Stirring Our Affections (Part 1): DESIRE (Daily Encouragement Series)
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. – Ezekiel 36:25-27
This past Sunday we saw Paul encourage the church to Holiness (2 Corinthians 7:1). We asked the question(s) what are practices, places and people that draw you away from Christ (idols) and what are practices, places and people that stir your affections for Christ?
These are great questions to ask but if we do not have the right motivation, they can quickly slip into self-righteousness (when doing well) or shame (when we fall short).
Paul’s command for holiness was tied to God’s beautiful promise in Ezekiel 36:25-27 that God would cleanse us (make us Holy), give us a new heart (new desires) and put His Spirit in us to cause us to walk in his ways. All of this was accomplished and given to us through Jesus.
Corrina and I had the privilege of having dinner with Pastor John Lynch before he spoke at our church a couple years back. He was asking about our kids and we were talking about how one of them has this beautiful character trait that can sometimes get them in trouble when taken too far (don’t we all). I will never forget what he said, it was to the effect of:
“Isn’t that an amazing, powerful gift that God has given them. Think about all the good that comes out of that. But taken too far, and it can be so damaging to others. I will be praying for you and for them to “whoo out their NEW NATURE and use that gift for good.”
Whoo out their new nature.
When we are talking about holiness. When we are talking about stirring our affections. We are talking about a characteristic, a desire that we ALREADY HAVE. Through Christ, we ARE HOLY, through Christ we have a NEW HEART that desires Him, through Christ we have HIS SPIRIT that will cause us to walk in his ways.
Are we always holy? No. Do we always desire Him? No. Will we always walk in his ways? No.
But we can “whoo out our new nature” and continue to grow into what we already are.