Transforming Hearts: The Hope Beyond Circumstances

They continually cheat on God, steal from God, pursue other things, ignore Him, abuse Him over and over again. And once again, not to be too repetitive, but no love shown or correction given or new established plans can keep these people faithful. We need something new. We need something that can change us, not our circumstances. And God knows that. He's always knowing that. Which is why He has something coming that will change everything for this people, for us. [00:51:43] (41 seconds)  #NeedForTrueTransformation

Our human condition of sin can never be fixed by a change of circumstance. And the outlook may seem gloomy and hopeless as we read through the Old Testament. They've tried a lot of things to fix this relationship. And if it was on us to fix the problem of sin, we would have no hope. We have thousands of years of history here revealing just that. We are prone to wander. But Jesus comes as a rescue plan from God. [00:53:53] (32 seconds)  #JesusBringsNewHearts

And those new creations, each of us are made through the blood of a perfect sacrificial lamb, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Where we're not only washed, forgiven, but then through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we're able to have a power that can overcome sin. Our flesh and our brokenness don't have to lead us anymore. We can be led by the Holy Spirit, by God dwelling inside of us. It's great news, but it only comes through surrender to Jesus Christ. [00:55:41] (35 seconds)  #HealingThroughSurrender

Then there's hope, not through new circumstances, but by confessing our need for him. We can't plan our way out of sin. We can't fix these issues on our own. We all need help. We need Jesus. We need forgiveness. We need to be brand new. And with the help of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can finally have healing. Not just put a band-aid on an open wound, not just have a small season of faithfulness that falls into disarray. We can be healed through Jesus. [00:56:15] (32 seconds)  #FreedomInChrist

We can be set out and be loosed like calves from a stall. I just love that image of just being free, of just getting out and do a new pasture after being confined and running free. That this cycle of correcting and consequence and rejecting and short-term good stuff and whatever. It's all broken with Jesus Christ that he says, no, now you're free. I've forgiven. I've set the relationship good. It's no longer on your shoulders. It's on mine. Now go out in the freedom of Christ and enjoy this freedom I've given you. [00:56:47] (29 seconds)  #GiftOfGraceAndFreedom

That you don't have to pursue righteousness, but it's been given to you. What will you do with your freedom? Or as we say many times around here, what will you now do now that you don't have to do anything? This is the freedom that we have through Jesus Christ. It's the solution that has been longed for and prophesied about through the major prophets, through the minor prophets. It continually shows us that Jesus is the way, is truth. He is life. It will never be found anywhere but him. [00:57:16] (44 seconds)