooting outwards like an explosion, all over the kitchen or living room floor? You know it! You’ve been there then, right? OK, then!

Now ask yourself: As much as you may have liked that vase or drinking glass, when you realize it has scattered and it’s in so many pieces … what goes through your mind? Super-glue? Nah! Well, maybe. But you know Super-glue isn’t going to suffice, right?

So tell me: what’s the next, best reasonable or even better solution than trying to piece it back together? Any ideas? A new one, possibly?

Yes! I agree! Why not a new vase or glass? It could have carried along with it some type of emotional value, I do realize this. Maybe it was a gift from someone special. I understand.

However, it’s no secret to you that you have learned to move on in life. You accept your losses for those things you cannot change, right?

Sure you have. That’s good, because life keeps moving along, right? We all need to keep moving forward in life. Good stuff! Were very much in agreement about this one.

So, what am I trying to say? Let me try to connect the dots for us.

Before your heart was ever shattered, your heart was shattered.

“Huh,” you say?

Yeah, it’s true. You just read that correctly. Dear precious soul, before your heart was ever shattered, it was already shattered because you were born with a degenerate heart. Something went terribly wrong a very long time ago in the Garden of Eden, long before you left your mother’s womb.[1] It impacted and infected you because you are part of mankind. This spiritual death spread like a cancer and prompted God the Son to leave Heaven.  He stepped down in a serious rescue effort … specifically on your behalf. It was all for your benefit!

Friend, if you were born with a heart which did not require a replacement, God became a man—in the Person of Jesus—and died for absolutely nothing.

You know that ain’t the truth though, don’t ya? Of course you know. It would have been totally foolish and meaningless to get spat upon, beaten to a bloody pulp, then suffer crucifixion at the Cross of Calvary—if your cure was not at the end of it. Did you ever think about this?

But, consider what mindset Jesus—God the Son—carried when He considered the damaging effects of sin, specifically in your case. Sin’s damaging effects reached far and wide enough to ensure your heart was corrupted and infected at birth. It was all as a result of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. But again, what was the mindset of Jesus as He faced death as an innocent Man, the God-Man? We read:

“Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.”

—Hebrews 12:2 NLT

What is the joy awaiting Him? You! You’re the joy awaiting Jesus! Jesus knows the only way you will spend forever with God is if He makes a way for you to get a cure for this dreaded heart cancer we just discussed!

While there may be other ways to describe and assert how Jesus heals the broken-hearted, one major way, if not the primary way, is … God simply—but miraculously and supernaturally—gives you a new heart! Jesus takes all of those shattered pieces of your heart … He takes that infected-with-sin’s-cancer-from-birth heart … and provides you with a brand new one. We’re going to build upon this, momentarily … so just file that away for few seconds if you would, please.

Understand: Jesus wants to minister to you, now. He is all a heart needs! God wants to show you all He has done to bring you back from being in an orphaned state.

You see, God brings you into the only true, happily-ever-after, meaningful, family love relationship you’ll ever need. It’s the one you’ve been searching for all of your life!

JESUS SPEAKS: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

—Luke 4:18 KJV

Heart Stuff #2:

It’s Time

It’s time to take inventory of your heart’s situation as a new creation. We’re going to examine, in general, what this heart is you have. Let’s look into what you had and what you now have.

Why is this so important when we investigate the heart? If you are asking this, it’s a reasonable question and you will want to be established in the awareness of what Jesus has done for you—regarding your heart.

Whether this is new information for you, or just a reminder … allow for it to re-enforce who you are in Jesus. Choose to praise God for all He has done and continues to do for you.

Oh, what an amazing Creator we have! He certainly thinks you are worth all He has given and continues to give.

Heart Stuff #3:

HeartLine

"The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

~ 2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT

When we talk about the heart of the new creation—which is you, we’re not talking about the physical organ. We’re talking about the spiritual part of us that involves our emotions and desires.[2] Some refer to the heart as the center of our emotions.

As an unsaved soul, you may have never asked yourself the question,

“How many hearts do I have?”

You may have even thought you had a good heart. Hopefully, by now and as a new creation, you realized you needed a heart transplant.[3] It’s the Christian who comes to learn and understands the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked,[4] at least enough to seek and surrender to a Savior! Right?

What’s more, wasn’t it incredible news when you came to learn God was giving out new hearts? Shew! That’s some serious merchandise right there! You can’t go down to the corner store, the Internet, or even the best physicians on this planet to get the kind of heart God’s handing out.

Conversely, souls who have not called out to Jesus to save them yet typically think it’s a good thing to, “follow your heart.”

Yikes! Isn’t this what the world system pumps into unsuspecting eyes and ears throughout the day? A heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked; you’re going to follow it? Say it isn’t so!

Heart Stuff #4:

The Heart-to-Heart Promise

JESUS SPEAKS: “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

~ Mark 7:21–23 ESV

Think about it. We all know what it’s like to follow our heart as an unsaved soul, right? Until we were born from above this is all we knew. We were slaves to sin and leaned upon our own understanding instead of trusting Jesus.

Isn’t God awesome, though? He is so patient with us and not willing any should spend eternity without Him. He was and is waiting to give those who would come to Christ a new heart, just like the one He gave to you. Let’s look together at his promise:

“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,"

~ Ezekiel 11:19 ESV

Is this not exciting, Christian? When you consider this for what it is, it’s the miracle you needed! Before Jesus made you a new creation, your heart was like a rock when it came to God or anything to do with what He says. This can lead to a lot of trouble both in this life and the one to come— to be sure! Imagine that. Not having a tender-loving heart towards God and expecting you’d obey Him or have relationship with Him. No way! The rock-hard heart isn’t going to do it! Then you die and face judgment? No thank you! “Where’s the heart you’re giving out Lord?” right?

Exactly. So, Jesus saved you and God gave you the new heart. Since you and I were blinded to this stony heart by the cancer of sin, God had to reveal not only your old heart was stony, but your new heart is tender. A tender heart of flesh. Ahh… much better.

A love relationship with God through your Savior, Jesus Christ. Not a small thing to have this heart transplant! A heart that desires God rather than one that avoids Him. A heart that transforms you into a truly new creation. A heart that is the opposite of what you previously had. Stony to soft.

In other words, instead of not doing God’s will, your heart is to do God’s will. Instead of desires outside of God’s boundaries, God gives you desires to obey his boundaries. God knows the secrets of the heart[5] and is also fully capable of changing your heart when you came to Jesus for help! God’s the Giver, so this is of no surprise. Remember when Isaiah said he had unclean lips and God allowed for a spiritual being to fly to him and cleanse him by touching his mouth? Is there anything too hard for the Lord,[6] whether it’s unclean lips or a stony heart?

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”

~ Isaiah 6:6-7

This new heart is a gift only Jesus can offer to you because it was Jesus who shed his blood to establish the new covenant you’re under. If you are confused about the state of your heart— perhaps because you experience some negative thoughts surface on occasion—don’t fall back into guilt, shame, the Law and the old covenant. That covenant does not belong to you.

Instead, grab hold of what God has done for you under this new and everlasting covenant. You get a new heart with this one. It’s an amazing deal. As with anything else coming from God, you are to trust what God is saying is perfectly accurate. Your heart has been circumcised by God and his grace, in Christ.

Heart Stuff #5:

A Proper Cut

Keep in mind and feel free to link this new heart with your new, divine nature. It’s the circumcision of your heart which coincides with the work of the Holy Spirit and your true identity.

You have a lot to be excited about being born of the Spirit. God circumcised your heart. Many people have not experienced this, so we need to keep praying for them. Notice how religious people are always following their stony and deceitful hearts rather than getting a new one from Jesus. This causes legal issues when attempting to be justified before a holy and just God because the stony heart is hostile towards God. This heart does not walk in faith and without the trust component and a spiritual rebirth—the only thing remaining is condemnation. God justifies based upon faith in Christ, which is trust.

As a new creation, you are not in the same sinking boat as the religious person or atheist. You came to Jesus broken and He did all the work. It’s always been more about the inward condition of the heart than the external rituals with God. God wants your heart and when you gave him your old one, He traded it in for a new one. Hallelujah!

“For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

~ Romans 2:25-29 ESV

Additionally, be encouraged by this next Bible verse. It is directly related and central to your old, stony heart and your new heart of flesh.

Amazing stuff! Miraculous! All praise and glory to Jesus!

“When you came to Christ, you were ‘circumcised,’ but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision--the cutting away of your sinful nature.”

—Colossians 2:11 NLT

Your heart was circumcised, cut away … in order to allow for God to replace that old thing with this new one. How cool is this? It’s seriously cool! I think you’d agree!

Heart Stuff #6:

Connecting the Dots

Now that you are established in what Christ has provided for you under the new covenant, it’s important to proceed along your journey in confidence. Due to this new heart God gave to you, your confidence is in Jesus and God’s grace, alone. Like every other good thing and perfect gift, your new heart is a work of God.

Remember: the old heart of stone has been replaced with one new heart of flesh. It’s God’s truth and another opportunity for you to trust God with what He says. The old, deceitful, stony heart you had as a degenerate no longer applies. Christ has made all things new. He took out your old heart and put a new one in there. You no longer need to claim a wicked and deceitful heart because it’s not part of the new covenant. You’ve walked into a better agreement when you came to Jesus to be born anew!

Your new heart is submissive to God; a stony and rebellious heart is not.

Speaking the truth against lies is what you are commanded to do! It’s what Jesus did and He’s your model for living. As you cast down arguments which exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, particularly regarding the condition of your heart—be encouraged!

You have permission to grab hold of God’s amazing grace which comes in the form of a new heart! You have relationship with the Father, through Jesus. You have a heart which loves God and desires to live for the Gospel. Your new heart prays and reads the Bible. Your new heart is devoted to Christ. The heart that did not identify with these things is gone!

If you’ve doubted this, change your mind! It’s that easy! God said it, you now trust it. It’s all good because God is in control! He does what He wills and by grace, He gave you a new heart that is responsive to Him. Nurture that! Guard your heart! Feed your heart continually with the truth of God’s Word, the Bible.

Finally, this wasn’t previously mentioned but it is critical to your relationships. If you haven’t discovered this yet, you should know this new heart God gave you is faithful not only outwardly, but inwardly, as well.

“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

~ Galatians 6:15 NIV

When we make mention of your physical body shortly, you need to know and always remember: your body no longer dictates and decides what’s going to go down when faced with temptation. God gave you a new heart which not only impacts your relationship with Him in a positive way, but it also impacts your spouse, if you are married.

When you tally up all God has bestowed upon you in Christ—you will see or be reminded of once more—you have the power to do what is right. This is true freedom. Those who are not born-again do not have the freedom they claim to have.

“Why is that?” you might ask?

It’s because they are actually in bondage. They are not free to do what is right before God because they don’t possess this new heart! They have yet to come to Jesus to receive it at the foot of the cross. As a new creation you have this new heart; we just took inventory. This gives you every reason to be joyful! God is good!

Heart Stuff #7:

Introspection

1.     As a new creation, do you affirm this truth of God to yourself?  Or, do you consider your heart the same old heart you had before Jesus?

2.     What changes might you make to align yourself with God’s truth?

"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins.”

~ Luke 5:37 NLT

PERSONAL NOTES

Heart Stuff #8:

De-Terminator

You may find it helpful to simplify and establish just what it is that determines who you actually are, as we contemplate this gift of a new heart. As long as you can rest upon a solid foundation built upon fact, you will be able to weather the storms of life.

Since it is Christ’s finished work at the Cross and bodily resurrection which establishes your identity, you need only to turn the key. Trust what God says. Jesus is God. Scripture is God-breathed. Jesus knew why He was going to the Cross.

One major reason, as revealed in Scripture, is He was on a mission to crucify your sinful nature. He does this by replacing your old heart. He already accomplished this and wants you to trust scripture.

JESUS SPEAKS: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

~ Matthew 7:24 NASB

Let’s keep exploring by going back to the beginning, just for a brief few moments. Be sure to take notice of how God establishes your identity. Your identity has always been a gift from God. You can’t earn it. You either are a child of God, or you are not.

As a new creation, you certainly are a child of God! Get excited because there’s a lot to get excited about as a child of God! The Lord has made you new so you would have a sobering realization of his tremendous grace. Intentionally establish and remind yourself—from this point forward and with every fiber of your being—your identity depends upon God’s Spirit and this new heart He creates within you.

Have you recognized: This is mind-blowing truth! Get ready to stand for who you really are, all because of Christ. After you see how God establishes your identity, you are going to have to choose how you will now identify yourself.

Will you carry a false humility, consistently identifying yourself as a sinner? Or, will you carry a true humility, one which accepts complete grace and consistently identifies with others as a new creation, with a new heart?

How about a favored child of God?!

If you have a habit of dismissing who God says you are because of your past or due to accepting the lies of the enemy, change your mind! Accept the solid truth of God. Your heart impacts your identity. Old heart, old self. New heart, new creation!

As Jesus draws lines and demands for people to choose sides, so God is making it clear you can only have one heart, or the other heart. You must choose, so let’s get going!

Heart Stuff #9:

The Scanning

It’s time for another word picture. Consider the document scanner. You may even own one. Today, they are often incorporated into your multi-functional printers. A document scanner scans a hard-copy document such as a photo or letter-sized document, then creates a digital version to be placed on your hard drive.

Now, consider this. The old heart or sinful nature doesn’t have spiritual life. There is no presence of God the Holy Spirit, nor is there any proclivity to continually be in the Bible. The result is: no scan or sanctification occurs. There is no sealing of the Holy Spirit on that lost soul. This is paramount. The more you grasp this the less you will succumb to the identity lie you are not a new creation!

Oftentimes, we can think, “I have these horrible thoughts and revenge in my heart… therefore, I must not be new and I must not have a new heart!”

Christian: What happened to trusting what God says? What happened to faith? Exactly!

Therefore, be encouraged! The more you trust what God says, the less you will trust the lie of the enemy. This holds true especially if you feel embarrassed or confused because you thought or acted contrary to your divine nature and God’s will—at some point.

This is faith in action! You are always exercising faith in something or someone, right? For sure!

The question is, is your faith staying on target with what God says? Or, is it being misdirected towards the lies of the enemy? Many people say they believe, but believe what and who?

Let’s narrow it down even further. Many say they trust God’s Word, but isn’t it possible to not always trust what God says?

If we’re all candid about it, of course it’s possible! Our faith is still growing, to be sure. This conceded, let’s make sure we’re grabbing hold of and prioritizing this true identity stuff before running onto the next thing.

Equally important would be recognizing that although new, you are still a work in progress. The new heart is there. God did the transplant when you came to Christ. You are simply learning to walk in this reality, right? It’s occurring right now because the LORD is supernaturally open your eyes even wider, as we discuss this all-important topic. God is for you! This is why he replaced your heart of stone and gave you a heart of flesh, amen? Amen!

There’s nothing here to merit a state of panic, simply because you don’t feel a certain way. Faith in Christ and God’s Word isn’t based upon feeling, as you may already well know.

Well then? Faith isn’t a feeling when it comes to identity, either. You will be amazed if you get into the habit of just responding to any situation with something like this:

“God has given me a new heart. No longer will I mix law and grace. Grace gives out new hearts and mine has been secured in Jesus when I received Him and got born-again. I’m so blessed to have this new heart. Thank you, God!”

As you are washed in this word picture—scanned by God’s Word—make sure you are continually wielding your sword against the lies of the enemy. If Jesus used the sword to defeat Satan’s lies, how much more shall you as Satan and others call into question your true identity in Jesus?

Don’t forget Job’s counselors. Even believers can draw the wrong conclusions, at times. I’m not incapable of these same mistakes. I’m a believer and fallible, as well.

Nevertheless, instead of building you up, they tend to beat you down—right? Misrepresenting God isn’t a good idea. You may recall when Moses did this in striking the rock, rather than speaking to it. The people interpreted God differently because of this and Moses was called on it, by God.

In any case, we have scripture and I have provided it to make the case for your new heart. One heart, not two. God calls us, I believe, to choose sides and trust what He says. To be single-minded and single-hearted.

You need not be misled by those who preach old covenant to you, regarding an old heart. Choose to focus not upon your shortcomings as God changes you, but rather … focus upon the grace He has given by adopting you as his child. Focus upon Jesus giving you this new heart!

Heart Stuff #10:

Your Divine Nature

“Put on your new nature, created to be like God--truly righteous and holy.”

~ Ephesians 4:24 NLT

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”

~ Colossians 3:10 NLT

Jesus is in you. The Spirit of Christ is in you. The old self is gone. Divine nature reigns. You are 100% dependent upon Christ. This is where the power and authority is. The sinner doesn’t have this so they are unredeemed sinners. New creations are identified as sons and daughters, not sinners. Just because it’s popular doesn’t mean you have to fall in line with it. Fornication is popular, as well.

Remember: saint not sinner. Child of God. You may still sin on occasion, but you don’t practice it. Sin no longer reigns. You and your new heart reign through Jesus. God doesn’t keep calling you a sinner after He saves you. He knows you understood; you came to the Cross. Unsaved people don’t see the need to change their mind about their pride, their sin or about God. The Christian does. Sons reign, not sin. This is why God’s emphasis is no longer on sin for the new creation—which is you, but sonship. Your identity is a son or daughter; not a sinner. Christ didn’t save you so you could go around telling everybody you are a sinner. He saved you so you could tell all the sinners how great it is to be a son! He wants them in heaven with you!

SAVED SINNERS BECOME SONS & SAINTS

You and I don’t have to sin. Just because you may sin at times doesn’t mean sin ought to be your focus. What about forgiveness and righteousness? Which mindset is more indicative of accepting grace? Which focus will yield fruit in your life?

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he:”

~ Proverbs 23:7 AKJV

While certainly nobody here is saying a new heart could never sin, God is not saying we are resigned to sin. To the contrary, sin is to be the exception; if at all. The Bible makes this clear.

Jesus said anyone who sins is a slave to sin. Are you a slave to righteousness or a slave to sin?  If righteousness but you sin at times, does it mean you are a slave to sin and always have to sin?

Of course not! If you are accentuating sin in your life, stop! Some say, “Hey brother… whatever you feed will grow.” Great! I agree. Stop feeding the identity of a sinner, then! Focus on what Jesus has done instead of what you can achieve. It will never be enough to redirect the focus from Jesus to you. You should not labor in your identity or in earning God’s favor as a son or a daughter; rest.

Talk about taking a burden from your shoulders! You will find it helpful and to your advantage to pick teams on these things.

For example, receive grace and accentuate what God has done and given to you by his Son, or… sit on the fence. Harbor in your mind the old heart and the new heart at the same time. God doesn’t appear to want this for you. He told you to throw off the old man (old heart) who has already been crucified:

“throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.”

~ Ephesians 4:22 NLT

The single-natured, single-hearted believer is God’s re-creation of you. A whole new creation! When you trust God and accept his gift: that He has re-made you, your outlook will change. You will actually walk as a new creation because you actually believe you are a new creation! You have biblical permission to throw off the crucified, old sinful nature and walk as a new creation!  It’s because of this new heart you are going to embrace, through faith. Supernatural!

Try it! Step outside of your comfort zone and embrace God’s revelation.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

—James 1:17

Please recognize: this is one of those good and perfect things from above, to be sure! You have permission to reject any lie which whispers or even yells to you that you are not new! Old thoughts and lies creeping up are just lame attempts to persuade you to believe lies instead of God. Don’t tolerate them! Use your Sword, like Jesus did![7] Speak God’s Word, which is truth!

God reveals Jesus has given you a new heart, so trust Him and see what He does with it. What did Jesus do with that little boy’s lunch? He fed thousands of people! Right? Bring the trust you have and watch Jesus do the rest in your life and relationships!

Heart Stuff #11:

Renewed in Knowledge

“and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

—Colossians 3:10 NIV

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”

—Colossians 3:10 NLT

A great example of what God actually planned for you, as a new creation.

●      God tells you are a new creation (a new creation, in Christ.)

●      God tells you to now put on and wear the new creation—which is you, because this is your true identity. God is allowing for you to discover it. Asking, seeking, and knocking are consistent with the exhortation of Christ. Therefore, do these things. God knew when you were going to be saved and transformed into a new creation. God knew when you would receive grace and be brought back into relationship, redeemed and adopted as his child.

●      Is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Christ? Yes He is!

●      Does He live in you? He does!

●      Do you believe it and will you walk in this faith every day?

(Otherwise, how can one claim to have faith?)

●      Consider this: You do have faith! God has given you faith and God’s plan is for your faith to grow!

What’s going to grow your faith more? Trusting in what God tells you about what went down and is going on, or—holding onto the old while trying to hold onto the new?

My friend, the monkey could not get its hand out of the jar when it would not let go of the stuff!

In your case, Jesus is indicating a similar thing to you: New wine don’t go in no old wineskins, yo![8] You must let go of the old. In with the new! Decide. The new only becomes a reality when you turn the key on what God says because until you do this, you are never going to be persuaded yourself! You’ll constantly be in doubt. Doubt is not good when it comes to God’s promises! Amen? Hallelujah!

Jesus said: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”[9] When you received the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live in you and gave you a new heart. Now…

Do you live, or does Christ live? One is dead my friend and I can tell you … it isn’t Jesus!

So who lives? Jesus said He is “the life”. If He lives in you what do you have? You have life; spiritual life! His name is Jesus! Jesus is not divided, nor is He sharing space with another nature or another heart. He is the nature in you; the divine nature. You are a new creation!

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

~ Colossians 1:27

Again, who lives—the sinful nature, the old heart—or Jesus and the new heart? Who lives according to God? Complaints? Questions? Refusals? Who lives?

You say, “Jesus!”

Yeah, Jesus! You were purchased with his precious blood. Isn’t this a fantastic reality and reminder?

So, let me ask you. Is it time to rise up in Jesus? Speak God’s truth when Satan or his demons whisper ongoing lies to you. Establish and reinforce sin doesn’t rule. Rather, the King of Glory rules your being! Speak verbally and/or non-verbally. This is warfare! You are not divided but instead—united with the Holy Spirit! You don’t have an old heart. You have a new heart!

Is it time for your faith to be active or passive? Is it time for you—from your very core, your new spirit—to stand upon the promises of God? Is it time to establish once and for all you are not scattered or confused about who you are, a new creation?

It is time, my friend. It is time! You have God’s permission to realize who He has recreated you to be.

Heart Stuff #12:

Take-Aways

NEVER FORGET: You certainly can bank upon what God has said. If you belong to Jesus, your old heart has been replaced with a new heart. It’s a done deal! God has promised it in the supernatural work of Christ and the Cross. He’s delivered upon it in superior fashion!

So then, what is your response? Hopefully, you now recognize you have permission to walk in newness. Perhaps a newness you have never experienced—all because you trusted what God says. Have you received it? More specifically, do you receive it? I declare it over you in the mighty name of Jesus!

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

—John 8:36 NIV

Sanctification

Understanding and reminding yourself you are righteous because you have received God’s gift of salvation and righteousness through faith is critical. Refuse to panic over anything, period! Jesus indicated worrying wasn’t going to do anything for you. Even more to the point, allow yourself to experience the grace God has bestowed upon you as you work out your salvation.

Your enemy is defeated and so is the power of sin in your life. When you are on board with this and refuse to ever let your identity come into question, the enemy’s lies are stomped out.  Jesus never forgot who He was when Satan cunningly said, “If you are the Son of God…” Neither should you forget who you are as you journey through this battlefield of lies and temptation. By the way, your citizenship is in Heaven, not here!

Consider Some Math

Once Fallen. You were born with a fallen, sinful nature which consisted of a dead spirit, a stony heart and a physical body carrying the cancer of sin. Your heart was un-regenerated and you needed a new one!

Born-Again. You were re-born when you received Christ. It’s the new heart; the circumcised heart. As with Paul, the fallen and sinful nature which once identified you—died. Jesus nailed it to the Cross. You stepped into it when you received Christ into your heart to rule and reign as Lord. The Spirit of Christ lives. The you who lives—which is Christ in you—occupies an unredeemed physical body. God has taken over because He came to rescue you so He’s got this, as you submit, daily. This body carries the cancer of surviving sin as it awaits its own redemption.

Replacement. Subtracting a sinful nature and replacing it with a divine nature corresponds directly to identity; old man to new man. Replacing an old heart with a new heart allows for a tender, love relationship with your Heavenly Father, through Jesus—of course. The physical body does not determine your identity. The Holy Spirit does. Having the Holy Spirit gives you a completely new and tender heart towards God.

In reading more of the Bible, you’ll find that sin finds its base of operation within the members of the physical body. However, your old nature still died and a new nature now reigns, through Jesus. The physical body is not your identity. It’s a temporary tent. The real you—the partaker of the divine nature with the new heart—lives within this body. The body is not eternal but you are. Your redeemed body, which is forthcoming, will be better suited for you. Unlike your current body it will be incorruptible.

Acknowledging and living with the faith that what God says is true about this matter will directly impact how you view grace. If Christ died to give you the results this math reveals, then be encouraged to receive God’s grace, completely! Your old heart has been replaced. You have been regenerated by God. Walk in the true newness this grace offers, as it directly relates to your true identity.

Try this: “I’m a new creation. I’m not confused about it. I don’t have a split personality. God said it and I trust Him. I’m dead, Christ lives in me. Any remaining sinful deeds which stem from either my physical body or previous heart and nature are being put to death by Christ’s Spirit in me. He has set me free! He is my Defender. He’s my Victor. I live, yet not I, but it’s Christ in me who lives!”

Concluding Thoughts

Due to the incomprehensible grace of God, you possess every spiritual blessing in Christ God intended for you to possess. Some mind-blowing divine transactions took place when Jesus established this new covenant by his precious, shed blood.

Remember:

You have a new heart and a new nature. You are a new creation. How important is it to have been given a tender heart of flesh when a rebellious, stony heart only leads to judgment and eternal separation from a holy and just God? It is indeed paramount! This is the heart Christ gave to you. You are only permitted to possess the heart given in the new covenant. You don’t get to keep or claim the old, deceitful, wicked and stony heart once you pass Go with Jesus. Jesus traded the old one in for you. Mixing covenants is not permitted. Cherish your new heart and above everything, guard it with all diligence!

When you consider all of the things your Heavenly Father has done for you in Christ, it’s hard not to get excited, isn’t it? Your true identity is in Jesus Christ! As Christ is in heaven so are you in this world. Not later. Right now … in this world! The Holy Spirit is united with your spirit as one spirit, remember? You live—yet not you—but Christ in you lives! Receive it. God said it. Heaven and earth will pass away but God’s Word lasts for how long? Forever!

“It doesn't matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.”

—Galatians 6:15 NLT

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

—2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

BONUS DEVOTIONAL SECTION!

Let’s finally close things out with a few, short exhortations regarding your identity. As we have discussed, your new heart is directly related to your new identity in Christ. This is why I’d like to share a few of these devotional-type exhortations with you. Refer back to them for encouragement as you are reminded of and embrace this new heart God has given you, in Christ.

Until we meet again, be blessed profusely as you walk out and work out your mind-blowing salvation with the LORD. He will never leave you nor forsake you. His name is Jesus and He lives in you. He is faithful! Yay, Holy Spirit. Thank You, Papa. Thank You, Jesus!

Day #1: Out with the Old!

Are you still walking along this journey with past regrets, shame, or even guilt? If so, you no longer need to live in such a way!

In the Person of Jesus Christ, God made a way for you to be out with the old and in with the new! That’s right! It’s supernatural and faith is at its center. Your Creator went to great lengths for you to have the power and privilege to walk in an entirely new life!

Whether you are born from above or not, Jesus Christ has accomplished a ton of stuff for you that cannot be purchased in this world. Isn’t this exciting news? It’s totally free!

Have you considered trading in your old self for the new self? You are biblically permitted and even commanded to do so! The LORD knows just what you need and it isn’t anything old. He’s done and is doing a new thing! Are you part of it? Call upon Jesus for the answers. He’s happy to reveal the Kingdom to you, which includes a totally new you! Walk in his grace and mercy today, Believer!

Day #2: Sin Consciousness is an Evil Conscience

Sin consciousness is an evil conscience. Otherwise, for what reason has God provided the blood of Christ to sprinkle upon your heart? Isn't the consciousness of sin—and an evil conscience—the very thing which could not be removed from the mere blood shedding of bulls & goats?

“Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?”

—Hebrews 10:2

Is not the New Covenant a better Covenant for this reason and others? The blood of Jesus, sprinkled upon your heart?

Absolutely, Christian! The guilt and shame was present when you came to the Cross. Now that you have been born-again, Christ has sprinkled you with his precious, blemish-less and atoning blood. Does God want you walking around, feeling guilty and trying to remember every single possible occasion where you may have missed the mark—all so you can try to confess all of them? Remember, if you miss one sin under this reasoning, it’s not forgiven unless or until you confess it, right? Craziness! Jesus came to cleanse you and set you free! As a Christian, you have been cleansed and set free. I declare it over you, right now!

Jesus has taken your guilt and shame upon Himself at the Cross of Calvary, my brothers and sisters. Son? Daughter? Let's be this Gospel! Receive your cleansing from guilt and shame, both now and forever in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Day #3: Never Forget Your Identity

When you have a rough day, when people get under your skin and you take your eyes off Jesus in the heat of the moment—never forget who you are Christian. God is bigger and the blood of Jesus continually cleanses His children. You can’t buy this faith in Christ at the corner store. You simply need to come to the foot of the Cross. Once you are born-again, walk in it, never forgetting your identity: Christ in you, the hope of glory. The divine nature. It’s all about Him … which tremendously benefits you!

Day #4: Your Part in His Plan

It’s His Story (i.e. History), right? You know it!

“…for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”

—Genesis 17:5 ESV

Our Heavenly Father told Abraham what was up, right? What was Abraham’s part in this? To trust what God said; isn’t this correct?

In the same way, God has revealed in his Word the old you has been crucified at the Cross with Jesus. That was a long time ago, wasn’t it? Do you trust what God says, or are you still trying to handle what Jesus has already accomplished on your behalf?

Are you willing to receive in faith—and walk in it—this amazing gift from your Heavenly Father? He now calls you, “Son.” Or, “Daughter.” Not sinner! You are His child. Old things have passed away. What say you, in response? Agree with God. It’s on! God is a mighty warrior and He lives in you! You are now equipped to stomp out lies and hell all around you, so move forward in Christ, Soldier!

JESUS SPEAKS: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

~ Matthew 13:44 NIV

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Resources & Links

Suggested Reading

Amazon.com

1.   Son of God: Your Identity in Christ

2.   One New Dude

3.   No Way Dude

Suggested Links

1.   No Way Dude, NoWayDude.org

2.   Stand to Reason, str.org

About Jeff Zahorsky

Jeff Zahorsky was born in 1968 in Cleveland, Ohio to Irish and Slovak parents. A veteran of the United States Navy, Jeff served just over 6 years, primarily on Navy warships with one ground tour in Iraq. With technology as his background, Jeff holds a Certificate of Biomedicine from Boston University. It was on the flight deck of a U.S. Navy warship in Pearl Harbor, HI where he became a Christian. Jeff aspires in sharing God's eternal truth through his ongoing writings.

Stay connected via:

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Endnotes

[1] Psalms 51:5

[2] “What is the Heart?,” gotquestions.org, http://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-the-heart.html

(accessed 11/1/12)

[3] Jonathan Welton, “True Identity”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq4OGJJWiEE

(accessed 6/25/12)

[4] Jeremiah 17:9

[5] “What is the Heart?,” gotquestions.org, http://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-the-heart.html

(accessed 11/1/12)

[6] Jeremiah 32:27

[7] Matthew 4:4

[8] Montell Jordan, “F.L.H.,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxc76U-cciw

(accessed 6/28/12)

[9] Matthew 28:18 NASB