Process of Renewal
“I will graciously give you a new, tender heart and put a new, willing spirit inside you. I will remove your hard heart of stone and give you an obedient, responsive heart instead. I will put my Holy Spirit in you to empower you to keep my laws and to live by them. You will live in the land that I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel 36
Yahweh promises to give us a new heart and put a new spirit within us. This renewal is not about our effort, but about allowing His love to transform us from the inside out. Think about areas in your life that feel hardened or resistant to change. This is the part where we sit in the circle of perfect love to allow the glorious light of Jesus to shine on these areas of resistance and hard-heartedness.
Invite the Holy Spirit to soften these areas with His love, like new wine in a new wineskin. Are there old patterns of thinking or believing that need to be renewed? In Luke 5, Jesus says, “And who pours new wine into an old wineskin? If someone did, the old wineskin would burst, and the new wine would be lost. New wine must always be poured into new wineskins.” Have you ever watched how wineskin is made new? They don’t throw out the old wineskin. Just like Jesus doesn’t get rid of us. In order to make a new wineskin the old one must be cleansed first. After cleaning, the wineskin is then put in oil to be soaked for several days. After the soaking the wineskin is then stretched, kneaded and worked to evenly distribute the oil throughout the material.
This is truly a picture of us, beloved sons and beloved daughters going through the process of renewal. We are first cleansed by the righteousness of Jesus. Then he leads us to soak in the oil of the Holy Spirit to soften those hard and resistant places. Once soft we are then stretched, kneaded and worked on through life circumstances but if we see this process correctly the new wine, we will hold can change families, cities and nations for the glory of Yahweh.
Will you surrender to the process of renewal? Ask Him to fill you afresh with His Spirit. He is ready to give you a new, tender heart and a willing spirit that continually flows with new wine.
Read Ezekiel 36 again. This is a promise of Yahweh. His goodness extended to us.
