WHAT HE REQUIRES HE GIVES

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And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Deuteronomy 30:6 ESV

¶Moses is looking ahead to address a people living in exile from the promised land. Sometimes I feel like I am living in exile from my own life. Friends fail me. Foes assail me. But whether in the land of promise or in exile, the Covenant still holds. The Covenant was never about just occupying "a land flowing with milk and honey". The Covenant was about loving God with a circumcised heart. Why is the covenant faithfulness of God, "hesed", translated as "loving kindness"? It is because He grants us the love we need to love Him. I've been through heart surgery. It is scary. No one can circumcise their own heart. God does it. That promise is grounded deeper than the promise of a land. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1John 4:10).
Friends may fail us. Foes assail us. Jesus, Savior, makes us whole. What a Friend!

Is it easier to feel your need for God in times of plenty or in times of want? That's a trick question. Either way, we need the help of God's Holy Spirit.

All the fitness He requires
Is to feel your need of Him:
This He gives you,
’Tis the Spirit’s rising beam.

Jesus ready waits to save you,
Full of pity, love and pow’r:
He is able, He is willing,
Doubt no more.

"Come Ye Sinners"
Joseph Hart, 1712-1768

Now that's really living!

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