Passage of the Day:
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.” 29 Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.” 31 (The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. 32 The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.) 33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses, Exodus 9:27-35.
Reflection:
As someone who enjoys doing yard work, my hands develop callouses every week. This hardening of the skin often leads to blusters or warts in a worst-case scenario. However, when your life encounter trials that result in trauma like Pharaoh, God told Moses that hearts can become calloused and hardened. From a relationship point of view, if a man or woman breaks your heart, it may take years for you to recover. When my best friend from Cleveland had the same girl break his heart twice, he lost his faith and never recovered. If today’s blog post finds you in a similar condition, an Old Testament prophet provides a cure for overcoming a calloused heart.
Prayerful Action:
“‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws, ” Ezekiel 36:24-27.
Restoring Your Heart:
Like any culture, Israel went back and forth between following God and falling prey to earthly pleasures and treasures. Asking God for a new heart will depend upon your sense of urgency to change. Pharaoh doesn’t change until the death of his first-born son. The prodigal son doesn’t alter his path until he nearly starves to death, Luke 15:17. While I can’t guarantee success, the will to restore your heart will be the motivating force that conceives healing.
Song of the Day:
Final Thoughts:
Some of the greatest accomplishments in life come from hating to lose. The attached You Tube has a violinist who has a mentor enter her life at the right time to encourage her to press on. While overcoming a calloused may take longer than you want, don’t give up hope that God can do a miracle in your life.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 