A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (June 26, 2018)
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. (Ezekiel 36:26, NLT)
There are a lot of people in this world that have a hard heart and that could have been caused by a multitude of things. It could be from childhood abuse. It could be from rejection by a loved one or family member. It could be from a broken relationship like divorce. It could even be from a church or religious hurt.
In John 4 the Samaritan woman at the well was a prime example of someone that had a hardened heart. She had been married and divorced five times. She was apparently shunned by other women because she came to the well to get water at a time when no other women were there and that was a primary gathering place for the women of the town. She was obviously a strong willed independent woman because she did not back up an inch when Jesus started talking to her. She just kept peppering Him with questions.
The main thing I want to get across here is how Jesus broke through that hardness of heart and was able to reach the Spirit of the Samaritan woman. Intellect, and the ability to debate, will not reach a hard heart because a person with a hard heart will always have an answer or excuse as to why their hard heart is justified. That is why it is so critical to be able to hear the voice of the Lord and operate in the gifts of the Spirit.
The turning point in this woman’s life was when Jesus told her to go get her husband. She responded that she did not have a husband. Jesus responded that she had rightly said she did not have a husband because she previously had five husbands and the man she was presently living with was not her husband. That was Jesus operating in a “word of knowledge” which is a gift of the Spirit. That is what broke through all the hardness and caused this Samaritan woman to realize that this man was not like any man she had ever known before. She began to think, this man must be at least a prophet, and then she learned that He was much more than that. He was the Messiah!!!
What I want you to see here is the vital importance of the gifts of the Spirit. They changed this woman’s life and they can change yours also. Every major move my wife and I have made in the last 36 years of ministry have been accompanied and confirmed by some gift of the Spirit. By that I mean some prophecy, some word, or some interpretation of a message in tongues, has always confirmed to us what God had already been dealing with us about. We look to God, His Word, and His Spirit to speak to us directly but that direction will always be confirmed out of the mouth of two or more witnesses. We are not looking for a fortune teller to tell us something out of the blue. We are looking for confirmation from the Holy Spirit on the direction and guidance we have already received and He will always provide that. It may come from an unusual source, but it will always come.
We encourage all of you to study the gifts of the Spirit. They are still alive and active in the Church today and don’t let anyone tell you any different. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever and we need that guidance from the Holy Spirit.
