Seize the Moment – Day 630
From the Inside Out!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, December 7.
A way to rebel against a leader is to do exactly what they tell you to do. There is a significant difference between following the letter of the law and walking in the heart and intent of the commandments of God. A great rebellion is already happening if we are following with our actions but aren’t trusting in our hearts!
God desires to have your whole heart—the transformation of your life through the renewal of your mind. God wants His people to follow Him with all their heart, mind, body, and soul. Moses began the conclusion of his first sermon in the “second giving” of the Law with these words in Deuteronomy 10:12-16:
Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? … So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer.
Circumcision was the outward sign of the covenant, as commanded to Abraham in Genesis 17:9-14. Moses’ words “circumcise your heart” is a call for inward conformity to God’s ways and not just outward obedience! Paul prays this for us in Ephesians 3:16, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.” The circumcision of your heart is only possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit! It is God’s work in you, from the inside-out!
Seize the moment and walk in a daily intimate relationship with Jesus that conforms you to His character and submits you to His will.