Blog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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“A New Heart and a New Spirit!”
By Mary T. Hoffman

Approximately 2,600 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel warned the people about the consequences of their bloodshed and corruption.

In Ezekiel 18:30-31 he says:

30 "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct," declares the Lord GOD. "Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you.

31 "Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?

32 "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live." ~ New American Standard Bible

“A new heart and a new spirit” – now, that’s getting down to basics. God makes it plain in His Word that He is not pleased with empty words and rituals meant to justify evil actions. He desires positive change for the better, and this takes self-discipline. Remember the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22? They start with “love” and end with “self-control.”

This is a life-long pursuit, since we become more proficient at what we practice either for better or worse. Practice does make perfect, as the saying goes. This is so simple. Yet most people continue to “play games” as though they can fool their Creator. Even many of those who claim to have found the way and are born again believers have tried to cheapen God’s Word and “simplified” it to a ritualized prayer meant to erase past, present and future sin. Actually the “sinner’s prayer” is an initial awakening – the beginning of a journey of life-long improvement. That’s what being truly born again entails. That’s what receiving “a new heart and a new spirit means.”

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