Thur. April 11th. 2024.
“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.” Ezek. 36:26.
A little girl was visiting her grandmother one beautiful spring morning. They walked out into grandmother’s flower garden. As grandmother was inspecting the progress of her flowers the little girl decided to try to open a rosebud with her own two hands. But no luck! As she would pull the petals open, they would tear or bruise or wilt or break off completely. Finally, in frustration, she said, “Grandma, I just don’t understand it at all. When God opens a flower, it looks so beautiful but when I try, it just comes apart.”
“Well, honey,” her grandmother answered, “There’s a good reason for that. God is able to do it because He works from the inside out!” Wow! Such a powerful illustration. That’s exactly what God does in our lives: He works from the inside out. He comes to live within us, and the new life on the inside changes what we are and do on the outside. So when you want a lasting change, start it from the inside. While cosmetic makeup can only change a person on an external level, temporarily, cosmetic makeover may change the external permanently only Jesus can change your heart. Jesus can give you a soul makeover. Jesus can give you a lasting and total change.
That is an inside out change, that is an inside out transformation. Jesus taught us that we need His help to change from the inside out. The good news is that Jesus can and does change people for the better! Jesus taught that it isn’t what is outside of us that contaminates us, but what is in our hearts. Therefore if we are to change, it must begin with our hearts. We must change from the inside out. This is the hardest thing to do because we don’t even know ourselves. We cannot change ourselves. Only the Spirit of God can change us. He brings change from the inside out. We must therefore surrender and yield ourselves from the inside, for a change in the inside, Salah!
FURTHER READING:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” Matt. 23:25-26.
“and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Col. 3:10.
DECLARATION:
Dear Abba Father, thank You for Your mercies and grace, I’m an amazing recipient of Your magnanimity. Lord, I ask that You pour out Your anointing upon my life today. Grant me leverage over the world. I engage the overcoming seed of God in me, I gain stature and status in the spirit. I step out of every cage and I come into my space in God. I proclaim my liberty in destiny today in the name of Jesus, amen.
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Ezra. 1:1-11.
Ezra. 2:1-70.
Ezra. 3:1-13.
Ezra. 4:1-24.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
“Almost Everyone Thinks Of Changing The World, But It Starts With Changing Yourself, Don’t Forget However That Lasting Change Starts Inside You.”
The Fortress Int’l Church, 2 Floor 10 Coker Road, Opposite Chicken Republic Ilupeju Lagos, Nigeria.
email: info@thefortresschurch.com.
