27Oct 2011 Jeremiah 24:7

⁷I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

The LORD must give us a new heart to replace our sinful heart. If this implantation does not take place, we will not know Him as LORD. If this does not take place, we may never know the person of God. We may know about Him, but never know Him. We may know facts and figures, but not interact with His character. We may know about Him from a distance, but never have an encounter with Him. We need a heart to know Him. I was watching an episode of Monk the other night. Darcy was Monk’s biggest fan. She knew everything about him. She knew the details of all the cases he had solved. But she wanted more than just facts; she wanted him. The LORD wants to give us a heart that will desire Him, a heart that will change our lives, our purpose, our future. This new heart will help us serve Him wholeheartedly, without reservation. Getting a new heart implies a new start on life. Those who make it through heart transplants realize daily that they are on borrowed time, that their end can happen any day, and often times they make the most of those borrowed moments. Do you have a new heart, one that drives you to know Him, to return with all your heart? If not, turn and surrender to Him. He will take that heart of stone, and replace it with a new heart, one that seeks after Him.

26Oct 2011 Jeremiah 23:8

⁸but they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished the.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

We all need a turning point in our lives, a point in time that divides our history. Before marriage, after marriage. Before kids, after kids. Before the injury, after the injury. Before the cancer, after the cancer. Before the bankruptcy, after the bankruptcy. In our text, the LORD will create a change in narrative. He will create a new starting point. He will give them a new story. Their story will no longer be out of Egypt, but out of Babylon. For many reading this 9/11 is just such a turning point. It changed the lives of so many. For most civilians, their lives have returned to ‘normal’ again. But for those of us bearing the burden of the fight, the cost of 9/11 is still being paid, paid in years away from our families, years of horror and terror, years lost to a war that many feel is not worth fighting. Israel was getting ready to be sent into exile in a foreign country. The LORD was providing them hope, hope that someday they would look back on their time in exile, a time that would redefine who they were as a people. Just as Pearl Harbor, JFK’s assassination, and the Challenger explosion had been defining moments in recent US history, so we need some defining spiritual moments in our lives. I have had several over the 35 years as a Jesus-follower. Each one shifted my focus and moved me forward toward greater opportunities for service. What are the moments that have helped to define who you are? Are there moments that define who you are as a Believer? What do those moments mean to you?